[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 99 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 99
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the primary safeguard for the
well-being and protection of children is the family, and that the
primary safeguards for the legal rights of children in the United
States are the Constitutions of the United States and the several
States, and that, because the use of international treaties to govern
policy in the United States on families and children is contrary to
principles of self-government and federalism, and that, because the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child undermines
traditional principles of law in the United States regarding parents
and children, the President should not transmit the Convention to the
Senate for its advice and consent.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 10, 2011
Mr. DeMint (for himself, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Burr, Mr. Blunt, Mr.
Boozman, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Ensign,
Mr. Enzi, Mr. Graham, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Hatch, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr.
Inhofe, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Johanns, Mr. Johnson of Wisconsin, Mr. Kyl,
Mr. Lee, Mr. McCain, Mr. Moran, Mr. Paul, Mr. Risch, Mr. Rubio, Mr.
Sessions, Mr. Vitter, and Mr. Wicker) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the primary safeguard for the
well-being and protection of children is the family, and that the
primary safeguards for the legal rights of children in the United
States are the Constitutions of the United States and the several
States, and that, because the use of international treaties to govern
policy in the United States on families and children is contrary to
principles of self-government and federalism, and that, because the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child undermines
traditional principles of law in the United States regarding parents
and children, the President should not transmit the Convention to the
Senate for its advice and consent.
Whereas the Senate affirms the commitment of the people and the Government of
the United States to the well-being, protection, and advancement of
children, and the protection of the inalienable rights of all persons of
all ages;
Whereas the Constitution and laws of the United States and those of the several
States are the best guarantees against mistreatment of children in this
Nation;
Whereas the Constitution, laws, and traditions of the United States affirm the
rights of parents to raise their children and to impart their values and
religious beliefs;
Whereas the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted at New
York November 20, 1989, and entered into force September 2, 1990, if
ratified, would become a part of the supreme law of the land, taking
precedence over all State laws and constitutions;
Whereas the United States, and not the several States, would be held responsible
for compliance with this Convention if ratified, and as a consequence,
the United States would create an incredible expansion of subject matter
jurisdiction over all matters concerning children, seriously undermining
the constitutional balance between the Federal Government and the
governments of the several States;
Whereas Professor Geraldine Van Bueren, the author of the principal textbook on
the international rights of the child, and a participant in the drafting
of the Convention, has described the ``best interest of the child
standard'' in the treaty as ``provid[ing] decision and policy makers
with the authority to substitute their own decisions for either the
child's or the parents'';
Whereas the Scottish Government has issued a pamphlet to children of that
country explaining their rights under the Convention, which declares
that children have the right to decide their own religion and that
parents can only provide advice;
Whereas the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has repeatedly
interpreted the Convention to ban common disciplinary measures utilized
by parents;
Whereas the Government of the United Kingdom was found to be in violation of the
Convention by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child
for allowing parents to exercise a right to opt their children out of
sex education courses in the public schools without a prior government
review of the wishes of the child;
Whereas the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has held that
the Governments of Indonesia and Egypt were out of compliance with the
Convention because military expenditures were given inappropriate
priority over children's programs;
Whereas these and many other interpretations of the Convention by those charged
with its implementation and by other authoritative supporters
demonstrates that the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child are utterly contrary to the principles of law in the
United States and the inherent principles of freedom;
Whereas the decisions and interpretations of the United Nations Committee on the
Rights of the Child would be considered by the Committee to be binding
and authoritative upon the United States should the United States
Government ratify the Convention, such that the Convention poses a
threat to the sovereign rights of the United States and the several
States to make final determinations regarding domestic law; and
Whereas the proposition that the United States should be governed by
international legal standards in its domestic policy is tantamount to
proclaiming that the Congress of the United States and the legislatures
of the several States are incompetent to draft domestic laws that are
necessary for the proper protection of children, an assertion that is
not only an affront to self-government but an inappropriate attack on
the capability of legislators in the United States: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child, adopted at New York November 20, 1989, and entered into
force September 2, 1990, is incompatible with the Constitution,
the laws, and the traditions of the United States;
(2) the Convention would undermine proper presumptions of
freedom and independence for families in the United States,
supplanting those principles with a presumption in favor of
governmental intervention without the necessity for proving
harm or wrong-doing;
(3) the Convention would interfere with the principles of
sovereignty, independence, and self-government in the United
States that preclude the necessity or propriety of adopting
international law to govern domestic matters; and
(4) the President should not transmit the Convention to the
Senate for its advice and consent.
<all>