Concerned Women for America - Senate Vote Threatens American Sovereignty

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Sunday, March 21, 2010

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Senate Vote Threatens American Sovereignty 6/24/2009
Concerned Women for America Urges Senate to Oppose Harold Koh

Washington, D.C. — Concerned Women for America (CWA) and its 500,000 members around the country call on every Senator to oppose the nomination of Harold Koh to be Legal Adviser to the State Department.

CWA President Wendy Wright said, “Koh’s extremely radical views threaten the great ‘American experiment’ of a representative democracy. He believes that foreign and international opinions take precedence over America’s Constitution, laws and policies. Koh advocates that courts and bureaucracies should integrate foreign opinions into American law. He believes the U.S. courts must look beyond its national interest to the ‘mutual interests of all nations’ in what he calls an ‘international legal regime.’ He has argued that the U.S. should be bound by various international treaties that the Senate has not ratified, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and rulings from the International Criminal Court.

“Koh’s views undermine national sovereignty, and as the Legal Adviser at the State Department, he would be in prime position to radically alter U.S. policy, as he will be the voice of the United States around the world on international legal issues. His beliefs are far outside the mainstream, even for a liberal nominee.”

Mario Diaz, Esq., CWA’s Policy Director for Legal Issues, said, “We would be hard pressed to find a more dangerous position from which Harold Koh could advocate his radical views. Even though all powers given to the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branch in our country are explicitly laid out in our Constitution, Koh believes the United States should be subject to ‘customary international law’ beyond the written text of the Constitution. He has argued this principle strenuously and openly in numerous legal briefs and academic writings, and frankly, he has gained significant traction in liberal circles domestic and foreign.

“No Senator concerned with protecting our sovereignty and national security should feel comfortable with Harold Koh at the State Department.”