“Respectfully Urging the President and United States Senate to Adopt the ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’ in Its Entirety.”
3/24/2011 – Providence, RI – Students, faculty, administration and a Board Member (Bro. Michael Reis) testified at the State House on Wednesday March 24th before both the House and Senate regarding a resolution on the Rights of the Child. The students from Saint Raphael Academy wrote and introduced the Resolution to the RI Legislature.
House Resolution is H5517 (House Judiciary)
Senate is S494 (Senate Special Legislation)
The title is the same: “Respectfully Urging the President and United States Senate to Adopt the ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’ in Its Entirety.
“I am very proud of our students,” said Ms. Maryann Donohue-Lynch, Principal of Saint Raphael. “They (students) were clear, articulate and filled with zeal for this flagship cause of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. They fielded difficult questions and handled them well.”
As expected, there was opposition-primarily:
- The United States should not be involved in the United Nations.
- Issues such as birth control and parental rights are being put at risk.
The testimony presented by the Saint Raphael Academy delegation addressed both these issues:
- The United States is a current active member of the UN.
- The Vatican signed on the Convention under Pope John Paul II
- The Lasallian Convocation on the Rights of the Child held at the United Nations last year was sponsored by the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the UN.
The students will be traveling to Washington, DC to meet with the RI Congressional Delegation later this spring.
“It is wonderful to see our students supporting this important endeavor of the Institute through our democratic process,” said Donohue-Lynch