Treaty Doc. 96–53; Convention on the Elimi- Nation of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Adopted by the U.N
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S. HRG. 107–530 TREATY DOC. 96–53; CONVENTION ON THE ELIMI- NATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN, ADOPTED BY THE U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON DECEMBER 18, 1979, AND SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON JULY 17, 1980 HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 13, 2002 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 80–461 PDF WASHINGTON : 2002 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 14:20 Nov 13, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 80461 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware, Chairman PAUL S. SARBANES, Maryland JESSE HELMS, North Carolina CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon PAUL D. WELLSTONE, Minnesota BILL FRIST, Tennessee BARBARA BOXER, California LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, Rhode Island ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia BILL NELSON, Florida SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming ANTONY J. BLINKEN, Staff Director PATRICIA A. MCNERNEY, Republican Staff Director (II) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 14:20 Nov 13, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 80461 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 CONTENTS Page Balmforth, Ms. Kathryn Ogden, Member, Firm of Wood Crapo, LLC, Salt Lake City, Utah, Former Director, World Family Policy Center, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT .............................................................................. 40 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 42 Davis, Hon. Jo Ann, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. ............. 11 Hoff-Sommers, Dr. Christina, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Insti- tute, Chevy Chase, MD ........................................................................................ 51 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 54 Kirkpatrick, Hon. Jeane, Senior Fellow & Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute, Former Permanent Rep- resentative to the United Nations, Washington, D.C. ...................................... 29 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 31 Koh, Hon. Harold Hongju, Professor, Yale Law School, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, New Haven, CT .................................... 32 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 35 Maloney, Hon. Carolyn B., U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. .. 23 Mclennan, Hon. Juliette C., Former U.S. Representative to the U.N. Commis- sion on the Status of Women, Easton, MD ........................................................ 47 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 48 Millender-McDonald, Hon. Juanita, U.S. House of Representatives, Wash- ington, D.C. ........................................................................................................... 14 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 27 Morella, Hon. Constance A., U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. ........................................................................................................................ 21 Smith, Ms. Jane E., Chief Executive Officer, Business and Professional Women/USA, Washington, D.C. .......................................................................... 56 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 58 Woolsey, Hon. Lynn C., U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. ....... 9 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 10 APPENDIXES A. Text of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women .................................................................................................... 73 B. Material Submitted in Support of Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women ........................... 85 C. Material Submitted in Opposition to Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women .................... 121 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 14:20 Nov 13, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 80461 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 14:20 Nov 13, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 80461 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 TREATY DOC. 96–53; CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMI- NATION AGAINST WOMEN, ADOPTED BY THE U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON DECEM- BER 18, 1979, AND SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON JULY 17, 1980 THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2002 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a.m. in room SD–419, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Joseph R. Biden, Jr., chairman of the committee, presiding. Present: Senators Biden, Boxer, Feingold, Wellstone, Brownback, and Enzi. The CHAIRMAN. The hearing will come to order, please. Today, the Committee on Foreign Relations is going to consider an impor- tant treaty designed to advance the rights of women around the world: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimi- nation Against Women. Action on this treaty is long overdue. It was submitted by President Carter in 1980. Let me say that again. It was submitted by President Carter in 1980. Eight years ago, in September 1994, the committee approved this treaty 13 to 5; so we are on record. I voted for this treaty, and oth- ers who were on this committee at the time, 13 of us, some of whom are still here, voted for this treaty in 1994. Unfortunately, no action has been taken on the treaty since that date. At the outset, let me express my disappointment with the manner in which, and I have tried to be very, very cooperative with the Department with which this committee has had great relations and no substantive complaints with the Department of State, but I want to express my disappointment with the manner in which the administration has addressed this treaty. Its cooperation has been far from satisfactory, and this is not just carping. Let me ex- plain why. Last June, I became chairman—as my father would say, it is bet- ter to be lucky than good. After I became chairman, I wrote Sec- retary Powell to invite the State Department to submit its list— and would you close that door back there? I would ask the police to close the door in the back and keep the noise down. Thank you. (1) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 14:20 Nov 13, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 80461 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 2 Last June, as I said, after I became chairman, I wrote Secretary Powell to invite the Department of State to submit its list of prior- ities for treaties pending in the Senate, restating the request made by Senator Helms 3 months earlier, which I might say for my col- leagues from the House, this is one of the few things the Constitu- tion does not have them do, treaties. It is a tradition of the Senate. It is a practice to ask each administration to do that. There is noth- ing abnormal about the request that was made. In my letter I indi- cated that I expected to convene a hearing on the Woman’s Con- vention in the coming year. Senator Boxer and I have been talking about this for several years, but because of the—and I do not say this critically. It is just an observation. Because of the strong opposition of the then-chair- man of the committee, there was no likelihood we were going to get a hearing on the treaty, and so we had planned a half-a-dozen dif- ferent ways to try to bring the treaty up on the floor even without a hearing, and we found that we ran into roadblocks that would make it virtually impossible to get it done, so I indicated that I ex- pected to convene a hearing on the women’s convention in the com- ing year, and that the Department would be asked to testify at the time. In February of this year, in response to my letter, the Depart- ment submitted, and I quote, the administration’s treaty priority list for the 107th Congress. Now, the letter places treaties pending in the Senate in a num- ber of categories. The letter I received from the Department, the letter indicated that the Bush administration supported the wom- en’s convention and placed that treaty in category III, a category of treaties which the administration believes, ‘‘are generally desir- able and should be approved,’’ not their highest priority. There are other treaties they have listed. There are several categories in the letter they have sent us, but in the letter they sent us in February saying, we believe this treaty is generally desirable and should be approved. Heartened by that statement, in early March I wrote back to the Secretary of State and indicated the committee would hold