<div class="xtend"><a id="pl.1.1"></a><var>1.1</var>A resolution<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.2"></a><var>1.2</var>urging the members of the United States Senate to oppose ratification of the United <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.3"></a><var>1.3</var>Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.4"></a><var>1.4</var>WHEREAS, the right of the parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.5"></a><var>1.5</var>is a fundamental right protected by the Constitutions of the United States and the state of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.6"></a><var>1.6</var>Minnesota; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.7"></a><var>1.7</var>WHEREAS, our nation has long pursued the path of relying first and foremost on parents to <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.8"></a><var>1.8</var>meet the real and necessary needs of children; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.9"></a><var>1.9</var>WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in <i>Wisconsin v. Yoder</i> (1972) has held that <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.10"></a><var>1.10</var>"This primary role of the parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.11"></a><var>1.11</var>debate as an enduring American tradition"; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.12"></a><var>1.12</var>WHEREAS, children are best served by the continued practice of requiring proper proof <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.13"></a><var>1.13</var>of harm before the government intervenes in the family to override parental decisions in any <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.14"></a><var>1.14</var>sphere of the child's upbringing; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.15"></a><var>1.15</var>WHEREAS, certain members of the United States Senate have called upon the Secretary of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.16"></a><var>1.16</var>State and the President to forward to them the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.17"></a><var>1.17</var>Child for ratification; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.18"></a><var>1.18</var>WHEREAS, Article VI of the Constitution of the United States provides that treaties that <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.19"></a><var>1.19</var>are ratified by the United States Senate become a part of the "supreme law of the land" and that <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.20"></a><var>1.20</var>state laws and constitutions are subservient to such treaties; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.1"></a><var>2.1</var>WHEREAS, virtually all law that applies to children and families in Minnesota is state <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.2"></a><var>2.2</var>law; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.3"></a><var>2.3</var>WHEREAS, by virtue of the federal Supremacy Clause all Minnesota law regarding <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.4"></a><var>2.4</var>children would be overridden if there is a conflict with this treaty if ratified; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.5"></a><var>2.5</var>WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States would acquire primary jurisdiction to <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.6"></a><var>2.6</var>legislate to meet our nation's legal obligation to comply with the treaty if ratified, thereby shifting <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.7"></a><var>2.7</var>from Minnesota and her sister states to the Congress of the United States powers not formerly <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.8"></a><var>2.8</var>delegated which are currently reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment to the United <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.9"></a><var>2.9</var>States Constitution; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.10"></a><var>2.10</var>WHEREAS, the treaty is subject to the general rule of international law that "custom" <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.11"></a><var>2.11</var>is binding law in many circumstances, rendering the text of a treaty an unreliable guide to its <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.12"></a><var>2.12</var>future meaning; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.13"></a><var>2.13</var>WHEREAS, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child at periodic intervals <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.14"></a><var>2.14</var>publishes "General Comments" which are substantive additions to the obligations of state parties <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.15"></a><var>2.15</var>already under the Convention; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.16"></a><var>2.16</var>WHEREAS, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child makes regular <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.17"></a><var>2.17</var>determinations of the meaning and the application of the treaty, and it would hold these <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.18"></a><var>2.18</var>interpretations to be binding on the Congress of the United States and the courts of the United <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.19"></a><var>2.19</var>States when interpreting and enforcing the treaty; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.20"></a><var>2.20</var>WHEREAS, this represents a wholesale abandonment of the ultimate sovereignty of the <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.21"></a><var>2.21</var>United States on matters within the scope of the treaty; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.22"></a><var>2.22</var>WHEREAS, this abandonment violates the core principle of our self-government: to <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.23"></a><var>2.23</var>wit, only American legislatures and the people themselves have the moral authority to make <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.24"></a><var>2.24</var>law for America; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.25"></a><var>2.25</var>WHEREAS, the substance of the treaty as interpreted and applied by this official United <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.26"></a><var>2.26</var>Nations tribunal:<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.27"></a><var>2.27</var>&#8226; bans all corporal punishment, including reasonable spanking by parents;<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.28"></a><var>2.28</var>&#8226; gives the government review authority of a broad scope of parental decisions without the <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.29"></a><var>2.29</var>necessity of proving that the parents are unfit or have harmed the child;<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.30"></a><var>2.30</var>&#8226; allows children and government to override reasonable and ordinary decisions concerning <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.31"></a><var>2.31</var>the religious upbringing of the child;<br />
         		<a id="pl.3.1"></a><var>3.1</var>&#8226; allows the government the ability to review any parental decision concerning the <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.2"></a><var>3.2</var>education of their child, even if that decision fully complies with the law of Minnesota;<br />
         		<a id="pl.3.3"></a><var>3.3</var>&#8226; requires a level of socialized spending programs for the supposed needs of children <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.4"></a><var>3.4</var>(which in too many cases simply employ more government workers) that would bankrupt any <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.5"></a><var>3.5</var>American state; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.3.6"></a><var>3.6</var>&#8226; grants to children a legally enforceable right to leisure and many other particular "rights" <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.7"></a><var>3.7</var>that are contrary to American traditions and common sense; NOW, THEREFORE, <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.8"></a><var>3.8</var>BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it hereby condemns <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.9"></a><var>3.9</var>the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.10"></a><var>3.10</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it urges the United States Senate to reject its ratification.<br />
         		<a id="pl.3.11"></a><var>3.11</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be distributed to each member <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.12"></a><var>3.12</var>of the United States Senate.<br />
         		<a id="pl.3.13"></a><var>3.13</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.14"></a><var>3.14</var>directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.15"></a><var>3.15</var>States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.16"></a><var>3.16</var>of the United States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.17"></a><var>3.17</var>Relations, the chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Minnesota's Senators and <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.18"></a><var>3.18</var>Representatives in Congress.<br />
         		
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