Guests. Among them, congressman tony coelho, who has been a longtime champion of the rights of the disabled. Let me also recognize ann cody, representing the u. S. On three paralympic teams. She was also nominated to be the Vice President of the International Paralympic committee. She understands it is not just enough to make the stadium accessible. You need to make surrounding restaurants and businesses accessible, and we thank you for being here or your advocacy as well. I also want to recognize a leader in the Disability Community in macedonia. She is here to learn about transportation and independent living systems, and having public standards allows her to live in the United States, and she hopes to make that a reality at home as well. We thank you for your work, and we welcome you here. And i hope that what we do here will help you in your efforts. Its clear what we are here to do. Ratifying this treaty will help in the effort to give every disabled person the opportunity to live and learn and travel without undue barriers. There are 5. 5 million americans veterans with disabilities, and now it is our turn to fight for them, to have full access and equal opportunity wherever they go. 138 countries have already ratified the treaty. Protections will not come automatically. It will take u. S. Ratification and u. S. Leadership to ensure the treatys protections not only become a reality, but reflect American Values. From the u. S. Constitution, the treaty borrows principles of equality in the protection of minorities. From the declaration of independence, it borrows the inalienable for the pursuit of happiness. And from the americans with disabilities act, the treaty borrows the concept of reasonable accommodation. By ratifying this treaty, we will be advocating for the adoption of American Values around the world. At the end of the day, if we fail to ratify the treaty, the u. S. Point of view and u. S. Interests will be marginalized. We have heard from the state department that they have gotten pushed back in their accessibility advocacy because we are not a party and we have heard from ngos who have asked why american experts should be consulted on matters pertaining to a treaty we have not ratified. American businesses, the greatest accessibility innovators in the world, have expressed the fear that the United States standing on disability rights could mean markets for accessible goods might not expand as quickly as they otherwise would, and in the future are businesses might very well have less success advocating for u. S. Accessibility standards, creating the possibility that the world will adopt standards incompatible with american standards that have proven so. Have proven so effective. We need to ratify this treaty if we are going to lead the way in raising worldwide accessibility to the american standard. As we embark on the first of our two hearings on the disabilities treaty, i ask my colleagues to look past the fear mongering some have engaged on in this debate. Ratifying this treaty will not mean bureaucrats in europe will determine how many parking spots are in your churchs parking lot, as some have claimed. Our job as the senate is required to see through the smoke screens and see clearly that this treaty is about putting america in the position to help lead the world so that everyone, everyone has the opportunity to fully achieve their dreams and fulfill their godgiven talents. Let me introduce senator corker, the Ranking Member for his opening remarks, and then we will move toward the first panel. Thank you, and i appreciate you having these hearings so members can fully understand the elements of this treaty, and i appreciate you having a Diverse Group of witnesses. I appreciate my good friend kelly ayotte being here today. I have to tell you, the meetings that we had last year, one of the most moving moments in time was to have two senators, john mccain and tom harkin, talking about what they had done together so many years ago to move the ada law into existence, and so many things have occurred since then. We had a unanimous vote in 2008 on the ada amendments act, and we have continued to make tremendous progress. I do think that last year when this was considered, it was not considered in its fullness. It was rushed, and we did not have a kind of hearings that it takes to ratify a treaty. Treaties have a different standard, for obvious reasons. I am glad this year we are taking a more methodical approach to that. I want to say to the advocates of this piece of legislation, this treaty, it is tremendous to see the effort underway to move people along in this regard. Whenever a bill or a treaty is passed, there are some unintended consequences, and i think it is our obligation to look at the effects that a treaty like this could have on domestic law. I am not one of those folks who thinks theyre somebody behind every woodpile trying to do something. I want to make sure that we in fact pass a treaty and have it have the relevant cred. I want to mention this to those who are here. When a treaty passes, theres something called rud on the front end. They are the things that we actually act upon to give a treaty its life here in the u. S. Today there is a Supreme Court hearing taking place, arguments are being argued over a lady in pennsylvania who unbelievably was convicted of a law under the chemical weapons treaty that we put in place back in 1997. Sometimes when people raise concerns, they are actually legitimate. I would just ask Committee Members to try to work with those of us who understand that we want to advance the rights of people who are disabled throughout the world. I want to comment i think that is good thing. At the same time, unless the rud is put in place in the appropriate way, there are consequences that can affect people in various groups. I am neutral. I just proclaim right now i do not have a position on this treaty. I appreciate the energy put forth in this treaty. I want to make sure that we as a committee and hopefully as a senate get it right. We have worked with john kerry to see if there are ways to make sure that some of those unintended consequences do not come to bear. We have a scenario today where a treaty is taking precedent over the laws of pennsylvania and the United States, that someone has been convicted by a chemical weapons treaty that does not work for assad, but is working against someone in pennsylvania. I look forward to a vigorous debate. I look forward to my good friend Kelly Ayottes testimony, and i look forward to working with all to come up with a good outcome here. I yield. Thank you, senator corker, and we to look forward to an honest and open and intellectually honest debate, and we stand ready to work with any member who wants to get to yes in terms of finding the opportunity and its reservations and declarations, and i look forward to that opportunity to achieve that goal. Our first panel is going to be two of our colleagues, senator kelly ayotte who has been a champion of the treaty, and advocate for it, as well as working with us to try to achieve the goal of getting the votes necessary. She is here in her own right as well as is speaking on behalf of senator bob dole, who is a great champion of the treaty and here in the senate. Let me also thank congressman bartlett, who is also here from the house. Thank you for being here with us. With that, our distinguished colleague senator ayotte. Thank you very much, chairman menendez, Ranking Member corker, honorable members of the committee. I am deeply humbled to be here today. My primary purpose of being here today is to read the statement of senator robert dole, someone who was an extraordinary leader in the United States senate. He is someone who is a role model in terms of what it means to be public servant, and we all appreciate that he is a true American Hero with the service that he gave to our country. And so i am deeply honored to be here. I personally support what this committee is doing. The convention on the rights with disabilities is very important for us to Work Together to get this passed, and so i look forward to working with the chairman and other members to do that and to address any concerns that members of the committee may have. My primary purpose of being here today is to read the statement of senator robert dole, and so i will do that right now. Chairman menendez, Ranking Member corker, and members of this committee, i urge you to give your support and consent to the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. While i cannot stand before you in person today, i approach you in the strong hope that on your second examination of this important treaty you will again do the right thing and advance the rights of disabled individuals from the United States and throughout the world. In so doing, i am privileged to join with over 20 veterans organizations, 40 religious groups, more than 700 disability and allied groups, dozens of you on both sides of the senate aisles, and many other prominent americans who recognize the imperative of the united state leadership on this issue, a leadership that will be imperiled without the United States ratification of the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. When this treaty came before the senate last year, it fell just five votes short of passage. In debating the treatys merits, treaty opponents expressed concerns that the crpd would diminish american sovereignty, that through u. S. Ratification, the United Nations would somehow be able to supersede u. S. Law, even by interfering with American Parents right to homeschool their children. Along with senator john mccain, secretary john kerry, and others, i could not disagree more strongly with this view. This treaty contains reservations, understandings, and declarations, other than the wise known as ruds that describe how the treaty will and will not apply to the United States. At the same time, i respect this institution, its provisions for debate, and its tolerance of the opinions and conclusions of its 100 members. Today, i urge all of you to keep an open mind and recognize another important characteristic of this august body. The opportunity it presents for policies to involve and be strengthened, as members Work Together in a bipartisan fashion for a greater good. This treaty, in a way that is both telling and unique, enjoys the support of Diverse Groups and serving a variety of interests republicans and democrats, veterans organizations, and disability groups, businesses and religious organizations. Given the broad support, i hope those of you with reservations about any aspect of the treaty will work with your colleagues, whom i know are ready to work with you to address your concerns. If improvements to the ruds are needed, then i urge members from both parties to Work Together on that. This treaty is important for america, because of who we are as a nation. It is particularly important, though, for a distinguished group of which i am a member, as i recall in my statement to this Committee Last year, i left world war ii having joined an exceptional group, one which no one joins by personal choice. It is a group that neither respects nor discriminates by age, gender, wealth, education, skin color, religious beliefs, political party, power, or prestige. So, therefore, as the importance of maintaining access for people excuse me that group, which has grown in size since, the importance of maintaining access for people with disabilities to be part of maintaining life, to the access of job or education or registering to vote, to me this is not about extending a privilege to a special category of people. It is instead about civil rights. When Congress Passed the americans with disabilities act in 1990, it was not only one of the proudest moments of my career, it was a remarkable bipartisan achievement that made an impact on millions of americans. The simple goal was to foster independence and dignity, and its reasonable accommodations enabled americans with disabilities to contribute more readily to this country. If not before the ada, and certainly after its passage, our nation led the world in developing disability Public Policy and equality. In recent years, many countries, including our allies in australia, britain, canada, france, germany, israel, mexico, and south korea have followed our lead. In 2006, president george w. Bush took u. S. Leadership on this issue to a new level by negotiating and supporting crpd. On the anniversary of the ada in 2009, president barack obama signed the treaty, a landmark document that commits countries around the world to affirm what are essentially core American Values of equality, justice, and dignity. U. S. Ratification of the crpd will increase the ability of the United States to improve physical, technological, and communication access in other countries, thereby helping to ensure that americans, particularly many thousands of disabled american veterans, have equal opportunities to live, work, and travel abroad. In addition, the treaty comes at no net cost to the United States. In fact, it will create a new Global Market for accessibility of goods, and active u. S. Presence in implementation of global disability rights will promote the market for devices such as wheelchairs, smartphones, and other new technologies engineered, made, and sold by the United States corporations. With the traditional reservations, understandings, and declarations that the senate has adopted in the past, current u. S. Law satisfies the requirements of the crpd. As george h. W. Bush informed this Committee Last year, the treaty would not require any changes to u. S. Law. It would extend protections in the United States to more than one billion people with disabilities throughout the world. President obama has again submitted the treaties to you for your advice. I urge you to seize the critical opportunity to continue the proud american traditions of supporting the rights and inclusions of people with disabilities. Years ago, in dedicating the National World war ii memorial, i tried to capture what makes america worth fighting for. Indeed, dying for. This is the golden thread that runs throughout the tapestry of our nationhood, i said. The dignity of every life, the possibility of every mind, the divinity of every soul. I know many of you share this sentiment, and hope you will consider this treaty through that lens. In ratifying this treaty, we can affirm these goals for americans with disabilities. I urge you to support the United States ratification of this important treaty, and i thank you for the courtesy of your consideration. God bless america. Thank you, senator ayotte, for your advocacy as well, and our thanks to senator dole for his longstanding advocacy in this regard, so we appreciate you coming before the committee to express these sentiments. Thank you, and i am deeply honored here to be as well with my colleague senator mark kirk. Who we will turn to next. We welcome him to the committee, a friend, a colleague. I know that senator durbin wanted to be recognized to both welcome his colleagues from illinois. Thank you very much. I will be brief. When the history of the United States senate and congress are written about the year 2013, there are high points and low points. But one of the highest points was january 3 of this year, because it was on january 3 when our colleague, mark kirk, returned to the United States senate, determined to climb those were the 45 steps into the senate. He had endured a life threatening stroke, three brain surgeries, hundreds of hours of rehabilitation, but he was coming back to his job in washington. For all of the negative and partisan things that are said, if someone could have witnessed that scene on the steps and watched your colleagues, mark, stand and applaud, it was a reaffirmation of not only what the senate should be about, but a tribute to you, your determination and courage. I was honored to come up the stairs with you, and honored still to serve as my fellow colleague from illinois. I will introduce congresswoman duckworth when she is on the panel. The floor is yours. [indiscernible] if you would turn your microphone on. I would like to also say as a recently disabled american to speak for my fellow broken people, how important this issue is, and to adopt this convention. I would say that i want to introduce you to a constituent of senator durbins and mine. Steve bachus is a veteran of iraq and lost his sight in battle in that country. 27 years old, i want you to think about him. Too often, we have a problem in thinking about our veterans as victims. They are victors. He is an ardent rock climber. He was one of the victors that tammy and i see all the time. We rehab a lot at walter reed, where in that room where we are working all the time where 20 legs or arms missing. You cannot hold those guys back. I would say that this convention allows people to become victors instead of victims. Thank you, senator kirk. We appreciate being with us and your advocacy as well. Sorry, i will point out the projectile that hurt steve was made in iran. No more passionate proponent of trying to stop Irans Nuclear weapons, as well as their acts of terrorism. Thank you for that as well. I know you both have busy schedules. With our thanks to the committee, we will excuse you both. Let me call up our second panel. We have a large panel here. So i ask the witnesses to limit their presentations to five minutes so that the committee can engage in a questionand answ