At last–US signs UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Via the AoA: 

Today, the United States joins 141 other nations whohave signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons withDisabilities.   The signing of the UN Convention sends an importantmessage that this country is committed to equal rights for people withdisabilities, in the United States and around the world. 

Another important example of our commitment is the President’s launchof the “Year of Community Living” in June.   The Department of Healthand Human Services has already begun to carry out the Community Livinginitiative by establishing an HHS Coordinating Council, led by theOffice on Disability.

The Administration on Aging, the Centers for Medicare & MedicaidServices, the Office for Civil Rights, the Office of the AssistantSecretary for Planning and Evaluation, the Substance Abuse and MentalHealth Services Administration, and—most recently—the Health Resourcesand Services Administration, the Administration for Children andFamilies, and the Office of Public Health and Science have joined theCoordinating Council.  I am pleased that we have assembled suchconsiderable expertise to ensure that living independently with adisability is a real choice.

HHS is proud to support the Convention on the Rights of Persons withDisabilities, the first new UN human rights convention of the 21stcentury.  We look forward to advancing dignity, autonomy, fullinclusion, and equality of opportunity for Americans, and for peoplewith disabilities around the world.   

Thank you President Obama!