The CRPD and the Final Push

We all have faced situations where the odds were against us. Yet, we knew if we didn't try, we would never know if we could have affected the outcome. Put another way, if we took no action, we knew what the outcome would be. But, if we took action, however it turned out, we knew we had tried. We are in such a situation now with regard to ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Senators return tomorrow to Washington, D.C. Mondays and Fridays are usually travel days and a Jewish religious holiday begins sundown September 24th. So the way I calculate things, we have eight days to work with. After that, the Senate breaks until after the elections on November 4th. After the elections, the Senate will probably return for a lame duck session. The climate then will be highly charged, because control of the Senate may be changing in January 2015. Will we see evidence of bipartisanship this year in November and December after the elections? No way! And, if control of the Senate shifts to the Republicans in January 2015, we can kiss good-bye any action on the CRPD for two years, for sure.

This blog has had over 16,000 views since it's start in August 2013. That's a lot of eyes, a lot of spectators. I am very pleased. How many different spectators read this blog, we'll never know. We do know the eyes that have read this blog are from all over the world. Most are from the U.S. The next largest views outside the U.S. are from China (603), Ukraine (369), and France (342).

Well, in September we don't need U.S. spectators, we need U.S. players, people willing to barrage Senator Menendez, Chairman of the Senate a Foreign a Relations Committee, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and demand a vote on ratification of the CRPD BEFORE SEPTEMBER 24th. It's that simple. The facts have been disseminated. The points and counterpoints have been made. The fear spreaders have been exposed. The absurdities in the anti-CRPD arguments have been explained away.

It comes down to whether we have it in us to make this final push and, when we do, will the Senate leadership take us seriously and give us a vote.

Please begin your contacting tomorrow and keep it up till sundown on September 24th or until we get what we want, which ever comes first.

Here are the numbers:

Senator Menendez:  202.224.4744
Senator Reid:  202.224.3542

Thank you.
Common Grounder