PRINTER'S NO. 754
No. 50 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY WILLIAMS, YOUNGBLOOD, TIGUE, THOMAS, HENNESSEY,
BELARDI, COY, MUNDY, TRELLO, ROBINSON, DALEY, JAMES,
LAUGHLIN, RUBLEY, SANTONI, JOSEPHS, BEBKO-JONES, FREEMAN,
HARHAI, MANDERINO, McCALL, LEDERER, CURRY, MELIO AND MYERS,
MARCH 8, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
MARCH 8, 1999
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the President of the United States to support and
2 the Senate of the United States to ratify the United Nations
3 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
4 Against Women.
5 WHEREAS, The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
6 Discrimination Against Women was adopted by the United Nations
7 General Assembly on December 18, 1979, and became an
8 international treaty on September 3, 1981, and currently, 161
9 nations, including all of the industrialized world except the
10 United States, have agreed to be bound by the Convention's
11 provisions; and
12 WHEREAS, The United States supports and has a position of
13 leadership in the United Nations as an active participant in the
14 drafting and a signatory to the Convention; and
15 WHEREAS, The spirit of the Convention is rooted in the goals
16 of the United Nations and the United States, to affirm faith in
17 fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human
1 person and in the equal rights of men and women; and
2 WHEREAS, The Convention provides a comprehensive framework
3 for challenging the various forces that have created and
4 sustained discrimination based on sex against half the world's
5 population, and the nations in support of the present Convention
6 have agreed to follow Convention prescriptions; and
7 WHEREAS, Although women have made major gains in the struggle
8 for equality in social, business, political, legal, educational
9 and other fields in this century, there is much yet to be
10 accomplished, and through its support, leadership and prestige,
11 the United States can help create a world where women are no
12 longer discriminated against and can achieve one of the most
13 fundamental of human rights, equality; and
14 WHEREAS, Over 100 organizations have endorsed the convention,
15 including: American Bar Association, American Federation of
16 Teachers, Americans for Democratic Action, Baha'is of America,
17 Episcopal Church, General Federation of Women's Clubs, Hadassah,
18 League of Women Voters of the United States, Lutheran Office for
19 Governmental Affairs, National Association of Social Workers,
20 National Association of Women Lawyers, National Council of Negro
21 Women, NOW, Legal Defense and Education Fund, Planned Parenthood
22 Federation of America, Presbyterian Church USA, Sierra Club,
23 Unitarian Universalists, United Methodist Church, United Nations
24 Association of the USA, Women's National Democratic Club, Women
25 of Reform Judaism, Women's Action for New Directions, World
26 Federalist Association, YWCA of the USA; therefore be it
27 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the General
28 Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memorialize the
29 President of the United States and the Secretary of State to
30 place the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All
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1 Forms of Discrimination Against Women in the highest category of
2 priority in order to accelerate this treaty's passage through
3 the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the
4 full Senate of the United States with the goal of United States
5 ratification; and be it further
6 RESOLVED, That the United States Senate Foreign Relations
7 Committee pass this treaty favorably out of committee; and be it
8 further
9 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the United States ratify the
10 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
11 Discrimination Against Women and support the Convention's
12 continuing goals; and be it further
13 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
14 the President of the United States, the Secretary of State of
15 the United States, the presiding officers of each house of
16 Congress, the Chair and members of the Senate Foreign Relations
17 Committee and to United States Senators from Pennsylvania.
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