Federal Legislation	July 16, 2009

Action Requested:
No action is requested at this time. HSLDA will continue to monitor this resolution and will send out an action e-lert if it is scheduled for a hearing.

Summary:
House Resolution 416 expresses the sense of the U.S. House of Representatives that “the United States should become an international human rights leader by ratifying and implementing certain core international conventions.” H.Res. 416 names eight “fundamental” international treaties that have been adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Two of these eight treaties are the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

HSLDA has deep concerns with both of these treaties. If ratified by the U.S. Senate, they would fundamentally alter the current legal protection for homeschool families all across the United States. You can read our analysis of the CRC here. You can read our analysis of CEDAW here.

While passage of H.Res. 416 would not ratify these treaties, passage would increase pressure on the U.S. Senate to ratify these treaties.

Status:

5/7/2009		Introduced and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the committee on the Judiciary
6/17/2009		Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.

Sponsor: Representative Ron Lewis (GA-5)

Cosponsors:

Bill Summary and Status H.Res. 416