IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1451 

Establishing the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the House of 

Representatives. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2008 

Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Mr. BERMAN, and Ms. ROSLEHTINEN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Establishing the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission 

in the House of Representatives. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Tom Lantos 

4 Human Rights Commission Establishment Resolution’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF TOM LANTOS HUMAN RIGHTS 

6 COMMISSION. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

8 House of Representatives the Tom Lantos Human Rights 

9 Commission (hereafter in this resolution referred to as the 

10 ‘‘Commission’’), which shall promote and advocate in a 


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1 nonpartisan manner, both within and outside of Congress, 

2 internationally recognized human rights norms as en3 shrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 

4 and other relevant international human rights instruments 

5 by carrying out the following activities: 

6 (1) Developing congressional strategies to pro7 mote, defend, and advocate internationally recog8 nized human rights norms reflecting the role and re9 sponsibilities of the Congress. 

10 (2) Raising greater awareness among Members 

11 of the House of Representatives, their staffs, and 

12 the public regarding international human rights vio13 lations and developments. 

14 (3) Providing Members and staff with expert 

15 human rights advice and information and by sup16 porting entities of Congress in their work on human 

17 rights issues. 

18 (4) Advocating on behalf of individuals and en19 tities whose internationally recognized human rights 

20 have been violated or are in danger of being violated. 

21 (5) Collaborating closely with other professional 

22 staff members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

23 (6) Collaborating closely with the President, 

24 other officials of the executive branch, and recog25 nized national and international human rights entiVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:16 Sep 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1451.IH HR1451

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1 ties and nongovernmental organizations in pro2 moting human rights initiatives within Congress. 

3 (7) Encouraging and supporting Members, es4 pecially Members who have been recently elected to 

5 the House, to become active in supporting human 

6 rights issues so that the United States will continue 

7 to be recognized throughout the world as a leader in 

8 the defense of internationally recognized human 

9 rights norms. 

10 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—Any Member of the House of Rep11 resentatives may join the Commission by submitting a 

12 written statement to that effect to the co-chairs of the 

13 Commission. 

14 (c) RELATIONSHIP WITH SENATE.—In carrying out 

15 its activities, the Commission is encouraged to establish 

16 a cooperative working relationship with Members and 

17 other entities of the Senate, and to invite Members and 

18 other entities of the Senate to work cooperatively with the 

19 Commission to promote human rights. 

20 (d) DEFINITION.—In this resolution, the term ‘‘Mem21 ber of the House of Representatives’’ includes a Delegate 

22 or Resident Commissioner to the Congress. 


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1 SEC. 3. CO-CHAIRS OF THE COMMISSION. 

2 (a) APPOINTMENT.—Two members of the Commis3 sion shall be appointed to serve as co-chairs of the Com4 mission as follows: 

5 (1) One member shall be appointed by the 

6 Speaker of the House of Representatives after con7 sultation with the Chairman of the Committee on 

8 Foreign Affairs. 

9 (2) One member shall be appointed by the mi10 nority leader of the House of Representatives after 

11 consultation with the ranking minority member of 

12 the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

13 (b) TERM OF SERVICE.—A member’s term as co14 chair of the Commission shall continue throughout the 

15 Congress during which the member is appointed as a co16 chair under this section until the member leaves the Com17 mission, resigns from the position of co-chair, or is re18 moved pursuant to subsection (c). 

19 (c) REMOVAL.—The co-chair appointed pursuant to 

20 subsection (a)(1) may be removed by the Speaker after 

21 consultation with the Chairman of the Committee on For22 eign Affairs, and the co-chair appointed pursuant to sub23 section (a)(2) may be removed by the minority leader after 

24 consultation with the ranking minority member of the 

25 Committee on Foreign Affairs. 


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1 (d) VACANCY.—A vacancy in the position of any of 

2 the co-chairs of the Commission shall be filled in the same 

3 manner in which the original appointment was made. 

4 (e) DUTIES.—The co-chairs shall be responsible for 

5 setting the general agenda of the Commission. 

6 SEC. 4. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall have an 

8 Executive Committee which shall consist of 8 members of 

9 the Commission equally divided between members of the 

10 majority and minority parties selected jointly by the co11 chairs of the Commission with the approval of the Speaker 

12 of the House of Representatives and the minority leader 

13 of the House of Representatives. 

14 (b) VACANCY.—A vacancy in the membership of the 

15 Executive Committee shall be filled in the same manner 

16 in which the original selection was made. 

17 SEC. 5. ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 

18 (a) USE OF COMMITTEE STAFF AND RESOURCES.— 

19 Subject to subsection (b), the Commission shall carry out 

20 its duties using the staff and resources of the Committee 

21 on Foreign Affairs, including the use of consultants or 

22 temporary employees, such as individuals with expertise 

23 in human rights issues, related legislative matters, and 

24 technology systems management, as appropriate. 

25 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR STAFF.— 


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1 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The staff of the Com2 mittee on Foreign Affairs who may be used by the 

3 Commission under subsection (a) to carry out its du4 ties shall be professional staff members of the 

5 Committtee who are appointed for this purpose by 

6 the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 

7 of whom half of the full-time equivalent positions 

8 shall be appointed from among a list of individuals 

9 presented to the Chairman of the Committee by the 

10 co-chair appointed pursuant to section 3(a)(1) and 

11 half of the full-time equivalent positions shall be ap12 pointed from among a list of individuals presented to 

13 the Chairman of the Committee by the co-chair ap14 pointed pursuant to section 3(a)(2). 

15 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR DETERMINATION OF

16 NUMBER OF COMMITTEE STAFF MEMBERS.—Any 

17 professional staff member of the Committee on For18 eign Affairs who is used by the Commission to carry 

19 out its duties on a full-time basis shall not be in20 cluded in determining the number of professional 

21 staff members of the Committee under subpara22 graphs (1) and (2) of clause 9(a) of rule X of the 

23 Rules of the House of Representatives. 


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1 SEC. 6. OTHER POWERS AND DUTIES. 

2 (a) BYLAWS.—The Commission shall adopt and pub3 lish such bylaws to govern its organization and operation 

4 (including the duties of the Executive Committee) as it 

5 considers appropriate, subject to the applicable Rules of 

6 the House of Representatives. 

7 (b) NO LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY.—The Commission 

8 shall not have legislative jurisdiction and shall have no au9 thority to take legislative action on any bill or resolution. 

10 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 In addition to any other amounts made available for 

12 salaries and expenses of the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

13 of the House of Representatives during a Congress, there 

14 are authorized to be appropriated from the applicable ac15 counts of the House of Representatives such sums as may 

16 be necessary for the Committee to provide staff and re17 sources for the Commission pursuant to section 5. 

18 SEC. 8. TRANSITION FOR CURRENT MEMBERS OF CON19 GRESSIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS. 

20 For purposes of this resolution— 

21 (1) each Member of the House of Representa22 tives who is a member of the Congressional Human 

23 Rights Caucus as of the date of the adoption of this 

24 resolution shall be deemed to have joined the Com25 mission; and 


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1 (2) the 2 Members of the House of Representa2 tives who are the co-chairs of the Congressional 

3 Human Rights Caucus as of the date of the adop4 tion of this resolution shall be deemed to have been 

5 appointed as co-chairs of the Commission. 

Æ 


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