He also has a long-term interest in beating back United Nations treaties that deal with domestic policy, starting with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child in the 1990’s, which the U.S. signed but never ratified. He earned an international law degree from the University of London, remotely, in 2011 to aid his work on the subject.

He frequented Capitol Hill during prior debates over the disabilities treaty, testifying in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and appearing at a press conference alongside Santorum and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) where Santorum spoke about his experience as the father of a child with disabilities and his concerns that the treaty could “open up a Pandora’s box” of attacks on parental rights. Lee used a letter signed by Republican senators agreeing to not vote on any international treaties to solidify opposition to the disabilities treaty when it came up for a vote during the lame-duck session.

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“They have succeeded in scaring the parents who home-school their children all over this country,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said on the Senate floor in 2012. “My own office has gotten dozens of calls and letters demanding that I vote against this convention.”

Jon Stewart, in a segment titled “Please Tell Me This Is Rock Bottom,” was even sharper.

“It’s official — Republicans hate the United Nations more than they like helping people in wheelchairs,” he said.

The treaty now includes several recommended add-ons, called reservations, understandings or declarations, that would clarify that it couldn’t affect American law.

“I don’t know what the problem is with the Republicans,” Dole said. “I don’t know what the repercussions could be — it’s not a Democratic or Republican treaty, liberal or conservative.”

Republican Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who have been active supporters of the treaty, said in a June statement they hope the Supreme Court’s Bond v. United States ruling can also help clear the way for Senate action. The ruling found that the chemical weapons ban can’t be used to prosecute a local crime in federal court.

Farris said neither the add-ons nor the Bond ruling would keep the treaty from possibly infringing on domestic law. He also sees ratification as liberals’ “end-run” around the normal political process.

“The political left has determined that they can’t get the entire public policy agenda through the normal processes of American politics, so they want to use international law to accomplish their political objectives,” Farris said.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) are also staunch supporters. Harkin, a longtime advocate for people with disabilities and one of the authors of the Americans with Disabilities Act, said he thinks having the full force of the business and veterans community could help bolster Senate support.

But Farris thinks he has this one in the bag. He’s been in touch with senators and their aides and expects he’ll have the full support of tea party conservatives, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

If the treaty doesn’t have enough support in the Senate to be brought up for a vote by the August recess, proponents will likely have to wait until the next Congress. This fall, the Senate will be hesitant to hold a vote on the potentially controversial issue. And after the elections, it could run into the same road block around voting during the lame-duck session that came up in the 2012 vote.

Dole expressed frustration that almost two years after the initial vote, his party — which has undergone a dramatic split since Dole left the Senate in 1996 — remains divided on the treaty.

“It would be a lot easier if I were still in the Senate,” Dole said.