Rose Law Group Gripe of the Week
A vote to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities fell short in the Senate Tuesday, with the measure receiving 61 votes, six less than the 67 needed for ratification. Thirty-eight Republicans voted no.
The treaty promotes equal rights for disabled people around the world, including those with physical disabilities such as blindness. If the Senate had voted for ratification, the United States would have joined 126 other countries that are party to the treaty, which was modeled on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ratifying the treaty would have given the United States greater standing to push other nations to pass measures similar to that 1990 law.
The treat would not have affected U.S. laws.
Former Senate leader Bob Dole, whose arm and hand are withered by a war injury, sat in a wheelchair and witnessed fellow Republicans snub him with their votes, despite a supporting speech by Arizona Senator John McCain, who can’t extend his arms because of war.
Just when you think politics in Washington cannot possibly do any more damage to democracy’s branding, actions such as yesterday’s vote move the line in the sand.
Your Gripe editor worked in the U.S. Senate during the final years of the Vietnam War, a time when emotions were on fire, but the chamber, although wounded, was not disabled.
Now, however, the so-called deliberative branch of government belongs in a wheelchair.
