Convention on the Rights of the Child.—

Sec. 632. Convention on the Rights of the Child.— (a) Findings.— The Senate finds that— (1) the future peace and prosperity of all nations depend upon the good health and well-being of the world’s children; (2) the Congress has long recognized the vulnerability of children and has enacted numerous laws that afford them special protections in this country; (3) similar protections for children are either totally lacking or inadequately enforced in much of the world; (4) in part as a result of this lack of protection, millions of children are threatened daily by poverty, malnutrition, homelessness, exploitation and abuse, depriving both family and society of their productivity and potential; (5) the Child Survival and Development Revolution, launched in 1982 to attack the root causes of infant mortality and child ill-health through low-cost means such as universal child immunization and oral rehydration therapy, is saving the lives of more than 3,000,000 children each year and has demonstrated that the number of child deaths can be reduced significantly if available resources are used appropriately; (6) despite these gains and an emerging international consensus about the importance of protecting children, children both here and abroad will continue to face poverty, sickness, and ill-treatment. (7) on November 20, 1989, the United States and other members of the United Nations unanimously endorsed the Convention on the Rights of the Child and urged national governments to ratify the Convention and make possible its application as international law; 104 STAT. 1481 (8) this Convention, if implemented, will help establish universal legal standards for the care and protection of children against neglect, exploitation, and abuse; (9) the United States Government, scores of private voluntary organizations, and hundreds of American citizens were actively involved in the drafting of this Convention; and (10) the United States must continue playing a leading role in the implementation of the Convention to ensure that it becomes a force for improving the lot of children, both in this country and abroad. (b) Sense of the Senate.— It is the sense of the Senate that the issue of children’s rights and their well-being is important both to the United States and the world at large and that, in consideration thereof, the President should promptly seek the advice and consent of the Senate to the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations with the support of the United States on November 29, 1989.