Mr. Smith of New Jersey

    Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and didn't get here in time to speak on the resolution lauding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is among the most durable, enduring, inspiring and historic set of fundamental principles ever enunciated by anyone ever in history. It ranks right up there with the Magna Carta. It ranks right up there with the U.S. Bill of Rights, which obviously enumerated a number of our fundamental freedoms that we love and enjoy as Americans. 

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 60 years after its adoption, continues to serve as a backdrop to judge government policies and behaviors toward its citizens. And that is especially important as to how a government treats the weak, its most vulnerable and those who might otherwise be disenfranchised. 

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a promissory note. It's a paper promise that must be backed by deeds. It has only, however, been realized in part over the last 60 years. It is a work in progress. The Declaration inspires people to realize that they, as human beings, endowed by God, by our Creator, with certain inalienable rights, ought to fight for those rights. And this gives them a very useful tool in that endeavor, a means to that end. 

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has emphasized a number of important and hallowed rights, including religious freedom, the right to life, freedom from torture, equal protection, due process, labor nights and freedom of assembly. Under it, no one should ever be left behind. And that means that regardless of race, ethnicity, age, disability, or condition of dependency, no one should be left behind. 

    We know in many countries of the world, sadly that is not the case. In places like the People's Republic of China, human rights are systematically and pervasively violated by Beijing, whether it be religious freedom or the outrages we recently saw in Tibet, where the government crackdown crushed dissent with an iron fist. China persecutes the Uighurs in the autonomous region and families, especally women as part of their draconian one-child-per-couple policy which has made brothers and sisters illegal throughout China. That's right. Brothers and sisters are illegal in the People's Republic of China. A couple is required to get government permission to have a child. And forced abortion and huge fines are imposed on women and men who do not submit to the plan. In Burma and North Korea, human rights are also violated with grave impunity. And the U.N. Human Rights Council and other bodies of the U.N. need to do more to implement the intent of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sadly, they have largely failed. 

    We have seen a very disturbing rise in anti-Semitism throughout Europe, certainly in the Middle East, and even in the United States and Canada. That too has to be combated. We see a rise in modern-day slavery, human trafficking--sex trafficking or labor trafficking. That needs to be combated and eradicated and victims assisted. Everyone should be free of that kind of terrible and despicable mistreatment. The Sudan, Zimbabwe, the genocide occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan is also a grave violation of human rights, completely antithetical to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Like the last, this is a century of victims. 

    And let me say before the West gets too smug about how well we are doing, we, too, have our problems. We see them every day. We have fallen short of the standard. I respectfully submit to my colleagues that we have failed to treat the defenseless unborn child with compassion and justice. We know now more than we have ever known before about the magnificent world of an unborn child. Ultrasound, 4-D ultrasound, the ability to do intrauterine blood transfusions and microsurgery have shattered the myth that an unborn child is somehow not human or alive. Of course they are. We know that these babies are society's littlest patients, in need of care and love, increasingly surviving at earlier, earlier times if born prematurely. 

    Abortion needs to be looked at, in my opinion, Mr. Speaker, as a serious violation of human rights. Abortion is violence against children. The dismemberment or chemical poisoning of a baby is antithetical to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All abuse is contrary to the Declaration and that holds true no matter how old you are, and that includes unborn children. We also know abortion hurts women psychologically and physically. And that evidence grows by the day. 

    So I would hope that we would look at human rights as being for everyone, at all times, regardless of age, condition of dependency, regardless of race, no matter where you live. The universal declaration is for you. We need to speak out more boldly with better, more focused appeals employing all the tools at our disposal, linking sanctions and withholding of certain aid if a country doesn't live up to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

    Again, the Declaration is a backdrop. And I hope that we do even better than we have in the past. The past has been checkered. Certainly we have moved the ball down the court. Much more needs to be done however to respect everyone's fundamental human rights. 

    I thank my colleagues.