Sen. Ben Cardin has been named co-chairman of the Helsinki Commission, a prestigious appointment the freshman senator said will allow him to help improve international human rights.
Officially called the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the 56-country Helsinki Commission focuses on military security, economic and environmental cooperation, human rights and humanitarian concerns.
Beginning in the mid-1990s, Cardin served on the commission for more than a decade while a member of the House of Representatives. But he said the co-chair appointment puts him in a “much stronger position” to effect change globally.
“What I do expect is to help focus this commission on the human rights challenges we have,” he told The Examiner on Wednesday. “I will be able to put a spotlight on those oppressed people who have been discriminated against in their homelands.”
Besides Cardin, the other legislator tapped to lead the commission is Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), whom the Maryland senator said he knows quite well.
Their two-year-term co-chairing the Helsinki Commission is expected to be devoted to ongoing problems with human trafficking, adoption policies in nations like Romania, and curbing what Cardin told The Examiner is a growing tide of anti-Semitism.
“We’re also very focused on economics and fighting corruption,” he said.
It will take some weeks for Cardin and Hastings to craft a more specific agenda and plan of attack for the group, but Cardin said their first large task will be attending human rights hearings in Vienna.
The Helsinki Commission consists of nine members from the Senate and House, and one member each from the departments of State, Defense and Commerce. The positions of co-chair rotate when the new Congress convenes.
Last year marked the influential group’s 30th anniversary.
