AFR News: Parental Rights- Are You Ready for Recess?

July 8, 2014

Are You Ready for Recess?

Unfortunately, we expect the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) to be taken up by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the very near future – perhaps later this month. This and other factors could make this year’s August recess one of the most important opportunities to contact your senators and congressman about parental rights issues.

Each year Congress takes recess for the month of August to return to their states and districts and hear from the people “back home.” This year, with elections looming in November, they should be listening especially well. And we have a lot that we need to tell them.

So why not take a moment now to contact your congressman’s office and your senators’ offices and set appointments to go see them next month while they are in town? Then gather some friends to go with you, and prepare to make a difference.

With your senators, the issue is the CRPD. This dangerous treaty could come to the floor of the Senate as early as September, though the “lame duck” session in November would be more likely. But August is the time to get face-to-face, to let them literally see that there are people concerned about this treaty’s threats to American sovereignty and parental rights.

You can also invite them to sign on with Senator Lindsey Graham as cosponsors of SJRes. 37, the Parental Rights Amendment. Remind them that protecting children by empowering parents is not a Republican or Democrat issue, but an issue that unites all Americans.

When you meet with your congressman, the issue is primarily HJRes. 50, also the Parental Rights Amendment. Specifically, you want to ask them to contact Rep. Mark Meadows and sign on as a cosponsor. (Visit 4pra.us/house to see the current list of cosponsors.) We are hopeful the Amendment will receive a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee later this summer, and adding cosponsors will help make that happen.

In order to see the kind of action we are looking for, both in promoting the Amendment and in halting this dangerous treaty, we must rise above the noise of the elections. Calls and emails can both be effective, but nothing is more powerful than an actual face-to-face meeting with a constituent ready to lay out the issue and ask for their congressman’s support. Please take the time to be that constituent in the coming weeks.

Action Items

First, make those appointments now. You can find links for your congressman and senators by clicking on your state at parentalrights.org/states. Ask for a 15-minute window and plan to take a few friends with you.

Second, call your senators today and urge them to oppose the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Tell them that in these days of government overreach, the last thing we need is to let the United Nations set our domestic policies. Parents of children with special needs deserve the respect to be allowed to make decisions for their own children without government intrusion.

Third, if you have not already done so, become a member of ParentalRights.org by donating here. (You can also click for details.) You will not only receive helpful information for your family, but also support our efforts to halt the CRPD, and to secure the adoption of the PRA.

Finally, send this email to your friends and loved ones and urge them to support parental rights as well.

The risk of ratifying the CRPD this year is great. It will take all of us working faithfully and capturing every opportunity to stop it. And we will have no greater opportunity than the August recess. Please make your appointments today.

Sincerely,

Michael Ramey
Director of Communications & Research

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