National Disability Rights Network (www.ndrn.org) says “Senate abdicates its leadership role”
In a statement following the Senate vote on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Curtis L. Decker, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network said:
“The National Disability Rights Network is deeply disappointed that, despite bi-partisan support in the Senate, a group of thirty-eight Senators voted today against the rights of individuals with disabilities and blocked the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
“These thirty-eight Senators sent the embarrassing and dangerous message to individuals with disabilities in the United States and abroad, that scare tactics and misinformation are all that is needed for the United States Senate to abdicate its leadership role.
“It is individuals with disabilities in the United States, including American veterans, as well as people with disabilities living in poverty and oppression abroad who look to the leadership of the United States, who truly lost today.
“We greatly appreciate the leadership of Senators McCain, Lugar, Barrasso, Harkin, Durbin and Kerry in bringing the treaty to the Senate floor, those Republican and Democratic Senators who stood by the rights of individuals with disabilities today, and the efforts of former Republican Senator Bob Dole and former Republican Attorney General Richard Thornburgh.”