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Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

CRPD Vote: Act Now!

Yoshiko Dart, Marca Bristo and Mark Derry at the 2011 Annual ConferenceThe final call blitz for the CRPD is happening today, Monday, December 3, 2012, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Time is running out. This Tuesday, December 4th at 12:00 noon, the CRPD will be voted on by our Senators. Make sure they do the right thing and vote YES.

The disability community has worked for years to bring us to this point. Over 300 disability and veteran organizations and thousands of advocates have weighed in and worked tirelessly to get a vote on the CRPD in the Senate. But, a small and loud opposition led by Rick Santorum and the Tea Party is using misinformation to take the votes that we have all worked so hard to secure. Senators opposed to our treaty have agreed to a vote without amendments because they think the disability community will not win. We must prove them wrong. 

We are down the votes we need, but the disability community should not and does not give up!

Act Now

  1. Everyone, please contact each of these 11 Senators and ask them to vote YES. If we act now, they will listen.
  2. Email, fax, and drop off the new CRPD handout (PDF) in masses. Find a way to get it to the press in your state.
  3. Use social media to spread the word about the Washington Post Opinion article “Vote Yea on Disabilities“.

Message: “Senator, I am calling to urge you vote YES for the CRPD. This is a disability issue and the disability community says VOTE YES!”

  • Isakson (GA): 202.224.3643
  • Chambliss (GA): 202. 224.3521
  • Grassley (IA): 202.224.3744
  • Coats (IN): 202. 224.5623
  • Moran (KS): 202.224.6521
  • Roberts (KS): 202.224.4774
  • Blunt (MO): 202.224.5721
  • Heller (NV): 202.224.6244
  • Hutchison (TX): 202.224.5922
  • Hatch (UT): 202.224.5251
  • Portman (OH): 202.224.3353

Resources

Please act quickly and do your part to make this a win for the disability community around the world. Let’s not look back and think of what we should have done but what we did do!

A Message from Yoshiko Dart

The world is watching. Which Senators will go down in history supporting the World Declaration of Equality, Dignity, Independence and Empowerment of People with Disabilities? Which Senators are willing to go down in history denying and opposing the World Declaration of Equality, Dignity, Independence and Empowerment of People with Disabilities? Vote Yes on the CRPD!

If we mobilize our colleagues to send tornados and hurricanes of our message of truth to their offices in massive numbers, we can easily win. We should send our message of truth over and over again today and tomorrow morning.

NCIL POWER! POWER OF U.S. DISABILITY COMMUNITY! POWER OF GLOBAL SOLIDARITY FOR DISABILITY PRIDE, JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT!