Washington, DC– Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley issued the following statement after the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities failed in the Senate.
“Plain and simple, the U.S. Senate voted against equal opportunity today. I am frustrated and saddened by the failure of the U.S. Senate to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The bottom line is that this treaty was about equality and fairness for persons with disabilities, especially for those Americans who travel outside of the U.S. and find substandard disability practices.
“The primary purpose of this treaty would have been to raise the rest of the world’s disability practices to America’s standards. I want to thank Oregon House Representative Sara Gelser for her work on the National Council on Disability and everyone at Disability Rights Oregon for their work throughout the years on disability issues and fairness for all in Oregon.”
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