Source: USICD and DREDF
After a narrow but sad defeat in the Senate last December, the disability community remains determined to see the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) ratified in 2013! Your voices were essential to achieving the positive vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and brining the CRPD to a vote on the Senate floor.
Outlook: The outpouring of media support for the treaty, in addition to the commitment of senators to reconsider their “no” votes, has reinvigorated our efforts. Disability and civil rights leaders, veterans, parents of children with disabilities, and self-advocates are gathering in their states now to urge their senators’ support for the disability treaty this year. Advocates in the states where senators have indicated that they will reconsider their votes are meeting with the senators’ staff to talk to them about the importance of ratification. They are calling for hearings on the treaty in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this spring, so that by summer we can have a vote on the Senate floor.
USICD and DREDF Can Support You: The U.S. International Council on Disabilities (USICD) and the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) are continuing a partnership to provide you whatever resources you need to support your advocacy efforts. USICD and DREDF are working with NCIL members and a community of over 350 leading disability and veteran organizations from around the country. Contact Esme Grant at [email protected] with any questions, comments, or requests.
Resources for 2013: Check out the new materials and quick links section of the USICD website. USICD and DREDF have a goal to secure 1,000 supporting organizations. Add your organization to the list of supporters.
Let’s Do This!!