[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 13239-13240]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 EXECUTIVE REPORT OF COMMITTEE--TREATY

  The following executive report of committee was submitted:

       By Mr. MENENDEZ, from the Committee on Foreign Relations:
       Treaty Doc. 112-7: Convention on the Rights of Persons with 
     Disabilities (Ex. Rept. 113-12)

  The text of the committee-recommended resolution of advice and 
consent to ratification is as follows:

       As reported by the Committee on Foreign Relations:
       Resolved, (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring 
     therein),
       Section 1. Senate Advice and Consent Subject to 
     Reservations, Understandings, and Declarations.
       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 section 2, the understandings of section 
     3, and the declarations of section 4.
       Sec. 2. 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) The 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 (42 
     U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), 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, adopted 
     by the United Nations General Assembly December 10, 1984, and 
     entered into force June 26, 1987 (the ``CAT'') and in Article 
     7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
     Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly 
     December 16, 1966, and entered into force March 23, 1976 (the 
     ``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 
     of the Convention 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.
       Sec. 3. 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 ``[tithe 
     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 United States law.
       (3) Current United States 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 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 (29 U.S.C. 791) exempts United States 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 United States 
     military departments, and that Article 27 does not recognize 
     rights in this regard that exceed those rights available 
     under United States 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 understands that the Committee on the 
     Rights of Persons with Disabilities, established under 
     Article 34 of the Convention, has an important, but limited 
     and advisory role. The United States understands that the 
     Committee has no authority to compel actions by the United 
     States, and the United States 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. The United States 
     further understands that the Committee's interpretations of 
     the Convention are not legally binding on the United States.
       (7) The United States of America understands that the 
     Convention is a nondiscrimination 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 
     nondiscriminatory 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 Federal, State, 
     or local law.
       (9) Nothing in the Convention limits the rights of parents 
     to homeschool their children.
       Sec. 4. Declarations.
       The advice and consent of the Senate to the ratification of 
     the Convention is subject to the following declarations:
       (1) The United States of America declares that the 
     provisions of the Convention are not self-executing.

[[Page 13240]]

       (2) 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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