In November 1979, the Commission published a comprehensive domestic compliance report entitled “Fulfilling Our Promises: The United States and the Helsinki Final Act.” The Commission undertook the project for numerous reasons. First, it believed that the United States should work with the other signatory nations to identify and acknowledge problems within our respective societies and attempt to find solutions to those problems. Second, as the Final Act encourages multilateral scrutiny of signatory compliance, self-examination enables the Commission to more credibly raise concerns regarding non-compliance by other signatory nations. Finally, the Commission is often called to respond to changes of U.S. non-compliance and the 1979 domestic compliance report has served as a useful data base.
The report examines the issue of homelessness in America, its origins, dimensions and the responses to the growing problem, ultimately seeking to determine whether the United States is moving effectively towards fulfilling its stated international commitments under the Helsinki Accords. It was subsequently updated in 1981, and was the subject of Commission hearings. The examination of homelessness in the United States since 1979 is part of the Commission’s ongoing review of domestic compliance issues.
