I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 662
To prohibit the use of funds to administer or enforce the provisions of
Executive Order 13107, relating to the implementation of certain human
rights treaties.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 10, 1999
Mr. BARR of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations
A BILL
To prohibit the use of funds to administer or enforce the
provisions of Executive Order 13107, relating to the
implementation of certain human rights treaties.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Federal
Government Preservation Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Article II, section 2, clause 2 of the Con-
stitution of the United States provides that ‘‘He [the
President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice
and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, pro-
vided two thirds of the Senators present concur;’’.
(2) The International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention Against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimina-
tion (CERD), and other relevant treaties concerned
with the protection and promotion of human rights
are treaties with respect to which the Senate has
given its advice and consent to ratification, however,
the votes for such advice and consent to ratification
were not formal roll call votes but instead voice votes
which do not provide a record as to how each indi-
vidual Senator voted on each of these treaties.
(3) On December 10, 1998, President Clinton
issued Executive Order 13107 (63 Fed. Reg. 68991
(December 15, 1998)) which states in part ‘‘[i]t
shall be the policy and practice of the Government
of the United States, being committed to the protec-
tion and promotion of human rights and fundamen-
tal freedoms, fully to respect and implement its obli-
gations under international human rights treaties to
which it is a party, including the ICCPR, the CAT,
and the CERD.’’.
(4) Executive Order 13107 also states that
‘‘[a]ll executive departments and agencies . . . shall
maintain a current awareness of United States inter-
national human rights obligations that are relevant
to their functions and shall perform such functions
so as to respect and implement those obligations
fully. The head of each agency shall designate a sin-
gle contact officer who will be responsible for overall
coordination of the implementation of this order.’’.
(5) Executive Order 13107 also establishes an
Interagency Working Group in Human Rights Trea-
ties for the ‘‘purpose of providing guidance, over-
sight, and coordination with respect to questions
concerning the adherence to and implementation of
human rights obligations and related matters.’’.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS TO ADMINISTER
OR ENFORCE EXECUTIVE ORDER 13107.
None of the funds appropriated in any Act for any
fiscal year may be used to administer or enforce the provi-
sions of Executive Order 13107 (63 Fed. Reg. 68991 (De-
cember 15, 1998); relating to the implementation of cer-
tain human rights treaties).
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