3 more votes and the UN takes control of your child

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends,

Yesterday afternoon, the Senate took a preliminary vote on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The vote was on a “Motion to Proceed” which means that the Senate gave permission to begin debate regarding the treaty. As is often the case, this was a preliminary vote which tells us a great deal about the vote for final passage.

The vote was 61 to 36 to proceed to debate. Three senators did not vote. The good news is that the Senate hasn’t proceeded to the next step—ending debate and voting on whether to ratify the treaty.

Every Vote Counts

 

Every Democratic senator voted for the treaty—Blumenthal (D-CT) was absent and not voting.
The Republicans supplied several “Yes” votes for the Obama administration on giving the UN some authority over America’s policies for disabled adults and children. The seven GOP senators supporting Obama’s UN push were: Ayotte (R-NH), Barrasso (R-WY), Brown (R-MA), Collins (R-ME), Lugar (R-IA), McCain (R-AZ), and Snowe (R-ME).

Senator Hatch (R-UT) also voted to proceed to debate, but we were just notified literally minutes ago that Hatch will vote against ratification of the CRPD. Barrasso was a huge disappointment because of his supposedly conservative stance on issues, but his defection has been known for some time.
A good surprise was that Senator Moran (R-KS) voted against the CRPD on this preliminary matter. Roberts (R-KS) and Kirk (R-IL) were absent.

I urge you all to send an email of thanks to the Republicans who voted against the CRPD. If your senator is a Republican, he or she voted against the CRPD unless mentioned specifically above. You can use the U.S. Senate’s webpage to email your senators.

Price to Pay

 

I urge you to call all of the other senators yet again and urge them to change their minds and support the principle that Americans should make the law for America. While it is unlikely that Democrats will change their minds, they need to know that there is a price to pay for attacking American parents and giving away American self-government. Answering phone calls for a few more days is a small price to pay for their decision to vote for the UN position. You can find your senators’ phone numbers by typing in your ZIP code here.

Senator Reid has not yet filed the motion needed to take this bill to the next vote which will be for cloture to end debate. Thus, there will be two more votes before the treaty can be ratified. We do not know the timetable yet. It could happen this week; it could be pushed later.

We absolutely have to keep the pressure on the Senate.

But it is very important that you all send emails of thanks to the 36 senators who stood against the UN. The opposition will be urging their people to pour on the calls to these 36 hoping to move just three. If we can keep at least 34, the treaty will be defeated.

Shore up the good guys with emails. Call the others to account with phone calls. Try calling their local offices for a change of pace.

Narrow Margin

 

The other side needs to change three votes to win. We need to keep up our defense of freedom because no one else will.

Thanks so much. You are making a difference. As you call, our federal relations team and Congressional Action Program families are lobbying face to face on Capitol Hill. The Senate leadership promised that this treaty would be ratified by July 26, 2012. Your calls are the reason we are still in the fight.
For Liberty,

Michael P. Farris, Esq., LL.M.
Founder and Chairman, HSLDA