The US Senate turned down the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities last December 4. The Convention is already ratified by 126 countries and made to help protect people with disability from discrimination and to improve their access to employment, education and services.
The Rights of People with Disabilities is based on the language and ideals of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is passed by the Senate 22 years ago through the efforts of Republican Senator Bob Dole, then the Senate majority leader. Now Dole is 89 years old and confined to a wheelchair. He was back on the Senate floor Tuesday to watch the debate.
Dole asked his fellow Republicans to ratify the treaty that required two thirds of the Senate’s support. 38 Republican Senators voted against it that led to its defeat. This is nothing new because the nation wouldn’t agree to any treaty that involves changing US law. But what bothers observers about the vote last Tuesday is that it doesn’t require a change in US law because it is already modeled on one.
Something the US Chamber of Commerce supports should also get bipartisan support. But in the view of the Republicans, treaties involve foreigners telling the nation what to do and this is why they don’t want to ratify it.
The Republicans also opposed the ratification of the Law of the Sea that creates global rules to govern things such as mining rights on the ocean floor and shipping lanes in international waters. The law has been ratified by 161 countries but not the United States even if the Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, and secretaries of state want the nation to sign up.
