Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered remarks on human rights at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon. Secretary Pompeo addressed the State Department’s report from the Commission on Unalienable Rights, a project launched in 2019. The commission was tasked with providing Secretary Pompeo with counsel on human rights at home and abroad:
“The commission, composed of academics, philosophers, and activists, will provide the Secretary with advice on human rights grounded in our nation’s founding principles and the principles of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
Secretary Pompeo emphasized the importance of human rights in our foreign policy, that dates back to the Declaration of Independence:
“The Declaration of Independence itself is the most important statement of human rights ever written. It made human freedom and human equality our nation’s central ideas,” he said. “We agree that America draws strength and goodness from her founding ideals, and that our foreign policy must be grounded by those ideals as well.”
.@SecPompeo: #UnalienableRights also apply to our foreign policy. (4/9) pic.twitter.com/Gd7qbmXb1T
— Department of State (@StateDept) July 16, 2020
Sec. Pompeo said that the commission's report gives the department the "essential questions" to ask about human rights in our foreign policy:
.@SecPompeo: The report gives us the right question to ask. #UnalienableRights (6/9) pic.twitter.com/aoA6FOE8En
— Department of State (@StateDept) July 16, 2020
Watch Secretary Pompeo’s full remarks below:
Live now! Watch @SecPompeo deliver a speech on "Unalienable Rights and the Securing of Freedom." https://t.co/DiTXNQsxR1
— Department of State (@StateDept) July 16, 2020