US Democratic Lawmakers Seek Answers On Pompeo's 'Unalienable Rights' Commission - Letter

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2019) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo must provide guarantees that the recently established Commission on Unalienable Rights is not an attempt to inject religion into government policy-making, a group of 50 US Democratic lawmakers said in letter to Pompeo on Thursday.

"We require clear assurances that this Commission is not merely a scheme to inject religion into government policy-making," the lawmakers said in their letter. "After all, the First Amendment guarantees the separation of church and state. So it is important for Congress to understand how the Department defines natural law and the place of religion in the Commission's work."

The lawmakers asked in their letter why the department is proposing this "seemingly redundant, unaccountable body," after a group of career, non-partisan human rights experts has been doing similar work for decades through the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and the Office of the Legal Adviser.

On July 8, Pompeo said that State Department created a new Commission on Unalienable Rights that will reflect on the country's record on human rights and set a future direction.

Pompeo explained that the Commission on Unalienable Rights will be tasked with reexamining the most basic questions related to human rights.

The United States' commitment to upholding human rights has played a significant role in transforming the moral landscape of international relations after World War II, Pompeo noted.

The new 10-member commission will be chaired by former US Ambassador to the Holy See and Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon, Pompeo added.

Amnesty International in a tweet said the Trump Administration's commission politicizes human rights to advance hateful policies aimed at women and LGBTQ people.