Senate Rejects UN Disability Treaty

In a vote that fell almost entirely along party lines, supporters were unable to secure the two-thirds majority of senators needed to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The treaty calls for greater community access and a better standard of living for people with disabilities worldwide. The measure’s chief supporter, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said that ratifying the treaty would not require any change to U.S. law, but would afford the nation a leadership role in the international community on disability rights issues. What’s more, Kerry said participation would help ensure that Americans with disabilities would have the same protections abroad as they do domestically.

“This treaty is not about changing America, but about America changing the world,” Kerry said just before the vote, adding that the issue had become unnecessarily controversial in the deeply-partisan body. “This treaty is a test of the Senate. It’s a test of whether this body is still capable of voting for change.”

Eight Republicans joined all Senate Democrats in voting for ratification in the 61 to 38 vote. Former Republican Sen. Bob Dole, who was injured in World War II, also came to the Senate floor to support the treaty.

However, a majority of Republicans, led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, fought hard against ratification arguing that the treaty would compromise U.S. sovereignty and threaten the ability of parents to determine what’s best for their kids, statements that supporters insisted were not based in fact.

Read more of Michelle Diament's Disability Scoop article HERE.

Civil and Human Rights Coalition Denounces Blocking of Treaty to Protect People with Disabilities

Washington, D.C. – Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after Senate Republicans blocked ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD):

“Today’s blocking of the CRPD by Senate Republicans is contrary to our nation’s values and our role as a global leader in honoring the dignity of people with disabilities.

The CRPD seeks to ensure that countries across the globe provide people with disabilities the same rights as everyone else so that they may live full, satisfying, and productive lives.  The U.S. pioneered these basic principles under law and demonstrated that people with disabilities can be full participants in our democracy.  We must now lead once again by ratifying the treaty and encouraging all nations to join us in adopting disability-inclusive policies. 

We applaud Senator Durbin for bringing this treaty up for a vote and are dismayed that Senate Republicans have undermined what was once a strong, bipartisan consensus.

Read more of the Press Release - The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights HERE.

Disability Rights Treaty Held Up In Senate

Despite bipartisan support for a United Nations disability rights treaty, a group of Republican lawmakers is holding up U.S. Senate consideration of the matter.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee planned to consider the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities last week, but was unable to after Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and a number of other Republicans reportedly placed a hold on it.

The move effectively squashed efforts by supporters of the treaty to get the U.S. to ratify it before the 22nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act on Thursday.

While the U.S. initially signed the U.N. Convention in 2009, Senate approval is needed for ratification of the treaty, which calls for greater community access and a better standard of living for people with disabilities worldwide.

The delay comes amid opposition from the Home School Legal Defense Association which is urging its members to tell Congress that the treaty “surrenders U.S. sovereignty to unelected U.N. bureaucrats, and will threaten parental control over children with disabilities.”

In a statement to the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill, a DeMint spokesman said he wanted to delay the treaty over largely similar concerns.

“Sen. DeMint strongly opposes this treaty, as the United States is already the world leader in addressing the needs of the disabled and it’s foolish to think Americans need to sign away our sovereignty to exert our influence around the world,” the spokesman said.

Read more of Michelle Diament's Disability Scoop article HERE.