[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 445 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 445
Recognizing the goals and ideals of International Day of Persons with
Disabilities.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 3, 2019
Mr. Casey (for himself, Mr. Coons, Mr. Jones, Ms. Duckworth, Ms.
Cantwell, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Durbin) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the goals and ideals of International Day of Persons with
Disabilities.
Whereas December 3 of each year is recognized internationally as International
Day of Persons with Disabilities;
Whereas the United Nations (UN) states that the observance of International Day
of Persons with Disabilities aims to promote an understanding of
disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights, and
well-being of persons with disabilities and seeks to increase awareness
of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities
in every aspect of political, social, economic, and cultural life;
Whereas over 1,000,000,000 people, or 15 percent of the world's population, live
with some form of disability;
Whereas 80 percent of individuals with disabilities live in developing
countries;
Whereas there are more than 93,000,000 children with disabilities worldwide
according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF);
Whereas the prevalence of disabilities is approximately 50 percent higher for
women than for men, and women make up 75 percent of all individuals with
disabilities in low- and middle-income countries, according to UN Women;
Whereas persons with disabilities are often excluded from the labor market,
political participation and meaningful involvement in public life and
are more likely to experience poverty, discrimination, social
stigmatization, and lack of access to vital and inclusive resources;
Whereas children with disabilities are more likely to be malnourished, subject
to violence, isolation, and abuse, and less likely to attend school than
children without disabilities;
Whereas issues related to disability rights cut across all sectors of foreign
assistance, including democracy, voting and elections, human rights,
civil rights, labor, global health, education, economic growth and
trade, gender equality and women's empowerment, agriculture and food
security, water and sanitation, conflict transformation, disaster risk
reduction, and humanitarian recovery and relief;
Whereas there are 59,500,000 people forcibly displaced worldwide and displaced
people are more likely to have a disability, according to the UN High
Commission for Refugees;
Whereas forced displacement amplifies the risk experienced by refugees with
disabilities with respect to violence, including sexual and domestic
abuse, trafficking, exploitation by family members, discrimination, and
exclusion from access to justice, education, livelihoods, a nationality,
and other public services;
Whereas people with disabilities are often members of marginalized groups,
including women, young people, older adults, the LGBTI community, ethnic
and religious minorities, indigenous people, internally displaced
people, and refugees;
Whereas the United States has shown leadership domestically on disability rights
with the enactment and implementation of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the ADA Amendments Act of 2008
(Public Law 110-325), and the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), as well as section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794), and this leadership should be
leveraged to support international disability rights;
Whereas United States support for the rights of individuals with disabilities--
(1) is in the diplomatic, economic, and humanitarian interests of the
United States;
(2) generates goodwill toward the United States; and
(3) highlights the values of the people of the United States through
the work of governmental, nongovernmental, and faith-based organizations of
the United States;
Whereas the United States Government, through the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), promotes disability-inclusive
development by--
(1) improving the quality and accessibility of education for students
with disabilities through the promotion of sign language, Braille, access
to assistive technology, and other inclusive education practices;
(2) increasing the participation of people with disabilities in
political processes through national awareness campaigns, use of accessible
polling stations and voter materials, and open exchange between disability
communities and politicians to update election laws to be more inclusive
and compliant with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities;
(3) strengthening organizations run by and for people with disabilities
to advocate on their own behalf, design, and implement international
development programs and access direct funding;
(4) supporting the economic independence of women with disabilities
through microcredit programs that provide seed grants to women to invest in
their families and start new businesses;
(5) integrating youth and adults with disabilities into the competitive
workforce by facilitating job training, internship opportunities, and
educating employers on best practices for hiring people with disabilities;
and
(6) ensuring community health care providers and disaster response
experts include people with disabilities in their programs by employing the
principles of universal design; and
Whereas the inclusion of people with disabilities is a fundamental part of
democracy, and essential to the full realization of human rights: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes December 3, 2019, as International Day of
Persons with Disabilities;
(2) supports the goals and ideals of International Day of
Persons with Disabilities;
(3) recognizes the importance of supporting the rights of
individuals with disabilities both domestically and abroad;
(4) supports efforts by the Department of State and the
United States Agency for International Development to promote
disability-inclusive development;
(5) supports continued leadership by the United States in
bilateral, multilateral, and private sector efforts to promote
and protect the rights of individuals with disabilities; and
(6) encourages other members of the international community
to protect the rights and civil liberties of individuals with
disabilities.
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