U.S. Senate failed to ratify treaty

A while ago, I listened to one of many pre-election debates. One of the participants, a prominent Tea Party activist, stated that under Obama's presidency, the USA ceased to be a “shining beacon on the hill” and she wants America to once again be such a beacon.

So here comes the opportunity: The United Nations treaty on the disabled. It is modeled on the Americans with Disabilities Act. The world has learned from America and wants to follow us.

The treaty requires no changes in American law; the committee created by it has no power to impose anything on the USA. It was negotiated by the George W. Bush administration and it looks so good that several prominent Republicans, including Sen. McCain, former Senators Bob Dole (himself a disabled veteran) and Dick Lugar, as well as the former U.S. Attorney General Thornburgh, supported it.

Except that the U.S. Senate failed to ratify the treaty because 38 Republicans voted against. The reasons, or perhaps the better term would be “excuses,” involved the usual litany including U.S. sovereignty and parental rights.

Since these objections are completely invalid, we are left with the obvious conclusion: America tried to be the shining beacon that would be admired and emulated by the rest of the world, and all but eight Senate Republicans sabotaged this.

Jozef Figa

Cedar Rapids