National politics dominated much of 2012, but state-level issues still merit examination. Yahoo News asked voters to pinpoint issues within their own states that they'd like to see tackled in 2013. Here's one perspective.
COMMENTARY | Ailing former Sen. Bob Dole recently wrote to his friends in the Senate, asking them to ratify the CRPD -- the Convention on the Rights of Peoples with Disabilities, a United Nations Treaty. The CRPD is considered an improvement on the Americans with Disabilities Act. On Dec. 4, the U.S. Senate will vote on whether the United States should ratify the treaty. This treaty is supported by all veterans groups, Americans with Disabilities, and other major organizations for people with disabilities. The treaty has wide-ranging implications for disabled Americans traveling around the world.
Missourians with disabilities need the CRPD
The CRPD addresses issues like equal access to education, work and the ability to gain access to government buildings.
The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed 22 years ago. Disabled Missourians have seen their world has change for the better since inception of the ADA.
As a disabled veteran, I support the ratification of the CRPD, and I have personally lobbied the Senate to ratify the treaty as the president of the Disabled Students in Higher Education. DSHE recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to speak with one of our senators from Missouri, Sen. Roy Blunt, about the rights of disabled Missourians and the CRPD.
DSHE argued that the academic standards in tests such as the LSAT, GRE, CBASE and the GMAT are unfair. Disabled students trying to gain admittance to post-secondary education are kept out of universities around the nation. The test administrators often deny accommodations needed to pass these tests.
There is wide support for passage of CRPD
Senators, such as John Kerry and John McCain, support the passage of the CRPD. Disabled Missourians need the CRPD to garner well-paying jobs. Disabled students in Missouri want the CRPD to pass so that we may get a chance to go to dental school or to become an attorney.
Many Americans have no idea what it is like to try to get into a seat on an airplane if you are in wheelchair. In many countries, you cannot fly if you are in a wheelchair. The CRPD address all of these issues.
