101. Briefing Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations (Bennet) to the Deputy Secretary of State (Christopher)1
SUBJECT
- Consolidating Human Rights Policy
Our human rights policy has been in operation for eleven months. We are administering it with increasing finesse, I believe, but the shoe is pinching in a number of places. We witnessed the farm lobby’s reaction in the PL 480 case, we are hearing from districts with substantial arms industries; and within the State Department there appears to be growing restlessness as people grapple with the complexities of implementation. The AFSA President’s complaint about the human rights policy appears to have some currency among Foreign Service Officers, and I am also told that there are questions within the Department about the Secretary’s and the President’s fundamental commitment to human rights policy.
Under these circumstances, the possibility of a real-politik backlash both on the Hill and in the Department seems very real. To be sure, Congress is still prepared to vote for extreme human rights amendments. The IMF, which is hardly a viable tool for promoting human rights, will be the next target. This kind of zealotry in the cause of human rights could, however, ultimately make the policy ludicrous and accelerate a backlash.
I believe our objectives for the time being should be to:
—stabilize our present position, avoiding all new legislation;
—pursue vigorously the mandate Congress and the President have given us;
—smooth out our administrative techniques; and
—garner as much credibility for the policy as we can by broadcasting its successes.
Here are some concrete steps which might be considered:
1. Frame a legislative strategy to forestall any further human rights amendments during the next session. I have asked Ann Swift to work on this. Her effort will include a review of the Security Assistance Bill for hooks.
[Page 344]2. Produce a year-end summary of human rights successes, and possibly a modest set of goals for the next year.
3. Hold one meeting with Assistant Secretaries and their Deputies where you and the Secretary, working in tandem, make it clear that we not only intend to continue our efforts on this difficult policy but believe it is working. An even better alternative would be a State dining room session with the President.
4. Hold a series of human rights colloquia for Department officers who must administer the human rights policy. The target groups might include desk officers or Deputy Assistant Secretaries in regional bureaus—whoever is most likely to make or break the human rights policy in its day-to-day application.
5. Review our intra-Departmental procedures in the human rights areas to ensure that they are not generating needless friction.
6. Undertake a public relations effort to ensure that the right things are said in the year-end news wrap-ups, the State of the Union Message, etc.
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P840088–0271. Limited Official Use; Nodis.↩