[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 31, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5731-S5732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 EXECUTIVE REPORT OF COMMITTEE--TREATY

  The following executive report of committee was submitted:

       By Mr. KERRY, from the Committee on Foreign Relations:

      Treaty Doc. 112-7  Convention on the Rights of Persons with 
Disabilities with 3 reservations, 8 understandings, and 2 declarations 
                           (Ex. Rept. 112-6)

 Text of the Committee-Recommended Resolution of Advice and Consent To 
                              Ratification

       Resolved, (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring 
     therein),
       That the Senate advises and consents to the ratification of 
     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'') (Treaty Doc. 112-7), subject to 
     the reservations of subsection (a), the understandings of 
     subsection (b), and the declarations of subsection (c).
       (a) Reservations.--The advice and consent of the Senate to 
     the ratification of the Convention is subject to the 
     following reservations, which shall be included in the 
     instrument of ratification:
       (1) This Convention shall be implemented by the Federal 
     Government of the United States of America to the extent that 
     it exercises legislative and judicial jurisdiction over the 
     matters covered therein, and otherwise by the state and local 
     governments; to the extent that state and local governments 
     exercise jurisdiction over such matters, the obligations of 
     the United States of America under the Convention are limited 
     to the Federal Government's taking measures appropriate to 
     the Federal system, which may include enforcement action 
     against state and local actions that are inconsistent with 
     the Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or 
     other Federal laws, with the ultimate objective of fully 
     implementing the Convention.
       (2) The Constitution and laws of the United States of 
     America establish extensive protections against 
     discrimination, reaching all forms of governmental activity 
     as well as significant areas of non-governmental activity. 
     Individual privacy and freedom from governmental interference 
     in certain private conduct are also recognized as among the 
     fundamental values of our free and democratic society. The 
     United States of America understands that by its terms the 
     Convention can be read to require broad regulation of private 
     conduct. To the extent it does, the United States of America 
     does not accept any obligation under the Convention to enact 
     legislation or take other measures with respect to private 
     conduct except as mandated by the Constitution and laws of 
     the United States of America.
       (3) Article 15 of the Convention memorializes existing 
     prohibitions on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or 
     degrading treatment or punishment contained in Articles 2 and 
     16 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and other 
     Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) 
     and in Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and 
     Political Rights (ICCPR), and further provides that such 
     protections shall be extended on an equal basis with respect 
     to persons with disabilities. To ensure consistency of 
     application, the obligations of the United States of America 
     under Article 15 shall be subject to the same reservations 
     and understandings that apply for the United States of 
     America with respect to Articles 1 and 16 of the CAT and 
     Article 7 of the ICCPR.
       (b) Understandings.--The advice and consent of the Senate 
     to the ratification of the Convention is subject to the 
     following understandings, which shall be included in the 
     instrument of ratification:
       (1) The United States of America understands that this 
     Convention, including Article 8 thereof, does not authorize 
     or require legislation or other action that would restrict 
     the right of free speech, expression, and association 
     protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States 
     of America.
       (2) Given that under Article 1 of the Convention ``[t]he 
     purpose of the present Convention is to promote, protect, and 
     ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and 
     fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities,'' with 
     respect to the application of the Convention to matters 
     related to economic, social, and cultural rights, including 
     in Articles 4(2), 24, 25, 27, 28 and 30, the United States of 
     America understands that its obligations in this respect are 
     to prevent discrimination on the basis of disability in the 
     provision of any such rights insofar as they are recognized 
     and implemented under U.S. Federal law.
       (3) Current U.S. law provides strong protections for 
     persons with disabilities against unequal pay, including the 
     right to equal pay for equal work. The United States of 
     America understands the Convention to require

[[Page S5732]]

     the protection of rights of individuals with disabilities on 
     an equal basis with others, including individuals in other 
     protected groups, and does not require adoption of a 
     comparable worth framework for persons with disabilities.
       (4) Article 27 of the Convention provides that States 
     Parties shall take appropriate steps to afford to individuals 
     with disabilities the right to equal access to equal work, 
     including nondiscrimination in hiring and promotion of 
     employment of persons with disabilities in the public sector. 
     Current interpretation of Section 501 of the Rehabilitation 
     Act of 1973 exempts U.S. Military Departments charged with 
     defense of the national security from liability with regard 
     to members of the uniformed services. The United States of 
     America understands the obligations of Article 27 to take 
     appropriate steps as not affecting hiring, promotion, or 
     other terms or conditions of employment of uniformed 
     employees in the U.S. Military Departments, and that Article 
     27 does not recognize rights in this regard that exceed those 
     rights available under U.S. Federal law.
       (5) The United States of America understands that the terms 
     ``disability,'' ``persons with disabilities,'' and ``undue 
     burden'' (terms that are not defined in the Convention), 
     ``discrimination on the basis of disability,'' and 
     ``reasonable accommodation'' are defined for the United 
     States of America coextensively with the definitions of such 
     terms pursuant to relevant United States law.
       (6) The United States of America understands that the 
     Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 
     established under Article 34 of the Convention, is authorized 
     under Article 36 to ``consider'' State Party Reports and to 
     ``make such suggestions and general recommendations on the 
     report as it may consider appropriate.'' Under Article 37, 
     the committee ``shall give due consideration to ways and 
     means of enhancing national capacities for the implementation 
     of the present Convention.'' The United States of America 
     understands that the Committee on the Rights of Persons with 
     Disabilities has no authority to compel actions by states 
     parties, and the United States of America does not consider 
     conclusions, recommendations, or general comments issued by 
     the committee as constituting customary international law or 
     to be legally binding on the United States in any manner.
       (7) The United States of America understands that the 
     Convention is a non-discrimination instrument. Therefore, 
     nothing in the Convention, including Article 25, addresses 
     the provision of any particular health program or procedure. 
     Rather, the Convention requires that health programs and 
     procedures are provided to individuals with disabilities on a 
     non-discriminatory basis.
       (8) The United States of America understands that, for the 
     United States of America, the term or principle of the ``best 
     interests of the child'' as used in Article 7(2), will be 
     applied and interpreted to be coextensive with its 
     application and interpretation under United States law. 
     Consistent with this understanding, nothing in Article 7 
     requires a change to existing United States law.
       c. Declarations.--The advice and consent of the Senate to 
     the ratification of the Convention is subject to the 
     following declarations:
       The United States of America declares that the provisions 
     of the Convention are not self-executing.
       The Senate declares that, in view of the reservations to be 
     included in the instrument of ratification, current United 
     States law fulfills or exceeds the obligations of the 
     Convention for the United States of America.

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