Obama On UN Disability Treaty: ‘Get It Done’
By Michelle Diament
August 13, 2013
President Barack Obama is making a new push for the United States to ratify an international disability rights treaty.
In remarks over the weekend, Obama said it is time for the U.S. Senate to approve the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The treaty, which calls for greater community access and a better standard of living for people with disabilities around the world, was signed by the U.S. in 2009. But Senate approval is needed for ratification and a vote last year did not garner the two-thirds majority required.
“I know how disappointing it was last year when the Senate failed to approve the disabilities treaty,” Obama told attendees at the Disabled American Veterans convention in Orlando, Fla. on Saturday. “But we’re going to keep fighting to ratify that treaty, because the United States has always been a leader for the rights of the disabled.”
in full: http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2013/08/13/obama-un-treaty-done/18501/