PRINTER'S NO. 17
No. 17 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY C. WILLIAMS, MELLOW, BOSCOLA, FONTANA,
TARTAGLIONE, LAVALLE, KITCHEN, COSTA, RHOADES, MUSTO, STOUT,
WOZNIAK AND FERLO, JANUARY 29, 2007
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, JANUARY 29, 2007
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, 185
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
18 person and in the equal rights of men and women; and
1 WHEREAS, The Convention provides a comprehensive framework
2 for challenging the various forces that have created and
3 sustained discrimination based on sex against half the world's
4 population, and the nations in support of the present Convention
5 have agreed to follow Convention prescriptions; and
6 WHEREAS, Although women have made major gains in the struggle
7 for equality in social, business, political, legal, educational
8 and other fields in this century, there is much yet to be
9 accomplished, and through its support, leadership and prestige,
10 the United States can help create a world where women are no
11 longer discriminated against and can achieve one of the most
12 fundamental of human rights, equality; and
13 WHEREAS, Over 100 organizations have endorsed the Convention,
14 including: American Bar Association, American Federation of
15 Teachers, Americans for Democratic Action, Baha'is of America,
16 Episcopal Church, General Federation of Women's Clubs, Hadassah,
17 League of Women Voters of the United States, Lutheran Office for
18 Governmental Affairs, National Association of Social Workers,
19 National Association of Women Lawyers, National Council of Negro
20 Women, NOW, Legal Defense and Education Fund, Planned Parenthood
21 Federation of America, Presbyterian Church USA, Sierra Club,
22 Unitarian Universalists, United Methodist Church, United Nations
23 Association of the USA, Women's National Democratic Club, Women
24 of Reform Judaism, Women's Action for New Directions, Citizens
25 for Global Solutions, YWCA of the USA; therefore be it
26 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
27 memorialize the President of the United States and the Secretary
28 of State to place the United Nations Convention on the
29 Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in the
30 highest category of priority in order to accelerate this
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1 treaty's passage through the United States Senate Foreign
2 Relations Committee and the full Senate of the United States
3 with the goal of United States ratification; and be it further
4 RESOLVED, That the United States Senate Foreign Relations
5 Committee pass this treaty favorably out of committee; and be it
6 further
7 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the United States ratify the
8 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
9 Discrimination against Women and support the Convention's
10 continuing goals; and be it further
11 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
12 the President of the United States, the Secretary of State of
13 the United States and each member of the Pennsylvania
14 Congressional Delegation.
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