[Senate Treaty Document 112-7]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
112th Congress
2d Session SENATE Treaty Doc.
112-7
_______________________________________________________________________
CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
__________
MESSAGE
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, ADOPTED BY
THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON DECEMBER 13, 2006, AND SIGNED BY
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON JUNE 30, 2009 (THE ``CONVENTION'')
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May 17, 2012.--Treaty was read the first time, and together with the
accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations and
ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
----------
The White House, May 17, 2012.
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit herewith, for advice and consent of the Senate
to its ratification, the Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities, adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly on December 13, 2006, and signed by the United States
of America on June 30, 2009 (the ``Convention''). I also
transmit, for the information of the Senate, the report of the
Secretary of State with respect to the Convention.
Anchored in the principles of equality of opportunity,
nondiscrimination, respect for dignity and individual autonomy,
and inclusion of persons with disabilities, the Convention
seeks to promote, protect, and ensure the full and equal
enjoyment of all human rights by persons with disabilities.
While Americans with disabilities already enjoy these rights at
home, U.S. citizens and other individuals with disabilities
frequently face barriers when they travel, work, serve, study,
and reside in other countries. The rights of Americans with
disabilities should not end at our Nation's shores.
Ratification of the Disabilities Convention by the United
States would position the United States to occupy the global
leadership role to which our domestic record already attests.
We would thus seek to use the Convention as a tool through
which to enhance the rights of Americans with disabilities,
including our veterans. Becoming a State Party to the
Convention and mobilizing greater international compliance
could also level the playing field for American businesses, who
already must comply with U.S. disability laws, as well as those
whose products and services might find new markets in countries
whose disability standards move closer to those of the United
States.
Protection of the rights of persons with disabilities has
historically been grounded in bipartisan support in the United
States, and the principles anchoring the Convention find clear
expression in our own domestic law. As described more fully in
the accompanying report, the strong guarantees of
nondiscrimination and equality of access and opportunity for
persons with disabilities in existing U.S. law are consistent
with and sufficient to implement the requirements of the
Convention as it would be ratified by the United States.
I recommend that the Senate give prompt and favorable
consideration to this Convention and give its advice and
consent to its ratification, subject to the reservations,
understandings, and declaration set forth in the accompanying
report.
Barack Obama.
LETTER OF SUBMITTAL
----------
Department of State,
Washington, June 23, 2011.
The President,
The White House.
The President: I have the honor to submit to you the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the
convention), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on
December 13, 2006, and signed by the United States of America
on July 30, 2009. I recommend the convention be transmitted to
the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification.
Ratification of the convention would serve both to underscore
our commitment to the rights of persons with disabilities and
to enhance our ability to promote those rights internationally.
At its core, the convention seeks to ensure that persons
with disabilities enjoy the same rights as everyone else and
are able to lead their lives productively as do other
individuals, if given the same opportunities. The United States
has always been a world leader in ensuring the rights of
individuals with disabilities, through legislation and
enforcement measures. The United States has made great progress
toward the goals of inclusion, equal opportunity, full
participation, independent living, and economic self-
sufficiency. By becoming a party to the convention, the United
States would continue its leadership role and would be in a
better position to support, assist, and encourage other states
to ratify and implement the convention, thereby contributing to
verifiable improvements in guaranteeing to persons with
disabilities equality of opportunity, nondiscrimination,
accessibility, and reasonable accommodation in foreign
countries. In short, ratification would position us as a leader
in promoting the rights of approximately 650 million people in
the world who have a disability, including the large number of
Americans with disabilities who travel, study, do business, and
reside abroad. Ultimately, it will be persons with
disabilities, both inside and outside the United States, who
will benefit from the global acceptance and implementation of
the convention.
Equality of treatment and nondiscrimination, precepts
anchored in the United States Constitution, are the primary
principles permeating the entire treaty. The convention's
provisions apply these principles in a number of key areas,
such as:
Participation in political life and access
to justice,
Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman, and
degrading treatment.
Accessibility, personal mobility, and
reasonable accommodation,
Health,
Education,
Employment,
Housing, and
Rehabilitation.
To assist the Senate in its consideration of the
convention, I am enclosing a detailed report containing an
article-by-article analysis, which addresses U.S. convention
implementation. Included in that analysis are three
reservations, five understandings, and one declaration that are
recommended for inclusion in the Senate's resolution of advice
and consent. As further discussed in the enclosed report, if
the United States makes the proposed reservations,
understandings, and declaration, existing domestic law will
serve to implement the convention.
It is my belief that if ratified as outlined above,
adoption of the convention would be advantageous to the United
States. All relevant U.S. government departments and agencies,
including key implementing departments and agencies,
participated actively in this review of the convention's
provisions with respect to their domestic authorities. In
particular, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human
Services and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission join
me in recommending that the convention be submitted to the
Senate for its early and favorable consideration and advice and
consent to ratification, subject to the reservations,
understandings, and declaration set forth in the enclosed
report.
Respectfully submitted,
Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Enclosures: As stated.
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