CQ NEWS
Dec. 4, 2012 – 12:30 p.m.
Senate Rejects U.N. Disabilities Treaty
By Sarah Chacko, CQ Roll Call
The Senate on Tuesday rejected a resolution to ratify an international treaty that sets global standards for the treatment of people with disabilities.
Senators rejected 61-38 the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Treaty Doc 112-7), a pact signed by the United States in 2009 and sent to the Senate for ratification this May. A two-thirds majority of those present and voting, 66 in this case, is required for adoption of resolutions of ratification. Eight Republicans joined Democrats in voting for ratification.
Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., who lost the use of his right arm in World War II, was present on the Senate floor during the vote. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., asked members to vote at their desks, a ceremonial gesture reserved for historic occasions.
Signed by more than 150 countries, the treaty addresses the equal rights of persons with disabilities. Parties to the treaty agree to “undertake to ensure and promote the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons with disabilities without discrimination of any kind on the basis of disability.”
In September, 36 Republican senators signed a letter saying they would oppose any efforts to consider treaties during a lame-duck session. The letter did not say the lawmakers would oppose ratification of any particular treaty.
All but one of the Republicans who signed the letter, Scott P. Brown of Massachusetts, also voted against ratification. Mark Steven Kirk, R-Ill., who did not sign the letter, was absent.
Critics said ratifying the treaty could hurt citizens domestically, opening up the states to lawsuits based on international laws regarding parental rights and home schooling that are different from those in the United States. Senators such as Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and James M. Inhofe, R-Okla., who opposed the treaty have been skeptical of a committee established by the treaty to review reports submitted by countries on steps taken to implement the treaty’s provisions.
Proponents of the treaty, such as John McCain, R-Ariz., said U.S. laws already afford many of the protections called for in the treaty and ratification of the treaty would not affect U.S. law.
The committee created by the treaty can only make recommendations, said Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass.
The Senate Foreign Relations panel approved the treaty by a vote of 13 to 6 in July, with Republicans Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, Johnny Isakson of Georgia and John Barrasso of Wyoming joining Democrats in support.
“When have words or suggestions that have no power, that cannot be implemented, that have no access to the courts, that have no effect on the law of the United States and cannot change the law of the United States, when has that threatened anybody in our country?” Kerry said.
The consequence if Congress rejects the treaty is that the United States could lose credibility for refusing to participate in a treaty that asks other nations to live up to its standards, Kerry said.
Opponents said the United States is already a “gold standard” and does not need to open itself to the scrutiny of the United Nations.
“These unelected bureaucratic bodies would implement the treaty and pass so-called recommendations that would be forced upon the United Nations and the U.S. as a signatory,” Inhofe said. “We don’t need the United Nations bureaucrats changing it in our country in the name of worldwide application.”
Planet of the Blind 