Rep. Seymour Halpean, New York Republican, called today for senate ratification of the genocide convention, in a speech before the House. Noting that the convention had been closeted with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for over a dozen years, he urged that the United States commit itself internationally to what has long been principle and law in this country.”
Addressing himself mainly to the pact’s adversaries, the New York Republican claimed that “fear and ignorance” lay at the root of the opposition. “This covenant,” he said, “has nothing to do with racial or minority discrimination. It does not aim at the denial of human rights to individuals. It relates exclusively to mass extermination, the intent to destroy thousands of people precisely because of their race, creed, or national origin.”
Rep. Halpern condemned those unwilling to accept the treaty’s implementation articles. “History teaches us that most agreements are but scraps of paper unless there is established, by mutual consent, adequate machinery for implementation,” he stated. “We are attempting to prevent, forever, the wholesale slaughter of human beings.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
