Ratify women's treaty: [Oregon's Senator Gordon] Smith's vote will be crucial in Senate

the Register Guard ^ | 18 July 02 | A Register Guard Masthead Editorial

[Glutton]

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to vote today on whether women deserve equal rights in the United States and around the world. The key word is "deserve" - whether women actually get equal rights is a question not addressed by the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The committee should support the treaty, and send it to the full Senate for ratification.

Sen. Gordon Smith is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, and his vote will be crucial. As of Wednesday, the Oregon Republican had not decided how he will vote on the treaty. His support would help move the treaty out of the committee, and provide an example to moderate Republicans whose votes will be needed to secure the two-thirds vote required for Senate ratification.

The treaty commits signatories to granting full political and legal rights to women, along with equal access to education and health care. It has been ratified by 170 nations, including all industrialized countries except the United States. As one of the few remaining holdouts, the United States finds itself in the company of Iran, Somalia and Syria.

President Carter signed the anti-discrimination treaty, known as CEDAW, in 1980, but it has been bottled up in the Senate ever since. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and then as its chairman until last year, has been instrumental in blocking the treaty's approval. Helms is suspicious of international agreements of any kind - and doubly so of CEDAW, which he has portrayed as advancing a feminist agenda that includes abortion rights.

Yet it's easier to argue that the treaty does too little than to claim that it does too much. CEDAW would not conflict with any existing U.S. law. It includes no enforcement mechanism, requiring only that signatories report regularly on the status of women. It has been ratified by Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Pakistan and many other countries that fall far short of minimal standards of protection and respect for women's rights.

Despite its toothlessness, CEDAW has value. Its supporters, which include groups ranging from the American Association of Retired Persons to the National Audubon Society, can point to dozens of instances in which nations have attempted to bring their laws and practices into line with CEDAW's standards. The treaty commits signatories to the principle of women's rights; even a rhetorical commitment can be a powerful tool for exposing inequality and creating pressure to rectify it.

President Bush rightly claimed that one of the greatest benefits of the United States' overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has been an improvement in the status of women. The United States, however, weakens its ability to lecture other nations on their treatment of women as long as it refuses to ratify CEDAW. The Bush administration, after initially expressing support for the treaty, has begun to waver and has asked that the treaty be withdrawn for further study. Instead, the Senate should ratify CEDAW by a convincing margin, putting the United States on record in support of women's rights at home and around the world.

[timydnuc]

She took an Oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. She will violate that Oath. TREASON, does that ring a bell?

[Glutton]

Smith is up for re-election this year, and I am not surprised the liberal to centrist Republicans of the Register Guard are working to feather Gordon Smith's nest to help keep him as an Oregon Senator.

He is a Mormon who's family made their fortune with a food processing company, and he has forged a close friendship and working relationship with Democratic Senator Ron Wyden.

[realpatriot71]

Would not ratifying this treaty be a moot point in this country? I would think, and call me crazy (many do), that we have a few more important and pressing matters that ratifying some old treaty that we already do anyway.

[McGavin999]

Uh, since when do we need to ratify a treaty that gives women equal rights. We already HAVE the Constitution.

Watch out folks, the dems are bringing this up now for a reason.

[FryingPan101]

Yeah...right. When we lived in Eugene, we voted for him in both elections. The one where he expected a clean fight with Wyden and Wyden wouldn't play fair. Wyden even had Gore at a rally and the idiots sang "Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative." I couldn't stand it. Smith cried when he lost. When he won the next time, he ultimately became something other than what I expected. I've been disappointed. If I still lived there, I would vote for him given the opposition. I mean can you figure any state citizens who would intentionally vote for Ron Wyden? Good grief.

[aimhigh]

I'm from Oregon and thinking about voting for a Democrat instead of Smith. Since Smith is beginning to vote like a Democrat, I may as well be represented by the real thing. He is such a disappointment.

[Paleo Conservative]

That's really smart. The perfect is the enemy of the good. Add anonther DemocRAT to the senate who will vote to give control of the Senate and all committees to the DemocRATS. At least if Smith is re-elected, he will vote for Republicans to control the Senate. Perhaps you are not aware, but the reason this Treaty has been put on the agenda of the Senate is that the DemocRATS have a plurality that effectively give them control plus a two vote majority on every Senate committee. If you want a senator from Oregon who does not vote like a Democrat, then you need to hold your nose and vote for the Republican canditdate who will help give Republicans a majority in the Senate in 2003. If the Republicans had control of committees, garbage such as the CEDAW treaty would not be on the agenda at all, and your senator would not have the opportunity to vote either for or against it.

[justshe]

If you vote for a Democrat, you deserve what you get, imo.

I am an Oregonian also. Smith has been disappointing on some issues, but on others he has been RIGHT on. I would prefer an 85% 'OK voting record' than a 100% 'WRONG voting record'.

This is much like the heated debate that occurs re: President Bush. I have actually heard people on this forum say they might as well have voted for Al Gore.

Silly, no?

[blackie]

I like Gordon Smith, he does great for what he has to work with...

Hell, I even donate money to him... :o)

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

Molon Labe !!

[blackie]

Get a grip G, there are no pubbies on the R-G, it's a left-wing, anti-growth, pro-enviro-nazis terrorist rag...

Read the editorial page once in a while...

I canceled it over a year ago, we buy the Saturday edition for the TV log and movie showtimes.