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39 Harv. J. on Legis. 299 (2002)
Protecting National Sovereignty in an Era of International Meddling: An Increasingly Difficult Task

handle is hein.journals/hjl39 and id is 305 raw text is: POLICY ESSAY PROTECTING NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY IN AN ERA OF INTERNATIONAL MEDDLING: AN INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TASK REPRESENTATIVE BOB BARR* In this Policy Essay, Congressman Barr argues that United States in- volvement in international organizations and treaties-whether for humani- tarian, dispute resolution, or peacekeeping purposes-has come at the cost of national sovereignty. Congressman Barr explains that involvement in, inter alia, the United Nations and its concomitant treaties has led to obligations and responsibilities that may be effected appropriately only through Consti- tutional amendment. Criticizing United States participation in the Interna- tional Criminal Court, UNESCO; and treaties such as the Biological Weap- ons Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, Congressman Barr warns that those international obligations come at the price of national sovereignty. Without care, United States foreign policy has resulted in the de facto amendment to the Constitution without the appropriate procedural and therefore substantive protections of the democratic process. Congressman Barr suggests that leg- islators revisit attempts to protect sovereignty, including Constitutional amendments designed to limit the Senate's ability to ratify treaties that abridge enumerated Constitutional rights. As the last vestiges of the Cold War fade and new challenges emerge around the globe, international organizations are searching for relevancy and are increasingly involving themselves in the domestic affairs of member states. As a result of changing geo-politics, organizations such as the United Nations have lost their traditional focus. These organiza- tions are moving away from missions focusing on humanitarian relief, international dispute resolution, and providing forums for world leaders to meet and discuss important international issues. Instead, they are shifting rapidly towards an activist, internationalist agenda that comes at the cost of the United States' traditional constitutional freedoms and in- dependence. For example, in recent months, the United Nations has pursued global gun control in the name of human rights;' investigated the inade- quacies of America's prison system through a Human Rights Commis- * Congressman Bob Barr has represented the 7th district of Georgia since 1994. He is an Assistant Majority Whip and a member of the Financial Services, Government Reform, and Judiciary Committees. He is Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, and Vice Chairman of the full Government Reform Committee. Before his election to Congress, he served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia and also in the Central Intelligence Agency. He spent an extensive por- tion of his early life living overseas. I See, e.g., G.A. Res. 54/54, infra text accompanying notes 90-97.

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