Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy,

Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,

On The Passage Of S. 2135, The Child Soldiers Accountability Act Of 2007

December 18, 2007

 

I am pleased that the Senate today will pass S. 2135, the Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2007.  I commend Senator Durbin and Senator Coburn for their leadership on this important legislation to combat the unconscionable practice of using children as soldiers in violent conflicts, and I was proud to join as a co-sponsor of this bill.  I am glad that Senators Durbin and Coburn worked with me and others on the Senate Judiciary Committee to produce a consensus bill and to move it through Committee and the Senate.  The United States should do all it can to prevent and punish this conduct which is so contrary to our values. 

 

This bill creates a tough new criminal provision aimed at those who recruit or conscript children under the age of 15 into armed conflict.  It extends U.S. jurisdiction to perpetrators of this crime who are present in the United States, regardless of their nationality and where the crime takes place, so that those who commit human rights violations cannot come to this country as a sanctuary from prosecution.  The bill also amends immigration law to allow those who have used children as soldiers to be barred or removed from the United States.

 

This bill is another example of the good work of the Judiciary Committee’s new Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law.  I am glad that the efforts Subcommittee Chairman Durbin and I have made to make this Subcommittee a force for change and to bring focus on these important issues is resulting in legislative action, as well as providing a forum to put a spotlight on important issues.   This is an area in which I have worked for many years as the Chair and ranking member of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.   

 

During the last five years, America’s reputation has suffered tremendously.  Some of our ability to lead on human rights issues has been needlessly and carelessly squandered.  Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and torture have tarnished that role and that tradition. The secret prisons that the President confirmed last year, this Administration’s role in sending people to other countries where they would be tortured, and recent revelations of the destruction of videotapes showing cruel interrogations by the CIA have led to condemnation by our allies, to legal challenges, and to possible criminal investigations.

 

I was proud to work with Senator Durbin to create the Human Rights and the Law Subcommittee.  This subcommittee will continue to closely examine some of the important and difficult legal issues that are now a focus of the Judiciary Committee and will work to reverse and correct the damaging policies established by this administration over the last six years.  The Subcommittee has already spearheaded the Genocide Accountability Act, which will soon provide a powerful new tool in America’s efforts to prevent and punish genocide, and has made further progress with hearings and legislation dealing with human trafficking and other vital issues.

 

The conduct prohibited by the Child Soldiers Accountability Act is appalling but happens all too often throughout the world.  We should do everything we can to stop this offense to human rights and human dignity, which exacts such great costs from too many of the world’s children.  I commend the Senate for passing this important legislation today.  

 

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