Two things right-wingers really don’t like: the Americans With Disabilities Act and the United Nations. So no surprise that a UN Treaty on Persons with Disabilities would bring out the crazies:
The Senate rejected a United Nations treaty aimed at banning discrimination against individuals with disabilities Tuesday, falling five votes short of the two-thirds needed in a 61-38 vote.
The U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities calls on participating countries to work to attain equality in access to education, healthcare and more, and was based largely on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. It was negotiated by President George W. Bush’s administration in 2006 and has since been signed by President Obama. So far, 126 countries have ratified the treaty.
The treaty, which passed through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before an attempt to ratify it through a voice vote fell flat in August, had a broad base of support, with Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) standing next to each other Monday to implore senators to join their cause.
Former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), backed by his wife, fellow former Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), attended Tuesday’s vote to urge the treaty’s ratification. The former Senate majority leader looked on from his wheelchair as senators voted from their desks instead of approaching the room’s podium.
The reasons for opposing the treaty were bizarre, to say the least. Rick Santorum went so far as to argue that had the treaty passed, then the UN would kill his special needs child.
Bob Dole (far right) wheeled in to Senate by his Wife, Elizabeth Dole. Dole, once the GOP”s Party leader, failed to sway Republicans.
