4:02am August 5, 2014

“The Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a treaty modeled after the ADA, would help change that. It would establish a framework for creating legislation and policies in other countries. And it would protect the rights and dignity of all people with disabilities, giving them greater opportunity to work, travel, and lead full and productive lives.”

—

Opening Doors to People With Disabilities Worldwide

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations just approved the CRPD this morning by a vote of 12-6. Now it goes on to the full Senate for a vote, where it is expected to be voted down by Republicans. If you live in the US, tell your Senators to vote for it!

(via disabilityhistory)

If you’re new to the “Disability Treaty” (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD) you can learn more about what that is with the handout at http://bit.ly/CRPD1Pager.

People can find tools to help them call Senators at http://disabilitytreaty.org! It provides you with phone numbers and even a script to guide you through each call. Each call is counted even if you’ve already called them before. Senators do count calls more heavily than emails, so if you feel comfortable making calls please do! You can even call after business hours and leave messages in voice mail—these calls are counted also! But if you really prefer sending emails, then you will find template emails at the link also.

You do NOT need to be legal voting age to call or email Senators. Senators in fact often LIKE hearing from underage constituents because they don’t often hear from young people. Also, they know that you will be able to vote within what is, from their perspective, only a few years. (A Senator’s tenure is six years long—depending on how old you are and how long it will be before the Senator is up for re-election, you might actually be voting age the next time they need to run! Or if not, then you’ll probably be able to vote the time after that.)

EDITED TO ADD list of Senators who really need to hear from CRPD advocates, see below. If you have already called your two Senators and want to do more, consider reaching out to a few of these. It’s okay to call the same Senator multiple times on the same issue: every call is counted. The Senate is currently in recess, but that just means the Senator meets with voters in their home state instead of in DC. It doesn’t mean they stop listening or counting calls! There are still staff in DC to answer the phones and check voice mail messages or email messages!

Consider meeting with your Senators (or their staff) at one of their offices in your home state. Guidance on how to do that at http://bit.ly/MeetSenators. Full contact information for all 100 Senators (including the really key Senators listed below!) including local phone numbers for all their offices in their home states at http://bit.ly/ReachSenators Because, yeah, U.S. Senators don’t only have offices in DC, they have offices in their home states too! For larger or more populated states, they may even have more than one office in the state they represent.

Key Senators:

Senator Flake, Arizona
202-224-4521
colleen_donnelly@flake.senate.gov

Senator Isakson, Georgia
202-224-3643
chris_sullivan@isakson.senate.gov

Senator Chambliss, Georgia
202-224-3521
Brandon_bell@chambliss.senate.gov

Senator Coats, Indiana
202-224-5623
terry_snell@coats.senate.gov

Senator Blunt, Missouri
202-224-5721
lauren_mccormack@blunt.senate.gov

Senator Cochran, Mississippi
202-224-5054
tim_wolverton@cochran.senate.gov

Senator Wicker, Mississippi
202-224-6253
bevin_wilkinson@wicker.senate.gov

Senator Fischer, Nebraska
202-224-6551
peter_schirtzinger@fischer.senate.gov

Senator Johanns, Nebraska
202-224-4224
leslie_campbell@johanns.senate.gov

Senator Burr, North Carolina
202-224-3154
Cynthia_ramos@burr.senate.gov

Senator Portman, Ohio
202-224-3353
tyler_brace@portman.senate.gov