UN/Treaties

Your morning global affairs speed-read

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning weighs U.S. ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which the advocacy community hopes can be passed in the Senate this month. The treaty covers rights such as equal treatment and non-discrimination in access to justice, health, education, employment and rehabilitation.

Advocates argue it wouldn't create substantial new burdens for the United States but rather would reaffirm the nation's commitment to the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) while expanding its protections and opportunities worldwide. “Increasing access in the global community for people with disabilities is particularly important because of the increasingly global marketplace in which workers must compete,” the United Spinal Association said in calling for Senate passage in time for the ADA's anniversary on July 26. “Without international commitment to equal access, wheelchair users, disabled veterans and other U.S. citizens with disabilities may be unable to travel, live, work or study abroad.”

The treaty has bipartisan support. Later in the morning, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) will hold a press conference with advocates for people with disabilities to urge ratification. The two senators will also testify before the Senate panel, along with officials from the departments of State and Justice and several others.

Spotlight on Africa: U.S. policy in Africa comes under the microscope in the Senate today as the Foreign Relations panel considers four of President Obama's nominees for ambassadorships. 

The National Rifle Association said there will be "no compromise" on excluding civilian arms from the international agreement.

Thirty senators have pledged to oppose the treaty. Thirty-four no votes could kill it. 

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Fewer and fewer lawmakers are staying on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee long enough to make a mark, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) lamented Tuesday at a bittersweet Capitol Historical Society event honoring the panel he chaired for six years.

Speaking from experience – he lost a primary challenge to a Tea Party challenger earlier this year – Lugar acknowledged that “most members of this Committee must deal with the reality that few political benefits come from devoting oneself in the Senate to foreign policy.” But he said the panel needs members with expertise to hold the White House accountable.

“The Committee is responsible for some substantial areas of legislation, including the State Department Budget, foreign assistance, and, of course, approval of treaties. But in most years, its biggest impact comes from its roles as both partner and counterweight to the Administration’s actions on the global stage. The role of the Committee is to constantly question the President’s foreign policy activities and decisions, reinforcing some and redirecting or opposing others,” he said in prepared remarks. 

“The Committee depends heavily on members who want to devote a substantial portion of their service to foreign policy and national security, regardless of other roles they may play in the Senate.” Read more...

The State Department says covering ammunition in the treaty would have "significant administrative and financial costs."

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said charges that the U.N. agency violated sanctions "cannot go overlooked or unpunished.” 

The U.S. set down a list of “redlines” as the first week of treaty negotiations came to a close.

The United Nations's Human Rights Council on Thursday backed a first-of-its-kind resolution affirming that people have the same rights in the digital world as they do offline, including freedom of expression.

More than 80 countries signed on to co-sponsor the Internet freedom resolution, including 30 members of the council. The United States, Tunisia, Brazil, Nigeria, Turkey and Sweden presented the resolution. 

“This outcome is momentous for the Human Rights Council,” said Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe. “It’s the first ever UN resolution affirming that human rights in the digital realm must be protected and promoted to the same extent and with the same commitment as human rights in the physical world.”

Sen. Dick Lugar's (R-Ind.) primary defeat earlier this year won't prevent him from visiting the former Soviet Union to check up on the progress of his signature nuclear disarmament program.

The GOP's elder statesman on foreign affairs announced Tuesday that he will travel to Russia and Ukraine next month to check up on the progress of the 1991 law he coauthored with then-Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) to provide U.S. expertise in helping the former Soviet Union dismantle its arsenal of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus are nuclear weapon-free thanks to the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, which was expanded to countries outside the former Soviet Union in 2003.

Lugar added that he continues to work with the Department of Defense on expanding the program to other countries after leading a mission to east Africa two years ago. 

Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, refused to compromise on his bipartisan and multilateral approach to foreign affairs even as the conservative Tea Party gained more control over Republican politics in recent years. That stance led to his defeat by Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, but Lugar since then has opted to tout his legislative accomplishments over a 36-year Senate career while working with committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) for Senate passage of the U.N.'s Law of the Sea Treaty later this year.

Lawmakers tell Obama they object to a treaty that impinges on gun rights and U.S. sovereignty in any way