I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 62

To provide that the provisions of Executive Order 13107, relating to the

implementation of certain human rights treaties, shall not have any

legal effect.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. BARR of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To provide that the provisions of Executive Order 13107,

relating to the implementation of certain human rights

treaties, shall not have any legal effect.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Federal

5 Government Preservation Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Article II, section 2, clause 2 of the Con9 stitution of the United States provides that ‘‘He [the
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1 President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice

2 and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, pro3 vided two thirds of the Senators present concur;’’.

4 (2) The International Covenant on Civil and

5 Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention Against

6 Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading

7 Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the Convention on

8 the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimina9 tion (CERD), and other relevant treaties concerned

10 with the protection and promotion of human rights,

11 are treaties with respect to which the Senate has not

12 given its advice and consent to ratification.

13 (3) On December 10, 1998, President Clinton

14 circumvented the intention of the Framers of the

15 Constitution by issuing Executive Order 13107 (63

16 Fed. Reg. 68991 (December 15, 1998)) which states

17 in part ‘‘[i]t shall be the policy and practice of the

18 Government of the United States, being committed

19 to the protection and promotion of human rights

20 and fundamental freedoms, fully to respect and im21 plement its obligations under international human

22 rights treaties to which it is a party, including the

23 ICCPR, the CAT, and the CERD.’’.

24 (4) Executive Order 13107 also states that

25 ‘‘[a]ll executive departments and agencies . . . shall
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1 maintain a current awareness of United States inter2 national human rights obligations that are relevant

3 to their functions and shall perform such functions

4 so as to respect and implement those obligations

5 fully. The head of each agency shall designate a sin6 gle contact officer who will be responsible for overall

7 coordination of the implementation of this order.’’.

8 (5) Executive Order 13107 also establishes an

9 Interagency Working Group in Human Rights Trea10 ties for the ‘‘purpose of providing guidance, over11 sight, and coordination with respect to questions

12 concerning the adherence to and implementation of

13 human rights obligations and related matters.’’.

14 SEC. 3. NULLIFICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 13107.

15 The provisions of Executive Order 13107 (63 Fed.

16 Reg. 68991 (December 15, 1998); relating to the imple17 mentation of certain human rights treaties) shall not have

18 any legal effect.

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