Republicans oppose vote on UN disability treaty
Source: AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate plans to take up a U.N. treaty espousing equal rights for the disabled drew immediate opposition Monday from some Republicans wary of the treaty and asserting that the Senate should not be considering international treaties during a lame-duck session.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that on Tuesday he would ask the Senate to consider legislation to ratify the U.N.’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The chances of success are not good. It takes 60 votes to move a bill to the floor and a two-thirds majority to ratify a treaty. In September, 36 Senate Republicans wrote a letter saying they would oppose any treaty brought up during the lame-duck session.
On Monday Utah Republican Mike Lee, joined by former GOP senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum, said he would “do everything I can to block” ratification.
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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2012/11/26/republicans_oppose_vote_on_un_disability_treaty/
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Last edited Tue Nov 27, 2012, 08:27 AM - Edit history (1)
before the Reagan era, opposing The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973- Section 504, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1975, then the ADA (even though some notable Repubs did support it, and Bush senior signed it into law) in 1990. Various attempts have been made to weaken or roll back enforcement of the ADA since Bush's time...
So it is not surprising that Repubs want to block support this latest attempt by the UN to encourage international rights for persons with disabilities.
Disabled Vets, and aging babyboomers, many of whom already benefit from aspects of the ADA will hopefully remember this come next election time.
