IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 738 
Recognizing the goals and ideals of International Day of Persons with 
Disabilities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 3, 2019 
Ms. TITUS (for herself, Mr. COSTA, Ms. WILD, Mr. YOUNG, Ms. HAALAND, 
Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. CICILLINE) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the goals and ideals of International Day of 
Persons with Disabilities. 
Whereas December 3 of each year is recognized internation-
ally as International Day of Persons with Disabilities; 
Whereas the United Nations (UN) states that the observance 
of International Day of Persons with Disabilities aims to 
promote an understanding of disability issues and mobi-
lize support for the dignity, rights, and well-being of per-
sons with disabilities and seeks to increase awareness of 
gains to be derived from the integration of persons with 
disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic, 
and cultural life; 
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•HRES 738 IH 
Whereas over 1,000,000,000 people, or 15 percent of the 
world’s population, live with some form of disability; 
Whereas 80 percent of individuals with disabilities live in de-
veloping countries; 
Whereas there are more than 93,000,000 children with dis-
abilities worldwide according to the United Nations Chil-
dren’s Fund (UNICEF); 
Whereas the prevalence of disabilities is approximately 50 
percent higher for women than for men, and women 
make up 75 percent of all individuals with disabilities in 
low- and middle-income countries, according to UN 
Women; 
Whereas persons with disabilities are often excluded from the 
labor market, political participation and meaningful in-
volvement in public life and are more likely to experience 
poverty, discrimination, social stigmatization, and lack of 
access to vital and inclusive resources; 
Whereas children with disabilities are more likely to be mal-
nourished, subject to violence, isolation, and abuse, and 
less likely to attend school than children without disabil-
ities; 
Whereas issues related to disability rights cut across all sec-
tors of foreign assistance, including democracy, voting 
and elections, human rights, civil rights, labor, global 
health, education, economic growth and trade, gender 
equality and women’s empowerment, agriculture and food 
security, water and sanitation, conflict transformation, 
disaster risk reduction, and humanitarian recovery and 
relief; 
Whereas there are 59,500,000 people forcibly displaced 
worldwide and displaced people are more likely to have a 
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disability, according to the UN High Commission for 
Refugees; 
Whereas forced displacement amplifies the risk experienced 
by refugees with disabilities with respect to violence, in-
cluding sexual and domestic abuse, trafficking, exploi-
tation by family members, discrimination, and exclusion 
from access to justice, education, livelihoods, a nation-
ality, and other public services; 
Whereas people with disabilities are often members of 
marginalized groups, including women, young people, 
older adults, the LGBTI community, ethnic and religious 
minorities, indigenous people, internally displaced people, 
and refugees; 
Whereas the United States has shown leadership domestically 
on disability rights with the enactment and implementa-
tion of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the ADA Amendments Act of 
2008 (Public Law 110–325), and the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), as 
well as section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 
794), and this leadership should be leveraged to support 
international disability rights; 
Whereas United States support for the rights of individuals 
with disabilities— 
(1) is in the diplomatic, economic, and humanitarian 
interests of the United States; 
(2) generates goodwill toward the United States; and 
(3) highlights the values of the people of the United 
States through the work of governmental, nongovern-
mental, and faith-based organizations of the United 
States; 
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Whereas the United States Government, through the United 
States Agency for International Development (USAID), 
promotes disability-inclusive development by— 
(1) improving the quality and accessibility of edu-
cation for students with disabilities through the pro-
motion of sign language, Braille, access to assistive tech-
nology, and other inclusive education practices; 
(2) increasing the participation of people with dis-
abilities in political processes through national awareness 
campaigns, use of accessible polling stations and voter 
materials, and open exchange between disability commu-
nities and politicians to update election laws to be more 
inclusive and compliant with the United Nations Conven-
tion on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; 
(3) strengthening organizations run by and for peo-
ple with disabilities to advocate on their own behalf, de-
sign, and implement international development programs 
and access direct funding; 
(4) supporting the economic independence of women 
with disabilities through microcredit programs that pro-
vide seed grants to women to invest in their families and 
start new businesses; 
(5) integrating youth and adults with disabilities 
into the competitive workforce by facilitating job training, 
internship opportunities, and educating employers on best 
practices for hiring people with disabilities; and 
(6) ensuring community health care providers and 
disaster response experts include people with disabilities 
in their programs by employing the principles of uni-
versal design; and 
Whereas the inclusion of people with disabilities is a funda-
mental part of democracy and essential to the full real-
ization of human rights: Now, therefore, be it 
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Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports the recognition of International 
Day of Persons with Disabilities; 
(2) supports the goals and ideals of Inter-
national Day of Persons with Disabilities; 
(3) recognizes the importance of supporting the 
rights of individuals with disabilities both domesti-
cally and abroad; 
(4) supports efforts by the Department of State 
and the United States Agency for International De-
velopment to promote disability-inclusive develop-
ment; 
(5) supports continued leadership by the United 
States in bilateral, multilateral, and private sector 
efforts to promote and protect the rights of individ-
uals with disabilities; and 
(6) encourages other members of the inter-
national community to protect the rights and civil 
liberties of individuals with disabilities. 
Æ 
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