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TESTIMONY BY SENATOR WILLIAM PROXMIRE BEFORE THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE
May 24, 1977
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, first I would like to congratulate you on scheduling these hearings. This is an extremely important subject. One which I care deeply about. And I am wery grateful for this opportunity to be your first witness.
As you pointed out, the Genocide Convention has been pending before the Senate since President Truman first submitted it for ratification in 1949.
Think about that for a moment. 1949 to 1977. That's a full quarter century. An entire generation has been born and grown to adulthood during those years, and still the Senate ha? not acted.
It is not the fault of your Committee, Mr. Chairman. Your Committee has held hearings in 1950, 1970, 1971 and again today. This Committee has recommended prompt Senate ratification four times now. But a forceful minority has prevented the Senate from voicing its will.
In your previous hearings, this Committee has developed a long record in support of this treaty's ratification. We all know the arguments of the Convention's opponents. I firmly believe that they are as frivolous today as when they were first voiced in 1950. But I do not intend to take the Committee's time this morning rehashing old ground. I discussed these points in great detail during my appearance before this Committee in 1970, and I am sure that the witnesses who follow will adequately cover them again.
This morning I would like to briefly outline why I believe this Convention is so terribly important, why I have voiced my support for it almost every day on the floor of the Senate since our opening session in 1967, and review the further developments since your last hearings that make ratification this year urgent.
The Purpose of the Genocide Convention Mr. Chairman, there is no human rights treaty that has been subject to more detailed scrutiny and engendered more controversy than the Genocide Convention. Every line, every phrase, ewery syllable has been studied over and over.
Object Description
| Page Title | Testimony by Senator William Proxmire Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee May 24, 1977 |
| Author | Proxmire, William |
| Source Creation Date | May 24, 1977 |
| Language | English |
| Digital Format | XML |
| Electronic Publisher | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Rights | We believe that online reproduction of this material is permitted because its copyright protection has lapsed or because sharing it here for non-profit educational purposes complies with the Fair Use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law. Teachers and students are generally free to reproduce pages for nonprofit classroom use. For advice about other uses, or if you believe that you possess copyright to some of this material, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. |
| Electronic Publication Date | 2005 |
| Digital Identifier | TP333000 |
| Description | In 1948, in the shadow of the holocaust, the international community responded to Nazi Germany's methodically orchestrated acts of genocide by approving the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Although this document was signed by President Truman, the Senate did not ratify it nor did the Congress pass any similar provision outlawing genocide in the United States. Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire championed this cause, passionately believing that the U.S. ought to formally support the U.N. resolution, and between 1967 and 1988 he delivered more than 3,000 speeches on the subject. The Senate adopted a ratification resolution in February 1986, Proxmire's own "Genocide Convention Implementation Act" passed in 1987, and President Ronald Reagan signed it at the end of Proxmire's senate career, on November 4, 1988. The document given here is a mimeographed copy of testimony Proxmire gave during the middle of his two-decade campaign to make genocide illegal under U.S. law |
| Owner | Wisconsin Historical Society Archives |
| Format | Text |
| Recommended Citation | "Testimony by Senator William Proxmire Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee May 24, 1977." Mimeographed typescript from the Proxmire Papers 1938-2004, Mss. 738, at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Online facsimile at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1512 |
| Document Number | TP333 |
| Size | 6 p. ; 36 cm. |
| URL | http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1512 |
| Owner Collection | Main Stacks |
| Owner Object ID | Mss 738; WIHV86-A182 |
| Series | Proxmire, William. Papers, 1938-2004 |
| Genre | government report; |
| State/Province | Wisconsin |
| Sub-Topic | Korea and the Cold War |
| Event Date | 1949-1977 |
| Event Years | 1949-1977 |
| Occupations | Legislators |
| Politics | International relations; Legislation; Politicians |
| War | World War, 1939-1945; War; |
| Type | Text |
Description
| Page Title | Page 1 |
| Author | Proxmire, William |
| Source Creation Date | May 24, 1977 |
| Language | English |
| Digital Format | JPG |
| Electronic Publisher | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Rights | We believe that online reproduction of this material is permitted because its copyright protection has lapsed or because sharing it here for non-profit educational purposes complies with the Fair Use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law. Teachers and students are generally free to reproduce pages for nonprofit classroom use. For advice about other uses, or if you believe that you possess copyright to some of this material, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. |
| Electronic Publication Date | 2005 |
| Digital Identifier | TP333001 |
| Owner | Wisconsin Historical Society Archives |
| Format | Text |
| Size | 36 cm. |
| Owner Collection | Main Stacks |
| Owner Object ID | MSS 738 |
| Series | Proxmire, William. Papers, 1938-2004 |
| Full Text | TESTIMONY BY SENATOR WILLIAM PROXMIRE BEFORE THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE May 24, 1977 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, first I would like to congratulate you on scheduling these hearings. This is an extremely important subject. One which I care deeply about. And I am wery grateful for this opportunity to be your first witness. As you pointed out, the Genocide Convention has been pending before the Senate since President Truman first submitted it for ratification in 1949. Think about that for a moment. 1949 to 1977. That's a full quarter century. An entire generation has been born and grown to adulthood during those years, and still the Senate ha? not acted. It is not the fault of your Committee, Mr. Chairman. Your Committee has held hearings in 1950, 1970, 1971 and again today. This Committee has recommended prompt Senate ratification four times now. But a forceful minority has prevented the Senate from voicing its will. In your previous hearings, this Committee has developed a long record in support of this treaty's ratification. We all know the arguments of the Convention's opponents. I firmly believe that they are as frivolous today as when they were first voiced in 1950. But I do not intend to take the Committee's time this morning rehashing old ground. I discussed these points in great detail during my appearance before this Committee in 1970, and I am sure that the witnesses who follow will adequately cover them again. This morning I would like to briefly outline why I believe this Convention is so terribly important, why I have voiced my support for it almost every day on the floor of the Senate since our opening session in 1967, and review the further developments since your last hearings that make ratification this year urgent. The Purpose of the Genocide Convention Mr. Chairman, there is no human rights treaty that has been subject to more detailed scrutiny and engendered more controversy than the Genocide Convention. Every line, every phrase, ewery syllable has been studied over and over. |
| Event Date | 1949-1977 |
| Event Years | 1949-1977 |
| Type | Text |