GOVERNMENT WATCH ACTION ITEM: Foreign Relations Committee Approves UN Disabilities Treaty Action Needed to Oppose Ratification by Full Senate

[Vic Cirillo]

William A. Estrada, Esq.
Director of Federal Relations

Will Estrada has been leading our efforts to defend homeschooling on Capitol Hill since 2006. As the oldest of eight kids, and a homeschool graduate who married a homeschool graduate, he has a passion for protecting homeschool freedom. Read more >>

This morning, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-6 to approve the dangerous UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Every Democrat on the committee voted for the treaty. Republican senators John McCain (AZ) and John Barrasso (WY) also voted in favor of it.

HSLDA extends our sincere thanks to the senators who voted against the CRPD: Bob Corker (TN), Jim Risch (ID), Marco Rubio (FL), Ron Johnson (WI), Jeff Flake (AZ), and Rand Paul (KY). Please call or email their offices and thank them for standing against the UN, and for U.S. sovereignty and parental rights.

Ongoing Battle

This battle now moves to the full Senate where a vote on the treaty before the August recess appears unlikely. We are hearing rumors that a vote could come up after Labor Day or even during a lame-duck session following Election Day.

We are heartened that both Senator Menendez and Senator McCain admitted publicly that they do not have the votes to ratify the treaty at this time.

The only reason why they do not currently have the votes is because of you. It is imperative that your senators keep hearing from you. Our friends on the Hill tell us that supporters of the treaty are calling and emailing in high numbers. Our elected senators need to hear from we, the people, that this UN treaty must be rejected.

Send a Strong Message

Please call and email your senators and urge them to reject the UNCRPD.

You can reach your senators by calling the Capitol Switchboard at [phone]. You can also use HSLDA’s emailing tool to send a prewritten letter to your senators by filling out your information and then clicking the red “take action” button.

Your message can be as simple as the following:

“I urge you to oppose the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This treaty surrenders U.S. sovereignty to unelected UN bureaucrats and will threaten parental care of children with disabilities. Our nation already has laws to protect Americans with disabilities. This treaty is unnecessary and will hurt families by giving bureaucrats, instead of parents, the power to decide what is in the best interests of a child with disabilities.”

Failed “Fixes”

The Foreign Relations Committee also approved several reservations, understandings, and declarations (“RUDs”) to accompany the treaty, claiming that these will fix any problems in the document. They do not.

Not only did the Foreign Relations Committee reject several excellent RUDs offered by conservative senators, but RUDs themselves are fatally flawed. You can read this analysis by Mike Farris to learn more about RUDs and their weaknesses. The only way to fully protect our nation’s sovereignty, parental rights and homeschool freedom, and those with disabilities from this dangerous United Nations treaty is to defeat it.

Thank you for your vigilance and for working as modern-day patriots and minutemen to fight against the United Nations. Standing together, we defeated the CRPD in December 2012. We can do it again. To learn more about the CRPD and to read it for yourself, please click here.

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Protect Your Family

We greatly value you and your support—it is a privilege to serve you! If you or someone you know is not a member of HSLDA, will you consider taking a moment today to join or recommend us? Your support enables us to defend individual families threatened by government officials and protect homeschooling freedom for all. Join now >>

U.S. SENATE

US Sen. Marco Rubio, FAX [phone] – Phone [phone] or [phone]

317 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 or

1650 Prudential Dr., Suite 220, Jacksonville, FL 32207

Complete an email form at http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-senator-rubio?p=...

US Sen. Bill Nelson, FAX [phone] – Phone [phone] or [phone]

716 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 or

1301 Riverplace Blvd., Suite 2010, Jacksonville, FL 32207

Complete an email form at http://www.billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

[Leanne King]

Vic, should this go out as a blast? Now or later?  I know they leave for a 5 week vacation soon.