Article 50

The members and the Secretary of the Committee shall receive emoluments commensurate with the importance and responsibilities of their office.

Article 51

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall provide the necessary staff and facilities for the Committee and its members.

Article 52

1. If a State Party to the Covenant considers that another State Party is not giving effect to a provision of the Covenant, it may, by written communication, bring the matter to the attention of that State. Within three months after the receipt of the communication, the receiving State shall afford the communicating State an explanation or statement in writing concerning the matter, which should include, to the extent possible and pertinent, references to domestic procedures and remedies taken or pending, or available in the matter.

2. If the matter is not adjusted to the satisfaction of both Parties within six months after the receipt by the receiving State of the initial communication, either State shall have the right to refer the matter to the Committee, by notice given to the Secretary of the Committee and to the other State.

3. Subject to the provisions of Article 54 below, in serious cases, where human life is endangered the Committee may, at the request of a State Party to the Covenant referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, deal forthwith with the case on receipt of the initial communication and after notifying the State concerned.

Article 53

The Committe shall deal with any matter referred to it under Article 52 save that it shall have no power to deal with any matter,

(a) for which any organ or specialized agency of the United Nations competent to do so has established a special procedure by which the States concerned are governed; or

(b) with which the International Court of Justice is seized other than by virtue of Article, . . of the present Covenant.

Article 54

Normally, the Committee shall deal with a matter referred to it only if available domestic remedies have been invovked and exhausted in the case. This shall not be the rule where the application of the remedies is unreasonably prolonged.

Article 55

In any matter referred to it the Committee may call upon the States concerned to supply any relevant information.

Article 56

The Committee may recommend to the Economic and Social Council that the Council request the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on any legal question connected with a matter of which the Committee is seized.

Article 57

1. Subject to the provisions of Article 54, the Committee shall ascertain the facts and make available its good offices to the States concerned with a view to a friendly solution of the matter on the basis of respect for human rights as recognized in this Covenant.

2. The Committee shall, in every case and in no event later than eighteen months after the date of receipt of the notice under Article 52, draw up a report which will be sent to the States concerned and then communicated to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for publication. The Committee shall complete its report as promptly as possible, particularly when requested by one of the States Parties where human life in endangered.

3. If a solution within the terms of paragraph 1 of this article is reached the Committee shall confine its report to a brief statement of the facts and of the

solution reached. If such a solution is not reached, the Committee shall state in its report its conclusion on the facts and attach thereto the statements made by the parties to the case.

Article 58

The Committee shall submit to the General Assembly, through the SecretaryGeneral, an annual report of its activities.

Article 59

The States Parties to this Covenant agree not to submit, by way of petition, to the International Court of Justice, except by special agreement, any dispute arising out of the interpretation or application of the Covenant in a matter within the competence of the Committee.

PART V

[The implementation provisions set forth in this Part of the Covenant were drafted by the Commission at its April-May 1951 session with respect to the economic, social and cultural rights in Part III. The Commission left open the question whether these implementation provisions should also apply to the civil and political rights in Parts I and II. Sentiment in the Commission was divided on this issue.]

Article 60

The States Parties to this Covenant undertake to submit reports concerning progress made in achieving the observance of these rights in conformity with the following articles and the recommendations which the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, in the exercise of their general responsibility may make to all the Members of the United Nations.

Article 61

1. The State Parties shall furnish their reports in stages, in accordance with a programme to be established by the Economic and Social Council after consultation with the States Parties to this Covenant and the specialized agencies concerned.

2. Reports may indicate factors and difficulties affecting the degree of fulfillment of obligations under this part of the Covenant.

3. Where relevant information has already previously been furnished to the United Nations or to any specialized agency, the action required by this Article may take the form of a precise reference to the information so furnished.

Article 62

Pursuant to its responsibilities under the Charter in the field of human rights, the Economic and Social Council shall make special arrangements with the specialized agencies in respect to their reporting to it on the progress made in achieving the observance of the provisions of this part of the Covenant falling within their competence. These reports shall include particulars of decisions and recommendations on such implementation adopted by their competent organs.

Article 63

The Economic and Social Council shall transmit to the Commission on Human Rights for study and recommendation the reports concerning human rights submitted by States, and these concerning human rights submitted by the competent specialized agencies.

Article 64

The States Parties directly concerned and the specialized agencies may submit comments to the Economic and Social Council on the report of the Commission on Human Rights.

Article 65

The Economic and Social Council may submit from time to time to the General Assembly, with its own reports, reports summarizing the information made available by the States Parties to the Covenant directly to the Secretary-General

and by the specialized agencies under Article . . . indicating the progress made in achieving general observance of these rights.

Article 66

The Economic and Social Council may submit to the Technical Assistance Board or to any other appropriate international organ the findings contained in the report of the Commission on Human Rights which may assist such organs in deciding each within its competence, on the advisability of international measures likely to contribute to the progressive implementation of this Covenant.

Article 67

The States Parties to the Covenant agree that international action for the achievement of these rights includes such methods as conventions, recommendations, technical assistance, regional and technical meetings and studies with governments.

Article 68

Unless otherwise decided by the Commission on Human Rights or by the Economic and Social Council or requested by the State directly concerned, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall arrange for the publication of the report of the Commission on Human Rights, or reports presented to the Council by specialized agencies as well as of all decisions and recommendations reached by the Economic and Social Council.

Article 69

Nothing in this Covenant shall be interpreted as impairing the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and of the Constitutions of the specialized agencies, which define the respective responsibilities of the various organs of the United Nations and of the specialized agencies in regard to the matters dealt with in this Covenant.

PART VI
Article 70

1. This Covenant shall be open for signature and ratification or accession on behalf of any State Member of the United Nations or of any non-member State to which an invitation has been extended by the General Assembly.

2. Ratification of or accession to this Covenant shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of ratification or accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and as soon as twenty States have deposited such instruments, the Covenant shall come into force among them. As regards any State which ratifies or accedes thereafter the Covenant shall come into force on the date of the deposit of its instrument of ratification or accession.

3. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all Members of the United Nations, and other States which have signed or acceded, of the deposit of each instrument of ratification or accession.

Article 71

[The consideration of this article was postponed. The United States proposed the following language for this article in the Commission in 1950:

"In the case of a Federal State, the following provisions shall apply: (a) With respect to any articles of this Covenant which are determined in accordance with the constitutional processes of that State to be appropriate in whole or in part for federal action, the obligations of the federal government shall to this extent be the same as those of parties which are not Federal States; (b) With respect to articles which are determined in accordance with the constitutional processes of that State to be appropriate in whole or in part for action by the constituent states, provinces or cantons, the federal government shall bring such articles, with favorable recommendation, to the notice of the appropriate authorities of the states, provinces or cantons at the earliest possible moment."]

Article 72

[Adopted by General Assembly at its 1950 session]

The provisions of the present Covenant shall extend to or be applicable equally to a signatory metropolitan State and to all the territories, be they Non-Self-Governing, Trust, or Colonial Territories, which are being administered or governed by such metropolitan State.

Article 73

1. Any State Party to the Covenant may propose an amendment and file it with the Secretary-General. The Secretary-General shall thereupon communicate the proposed amendment to the States Parties to the Covenant with a request that they notify him whether they favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of considering and voting upon the proposal. In the event that at least one-third of the States favour such a conference the Secretary-General shall convene the conference under the auspices of the United Nations. Any amendment adopted by a majority of States present and voting at the conference shall be submitted to the General Assembly for approval.

2. Such amendments shall come into force when they have been approved by the General Assembly and accepted by a two-thirds majority of the States Parties to the Covenant in accordance with their respective constitutional processes.

3. When such amendments come into force they shall be binding on these Parties which have accepted them, other Parties being still bound by the provisions of the Covenant and any earlier amendment which they have accepted.

Senator BRICKER. That is just one of the treaties that ultimately will be submitted, and yet it is the one that has gone further in its drafting and it is more important and has a larger impact on our domestic situation and our constitutional structure than the others.

Today marks the opening of a great constitutional debate. The issues are fundamental. They concern the sovereignty and the Con stitution of the United States.

The primary purpose of Senate Joint Resolution 130 is to prohibit the use of the treaty as an instrument of domestic legislation, and to prevent its use as a vehicle for surrendering national sovereignty. The necessity for this amendment is shown by the activities of the United Nations and certain of its specialized agencies. There is practically no human activity which treaties now under consideration by the U. N. do not seek to regulate.

America is independent in name only if the relationship between the American people and their own Government ceases to be a matter of domestic concern and, by virtue of a treaty, becomes subject to regulation by some supranational organization. Freedom and American independence are inseparably linked. That is shown by the history of the world, since 1776.

The U. N. draft Covenant on Human Rights is a perfect illustration of the domestic legislation by treaty which Senate Joint Resolution 130 is designed to prevent. The draft covenant seeks to define and enforce the economic and political rights and duties of every human being in the world. The idea that a universal bill of rights can be imposed on several billions of people with diverse customs, political institutions, religions, and standards of living is utter nonsense. The common values and principles simply do not exist and will not exist for centuries, if ever. By American standards, the draft covenant is a blueprint for tyranny. What more could be expected when most of the U. N. member nations deny the concept that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights and insist on subordinat

ing the rights of the individual to the power of the state under some form of socialism, communism, fascism, or feudalism?

I am not unaware of the difficult task which your subcommittee faces in its consideration of this problem. The treaty-making power must be limited to its traditional subject matter. But in preventing treaties from invading the field of domestic jurisdiction, no one, I am sure, wants to render the United States incompetent to deal with other sovereign nations with respect to international problems which can be solved only by international action.

Before discussing each section of Senate Joint Resolution_130, I want to emphasize that it is not an anti-U. N. measure. The United States could continue to participate in all the activities of the United Nations authorized by its Charter. Article 2, paragraph 7, of the Charter forbids the U. N. to interfere in matters essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of its members. Unfortunately, the U. N. has ignored this limitation on its power.

I might say, Mr. Chairman, we were not here at the time the United Nations was adopted or ratified by the Senate, but if that provision had not been in there I think, from discussion with our colleagues, that I can assuredly say that it would never have been ratified by the Senate of the United States.

My proposed amendment makes article 2 (7) of the U. N. Charter effective insofar as the United States is concerned. The use of the treaty as an instrument of domestic legislation is a U. N. innovation. However, the danger would not be eliminated by withdrawing from the U. N. A universal bill of rights, for example, could be negotiated, ratified, and enforced by a group of nations not formally joined together in any international organization.

Leaders of the American Bar Association were the first to see the dangers inherent in the treaty-making power and the exploitation of that power within the United Nations. The American Bar Association's witnesses will explain to you the association's recommendation for an amendment to the Constitution. It has the same general purpose as Senate Joint Resolution 130, though there are substantial differences.

I want to express a word of personal appreciation, as an American who loves his country, to the members of the American bar, Mr. Holman, Mr. Rix, Mr. Schweppe, and all the rest who are joined here this morning many of them I have heard speak about this in years gone by-for their diligence and patriotism in keeping everlastingly on this subject, and finally alerting the American people as well as the membership of the bar to the seriousness of the problem. I doubt very much if we would have ever been able to get this matter before the Senate for serious consideration had it not been for the leadership of the American bar. I read the first address that Mr. Holman made, I think in either San Francisco or Los Angeles about this, several years ago, and I have heard the speeches of some of the other members of the American bar in the past. At that time I did not fully realize the seriousness of it, and of course one could not anticipate what activity the United Nations would engage in that would bring us to the crisis that we face at the present time, particularly under this Covenant of Human Rights that will be submitted for ratification.

The first sentence of the American bar Association proposal is as follows: