In a single vote at this time, the United States Senate can advance equality for all its citizens throughout the world by ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). On July 22, 2014, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations voted today to send the treaty to the full Senate for a vote on ratification of the CRPD.
158 countries have signed the treaty including the United States by virtue of President Barack Obama signing it in2009. However, the United States, as a holdout in refusing to ratify the CRPD,remains in the company of countries such as North Korea, Brunei, Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Libya, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. Yet, last April, the United States Senate quickly ratified three United Nations treaties to protect oceanic wildlife by fighting black market fishing.
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD), calls upon every Senator to not only protect fish but also the global civil rights of deaf and hard of hearing American citizens and all other citizens with disabilities! Ratifying the CRPD would ensure that every American citizen who is deaf or hard of hearing or has a disability is able to travel, work, study, or conduct business anywhere in the world without discrimination. In addition, American businesses have a prime opportunity to market accessibility services and products in 158 countries.
The NAD joins hundreds of disability rights organizations, thousands of veterans, the United States Chamber of Commerce, the American Bar Association, and numerous opportunity-seeking businesses in asking the Senate to uphold the American ideals of equality, liberty, and justice for all.