From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Deb Foskey) >From 'The Progressive Response' an eletter to which I subscribe Deb *** LADIES, REMOVE YOURSELVES *** By Tim McGivern, FPIF Communications Director (Editor's Note: Time after time the U.S. is showing itself to be a laggard in promoting international standards for human rights and peace. Despite the increasingly aggressive internationalist rhetoric of the Clinton administration, it has failed to demonstrate the leadership and statesmanship necessary to advance international norms or even to ensure that the U.S. government meets its financial obligations to the UN. This lack of leadership was evident recently in its failure to win congressional support for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Congressional resistance to international standards that would subject the U.S. to international scrutiny was also highlighted last week by the boorish behavior of Sen. Helms in dismissing the plea of female House members that the Senate ratify the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). U.S. exceptionalism to international law is a pattern of U.S. foreign policy that is becoming ever more embarrassing and destructive. Its obstructionist positions on land mines, international criminal court, child soldiers, and women's rights undermine the credibility of U.S. international leadership. For more information on Washington's participation, or lack thereof, in international conventions guaranteeing core rights for labor, women, and children, see FPIF policy brief, "Human Rights and U.S. Policy," http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/briefs/vol4/v4n08hrts.html ) When U.S. Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and several other House Democratic women entered a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting this week to call for hearings on the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the drama cast Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) in the familiar role of autocratic chairman and number one adversary of Democrats who believe he deliberately thwarts Clinton administration initiatives out of spite for lawmakers and activists that he commonly opposes. When Woolsey didn't comply with Helms' request that she "please be a lady" and leave the proceedings, he ordered capitol police to remove her and her colleagues at once. Unfortunately, the event was reported in the New York Times and Washington Post more as a conflict in personality between a right-wing senator and liberal, female members of the House than a protest over an international convention signed by the United States and over 160 other nations nearly 20 years ago that has yet to reach the Senate floor. Human rights supporters hope the event will draw wide attention to what is described as an "international bill of rights for women" that has been ratified by every industrialized nation in the world except the United States. To receive ratification in the U.S., two-thirds support in the Senate is required. The treaty contains 30 articles including the establishment of an international tribunal to monitor violence, poverty, discrimination, lack of legal status, property rights, health care, education, and credit for women. Once ratified, the U.S. would qualify for putting a representative on CEDAW's governing committee composed of 23 experts in the fields covered by the Convention. According to the official preamble: "In electing the experts, consideration is given to equitable geographical distribution and the representation of different forms of civilization, as well as the principal legal systems." Wednesday's event is a powerful reminder that time is running out for the Clinton administration. At the UN Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, the U.S. committed to ratification of CEDAW by the year 2000. Although President Clinton, the First Lady, and Secretary of State Albright have all called ratification an administration priority, Helms has met little challenge in committee to pass CEDAW on to the Senate floor. The basis for his blockade, one would assume, is Helms' bedrock conservative mistrust toward UN treaties in general. Unfortunately, the head-butting between the Clinton White House and Republican controlled Senate has yet to draw any better reason for U.S. failure to play the role of international partner instead of global maverick who is above international law on so many important treaties. With the session winding to a close, Helms undoubtedly will hold up to existing pressure, and CEDAW will, at best, become a campaign issue in 2000. Considering the treaty's history, however, CEDAW might just fade from public view altogether before the 106th Congress begins another session. CEDAW was signed by President Carter in 1980, the year after it was approved by the UN. Over the next 19 years, it passed out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee only once, in 1994, but dissolved on the Senate floor without a vote. During the Reagan and Bush administrations, passage was never a policy goal, and the treaty was shackled by committee haggling that led it to the Justice Department for review and conditionality, where again little action was taken. Rep. Woolsey has been sponsoring a resolution to take CEDAW to the Senate floor every year since she arrived at the House in 1993. Wednesday's letter to Chairman Helms had 111 House cosponsors (Connie Morella-MD, the only Republican signee) and was not the first time the Senate was petitioned. In 1998, United Methodist Women--the official women's organization of the United Methodist Church--with the participation of Rep.Woolsey and other House members circulated a petition to the Senate with more than 10,000 signatures calling for ratification hearings. Yet this grassroots effort generated much less national attention than Wednesday's brief confrontation. Despite a lack of interest in forging ahead in the Senate, there exists a growing grassroots campaign effort. Over 100 active national membership organizations are supporting local advocacy campaigns to urge individual senators to push for passage out of committee and final approval for the treaty. Seven states have passed resolutions supporting U.S. ratification and San Francisco has adopted the treaty's principles and appropriated funds to monitor compliance. San Francisco is a now a model for activists and legislators working in Seattle, Atlanta, and other cities to pass the treaty language as well. For more information: American Bar Association, Individual Rights Section http://www.abanet.org/legadv/cedawmain.html Center for Women's Global Leadership http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/ U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey's Office http://www.house.gov/woolsey/ U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi's Office http://www.house.gov/pelosi/ Deb Foskey Department of Political Science Faculty of Arts ANU ACT 0200 Ph: 6249 3977 Fax: 6249 5054 --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- ~ FREE Games & CA$H Prizes! ~ $55,000+ Awarded Monthly ~ Welcome to Gamesville.com-- Home of the World's Biggest & Best Free Games Play Three-Eyed Bingo, Quick-Draw Poker, Pop Quiz & Picturama FREE! <a href=" http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/gamesville5 ">Click Here</a> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
