BILL NUMBER: AJR 32AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 2010 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 10, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 15, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Monning (Coauthors: Assembly Members Brownley, Evans, Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Nava, John A. Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, and Yamada) ( Coauthor: Senator Corbett ) FEBRUARY 16, 2010 Relative to gender discrimination. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AJR 32, as amended, Monning. Gender discrimination. This measure would memorialize the United States Senate to ratify, and the President to sign, the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and would memorialize the Congress of the United States and the President to enact appropriate legislation that addresses the concerns expressed in this measure. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, On December 18, 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, and after the 20th nation ratified the convention on September 3, 1981, it became an international treaty; and WHEREAS, The treaty brings the female half of humanity into the focus of human rights concerns and establishes not only an international bill of rights for women, but also an agenda for action by countries to guarantee those rights; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to creating conditions within which women can exercise and enjoy basic rights and freedoms; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to affirmative action for women until parity with men is reached; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to abolishing all forms of slavery and prostitution of women; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to securing women's right to vote, to stand for election, and to hold public office; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to providing equal opportunity for women to represent their countries internationally; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to allowing women the right to change or retain their nationality and that of their children, regardless of marital status; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to ensuring girls' and women's equal access to quality education in all subjects and at all levels, including continuing and vocational programs for women; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to ensuring equal employment, vocational, and promotion opportunities, job security, and equal pay for work of equal value; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to ensuring that women who are married, pregnant, or have children have the right to work and the right to maternity leave and other appropriate benefits; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to ensuring that child care is available, and that pregnant women are protected from work that may be hazardous to their health or the health of their future children; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to providing adequate health services to women, including family planning where necessary, and prenatal care, including nutrition for pregnant and lactating mothers; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to ensuring access to financial credit for women; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to ensuring the right of women to participate in recreational, cultural, and athletic activities; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to giving special attention to all the provisions of the treaty to women who reside in rural areas; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to ensuring women equal rights in choosing a spouse, name, or occupation; to marry and divorce; to own, buy, sell, and administer property; to share parenting roles, regardless of marital status; and to choose the number and spacing of their children, including adoption or guardianship; and WHEREAS, Ratifying governments are committed to establishing a minimum age for marriage and to ensuring that all marriages are entered into freely, by mutual consent; and WHEREAS, In 1979, after the United Nations General Assembly adopted the treaty, President James Carter sent it to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for ratification, where it was subsequently approved by the committee with bipartisan support but never scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor because such treaties require a two-thirds vote of support; and WHEREAS, Over six million women are beaten by their husbands or boyfriends each year in the United States, and 1,500 of them die from their injuries; and WHEREAS, One hundred eighty-six countries have ratified the treaty; and WHEREAS, The United States of America is considered by many nations to be the leader of the democratic societies of the world and the leading proponent of human rights, yet the United States of America is the only industrialized nation in the world that has not ratified the treaty; and WHEREAS, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should be strongly urged to place the treaty in the highest category of priority to accelerate its passage through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and WHEREAS, The Legislature should exhort the Senate Foreign Relations Committee once again to pass the treaty favorably out of committee as soon as possible; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California requests that the United States Congress ratify, and President Obama sign, the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of California respectfully requests the Congress and the President to enact appropriate legislation that would address the concerns set forth in this measure; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the Senate, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.