Church Women United - Legislative Office

 

Inform and Act

Summer 2007


The Church Women United Human Trafficking Resource is now available! You may download it here or send a check for $8.50 to Church Women United Legislative Office, 100 Maryland Ave. NE Rm 100, Washington DC 20002. (Multiple copies are available at the rate of $7 each for 5 or more.)

ECPAT-USA Sends Out a Call for Action!

ECPAT-USA (End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), sent out a call in May 2007 for help against child sex tourism. For a long time, ECPAT has been engaging the travel and tourism industry in efforts to end the abhorrent practice of child sex tourism—traveling away from your home country or region to sexually exploit children. While the legitimate travel industry is not promoting child sex tourism, their facilities are used by sex tourists to get to destinations where they can find vulnerable children. This puts the industry in a position to help combat child sex tourism.

For that reason ECPAT-Sweden developed a Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. More than 500 companies around the world have signed the Code of Conduct. In the U.S., one large travel company, Carlson Companies, has signed the Code of Conduct as have several small companies and one travel industry trade association.

We estimate that 25% of the sex tourists abusing children around the world are Americans. But few U.S. companies have signed the Code of Conduct. We need to let these companies hear from all Americans that this is not acceptable.

Everyone has a role to play. There are three things you can do:

Send letters to the four large US hotel companies asking them to sign the Code of Conduct. On the following pages you will find a sample letter and addresses that you may sign and send to the CEOs of these large companies. If you prefer to have ECPAT-USA send these letters for you, you may send your name and address to csmolenski@ecpatusa.org (please mention that you saw this “call to action" in the Church Women United newsletter)

Patronize Code of Conduct companies when you travel, for leisure or business. You might also want to let them know that the reason you are patronizing them is because they have signed the Code of Conduct.

Encourage the company you work for to get involved. If you work for a company that has an in-house travel department, ask them to adopt an ethical policy on child sex tourism, such as the one in the Code of Conduct, and to book company travel only with companies that have signed the Code of Conduct. Some companies might be interested in training their personnel and taking other steps to follow the Code of Conduct.

Please write your letters today to support all children’s right to be safe from sexual exploitation. It is unacceptable for any child to spend one more day at the mercy of American sex tourists. Please pass this on to anyone else who would be willing to write letters as well. Click here for more corporate addresses.

Date

Joseph Squeri, President
Choice Hotels
10750 Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20901

Dear Mr. Squeri;

Millions of children around the world are falling prey to sex tourists. Sex tourists are people who believe it is legal and culturally acceptable to sexually exploit children in other countries. They even believe they are helping children because they pay them. This outrage has to be stopped. According to ECPAT-USA, as many as 25% of the world’s sex tourists may be Americans. ECPAT-USA, is a non-profit organization that has been working for more than 15 years to end the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism (www.ecpatusa.org). .

Your company must take a principled position to help eliminate this practice. Please sign the ECPAT Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children From Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. Under this voluntary Code, a company agrees to:

  1. Establish an ethical policy regarding commercial sexual exploitation of children.
  2. Train the personnel in the country of origin and travel destinations.
  3. Introduce a clause in contracts with suppliers, stating the common repudiation of commercial sexual exploitation of children.
  4. Provide information to travelers by means of catalogues, brochures, in-flight films, ticket-slips, web- sites, etc.
  5. Provide information to local “key persons” at the destinations.
  6. Report annually.

    More than 500 companies around the world, including Carlson Companies in the United States, have signed the Code of Conduct. Companies like yours are not responsible for the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism, but they are in a position to do something to fight it.

    7. More information about the ECPAT Code is available at www.thecode.org. Please contact ECPAT-USA at ecpat@ecpatusa.org to become a part of the solution.

    Sincerely,

U.S. Companies that Have Signed the Code of Conduct

For a complete list of companies around the world which have signed the Code of Conduct, go to www.ecpatusa.org/documents/Signatories_COC_Condensed_2006.doc

For complete information about the code and the international campaign to stop child sex tourism, go to www.thecode.org.

Send your letters to the following addresses.

Joseph Squeri, President
Choice Hotels
10750 Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20901		 Matthew J. Hart, President
Hilton Hotels Corporation
9336 Civic Center Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210		 Mark Hoplamazian, President
Global Hyatt Corp.
71 South Wacker, Dr.
Chicago, IL 60606

 

NAACP Supports Passage of Comprehensive
Ex-Offender Re-Entry Legislation

(This comes from a press release of the Washington Bureau of NAACP)

“THE SECOND CHANCE ACT”

Each year, more than 650,000 men and women are released from prison, which equates to roughly 1,700 individuals returning to our communities every day. This has a disparate effect on communities of color, since two-thirds of the people in prison are now racial and ethnic minorities. For African American males in their twenties, one in every eight is in prison or jail on any given day. These numbers are expected to grow, as more men and women are incarcerated each year and more complete their sentences.

For most ex-offenders, the transition back into their communities is difficult. Many lack the necessary skills to successfully reenter into society. Studies have shown that many of those released from prison come back into society with a substance abuse addiction or mental health problem. Employment and housing are often difficult, one study found that applicants with a criminal records experienced a 50% reduction in job offers for entry level jobs, compared to those without records. This was compounded by racial bias as African American former inmates experienced a 64% reduction in offers. As many as a quarter of all ex-offenders go to homeless shelters upon release. Furthermore, most communities where prisoners go upon release already struggle with high poverty, unemployment, fragile families and a dearth of jobs.

Over two-thirds of released prisoners are rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within three years and one-half of those rearrested were convicted and re-incarcerated. Not only does this recidivism cause tremendous problems for our communities, but it also places a huge burden on American taxpayers. The average cost of incarcerating each prisoner exceeds $22,600 per year. Expenditures on corrections alone have increased from $9 billion in 1982 to $60 billion in 2002 and it continues to skyrocket out of control.

To combat this problem, Congressman Danny Davis (IL) and others have introduced HR 1593 in the House and Senator Biden (DE) and others have introduced S.1060, the “Recidivism Reduction and Second Chance Act” in the Senate (S.1060). The House bill has been approved by the full House Judiciary Committee and sent to the House Floor. Representative Davis made introductory remarks on May 23, 2007. It is expected that the full House will vote on the bill within the next two weeks. (This article was written on July 11.)

Now is the time to write your Senators about this legislation. When it is passed, states and local communities would receive federal assistance to establish ex-offender reentry projects, with enhanced focus on job training, housing, substance abuse and mental health treatment, as well as programs to work with the children and families of ex-offenders.

In short, the Second Chance Act would encourage new community partnerships to help educate, train and employ those recently released who might otherwise return to a life of crime.

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Senator___________

As your constituent, I urge you to do all you can for the passage of the legislation sponsored by Senator Biden (DE) and others, (S. 1060, Recidivism Reduction and Second Chance Act). This much needed legislation is designed to allow states and local communities deal with the ever-increasing problem of assisting ex-offenders in reentering into society and becoming productive members of their communities.

More than 1,700 men and women re-enter our communities every day after a time in prison: many of them are unemployed and untrained, face serious substance abuse or mental health addictions, and are homeless. It is because of this lack of training, absence of employment and dearth of adequate housing and support that more than 2/3 of men and women released from prison were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years.

Recidivism is not only costly for the victims of crimes and communities, but also for the American taxpayer. The average cost of incarcerating each prisoner exceeds $22,600 per year; expenditures on corrections alone have increased from $9 billion in 1982 to $60 billion in 2002. Thus, the money authorized in the Second Chance Act seems to be a good investment in our communities as well as in the men and women who have served their time in jail or prison.

Please support this legislation and help our communities help the men and women who have served their time, as well as their families. It is not only the morally right thing to do; it is also fiscally prudent. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future to let me know what you are doing to help reduce recidivism in our community, and what I can do to help.

Sincerely,

(Sign and print your name and remember to include your address.)

 

Promoting quality education, with life long learning, effective and accessible education for all persons,
Including pre-school, and, in particular, education of young adults for parenthood.”

CWU Quadrennial Priority 2004-2008

THE EDUCATION FOR ALL ACT of 2007
(Executive Summary)

Worldwide, 77 million children of primary school age are not in school —the vast majority of these children are girls. Hundreds of millions more children are denied a secondary school education. The lack of educational opportunity not only hurts children, but has been linked to decreased health outcomes and reduced economic gains.

In 2000, the United States, along with other governments around the world committed to the goal of achieving universal basic education by 2015. This is one of the Millennium Development Goals.

The Education for All Act of 2007 would enable the U.S. government to make a significant commitment to reach that goal, and help children in developing countries, particularly in areas experiencing conflict or humanitarian emergencies, have access to a quality basic education.

Purpose

This section of the bill states that the purpose is to ensure that the U.S. provides the resources and leadership to ensure a successful international effort to provide all children with a quality basic education.

Policy

This section of the bill states that it is the policy of the U.S. to work with foreign countries and international organizations to increase the global commitment to achieving universal basic education by assisting developing countries and non-governmental and multilateral organizations working to provide all children with a quality basic education.

Principles

The U.S. will be guided by the following principles: committing substantial new resources; encouraging other donors to contribute; encouraging and integrating contributions and participation from the private sector and nongovernmental organizations; expanding access to school for all children to increase the number of children completing a quality basic education; coordinating between U.S. government agencies and departments including those working to prevent HIV/AIDS; coordinating between education activities provided in an emergency and those provided as part of a development strategy; working within country’s National Education Plans; and integrating education plans with national economic strategies.

Development and Implementation of an Education for All Strategy

This section of the bill requires the President to develop a comprehensive integrated strategy for the U.S. government to follow in working to reach the 2015 goal. Such a strategy shall coordinate and prioritize activities among the executive branch, expand coordination and leverage of support with donor agencies, other governments, and international organizations, support efforts to reach vulnerable populations and increase technical assistance and training, and include specific indicators and objectives with which to measure progress in improvement of access to quality basic education in developing countries.

 

The U.S. government will then work with countries that either have a Fast Track Initiative National Education Plan or have the willingness to develop a plan. In situations, where there is not the opportunity or the capacity to work with a national government, the U.S. will engage committed local governments and civil society organizations. Some of the activities supported under this legislation include:

For countries affected by conflict or crisis, the U.S. government will work to support activities to ensure a continuity of educational activities for all children, reestablish formal education services, and engage in other activities that will help such children.

This legislation also states that assistance should be prioritized for countries where there is the greatest need and the greatest opportunity to increase access and improve the quality of basic education.

At this time the Education for All Act of 2007 (H.R. 2092) is in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. It was introduced in May by Rep. Nita Lowey of NY. In the Senate, the Education for All Act of 2007 was introduced in May by Senator Clinton of NY. It is now in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (S. 1259).

You are encouraged to contact your Representative and Senators about this bill. Emphasize to them the need for the United States to exercise leadership in the implementation of all the Millennium Development Goals and especially the goal for Universal Basic Education. The passage of this bill would go a long way toward the successful meeting of that goal.

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