[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5434-S5455]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. ENZI (for himself, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Kennedy, Mr.
Jeffords, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Thomas, and
Nickles):
S. 2112. A bill to make the Occupational Safety and Health Act of
1970 applicable to the United States Postal Service in the same manner
as any other employer; to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources.
postal employees safety enhancement act
Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Postal Employees
Safety Enhancement Act of 1998.
Mr. President, this bipartisan legislation, cosponsored by my
colleagues Senators Bingaman, Kennedy, Jeffords and Hutchinson would
fully bring the United States Postal Service under the regulatory
umbrella of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It has
always been my unshakeable belief that the Government must play by its
own rules. This important legislation is an incremental step in the
effort to ensure that the ``law of the land'' applies equally to all
branches of the Government as well as the private sector --and
everything in-between.
Since I became a member of this distinguished body, I've been
advocating legislation geared to improve the safety and health of our
nation's workplaces. My sincere devotion to this issue, however, goes
back much farther than my work here in Washington. For 12 years, I was
an accountant for Dunbar Well Service in Gillette, WY, an oil well
servicing company with offices throughout Wyoming. Like most businesses
in my home state, Dunbar Well Service is a small business. The payroll
consisted of 130 employees. As a result, I wore several hats. One of my
roles was safety instruction, which required me to travel the state
teaching employees about the importance of workplace safety and health.
The company's rigorous safety program even had me collecting samples
for drug tests--an extremely effective method of deterring workplace
injuries and fatalities, by the way.
I saw things with OSHA that I thought needed to be changed. I served
in the State legislature. I was told that States can't change that and
I understand that. Then I got to come to Washington, and in Washington
we can make a difference in the workplace. I went to work on a SAFE
Act, one that will provide safety in all businesses. That has been
through hearings. It has been through markups in the Labor Committee
and is ready to be debated on this floor. I have had hands-on
experience in the workplace with safety, and I know that workplace
safety and health is everyone's business. And that's the only way it
works. It is not a political issue, it is an issue that cannot be
divided by a barrier that separates even the public and the private
sector. It's everybody's concern, and that is the only way it works.
We must ensure the safety and health of all employees because they
are the most important asset of any business. It's success or failure
rests with their ability to provide efficient care and service to their
customers, whoever they may be. Although all Federal agencies must
comply with the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health statute, they are
not required to pay penalties issued to them by OSHA. The bill I am
introducing today is the first step in the effort to eliminate this
barrier.
It is important to point out that this legislation is not intended to
single out the Postal Service. My first look at how ineffective Federal
agencies are at making workplace safety and health a priority began
when I noted that Yellowstone National Park was cited by OSHA last
February for 600 violations--92 of them serious. One of those serious
violations was the Park's failure to report an employee's death to
OSHA. In fact, Yellowstone has posted five employee deaths in the past
three and one-half years. Although there are these and other serious
problems noted in the Park's safety and health record, I later found
that it pales in comparison to the United States Postal Service's
record.
After looking at the past 5 year totals for all Federal workplace
injuries, illnesses, lost work time and fatalities, I was shocked to
see the Postal Service at the very top of the list. It was my initial
feeling that the armed forces would be the most hazardous occupation in
the Federal Government. That notion was proven wrong. Surprisingly, the
Postal Service employs relatively the same number of workers as the
Department of Defense. Yet it has double the number of total workplace
injuries and illnesses and almost double the number of lost work-time
cases as the Department of Defense.
[[Page S5435]]
What is most troubling about the Postal Service's safety record,
however, is its annual workers' compensation payments. From 1992 to
1997, the Postal Service paid an annual average of $505 million in
workers' compensation costs--placing them once again at the top of the
Federal Government's list. Moreover, the Postal Service's annual
contribution to workers' compensation amounts to almost one-third of
the Federal program's $1.8 billion price tag. These facts are simply
inexcusable and clearly justify the need for legislation. Better yet,
this legislation would likely decrease the annual expenditures for
workers' compensation because of a reduction in workplace injuries,
illnesses, lost time and fatalities.
In 1970, Congress passed the Postal Reorganization Act, eliminating
the old Postal Department status as a cabinet office. Twelve years
later, the Postal Service became fiscally self-sufficient--depending on
market-driven revenues rather than taxpayer dollars.
Of course the Postal Service is big. The Postal Service is 43 percent
of the world's mail. It has annual profits that exceed $1.5 billion. If
the Postal Service were a private company, it would be the 9th largest
business in the United States and 29th in the entire world. It is
bigger than Coca-Cola, Xerox, and Kodak combined. It has offices in
virtually every community. In fact, some of the communities in my State
are communities because they are a post office. So it covers the big
and it covers the small.
When I did the SAFE Act I talked to my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle. I talked to any group that would talk to me. I talked to
businesses, I talked to employers, I talked to employees, I talked to
unions, and then drafted a bill. That bill is going through the
process.
When I noticed this problem, I went through the same process. I have
met with those groups--agencies, unions that are involved in this
process--and I have to say, I have gotten some very helpful,
constructive suggestions from those groups. Those suggestions appear in
the bill.
I have talked to the Postal Service about it. They have reviewed it.
They have asked for additional time to review it. The bill is only five
pages long. I don't know how long it takes to review that, so I can
only assume that they have no problem with the bill either, although I
am sure they are not excited to come under the same rules that everyone
else plays under.
The point of this legislation is simple. If government makes the
rules, Government must play by them. this is the same basic premise
adopted by Congress when it passed the Congressional Accountability Act
during the 104th Congress. The Postal Service is not above the law and
its employees are no less important to its daily operations than the
employees of private businesses are to the companies that employ them.
When advocating workplace safety and health in this context, I can
think of no better place to start than the Postal Service--which calls
itself a Federal agency when it is helpful to refer to itself as such.
In fact, it's not a Federal agency at all. It's a self-sufficient,
quasi-governmental entity. How many Federal agency's employees can
collectively bargain under the 1935 National Labor Relations Act? How
many Federal agencies don't receive one dime of the taxpayers' money?
How many Federal agencies post annual profits exceeding $1.5 billion?
The Postal Service exhibits almost every characteristic of a private
business. Still, it's reluctant to fully comply with Federal
occupational safety and health law. Clearly, that must change.
After carefully examining the perspectives of the Postal Service and
the unions representing its employees, I have concluded that the Postal
Employees Safety Enhancement Act is necessary legislation. The bill
would permit OSHA to fully regulate the Postal Service the same way it
does private businesses. In addition, the bill would prevent the Post
Office from closing or consolidating rural post offices or services
simply because it's required to comply with OSHA. Service to all areas
of the Nation, rural or urban, was made a part of the Postal Service's
mission by the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act. The quality of the
service it provides should not decrease because of efforts to protect
and ensure employee safety and health. Along this same premise, the
bill would prevent the Postal Rate Commission from raising the price of
stamps to help the Postal Service pay for potential OSHA fines. Rather,
the Postal Service should offset the potential for OSHA fines by
improving workplace conditions which would decrease its annual $500
million expenditure on workers' compensation claims.
This bipartisan bill will make the law of the land mean what it says.
Congress would only be applying those standards to the Postal Service
that it applied to itself three years ago. The Postal Service has the
most alarming occupational safety and health record in the Federal
Government. It should therefore be the first to be reined in.
Every schoolchild is familiar with the words on the New York Post
Office that became the motto of the Postal Service, ``Neither snow, nor
rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift
completion of their appointed rounds.'' Add to that the million and one
barriers, complaints, dogs, assaults and other obstacles our postal
workers must deal with every day and it is clear that they have more
than enough to deal with without having to worry about the conditions
of their workplace as well.
I urge my colleagues to support this necessary, common sense
legislation to show our support for workplace safety and health
everywhere throughout the country, in every business and corporation,
in both private and the public sector.
I ask unanimous consent the text of the bill be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection the bill was ordered printed in the Record,
as follows:
S. 2112
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Postal Employees Safety
Enhancement Act''.
SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF ACT.
(a) Definition.--Section 3(5) of the Occupational Safety
and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 652(5)) is amended by
inserting after ``the United States'' the following: ``(not
including the United States Postal Service)''.
(b) Federal Programs.--
(1) Occupational safety and health.--Section 19(a) of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 668(a))
is amended by inserting after ``each Federal Agency'' the
following: ``(not including the United States Postal
Service)''.
(2) Other safety programs.--Section 7902(a)(2) of title 5,
United States Code, is amended by inserting after
``Government of the United States'' the following: ``(not
including the United States Postal Service)''.
SEC. 3. CLOSING OR CONSOLIDATION OF OFFICES NOT BASED ON OSHA
COMPLIANCE.
Section 404(b)(2) of title 39, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``(2) The Postal Service, in making a determination whether
or not to close or consolidate a post office--
``(A) shall consider--
``(i) the effect of such closing or consolidation on the
community served by such post office;
``(ii) the effect of such closing or consolidation on
employees of the Postal Service employed at such office;
``(iii) whether such closing or consolidation is consistent
with the policy of the Government, as stated in section
101(b) of this title, that the Postal Service shall provide a
maximum degree of effective and regular postal services to
rural areas, communities, and small towns where post offices
are not self-sustaining;
``(iv) the economic savings to the Postal Service resulting
from such closing or consolidation; and
``(v) such other factors as the Postal Service determines
are necessary; and
``(B) may not consider compliance with any provision of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et
seq.).''.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON RESTRICTION OR ELIMINATION OF
SERVICES.
(a) In General.--Chapter 4 of title 39, United States Code,
is amended by adding after section 414 the following:
``Sec. 415. Prohibition on restriction or elimination of
services
``The Postal Service may not restrict, eliminate, or
adversely affect any service provided by the Postal Service
as a result of the payment of any penalty imposed under the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et
seq.).''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of
sections for chapter 4 of title 39, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``415. Prohibition on restriction or elimination of services.''.
SEC. 5. LIMITATIONS ON RAISE IN RATES.
Section 3622 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
[[Page S5436]]
``(c) Compliance with any provision of the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) shall
not be considered by the Commission in determining whether to
increase rates and shall not otherwise affect the service of
the Postal Service.''.
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with my friend and
colleague from Wyoming, Senator Enzi, in introducing the Postal
Employees Safety Enhancement Act of 1998.
I want to begin by commending the distinguished Senator from Wyoming
for bringing this issue before the Senate. As my colleagues know, in
the short time he has been in the Senate, Senator Enzi has become one
of the leading experts on the Occupational Health and Safety Act of
1970. I have found him to be extremely willing to listen to all sides
of what are complex issues, to work in a bipartisan manner and to
engage all interested parties in a constructive dialogue on OSHA
related issues. I also commend him for recognizing the need which this
legislation will address and for working with all interested parties
over the past few weeks to draft a bill that will address that need.
Mr. President, the bill we are introducing today is really rather
simple. It will make the Occupational Health and Safety Act applicable
to the United States Postal Service as it would be to any other private
sector employer. The reasons for doing this, and the need to do so, are
very obvious to anyone who looks at this issue. A comparison of all of
the worker's compensation costs charged to federal employing agencies
from July 1, 1993 to July 30, 1994 showed the Postal Service had a
significantly higher rate of employment based injury claims than any
federal agency. There are numerous reports of safety and health
problems that have gone unaddressed by the P.O., some of which have
been laid out by Senator Enzi this morning. Unfortunately, unlike every
other private sector employee in America, Postal Service workers do not
have the benefit, or the protections of the OSHA Act. While the Postal
Service has some internal mechanisms for addressing employee injuries
most would find these to be inadequate to protect employees and to help
the Postal Service provide a safer workplace. This legislation should
be welcomed by all who care about worker safety and health and I
believe the Postal Service does care.
As my colleagues know, the Postal Service is one of the largest U.S.
employers. Over the past several years it has gone through a series of
reorganizations and restructuring to improve the quality of the service
it provides. I commend the Postal Service for many of these initiatives
and appreciate the service it provides to the people of my state. Like
Senator Enzi, I do not mean to single out the Postal Service with this
legislation. However, because the Postal Service operates in essence
like any other private business, I think it is appropriate to expect
that it complies with the same safety and health standards as other
businesses. Likewise I think Postal workers deserve the same
protections afforded all other private sector workers, under the Act.
Mr. President, I hope the Senate will work quickly to adopt this
legislation this year. I see no reason why this bill should not pass
quickly and overwhelmingly.
Again Mr. President, I commend Senator Enzi for bringing this
important worker safety measure before the Senate and look forward to
working with him to ensure its swift passage.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I am proud to join my colleagues, Senator
Enzi, Senator Jeffords, and Senator Bingaman, in introducing the Postal
Employees Safety Enhancement Act. This important legislation will
extend coverage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act to employees
of the United States Postal Service.
Few issues are more important to working families than health and
safety on the job. For the past 28 years, OSHA has performed a critical
role--protecting American workers from on-the-job injuries and
illnesses.
In carrying out this mission, OSHA has made an extraordinary
difference in people's lives. Death rates from on-the-job accidents
have dropped by over 60% since 1970--much faster than before the law
was enacted. More than 140,000 lives have been saved.
Occupational illnesses and injuries have dropped by one-third since
OSHA's enactment--to a record low rate of 7.4 per 100 workers in 1996.
These numbers are still unacceptably high, but they demonstrate that
OSHA is a success by any reasonable measure.
Even more lives have been saved in the two places where OSHA has
concentrated its efforts. Death rates have fallen by 61% in
construction and 67% in manufacturing. Injury rates have dropped by
half in construction, and nearly one-third in manufacturing. Clearly,
OSHA works best where it works hardest.
Unfortunately, these efforts do not apply to federal agencies. The
original OSHA statute required only that federal agencies provide
``safe and healthful places and conditions of employment'' to their
employees. Specific OSHA safety and health rules did not apply.
In 1980, President Carter issued an Executive Order that solved this
problem in part. It directed federal agencies to comply with all OSHA
safety standards, and it authorized OSHA to inspect workplaces and
issue citations for violations.
President Carter's action was an important step, but more needs to be
done. When OSHA inspects a federal workplace and finds a safety
violation, OSHA can direct the agency to eliminate the hazard. But OSHA
has no authority to seek enforcement of its order in court, and it
cannot assess a financial penalty on the agency to obtain compliance.
The situation is especially serious in the Postal Service. Postal
employees suffer one of the highest injury rates in the federal
government. In 1996 alone, 78,761 postal employees were injured on the
job--more than nine injuries and illnesses for every hundred workers.
This rate is 23% higher than the overall private sector rate, and 40%
higher than the overall federal rate. Fourteen postal employees were
killed on the job in 1996--one-sixth of the federal total. Workers'
compensation charges at the Postal Service are also high--$538 million
in 1997.
This legislation will bring down these unacceptably high rates. It
permits OSHA to issue citations for safety hazards, and back them up
with penalties. This credible enforcement threat will encourage the
Postal Service to comply with the law. It will save taxpayer dollars
currently spent on worker's compensation costs.
Most important, it will reduce the extraordinarily high rate of
injuries among postal employees. Every worker deserves a safe and
healthy place to work, and this bill will help achieve that goal for
the 860,000 employees of the Postal Service. They deserve it, and I
urge my colleagues to provide it.
______
By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Faircloth, Mr.
Akaka, Ms. Moseley-Braun, Mr. Harkin, Ms. Mikulski, Mr.
Wellstone, Mr. Graham, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Cleland, Ms. Landrieu,
Mr. Reid, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Warner, Mrs.
Boxer, and Mrs. Murray):
S. 2114. A bill to amend the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, the
Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, the Older Americans Act of
1965, and the Public Health Service Act to ensure that older women are
protected from institutional, community, and domestic violence and
sexual assault and to improve outreach efforts and other services
available to older women victimized by such violence, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources.
older women's protection from violence act of 1998
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I introduce this legislation
with my distinguished colleague from Maine, Senator Collins.
Unfortunately for some, domestic violence is a life long experience.
Those who perpetrate violence against their family members do not
desist because the family member grows older. In fact, in some cases,
the abuse may become more severe as the victim ages becoming more
isolated from the community with their removal from the workforce.
Other age-related factors such as increased frailty may increase a
victim's vulnerability. It also is true that older victims' ability to
report abuse is frequently confounded by their reliance on their abuser
for care or housing. Every seven minutes in Illinois, there
[[Page S5437]]
is an incidence of elder abuse. Several research studies have shown
that elder abuse is the most under reported familial crime. It is even
more under reported than child abuse with only between one in eight and
one in fourteen incidents estimated to be reported. Seniors who
experience abuse worry they will be banished to a nursing home if they
report abuse. They also must struggle with the ethical dilemma of
reporting abuse by their children to the authorities and thus
increasing their child's likelihood of going to jail. Shame and fear
gag them so that they remain ``silent victims.''
Domestic violence programs have a moral and ethical responsibility to
provide services to individuals of any age who are the victims of
domestic abuse. Yet most domestic violence programs see only a few
older women a year. That is not to say that the domestic violence
service providers actively discriminate against older victims. Analysis
of the few studies that do exist of elder domestic abuse indicate that
the vast majority do not themselves seek to access existing services.
There may be many reasons for this. The images portrayed in the media
of the victims of domestic violence generally depict a young woman,
with small children. Seniors suffering domestic abuse may not readily
identify with these images and, therefore, may not see those services
as being for them. Other cultural barriers may also exist. Many older
women were raised to believe that family business is a private matter.
Problems within families were not to be discussed with anyone,
especially strangers or counselors. Only a handful of domestic abuse
programs throughout the country are reaching out to older women.
This legislation seeks to improve current federal family violence
programs, such as The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and Family
Violence Prevention Services Act (FVPSA), to make them more sensitive
to the needs of the nations seniors. Title I of this bill promotes the
inclusion of elder abuse cases in law school clinics and training for
law enforcement in the identification and referral of older victims of
domestic violence or elder abuse to services. Title II allows FVPSA
grant funds to be used for outreach to older individuals. We know that
great improvements have taken place since VAWA was first passed. One of
the most successful programs is the law enforcement training program,
which received $200 million in FY 1998. However, improvement can be
made with respect to identifying abuse among all age groups. When the
abuser is old, there may be a reticence on the part of law enforcement
to deal with this person in the same way that they might deal with a
younger person. Who wants to send an ``old guy'' to jail? However, lack
of action jeopardizes the victim further because then the abuser has
every reason to believe that there are no consequences for their
actions. Another common problem is differentiating between injuries
related to abuse and injuries arising from aging, frailty or illness.
Too many older women's broken bones have been attributed to
disorientation, osteoporosis or other age-related vulnerabilities
without any questions being asked to make sure that they are not the
result of abuse.
Title III reauthorizes the very important Elder Rights programs
contained within the Older Americans Act. These programs provide seed
money for state elder abuse programs. Included here is the Long-term-
care Ombudsman program that monitors nursing homes and investigates
reports of abuse in such institutions.
Most domestic abuse shelters are filled with young families. The
staff and volunteers are predominantly younger than 50 years old. The
recreation calendar has activities for young women and children.
Discussions at support groups can be dominated by younger women talking
about their children, child care and custody. Many domestic abuse
shelters are not readily accessible to those who are less mobile. For
instance, some may not be accessible via the ground floor. Moving from
your home into a shelter is always a traumatic event. However, it may
be even harder for those who find themselves in surroundings so
unfamiliar and so totally oriented to a different age group. In my home
state of Illinois, there are only two centers that focus on the shelter
needs of seniors. One is the Center for Prevention of Abuse in Peoria,
the other is the Swan center in Olney, which has a comprehensive elder
protective services program. Title III seeks to address this shortage
by encouraging expanded access to domestic violence shelters that cater
to the needs of older individuals.
This bill seeks to help foster collaboration between the aging
networks and domestic violence coalitions. Throughout the United
States, through the Older Americans Act, a variety of programs seek to
serve seniors in their communities. Home-delivered meals and other
services provide an opportunity for seniors to interact with
individuals outside their own homes. Increasing the knowledge of such
care providers in how to identify and refer victims of domestic
violence would likely provide much-needed relief to many of these
individuals. Title III of this bill contains a ``Community Initiatives
and Outreach'' grants program to help coordinate both public and
private efforts in elder domestic abuse prevention and treatment.
Fostering communication between these two groups has the potential of
dramatically increasing the number of individuals that are sensitive to
these issues of abuse and, also, to increase the number of individuals
who are served by domestic violence programs generally.
Family violence is one of the most common causes of disease and
distress seen by physicians. In spite of its existence as a pervasive
and debilitating medical and social problem, many advocates in the
domestic violence community believe that it receives insufficient
attention in the curricula of most schools of medicine or other health
professional training institutions. Dr. Jane Jackman, past president of
the Illinois State Medical Society noted last year ``Doctors are
finding that the problem is under-recognized. Elder abuse or
maltreatment is growing in significance as a factor in trauma, hospital
admissions, rising costs of long term care and, ultimately, deaths.''
Title III of this bill directs the Assistant Secretary of Aging to
collaborate with other Departments of Health and Human Services and the
National Institute of Aging to update and improve curricula for both
training and retraining of health professionals and others in the area
of elder domestic abuse. These curricula would be made available to
educational institutions involved in training health professionals.
Title IV would amend the Area Health Education Center and Geriatric
Education Centers funded through the Health Professionals Education Act
to allow them to use funds for training and retraining health
professionals in elder domestic abuse.
The last title of the bill, Title V, examines the issue of financial
exploitation of seniors. Take the case of Helen (not her real name)
reported in the Chicago Tribune last year. Helen was a 66-year-old
mother and grandmother from DuPage County. Early in 1997, Helen lost
$90,000 and even access to her own kitchen due to the actions of her
daughter. Helen describes how she felt like a P.O.W. Helen had agreed
to pool resources with her daughter and son-in-law and buy a house
where all of them would live; the deal seemed like a win-win
proposition. Unbeknownst to Helen, most of the money went to pay off
her son-in-law's debts. Soon the young couple asked Helen for thousands
more and $300 in monthly rent. Shortly after this, her daughter had
construction done on the house which put a new wall between Helen's
bedroom and the kitchen, blocking her way to the kitchen and forcing
her to prepare her food in the bathroom. Eventually, Helen found
herself in a shelter. She now lives in a government subsidized
apartment.
The Illinois Department of Aging and other elder abuse service
providers will attest to the fact that Helen is not alone in
experiencing such financial exploitation. Of the 5,833 reports of elder
abuse in Illinois in 1997, nearly half (44.6%) were reports of
financial exploitation. Statistics compiled by the Illinois Department
on Aging show that the majority of financial abuse victims are female
and that most have a functional impairment, such as Alzheimer's
disease. For some, financial exploitation may at times be accompanied
by physical abuse or the threat of physical abuse or other form of
coercion. The states Attorneys General have efforts underway to examine
this area and are
[[Page S5438]]
cooperating in sharing information on how best to deal with such abuse.
Financial exploitation is probably more complex and sometimes more
difficult to detect than other forms of abuse. Therefore, we are
proposing a study by experts in the field to more comprehensively
analyze the problem and to make recommendations for future actions.
With the greying of America, the problems of elder domestic abuse in
all its many ugly manifestations, is likely to grow. I believe that we
need to take a comprehensive look at our existing family violence
programs and ensure that these and other programs that serve seniors
are sensitive and knowledgeable of elder domestic abuse. I am pleased
that Senators Akaka, Moseley-Braun, Harkin, Mikulski, Wellstone, Dodd,
Kohl, Warner, Boxer, Graham, Cleland, Landrieu, Reid, Torricelli and
Faircloth have all joined Senator Collins and myself in introducing
this bill, and I hope that many more will join us in this effort to
focus attention on the needs of the ``forgotten older victims of
domestic violence.''
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed the the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 2114
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Older
Women's Protection From Violence Act of 1998''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
TITLE I--VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT OF 1994
Sec. 101. Elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
TITLE II--FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND SERVICES ACT
Sec. 201. Definitions.
Sec. 202. Domestic abuse services for older individuals.
Sec. 203. State grants.
Sec. 204. Demonstration grants for community initiatives.
Sec. 205. Study regarding health professional training with respect to
detection and referral of victims of family violence.
TITLE III--OLDER AMERICANS ACT OF 1965
Sec. 301. Definitions.
Sec. 302. Research about the sexual assault of women who are older
individuals.
Sec. 303. State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program.
Sec. 304. Domestic violence shelters and programs for older
individuals.
Sec. 305. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 306. Community initiatives and outreach.
Sec. 307. Training for health professionals, and other providers of
services to older individuals, on screening for elder
abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
TITLE IV--PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT
Sec. 401. Area health education centers.
Sec. 402. Geriatric centers and training.
TITLE V--FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION OF OLDER INDIVIDUALS
Sec. 501. Study and report.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) of the estimated more than 1,000,000 persons age 65 and
over who are victims of abuse each year, at least two-thirds
are women;
(2) in almost 9 out of 10 incidents of domestic elder abuse
and neglect, the perpetrator is a family member and adult
children of the victims are the largest category of
perpetrators and spouses are the second largest category of
perpetrators;
(3) the number of reports of elder abuse in the United
States increased by 150 percent between 1986 and 1996 and is
expected to continue growing;
(4) it is estimated that at least 5 percent of the Nation's
elderly are victims of moderate to severe abuse and that the
rate for all forms of abuse may be as high as 10 percent;
(5) elder abuse is severely underreported, with 1 in 5
cases being reported in 1980 and 1 in 8 cases being reported
today;
(6) based on site-specific information from the Indian
Health Service, the rate of trauma and violence faced by
Indian women could be considered to be epidemic;
(7) elder abuse takes on many forms, including physical
abuse, sexual abuse, psychological (emotional) abuse, neglect
(intended or unintended), and financial exploitation;
(8) many older persons, particularly women and minorities,
fail to report abuse because of shame or as a result of prior
unsatisfactory experiences with individual agencies or others
who lacked sensitivity to the concerns or needs of older
people;
(9) the lack of culturally relevant elder abuse services
for Indian women makes access to shelter and other services
difficult and often impossible for some Indian women;
(10) many older persons fail to report abuse because they
are dependent on their abusers and fear being abandoned or
institutionalized;
(11) the lack of access to telephones, law enforcement, and
health services in remote areas, including Indian
reservations, makes access to relief from elder abuse
particularly difficult for some populations;
(12) public and professional awareness and identification
of elder abuse is difficult because older persons are not
tied into many social networks (such as schools or jobs), and
may become isolated in their homes, which can increase the
risk of elder abuse;
(13) the Department of Justice does not include age as a
category for criminal statistics reporting;
(14)(A) there are relatively few statistics and research
studies regarding violence against older women, and even less
is known about the incidence of violence against Indian
women; and
(B) there is no national data base regarding violence
against Indian women; and
(15) older persons would greatly benefit from policies that
develop, strengthen, and implement programs for the
prevention of abuse, including neglect and exploitation, and
provide related assistance for victims.
TITLE I--VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT OF 1994
SEC. 101. ELDER ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND EXPLOITATION.
The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (108 Stat. 1902) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Subtitle H--Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation, Including
Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Against Older Individuals
``SEC. 40801. DEFINITIONS.
``In this subtitle:
``(1) In general.--The terms `elder abuse, neglect, and
exploitation', `domestic violence', and `older individual'
have the meanings given the terms in section 102 of the Older
Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3002).
``(2) Sexual assault.--The term `sexual assault' has the
meaning given the term in section 2003 of the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796gg-2).
``SEC. 40802. LAW SCHOOL CLINICAL PROGRAMS ON ELDER ABUSE,
NEGLECT, AND EXPLOITATION.
``The Attorney General shall make grants to law school
clinical programs for the purposes of funding the inclusion
of cases addressing issues of elder abuse, neglect, and
exploitation, including domestic violence, and sexual
assault, against older individuals.
``SEC. 40803. TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
``The Attorney General shall develop curricula and offer,
or provide for the offering of, training programs to assist
law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and relevant officers
of Federal, State, tribal, and local courts in recognizing,
addressing, investigating, and prosecuting instances of elder
abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including domestic
violence, and sexual assault, against older individuals.
``SEC. 40804. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may
be necessary to carry out this subtitle.''.
TITLE II--FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND SERVICES ACT
SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS.
Section 309 of the Family Violence Prevention and Services
Act (42 U.S.C. 10408) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(7) The term `elder domestic abuse' means domestic
violence, as defined in section 102 of the Older Americans
Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3002), against an older individual, as
defined in such section.''.
SEC. 202. DOMESTIC ABUSE SERVICES FOR OLDER INDIVIDUALS.
Section 311(a) of the Family Violence Prevention and
Services Act (42 U.S.C. 10410(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) work with domestic violence programs to encourage the
development of programs, including outreach, support groups,
and counseling, targeted to victims of elder domestic
abuse.''.
SEC. 203. STATE GRANTS.
Section 303(a)(2)(C) of the Family Violence Prevention and
Services Act (42 U.S.C. 10402(a)(2)(C)) is amended by
inserting ``age,'' after ``because of''.
SEC. 204. DEMONSTRATION GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY INITIATIVES.
Section 318(b)(2)(F) of the Family Violence Prevention and
Services Act (42 U.S.C. 10418(b)(2)(F)) is amended by
inserting ``and adult protective services entities'' before
the semicolon.
SEC. 205. STUDY REGARDING HEALTH PROFESSIONAL TRAINING WITH
RESPECT TO DETECTION AND REFERRAL OF VICTIMS OF
FAMILY VIOLENCE.
The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (42 U.S.C.
10401 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
[[Page S5439]]
``SEC. 319. STUDY REGARDING HEALTH PROFESSIONAL TRAINING WITH
RESPECT TO DETECTION AND REFERRAL OF VICTIMS OF
FAMILY VIOLENCE.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall request that the
Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, in
collaboration with the Family Violence Prevention Fund,
conduct a study of the adequacy of training for health
professionals with respect to the detection and referral of
victims of family violence.
``(b) Purpose of Study.--The study conducted under this
section shall--
``(1) determine the number of teaching institutions that
incorporate training for health professionals in the area of
domestic violence and elder abuse;
``(2) assess whether when such training is available, the
training is adequate for both detection and referral of
victims of domestic violence and elder abuse; and
``(3) examine whether increased training is needed with
respect to detection of domestic violence and elder abuse.
``(c) Recommendations.--The Secretary shall ensure that the
Institute of Medicine, in consultation with the Family
Violence Prevention Fund and based on the results of the
study under this section, develops recommendations for
improvements in training for health professionals with
respect to detection and referral of victims of family
violence, through legislative or nonlegislative means.
``(d) Factors for Consideration.--In developing the
recommendations described in subsection (c), the Secretary
shall ensure that Institute of Medicine--
``(1) examines whether preferences, in federally funded
educational programs for medical educational entities that
include domestic violence and elder abuse training in the
curricula of the entities, are effective in providing an
incentive for incorporation of such training in the
curricula;
``(2) determines whether there are other legislative means
that may be effective in encouraging the training described
in paragraph (1), such as grant programs for curriculum
development; and
``(3) determines an appropriate level of funding for any
such grant program recommended.
``(e) Report.--The Secretary shall ensure that, not later
than 12 months after the date of enactment of the Older
Women's Protection From Violence Act of 1998, a report
concerning the study conducted under this section is prepared
by the Institute of Medicine and submitted to Congress.''.
TITLE III--OLDER AMERICANS ACT OF 1965
SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS.
Section 102 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.
3002) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(45) The term `domestic violence' means an act or threat
of violence, not including an act of self defense,
committed--
``(A) by a current or former spouse of the victim;
``(B) by a person related by blood or marriage to the
victim;
``(C) by a person who is cohabiting with or has cohabited
with the victim;
``(D) by a person with whom the victim shares a child in
common;
``(E) by a person who is or has been in the social
relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the
victim; or
``(F) by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the
victim, or by any other person, if the domestic or family
violence laws of the jurisdiction of the victim provide for
legal protection of the victim from the person.
``(46) The term `sexual assault' has the meaning given the
term in section 2003 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796gg-2).''.
SEC. 302. RESEARCH ABOUT THE SEXUAL ASSAULT OF WOMEN WHO ARE
OLDER INDIVIDUALS.
Section 202(d)(3)(C) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42
U.S.C. 3012(d)(3)(C)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (i);
(2) by striking the period at the end of clause (ii) and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(iii) in establishing research priorities under clause
(i), consider the importance of research about the sexual
assault of women who are older individuals.''.
SEC. 303. STATE LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN PROGRAM.
Section 303(a)(1) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42
U.S.C. 3023(a)(1)) is amended by inserting before the period
the following: ``, except that for grants to carry out
section 321(a)(10), there are authorized to be appropriated
such sums as may be necessary without fiscal year
limitation''.
SEC. 304. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND PROGRAMS FOR OLDER
INDIVIDUALS.
Section 422(b) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42
U.S.C. 3035a(b)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (11);
(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (12) and
inserting a semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(13) expand access to domestic violence shelters and
programs, including mental health services, for older
individuals and encourage the use of senior housing, nursing
homes, or other suitable facilities or services when
appropriate as emergency short-term shelters or measures for
older individuals who are the victims of elder abuse,
including domestic violence, and sexual assault, against
older individuals; and
``(14) promote research on legal, organizational, or
training impediments to providing services to older
individuals through shelters and programs, such as
impediments to provision of the services in coordination with
delivery of health care or senior services.''.
SEC. 305. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) Ombudsman Program.--Section 702(a) of the Older
Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3058a(a)) is amended to read
as follows:
``(a) Ombudsman Program.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out chapter 2 such sums as may be
necessary without fiscal year limitation.''.
(b) Elder Abuse Prevention Program.--Section 702(b) of the
Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3058a(b)) is amended
to read as follows:
``(b) Prevention of Elder Abuse, Neglect, and
Exploitation.--There are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out chapter 3 such sums as may be necessary without
fiscal year limitation.''.
SEC. 306. COMMUNITY INITIATIVES AND OUTREACH.
Title VII of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.
3058 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subtitle C as subtitle D;
(2) by redesignating sections 761 through 764 as sections
771 through 774, respectively; and
(3) by inserting after subtitle B the following:
``Subtitle C--Community Initiatives and Outreach
``SEC. 761. COMMUNITY INITIATIVES TO COMBAT ELDER ABUSE,
NEGLECT, AND EXPLOITATION.
``(a) In General.--The Assistant Secretary shall make
grants to nonprofit private organizations or tribal
organizations to support projects in local communities,
involving diverse sectors of each community, to coordinate
activities concerning intervention in and prevention of elder
abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including domestic
violence, and sexual assault, against older individuals.
``(b) Award Requirement.--In awarding grants under
subsection (a) the Assistant Secretary shall take into
consideration--
``(1) State and tribal efforts to carry out the activities
described in such subsection; and
``(2) encouraging coordination among the State and tribal
efforts, State adult protective service activities, and
activities of private nonprofit organizations.
``SEC. 762. OUTREACH TO OLDER INDIVIDUALS.
``(a) In General.--The Assistant Secretary shall make
grants to develop and implement outreach programs directed
toward assisting older individuals who are victims of elder
abuse, neglect, and exploitation (including domestic
violence, and sexual assault, against older individuals),
including programs directed toward assisting the individuals
in senior housing complexes, nursing homes, board and care
facilities, and senior centers.
``(b) Award Requirement.--In awarding grants under
subsection (a) the Assistant Secretary shall take into
consideration--
``(1) State and tribal efforts to develop and implement
outreach programs described in such subsection; and
``(2) encouraging coordination among the State and tribal
efforts, State adult protective service activities, and
activities of private nonprofit organizations.
``SEC. 763. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this
subtitle such sums as may be necessary without fiscal year
limitation.''.
SEC. 307. TRAINING FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, AND OTHER
PROVIDERS OF SERVICES TO OLDER INDIVIDUALS, ON
SCREENING FOR ELDER ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND
EXPLOITATION.
Section 411 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.
3031) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(f)(1) The Assistant Secretary for Aging shall, in
consultation with the Assistant Secretary for Children and
Families, the Surgeon General, the Indian Health Service, the
Director of the National Institute on Aging, the Family
Violence Prevention Fund, the National Center on Elder Abuse,
the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and other
specialists working in the areas of domestic violence against
seniors and elder abuse, update and improve curricula and
implement continuing education training programs for adult
protective service workers, persons carrying out a State
Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, health care providers
(including home health care providers) and mental health
providers (including specialists), social workers, clergy,
domestic violence service providers, and other community-
based social service providers in settings, including senior
centers, adult day care facilities, nursing homes, board and
care facilities, senior housing, and the homes of older
individuals, to improve the ability of the persons using the
curriculum and training programs to recognize and address
instances of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation,
including domestic violence, and sexual assault, against
older individuals.
``(2) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Assistant
Secretary shall develop and implement separate curricula and
training programs for medical students, physicians, mental
health providers, physician assistants, nurse practitioners,
nurses, and social workers.
[[Page S5440]]
``(3) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Assistant
Secretary shall provide information about the curricula and
training programs to entities described in sections 791(c)(2)
and 860(f)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
295j(c)(2) and 298b-7(f)(2)) that seek grants or contracts
under title VII or VIII of such Act.''.
TITLE IV--PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT
SEC. 401. AREA HEALTH EDUCATION CENTERS.
Subparagraphs (D) and (E) of section 746(d)(2) of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 293j(d)(2) are each
amended by inserting ``, which may include training in
domestic violence and elder abuse screening and referral
protocols'' before the semicolon.
SEC. 402. GERIATRIC CENTERS AND TRAINING.
(a) Geriatric Education Centers.--Section 777(a)(4) of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 294o(a)(4)) is amended
by inserting ``, including training and retraining of faculty
to provide instruction regarding identification and treatment
of older individuals who are the victims of domestic violence
and elder abuse'' before the semicolon.
(b) Geriatric Training Regarding Physicians and Dentists.--
Section 777(b)(2)(D) of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 294o(b)(2)(D)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``and exposure'' and inserting ``,
exposure''; and
(2) by inserting ``, and screening for elder abuse and
domestic abuse,'' after ``of elderly individuals''.
TITLE V--FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION OF OLDER INDIVIDUALS
SEC. 501. STUDY AND REPORT.
(a) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``financial exploitation'' means any fraud,
coercion, or other conduct by a caregiver, family member, or
fiduciary that constitutes a violation of any Federal, State,
or tribal law, including any legally enforceable professional
standard applicable to any profession or occupation;
(2) the term ``financial institution'' has the meaning
given the term in section 1101 of the Right to Financial
Privacy Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3401);
(3) the term ``older individual'' has the meaning given the
term in section 102 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42
U.S.C. 3002); and
(4) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the
Treasury.
(b) Study.--The Secretary, in consultation with the
Attorney General of the United States, State attorneys
general, and tribal and local prosecutors, shall conduct a
study of the nature and extent of financial exploitation of
older individuals.
(c) Consultation.--In conducting the study under this
section, the Secretary shall solicit comments and information
from--
(1) senior citizen advocacy groups;
(2) law centers specializing in elder law;
(3) financial institutions;
(4) elder abuse coalitions;
(5) privacy experts;
(6) providers of adult protective services;
(7) Indian tribes, the Director of Indian Health Service of
the Department of Health and Human Services, and the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the Department of the
Interior;
(8) State Long-Term Care Ombudsmen described in the Older
Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.);
(9) area agencies on aging (as defined in section 102 of
the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3002));
(10) recipients of grants under title VI of the Older
Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3057 et seq.); and
(11) other service providers.
(d) Purpose of Study.--In conducting the study under this
section, the Secretary shall--
(1) define and describe the scope of the problem of
financial exploitation of older individuals;
(2) conduct a survey of financial institutions in order to
obtain--
(A) an estimate of the number and type of financial
transactions that are considered by those institutions to
constitute financial exploitation of older individuals; and
(B) a detailed description of the types and characteristics
of risk faced by elderly customers with respect to financial
exploitation;
(3) examine whether Federal, State, and tribal laws and
regulatory practices are adequate to protect older
individuals from financial exploitation; and
(4) examine the extent to which a better public
understanding of Federal, State, and tribal laws would help
to prevent financial exploitation of older individuals,
including an examination regarding whether improved training
of officers, employees, and agents of financial institutions
concerning their responsibilities under section 1103 of the
Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3403) would
help to combat the problem of financial exploitation of older
individuals.
(e) Recommendations.--
(1) In general.--Based on the results of the study under
this section, the Secretary, in consultation with the
Attorney General and State attorneys general, shall develop
recommendations for legislative or other action to prevent
the financial exploitation of older individuals.
(2) Factors for consideration.--In developing the
recommendations under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall--
(A) balance the needs of older individuals to be free from
financial exploitation with their need for financial privacy,
and their right against self-incrimination;
(B) consider the most effective and least intrusive
legislative solutions to combat the problem of financial
exploitation of older individuals;
(C) with respect to the reporting of incidences of
financial exploitation of older individuals, consider--
(i) the appropriate Federal, State, or tribal agency to
which such incidences should be reported, and the means by
which a financial institution would obtain information
regarding the manner in which to report such an incidence;
and
(ii) whether there should be limitations on the authority
of a financial institution to disclose information relating
to an older individual who is a customer of the financial
institution in order to combat the problem of financial
exploitation of older individuals, including limitations on--
(I) the number of times such a disclosure may be made;
(II) the number and type of governmental or tribal agencies
to which such a disclosure may be made; and
(III) the duration of the authority of the financial
institution to make such a disclosure; and
(D) whether there is a need for adult protective services
to combat such exploitation.
(f) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress
a report, which shall include--
(1) the results of the study conducted under this section,
including an analysis of the extent of the problem of
financial exploitation of older individuals; and
(2) the recommendations developed under subsection
(e).
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, there is no conduct less
consistent with the precepts of a civilized society than the physical
abuse of those unable to defend themselves. Our recognition of this has
led to an aggressive and ongoing campaign against child abuse, and it
must lead to an equally strong response to domestic violence directed
at older Americans. For that reason, I am honored to rise today to
cosponsor the Older Women's Protection from Violence Act, legislation
introduced by my distinguished colleague from Illinois, Senator Durbin,
and I commend Senator Durbin for his leadership in this area.
Mr. President, at a 1995 hearing in Portland, Maine, chaired by my
predecessor, Senator Cohen, elder abuse was aptly described as
``society's secret shame.'' Family violence, particularly when directed
at the elderly, was a major concern of Senator Cohen, and I welcome the
opportunity to continue his efforts to combat this intolerable
mistreatment of older Americans.
Mr. President, earlier this month my home state released its crime
statistics for 1997. I was cheered by the wonderful news that crime
fell by 8.7% from 1996, to the lowest rate in at least 20 years. Hidden
behind this positive statistic, however, was one that was very
disquieting, namely, that domestic violence increased by 7.8%.
Ironically, at the same time as we are becoming less likely to be
harmed by strangers, many of our neighbors face an increasing threat
from members of their own households.
National data demonstrate that cases of domestic elder abuse, which
includes neglect as well as physical abuse, are steadily increasing.
From 1986 to 1996, the number of cases went from 117,000 to 293,000, an
increase of 150%. Furthermore, there is widespread agreement that this
type of abuse is greatly underreported. For example, although the
number of reported cases in 1994 was 241,000, the National Center on
Elder Abuse estimates that the true number of cases was 818,000.
Mr. President, while these numbers indicate a serious and growing
problem, all of the statistics in the world do not describe the problem
as eloquently as the words of a single victim. At the Maine hearing,
one such victim told what happened to her at the hands of her husband
after her children left home.
[T]hings got really bad. I had two broken wrists, cracked
ribs, held down with his knee on my chest with a knife at my
throat. I was made to crawl across the floor with a gun
resting on my head, ready to fire. I've been choked until I
was limp, and then he would drop me on the floor with a kick.
I've been spit on, thrown through a window, dragged into the
lake as he said he was going to drown me.
Astonishingly, but not atypically, the witness was married to her
husband for 44 years.
Compounding the physical abuse suffered by elderly victims of
violence is the sense of being trapped. Again, one of the witnesses at
the Portland hearing described this far more effectively than I can.
People ask why I remained under such circumstances. It was
fear that kept me
[[Page S5441]]
there. . . . I had been on an island for eight years. Where
would I go? I had no money, no home, no job, and no credit.
Although I had left good jobs to follow him from job to job,
at age 60 who would hire me? Health insurance was my greatest
concern.
With a dependence on the abuser for financial support and physical
care, with a long history of emotional ties to that person, with the
fear of being held up to ridicule, and with a sense of hopelessness
about finding a way out of the predicament, it is hardly surprising
that the elderly victim is often reluctant to report domestic assaults.
Domestic violence against older women is a complex problem about
which we still lack adequate information. This has led to some
erroneous assumptions. For example, it had been thought that assaults
against the elderly usually result from caregiver stress, but while
this is a factor, its effect now appears to have been overstated.
Indeed, according to a recent report, ``[a]busers are not identical in
their behavior or their assumptions about abusive conduct.'' As the
report points out, this means that a ``cookie cutter'' approach will
not solve the problem.
Furhter complicating our efforts to deal with domestic violence
against older women are the conflicting feelings and desires of many of
the victims. It is quite common for the victim to have a familial
relationship with the abuser, and thus, far more is likely to be
involved in dealing with these situations that in dealing with an
assault committed by a stranger. For understandable reasons, the older
woman may want to preserve the relationship while ending the abuse.
Finding effective ways to accomplish this can be a formidable
challenge.
Mr. President, the legislation that Senator Durbin and I are
introducing today recognizes that complex problems defy simple
solutions. Thus, the Older Women's Protection from Violence Act does
not purport to contain a magic bullet that will eliminate this
reprehensible conduct, but rather looks to a multi-faceted approach to
address a multi-faceted problem. Similarly, the bill does not offer
revolutionary solutions; instead, its message is that the time has come
for society to roll up its sleeves and engage in the hard work of
protecting those who have contributed so much to our individual and
collective well-being.
In keeping with the nature of the problem, the legislation provides
for training those who are in a position to identify cases of domestic
violence against older women. Consistent with the notion that we cannot
stop or correct what we do not discover, the primary recipients of that
training would be law enforcement officers and health professionals. In
addition, the Attorney General is authorized to make grants to law
school clinical programs to include elder abuse cases.
The bill reauthorizes and expands programs that provide services to
battered older women. Such services include outreach, support, and
counseling. It also enhances their access to domestic violence
shelters, something that can mean the difference between life and death
in some cases. I should emphasize that the provision of these services
will be largely at the local level, with financial assistance from the
federal government.
Mr. President, in a prior position, I managed a state agency that has
as one of its principal mandates that protection of Maine people, many
of them elderly, from fraud and other financial abuses. Thus, I am
especially pleased that in addition to addressing violence against
older women, this bill seeks to shed light on a problem affecting the
elderly that has received even less attention, namely, their financial
exploitation by a caregiver or family member.
Two cases discussed at the Maine hearing illustrate my point. In one,
an elderly gentleman from southern Maine went without food because his
two nephews were stealing his money. Yet, he refused to send them away
because they were ``family.'' In the second case, a 75-year old eastern
Maine woman returned from the hospital after a severe stroke to find
that her daughter and son-in-law had changed the locks on her house.
The physical and emotional impact of the experience was so great that
she was unable to undertake the legal battle to reclaim her home.
This bill will shed light on this type of abuse by requiring the
Secretary of the Treasury to conduct a study of the nature and extent
of financial exploitation of older individuals. Our society simply
cannot allow our senior citizens who have labored hard to build up a
nest egg to have it wrongfully taken from them a the time they need it
most.
Mr. President, interest in elder abuse did not begin in our country
until the late 1980s, long after we began to focus on child abuse in
the 1960s. This may be because these cases are among the least likely
to be reported. It may also be because our culture tends to worship
youth, perhaps giving our older citizens the sense that we care less
about them. In any case, this must change, not only because of
demographic trends, but also because it is right.
This bill will contribute to that change by dealing specifically with
domestic violence against older women. In addition to providing
services to the victims of this conduct, it funds research into various
aspects of the problem to enhance our understanding and improve our
ability to respond. Our secret shame must not remain a secret.
Mr. President, in 1996 the average age of elder abuse victims was 78.
There can be no justification for letting these older Americans, who
have reached the point in life where they deserve peace, comfort, and
respect, to be the victims of domestic violence or any other form of
abuse. This bill is designed to prevent that, and I trust that my
colleagues will support us in the effort.
______
By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Ms. Mikulski):
S. 2115. A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a
scholarship program and an education loan debt reduction program to
facilitate the employment of primary care and other health care
professional by the Veterans Health Administration, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
department of veterans affairs primary care providers incentive act of
1998
Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I am pleased today to
introduce the following legislation, ``The Department of Veterans
Affairs Primary Care Providers Incentive Act of 1998.'' This
legislation is intended to revitalize the VA's Health Professionals
Education Assistance Program, thereby reducing waste, targeting primary
care professions and under-served areas, and making the VA more
competitive with private employers for skilled personnel. I am pleased
to be joined by my respected colleague from Maryland, Senator Mikulski,
in this effort. I urge our colleagues to join us in supporting this
legislation.
The VA health care system is in the midst of a major reorganization
that is simultaneously reducing the current workforce and creating the
need for more primary care health professionals. This reorganization
has dramatically changed the way the VA delivers health care, by
shifting the emphasis to outpatient rather than inpatient care. As part
of this process, the Department of Veterans Affairs has set a goal of
doubling the number of primary care providers in the VA health care
system, and we want to assist them. There are two good ways to hire and
keep highly skilled professionals--offer incentives to current
employees to get training in new areas of need by providing
scholarships, and recruit new primary care providers by offering
assistance in paying off student loans. This legislation, which
includes both a scholarship program and an education debt reduction
program, can help.
The VA needs educational assistance programs such as these to
effectively recruit and retain trained primary care health
professionals. In the VA hospitals and clinics, some of the most
difficult positions to fill are those of nurse practitioners, physical
therapists, and occupational therapists. In my home state of West
Virginia, for example, at one of the VA hospitals there has been a
vacancy for an occupational therapist for over twelve years! Two of the
VA hospitals have no physical therapists at all. This is simply
unacceptable.
The plain fact is that the VA cannot offer the same starting salaries
as those available in private practice. The Education Debt Reduction
Program included within the Primary Care Providers Incentive Act gives
the VA a financial recruitment tool that will be
[[Page S5442]]
an enormous help in making the VAMCs more competitive for these much-
needed and highly skilled individuals. This program was first designed
by Senator Mikulski in 1993 in recognition of this very problem. It was
needed then, and it is still needed now.
Recruitment is only half the problem in building a new workforce that
is geared toward providing primary care. Retention of trained people,
especially in the face of low morale due to budget cuts, is equally
important. The scholarship program in this legislation is designed to
answer this very need. Eligibility is limited to current VA employees,
thus enabling VA to build staff morale. The scholarship program
provides a means for vulnerable employees to protect themselves against
future RIFs by acquiring training in the new areas of need. And, VA
gets the workforce they need, composed of motivated and loyal
employees.
Professional associations representing primary care health workers,
VAMC human resources personnel, and past recipients of VA scholarships
are strongly in support of this legislation. Although this is a time of
budget reductions in health care, these programs are a worthwhile
investment, enhancing morale of the VA health care providers in the
short term, while building a workforce that matches VA's needs and
improves veterans' health care in the long run.
Mr. President, I ask that the text of the bill be printed in the
Record at this point.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 2115
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Veterans
Affairs Primary Care Providers Incentive Act of 1998''.
SEC. 2. SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS EMPLOYEES RECEIVING EDUCATION OR
TRAINING IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS.
(a) Program Authority.--(1) Chapter 76 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following
new subchapter:
``SUBCHAPTER VI--EMPLOYEE INCENTIVE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
``Sec. 7671. Authority for program
``As part of the Educational Assistance Program, the
Secretary shall carry out a scholarship program under this
subchapter. The program shall be known as the Department of
Veterans Affairs Employee Incentive Scholarship Program
(hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the
`Program').
``Sec. 7672. Eligibility; agreement
``(a) Eligibility.--To be eligible to participate in the
Program, an individual--
``(1) must be an eligible Department employee who is
accepted for enrollment or enrolled (as described in section
7602 of this title) as a full-time or part-time student in a
field of education or training described in subsection (c);
and
``(2) must demonstrate financial need, as determined under
regulations prescribed by the Secretary.
``(b) Eligible Department Employees.--For purposes of
subsection (a), an eligible Department employee is any
employee of the Department who, as of the date on which the
employee submits an application for participation in the
Program, has been continuously employed by the Department for
not less than two years.
``(c) Qualifying Fields of Education or Training.--A
scholarship may be awarded under the Program only for
education and training in a field leading to appointment or
retention in a position under section 7401 of this title.
``(d) Preference in Award of Scholarships.--(1)
Notwithstanding section 7603(d) of this title and subject to
paragraph (2), in selecting participants in the Program, the
Secretary shall give preference to the following applicants,
in the order specified:
``(A) Applicants who are or will be pursuing a course of
education or training in a field relating to the provision of
primary care health services, as designated by the Secretary.
``(B) Applicants who are employed at Department health-care
facilities located in rural areas or at which there is an
inadequate supply of individuals qualified to hold a position
under section 7401 of this title, as so designated.
``(2) In the case of a pool of applicants covered by
subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall
give preference in the award of scholarships to the members
of the pool who have the greatest financial need.
``(3) The Secretary shall maintain, and update
periodically, a list setting forth--
``(A) the fields of education or training covered by
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1); and
``(B) the facilities covered by subparagraph (B) of that
paragraph.
``(e) Agreement.--(1) An agreement between the Secretary
and a participant in the Program shall (in addition to the
requirements set forth in section 7604 of this title) include
the following:
``(A) The Secretary's agreement to provide the participant
with a scholarship under the Program for a specified number
(from one to three) of school years during which the
participant pursues a course of education or training
described in subsection (c) that meets the requirements set
forth in section 7602(a) of this title.
``(B) The participant's agreement to serve as a full-time
employee in the Veterans Health Administration for a period
of time (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the
`period of obligated service') of one calendar year for each
school year or part thereof for which the participant was
provided a scholarship under the Program, but for not less
than two years.
``(C) The participant's agreement to serve under
subparagraph (B) in a Department facility selected by the
Secretary.
``(2) In a case in which an extension is granted under
section 7673(c)(2) of this title, the number of years for
which a scholarship may be provided under the Program shall
be the number of school years provided for as a result of the
extension.
``(3) In the case of a participant who is a part-time
student--
``(A) the period of obligated service shall be reduced in
accordance with the proportion that the number of credit
hours carried by such participant in any such school year
bears to the number of credit hours required to be carried by
a full-time student in the course of training being pursued
by the participant, but in no event to less than one year;
and
``(B) the agreement shall include the participant's
agreement to maintain employment, while enrolled in such
course of education or training, as a Department employee
permanently assigned to a Department health-care facility.
``Sec. 7673. Scholarship
``(a) Scholarship.--A scholarship provided to a participant
in the Program for a school year shall consist of payment of
the tuition of the participant for that school year and
payment of other reasonable educational expenses (including
fees, books, and laboratory expenses) for that school year.
``(b) Amounts.--The total amount of the scholarship payable
under subsection (a)--
``(1) in the case of a participant in the Program who is a
full-time student, may not exceed $10,000 for any one year;
and
``(2) in the case of a participant in the Program who is a
part-time student, shall be the amount specified in paragraph
(1) reduced in accordance with the proportion that the number
of credit hours carried by the participant in that school
year bears to the number of credit hours required to be
carried by a full-time student in the course of education or
training being pursued by the participant.
``(c) Limitation on Years of Payment.--(1) Subject to
paragraph (2), a participant in the Program may not receive a
scholarship under subsection (a) for more than three school
years.
``(2) The Secretary may extend the number of school years
for which a scholarship may be awarded to a participant in
the Program who is a part-time student to a maximum of six
school years if the Secretary determines that the extension
would be in the best interest of the United States.
``(d) Payment of Educational Expenses by Educational
Institutions.--The Secretary may arrange with an educational
institution in which a participant in the Program is enrolled
for the payment of the educational expenses described in
subsection (a). Such payments may be made without regard to
subsections (a) and (b) of section 3324 of title 31.
``Sec. 7674. Status of certain participants
``(a) Status.--A participant in the Program described in
subsection (b) shall not, by reason of such participation--
``(1) be considered an employee of the Federal Government;
or
``(2) be counted against any personnel ceiling affecting
the Veterans Health Administration.
``(b) Covered Participants.--Subsection (a) applies in the
case of any participant in the Program who is a student on a
full-time basis and is not performing service for the
Department.
``Sec. 7675. Obligated service
``(a) In General.--Each participant in the Program shall
provide service as a full-time employee of the Department for
the period of obligated service provided in the agreement of
the participant entered into under section 7603 of this
title. Such service shall be provided in the full-time
clinical practice of such participant's profession or in
another health-care position in an assignment or location
determined by the Secretary.
``(b) Determination of Service Commencement Date.--(1) Not
later than 60 days before a participant's service
commencement date, the Secretary shall notify the participant
of that service commencement date. That date is the date for
the beginning of the participant's period of obligated
service.
``(2) As soon as possible after a participant's service
commencement date, the Secretary shall--
``(A) in the case of a participant who is not a full-time
employee in the Veterans Health
[[Page S5443]]
Administration, appoint the participant as such an employee;
and
``(B) in the case of a participant who is an employee in
the Veterans Health Administration but is not serving in a
position for which the participant's course of education or
training prepared the participant, assign the participant to
such a position.
``(3)(A) In the case of a participant receiving a degree
from a school of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, optometry,
or podiatry, the participant's service commencement date is
the date upon which the participant becomes licensed to
practice medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, optometry, or
podiatry, as the case may be, in a State.
``(B) In the case of a participant receiving a degree from
a school of nursing, the participant's service commencement
date is the later of--
``(i) the participant's course completion date; or
``(ii) the date upon which the participant becomes licensed
as a registered nurse in a State.
``(C) In the case of a participant not covered by
subparagraph (A) or (B), the participant's service
commencement date is the later of--
``(i) the participant's course completion date; or
``(ii) the date the participant meets any applicable
licensure or certification requirements.
``(4) The Secretary shall by regulation prescribe the
service commencement date for participants who were part-time
students. Such regulations shall prescribe terms as similar
as practicable to the terms set forth in paragraph (3).
``(c) Commencement of Obligated Service.--(1) Except as
provided in paragraph (2), a participant in the Program shall
be considered to have begun serving the participant's period
of obligated service--
``(A) on the date, after the participant's course
completion date, on which the participant (in accordance with
subsection (b)) is appointed as a full-time employee in the
Veterans Health Administration; or
``(B) if the participant is a full-time employee in the
Veterans Health Administration on such course completion
date, on the date thereafter on which the participant is
assigned to a position for which the participant's course of
training prepared the participant.
``(2) A participant in the Program who on the participant's
course completion date is a full-time employee in the
Veterans Health Administration serving in a capacity for
which the participant's course of training prepared the
participant shall be considered to have begun serving the
participant's period of obligated service on such course
completion date.
``(d) Course Completion Date Defined.--In this section, the
term `course completion date' means the date on which a
participant in the Program completes the participant's course
of education or training under the Program.
``Sec. 7676. Breach of agreement: liability
``(a) Liquidated Damages.--A participant in the Program
(other than a participant described in subsection (b)) who
fails to accept payment, or instructs the educational
institution in which the participant is enrolled not to
accept payment, in whole or in part, of a scholarship under
the agreement entered into under section 7603 of this title
shall be liable to the United States for liquidated damages
in the amount of $1,500. Such liability is in addition to any
period of obligated service or other obligation or liability
under the agreement.
``(b) Liability During Course of Education or Training.--
(1) Except as provided in subsection (d), a participant in
the Program shall be liable to the United States for the
amount which has been paid to or on behalf of the participant
under the agreement if any of the following occurs:
``(A) The participant fails to maintain an acceptable level
of academic standing in the educational institution in which
the participant is enrolled (as determined by the educational
institution under regulations prescribed by the Secretary).
``(B) The participant is dismissed from such educational
institution for disciplinary reasons.
``(C) The participant voluntarily terminates the course of
education or training in such educational institution before
the completion of such course of education or training.
``(D) The participant fails to become licensed to practice
medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, podiatry, or optometry in a
State, fails to become licensed as a registered nurse in a
State, or fails to meet any applicable licensure requirement
in the case of any other health-care personnel who provide
either direct patient-care services or services incident to
direct patient-care services, during a period of time
determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary.
``(E) In the case of a participant who is a part-time
student, the participant fails to maintain employment, while
enrolled in the course of training being pursued by the
participant, as a Department employee.
``(2) Liability under this subsection is in lieu of any
service obligation arising under a participant's agreement.
``(c) Liability During Period of Obligated Service.--(1)
Except as provided in subsection (d), if a participant in the
Program breaches the agreement by failing for any reason to
complete such participant's period of obligated service, the
United States shall be entitled to recover from the
participant an amount determined in accordance with the
following formula:
t-s
A=3F ( ------------------- )
t
------------------------------------------------------------------------
``(2) In such formula:
``(A) `A' is the amount the United States is entitled to
recover.
``(B) `F' is the sum of--
``(i) the amounts paid under this subchapter to or on
behalf of the participant; and
``(ii) the interest on such amounts which would be payable
if at the time the amounts were paid they were loans bearing
interest at the maximum legal prevailing rate, as determined
by the Treasurer of the United States.
``(C) `t' is the total number of months in the
participant's period of obligated service, including any
additional period of obligated service in accordance with
section 7673(c)(2) of this title.
``(D) `s' is the number of months of such period served by
the participant in accordance with section 7673 of this
title.
``(d) Limitation on Liability for Reductions-in-Force.--
Liability shall not arise under subsection (b)(1)(E) or (c)
in the case of a participant otherwise covered by the
subsection concerned if the participant fails to maintain
employment as a Department employee due to a reduction-in-
force.
``(e) Period for Payment of Damages.--Any amount of damages
which the United States is entitled to recover under this
section shall be paid to the United States within the one-
year period beginning on the date of the breach of the
agreement.
``Sec. 7677. Expiration of program
``The Secretary may not furnish scholarships to individuals
who commence participation in the Program after December 31,
2001.''.
(2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 76 of
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``SUBCHAPTER VI--EMPLOYEE INCENTIVE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
``7671. Authority for program.
``7672. Eligibility; agreement.
``7673. Scholarship.
``7674. Status of certain participants.
``7675. Obligated service.
``7676. Breach of agreement: liability.
``7677. Expiration of program.''.
(b) Regulations.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may
treat regulations prescribed subchapter II of chapter 76 of
title 38, United States Code, as regulations required under
subchapter VI of that chapter, as added by subsection (a),
but only to the extent that the regulations prescribed under
such subchapter II are not inconsistent with the provisions
of such subchapter VI.
SEC. 3. EDUCATION DEBT REDUCTION PROGRAM FOR VETERANS HEALTH
ADMINISTRATION HEALTH PROFESSIONALS.
(a) Program Authority.--Chapter 76 of title 38, United
States Code (as amended by section 2), is further amended by
adding after subchapter VI the following new subchapter:
``SUBCHAPTER VII--EDUCATION DEBT REDUCTION PROGRAM
``Sec. 7681. Authority for program
``(a) In General.--(1) As part of the Educational
Assistance Program, the Secretary may carry out an education
debt reduction program under this subchapter. The program
shall be known as the Department of Veterans Affairs Primary
Care Workers Education Debt Reduction Program (hereinafter in
this subchapter referred to as the `Education Debt Reduction
Program').
``(2) The purpose of the Education Debt Reduction Program
is to assist personnel serving in health-care positions in
the Veterans Health Administration in reducing the amount of
debt incurred by such personnel in completing programs of
education or training that qualified such personnel for such
service.
``(b) Relationship to Educational Assistance Program.--
Education debt reduction payments under the Education Debt
Reduction Program shall be in addition to other assistance
available to individuals under the Educational Assistance
Program.
``Sec. 7682. Eligibility
``(a) Eligibility.--An individual eligible to participate
in the Education Debt Reduction Program is any individual
who--
``(1) is serving in a position in the Veterans Health
Administration under an appointment under section 7402(b) of
this title; and
``(2) owes any amount of principal or interest under a loan
the proceeds of which were used by or on behalf of the
individual to pay costs relating to a course of education or
training which led to a degree that qualified the individual
for a position referred to in paragraph (1).
``(b) Covered Costs.--For purposes of subsection (a)(2),
costs relating to a course of education or training include--
``(1) tuition expenses;
``(2) all other reasonable educational expenses, including
expenses for fees, books, and laboratory expenses; and
``(3) reasonable living expenses.
``Sec. 7683. Preference
``(a) Preference.--Notwithstanding section 7603(d) of this
title, in selecting individuals for education debt reduction
payments
[[Page S5444]]
under the Education Debt Reduction Program, the Secretary
shall give preference to the following (in the order
specified):
``(1) Individuals recently appointed by the Secretary to
positions under section 7401 of this title in fields relating
to primary care health services, as designated by the
Secretary.
``(2) Individuals recently appointed by the Secretary to
positions under such section in areas in which the
recruitment or retention of an adequate supply of qualified
health-care personnel is difficult, as so designated.
``(3) Any other individuals serving in appointments to
positions described in paragraphs (1) and (2).
``(b) Recently Appointed Individuals.--An individual shall
be treated as recently appointed to a position for purposes
of subsection (a) if the individual was appointed to the
position not more than 6 months before the date of treatment
for such purposes.
``Sec. 7684. Education debt reduction
``(a) In General.--Education debt reduction payments under
the Education Debt Reduction Program shall consist of
payments to individuals selected to participate in the
program of amounts to reimburse such individuals for payments
by such individuals of principal and interest on loans
described in section 7682(a)(2) of this title.
``(b) Frequency of Payment.--(1) The Secretary may make
education debt reduction payments to any given participant in
the Education Debt Reduction Program on a monthly or annual
basis, at the election of the Secretary.
``(2) The Secretary shall make such payments at the end of
the period elected by the Secretary under paragraph (1).
``(c) Performance Requirement.--The Secretary may make
education debt reduction payments to a participant in the
Education Debt Reduction Program for a period only if the
Secretary determines that the individual maintained an
acceptable level of performance in the position or positions
served by the participant during the period.
``(d) Maximum Annual Amount.--(1) Subject to paragraph (2),
the total amount of education debt reduction payments made to
a participant for a year under the Education Debt Reduction
Program shall be--
``(A) $6,000 for the first year of the participant's
participation in such Program;
``(B) $8,000 for the second year of the participant's
participation in such Program; and
``(C) $10,000 for the third year of the participant's
participation in such Program.
``(2) The total amount payable to a participant in such
Program for any year may not exceed the amount of the
principle and interest on loans referred to in subsection (a)
that is paid by the individual during such year.
``Sec. 7685. Expiration of program
``The Secretary may not make education debt reduction
payments to individuals who commence participation in the
Education Debt Reduction Program after December 31, 2001.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 76 of title 38, United States Code (as
amended by section 2(b)), is further amended by adding at the
end the following:
``SUBCHAPTER VII--EDUCATION DEBT REDUCTION PROGRAM
``7681. Authority for program.
``7682. Eligibility.
``7683. Preference.
``7684. Education debt reduction.
``7685. Expiration of program.''.
SEC. 4. REPEAL OF PROHIBITION ON PAYMENT OF TUITION LOANS.
Section 523(b) of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992
(Public Law 102-585; 106 Stat. 4959; 38 U.S.C. 7601 note) is
repealed.
SEC. 5. OUTREACH.
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall take appropriate
actions to notify employees of the Department of Veterans
Affairs of the benefits available under the Department of
Veterans Affairs Employee Incentive Scholarship Program under
subchapter VI of chapter 76 of title 38, United States Code
(as added by section 2), and under the Department of Veterans
Affairs Primary Care Workers Education Debt Reduction Program
under subchapter VII of that chapter (as added by section 3).
SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
Chapter 76 of title 38, United States Code (as amended by
this Act), is further amended as follows:
(1) In section 7601(a)--
(A) by striking out ``and'' at the end of paragraph (2);
(B) by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (3)
and inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) the employee incentive scholarship program provided
for in subchapter VI of this chapter; and''; and
``(5) the education debt reduction program provided for in
subchapter VII of this chapter.''.
(2) In section 7602--
(A) in subsection (a)(1)--
(i) by striking out ``subchapter I or II'' and inserting in
lieu thereof ``subchapter II, III, or VI'';
(ii) by striking out ``or for which'' and inserting in lieu
thereof ``, for which''; and
(iii) by inserting before the period at the end the
following: ``, or for which a scholarship may be awarded
under subchapter VI of this chapter, as the case may be'';
and
(B) in subsection (b), by striking out ``subchapter I or
II'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``subchapter II, III, or
VI''.
(3) In section 7603--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) by striking out ``To apply to participate in the
Educational Assistance Program,'' and inserting in lieu
thereof ``(1) To apply to participate in the Educational
Assistance Program under subsection II, III, V, or VI of this
chapter,''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) To apply to participate in the Educational Assistance
Program under subchapter VII of this chapter, an individual
shall submit to the Secretary an application for such
participation.''; and
(B) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ``(if required)''
before the period at the end.
(4) In section 7604, by striking out ``subchapter II, III,
or V'' each place it appears in paragraphs (1)(A), (2)(D),
and (5) and inserting in lieu thereof ``subchapter II, III,
V, or VI''.
(5) In section 7632--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking out ``and the Tuition Reimbursement
Program'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``, the Tuition
Reimbursement Program, the Employee Incentive Scholarship
Program, and the Education Debt Reduction Program''; and
(ii) by inserting ``(if any)'' after ``number of
students'';
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``(if any)'' after
``education institutions''; and
(C) in paragraph (4)--
(i) by striking ``and per participant'' and inserting in
lieu thereof ``, per participant''; and
(ii) by inserting ``, per participant in the Employee
Incentive Scholarship Program, and per participant in the
Education Debt Reduction Program'' before the period at the
end.
(6) In section 7636, by striking ``or a stipend'' and
inserting ``a stipend, or education debt reduction''.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today I am cosponsoring with
Senator Rockefeller, the DVA Primary Care Incentive Act of 1998.
Mr. President, I believe that this bill will ultimately benefit our
veterans. It will help the Department of Veterans Affairs in its effort
to provide the highest quality of care that our veterans deserve.
Mr. President, this bill will create a new Education Debt Reduction
program, and an Employee Incentive Scholarship Program. The Debt
Reduction Program will aid the VA in its efforts to increase its number
of primary care professionals. Preference will be given to those
choosing to serve at rural or under-served sites, and to those
professionals in hard to fill specialties. The bill provides the
Secretary of the VA with the discretion to determine priority needs
with respect to profession, and locations with the greatest need. Debt
Reduction program recipients will have to serve a term with the VA
equivalent to the length of the repayments. A key component of the Debt
Reduction Program is that each years repayments won't begin until a
person has completed a corresponding year of service to the VA. This
requirement is critical to ensuring that our veterans get the service
they deserve, and that taxpayers get a return on their tax dollars
invested.
Mr. President, I introduced a debt reduction bill in 1992 because I
recognized the need to provide the VA with adequate resources to
recruit the professionals it needs. And I realized that some who may
want to get the training to help our veterans may not have all of the
necessary means to do so. I applaud Senator Rockefeller for including
an updated debt reduction component to this bill.
The second component of the bill is the Employee Incentive
Scholarship Program. This is designed to help meet the VA's need for
more primary care professionals and to help retain and retrain some of
the VA's current employees. Like the Debt Reduction program, priority
would be given to those willing to serve in under-served areas and in
hard to fill specialties. Recipients would also have to serve at a VA
clinical site for a term equivalent to the scholarship term. The
difference is that the Scholarship program would be open only to
current VA employees with a minimum of two years of service. We want to
ensure that those benefiting from the Scholarship program have
demonstrated a commitment to the VA. We also want to provide the
opportunity structure for those employees who want to expand their
skills and move into new fields.
In 1996, Veterans Health Administration Under Secretary for Health,
Dr. Kenneth Kizer, published a work called ``Prescription for Change''.
In it, he noted the VA's goal to increase the
[[Page S5445]]
number of VA non-physician primary care providers by 200 percent by
1998. While the VA has made progress, it has not met its goal. This
bill seeks to provide another tool in the VA's tool belt that will
allow it to meet its goal.
Mr. President, I have been an advocate for our nation's veterans for
years. I firmly believe that promises made to our nations veterans must
be promises kept. Our veterans risked their lives for our freedom and
the protection of democracy. I believe that we as a nation are
committed to providing the services that our veterans need.
As the VA continues its move to more outpatient primary care, we must
make sure that the VA can attract and retain the type of professionals
who can give our veterans the medical care and treatment they deserve.
I urge my colleagues' support.
______
By Mr. LUGAR:
S. 2116. A bill to clarify and enhance the authorities of the Chief
Information Officer of the Department of Agriculture; to the Committee
on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
the usda information technology reform and year-2000 compliance act of
1998
Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, today I introduce the USDA
Information Technology Reform and Year-2000 Compliance Act of 1998.
This legislation aims to centralize all year 2000 computer conversion
and other information technology acquisition and management activities
within the Officer of the Chief Information Office of the Department of
Agriculture. Centralization is the most efficient way to manage the
complex and important task of ensuring that all critical computer
functions at the department are operational on January 1, 2000. It is
also a wiser and more cost effective way to construct an information
technology infrastructure to enable USDA's hundreds of computer systems
to interoperate, which unfortunately they cannot now do.
The Department of Agriculture is charged with enormous
responsibilities and its year 2000 readiness is crucial. It has a
diverse portfolio of over 200 federal programs throughout the nation
and the world. The department delivers about $80 billion in programs.
It is the fourth largest federal agency, with 31 agencies and offices.
The department is responsible for the safety of our food supply,
nutrition programs that serve the poor, young and old, and the
protection of our natural resources. Since forty percent of the non-tax
debt owed to the federal government is owed to USDA, the department has
a responsibility to ensure the financial soundness of taxpayers'
investments.
The dentralized approach to the year 2000 issue at USDA has led to a
lack of focus on departmental priorities. In fact, none exist. No
planning to assure the continuation of the overall mission of the
department has occurred. Each agency has been allowed to determine what
services, programs and activities it deems important enough to be
operational at the end of the millennium. This decentralized approach
has also led to a lack of guidance, oversight and the development of
contingency plans. At a hearing before the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry on May 14th, the General Accounting Office
reported that eighty percent of the work remains to be done in the ten
component agencies reviewed. Responsibility for keeping the mission-
critical information technology functioning should clearly rest with
the Chief Information Officer.
In fiscal year 1998 alone, USDA plans to spend approximately $1.2
billion on information technology and related information resources
management activities. The General Accounting Office has chronicled
USDA's long history of problems in managing its substantial information
technology investments. The GAO reports that such ineffective planning
and management have resulted in USDA's wasting millions of dollars on
computer systems.
Last year, I introduced S. 805, a bill to reform the information
technology systems of the Department of Agriculture. It gave the Chief
Information Officer control over the planning, development and
acquisition of information technology at the department. Introduction
of that bill prompted some coordination of information technology among
the department's agencies and offices. However, component agencies are
still allowed to independently acquire and manage information
technology investments solely on the basis of their own parochial
interests or needs. This revised legislation is now needed to
strengthen that coordination and ensure that centralized information
technology management continues in the future.
This legislation further requires that the Chief Information Officer
manage the design and implementation of an information technology
architecture based on strategic business plans that maximizes the
effectiveness and efficiency of USDA's program activities. Included in
the bill is authority for the Chief Information Officer to approve
expenditures for information resources and for year 2000 compliance
purposes, except for minor acquisitions. To accomplish these purposes,
the bill requires that each agency transfer not less than five percent
of its information technology budget to the Chief Information Officer's
control.
The bill makes the Chief Information Officer responsible for ensuring
that the information technology architecture facilitates a flexible
common computing environment for the field service centers based on
integrated program delivery and provides maximum data sharing with USDA
customers and other federal and state agencies, which is expected to
result in significant reduction in operating costs.
Mr. President, this is a bill whose time has come. Unfortunately,
USDA's problems in managing information technology are not unusual
among government agencies, according to the General Accounting Office.
I commend the attention of my colleagues to this bill designed to
address a portion of the information resource management problems of
the federal government and ask for their support of it.
______
By Mr. JOHNSON (for himself and Mr. Daschle):
S. 2117. A bill to authorize the construction of the Perkins County
Rural Water System and authorize financial assistance to the Perkins
County Rural Water System, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, in the
planning and construction of the water supply system, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
______
PERKINS COUNTY RURAL WATER SYSTEM ACT OF 1998
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, today I am proud to introduce
legislation to authorize a critically important rural water system in
South Dakota, the ``Perkins County Rural Water System Act of 1998.'' I
am pleased to have my good friend and colleague from South Dakota,
Senator Daschle, as an original cosponsor of this important
legislation, which I had introduced during the 104th Congress as a
Member of the House of Representatives. Congressman Thune of South
Dakota is the sponsor of similar legislation in the House during this
Congress. This legislation is also strongly supported by the State of
South Dakota and local project sponsors, who have demonstrated that
support by agreeing to substantial financial contributions from the
local level.
Like many parts of South Dakota, Perkins County has insufficient
water supplies of reasonable quality available, and the water supplies
that are available do not meet the minimum health and safety standards,
thereby posing a threat to public health and safety.
In addition to improving the health of residents in the region, I
strongly believe that this rural drinking water delivery project will
help to stabilize the rural economy as well. Water is a basic commodity
and is essential if we are to foster rural development in many parts of
rural South Dakota, including the Perkins County area.
The ``Perkins County Rural Water System Act of 1998'' authorizes the
Bureau of Reclamation to construct a Perkins County Rural Water System
providing service to approximately 2,500 people, including the
communities of Lemmon and Bison, as well as rural residents. The
Perkins County Rural Water System is located in northwestern South
Dakota along the South Dakota/North Dakota border and it will be an
extension of an existing rural water system in North Dakota, the
Southwest Pipeline Project. The State of South Dakota has worked
closely with the State of North Dakota over the years on the Perkins
County connection to the Southwest Pipeline Project. A feasibility
study completed
[[Page S5446]]
in 1994 looked at several alternatives for a dependable water supply,
and the connection to the Southwest Pipeline Project is clearly the
most feasible for the Perkins County area.
Mr. President, South Dakota is plagued by water of exceedingly poor
quality, and the Perkins County rural water project is an effort to
help provide clean water--a commodity most of us take for granted--to
the people of Perkins County, South Dakota. I am a strong believer in
the federal governments role in rural water delivery, and I hope to
continue to advance that agenda both in South Dakota and around the
country. I urge my colleagues to support this important rural water
legislation, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to move forward on
enactment as quickly as possible.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 2117
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Perkins County Rural Water
System Act of 1997''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) there are insufficient water supplies of reasonable
quality available to the members of the Perkins County Rural
Water System located in Perkins County, South Dakota, and the
water supplies that are available do not meet minimum health
and safety standards, thereby posing a threat to public
health and safety;
(2) in 1977, the North Dakota State Legislature authorized
and directed the State Water Commission to conduct the
Southwest Area Water Supply Study, which included water
service to a portion of Perkins County, South Dakota;
(3) amendments made by the Garrison Diversion Unit
Reformulation Act of 1986 (Public Law 101-294) authorized the
Southwest Pipeline project as an eligible project for Federal
cost share participation;
(4) the Perkins County Rural Water System has continued to
be recognized by the State of North Dakota, the Southwest
Water Authority, the North Dakota Water Commission, the
Department of the Interior, and Congress as a component of
the Southwest Pipeline Project; and
(5) the best available, reliable, and safe rural and
municipal water supply to serve the needs of the Perkins
County Rural Water System, Inc., members is the waters of the
Missouri River as delivered by the Southwest Pipeline Project
in North Dakota.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to ensure a safe and adequate municipal, rural, and
industrial water supply for the members of the Perkins County
Rural Water Supply System, Inc., in Perkins County, South
Dakota;
(2) to assist the members of the Perkins County Rural Water
Supply System, Inc., in developing safe and adequate
municipal, rural, and industrial water supplies; and
(3) to promote the implementation of water conservation
programs by the Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Feasibility study.--The term ``feasibility study''
means the study entitled ``Feasibility Study for Rural Water
System for Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc.'', as
amended in March 1995.
(2) Project construction budget.--The term ``project
construction budget'' means the description of the total
amount of funds that are needed for the construction of the
water supply system, as described in the feasibility study.
(3) Pumping and incidental operational requirements.--The
term ``pumping and incidental operational requirements''
means all power requirements that are incidental to the
operation of intake facilities, pumping stations, water
treatment facilities, cooling facilities, reservoirs, and
pipelines to the point of delivery of water by the Perkins
County Rural Water System to each entity that distributes
water at retail to individual users.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of the
Bureau of Reclamation.
(5) Water supply system.--The term ``water supply system''
means the Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc., a
nonprofit corporation, established and operated substantially
in accordance with the feasibility study.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall make grants to the
water supply system for the Federal share of the costs of--
(1) the planning and construction of the water supply
system; and
(2) repairs to existing public water distribution systems
to ensure conservation of the resources and to make the
systems functional under the new water supply system.
(b) Service Area.--The water supply system shall provide
for safe and adequate municipal, rural, and industrial water
supplies, mitigation of wetlands areas, repairs to existing
public water distribution systems, and water conservation in
Perkins County, South Dakota.
(c) Amount of Grants.--Grants made available under
subsection (a) to the water supply system shall not exceed
the Federal share under section 10.
(d) Limitation on Availability of Construction Funds.--The
Secretary shall not obligate funds for the construction of
the water supply system until--
(1) the requirements of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) are met with respect to
the water supply system;
(2) a final engineering report has been prepared and
submitted to Congress for a period of not less than 90 days
before the commencement of construction of the system; and
(3) the water supply system has developed and implemented a
water conservation program.
SEC. 5. WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM.
(a) Purpose.--The water conservation program under section
4(d)(3) shall be designed to ensure that users of water from
the water supply system will use the best practicable
technology and management techniques to conserve water use.
(b) Description.--The water conservation program shall
include--
(1) low consumption performance standards for all newly
installed plumbing fixtures;
(2) leak detection and repair programs;
(3) rate structures that do not include declining block
rate schedules for municipal households or special water
users (as defined in the feasibility study);
(4) public education programs;
(5) coordinated operation and maintenance (including
necessary repairs to ensure minimal water losses) by and
between the water supply system and any member of the system
that is a preexisting water supply facility within the
service area of the system; and
(6) coordinated operation between the Southwest Pipeline
Project of North Dakota and the Perkins County Rural Water
System, Inc., of South Dakota.
(c) Review and Revision.--The program described in
subsection (b) shall contain provisions for periodic review
and revision, in cooperation with the Secretary.
SEC. 6. MITIGATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE LOSSES.
Mitigation of fish and wildlife losses incurred as a result
of the construction and operation of the water supply system
shall be on an acre-for-acre basis, based on ecological
equivalency, concurrent with project construction, as
provided in the feasibility study.
SEC. 7. USE OF PICK-SLOAN POWER.
(a) In General.--From power designated for future
irrigation and drainage pumping for the Pick-Sloan Missouri
River Basin Program, the Western Area Power Administration
shall make available the capacity and energy required to meet
the pumping and incidental operational requirements of the
water supply system during the period beginning May 1 and
ending October 31 of each year.
(b) Conditions.--The capacity and energy described in
subsection (a) shall be made available on the following
conditions:
(1) The water supply system shall be operated on a not-for-
profit basis.
(2) The water supply system shall contract to purchase its
entire electric service requirements, including the capacity
and energy made available under subsection (a), from a
qualified preference power supplier that itself purchases
power from the Western Area Power Administration.
(3) The rate schedule applicable to the capacity and energy
made available under subsection (a) shall be the firm power
rate schedule of the Pick-Sloan Eastern Division of the
Western Area Power Administration in effect when the power is
delivered by the Administration.
(4) It shall be agreed by contract among--
(A) the Western Area Power Administration;
(B) the power supplier with which the water supply system
contracts under paragraph (2);
(C) the power supplier of the entity described in
subparagraph (B); and
(D) the Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc.;
that in the case of the capacity and energy made available
under subsection (a), the benefit of the rate schedule
described in paragraph (3) shall be passed through to the
water supply system, except that the power supplier of the
water supply system shall not be precluded from including, in
the charges of the supplier to the water system for the
electric service, the other usual and customary charges of
the supplier.
SEC. 8. NO LIMITATION ON WATER PROJECTS IN STATES.
This Act does not limit the authorization for water
projects in South Dakota and North Dakota under law in effect
on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 9. WATER RIGHTS.
Nothing in this Act--
(1) invalidates or preempts State water law or an
interstate compact governing water;
(2) alters the rights of any State to any appropriated
share of the waters of any body of
[[Page S5447]]
surface or ground water, whether determined by past or future
interstate compacts or by past or future legislative or final
judicial allocations;
(3) preempts or modifies any Federal or State law, or
interstate compact, dealing with water quality or disposal;
or
(4) confers on any non-Federal entity the ability to
exercise any Federal right to the waters of any stream or to
any ground water resource.
SEC. 10. FEDERAL SHARE.
The Federal share under section 4 shall be 75 percent of--
(1) the amount allocated in the total project construction
budget for the planning and construction of the water supply
system under section 4; and
(2) such sums as are necessary to defray increases in
development costs reflected in appropriate engineering cost
indices after March 1, 1995.
SEC. 11. NON-FEDERAL SHARE.
The non-Federal share under section 4 shall be 25 percent
of--
(1) the amount allocated in the total project construction
budget for the planning and construction of the water supply
system under section 4; and
(2) such sums as are necessary to defray increases in
development costs reflected in appropriate engineering cost
indices after March 1, 1995.
SEC. 12. CONSTRUCTION OVERSIGHT.
(a) Authorization.--The Secretary may provide construction
oversight to the water supply system for areas of the water
supply system.
(b) Project Oversight Administration.--The amount of funds
used by the Secretary for planning and construction of the
water supply system may not exceed an amount equal to 3
percent of the amount provided in the total project
construction budget for the portion of the project to be
constructed in Perkins County, South Dakota.
SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated--
(1) $15,000,000 for the planning and construction of the
water system under section 4; and
(2) such sums as are necessary to defray increases in
development costs reflected in appropriate engineering cost
indices after March 1, 1995.
______
By Mr. CHAFEE (for himself, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Murkowski, Mr.
Cochran, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Mack,
Mr. Lugar, Mr. Bumpers, Mr. Frist, and Mr. Santorum):
S. 2118. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce
the tax on vaccines to 25 per dose; to the Committee on Finance.
legislation lowering the federal excise tax on vaccines
Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation
reducing the excise tax on vaccines from seventy-five cents to twenty-
five cents per dose. I am introducing this bill along with my
colleagues on the Finance Committee, Senators Breaux, Mack and
Rockefeller as well as Senators Daschle, Murkowski, Cochran, Inouye,
Lugar, Bumpers, Frist, and Santorum.
Vaccines are a modern miracle--preventing disease and illness often
for a lifetime with just a few doses. Vaccines have virtually
eliminated the scourge of smallpox in the world. Polio as a wild virus
has been eliminated in the western hemisphere. Measles, mumps, rubella,
pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus and hepatitis vaccines have saved
thousands of lives. Technology in vaccines is on the brink of
preventing other diseases ranging from Lyme disease to widespread
rotavirus in the third world.
Unfortunately, there is a small minority of children whose systems
cannot handle vaccines and become injured. Recognizing this problem and
acknowledging that childhood vaccination is required, Congress in 1986
set up a Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund into which federal
excise taxes are paid. This modified no-fault system allows parents of
vaccine-injured children to receive compensation for their children if
the vaccine is covered by the fund. Childhood vaccines recommended by
the federal government for routine use in children are covered (1) once
approved by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, (2) added
to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), and (3) included on
the list of vaccines on which the tax is imposed by Congress.
When the trust fund was established there was no experience with what
claims would commit to and what the size of the tax should be.
Estimates were made and different tax levels were established for each
vaccine.
By 1993, it was apparent that the tax levels were far too high and a
surplus was building up in the fund. Today that surplus totals 1.2
billion dollars. The Ways and Means and Finance Committees directed the
Administration to study the system and develop a proposal that solves
the overfunding problem.
A consensus proposal was drafted and signed on to by all sectors of
the public health community--physicians, manufacturers, parent's groups
and health departments. That plan called for a new flat tax of 51 cents
per antigen (or disease). But even this new rate was far more than was
necessary to fund the system. For example, the guardian of the fund,
the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines, recommended 25 cents per
antigen even when the surplus was half its level today.
Last year, as part of the balanced budget bill, Congress established
a single rate tax structure but did so at a level of seventy-five cents
per dose. The seventy-five cents per dose amount was chosen to satisfy
the revenue neutrality goals of the overall bill. Congress did not
solve the overfunding problem and the result was that while some
vaccine taxes were reduced dramatically, others were increased. Three
new vaccines were added to the program at the seventy-five cents per
dose rate.
At the beginning of this year, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust
Fund had a balance of 1.2 billion dollars. If you assumed that future
outlays from the fund would be twice as large as the fund's average
over the past eight years, it would take more than 20 years to exhaust
the assets in the trust fund, even if no excise tax revenues were
collected from this date forward. Stated another way, the interest
earned on the trust fund assets is more than enough to pay annual
claims and administrative cost. As with many other trust funds within
the federal budget, these taxes are being used for other federal
spending.
This proposal will also provide significant benefits to the states.
When states purchase vaccines they pay the excise tax. Our bill would
save the States $52 million annually. For my home state of Rhode
Island, that would amount to 353,000 dollars annually. By lowering
these taxes we can lower health care costs to vaccine recipients and
providers while saving states and the federal government the money they
now pay in excise taxes when they buy vaccines.
This proposal is supported by physicians, state health departments,
manufacturers and parental groups. Most significantly, the Advisory
Commission on Childhood Vaccines (ACCV) which Congress created to make
recommendations on changes to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program,
strongly supports this proposal.
I encourage my colleagues to join me as cosponsors of this important
health initiative.
Mr. BREAUX. Mr. President, today I introduce with my colleague
from Rhode Island, Senator Chafee, a very important bill for America's
children. Our bill, the Vaccinate America's Children Now Act, will cut
the excise tax on all vaccines to twenty-five cents per dose. Lowering
the price of vaccines against such deadly and crippling diseases as
polio and meningitis will not only result in lower health care costs,
but also greater immunization rates. As a result, fewer American
children will ever have to know the pain and devastation of childhood
disease.
Federal excise taxes on vaccines were first enacted in the late 1980s
to fund a vaccine injury compensation fund to pay for those rare
injuries associated with vaccination. Since enactment, this
compensation fund has accumulated a surplus of $1.2 billion and the
surplus continues to grow. However, claims against the fund have been
falling as a result of safer vaccines. The interest alone on this fund
is now enough to pay the anticipated claims and costs each year.
Lowering the excise tax rate on vaccines will not endanger the solvency
of the vaccine injury compensation trust fund in any way. In fact, the
guardian of the trust fund, the Advisory Commission on Childhood
Vaccines has unanimously endorsed our proposal.
Lowering the vaccine tax rates will, however, reduce health care
costs and make immunization more affordable. Our bill will save states
money because
[[Page S5448]]
states pay these excise taxes when vaccines are purchased for state
immunization programs. For example, our bill will save my own State of
Louisiana approximately $1 million. Nationwide, reducing the excise tax
will save the states almost $53 million. These cost savings are one
reason why the Association of States and Territorial Health Officers
which represents all of the state health departments also supports our
bill.
Vaccines are a modern miracle--preventing disease and illness often
for a lifetime with just a few doses. Vaccines have virtually
eliminated the scourge of smallpox in the world. Polio as a wild virus
has been eliminated in the western hemisphere. Measles, mumps, rubella,
pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus and hepatitis vaccines have saved
thousands of lives. We must do every thing that we can to ensure that
children continue to be immunized. Our bill will make these vaccines
more affordable and more available to all of America's
children.
______
By Mr. STEVENS (for himself and Mr. Campbell):
S. 2119. A bill to amend the Amateur Sports Act to strengthen
provisions protecting the right of athletes to compete, recognize the
Paralympics and growth of disabled sports, improve the U.S. Olympic
Committee's ability to resolve certain disputes, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
olympic and amateur sports act amendments of 1998
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the Olympic and
Amateur Sports Act Amendments of 1998, a bill to update the federal
charter of the U.S. Olympic Committee and the framework for Olympic and
amateur sports in the United States. Senator Campbell joins me as an
original cosponsor.
This framework is commonly known as the ``Amateur Sports Act,''
because most of its provisions were added by the Amateur Sports Act of
1978 (P.L. 95-606). The Act gives the U.S. Olympic Committee certain
trademark protections to raise money--and does not provide recurring
appropriations--so therefore does not come up for routine
reauthorization.
The Amateur Sports Act has not been amended since the comprehensive
revision of 1978--a revision which provided the foundation for the
modern Olympic movement in the United States.
Key components of the 1978 Act included--
(1) measures to expand the authority of the U.S. Olympic Committee to
allow it to better serve as the coordinating body for amateur sports;
(2) criteria for the selection of national governing bodies, and
mechanisms to allow NGBs to be replaced if they are doing a poor job;
(3) and perhaps most importantly--comprehensive measures to protect
the right of athletes to compete.
The 1978 Act was based on recommendations of President Ford's
Commission on Olympic Sports, which had worked from 1975 until 1977 to
determine how to correct factional disputes between sports
organizations which were depriving many athletes of the opportunity to
compete.
I served on the Commission, along with Senators Culver and Stone.
When the Commission's report was delivered to Congress, Chairman Warren
Magnuson asked me to head up the Commerce Committee's review. In
addition to numerous working sessions, we spent two full days of
Commerce Committee hearings on October 18 and October 19, 1977
discussing the report and the bill implementing it.
Our bill was enacted into law on November 8, 1978. It was a
tremendous achievement, which had the consensus support of all entities
involved--a rarity even then. It is a resilient statute which, to the
credit of all involved, served its purposes for 15 years before showing
signs of needing a tune-up.
Based on the review we've just completed, I can say that the Act is
still fundamentally sound and that it will serve the United States
admirably into the 21st century. However, the significant changes which
have occurred in the world of Olympic and amateur sports since 1978
warrant some fine-tuning of the Act.
Some of the developments of the past 20 years include:
(1) that the schedule for the Olympics and Winter Olympics has been
alternated so that games are held every two years, instead of every
four--significantly increasing the workload of the U.S. Olympic
Committee;
(2) that sports have begun to allow professional athletes to compete
in some Olympic events;
(3) that even sports still considered ``amateur'' have athletes with
greater financial opportunities and professional responsibilities than
we ever considered in 1978; and
(4) that the Paralympics--the Olympics for disabled amateur
athletes--have grown significantly in size and prestige.
These and other changes led me to call for a comprehensive review of
the Amateur Sports Act in 1994. The Commerce Committee has held three
hearings since then.
At the first and second--on August 11, 1994 and October 18, 1995--
witnesses identified where the Amateur Sports Act was showing signs of
strain. We postponed our work until after the 1996 Summer Olympics in
Atlanta, but on April 21, 1997, held a third hearing at the Olympic
Training Center in Colorado Springs to discuss solutions to the
problems which had been identified.
By January, 1998, we'd refined the proposals into possible amendments
to the Amateur Sports Act, which we discussed at length at an informal
working session on January 26, 1998 in the Commerce Committee hearing
room.
The bill that Senator Campbell and I introduce today reflects the
comments received in January, and excludes proposals for which
consensus appeared unachievable.
Some measures in the bill may need further refinement, and if
necessary, I will ask for unanimous consent to issue a star print on
June 4, 1998. As with the 1978 Act, I believe we will have broad
consensus on the bill, and I expect to present the bill to the Commerce
Committee for its consideration during June.
I will include a longer summary of the bill for the Record, but will
briefly explain its primary components:
(1) the bill would change the title of the underlying law to the
``Olympic and Amateur Sports Act'' to reflect that more than strictly
amateurs are involved now, but without lessening the amateur and grass
roots focus reflected in the title of the 1978 Act;
(2) the bill would add a number of measures to strengthen the
provisions which protect athletes' rights to compete;
(3) it would add measures to improve the ability of the USOC to
resolve disputes--particularly close the Olympics, Paralympics, or Pan-
American Games--and reduce the legal costs and administrative burdens
of the USOC;
(4) it would add measures to fully incorporate the Paralympics into
the Amateur Sports Act, and update the existing provisions affecting
disabled athletes;
(5) it would improve the notification requirements when an NGB has
been put on probation or is being challenged;
(6) it would increase the reporting requirements of the USOC and NGB
with respect to sports opportunities for women, minorities, and
disabled individuals; and
(7) it would require the USOC to report back to Congress in five
years with any additional changes that may be needed to the act.
Mr. President, I am the only Senator from President Ford's Commission
still serving--and of the Commerce Committee members involved with the
1978 Act, only myself and Senators Hollings, Inouye, and Ford remain on
the Committee.
It has therefore been very helpful to have Senator Campbell--an
Olympian himself in 1964--involved in this process. Senator Campbell
and I are hopeful the rest of the Senate and Congress will appreciate
the need for the relatively minor improvements we propose today, and
will help us enact these changes before the end of this Congress.
I ask unanimous consent that both my summary and the bill be printed
in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
S. 2119
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
[[Page S5449]]
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be referred to as the ``Olympic and Amateur
Sports Act Amendments of 1998''.
SEC. 2. OLYMPIC AND AMATEUR SPORTS ACT; AMENDMENT OF ACT.
(a) The Act entitled ``An Act to incorporate the United
States Olympic Association'', approved September 21, 1950 (36
U.S.C. 371 et seq.), as amended, shall be cited hereafter as
the ``Olympic and Amateur Sports Act''.
(b) Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an
amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the
reference shall be considered to be made to a section or
other provision of the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act (36
U.S.C. 371 et seq.), as renamed by subsection (a).
SEC. 3. OBJECTS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Section 104(3) (36 U.S.C. 374(3)) is amended by
inserting ``, the Paralympic Games,'' after ``Olympic Games''
in both places it appears.
(b) Section 104(4) (36 U.S.C. 374(4)) is amended by
inserting ``, the Paralympic Games,'' after ``Olympic
Games''.
(c) Section 104(13) (36 U.S.C. 374(13)) is amended to read
as follows:
``(13) encourage and provide assistance to amateur athletic
programs and competition for amateur athletes with
disabilities, including, where feasible, the expansion of
opportunities for meaningful participation by such amateur
athletes in programs of athletic competition for able-bodied
amateur athletes; and''.
SEC. 4. POWERS OF CORPORATION.
(a) Section 105(a)(2) (36 U.S.C. 375(a)(2)) is amended by
inserting before the semicolon, ``and as its national
Paralympic committee in relations with the International
Paralympic Committee''.
(b) Section 105(a)(3) (36 U.S.C. 375(a)(3)) is amended by
inserting ``, the Paralympic Games,'' after ``Olympic
Games''.
(c) Section 105(a)(4) (36 U.S.C. 375(a)(4)) is amended by
inserting ``, the Paralympic Games,'' after ``Olympic
Games''.
(d) Section 105(a)(5) (36 U.S.C. 375(a)(5)) is amended by
striking ``, Pan-American world championship competition''
and inserting in lieu thereof ``Paralympic Games, the Pan-
American Games, world championship competition''.
(e) Section 105(a)(6) (36 U.S.C. 375(a)(6)) is amended by
inserting after ``sued'' a comma and the following, ``except
that the Corporation may be sued only in federal court for
matters pertaining solely to this Act''.
SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP; REPRESENTATION.
(a) Section 106(b)(2) (36 U.S.C. 376(b)(2)) is amended to
read as follows:
``(2) amateur athletes who are actively engaged in amateur
athletic competition or who have represented the United
States in international amateur athletic competition within
the proceeding 10 years, including through provisions which--
``(A) establish and maintain an Athletes' Advisory Council
composed of, and elected by, such amateur athletes to ensure
communication between the Corporation and such amateur
athletes; and
``(B) ensure that the membership and voting power held by
such amateur athletes is not less than 20 percent of the
membership and voting power held in the board of directors of
the Corporation and in the committees and entities of the
Corporation;''.
(b) Section 106(b)(3) (36 U.S.C. 376(b)(3)) is amended by
inserting ``, the Paralympic Games,'' after ``Olympic
Games''.
SEC. 6. USE OF OLYMPIC, PARALYMPIC, AND PAN-AMERICAN SYMBOLS.
(a) Section 110(a) (36 U.S.C. 380(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1) by inserting before the semicolon, ``,
the symbol of the International Paralympic Committee,
consisting of three TaiGeuks, or the symbol of the Pan-
American Sports Organization, consisting of a torch
surrounded by concentric rings'';
(2) in paragraph (3) by inserting ``, the International
Paralympic Committee, the Pan-American Sports Organization,''
after ``International Olympic Committee''; and
(3) in paragraph (4)--
(A) by inserting ```Paralympic', `Paralympiad', `Pan-
American', `America Espirito Sport Fraternite','' before ``or
any combination''; and
(B) by inserting ``, Paralympic, or Pan-American Games''
after ``any Olympic''.
(b) Section 110(b) (36 U.S.C. 380(b)) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``, International Paralympic Committee,
Pan-American Sports Organization,'' after ``International
Olympic Committee''; and
(2) by inserting ``, Paralympic,'' before ``or Pan-American
team''.
(c) Section 110(c) (36 U.S.C. 380(c)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``symbol'' and inserting ``symbols''; and
(2) by inserting ``, `Paralympic', `Paralympiad', `Pan-
American','' before ``or any combination''.
SEC. 7. AGENT FOR SERVICE OF PROCESS.--
Section 111 (36 U.S.C. 381) is amended by striking ``file
in the office'' and all that follows through the period, and
inserting in lieu thereof ``have a designated agent in the
State of Colorado to receive service of process for the
Corporation. Notice to or service on the agent, or mailed to
the business address of the agent, is notice to or service on
the corporation.''.
SEC. 8. REPORTS.
Section 113 (36 U.S.C. 382a) is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 113. The Corporation shall, on or before the first
day of June, 2001 and every fourth year thereafter, transmit
simultaneously to the President and to each House of Congress
a detailed report of its operations for the preceding four
years, including a full and complete statement of its
receipts and expenditures and a comprehensive description of
the activities and accomplishments of the Corporation during
such four year period. The report shall contain data
concerning the participation of women, disabled individuals,
and racial and ethnic minorities in the amateur athletic
activities and administration of the Corporation and national
governing bodies, and a description of the steps taken to
encourage the participation of women, disabled individuals,
and racial minorities in amateur athletic activities. Copies
of the report shall be made available by the Corporation to
interested persons at a reasonable cost.''.
SEC. 9. RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES.
(a) Section 114 (36 U.S.C. 382b) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(a)'' before the first sentence;
(2) by inserting ``the Paralympic Games,'' before ``Pan-
American Games''; and
(3) by inserting at the end the following, ``In any lawsuit
relating to the resolution of a dispute involving the
opportunity of an amateur athlete to participate in the
Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, or the Pan-American
Games, a court shall not grant injunctive relief against the
Corporation within 30 days before the beginning of such games
if the Corporation has stated in writing to such court that
its constitution and bylaws cannot provide for the resolution
of such dispute prior to the beginning of such games.''.
(b) Section 114 (36 U.S.C. 382b), as amended by subsection
(a), is amended further by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
``(b) Upon nomination by the Athletes' Advisory Council,
the Corporation shall hire and provide administrative
expenses for an ombudsman for athletes. The ombudsman for
athletes shall provide advice at no cost to amateur athletes
with respect to, among other issues, the resolution of any
dispute involving the opportunity of an amateur athlete to
participate in an amateur athletic competition, including the
Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, the Pan-American Games,
world championship competition or other protected
competition. The Corporation may terminate the employment of
an individual serving as ombudsman for athletes, and may
reduce the salary or administrative expenses of such
individual, only if such termination or reduction is approved
by a majority of the voting members of the Athletes' Advisory
Council. The ombudsman for athletes shall receive salary and
administrative cost increases in increments similar to other
employees and offices of the Corporation. The Athletes'
Advisory Council shall nominate a replacement to fill any
vacancy that occurs in the position of ombudsman for
athletes.''.
SEC. 10. COMPLETE TEAMS.
Title I (36 U.S.C. 371 et seq.) is amended by inserting
after section 114 the following new section:
``Sec. 115. In obtaining representation for the United States
in each competition and event of the Olympic Games,
Paralympic Games, and Pan-American Games, the Corporation,
either directly or by delegation to the appropriate national
governing body, may select, but is not obligated to select,
athletes who have not met the eligibility standard of at
least one of the national governing body, the Corporation,
the International Olympic Committee, or the appropriate
international sports federation, when the number of athletes
who have met the eligibility standard of at least one of such
entities is insufficient to fill the roster for an event.''.
SEC. 11. RECOGNITION OF AMATEUR SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS.
(a) Section 201(a)(36 U.S.C. 391(a)) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``, the Paralympic Games,'' after
``Olympic Games'';
(2) by inserting before the period at the end of the second
sentence ``, except as provided in subsection (e)'';
(3) by striking ``hold a hearing'' and inserting in lieu
thereof ``hold at least two hearings''; and
(4) by inserting at the end, ``In addition, the Corporation
shall send written notice, which shall include a copy of the
application, at least 30 days prior to the date of the
hearing to all amateur sports organizations known to the
Corporation in that sport.''.
(b) Section 201(b) (36 U.S.C. 391(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3)--
(A) by striking ``commercial rules of the American
Arbitration Association'' and inserting in lieu thereof
``Commercial rules of the American Arbitration Association,
as modified by the Corporation with the concurrence of the
Athletes' Advisory Council,''; and
(B) by striking ``or involving the opportunity of any'' and
inserting in lieu thereof ``or, upon demand of the
Corporation or any aggrieved amateur athlete, coach, trainer,
manager, administrator or official, to such arbitration in
any controversy involving the opportunity of such'';
(2) in paragraph (6) by inserting ``that comports with
basic concepts of fundamental fairness, due process, and a
presumption of innocence'' after opportunity for a hearing'';
(3) in paragraph (8)--
(A) by striking ``includes'' and inserting in lieu thereof
``has established criteria for and maintains'';
[[Page S5450]]
(B) by inserting ``that such criteria and the procedure for
selecting such individuals is approved by the Athletes'
Advisory Council and the Corporation,'' after ``preceding 10
years,''; and
(C) by striking ``membership and'' in both places it
appears; and
(4) in paragraph (12) by inserting ``or to participation in
the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, or the Pan-American
Games'' after ``amateur status''.
(c) Section 201 (36 U.S.C. 391), as amended, is amended
further by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(e) For any sport which is included on the program of the
Paralympic Games, the Corporation is authorized to designate,
where feasible and when such designation would serve the best
interest of the sport, a national governing body recognized
under subsection (a) to govern such sport. Where such
designation is not feasible or would not serve the best
interest of the sport, the Corporation is authorized to
recognize as a national governing body another amateur sports
organization to govern such sport, except that,
notwithstanding the other requirements of this Act, such
national governing body--
``(1) shall comply only with those requirements, perform
those duties, and have those powers that the Corporation
determines are appropriate to meet the objects and purposes
of the Act; and
``(2) may, with the approval of the Corporation, govern
more than one sport included on the program of the Paralympic
Games.''.
SEC. 12. DUTIES OF NATIONAL GOVERNING BODIES.
(a) Section 202(a)(3) (36 U.S.C. 392(a)(3) is amended--
(1) by inserting (A)'' immediately after ``(3)'';
(2) by inserting ``and'' after the semicolon; and
(3) by inserting at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(B) disseminate and distribute to amateur athletes,
coaches, trainers, managers, administrators and officials in
a timely manner the applicable rules and any changes to such
rules of the national governing body, the Corporation, the
appropriate international sports federation, the
International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic
Committee, and the Pan-American Sports Organization;''.
(b) Section 202(a)(7) (36 U.S.C. 392(a)(7)) is amended by
striking ``handicapped'' in each of the three places it
appears and inserting in lieu thereof ``disabled''.
SEC. 13. AUTHORITY OF NATIONAL GOVERNING BODIES.
(a) Section 203(6) (36 U.S.C. 393(6)) is amended by
inserting ``, the Paralympic Games,'' after ``Olympic
Games''.
(b) Section 203(7) (36 U.S.C. 393(7)) is amended by
inserting ``, the Paralympic Games,'' after ``Olympic
Games''.
SEC. 14. REPLACEMENT OF NATIONAL GOVERNING BODY.
(a) Section 205(a)(3)(C)(i) (36 U.S.C. 395(a)(3)(C)(i)) is
amended by inserting ``and notify such national governing
body of such probation and of the actions needed to comply
with such requirements,'' before ``or''.
(b) Section 205(b) (36 U.S.C. 395(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1) by striking ``Olympic Games or in
both'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``Olympic Games or the
Paralympic Games, or in both'';
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by striking ``registered'' and inserting ``certified'';
and
(B) by inserting ``and with any other organization that has
filed an application'' after ``applicable national governing
body''; and
(3) in paragraph (3)--
(A) by inserting ``open to the public'' after ``formal
hearing'' in the first sentence; and
(B) by inserting after the second sentence, ``In addition,
the Corporation shall send written notice, which shall
include a copy of the application, at least 30 days prior to
the date of the hearing to all amateur sports organizations
known to the Corporation in that sport.''.
SEC. 15. SPECIAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.
Five years from the date of the enactment of this Act, the
United States Olympic Committee shall submit a special report
to the Congress on the effectiveness of the provisions of
this Act, together with any additional proposed changes to
the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act the United States Olympic
Committee determines are appropriate.
____
Short Summary of Olympic and Amateur Sports Act Amendments of 1998
title change
The bill would amend the title of the federal statute which
is the charter of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC)
and national framework for amateur sports activities so that
it would be called the ``Olympic and Amateur Sports Act''
(section 2(a) of the bill). The title of the bill, itself, is
the ``Olympic and Amateur Sports Act Amendments of 1998.''
The original federal law incorporating the USOC (Public Law
81-805) was enacted in 1950 and is presently known only as
the ``Act to incorporate the United States Olympic
Association.'' In 1964, not long after the USOC name was
changed from ``United States Olympic Association'' to
``United States Olympic Committee,'' technical and conforming
changes were made to the 1950 Act through Public Law 88-407.
In 1978, the 1950 Act was substantially expanded and
rewritten into its present form through amendments made by
the landmark statute, the ``Amateur Sports Act of 1978.''
Because the amendments made by the 1978 Act so greatly
changed and expanded the 1950 Act, the 1950 Act, as amended,
is now commonly referred to as the ``Amateur Sports Act,''
though its title was never changed.
Section 2(a) of the bill would rename this original 1950
law, as amended by the 1964 and 1978 changes, as the
``Olympic and Amateur Sports Act.'' The addition of the word
``Olympic'' to the popularly used title ``Amateur Sports
Act'' is meant to take into account the participation of
professional and quasi-amateur athletes in some of the sports
of the Olympic Games and Pan-American Games, but at the same
time continue to reflect the unique role the USOC and
national governing bodies have in the national framework of
truly amateur sports activities. By giving the entire
underlying body of law a new title (replacing the simple
descriptive title of the original 1950 Act mentioned above),
the amendment would leave in place in federal statute the
title of the ``Amateur Sports Act of 1978'' for historic
reference.
protection of athletes rights
Athletes' Advisory Council/Athlete Membership on USOC
Board--Section 5(a) of the bill would amend the Act to
require the creation of an Athletes' Advisory Council (AAC),
which is currently created as part of the USOC constitution
and bylaws and not recognized in the Act. Section 5(a) would
also amend the Act to require that at least 20 percent of the
membership and voting power of the USOC Board of Directors
and other USOC committees and entities be comprised of
athletes. This, too, is presently only required under the
USOC constitution and bylaws.
Ombudsman--Section 9(b) of the bill would require the USOC
to hire an ombudsman for athletes to provide free advice to
athletes about their rights under the Act and under
the constitution and bylaws of the USOC and their NGB, and
in particular, their rights in any dispute involving an
opportunity to compete. The USOC would hire and pay an
individual nominated by the AAC to serve as the ombudsman,
and could only fire or reduce the pay or administrative
expenses of the ombudsman with the consent of the AAC.
This restriction is intended to protect the objectivity
and autonomy of the ombudsman. The AAC would be expected
to consent to the termination of an ombudsman for conduct
which would lead to the termination of other USOC
employees. The USOC would be required hire another
ombudsman nominated by the AAC in the event of a vacancy.
Arbitration--Section 11(b)(1) of the bill would amend the
Act to clarify that NGB's must agree to arbitration using the
Commercial rules of the American Arbitration Association in
disputes with athletes, but that these rules may be modified
by the Corporation, with the consent of the AAC. In addition,
section 11(b) would clarify that NGB's must agree to submit
to arbitration at the request of an amateur athlete
regardless of whether the USOC has demanded such arbitration.
It is anticipated that these amendments would precipitate a
review of the arbitration rules used for NGB/athlete
arbitrations under the Act, and that the USOC, AAC, and NGB
Council would reach agreement with respect to: (1) the relief
available under arbitration; (2) the point during a dispute
at which an athlete may obtain arbitration; and (3) the
standard of review to be used by arbitration panels.
Due Process/Fairness--Section 11(b)(2) of the bill would
amend the Act to clarify that the hearing required under the
Act before an NGB can declare an athlete ineligible to
participate must comport with basic concepts of fairness, due
process, and the presumption of innocence.
Athlete Membership on NGB Boards--Section 11(b)(3) of the
bill would amend the Act to allow NGBs individually to
establish the criteria and selection procedures for ``active
athletes'' in satisfying the existing statutory requirement
that 20 percent of NGB governing boards be comprised of
amateur athletes. However, the bill would require that both
the AAC and USOC approve the criteria and selection process
used by an NGB. In addition, the bill would change the Act to
require that only 20 percent of the voting power, rather than
20 percent of the voting power and membership, be held by
amateur athletes. These amendments are intended to provide
flexibility so that the different characteristics of NGB
boards and athletes in various sports can be taken into
account. The amendments would allow the amateur athlete
membership of some NGB boards to dip below 20 percent, but it
is expected that this would occur only where the
characteristics of the sport or of the governing board make
it very difficult to meet a 20 percent membership standard.
Under no circumstances would the voting power of amateur
athletes on the board of an NGB be allowed to be below 20
percent. It is anticipated that further clarification may be
needed as to whether the 20 percent threshold will provide
adequate athlete voting power on existing NGBs which become
the NGB for a sport on the program of the Paralympic Games.
Distribution of Information--Section 12(a) of the bill
would make it a specific duty of NGBs to disseminate and
distribute in a timely manner to athletes, coaches and others
in the sport the rules--and any changes to the rules--of the
NGB, the USOC, the appropriate international
sports federation,
[[Page S5451]]
the International Olympic Committee, the International
Paralympic Committee (as appropriate), and the Pan-
American Sports Organization.
usoc authority
Jurisdiction--Section 4(e) of the bill would amend the Act
so that the USOC could be sued only in federal court for
issues pertaining solely to the Act. This amendment is not
intended to affect the existing law with respect to private
actions.
Trademark Protection--Section 6 of the bill would provide
the USOC with the same trademark protection for the
Paralympic Games, Pan-American Games and symbols and words
associated with those games as it presently has for the
Olympics. It would also give the USOC the exclusive power to
authorize the use of these names and symbols in order to
raise funds to carry out the Act.
Service of Process--Section 7 of the bill would require the
USOC have a designated agent in the State of Colorado to
receive service of process, rather than an agent in every
state. Requiring an agent in only one location is consistent
with the service requirements of many other patriotic
societies which are catalogued in title 36 of the United
States Code. As with these other entities, notice to or
service on the agent--or mailed to the business address of
the agent--would be considered notice to or service on the
USOC.
Report to Congress--Section 8 of the bill would require the
USOC to submit a formal report to Congress only once every
four years (instead of annually under the present Act) to
conform more closely with the four-year budget cycle of the
USOC and to reduce administrative burdens. The report would,
however, be required to include data on the participation of
women, disabled individuals and racial and ethnic minorities,
including a description of the steps that have been taken to
encourage increased participation by these groups of people
in amateur sports.
Injunction Immunity--Section 9(a) of the bill would prevent
a court from granting injunctive relief against the USOC in a
dispute involving the participation of an athlete within 30
days of the beginning of the Olympics, the Paralympics, or
the Pan-American Games if the USOC has stated in writing to
the court that its constitution and bylaws cannot provide for
the resolution of the dispute before the beginning of the
games. The provision is intended to give the USOC the ability
to decide who will represent the United States in the rare
NGB/athlete dispute which may arise too close to Olympics,
Paralympics, or Pan-American Games to be resolved prior to
the beginning of those games. It would not take away any
other type of relief that may be available, or injunctive
relief for disputes which may be resolved under the
constitution and bylaws prior to the beginning of the
Olympics, Paralympics, or Pan-American Games.
Complete Teams--Section 10 of the bill would give the USOC
the authority to send an incomplete team for a sport if not
enough athletes have met the eligibility standards of at
least one of: the USOC, the NGB, the IOC, or the national
federation for the sport. The USOC could send a complete
team in that circumstance, but would not be required to
send a complete team. The bill (in section 11(b)(4)) would
specify, however, that NGB's cannot have eligibility
criteria for participation in the Olympics, Pan-American
Games or Paralympics which are more restrictive than the
criteria for the international sports federation for their
sport.
Flexibility for Paralympic NGBs--The bill (see summary of
the Paralympic provisions below and section 11(c) of the
bill) would give the USOC full flexibility to minimize the
potential burdens, financial or otherwise, of integrating the
Paralympics into the USOC framework.
NATIONAL GOVERNING BODIES
NGB Selection Hearings--Section 11(a)(3) would require that
at least two public hearings be held (instead of one) prior
to the recognition of a new NGB.
Written Notice of NGB Hearings--Sections 11(a)(4) and
13(b)(3) would require the USOC to send written notice to
known amateur sports organizations in the sport at least 30
days prior to an NGB selection hearings (including a hearing
on an application to replace an existing NGB) and to include
a copy of the application in the notice.
Participation Critera--Section 11(b)(4) of the bill would
prohibit NGBs from having eligibility criteria that is more
restrictive than its international sports federation for
participation in events at the Olympic Games, Paralympic
Games, and Pan-American Games. The amendment in part would
help provide balance with an amendment (see above) allowing
the USOC not to send a complete team under certain
circumstances.
NGB Notification--Section 14(a) of the bill would
specifically require the USOC to notify an NGB of the actions
the NGB must take to correct violations of the Act if the
USOC has placed an NGB on probation after a complaint has
been filed.
PARALYMPICS
Recognition of Paralympic Games--The bill would make
amendments in a number of places in the Act to provide for
the recognition of the Paralympic Games. Under the
amendments, the USOC would have same duties as with the
Olympic Games to, among other things, ``either directly or
[by delegation to NGB]'': select athletes for U.S. teams,
represent the United States in relations with the
International Paralympic Committee, organize and finance U.S.
teams, as well as to provide equitable and fair dispute
resolution procedures for disabled athletes. In addition, the
USOC would be required: to allow Paralympic sports
organizations to join USOC; and to use and protect the
trademarks of Paralympics.
Disabled Amateur Athletes--Section 3(c) of the bill would
eliminate references in the bill to ``handicapped
individual'' and insert instead the term ``amateur athlete
with disabilities.'' The use of the new words would update
terminology and, more importantly, make clear that disabled
athletes are ``amateur athletes'' under the Act's existing
definition, provided that they meet the eligibility standards
of their NGB, as required by the existing definition of
``amateur athlete''.
Paralympic NGBs--Section 11(c) of the bill would make it
the first priority of the USOC to merge sports on the program
of the Paralympic Games with existing able-bodied NGBs. Where
it is not feasible or in the best interest of a Paralympic
sport to put it under an able-bodied NGB, the USOC would be
allowed to recognize another amateur sports organization as a
new NGB for the Paralympic sport, except that the USOC would
be allowed to waive the requirements, duties, and powers of
the NGB as necessary to meet the objects and purposes of the
Act. In addition, a Paralympic NGB could govern more than one
sport on the program of the Paralympic Games with the
approval of the USOC. By giving the USOC the authority to
waive normal NGB requirements, the bill is intended to allow
a smooth transition as Paralympic sports become integrated
under the USOC umbrella, and to allow the USOC to prevent any
severe financial impacts on existing NGBs. The provisions in
the bill are largely consistent with the general direction
the USOC has taken already with respect to Paralympics.
World Games for the Deaf--It has been suggested that both
the bill and the Committee report which eventually
accompanies the bill include language in support of the World
Games for Deaf and of deaf athletes. It is anticipated that
this issue will be addressed by consensus before the bill
becomes enacted.
Restricted Competition
The bill does not amend section 206 of the Act, which
addresses the jurisdiction of amateur sports organizations
over competitions restricted to certain classes of athletes
(such as high school students, college students, etc.). A
number of concerns were raised and discussed during the
Commerce Committee hearings about section 206, and it has
been suggested that the Committee report which eventually
accompanies the bill should discuss these concerns.
Special Report to Congress
Section 15 of the bill would require the USOC to report to
Congress after five years on the effectiveness of the new
provisions added to the Act by the bill, as well as any
additional suggested changes to the Act that the USOC
believes are needed. The report would provide an occasion for
Congress to review the implementation of the amendments and
any modifications proposed by the USOC.
______
By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Mr. Frist):
S. 2120. A bill to improve the ability of Federal agencies to license
federally--owned inventions; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation.
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER COMMERCIALIZATION ACT OF 1998
Mr. ROCKFELLER. Mr. President, today with my colleague Senator
Frist, I introduce the Technology Transfer Act of 1998. This bill would
make technical changes and clarifications to the legislation which
governs the transfer of intellectual property from the federal
government to the private sector.
The original Technology Transfer Improvements Act (TTIA), which I was
author of in 1995, allowed for easier and quicker access to
intellectual property which the government owns and private industry
wants. It created a win-win situation. The government gets royalties
from these licenses, private industry gets the intellectual property
that it needs, and Americans get jobs from the production of inventions
based on this intellectual property.
This bill builds on the strong positive response from TTIA. It
reduces the requirements for obtaining a non-exclusive license in order
to allow as many companies and individuals as possible access to the
information. It also addresses private industry's concerns about
maintaining confidential information within applications.
However, this does not come at the expense of the government being
able to keep control of its property. This bill also clarifies the
ability of the licensing agencies to terminate a license if certain
criteria are not met. Furthermore, it allows the government to
consolidate intellectual property which is developed in cooperation
with a private entity so that the package can be relicensed to a third
party.
[[Page S5452]]
Technology transfer is a vital part of our national economy. It is
what allows our industries to remain at the leading edge in their
field. This bill clarifies and adjusts current legislation to allow for
an even better working relationship between the federal government and
private industry. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill and I
ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill appear in the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 2120
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Technology Transfer
Commercialization Act of 1998''.
SEC. 2. COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS.
Section 12(b)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology
Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(b)(1)) is amended by
inserting ``or, subject to section 209 of title 35, United
States Code, may grant a license to an invention which is
Federally owned, made before the signing of the agreement,
and directly related to the scope of the work under the
agreement,'' after ``under the agreement,''.
SEC. 3. LICENSING FEDERALLY--OWNED INVENTIONS.
(a) Amendment.--Section 209 of title 35, United States
Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 209. Licensing federally--owned inventions
``(a) Authority.--A Federal agency may grant an exclusive
or partially exclusive license on a federally-owned invention
only if--
``(1) granting the license is a reasonable and necessary
incentive to--
``(A) call forth the investment capital and expenditures
needed to bring the invention to practical application; or
``(B) otherwise promote the invention's utilization by the
public;
``(2) the Federal agency finds that the public will be
served by the granting of the license, as indicated by the
applicant's intentions, plans, and ability to bring to
invention to practical application or otherwise promote the
invention's utilization by the public, and that the proposed
scope of exclusivity is not greater than reasonably necessary
to provide the incentive for bringing the invention to
practical utilization, as proposed by the applicant, or
otherwise to promote the invention's utilization by the
public;
``(3) the applicant makes a commitment to achieve practical
utilization of the invention within a reasonable time;
``(4) granting the license will not tend to substantially
lessen competition or create or maintain a violation of the
Federal antitrust laws; and
``(5) in the case of an invention covered by a foreign
patent application or patent, the interests of the Federal
Government or United States industry in foreign commerce will
be enhanced.
``(b) Manufacture in United States.--A Federal agency shall
normally grant any license to use or sell any federally-owned
invention in the United States only to a licensee who agrees
that any products embodying the invention or produced through
the use of the invention will be manufactured substantially
in the United States.
``(c) Small Business.--First preference for the granting of
any exclusively or partially exclusive licenses under this
section shall be given to small business firms having equal
or greater likelihood as other applicants to bring the
invention to practical application within a reasonable time.
``(d) Terms and Conditions.--Any licenses granted under
section 207 shall contain such terms and conditions as the
granting agency considers appropriate. Such terms and
conditions--
``(1) shall include provisions--
``(A) retaining a nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up
license for the Federal agency to practice the invention or
have the invention practiced throughout the world by or on
behalf of the Government of the United States;
``(B) requiring periodic reporting on utilization of the
invention, and utilization efforts, by the licensee, but only
to the extent necessary to enable the Federal agency to
determine whether the terms of the license are being complied
with; and
``(C) empowering the Federal agency to terminate the
license in whole or in part if the agency determines that--
``(i) the licensee is not executing its commitment to
achieve practical utilization of the invention, including
commitments contained in any plan submitted in support of its
request for a license, and the licensee cannot otherwise
demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Federal agency that it
has taken, or can be expected to take within a reasonable
time, effective steps to achieve practical utilization of
the invention;
``(ii) the licensee is in breach of an agreement described
in subsection (b);
``(iii) termination is necessary to meet requirements for
public use specified by Federal regulations issued after the
date of the license, and such requirements are not reasonably
satisfied by the licensee; or
``(iv) the licensee has been found by a competent authority
to have violated the Federal antitrust laws in connection
with its performance under the license agreement.
``(e) Public Notice.--No exclusive or partially exclusive
license may be granted under the section unless public notice
of the intent to grant such license has been provided at
least 30 days before the license is granted, and the Federal
agency has considered all comments received in response to
that public notice.
``(f) Development Plan.-- A Federal agency may grant a
license on a federally-owned invention only if the person
requesting the license has supplied to the agency a basic
business plan with development or commercialization
milestones. Each Federal Agency, in consultation with the
Small Business Administration, shall develop consistent
standards for exempting small business firms from the
requirements of this subsection or non-exclusive licenses.
``(g) Nondisclosure of Certain Information.--An application
shall include, as an independent subdocument a detailed
description of the applicant's plan for development or
marketing (or both) of the invention. The subdocument, which
is exempt from disclosure under section 552 of title 5,
United States Code, shall include only a statement--
``(1) of the time, nature, and amount of anticipated
investment of capital and other resources which the applicant
believes will be required to bring the invention to practical
application;
``(2) as to the applicant's capability and intention to
fulfill the plan, including information regarding
manufacturing, marketing, financial, and technical resources;
``(3) of the fields of use for which the applicant intends
to practice the invention; and
``(4) of the geographic areas--
``(A) in which the applicant intends to manufacture any
product embodying the invention;
``(B) where the applicant intends to use or sell the
invention; or
``(C) both.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The item relating to section 209
in the table of sections for chapter 18 of title 35, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``209. Licensing federally-owned inventions.''
SEC. 4. REVIEW OF COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
AGREEMENT PROCEDURES.
(a) Review.--The Director of the Office of Science and
Technology Policy, in consultation with the Office of
Management and Budget, relevant Federal agencies, national
laboratories, and any other person the director considers
appropriate, shall review the procedures used by Federal
agencies to gather and consider the views of other agencies
before final approval or disapproval of--
(1) a joint work statement under section 12(c)(5)(C) or (D)
of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15
U.S.C. 3710a(c)(5)(C) or (D));or
(2) in the case of a laboratory described in section
12(d)(2)(A) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act
of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(d)(2)(A)), a cooperative research
and development agreement under such section 12, that
involves national security, or relates to a project which may
have a significant impact on domestic or international
competitiveness.
(b) Procedures.--Within 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, the director of the Office of Science and
Technology Policy shall establish and distribute to
appropriate Federal agencies--
(1) specific criteria to indicate the necessity for
interagency review of an approval or disapproval described in
subsection (a); and
(2) procedures for carrying out such interagency review.
Procedures established under this subsection shall be
designed to the extent possible to use or modify existing
procedures, to minimize burdens on Federal agencies, and to
minimize delay in the approval of disapproval of the joint
work statement or cooperative research and development
agreement under interagency review.
SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO BAYH-DOLE ACT.
Chapter 18 of title 35, United States Code (popularly known
as the ``Bayh-Dole Act''), is amended--
(1) by amending section 202(e) to read as follows:
``(e) In any case when a Federal employee is a co-inventor
of any invention made under a funding agreement with a
nonprofit organization or small business firm, the Federal
agency employing such coinventor may, for the purpose of
consolidating rights in the invention----
``(1) license or assign whatever rights it may acquire in
the subject invention to the nonprofit organization or small
business firm; or
``(2) acquire any rights in the subject invention from the
nonprofit organization or small business firm, but only to
the extent the party from whom the rights are acquired
voluntarily enters into the transaction.''; and
(2) in section 207(a)--
(A) by striking ``patent applications, patents, or other
forms of protection obtained'' and inserting ``inventions''
in paragraph (2); and
(B) by inserting ``, including acquiring rights for the
Federal Government in any invention, but only to the extent
the party from whom the rights are acquired voluntarily
enters into the transaction, to facilitate the licensing of a
federally-owned invention'' after ``or through contract'' in
paragraph (3).
[[Page S5453]]
SEC. 6. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO THE STEVENSON-WYDLER
TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION ACT OF 1980.
Section 14(a)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology
Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710c(a)(1)) is amended----
(1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by inserting ``, if the
inventor's or coinventor's rights are assigned to the United
States'' after ``inventor or coinventors''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``succeeding fiscal
year'' and inserting ``2 succeeding fiscal years''.
______
By Mr. BREAUX:
S. 2121. A bill to encourage the development of more cost effective
commercial space launch industry in the United States, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
space launch cost reduction act of 1998
Mr. BREAUX. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to rise to
introduce a piece of legislation, which I will send to the desk. It is
called the Space Launch Cost Reduction Act of 1998.
The commercial space launch industry is an essential part of the U.S.
economy and opportunities for U.S. companies are growing as
international markets expand. United States trading partners have been
able to aggressively lower their commercial space launch prices either
through direct cash payments for commercially targeted product
development or with indirect benefits derived from nonmarket economy
status. Because United States incentives for launch vehicle development
have historically focused on civil and military rather than commercial
use, and as a result U.S. launch costs have remained relatively high,
the U.S. share of the world commercial market has decreased from nearly
100% twenty years ago to approximately 40% in 1998. This is very
serious erosion.
The key to regaining United States leadership in the world market is
not another massive government program, but rather provision of just
enough government support to enable the more cost effective private
sector to build lower-cost space launch vehicles. Private sector
companies across the United States are already attempting to develop a
variety of lower-cost space launch vehicles, but lack of sufficient
private financing has proven a major obstacle, an obstacle our trading
partners have chosen to remove by providing direct access to government
funding. Given the unique strength of private industry in the United
States, a more effective alternative to the approach of our trading
partners is for the U.S. government to provide limited financial
incentives in the form of loan guarantees, which would help qualifying
private-sector companies secure otherwise unattainable private
financing, while at the same time keeping government involvement at an
absolute minimum.
The purpose of the Space Launch Cost Reduction Act of 1998 is,
therefore, to ensure availability of otherwise unattainable private
sector financing for private sector development of commercial space
launch vehicles with launch costs significantly below current levels.
As a result, it will be possible to: increase the international
competitiveness of the United States space industry, encourage the
growth of space-related commerce in the United States and
internationally, increase the number of high-value jobs in United
States space-related industries, and reduce United States Government
space launch expenditures.
Commercialization of space is an issue of importance not only to our
nation as a whole but also to the state of Louisiana. Louisiana is
already an active participant in the American space effort. For
example, the Michoud Facility in New Orleans has been selected as the
fabrication center for the experimental X-33 space vehicle's liquid
oxygen tanks. The fuel tanks for the Space Shuttle are also built at
Michoud, and Shuttle engines are tested at the Stennis Space Center in
neighboring Mississippi. Furthermore, NASA has entered a partnership
with the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette to establish
a Regional Application Center for commercial remote sensing technology.
Looking toward the future, Louisiana is clearly well positioned to
participate actively in the commercialization of space and to benefit
from the Space Launch Cost Reduction Act of 1998.
______
By Mr. ROTH (for himself, and Mr. Moynihan):
S. 2122. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide
that certain liquidating distributions of a regulated investment
company or real estate investment trust which are allowable as a
deduction shall be included in the gross income of a distributee; to
the Committee on Finance.
tax legislation
Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, in coordination with the Treasury
Department, Senator Moynihan and I are introducing a bill today to
eliminate an unwarranted tax benefit which involves the liquidation of
a Regulated Investment Company (``RIC'') or Real Estate Investment
Trust (``REIT''), where at least 80 percent of the liquidating RIC or
REIT is owned by a single corporation. Identical legislation is being
introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Archer.
The RIC and REIT rules allow individual shareholders to invest in
stock and securities (in the case of RICs) and real estate assets (in
the case of REITs) with a single level of tax. The single level of tax
is achieved by allowing RICs and REITs to deduct the dividends they pay
to their shareholders.
Some corporations, however, have attempted to use the ``dividends
paid deduction'' in combination with a separate rule that allows a
corporate parent to receive property from an 80 percent subsidiary
without tax when the subsidiary is liquidating. Taxpayers argue that
the combination of these two rules permits income deducted by the RIC
or REIT and paid to the parent corporation to be entirely tax-free
during the period of liquidation of the RIC or REIT (which can extend
over a period of years). The legislation is intended to eliminate this
abusive application of these rules by requiring that amounts which are
deductible dividends to the RIC or REIT are consistently treated as
dividends by the corporate parent.
RICs and REITs are important investment vehicles, particularly for
small investors. The RIC and REIT rules are designed to encourage
investors to pool their resources and achieve the type of investment
opportunities, subject to a single level of tax, that would otherwise
be available only to a larger investor. This legislation will not
affect the intended beneficiaries of the RIC and REIT rules.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill and
a technical explanation be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
S. 2122
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DEDUCTIBLE LIQUIDATING
DISTRIBUTIONS OF REGULATED INVESTMENT COMPANIES
AND REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS.
(a) In General.--Section 332 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 (relating to complete liquidations of subsidiaries)
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(c) Deductible Liquidating Distributions of Regulated
Investment Companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts.--If a
corporation receives a distribution from a regulated
investment company or a real estate investment trust which is
considered under subsection (b) as being in complete
liquidation of such company or trust, then, notwithstanding
any other provision of this chapter, such corporation shall
recognize and treat as a dividend from such company or trust
an amount equal to the deduction for dividends paid allowable
to such company or trust by reason of such distribution.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) The material preceding paragraph (1) of section 332(b)
of such Code is amended by striking ``subsection (a)'' and
inserting ``this section''.
(2) Paragraph (1) of section 334(b) of such Code is amended
by striking ``section 332(a)'' and inserting ``section 332''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to distributions after May 21, 1998.
____
Technical Explanation
The bill provides that any amount which a liquidating RIC
or REIT may take as a deduction for dividends paid with
respect to an otherwise tax-free distribution to an 80-
percent corporate owner is includible in the income of the
recipient corporation. The includible amount is treated as a
dividend received from the RIC or REIT. The liquidating
corporation may designate the amount treated as a dividend as
a capital gain dividend or, in the case of a RIC, an exempt
interest dividend or a dividend eligible for the
[[Page S5454]]
70-percent dividends received deduction, to the extent
provided by the RIC or REIT provisions of the Code.
The bill does not otherwise change the tax treatment of the
distribution under sections 332 or 337. Thus, for example,
the liquidating corporation will not recognize gain (if any)
on the liquidating distribution and the recipient corporation
will hold the assets at a carryover basis.
The bill is effective for distributions on or after May 22,
1998, regardless of when the plan of liquidation was adopted.
No inference is intended regarding the treatment of such
transactions under present law.
______
By Mr. D'AMATO:
S. 2125. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide
for the tax treatment of section 42 housing cooperatives and the
shareholders of such cooperatives, and for other purposes; to the
Committee on Finance.
low-income housing tax credit legislation
Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, today I introduce legislation that
will create a new homeownership opportunity with a proven method of
building affordable housing. Current low-income housing production in
the United States is driven largely by the low-income housing tax
credit. The credit supports the development of 94 percent of all
federally assisted multi-family affordable housing construction. Under
current law, however, only rental housing can be developed with the
credit. Everyone would agree that building homeownership is better than
simply building homes for people. Homeowners are invested in their
communities, take pride in their property, and will do what it takes to
preserve the security and appearance of their homes.
The legislation that I propose today will enable housing cooperatives
and mutual housing associations to be developed with the credit. With
these types of multi-family homeownership, tax credit investors can
become non-resident shareholders of the developed property while
allowing the residents to own their share of the property as well. From
the very start, the residents will have a real ownership stake and
control over their homes.
A study undertaken by Abt Associates, Inc., commissioned by the
National Cooperative Bank found that this legislation could result in
the annual production of 1,600 units of low-income housing within five
years of enactment. That means as many as 15,000 renters could be
homeowners within five years.
Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring
legislation to help bring the American dream of homeownership to many
more Americans.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the complete text of the
bill be placed in the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 2125
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TAX TREATMENT OF SECTION 42 HOUSING COOPERATIVES
AND SHAREHOLDERS OF SUCH COOPERATIVES.
(a) In General.--Part III of subchapter T of chapter 1 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to cooperatives
and their patrons) is amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
``SEC. 1389. SPECIAL RULES FOR SECTION 42 HOUSING
COOPERATIVES AND THEIR SHAREHOLDERS.
``(a) Allowance of Deductions and Credits.--
``(1) Non-patron shareholders.--In the case of a section 42
housing cooperative (as defined in subsection (b)(1)), the
non-patron shareholders of such cooperative shall be allowed
to take into account for purposes of calculating the taxable
income of such shareholders the following tax items:
``(A) 100 percent of all low-income housing tax credits to
which the section 42 housing cooperative is entitled under
section 42.
``(B) 100 percent of all interest allowable as a deduction
to the cooperative under section 163 and which is incurred
and accrued but unpaid by the cooperative on its indebtedness
contracted--
``(i) in the acquisition, construction, alteration,
rehabilitation, or maintenance of the houses or apartment
buildings, or
``(ii) in the acquisition of the land on which the houses
(or apartment buildings) are situated.
``(2) Patron shareholders.--In the case of a section 42
housing cooperative, the patron shareholders of such
cooperative shall be allowed a deduction equal to 100 percent
of the amounts paid by the cooperative within the taxable
year for the following items, except that in no event may a
patron shareholder deduct an amount in excess of such patron
shareholder's proportionate share of such specified items:
``(A) Real estate taxes allowable as a deduction to the
cooperative under section 164 which are paid or incurred by
the cooperative on the houses or apartment buildings and on
the land on which such houses (or apartment buildings) are
situated.
``(B) The interest allowable as a deduction to the
cooperative under section 163 for the taxable year and which
is paid by the cooperative during such taxable year on its
indebtedness contracted--
``(i) in the acquisition, construction, alteration,
rehabilitation, or maintenance of the houses or apartment
buildings, or
``(ii) in the acquisition of the land on which the houses
(or apartment buildings) are situated.
``(b) Definitions and Special Rules.--For purposes of this
section--
``(1) Section 42 housing cooperative.--The term `section 42
housing cooperative' means a corporation--
``(A) having no more than 2 classes of stock outstanding,
consisting of--
``(i) shares of stock issued to persons who make an equity
contribution to the cooperative but who are not residents in
the houses or apartment buildings owned by the cooperative;
and
``(ii) shares of stock issued to persons who make an equity
contribution to the cooperative and who are residents in the
houses or apartment buildings owned by the cooperative;
``(B) in which each of the holders of patron stock is
entitled, solely by reason of the patron's ownership of such
stock in the cooperative, to occupy for dwelling purposes a
house, or an apartment in a building, owned by such
cooperative;
``(C) no shareholder of which is entitled (either
conditionally or unconditionally) to receive any distribution
not out of earnings and profits of the cooperative except on
a complete or partial liquidation of the cooperative;
``(D) 80 percent or more of the gross income of which for
the taxable year in which the taxes and interest described in
subsection (a) are paid or incurred is derived from patron
shareholders; and
``(E) which is entitled to claim a low-income housing tax
credit under section 42.
``(2) Shareholder's proportionate share.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph (B),
the term `proportionate share' means that proportion which
the stock of the cooperative housing corporation owned by a
particular patron shareholder is of the total outstanding
patron stock of the corporation (including any stock held by
the corporation).
``(B) Special rule where allocation of taxes or interest
reflect cost to corporation of patron shareholder's unit.--
``(i) In general.--If, for any taxable year--
``(I) each dwelling unit owned or leased by a section 42
housing cooperative is separately allocated a share of such
cooperative's real estate taxes described in subsection
(a)(2)(A) or a share of such cooperative's interest described
in subsection (a)(2)(B), and
``(II) such allocation reasonably reflects the cost to such
cooperative of such taxes, or of such interest, attributable
to the shareholder's dwelling unit (and such unit's share of
the common areas),
then the term `proportionate share' means the shares
determined in accordance with the allocations described in
subclause (II).
``(ii) Election by cooperative required.--Clause (i) shall
apply with respect to any section 42 housing cooperative only
if such cooperative elects its application. Such an election,
once made, may be revoked only with the consent of the
Secretary.
``(3) Prior approval of occupancy.--
``(A) In general.--For purposes of this section, in the
following cases there shall not be taken into account the
fact that (by agreement with the section 42 housing
cooperative) the person or the person's nominee may not
occupy the house or apartment without the prior approval of
such cooperative:
``(i) In any case in which a person acquires stock of a
section 42 housing cooperative by operation of law.
``(ii) In any case in which a person other than an
individual acquires stock of a section 42 housing
cooperative.
``(iii) In any case in which the original seller acquires
any stock of the section 42 housing cooperative from the
cooperative not later than 1 year after the date on which the
apartments or houses (or leasehold interests therein) are
transferred by the original seller to the cooperative.
``(B) Original seller defined.--For purposes of
subparagraph (A)(iii), the term `original seller' means the
person from whom the cooperative has acquired the apartments
or houses (or leasehold interest therein).
``(4) Application of section to mutual housing
associations.--
``(A) In general.--In the case of a section 42 housing
cooperative which is a mutual housing association, this
section shall be applied--
``(i) by substituting `membership certificates' for `stock'
or `shares of stock', and
``(ii) by substituting `membership certificate-holders' for
`shareholders'.
``(B) Mutual housing association.--For purposes of
subparagraph (A), the term `mutual housing association' means
a resident-controlled, State-chartered organization described
in section 501(c)(3) and exempt from tax under section
501(a).
``(c) Treatment as Property Subject to Depreciation.--
[[Page S5455]]
``(1) In general.--
``(A) By non-patron shareholders.--Non-patron shares of
stock (within the meaning of subsection (b)(1)(A)(i)) shall
be treated as property subject to the allowance for
depreciation under section 167(a). Such shares of stock shall
be treated as residential real property for purposes of
determining the appropriate depreciation method under section
168(b), the applicable recovery period under section 168(c),
and the applicable convention under section 168(d).
``(B) By patron shareholders.--So much of the shares of
stock of a patron shareholder (within the meaning of
subsection (b)(1)(A)(ii)) as is allocable, under regulations
prescribed by section 216(c), to a proprietary lease or right
of tenancy subject to the allowance for depreciation under
section 167(a) shall, to the extent such proprietary lease or
right of tenancy is used by such patron shareholder in a
trade or business or for the production of income, be treated
as property subject to the allowance for depreciation under
section 167(a).
``(2) Deduction limited to adjusted basis in stock.--
``(A) In general.--The amount of any deduction for
depreciation allowable under section 167(a) to a non-patron
or patron shareholder with respect to any stock for any
taxable year by reason of subparagraph (A) or (B) of
paragraph (1), respectively, shall not exceed the adjusted
basis of such stock as of the close of the taxable year of
the shareholder in which such deduction was incurred.
``(B) Carryforward of disallowed amount.--The amount of any
deduction which is not allowed by reason of subparagraph (A)
shall, subject to the provisions of subparagraph (A), be
treated as a deduction allowable under section 167(a) in the
succeeding taxable year.
``(3) No limitation on deduction by section 42 housing
cooperative.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to
limit or deny a deduction for depreciation under section
167(a) by a section 42 housing cooperative with respect to
property owned by such cooperative and occupied by the patron
shareholders thereof.
``(d) Disallowance of Deduction for Certain Payments to the
Cooperative.--No deduction shall be allowed to the holder of
non-patron or patron stock in a section 42 housing
cooperative for any amount paid or accrued to such
cooperative during any taxable year to the extent that such
amount is properly allocable to amounts paid or incurred at
any time by the cooperative which are chargeable to the
cooperative's capital account. The shareholder's adjusted
basis in the stock in the cooperative shall be increased by
the amount of such disallowance.
``(e) Restriction on the Resale of Patron Stock.--Upon the
transfer of patron stock, the consideration received by the
holder of such stock shall not exceed the shareholder's
adjusted equity in such stock. For purposes of this
subsection, the term `adjusted equity' means the sum of--
``(1) the consideration paid for such stock by the first
shareholder, as adjusted by a cost-of-living adjustment and
any other acceptable adjustments determined by the Secretary,
and
``(2) payments made by such shareholder for improvements to
the house or apartment occupied by the shareholder.
``(f) Distributions by Section 42 Housing Cooperative.--
Except as provided in regulations under section 216(e), no
gain or loss shall be recognized on the distribution by a
section 42 housing cooperative of a dwelling unit to a holder
of patron stock in such cooperative if such distribution is
in exchange for the shareholder's stock in the cooperative
and such exchange qualifies for nonrecognition of gain under
section 1034(f).''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(relating to low-income housing credit) is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
``(o) Section 42 Housing Cooperatives.--In the case of a
section 42 housing cooperative (as defined in section
1389(b)(1)), the holders of the non-patron stock (within the
meaning of section 1389(b)(1)(A)(i)) shall be entitled to any
and all tax credits that would otherwise be available to such
cooperative under this section. Any recapture of credit
calculated against the section 42 housing cooperative under
subsection (j) shall be an increase in the tax under this
chapter for the holders of the non-patron stock in proportion
to the relative holdings of such stock during the period
giving rise to such recapture.''.
(2) Section 42(g)(2)(B) of such Code is amended by striking
``and'' at the end of clause (iii), by striking the period at
the end of clause (iv) and inserting ``, and'', and by
inserting after clause (iv) the following new clause:
``(v) does not include any amounts paid by a tenant in
connection with the acquisition or holding of any patron
stock (within the meaning of section 1389(b)(1)(A)(ii)).''.
(3) Section 42(i) of such Code is amended by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
``(8) Impact of section 42 housing cooperative's right of
first refusal to acquire stock of a section 42 housing
cooperative.--
``(A) In general.--No Federal income tax benefit shall fail
to be allowable to a non-patron or patron shareholder (within
the meaning of section 1389(b)(1)) of a section 42 housing
cooperative (as defined in section 1389(b)(1)) with respect
to any qualified low-income building merely by reason of a
right of first refusal or option or both held by the section
42 housing cooperative to purchase non-patron stock of the
cooperative after the close of the compliance period for a
price which is not less than the minimum purchase price
determined under subparagraph (B).
``(B) Minimum purchase price.--For purposes of subparagraph
(A), the minimum purchase price for the stock of a section 42
housing cooperative is an amount equal to the present value
of the remaining depreciation deductions which would be
allowable under section 1389(c)(1) to the holder of such
stock. For purposes of determining present value, the
discount rate provided in subsection (b)(2)(C)(ii) shall be
applicable as determined at the time of the exercise of such
option or right of first refusal.''.
(4) Section 1381(a) of such Code is amended by striking
``and'' at the end of paragraph (1), by striking the period
at the end of paragraph (2) and inserting '', and'', and by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) any section 42 housing cooperative (as defined in
section 1389(b)(1)).''.
(5) The table of sections for part III of subchapter T of
chapter 1 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the
following new item:
``Sec. 1389. Special rules for section 42 housing cooperatives and
their shareholders.''.
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