Senator Corker, the CRPD, and Probabilities

If you visit Senator Corker’s home page you will learn many things. Two stood out for me – his success in getting the Department of Veterans Affairs to reverse its decision not to support innovative support classes for Tennessee veterans at Tennessee community colleges and his current position, not to support the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The first is forward leaning, a reflection of his belief in the value of higher education and helping American veterans prepare for it. The second is a reflection of a fear that our Constitution MIGHT be unraveled in the future by U.S. ratification of ONE treaty – the CRPD – a treaty which addresses how people with disabilities should treated.

In the statement released on December 20, 2013 it read:

U.S. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, today announced he cannot support Senate approval of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), citing concerns that U.S. ratification could undermine the constitutional balance between the state and federal governments and the legitimacy of our democratic processes.  In doing so, Corker urged the U.S. to pursue different means of advocating for the rights of the disabled throughout the world.  Corker also commended the efforts of the Obama Administration to work with him to address a range of legal concerns raised by the CRPD, but noted that he was unable to resolve his concerns through clarifying language – known as reservations, understandings, and declarations (RUDs) – that would be adopted in a resolution of ratification.

“I also greatly appreciate the efforts of the administration and Senator Menendez in working with us for several weeks.  However, through the process of attempting to resolve concerns about the treaty being used inappropriately to expand federal power beyond constitutional limits, I remain uncertain that even the strongest RUDs would stand the test of time, and I believe any uncertainty on this issue is not acceptable….”

Uncertainty? We face uncertainty every day and we deal with it. Our founding fathers and the rest of us have given us a government, a system of checks and balances, that works. In order for the dismal view of the future, if the CRPD were ratified, to work as Senator Corker now perceives it would work, extensive legislation replacing existing laws would need to be enacted and the courts would need to agree, BEFORE things would change. And, given the productivity level of Congress and the speed level in the courts, I just don’t see the CRPD taking over how we protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws related to persons with disabilities are the ways we, do now and will continue in the future, respond to the CRPD. Senator Corker has nothing to fear.

At the end of the statement on Senator Corker’s home page it says:

In the United States, the rights of Americans are governed by the Constitution, and decisions about how the government should assist those with disabilities to be full participants in our society are typically made through the democratic process.

On that point Senator Corker is so right. Here’s hoping he returns to the negotiating table with this point in mind.

Thank you.

Common Grounder

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The CRPD and People with Disabilities

In 2004-2005 I was a member of the U.S. delegation when the U.N. was developing the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It was a special time for me for four reasons. First, the U.N. debates reminded me of the debates that took place when the Americans with Disabilities Act was being developed in 1990. There were many amazing substantive parallels. Second, sessions on the CRPD occurred in two-week periods in January and August, the coldest and hottest times of the year in New York City – and over the sessions the number of persons with disabilities from around the world, who attended these sessions, doubled or tripled with each session. In addition, the number of persons with disabilities, who were members of official delegations, increased every session. Third, the chairs of the working group, which was writing the CRPD, allowed persons with disabilities to speak to 190 plus delegations directly on each article of the CRPD as it was being debated and written. That was an unprecedented. Fourth, words being debated and edited were displayed on wide screens so that delegations and observers saw text agreed to and edited as it was happening. God bless transparency and technology!

What these points illustrate is that people with disabilities, just as with the ADA, played a central role in shaping the words that made it into the CRPD. The strength of words in the CRPD, the broad scope of the CRPD, and degree of detail in the CRPD are there because persons with disabilities from across the globe knew what was needed to change their lives and their friends’ lives for the better. Treatment of people with disabilities warranted universal standards based on equality, nondiscrimination, accessibility, freedom, independence, participation, and opportunity. In a clear voice, through the CRPD, these people declared their expectations, expectations that would touch any space, time in a day, or activity, such as – home, school, the workplace, choices in places to live, doctors’ offices and hospitals, leisure, shopping, transit, safety, and participation in every other aspects of community life.

Our Constitution is strong. Our government has checks and balances that preserve our sovereignty. Parents, who home school, must consider the lives of their children with disabilities, when they leave home and experience the wider world without them.

The inherent validity in the words in the CRPD reflects the will of persons with disabilities. We must emphasize this point to every Senators and every home schooling parent. Concerns about sovereignty and parents rights can be addressed in a CRPD resolution. We cannot let these concerns derail this very special opportunity the U.S. has to join the rest of the world and embrace the CRPD through ratification.

Thank you.

Common Grounder

A New Year's Day Letter to Home Schoolers

Happy New Year. I have cerebral palsy. I entered kindergarten with other kids in 1949. My Mom was the one who made sure I was well educated and always included within the public school system. I received a PhD from The Pennsylvania State University in 1974. My Mom typed my dissertation.

I understand a parent's commitment and concerns when he or she struggles with educational decisions and letting go, letting a child move on and move out. I watched my Mom. I understand your concerns about the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). You believe that ratification of the CRPD will lead to the unraveling of your right and opportunity to home school your child with a disability. It won't happen.

Every state in the U.S. has a law which allows home schooling. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal grant program. Every state accepts funding through this law, and with this acceptance, agrees to protect the rights of children with disabilities and their parents to a free, appropriate, public education, which includes the option of home schooling. Ratification of the CRPD will not undo any of this.

Every state has laws protecting children from abuse, neglect, and abandonment. Every state has laws governing what happens to a child in a divorce, when his or her parents cannot agree on where the child will live and how much time the child will spend with each parent. State laws do not restrict where children are educated, but do require that they be educated. Ratification of the CRPD will not undo any of this.

Our Constitution sorts out the responsibilities of state government and the responsibilities of the federal government. According to our Constitution educating and protecting children are state responsibilities, with few exceptions (e.g., kidnapping, crossing state lines with a child). Ratification of the CRPD will not undo any of this.

There is a UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Each country that has ratified the CRPD is obligated to submit a report to this committee periodically on how the country is responding to the CRPD. The committee then reacts to this report and may make comments and recommendations to the country. The committee's comments and recommendations are not legally binding. The country may choose to act or not act on them. In the U.S. there is no way the UN can require a state to change its home schooling policies. The only time a state's home schooling policies change would be when the state's legislature passes a law to that effect and the governor signs it. Ratification of the CRPD will not affect any of this.

The U.S. State Department prepared a transmittal package on the CRPD that the President sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The main point in this transmittal package is that no change in U.S. or state law is required in order for the Senate to ratify the CRPD. The package contains reservations, understandings, and a declaration (RUDs) explaining clarifications on how the U.S. will respond to the CRPD. The committee is reviewing these RUDs and considering these and others, including one that would expressly state that parents have the right to home school their children with disabilities. So that there will be no doubt about that.

If you read the CRPD you will learn that it addresses in clear language how people with disabilities should be treated. They should have the same rights, freedoms, opportunities, access, and enjoyment that people without disabilities have. The CRPD covers obvious topics like employment, education, health care, housing, transportation, and technology, but also other things like supported decision making, political participation, emergency preparedness, treatment by law enforcement and the judicial system, voting, the key role of the family, and the right of the family to stay together. These are all important topics. And although the ratification of the CRPD will not require us to change any laws, I believe it will foster a national debate on how we can do a better job of implementing the federal and state laws we do have that affect persons with a disabilities.

As a parent who home schools your child with a disability, your ability to do so will not be affected by ratification of the CRPD. I ask you to consider this -- what happens when your child leaves home? The U.S. and the rest of the world will be more welcoming and supportive of your child with planet-wide ratification of the CRPD. Just think, 139 countries have ratified the CRPD. Many of these countries permit home schooling. One guiding principle underlying ratification across the globe is a better, brighter future for people with disabilities of all ages and circumstances. As a parent I urge you to embrace that. Please let Senators Menendez and Corker, the leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, know that you are willing to help them reach a resolution to ratify the CRPD that does no harm to you or your child now and will benefit him or her greatly when that child spreads his or her wings and enters adulthood.

Thank you.

Common Grounder

CRPD and January 2014

Ratification of the CRPD should happen in January 2014. That is the optimal window for action by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and by the full Senate. In February 2014 and thereafter partisanship will heighten because of the mid-term elections in November 2014. Democrats and Republicans will be invested in drawing distinctions between them, not things on which they agree or could agree. After January 2014 bipartisanship cooperation, even if we pray or look for it, will be highly unlikely. There also will be big issues that will ebb and flow at the top of Congress’ radar that have nothing to do with the CRPD – budget, appropriation, debt ceiling, health care, entitlement, and immigration issues and others. So, what do we do? Work 24-7 in January 2014. Here are a few suggestions.

Contact Senators Menendez and Corker, frequently. They are the Chairman and Ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, respectively. They control what happens. Urge them to move the CRPD out of committee quickly.

Use personal messages. Senators are probably tired of receiving 100s or more of the same message. 

Volume of contacts continues to be critical. Tell personal stories or concerns. They will stand out. Senators may use them in floor statements and debates.

If you are a person from a state represented on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, contact your Senator and let him or her know and urge bipartisan cooperation. Ask your Senator to make a special effort to reach to a colleague on the committee from the other party and together work to help Senators Menendez and Corker to find a way to a resolution on the CRPD on which Democrats and Republicans can agree.

Ask questions in messages. These questions will get you answers.

Emphasize in your messages that solutions related to concerns have been identified. Strength of words and clarity of meaning are the only matters left to negotiate. Senators willing to operate in good faith can sort these out.

January 2014 is a key month for us. Please do all you can to make ratification of the CRPD happen. Each of us has to make this 31-day push.

Thank you.

Common Grounder

Senator Corker and the CRPD

When you watch someone for four plus hours in two hearings, you can't help but develop a sense of who they are. I watched Senator Bob Corker, Ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, during the committee hearings on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He appeared to be struggling earnestly to find a way to support the CRPD. So my heart flipped when I learned of his current position -- unable to support ratification -- yesterday in a blog, Chatanoogan.com. Also, many questions raced through my head --

Why now?

What triggered it?

Why a blog?

Why, in conjunction with Senator Lamar Alexander, a fellow Senator from Tennessee, up for re-election in 2014, facing a primary challenge?

I worked for a former Senator, Bill Frist from Tennessee, a physician who became Senate Majority Leader. He does extensive humanitarian work in Africa and elsewhere now. He supports ratification of the CRPD. While working for him I developed a strong sense of the values and beliefs he held and practiced. I met thousands of people from the state who valued independence, opportunity, empowerment, and equality. They understood committing to participation by and inclusion of people with disabilities does not stop at borders. Later, after hurricane Katrina, I worked with these same great Tennesseans when they opened their homes, programs, and hearts to people in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas impacted by Katrina.

My experiences with so many wonderful people in Tennessee will not let me accept that we have heard the final position from Senator Corker on the CRPD. I believe that if he and Senator Menendez talk, they can find a way to ratification. Please join me in contacting Senator Corker (202.224.3344; Twitter -@SenBobCorker, #SenBobCorker) and ask him to talk alone with Senator Menendez. These are men that understand the importance of the U.S. standing both here and abroad. These are men capable of finding the words to put in a resolution to get the CRPD ratified. Their staffs have tried and are to be commended, but now these two gentlemen must use their experience, skill, intellect, relationship, and good will to get the CRPD ratified in January 2014. They can do it if we show both of them our support and appreciation.

Thank you.

Common Grounder

The Senate January 2014 Schedule and the CRPD

According to Roll Call (a Capital Hill newspaper; http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/senate-democrats-unveil-2014-schedule/) the Senate returns to D.C. on January 6, 2014 and stays in until January 23, 2014, takes 4 days in home states and returns to D.C. on January 27, 2014. Assuming the "first day" and "last day" in a week where a recess occurs is often a "travel day", we could be looking at 11 days in which work could be done with all Senators in DC. (Martin Luther King Day is January 20th, so that's another lost day).  Anther complication is a lot of Senate committee business occurs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So, that means the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has 5 or 6 days available in January 2014 in which to hold a mark up. The later in January the committee holds a mark up on the CRPD, the fewer days available for the full Senate to vote on the CRPD.

By January 15, 2014 appropriators need to have authorized dollars to correspond to the miraculous, though modest, bipartisan budget deal reached this month. Otherwise, we face the possibility of another government shut down.

In February 2014 election campaigning for the entire House and one-third of the Senate begins in earnest. The little, sweet taste we had of bipartisanship probably will come to a screeching halt.

So, unless we advocate with great vigor for ratification of the CRPD by Martin Luther King Day (January 20th), we may lose our last real chance to see the CRPD ratified in 2014. If we face up to these calendar realities, maybe we can push to get the Senate to do what it must -- ratify the CRPD.

Thank you.

Common Grounder

CRPD and the Fake Deaf Interpreter

At the memorial service for Nelson Mandela, with 100 world leaders very near him, a man with a solemn, fixed expression, made hand and arm gestures. Few of us knew he was making no sense. Those that did, desperately tried to alert authorities, but were unable to get the man removed from the podium area. This was an embarrassing situation. Most television networks picked the story up days later.  In this coverage often security risk and breech were highlighted. What about the thousands of people in South Africa who are deaf? In the U.S. we have captioning. I do not know whether the event was captioned by any or all those covering it here, but I do know our TV remotes have that "CC" button. From now on, I am going to check, every time I watch a major event.

If we ever needed a reason to ratify the CRPD, this unbelievable, blatant example of discrimination, is one of them. If discrimination like this can a occur on the world stage and no one did anything about it, just think what goes on in every day life when no cameras are around? If we ratify the CRPD we will have a seat at the table when others are deciding on standards for interpreters for the deaf. If not, we will be on the sidelines and perhaps no one will pay attention to or hear us.

The U.S. interpreter community has strong standards and protocols. We could share these with the world, so what happened at the Mandela event, never happens again. We owe it to the people who watched in silence and horror, who were prevented from experiencing the moving tributes to Nelson Mandela in real time, to ratify the CRPD. Please contact the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and tell them to mark up the CRPD resolution to advise and consent now.  

Chairman Menendez: 202.224.4744

Ranking Member Corker: 202.224.3344

Thank you.

Common Grounder