U.N. treaty on kids' rights would encroach on our liberties

Everywhere we turn, government is intruding, taxing and managing our lives.

Add another potential encroachment to our liberties. The Trojan horse treaty, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, was signed but has not yet been adopted by the United States. If this treaty is ratified, all 50 states' family laws will be overruled to comply with the treaty, which will be reviewed by a U.N. commission in Geneva. The treaty has some provisions that are beneficial for children, no doubt. However, an unelected and unaccountable commission in a foreign country would have the authority to monitor our country's implementation of this treaty.

From the founding of our country until now, our country has recognized the importance of the family unit, and the fact that parents have the unalienable right to bring up their children, making those choices that are beneficial to their family units.

American family structure is undoubtedly under assault. So many are single parents having to raise their children alone, a very tough job. Even two-parent families often struggle to train and raise their children in a distracting world. However, putting the United Nations in charge of family law gives up our sovereignty over our own laws, local, state and federal.

Another threat in this treaty is the provision of the "right" of the child to live in a gun-free zone. Our children here in the north country grow up around guns, around hunting, around target shooting and guns for self-defense, when needed. They grow up around the responsible use of guns. Would this U.N. treaty abrogate the right we Americans have to keep and bear arms?

The Parental Rights Amendment added to the U.S. Constitution would prohibit ratification of this treaty and protect the rights we parents have to raise and educate our children. The amendment has three sections, each with one explicit sentence protecting parental rights. The amendment now has 121 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives (290 votes are needed for it to pass) and six co-sponsors in the Senate. I urge everyone to read this amendment and learn how you can support it by logging on to www.parentalrights.org.

The 23rd District of New York will vote on a new member of Congress to fill the seat vacated by John McHugh. How do the candidates running for Congress stand on the Parental Rights Amendment? Will our two senators sign on as co-sponsors of this amendment, basic to our families' liberty? Please inform yourselves on this amendment to protect our families' futures.

Susan Weidler

Ogdensburg