[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 5749-5750]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          U.S. DECISION ON UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I wish to express my regret that the 
administration has decided to decline the opportunity for candidacy on 
the newly formed U.N. Human Rights Council. I supported the creation of 
the Human Rights Council because I believe that we need to create a 
system where human rights abusers are held accountable for the 
atrocities they commit. It was for that same reason that there was 
overwhelming international support for the creation of the Human Rights 
Council.
  In choosing not to join the council, the U.S. Government has signaled 
its intention to address worldwide human rights abuses unilaterally. 
This decision will damage U.S. credibility when weighing in on the 
human rights debates of the future and further isolate the United 
States from multilateral decisions.

[[Page 5750]]

  Human rights abuses should be addressed through an international 
strategy to ensure that there are internationally agreed-upon standards 
to protect all members of society. I am deeply concerned that the 
administration's decision will undermine our human rights agenda, 
rather than advance it.
  I have repeatedly expressed my concern about the approach to the U.N. 
taken by this administration and am further disappointed by this most 
recent decision. The U.N. is by no means perfect, but a world without a 
global human rights body would be a more dangerous one for people 
everywhere and would serve to undermine fundamental U.S. interests.
  I urge the administration to reconsider its decision.

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