Globalsolutions.org Fun-raiserStop the War on International Law

GlobalSolutions.org is

GlobalSolutions.org Cares About...the greatest challenges facing humanity, including human rights and womens rights, nuclear proliferation, environmental degradation, global poverty, mass atrocities and more.

Why International Cooperation?Common sense tool to get things doneThe international treaties we have helped to shape govern much of our livesU.S. proud history of bringing nations together for the common goodHelped to create institutions like the UN to serve our purposes and promote our values.Our vision of equality, justice, and opportunity for all attracted others. When we lose sight of that vision, we lose the support of othersoften just when we need it most.

Cooperation works:The benefits outweigh the costs.UN programs have improved the lives of the worlds children more in the past 40 years than the previous 100.Our international support during the past 40 years has helped cut global illiteracy in half and raised average life expectancy by 20 years.UN peacekeepers have helped end conflicts and rebuild governments

US Non-Ratification of TreatiesDisability TreatyWomens Equality Treaty (CEDAW)Rights of the ChildLaw of the SeaNuclear Test Ban TreatyInternational Criminal CourtArms Trade Treaty

Vertically-Integrated oppositionThink TanksAdvocacy GroupsMedia OutletsHill AlliesAnti Treaty Message

We are Siloed They are Not

Making Treaties ControversialThe Senate will not pass controversial treaties The Big Lie Deliberate gross distortion of the truth used especially as a propaganda tactic.Drives Constituent OppositionWomen's Equality Treaty Too pro-abortionInternational Criminal Court Kangaroo court out to get American service membersRights of the Child Kids will sue their parentsLaw of the Sea UN will tax AmericansArms Trade Treaty UN gun grab

The New FrontReservations, Understandings, and Declarations (RUDs) not good enough?

RUDs will not stand the test of time Ultimately, Im unable to vote for a treaty that could undermine our Constitution Senator Bob Corker, Ranking Member of Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Unconstitutionalthe President, even with Senate acquiescence, has no constitutional authority to make a treaty with a foreign nation that gives away any portion of the sovereignty reserved to the states. Senator Ted Cruz, Harvard Law Review

Its Local Politics Not Global PolicyThe ProblemNo Political Reward for Treaty SupportHowever, opposing treaties = campaign contributionsFear of being Tea Partied like Sen. Dick LugarPartisanship no longerends at the waters edge

How You Can HelpMake a contribution to support the Stop the War on International Law campaignHold your own fun-raiser in support of GlobalSolutions.orgSpread the Word

How you can GiveBy CheckMade out to GlobalSolutions.org420 7th St SE, Washington, DC 20003Or by Credit CardThrough the website at globalsolutions.org/joinOr use the credit card form provided (on the right).If you have any questions, please contact Ashley Burrell, our Development Fellow at aburrell@globalsolutions.org or 202-546-3950 ext. 129

GlobalSolutions.org The AnswerWe are employing new communications and internet technologies to create the first online big tent movement of Americans who want the U.S. to take a responsible and cooperative role in the world. Combining political savvy with our members intelligence, energy and passion, GlobalSolutions.org is the right organization and now is the right time. Support GlobalSolutions.orgYou now have an opportunity to help this movement prosper and grow. Join * Take Action *Volunteer * Planned Giving

Thank you for attending my fun-raiser in support of GlobalSolutions.org and their new campaign to Stop the War on International Law. *Global Solutions.org is a groundbreaking online movement for Americans who want the United States to take a responsible and cooperative role in the world, built upon a proud and solid foundation laid down by their predecessor organizations: the World Federalist Association, the Campaign for UN Reform and Citizens for Global Solutions. GlobalSolutions.org envisions a future in which nations work together to abolish war, protect our rights and freedoms, and solve problems facing humanity that no nation can solve alone. Our role is to empower members to articulate and act on this vision. Our goal is to build a member base of millions of Americans who will speak with one voice on issues of vital importance.

*The values hold us together

Most Americans understand that international cooperation is essential to build a safer and more secure world. Some of us are passionate about human rights, ending genocide, eliminating nuclear weapons, or preventing war. We want to manage climate change, stop the global spread of AIDS, or improve the U.N. While we may differ on priorities, we are bound together by shared values.

We are working to build a more powerful constituency who want the US to play a more cooperative and responsible role in the world. However, a well-funded and methodically organized opposition wants Americans to believe that the United States must lead by force - or stay at home and ignore the global challenges we face.

It is time to build a movement as grand as the ideals that we embrace. Thats GlobalSolutions.org

We know that international cooperation is essential to create a better and safer future. If you would rather our nation support what you believe in; then we need to raise our voices together.

*1) Treaties make international air travel safe, ensure mail and phone calls work, outlaw deadly weapons, fight illegal drugs, promote basic values such as ending child labor or child soldiers.

2 ) The U.S. was crucial to the creation of every one of the global institutions that kept the peace and built our strong economy in the second half of the 20th centuryfrom the UN and NATO to economic institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Weve built institutions not for their own sake but because we had a vision that attracted othersa vision of equality, justice, and opportunity for all. When we lose sight of that vision, we lose the support of othersoften just when we need it most.

One of our most cherished values as Americans is the idea that everyone is equal under the law; when nations around the world share that view and agree on what the law is, we are all better off.

*1) Like most things in life, we tend to not even notice this cooperation when its working well. But our world would be changed completely if all this cooperation didnt existor if we, the worlds strongest nation, stopped supporting it.

2) This UN record is remarkable, considering that all UN agencies together spend less in a year than one medium-sized U.S. state.

3) Just as when we choose to belong to a particular club or church, or live in a particular neighborhood, there are costs. But also just as in our own lives, the benefits of cooperation far outweigh these costs. The UN's annual budget [core plus agencies] is about $10 billion dollarsjust $1.70 for each person on Earth. By comparison, the state of Arkansas spends more than that in a year. Less than 25 percent of UN costs are paid by the U.S.a pretty good investment, considering how much it leverages from others.

*Despite the major role the U.S. has played in crafting the Womens Equality Treaty (CEDAW), the Law of the Sea Treaty, the Disability Treaty, and more, we repeatedly fail to uphold our proposed values and actually sign onto these agreements. This damages U.S. credibility, economy, security, global leadership.

There is an old war flaring up again in the United States, its frontlines on the floors of the Senate and in the living rooms of homeschooling parents. It is the war on international law. Those waging the war are doing everything they can to stop the United States from engaging in multilateral treaties. Since the U.S. has not ratified a major multilateral treaty since 1997, they are succeeding, to the detriment of our country. The stakes are high and time is running out on one issue in particular Climate Change. We need a robust agreement to be negotiated by the 2015 meeting in Paris to have any chance at all of slowing climate change down. We want Obama to go to the Climate Summit in NY this September with a politically feasible solution in hand.

We believe its time to stop this war on international law.*On December 4, 2012, as the Senate prepared to vote on the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), former Senator and Majority Leader Bob Dole sat in his wheelchair on the Senate floor, imploring his former colleagues with his presence to ratify the treaty. Dole, a disabled veteran himself and the major force behind the Americans with Disabilities Act, was unable to dissuade enough of his fellow Republicans from falling prey to anti-ratification fear-mongering and unrepentant lying.

*One of the biggest problems facing us is the fight of the well-funded and well-coordinated opposition. Think tanks, advocacy groups, media outlets, and Hill allies all work together in order to block the ratification of important treaties.

With examples such as

Think tanks - Heritage FoundationAdvocacy groups - National Rifle Association / Home School Legal Defense AssociationMedia outlets - Fox NewsHill Allies*A coordinated and well-funded opposition is spreading misinformation on multilateralism and undermining U.S. leadership on human rights, justice and security by attacking our very ability to negotiate and ratify treaties. What GlobalSolutoins.org is doing about that is working with treaty proponents to get them coordinated and well-funded in order to counter the opposition.

Proponents of treaties are stove-piped

Womens Rights activists Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against WomenArms Control activists Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty & Arms Trade TreatyDisability Rights activists Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities*Opposition groups will spread many falsehoods about the impact treaties will have on the U.S. which in turn encourages the opposition to grow.

That globalwomen's rights treaty? Too pro-abortion. TheInternational Criminal Court? A kangaroo court out to get American service members. TheConvention on the Rights of the Child? Kids could sue their parents. TheUN Law of the Sea? An excuse to slap unfair global tax on Americans. Anarms trade treaty? A ploy to deprive Americans of their right to bear arms.*RUDs are attached to international treaties and they lay out how a treaty will be interpreted under the Constitution and U.S. laws once it is ratified.

Ever since the Constitution called for the Senates advice and consent to make treaties, the Senate has used, and the President has accepted, RUDs to clarify or limit an agreements scope. Unfortunately, at a time when our interconnected world more than ever needs clear rules to live by, Corker has chosen to pander to an isolationist Tea Party base and claim that RUDs are no longer good enough.

through the process of attempting to resolve concerns about the treaty being used inappropriately to expand federal power beyond constitutional limits, I remain uncertain that even the strongest RUDs would stand the test of time, and I believe any uncertainty on this issue is not acceptable. Ultimately, Im unable to vote for a treaty that could undermine our Constitution and the legitimacy of our democratic process as the appropriate means for making decisions about the treatment of our citizens. Bob Corker

This is not just about the benign made in America Disability Treaty, which helps disabled Americans travel and conduct business abroad. Its about the entire system of international laws and agreements which address human rights, arms control, climate change and more.

*Many opponents believe that treaties are unconstitutional and will take away certain aspects of sovereignty from the U.S.

Cruz particularly goes after human rights treaties in this article from the Harvard Law Review.*Supporting the adoption of a treaty often has political implications. Senators can fundraise and defend themselves from Tea Party primary opponents by opposing treaties.

Bob Dole would have to run as a Democrat or Independent these days.*We are launching a campaign to Stop the War on International Law. The Senate has not approved a major multilateral treaty since 1997, and we believe that its time for this to change. 186 nations have already ratified the Womens Rights Treaty (CEDAW) but the U.S. has not. Dont you think the U.S. should be a global leader?

This campaign really needs your support to succeed. We rely on individual contributions to power these movements and lobby for your concerns. Monetary donations fuel our work in DC, allowing our staff members to meet with members of congress, host events, and educate grassroots on the importance of these global issues.

The money we raise will be used to build networks in strategic states and to light a fire under some of these senators who believe that multilateral treaties represent a grave threat to American sovereignty and democracy (and to their re-election).

If you cannot contribute as much as you would like, consider hosting a house party of your own in the future, or take a look at globalsolutions.org for more ways to get involved!

*Credit Card form see attached in tool kit*Support GlobalSolutions.org. Thank you, Im happy to take any questions at this time.*