S5472 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 26, 2012 

national security, and it is imperative 

that they be reauthorized before they 

expire at the end of this year. The reauthorization bill is narrow in scope, 

and many amendments were proposed 

at the committee markup that had little or nothing to do with the reauthorization of FISA. As I stated during the 

markup, I may have supported or been 

open to working out a compromise on 

several of the amendments in other 

contexts. However, I voted in opposition to all of the extraneous amendments offered because I felt their adoption would threaten the timely passage 

of the FISA reauthorization bill. That 

is not a risk I was willing to take. 

In particular, as for Senator KYL’s 

amendment to criminalize certain behavior that would reward past terrorist 

acts and Senator GRASSLEY’s amendment to impose the death penalty on 

terrorists who use weapons of mass destruction, I want to make clear that I 

strongly oppose the funding of terrorism and I believe that terrorists 

should be subject to the death penalty. 

I support the objectives of both of 

these amendments, but I was concerned 

that their adoption by the committee 

could delay or prevent passage of the 

FISA reauthorization bill. I am prepared to work with Senator KYL and 

Senator GRASSLEY to address these important issues at a more appropriate 

time going forward. 

I hope that these amendments and 

others are raised in the appropriate 

context so they can be adequately addressed. 

f 

TRIBUTE TO COLONEL PAUL W. 

BRICKER 

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, our men 

and women in uniform sacrifice much 

to keep our Nation strong and free. 

They are well-trained, extraordinarily 

capable and are some of our country’s 

best and brightest. It is with this in 

mind that I recognize COL Paul W. 

Bricker as he retires from the United 

States Army this week. Colonel Bricker has served our country in uniform 

for more than a quarter of a century, 

and I am honored to congratulate him 

on a long and distinguished military 

career. 

COL Paul W. Bricker has served as 

the Chief of the Army’s Senate Liaison 

Division since May 2011. As a member 

of the Secretary of the Army’s Office of 

Legislative Liaison, Colonel Bricker 

was responsible for advising Army senior leadership on legislative and congressional issues, as well as assisting 

Senators and our staff on Army matters. It is in this capacity that my 

Armed Services Committee staff and I 

have worked closely with Colonel 

Bricker. Throughout his tenure, he has 

consistently provided important technical expertise and useful insight on 

the issues, challenges and opportunities that face our soldiers and their 

families and has exemplified the highest level of professionalism. I also benefited from Colonel Bricker’s organizational diligence and military insights 

on a number of congressional delegation trips over the past year, including 

to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey and 

NATO. The success of these trips were 

due in large part to Colonel Bricker’s 

careful preparation and adaptability in 

making course corrections on the fly, 

often literally. 

Colonel Bricker has strong Michigan 

roots. He is a native of northern Michigan and a proud graduate of Michigan 

State University, where, upon graduation, he was commissioned as a second 

lieutenant of Aviation. Colonel Bricker 

has served in a variety of tactical and 

operational assignments from platoon 

to corps level in airborne, air assault, 

light infantry, and motorized units in 

the United States, Afghanistan, Iraq, 

and South Korea. He has commanded 

in combat with the 82nd Airborne Division at both the battalion and brigade 

level. Additionally, in 2007, he served as 

the 82nd Airborne Division’s Rear Detachment Commander, and from 2005– 

2006, as the Chief of Aviation for the 

Multi National Corps-Iraq. 

From 2008 to 2010, Colonel Bricker 

commanded the 82nd Airborne Division’s Combat Aviation Brigade and led 

them to war on short notice as part of 

the Afghanistan surge. He assumed nonotice responsibility for the DoD Consequence Management Response Force 

Aviation Brigade while simultaneously 

executing Department of the Army 

Pilot Reset. Once in Afghanistan, his 

brigade supported more than 40,000 coalition troops in Regional CommandSouth with lift, reconnaissance, 

MEDEVAC, and attack aviation. They 

executed the largest air assault in our 

nation’s history without error or incident, a testament to his exceptional 

leadership. Colonel Bricker’s brigade 

was commended by the ISAF Joint 

Command Deputy Commander for his 

exceptional maintenance and safety 

record under the most trying combat 

conditions. 

We know that our military personnel 

don’t shoulder the stress and sacrifice 

of military service alone, and Colonel 

Bricker is no exception. His wife, 

Katie, and their three children, Jacob, 

Jesse and Sophia, have proudly stood 

by his side, sacrificing time with their 

husband and father while he fulfills his 

military commitments. 

As he retires, Colonel Bricker leaves 

behind an impressive record of military 

service and his counsel, professionalism and expertise will surely be 

missed. Throughout his service to our 

Nation, Colonel Bricker has been a 

shining example for the people of 

Michigan and the United States, and 

for this, we offer him our heartfelt 

thanks. I know my colleagues join me 

in wishing Colonel Bricker and his family all the best as he begins the next 

chapter in his life. 

22ND ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES 

ACT 

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, July 26, 

1990—22 years ago today was a great 

day in our Nation’s history. When 

President George Herbert Walker Bush 

signed the Americans with Disabilities 

Act, we could see the future before us, 

full of possibility and opportunity for 

people with disabilities. It was one of 

the proudest days of my legislative career. 

The Americans with Disabilities Act 

is one of the landmark civil rights laws 

of the 20th century—a long-overdue 

emancipation proclamation for Americans with disabilities. The ADA has 

played a huge role in making our country more accessible, in raising the expectations of people with disabilities 

about what they can hope to achieve at 

work and in life, and in inspiring the 

world to view disability issues through 

the lens of equality and opportunity. 

In these times, it is valuable to remember that passage of the original 

Americans with Disabilities Act was a 

robustly bipartisan effort. As chief 

sponsor of the ADA in the Senate, I 

worked very closely with Senator Bob 

Dole and others on both sides of the 

aisle. We received invaluable support 

from President George Herbert Walker 

Bush and key members of his administration, including White House Counsel 

Boyden Gray, Attorney General Dick 

Thornburgh, and Transportation Secretary Sam Skinner. Other Members of 

Congress also played critical roles in 

passing the ADA first and foremost, 

Senator Ted Kennedy; but also Senator 

ORRIN HATCH, and Representatives 

Tony Coelho, STENY HOYER, Major 

Owens, and Steve Bartlett. 

Before the ADA, life was very different for folks with disabilities in 

Iowa and across the country. Being an 

American with a disability meant not 

being able to ride on a bus because 

there was no lift, not being able to attend a concert or ball game because 

there was no accessible seating, and 

not being able to cross the street in a 

wheelchair because there were no curb 

cuts. In short, it meant not being able 

to work or participate in community 

life. Discrimination was both commonplace and accepted. 

Since then, we have seen amazing 

progress. The ADA literally transformed the American landscape by requiring that architectural and communications barriers be removed and replaced with accessible features such as 

ramps, lifts, curb cuts, widening doorways, and closed captioning. More importantly, the ADA gave millions of 

Americans the opportunity to participate in their communities. We have 

made substantial progress in advancing 

the four goals of the ADA—equality of 

opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency. 

But despite this progress, we still 

have more work to do. Last month 

marked the 13th anniversary of the 


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July 26, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5473 

U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 

Olmstead v. L.C., which held that the 

ADA requires that people with significant disabilities be given a meaningful 

opportunity to live and remain in their 

communities, with the appropriate supports and services, rather than having 

to live in an institution or nursing 

home in order to receive the services 

they need. Yet too many people with 

significant disabilities still do not have 

access to these home and communitybased long-term services and supports—and we must do more. Last 

month, following a hearing I chaired to 

assess the progress we have made on 

this issue in the various States, I sent 

a letter to the Governor of each State 

with information about the variety of 

new tools available through the Medicaid Program to make it easier to provide community-based services, including the Community First Choice Option and the Money Follows the Person 

Program. I asked each Governor to let 

me know by September 7 what they are 

doing within their State to ensure that 

the promise of the ADA and Olmstead 

is being met. 

We have made significant progress in 

the last 22 years in making sure that 

public transportation options, such as 

buses, are fully accessible to people 

with disabilities. But we have not made 

similar progress on the accessibility of 

taxicabs. During the past year, there 

have been major advances in New York 

City on this issue, and I commend Governor Cuomo and the disability advocates. However, we still have a lot of 

work to do here in Washington, DC, 

and in other major metropolitan areas 

of this country. When I was in London 

last year, every taxicab was accessible 

to people with disabilities, through 

universal design. There is no reason 

that we cannot work toward this same 

goal here in the United States. 

Yet the most critical challenge we 

still need to address is the persistently 

low employment rates among Americans with disabilities. 

More than two-thirds of working-age 

adults with disabilities are not part of 

the labor force. This is shameful, and 

we need to do better. 

Sometimes a picture is more powerful than any words, so I ask you to 

look at the chart that I have here. This 

chart compares the labor force participation rates of working-age Americans 

in the general population, with the participation rates among women, African 

Americans, Latinos, and people with 

disabilities between 1990 and 2011. 

Less than 35 percent of American 

adults with disabilities were in the 

workforce when we passed the ADA in 

1990, and less than 20 percent of this 

population was in the workforce in 

2011. Although our country continues 

to have employment gaps for women, 

African Americans, and Latinos, the 

gap for workers with disabilities is 

many times the gap for these other 

groups. 

The other noteworthy trend this 

chart shows is that workers with disabilities often don’t benefit even when 

our economy is doing well. Between 

1994 and 2000 and between 2005 and 2007 

you can see that while labor participation rates went up for other groups, 

they were either flat or declining for 

workers with disabilities. 

Since the passage of the ADA we 

have not made a lot of progress on increasing the employment rate of people 

with disabilities. This was partly due 

to the confusion about the requirements of the ADA’s employment provisions caused by the U.S. Supreme 

Court’s decisions in the Sutton trilogy 

in 1999 and the Toyota case in 2002. But 

in 2008, we passed the ADA Amendments Act which once and for all clarified the definition of ‘‘disability’’ and 

started the clock anew on our efforts 

to increase employment opportunities 

for people with disabilities. 

But I believe our country is on the 

verge of major progress on the issue of 

disability employment. I released a report last week calling on the country 

to finally make this issue a national 

priority, because I believe in my heart 

that we can make substantial progress 

in the next 3 years. A copy of that report, entitled ‘‘Unfinished Business: 

Making Employment of People with 

Disabilities a National Priority,’’ is 

available on the HELP Committee Web 

site. 

I think we are on the cusp of making 

real progress on this issue for a number 

of reasons. 

First, we have a new generation of 

young adults with disabilities who 

grew up since the passage of the ADA, 

sometimes referred to as the ‘‘ADA 

Generation.’’ These young people have 

high expectations for themselves. This 

generation sees disability as a natural 

part of human experience and does not 

carry the fears, myths, and stereotypes 

that lowered expectations for individuals with disabilities in earlier generations. 

Along with the ADA generation, we 

have hundreds of thousands of returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan 

who do not want their visible and invisible war injuries to prevent them 

from having a career and supporting 

their families. These veterans are demonstrating their leadership in our civilian workforce just as they did in service to our country. 

In part, to seize on these demographic advantages, I worked with the 

U.S. Chamber of Commerce to set a 

goal last year that we increase the size 

of the disability labor force by over 20 

percent by 2015. With the leadership of 

people with disabilities, the Chamber 

of Commerce, along with elected officials and businesses like Walgreens and 

Lowes who have also made this a priority, I think we are at a real tipping 

point. 

In particular, Walgreens has been a 

leader in employing people with disabilities. I attended a CEO Summit on 

disability employment at Walgreens’ 

distribution center in Windsor, CT, last 

month, and saw firsthand how 

Walgreens built a distribution center 

designed for a diverse workforce, a distribution center with about half of its 

employees being people with disabilities, a distribution center that is just 

as productive as the other Walgreens 

distribution centers, and is in fact outperforming all of Walgreens’ other distribution centers on key indicators 

like time away from work, turnover, 

and workplace safety. 

Today I hosted a roundtable with 

many different stakeholders, including 

Members of the House and Senate on a 

bipartisan basis, Federal and State 

government officials, people with disabilities, business leaders, and foundations—all committed to increasing employment opportunities for people with 

disabilities in competitive employment. 

If all of us—Members of Congress, 

business leaders, employers, and people 

with disabilities—work together, I believe that we can meet the goal of 1 

million new workers with disabilities— 

and ensure that all individuals with 

disabilities have real opportunities for 

employment that meet their goals, interests, and high expectations. 

So as we celebrate the anniversary of 

this great civil rights law, we take 

time to remember the remarkable 

progress that we have made in the past 

22 years, as well as the progress that 

we will continue to make—including 

today. 

Today, the Senate Foreign Relations 

Committee marked up the Convention 

on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD, and approved the treaty 

on a bipartisan vote of 13 to 6. This 

brings us one step closer to bringing 

the convention before the full Senate. I 

would like to thank my colleague, 

Chairman KERRY, for considering this 

convention in such a timely manner, 

and also Senator MCCAIN for his commitment to this issue. I am proud to 

support the convention’s goal to ensure 

that people with disabilities have the 

same rights and opportunities as everyone else. 

Americans with disabilities already 

enjoy these rights at home. However, 

U.S. citizens with disabilities, including our veterans, frequently face barriers when they travel, conduct business, study, or reside overseas. Ratification of the convention would underscore the enduring U.S. commitment to 

disability rights and enhance the ability of the United States to promote 

these rights overseas. 

American ratification of the convention would not require us to change 

any U.S. laws, and the amendments 

adopted today in committee make this 

abundantly, explicitly clear. The ADA 

and disability rights issues have always enjoyed bipartisan support, and 

passage of the Convention on the 

Rights of Persons with Disabilities 

should as well. I am pleased to note the 

convention is supported by former Senator Dole, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 21 veterans groups and countless disability rights advocates. 


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S5474 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 26, 2012 

On July 26, 1990, when he signed ADA 

into law, President George Herbert 

Walker Bush spoke with great eloquence. And I will never forget his final 

words before taking up his pen. He 

said, ‘‘Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.’’ 

Mr. President, today, that wall is indeed falling. And we must join together, on a bipartisan basis, to continue this progress. 

f 

VA AND NIH JOINT PARKINSON’S 

DISEASE RESEARCH 

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, as 

chairman of the Senate Committee on 

Veterans’ Affairs, I would like to take 

a moment to recognize the Department 

of Veterans Affairs and the National 

Institutes of Health, NIH, for their research into an innovative surgery that 

has demonstrated success in improving 

the stability of muscle movement for 

veterans with Parkinson’s disease. VA 

and NIH’s joint research collaboration 

regarding deep brain stimulation therapy has furthered the medical community’s understanding of Parkinson’s 

disease and will be incredibly valuable 

to doctors and Parkinson’s patients 

throughout the world. 

For many individuals, medication 

alone is insufficient when it comes to 

dealing with neurological diseases such 

as Parkinson’s disease. VA and NIH 

conducted research into an alternative 

treatment option known as deep brain 

stimulation therapy to test the longterm outcomes of the treatment. Deep 

brain stimulation therapy is a surgical 

procedure that implants electrodes 

into specific stimulation sites within 

the brain. These electrodes are then 

able to send electrical pulses to areas 

of the brain that controls movement 

and motor control and helps mitigate 

the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease as 

well as reduce some of the side effects 

caused by medication. Thanks to deep 

brain stimulation therapy, thousands 

of individuals suffering from Parkinson’s disease have experienced a dramatic improvement in their quality of 

life. 

Since deep brain stimulation therapy 

was approved by the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, as a therapy for 

Parkinson’s disease in the late 1990s, 

there has been an ongoing debate about 

which stimulation sites within the 

brain provide the best and most durable treatment outcomes and how long 

those results last. To better understand the role that stimulation sites 

play in deep brain stimulation therapy, 

VA and NIH conducted a 3-year clinical 

trial. The trial ultimately found that 

the benefits gained from deep brain 

stimulation therapy remained after 3 

years and the benefits from the surgery 

were not dependent by which stimulation site was selected for implantation. 

This is the type of research that is 

crucial to providing the care that our 

Nation’s veterans need and deserve. 

Thanks to the hard work of VA and 

NIH researchers, the 40,000 veterans 

living with Parkinson’s disease whom 

VA cares for along with Parkinson’s 

patients across the world will be better 

equipped to make informed decisions 

about their treatment options. 

In closing, I commend VA and NIH 

for their efforts to combat a disease 

that affects so many of America’s veterans. 

f 

TRIBUTE TO AMBASSADOR L. 

BRUCE LAINGEN 

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise 

today to honor an accomplished diplomat and distinguished public servant, 

Ambassador L. Bruce Laingen. On August 6, Bruce will celebrate his 90th 

birthday. I want to take this momentous occasion to reflect on his contributions and efforts in support of our 

Nation. Despite the personal sacrifice, 

Bruce honorably served the United 

States with expert skill and dedication 

throughout his long career. 

Bruce was born and raised on a farm 

in southern Minnesota. He joined the 

U.S. Navy, and served our Nation during World War II. Bruce received his officer training at Wellesley College in 

1943, and attended the University of 

Dubuque in Iowa for general Naval 

training. He was a commissioned officer in the Naval Supply Corps. Bruce 

served in the Pacific with amphibious 

forces in the Philippine campaigns. 

After World War II, Bruce graduated 

from St. Olaf College in Minnesota in 

1947. He went on to further his education at the University of Minnesota, 

where he received a Master’s degree in 

International Relations in 1949. 

As a result of his passion and interest 

in what was happening across the 

globe, Bruce dedicated 38 years to the 

Foreign Service. He joined the Foreign 

Service in 1949, and served this Nation 

across the world in Germany, Iran, 

Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The United 

States was very fortunate to have 

Bruce serve as U.S. Ambassador to 

Malta from 1977 to 1979. 

In June 1979, Bruce returned to Iran 

to serve as the U.S. Charge d’Affaires 

in the wake of the Iranian revolution. 

Within a few months of his arrival, a 

group of demonstrators took over the 

U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The students 

and militants were protesting the 

United States’ relationship with the 

government of Iran and the Shah’s 

entry into the United States on humanitarian grounds. On November 4, 

1979, Bruce was taken hostage along 

with more than 60 other Americans. 

For a total of 444 days, he and 51 other 

Americans were held hostage in Iran. 

Throughout the entire ordeal, he 

worked diligently to protect the hostages and resolve the crisis. He showed 

true professionalism and strength. In 

his book Yellow Ribbon: The Secret 

Journal of Bruce Laingen, Bruce describes his personal perspective and 

thoughts about the events that took 

place over those 444 days. 

Shortly after Bruce’s capture, his 

wife Penelope ‘‘Penne’’ Laingen tied a 

yellow ribbon around an oak tree on 

their lawn in Maryland to symbolize 

her hope for a safe return for her husband and all of the hostages. Penne encouraged others to show their support 

and determination to be reunited with 

their loved ones through the use of yellow ribbons. The original yellow ribbon 

was later donated to the Library of 

Congress. It is because of her efforts 

that Penne is credited with founding 

the yellow ribbon campaign during the 

Iran hostage crisis. 

After his release, Bruce became the 

Vice President of the National Defense 

University until he retired from the 

Foreign Service in 1987. He went on to 

be the Executive Director of the National Commission on Public Service 

from 1987 until 1990. Between 1991 and 

2006, Bruce was President of the American Academy of Diplomacy. 

Bruce continued to share his expertise and knowledge through his efforts 

on several distinguished Boards of Directors including No Greater Love, A 

Presidential Classroom for Young 

Americans, the Mercersburg Academy 

in Pennsylvania, and the National Defense University Foundation. I had the 

honor of working with Bruce on the 

Board of Directors of the Presidential 

Classroom. He has been a strong advocate for this wonderful program, which 

encourages students to learn about 

how their government works and aspire 

to leadership through public service. 

Bruce has received many honors as a 

result of his brave service to our Nation. He was awarded the Department 

of State’s Award for Valor, the Department of Defense’s Distinguished Public 

Service Medal, the Presidential Meritorious Award, and the Foreign Service 

Cup. 

I am grateful for his willingness to 

serve our Nation and provide strong 

leadership in implementing the foreign 

policy goals of the United States. 

Bruce, Penne, and their three sons Bill, 

Chip, and Jim have given so much to 

our Nation. 

f 

CROWDFUNDING 

Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I rise 

today to discuss an issue that I and 

many of my colleagues are very excited 

about: crowdfunding, which allows 

startups and small businesses to harness the power of the Internet to pool 

investments from ordinary Americans 

intrigued by their ideas. These ideas 

can range from revolutionary new 

technologies to simple projects that 

can improve communities in need. 

If crowdfunding is going to take off, 

this new market needs to inspire confidence in both investors and small 

businesses. That is why in December of 

2011, I introduced S. 1970 with Senators 

MICHAEL BENNET and MARY LANDRIEU

and in March of this year the bipartisan, compromise crowdfunding 

amendment with Senators MICHAEL

BENNET and SCOTT BROWN. That 

amendment passed the Senate by a 

vote of 64 to 35 and was included in the 


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