UN Treaty Moves to Senate Floor—Keep Calling!

You are all that Stands against a UN Takeover

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends,

On Thursday, July 26, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by a vote of 13–6. All of the Democrats voted for it. Three Republicans—Dick Lugar (IN), John Barrasso (WY), and Johnny Isakson (GA) voted with the internationalists. Lugar’s vote is no surprise, but senators Barrasso and Isakson should have known better.

Chairman John Kerry (MA) said that he hoped for final passage of the treaty “real soon.” The Senate is planning to go out for summer recess on August 3. It is crucial that we delay a full Senate vote on the CRPD until then to give us the entire month of August to show senators just how dangerous the CRPD really is.

If you project the ratio of 13 to 6 out to the full Senate, we will come very close but we will lose. The goal is to make it absolutely unacceptable for any Republican or conservative Democrat to vote for this treaty.

Senators Isakson and Barrasso need to hear from their constituents in record numbers. They need to know that they have crossed a line by giving away American sovereignty to the UN.

Passage by the committee is Step 1. Step 2 is voting on the floor. And that is it. Only the Senate votes.

We need you to keep the phones in D.C. busy until August 3.

Test Case

There is no doubt that the Obama administration is waiting to see how they do on this convention to push through an entire package of UN treaties—chiefly the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, CEDAW (the women’s treaty), and the small arms treaty.

Will America remain a self-governing nation? When senators like Barrasso and Isakson vote for this internationalist agenda we have to wonder.

You can read more about the UN CRPD and the threat it poses by visiting our website.

Call your two senators. Tweet them. Post on their Facebook pages. Write them emails and letters. You can reach them at the Senate switchboard at 202-224-3121, or use HSLDA’s Legislative Toolbox. Your message can be as simple as:

“I urge you to oppose the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This treaty surrenders U.S. sovereignty to unelected UN bureaucrats and will threaten parental care of children with disabilities. Our nation already has laws to protect disabled Americans. This treaty is unnecessary and will hurt families. If the Senate ratifies this treaty, it would be the first time ever that the U.S. has ratified a treaty that obligates us to recognize economic, social, and cultural entitlements as rights under domestic law.”

Six senators stood for U.S. sovereignty and parental rights. They are Senator DeMint (SC), Senator Corker (TN), Senator Rubio (FL), Senator Lee (UT), Senator Risch (ID), Senator Inhofe (OK). Please thank them for their support.

And then please keep calling the other 94 senators. Forward this to your friends and family. American families—and in particular homeschoolers—are the last line of defense against ceding American sovereignty and families over to UN bureaucrats.

For liberty,

Michael P. Farris, J.D., LL.M.
Chairman, HSLDA