Tuesday, July 22, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) released the following statement today applauding the approval of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD) by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and urging its consideration by the full Senate. Harkin is the Senate author of the 1990
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and has helped lead the fight in the Senate to ratify the CRPD. He serves as Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
“Today’s Foreign Relations Committee vote is a critical step forward to ensure that people with disabilities across the globe have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else,” Harkin said. “Since the passage of the ADA, the doors of opportunity have been opened to millions of Americans with disabilities. For the U.S. to live up to its role as a global leader on disability rights, we must extend the promise of equality across the globe and bring the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to a vote by the full Senate as soon as possible.
“In an increasingly global economy, U.S. citizens with disabilities— including our veterans—too often face barriers when they travel, conduct business, study, or reside overseas. Approving this measure would help to break down those barriers,” Harkin added. “I thank Chairman Bob Menendez for his leadership on leading the CRPD to passage by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senators John McCain and John Barrasso for their continued support. I am hopeful that in working on a bipartisan basis with my colleagues, and by continuing to educate other members on the importance of the treaty, we can get the support we need to ratify the treaty this year.”
An American delegation under President George W. Bush negotiated and approved the Convention in 2006. The United States signed the treaty in 2009 and the President submitted it to the U.S. Senate in May 2012 for its advice and consent for ratification; a vote on the CRPD in December 2012 fell five votes short in 2012. The treaty requires no changes to U.S. laws or new appropriations.
Today ABA Members and supporters are meeting with U.S. Members of Congress on Capitol Hill and at local district offices to speak with them about international human rights issues. Specifically, we are asking congressional leaders to (a) ratify the UN Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discriminations Against Women (CEDAW), (b) ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities (CRPD), and (c) increase support of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Read on to see how you can participate, increase awareness of global human rights issues, and make #ABA_IHRLD2014 a huge success.
★ LOBBY IN PERSON - It's too late to sign up to lobby in person, but we want to thank all of our in-person lobbyists. Whether you are on Capitol Hill or at your local district office, we appreciate your hard work and passion about global human rights. Lobby on and let us know how it's going!
★ LOBBY BY PHONE - Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to the speak to your representatives and senators. Ask them to support #ABA_IHRLD2014 and our three lobby day issues. To locate your congressional members, visit www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.
★ LOBBY BY EMAIL - Visit the ABA Grassroots Action Center and send your congressional leaders a pre-scripted email on one or all of our lobby day issues.
★ LOBBY BY TWITTER - Lookup your congressional leaders' verified Twitter handle and send a short Tweet, asking for support (e.g., “@GabbyGiffords support #ABA_IHRLD2014, please ask #USSenate to increase support for #ICC, ratify #CEDAW and ratify #CRPD. Thanks!")
★ SOCIAL MEDIA SUPPORT - Our #ABA_IHRLD2014 Social Media Toolkit contains an active-link slideshow, 1-pagers on each of the lobby day issues, and graphics. You may download, embed and share some or all the items. Our SMT is also available at slideshare.net/ABA_IHRC.
CONTACT INFO
Contact IHRC Co-Chair Elizabeth "Liz" Turchi at lizturchi@gmail.com for more information on lobbying on Capitol Hill or at the local level.
Contact IHRC Communications Vice Chair Stephanie Williams at inthumrights@gmail.com if you have questions about virtual lobbying or promoting this event via social media.
#ABA_IHRLD2014
@ABAIHRC
*Note: This post was originally published as a reminder on 06/18 and updated as announcement on 06/19.
