Senate Committee Backs Treaty Regarding Disabilities
By Bryan Bender, Boston Globe July 26, 2012
WASHINGTON — The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday
approved, 13-6, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities, sending the international agreement to the full Senate for
ratification.
The bipartisan vote was a victory for committee chairman John F. Kerry,
who enlisted the help of former GOP presidential nominees John McCain
and Robert Dole to advocate for US participation in the series of global
protocols designed to ensure that disabled individuals have access to
public facilities and proper legal protections.
“This was a vote for equality of opportunity, independent living,
economic self-sufficiency, and full participation for all people with
disabilities both here and abroad,” the Massachusetts Democrat said in a
statement.
The treaty, Kerry said, will “protect Americans with disabilities when
they leave our shores” and “help export America’s values of
non-discrimination against all people living with disabilities.”
He said the vote in committee held special significance because it came
on the 22d anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act.
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“Rather than rest on our laurels, we are voting today to build on its
success,” Kerry said.
He said the move was also a fitting tribute to the late Massachusetts
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who was a chief sponsor of the domestic
legislation two decades ago.
That law for the first time required equal access for the disabled to
public facilities.
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backs-treaty-regarding-disabilities/OCJjqyHRQXT1Uw3UJnE0cL/story.html