Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights without distinction of any kind, including distinction based on sex;

Whereas the World Bank estimates that around 2,700,000,000 women of working age are not afforded equal economic opportunity, and 176 countries maintain legal barriers that prevent their full economic participation;

Whereas the United Nations estimates that nearly 1 in 5 young women globally are married before the age of 18;

Whereas the World Bank estimates that women globally have only two-thirds of the legal rights afforded to men;

Whereas the United Nations estimates that it would take another 37 years for women and men to be equally represented in national governments;

Whereas the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (referred to hereafter as CEDAW) condemns discrimination against women in all its forms, and establishes an agenda for national action to end discrimination against women and ensure the advancement of women in education, employment, and health care and in political, social, economic, and cultural fields through legislative action and legal protections;

Whereas the CEDAW was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, and signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, but has never been brought before the full Senate for a vote;

Whereas 189 countries have ratified the CEDAW, and the United States joins only Iran, Palau, Somalia, Sudan, and Tongo in not ratifying the CEDAW;

Whereas dozens of cities, counties, and States in the United States have passed resolutions in support of CEDAW’s ratification; and

Whereas San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Santa Clara, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Honolulu, and Miami-Dade County have passed binding local ordinances to implement the principles of the CEDAW: Now, therefore, be it