Science, technology and human rights

Human rights do not simply consist of civil and political liberties; these rights are only part of the picture. There are also economic, social and cultural rights. These two sets of human rights are codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations and its two instrumental covenants: The International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The regional counterpart is the Organization of American States' American Convention on Human Rights. Just about every issue we deal with in Congress has a human rights component. That, I believe, is also true of science.