IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1169 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States 
should become an international human rights leader by ratifying and 
implementing certain core international conventions. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 1, 2008 
Mr. LEWIS of California (for himself, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mrs. 
MALONEY of New York, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. LEE, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of 
Texas, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. HONDA, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. 
SUTTON, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. CON-
YERS, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. MICHAUD, 
Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. WYNN, 
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. WATSON, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, Mr. MCGOVERN, 
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. RUSH, Mr. BACA, 
Mr. CLYBURN, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 
WATT, and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 
to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the United States should become an international human 
rights leader by ratifying and implementing certain core 
international conventions. 
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HRES 1169 IH 
Whereas the United States has played a leading role in devel-
oping global human rights standards since the country’s 
inception; 
Whereas the United States Bill of Rights, the first ten 
amendments to the U.S. Constitution, are among the 
guiding principles which helped develop the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights; 
Whereas Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin Dela-
no Roosevelt, led the United States delegation and the 
United Nations (UN) in drafting the Universal Declara-
tion of Human Rights; 
Whereas, December 10, 2008, will mark the 60th anniversary 
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; 
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly also adopted 
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cul-
tural Rights and the International Convenant on Civil 
and Political Rights in 1966; 
Whereas the world will celebrate the 201st anniversary of the 
abolition of the transatlantic slave trade on May 1, 2008; 
Whereas, on January 1, 2008, the United States recognized 
the 145th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation; 
Whereas the United States continues to make legislative 
amendments that improve the rights of all Americans; 
these include the 13th Amendment in 1865, the Civil 
Rights Act of 1866, the 14th Amendment, the 19th 
Amendment, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights 
Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Age Dis-
crimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Civil Rights 
Restoration Act of 1988, the Americans with Disabilities 
Act of 1990, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, and the Vot-
ing Rights Act Reauthorization of 2006; 
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HRES 1169 IH 
Whereas the development of human and civil rights standards 
and protections requires constant review and attention; 
Whereas the UN Millennium Development Goals set forth a 
fifteen-year plan to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illit-
eracy, environmental degradation and discrimination; 
Whereas there are as many as 27 million people around the 
world who remain enslaved; 
Whereas the United States has supported the adoption of the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the UN Gen-
eral Assembly and has ratified significant international 
human rights treaties that include the International Con-
ventions on the Elimination of Racism and Discrimina-
tion, on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 
Genocide, and against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman 
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Inter-
national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; 
Whereas the United States has ratified two of the eight ‘‘fun-
damental’’ conventions outlined by the International 
Labor Organization (ILO) including the Abolition of 
Forced Labour, and the Prohibition and Immediate Ac-
tion for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child 
Labour; 
Whereas the United States has also ratified the Optional Pro-
tocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the 
Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornog-
raphy, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on 
the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children 
in Armed Conflicts; 
Whereas the United States is expected to be a regional and 
global leader in the international civil and human rights 
movement; and 
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HRES 1169 IH 
Whereas the United Nations headquarters are located in New 
York City, and the Organization of American States is 
headquartered in Washington, DC: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) the United States recommits to fighting dis-
crimination, xenophobia, human and civil rights 
abuses in both domestic and foreign policy; 
(2) the United States should give thorough re-
view to domestic policy and legislative proposals that 
would improve the rights and lives of marginalized 
communities within the United States; 
(3) the Senate should give its advice and con-
sent to the ratification of the UN Covenant on Eco-
nomic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN Conven-
tion 
on 
the 
Elimination 
of 
All 
Forms 
of 
Dicrimination Against Women and its Optional Pro-
tocol, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 
the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with 
Disabilities and its Optional Protocol, the UN Con-
vention for the Protection of All Persons from En-
forced Disappearance, the First Optional Protocol to 
the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and 
the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against 
Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading 
Treatment or Punishment; 
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HRES 1169 IH 
(4) the United States Senate should give its ad-
vice and consent to the ratification of the ILO Con-
vention on Forced or Compulsory Labour, the ILO 
Convention on Freedom of Association and Protec-
tion of the Right to Organise, the ILO Convention 
on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, 
the ILO Convention on Equal Remuneration, the 
ILO Convention on Discrimination in Respect of 
Employment and Occupation, and the ILO Conven-
tion on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employ-
ment; 
(5) the United States should fully support the 
Inter-American human rights system, especially 
hemispheric conventions regarding the rights of all 
persons, women, children, the disabled, marginalized 
communities, and the right to freedom of expression; 
and 
(6) it is the policy of the United States to op-
pose slavery, torture, racism, discrimination, and 
xenophobia in all forms. 
Æ 
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