Republicans Block Ratification of UN Treaty on Disabilities

US Senate Fails to Ratify UN Treaty on Disabilities By Michael Mathes, Agence France-Presse 05 December 12 http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/328-121/14866-us-senate-fails-to-ratify-un-treaty-on-disabilities

[Excerpted] The US Senate failed to ratify the UN convention protecting the rights of the disabled, prompting disappointment from the White House over Republican blockage of the treaty.

Lawmakers voted 61-38 in favor of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for ratification of a treaty whose approval would create no change in US law.

President Barack Obama's signature would have made the United States the 127th country to ratify the convention, which was first adopted December 13, 2006 by the UN General Assembly.

The treaty was largely symbolic for the United States in that it codifies in international law many of the rights already afforded under the Americans for Disabilities Act (ADA), the historic US law passed in 1990.

"We are disappointed that the overwhelming majority of Senate Republicans today blocked the convention... which would enshrine American standards that have been developed through decades of bipartisan cooperation," White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement.

"We hope the Senate will reconsider this treaty soon in the next Congress."

Majia here: The decision by Republicans to block ratification of this treaty reflects a stingy and mean attitude toward America's disabled population.

The UN treaty would not have undermined US sovereignty in any way because the US already has laws on the book that meet the treaty mandate.

In my opinion, this unwillingness to sign reflects the uber-man attitude of the elites within the Republican Party.