Congress, Senate July 12, 2012

Durbin, McCain Urge Passage of Disabilities Treaty

Sen. Dick Durbin (D- Ill.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) both voiced their support for the passage of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

By Gwen Fishel

At a news conference Thursday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D- Ill.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) shared the podium to voice their support for the passage of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Durbin stressed that this is an opportunity for America to take the lead on supporting the rights of people with disabilities, as there are currently around 54 million disabled Americans.

“What we need to do is take the gold standard of protecting the rights of the disabled in America and make it a global standard. That’s our goal,” said Durbin.

Both Durbin and McCain praised former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) for his unprecedented work for people with disabilities, and said this ratification is a chance to expand Dole’s vision.

“Bob Dole feels that this is part of a legacy he would like to leave for not only Americans, but people throughout the world,” said McCain.

Dole was a champion for people with disabilities during his tenure in Senate and a major driving force for the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990, which barred discrimination against those with disabilities.

McCain said they thought that the ratification of the Convention could take place before the end of the year.

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  • JK86

    I watched the hearing online, and the comments by Dr. Michael Farris, LL.M., were especially revealing. He said the CRPD would be the first treaty signed by the US that shifts power to the federal government and away from individuals and states (whereas most human rights treaties contain “negative rights” about what government may not do to you). In particular, he said this treaty would obligate the US to align our laws with the UN Committee that governs the treaty. This could have severe consequences for the rights of parents, many of whom would be forced to accept institutional care for their disabled children instead of seeking the individualized care many of them currently provide on their own. Dr. Farris said the CRPC would be the most massive shift of power from the state to federal level in US history. 

    • Runa5kate

      That doesn’t make any sense. IDEA and ADA will not be impacted at all by this treaty.

      • JK86

        ADA (and maybe IDEA, not sure) already does incorporate most of the good elements that are in the CRPD. However, there are a few major changes the CRPD would make to US law. It would be the first time in US history that we ratified a treaty obligating the government to recognize economic, social, and cultural rights as entitlements under domestic law. It is the TYPE of treaty that free Western nations like the US refused to sign decades ago, and among the only type of treaties that socialist/communist nations like the U.S.S.R. and China were willing to sign in the previous century. 

        It would be the first time that the US applied “best interest of the child” legal standard to every parent in America, which gives judges presumptive authority to override any decision that fits parents make for their disabled children.

        The CRPD would obligate the US to conform it’s laws not only to the treaty, but also to a “committee of foreign experts” overseas who regularly interpret the convention and monitor signatory states. There is no good reason for the US, which already has the gold standard in disability law, to limit us with standards outside of our control.

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