IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 416 
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 7, 2009 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts, Ms. 
BORDALLO, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. HONDA, 
Ms. MATSUI, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. JACKSON-LEE 
of Texas, and Mr. RANGEL) 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 determined 
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. 
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 
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•HRES 416 IH 
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, marked 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 Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights in 1966; 
Whereas the world celebrated 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 Social Security Act of 1935, the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938, the Housing Act of 1949, 
the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965, the Age Discrimination in 
Employment Act of 1967, the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
Assistance Act of 1987, the Civil Rights Restoration Act 
of 1988, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the 
Civil Rights Act of 1991, and the Voting Rights Act Re-
authorization of 2006; 
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•HRES 416 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 416 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 reaffirms its commitment 
to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; 
(3) the United States should give thorough re-
view to domestic policy and legislative proposals that 
would improve the economic, social, political, cul-
tural, and civil rights and lives of marginalized com-
munities within the United States; 
(4) the United States Senate should give its ad-
vice and consent to the ratification of the UN Cov-
enant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the 
UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
Discrimination Against Women and its Optional 
Protocol, 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 
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from 
Enforced Disappearance, the First Optional Protocol 
to the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 
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•HRES 416 IH 
and the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention 
Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or De-
grading Treatment or Punishment; 
(5) 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; 
(6) 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 
(7) 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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