[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 58 (Friday, April 30, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E717-E718]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY RIGHTS: THE PROPOSED U.N. CONVENTION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 30, 2004

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, please insert the attached statement into 
today's Congressional Record under Extensions of Remarks.

       Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on March 30th, the Congressional 
     Human Rights Caucus held a groundbreaking Members' Briefing 
     entitled, ``International Disability Rights: The Proposed UN 
     Convention.'' This discussion of the global situation of 
     people with disabilities was intended to help establish 
     disability rights issues as an integral part of the general 
     human rights discourse. The briefing brought together the 
     human rights community and the disability rights community, 
     and it raised awareness in Congress of the need to protect 
     disability rights under international law to the same extent 
     as other human rights through a binding UN convention on the 
     rights of people with disabilities.
       Our expert witnesses included Deputy Assistant Secretary of 
     State Mark P. Lagon; the Permanent Representative of the 
     Republic of Ecuador to the United Nations, Ambassador Luis 
     Gallegos; the United Nations Director of the Division for 
     Social Policy and Development in the Department of Economic 
     and Social Affairs, Johan Scholvinck; the distinguished 
     former Attorney General of the United States, former Under-
     Secretary General of the United Nations and former Governor 
     of Pennsylvania, the Honorable Dick Thornburgh; the President 
     of the National Organization on Disability (NOD), Alan A. 
     Reich; Kathy Martinez, a member of the National Council on 
     Disabilities (NCD); and a representative of the United States 
     International Council on Disabilities (USCID) and Executive 
     Director of Mental Disability Rights International, Eric 
     Rosenthal.
       As I had announced earlier, I intend to place the important 
     statements of our witnesses in the Congressional Record, so 
     that all of my colleagues may profit from their expertise, 
     and I ask that the statement of Mr. Alan Reich be placed at 
     this point in the Congressional Record.
       Mr. ALAN A. REICH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I come before 
     you today in my capacity as Chairman of the World Committee 
     on Disability. There are 600 million men, women, and children 
     with disabilities in the world. Disability knows no political 
     boundaries. Eighty per cent live in developing countries and 
     are doubly disadvantaged by poverty and hunger. The numbers 
     are increasing dramatically. Population growth, war injuries, 
     landmines, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition, disease, substance 
     abuse, accidents, and environmental damage all contribute 
     to this increase. Prejudice abounds. Many are consigned to 
     the shadows of beggary. Anyone can join the disability 
     community in an instant. No on is immune.
       While economic and social conditions vary among countries, 
     all of us with disabilities are united by the pursuit of a 
     common goal: full and equal participation in the life of our 
     respective societies. And, we all yearn to end the hurtful 
     discrimination that exists in all our countries. Is not 
     access to employment, education, religious worship and basic 
     services our human right? Surely it is. Mr. Chairman, I 
     commend you and the Human Rights Caucus of our Congress for 
     recognizing disability as a human rights issue and for 
     calling on our nation, which consistently and forcefully 
     provides leadership on human rights issues, to advance the 
     United Nations Convention on Disability Rights.
       Disability is a silent crisis; it has not received the 
     attention that this body and the United Nations itself have 
     historically accorded other human rights issues. Indeed, we 
     ourselves shaped the United Nations as the global forum for 
     human rights law and policy. The time has come to end the 
     marginalization of disability in the quest for universal 
     human rights. As president of the National Organization on 
     Disability, I thank you for this significant contribution.
       We also are most thankful to those nations who have pressed 
     this cause as an issue of human rights within the U.N. 
     Paradoxically and unfortunately, the United States cannot yet 
     be counted among those countries that have come forward to 
     lead this effort. This is evidenced not only by the U.S. 
     position on the Convention, but also--in a most visible way--
     by the composition of the U.S. delegation to the U.N., which 
     unlike the delegations of so many other countries, does not 
     include a single individual with a disability!
       It is very important that the United States take an active 
     leadership role in securing an effective U.N. Convention. It 
     is not sufficient for us to be a passive participant, any 
     more than it would be for Ecuador, whose distinguished U.N. 
     Permanent Representative Ambassador Luis Gallegos is with us 
     today. Ambassador Gallegos' own involvement in disability 
     matters came about through his nation's winning the World 
     Committee's $50,000 Franklin Delano Roosevelt International 
     Disability Award two years ago. He then quickly assumed 
     leadership of the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee for the 
     U.N. Convention, and it has been a privilege to work with him 
     as he has generated support throughout the world and has 
     guided this endeavor within the U.N. Its successful adoption 
     by the general assembly and the world most certainly will be 
     attributable to Ambassador Gallegos and his dedicated hard 
     work.
       Mr. Chairman, for more than a quarter century the United 
     Nations slowly but progressively has recognized the need to 
     confront the disability crisis and has taken important 
     actions. The General Assembly in 1976 proclaimed 1981 as the 
     International Year of Disabled Persons. At the end of the 
     year, I had the privilege of addressing the General Assembly, 
     the first person in a wheelchair ever to do so, to urge 
     adoption of

[[Page E718]]

     the World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons. 
     This was followed by the Decade of Disabled Persons and the 
     development of the U.N. Standard Rules on the Equalization of 
     Opportunities of Disabled Persons. But these efforts, while 
     important, have been non-binding.
       A binding instrument, or, a U.N. Convention, that states 
     can sign and ratify is the next natural step, and it would be 
     a travesty if the United States, which has been at the 
     forefront of the United Nations human rights and disability 
     efforts were not at the forefront of this one. People with 
     disabilities in our country have benefited from the United 
     Nations leadership. Our own National Organization on 
     Disability, of which I have served as President since its 
     founding in 1982, is a direct outgrowth of the United Nations 
     initiative. Literally thousands of national and local 
     organizations throughout the world have come into being and 
     continue to derive their stimulus from the United Nations' 
     core concern. The U.N. stimulates and nurtures interactions 
     among those with disabilities and has helped enormously in 
     solidifying our cause as a global one. Certainly, progress 
     must come about within nations, but the international 
     communication and interaction has provided wonderful 
     opportunities for the exchange of ideas and learning centered 
     on shared values. This International Convention will, as 
     other United Nations instrumentalities before it have done, 
     encourage and stimulate these interactions and that will be 
     very worthwhile for those with disabilities and their family 
     members.
       Intensified international communication in the important 
     area of disability, as we witness every day, is good for 
     Americans with disabilities and for our organizations--just 
     as I know our participation benefits our counterparts abroad. 
     This ongoing dialogue and sharing in this area of common 
     interest helps create a climate conducive to active diplomacy 
     in other more political areas of concern. It generates mutual 
     understanding that is so much in need in our world today.
       It is incomprehensible that the United States would not 
     seize the opportunity in this non-controversial area of 
     common interest, an area in which we are acknowledged world 
     leader, to ensure the best possible Convention that reflects 
     our principles and values we cherish.
       Continued United Nations progress for our fifth of humanity 
     is an economic, social, and humanitarian imperative. The eyes 
     of the world are upon us. Like the United Nations World 
     Programme of Action before it, the U.N. Convention on 
     Disability Rights will be a beacon of hope for people with 
     disabilities and for all mankind.
       Mr. Chairman, I have written President Bush urging that he 
     and his administration vigorously support this Convention at 
     the United Nations. I have urged him to support in all 
     possible ways H. Con. Res. 169. I request your permission to 
     include in the record this letter in its entirety along with 
     my remarks here today.
       Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

                  [Letter to President George W. Bush]

                                                   March 31, 2004.
     Hon. George W. Bush, President of the United States,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: Shortly after taking office, on 
     February 1, 2001, you announced the New Freedom Initiative 
     and expressed your strong commitment to improving the lives 
     of America's 54 million citizens with disabilities. I recall 
     well how proud I was to be on the platform with you that day 
     as you announced your plans to bring to reality the hopes and 
     dreams of our constituency.
       The entire world has benefited greatly from America's 
     leadership as our nation has set the pace for the world 
     through our legislation such as the Americans with 
     Disabilities Act and our leadership in the United Nations of 
     ongoing international disability initiatives. Thanks to this 
     commitment, we are looked to by the world, and especially by 
     its 600 million men, women, and children with disabilities, 
     for spirited leadership in this area of concern.
       I therefore write to respectfully request that you continue 
     our nation's world leadership in the area of disability by 
     instructing the U.S. Departments of State and Justice to 
     advance aggressively the work in which our nation and many 
     others are engaged presently at the United Nations to develop 
     a U.N. Convention on Disability Rights. Many other U.N. 
     member nations are wondering why the United States, as a 
     long-time leader in this area of concern (as you and your 
     father have asserted and demonstrated), is not pursuing 
     development of this Convention.
       There are humanitarian and economic reasons why America 
     should be out in front on this issue. Because the world's 
     disabled are highly marginalized as a distinct minority as 
     well as within all other minorities, they need America's and 
     the U.N.'s help. The U.N. Convention will encourage action 
     among governments and non-governmental organizations 
     everywhere that will have a profound impact over time. People 
     with disabilities around the world will benefit from 
     America's commitment and example. We Americans with 
     disabilities will continue to benefit greatly from the 
     interactions and sharing of experience stimulated by the 
     Convention.
       The United Nations and most members regard disability as a 
     human rights issue. America cannot afford to forfeit its 
     avowed leadership as the champion of human rights in the 
     world, and backing this initiative would be a wonderful 
     expression of our human rights concerns.
       Please, Mr. President, direct your Administration team to 
     take a positive, aggressive leadership role in bringing about 
     the U.N. Convention on Disability Rights. I also request that 
     you ensure that the U.S. delegation at the U.N. include 
     people with disabilities themselves to maximize its 
     effectiveness. I am sure you have heard our cry, ``nothing 
     about us without us.'' We need to be at the table.
       Finally, the House of Representatives International 
     Relations Committee has recognized the importance and value 
     of such a Convention by voting H. Con. Res. 169 out of 
     committee unanimously. It is currently awaiting scheduling 
     for the floor. We support this resolution and the U.N. 
     Convention itself. We respectfully urge you to seize this 
     opportunity for the good of our nation and for people with 
     disabilities everywhere.
       With all best wishes,
           Respectfully yours,
                                                    Alan A. Reich,
     Chairman.

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