Washington, D.C. – In a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar called for the Senate to swiftly pass the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a non-discrimination treaty would help ensure that persons with disabilities in other countries, including Americans, have access to the same general rights as those without disabilities. Countries that sign the treaty agree to promote and protect certain rights for disabled people, including equality and nondiscrimination, equal recognition before the law, access to justice, and personal mobility.

“Thousands of Americans with disabilities – including our men and women in uniform  – live, work, study, or travel abroad,” said Klobuchar.  “I believe these Americans deserve the same rights and protections they would enjoy if they were living in the United States, and this treaty is about ensuring those rights and protections.”

The Disabilities Convention, like the Americans with Disabilities Act, is based on the principals of equal treatment and non-discrimination in access to justice, health, education, employment, and rehabilitation. Due to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the United States already meets or exceeds all the obligations in the Convention.