Read first time 02/10/09.   Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection.

     TO THE HONORABLE BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE, AND TO HILDA SOLIS, SECRETARY OF LABOR:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 18, 1979, became an international treaty on September 3, 1981, and by August 2006, one hundred eighty-five nations including all of the industrialized world, except the United States, have agreed to pursue the Convention's goals; and
     WHEREAS, The United States supports and has a position of leadership in the United Nations, was an active participant in the drafting of the Convention and signed the Convention in 1980, but to date has not ratified it; and
     WHEREAS, The spirit of the Convention is to affirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of each person, and in the goal of equal rights, opportunities, and protections for women and girls; and
     WHEREAS, The Convention provides a comprehensive framework for advancing the rights, opportunities, and protections for women and girls, half the world's population, which framework is implemented by individual countries in ways appropriate to their own countries; and
     WHEREAS, Much research has found that discrimination based on sex results in less education for girls and women, fewer job opportunities and lower pay for women, slower national economic productivity and growth, and retards the ability of developing countries to grow their economies and contribute to global economic recovery; and
     WHEREAS, Women in every country play fundamentally important economic roles in their economies and frequently constitute the major economic support for their families; and
     WHEREAS, Although women in many parts of the world have made major gains in struggles for equality in social, business, political, legal, education, and other fields, much more needs to be accomplished; and
     WHEREAS, Through its active support and moral leadership, the United States can help create a world where women and girls have equal legal protections, human rights, education and economic opportunities, personal safety, health care, and more;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that President Obama and Secretary Clinton place the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in the highest category of priority in order to accelerate the treaty's passage through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the full United States Senate with the goal of ratification by the United States; and that the Washington State Legislature urge the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to pass this treaty favorably out of Committee and recommend it be approved by the full United States Senate.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.