Date: Sunday, August 10, 2014
Category: General

The Convention on the Rights of Disabilities (CRPD) is an international treaty that outlines the obligations of ratifying countries to promote, protect, fulfill and ensure the rights of people with disabilities.  President Obama signed the treaty in 2009, but it still requires U.S. Senate ratification by a two-thirds majority. A vote was held on December 4, 2012, but fell five votes short of ratification.

146 countries around the world and the European Union have ratified the treaty. Last week, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12 to 6 to send the treaty to the Senate floor for another vote. In recognition of last week's action, RESNA has issued an updated statement.

RESNA Statement on the CRPD Treaty
July 22, 2014

RESNA applauds the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations for voting to send the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to the floor of the Senate for a vote. The Senate will next vote on a resolution to ratify the Convention, with a two-thirds vote required for passage.

After the first vote in the Senate in late 2012 failed by just five votes, the Senate now has another chance to affirm the United States’ commitment to ensuring the rights of people with disabilities worldwide. The Convention embodies the values of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including equal treatment and non-discrimination in access to rehabilitation, employment and educational opportunities. Passage of the Convention by the Senate would ensure American leadership in empowering individuals with disabilities to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, inclusion and integration into all aspects of society.

Beyond extending protections like those guaranteed by the ADA to millions of people with disabilities worldwide, ratification of the Convention also makes good business sense.  It presents an opportunity for American-based manufacturers to open new markets, as well as create collaborations for capacity building in other countries.  It also serves to promote research on affordable assistive technology and personal mobility, as well as habilitation, rehabilitation, and full societal inclusion via well-qualified and trained personnel. Failure to ratify the Convention may have negative consequences for the United States, which currently leads the way in setting standards for assistive technologies. Should the Senate fail to act, American leadership in policymaking will be marginalized just as Europe and Asia are beginning to fill the vacuum in this area, including the ability to sell AT products abroad in a highly globalized world.

Nineteen veterans’ groups, 26 religious groups, 60 businesses, 750 disability organizations, the Chamber of Commerce, and a broad bipartisan coalition of current and former policymakers have expressed support for the Convention. It is a bipartisan issue that demands support from both sides of the aisle.

We appreciate the Committee on Foreign Relations’ decision to bring the Convention to the Senate floor for another vote. We urge the Senate to ratify this landmark treaty in the coming days.

For more information about the CRPD Treaty, please click here to visit the coalition website.