[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 23, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5539-S5541]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-67. A concurrent resolution adopted by the House of the 
     Legislature of the State of Louisiana relative to a 
     comprehensive national energy policy; to the Committee on 
     Energy and Natural Resources.

                   House Concurrent Resolution No. 43

       Whereas, the nation needs an effective, comprehensive 
     national energy policy which will have an enduring impact on 
     the supply and demand for energy in a manner that will help 
     sustain the strength of the U.S. economy and improve the 
     quality of life in this nation and around the world; and
       Whereas, a national energy policy can help ensure that 
     there are energy supplies sufficient to support economic 
     growth with an eye towards improving the quality of life for 
     people the world over; and
       Whereas, a national energy policy should encourage 
     responsible use of energy and responsible development of 
     energy resources and efficiencies in order to meet the 
     nation's expectations for secure energy sources while

[[Page S5540]]

     preserving and protecting the nation's environmental health 
     through performance-based regulations founded on sound 
     science; and
       Whereas, a national energy policy should support basic and 
     applied scientific research to improve energy availability, 
     conservation, utilization, and environmental performance and 
     should encompass the development, availability, and use of a 
     multitude of different energy sources and fuels; and
       Whereas, a national energy policy should incorporate and 
     encourage the significant advances in technology through the 
     past several years which can improve energy production and 
     delivery practices and should incorporate new discoveries and 
     developments of energy resources, particularly those which 
     will cause minimal environmental impact; and
       Whereas, recent undesirable experiences with the inability 
     to obtain sufficient energy in some states in this great 
     nation are a good indication of the drastic consequences of a 
     lack of preparation for the ever-changing and rapidly 
     expanding universe of energy development, production, and 
     consumption; and
       Whereas, the oil and gas industry has developed technology 
     which reduces the footprint of oil and gas development to a 
     minimum and the industry mitigates this minimal wetlands 
     impact with offsetting environmental enhancements in 
     accordance with Louisiana's no net loss of wetlands policy; 
     and
       Whereas, the oil and gas industry has demonstrated its 
     ability to develop outer continental shelf (OCS) resources in 
     a manner which is environmentally responsible and 
     technologically state of the art, resulting in minimal 
     offshore environmental impact and extraordinary hydrocarbon 
     production in the Gulf of Mexico; and
       Whereas, Lease Sale 181 offers an area of the Gulf of 
     Mexico with significant oil and gas potential which can be 
     developed with minimal environmental risk, and it is 
     responsible to include the potential of this sale in any 
     national energy plan; and
       Whereas, the Coastal Zone Management Act, reauthorization 
     of which is currently pending in congress, contains certain 
     provisions which have been applied in an unreasonable manner 
     to the detriment of securing OCS energy, and congress should 
     be urged, as a matter of national energy policy, to use the 
     pending legislation to reform such provisions and to reform 
     coastal zone management policies generally: Therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby 
     memorialize the U.S. Congress to adopt a national energy 
     policy which will prepare our nation for the future through a 
     comprehensive plan for the development, production, delivery, 
     conservation, and consumption of all manner of sources of 
     energy, for a future that includes economic growth and 
     development which allow a better quality of life for all 
     people of the world. Be it further
       Resolved, That this policy should specifically include 
     strong support for Lease Sale 181 and for reform of the 
     Coastal Zone Management Act to reflect the original intent of 
     the Act to encourage multiple-use and energy development in 
     an environmentally responsible way. Be it further
       Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to 
     each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation and to 
     the presiding officer of each house of the U.S. Congress. Be 
     it further
       Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to 
     the President and Vice President of the United States.
                                  ____

       POM-68. A concurrent resolution adopted by the House of the 
     Legislature of the State of Hawaii relative to Pacific Basin 
     Agricultural Research Center; to the Committee on 
     Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

                   House Concurrent Resolution No. 87

       Whereas, the Legislature in partnership with local 
     citizens, the Department of Agriculture, the University of 
     Hawaii, the United States Department of Agriculture, certain 
     Hawaii and other states' congressional offices, the United 
     States Army, through the Hawaii office of the Small Business 
     Administration, the Rural Economic Transition Assistance--
     Hawaii Program, and after reviewing selected farming and 
     business research over the last several years concluded that 
     Hawaii's physical, biotic, cultural, and social environment 
     is capable of serving the country's chocolate food needs by 
     establishing a uniquely aligned full continuum of cacao 
     farming and chocolate industry in Hawaii; and
       Whereas, work by the private industry and state and federal 
     governments to date has resulted in the scientific selection 
     and planting of cacao trees of different varieties to match 
     Hawaii's unique multi-climate environment and soil conditions 
     that is conducive to growing high quality varieties of cacao 
     trees all year long; and
       Whereas, it is recognized that Hawaii's unique geographic 
     location, climate, and biotic environment qualifies it as the 
     nation's only state that can grow different varieties of 
     cacao all year long; and
       Whereas, there are forty seven cacao growing countries 
     worldwide that currently harvest 3,000,000 metric tons of 
     cacao beans annually to supply the world's growing chocolate 
     industry worth $50,000,000,000 in annual sales; and
       Whereas, our nation's current and growing dependency on 
     foreign cacao sources will now be partially relieved by 
     Hawaii's high quality, sub-sector premium commodity priced 
     cacao beans; and
       Whereas, the United States is domestically growing a new 
     agricultural product that is an important food for our 
     nation's citizens and a food that incorporates other U.S. 
     farm products, such as sugar, milk nuts, and others, to 
     manufacture chocolate; and
       Whereas, the United States Department of Agriculture 
     historically and currently funds foreign cacao farming 
     research, including cacao germplasm centers, pests and 
     disease control work, and flavor testing; and
       Whereas, by virtue of this Concurrent Resolution, Hawaii 
     announces its intent to compete for such federal funds to 
     shift certain existing funding and other support to Hawaii; 
     and
       Whereas, Hawaii will attract world attention to its cacao 
     farming practices and its chocolate manufacturing work, which 
     is aligned with its growing recognition as a high technology, 
     knowledge-based industry state with a broad range of unique 
     human, capital and other resource capabilities; and
       Whereas, cacao farming in Hawaii provides a new domestic 
     farming opportunity for Hawaii-based private industry to 
     establish a full continuum of chocolate production including 
     manufacturing, marketing, selling, and commodity trading of 
     cacao beans and chocolate products for Hawaii, the mainland, 
     and the rest of the world's markets; and
       Whereas, the enactment of Act 188, Session Laws of Hawaii 
     2000 that provided $10,000,000 to facilitate construction of 
     new manufacturing facilities in Hawaii county significantly 
     helped launch a new Hawaii-based $22,000,000 (initial 
     capitalization), high technology chocolate manufacturing 
     industry that is fully integrated with multi-island private 
     sector cacao nursery and farming operations located on former 
     sugar cane lands in communities where there is high 
     unemployment and underemployment of farmers and manufacturing 
     workers; and
       Whereas, these displaced plantation workers are ideally 
     suited for the continuing employment available through the 
     cacao industry; and
       Whereas, Hawaii recognizes the establishment of the new 
     $55,000,000 investment in the Pacific Basin Agricultural 
     Research Center in Hilo, Hawaii, which significantly advances 
     the work by the Center in the following areas:
       (1) Tropical plant genetic resource management;
       (2) Tropical plant physiology, disease and production;
       (3) Tropical plant pests research;
       (4) Post harvest tropical commodities research; and
       (5) Tropical aquaculture management; and
       Whereas, cacao farming and chocolate manufacturing in 
     Hawaii is a generational opportunity given the thirty-plus 
     year life of the cacao tree coupled with the additional value 
     of cacao processing and chocolate manufacturing facilities; 
     and
       Whereas, cacao farming is a globally valuable food industry 
     that can contribute to a healthy commercial economy that in 
     turn materially contributes to the overall health and well-
     being of Hawaii; and
       Whereas, continuous quality improvement from cacao seed to 
     chocolate sale, over the full continuum of cacao farming, 
     chocolate manufacturing, marketing and sales work, is at the 
     center of Hawaii's national and global private and public 
     operating strategies; and
       Whereas, both the United States and Europe each annually 
     consume about one-third of the $50,000,000,000 in global 
     chocolate industry production with the remaining third 
     consumed in the growing Asian Pacific, South and Central 
     American and other countries; and
       Whereas, except for Hawaii, major world chocolate 
     manufacturing facilities are located in temperate climate 
     zones that cannot farm cacao; and
       Whereas, only forty-seven countries located within twenty 
     degrees of the equator can grow cacao with Hawaii predicting 
     that it can grow approximately five per cent of the world's 
     cacao production within a decade at which time it will rank 
     in the top ten of cacao producing countries in the world; and
       Whereas, certain cacao growing foreign countries also farm 
     plants that supply the raw material for the growing worldwide 
     of illegal drug crops; and
       Whereas, the federal government funds initiatives to 
     encourage these foreign countries to concentrate their 
     farming efforts on new crops such as cacao farming instead of 
     illegal drugs; and
       Whereas, the county of Hawaii, the State, the United States 
     Department of Agriculture, the Pacific Basin Agricultural 
     Research Center, and Hawaii's congressional delegation have 
     received solid synergistic encouragement and endorsement from 
     the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, the National 
     Confectioners Association, and the American Cocoa Research 
     Institute to establish a world class U.S. Department of 
     Agriculture--Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center 
     managed cacao germplasm center in Hawaii; and
       Whereas, all of these organizations note that a Hawaii-
     based cacao germplasm center will provide high quality and 
     professional cacao research in Hawaii, which is 
     environmentally sound and historically safe from natural 
     disasters and social turmoil; and
       Whereas, support from the chocolate industry for Hawaii's 
     cacao farming and chocolate enterprises was significantly 
     advanced as a result of the authorization to issue 
     $10,000,000 in state special purpose revenue bonds to assist 
     Hawaii Gold Cacao Tree, Inc., with the

[[Page S5541]]

     construction of its chocolate and cacao manufacturing 
     facility in Hawaii; and
       Whereas, the special purpose revenue bonds demonstrated 
     Hawaii's commitment to cacao farming and to securing a U.S. 
     Department of Agriculture--Pacific Basin Agricultural 
     Research Center-managed cacao germplasm center: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-
     First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 
     2001, the Senate concurring, That the Congress and the U.S. 
     Department of Agriculture are urged to establish and fund a 
     U.S. Department of Agriculture--Pacific Basin Agricultural 
     Research Center-managed cacao germplasm center in Hawaii; and 
     be it further
       Resolved, That certified copies of this Concurrent 
     Resolution be transmitted to the President of the U.S. 
     Senate, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the 
     Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and to the 
     members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-69. A resolution adopted by the House of the 
     Legislature of the State of Hawaii relative to children with 
     disabilities; to the Committee on Appropriations.

                        House Resolution No. 38

       Whereas, under Title 20, section 1411(a) of the United 
     States Code, the maximum amount of federal funds that a state 
     may receive for special education and related services is the 
     number of children with disabilities in the State who are 
     receiving special education and related services multiplied 
     by forty per cent of the average per-pupil expenditure in 
     public elementary and secondary schools in the United States; 
     and
       Whereas, since the enactment of the Education for all 
     Handicapped Children Act of 1975 and its subsequent 
     amendments, including the Individuals with Disabilities 
     Education Act of 1990, Congress has appropriated funds for a 
     maximum of ten per cent of special education and related 
     services for children with disabilities when federal law 
     authorizes the appropriation of up to forty per cent; and
       Whereas, the Hawaii Department of Education received 
     approximately $23,500,000 in federal funds during fiscal year 
     1999-2000 for what was then referred to as ``education of the 
     handicapped''. If this figure represented an appropriation of 
     funds for ten per cent of special education and related 
     services for children with disabilities, then an 
     appropriation of forty per cent would have equaled 
     $94,000,000; and
       Whereas, the difference between an appropriation of forty 
     per cent and an appropriation of ten per cent for ``education 
     of the handicapped'' would amount to $70,500,000 just for the 
     Department of Education. If the number of students receiving 
     special education and related services equaled 22,000 during 
     fiscal year 1999-2000, then the difference would have 
     amounted to approximately $3,200 per student; and
       Whereas, the State of Hawaii, through the Felix consent 
     decree, is being compelled by the federal district court to 
     make up for more than twenty years of insufficient funding 
     for special education and related services--funding that 
     should have been borne substantially by Congress, which 
     enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 
     1975 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 
     1990; and
       Whereas, if Congress is going to mandate new programs or 
     increase the level of service under existing programs for 
     children with disabilities, and if it is going to give the 
     federal courts unfettered power to enforce these mandates 
     through the imposition of fines and the appointment of 
     masters, then Congress should provide sufficient funding for 
     special education and related services: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, By the House of Representatives of the Twenty-
     first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 
     2001, that the United States Congress is requested to 
     appropriate funds for forty per cent of special education and 
     related services for children with disabilities; and be it 
     further
       Resolved, That certified copies of this Resolution be 
     transmitted to the Speaker of the United States House of 
     Representatives, the President pro tempore of the United 
     States Senate, the Vice-President of the United States, and 
     the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-70. A resolution adopted by the Senate of the 
     Legislature of the Commonwealth of Kentucky relative to the 
     Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act; to the 
     Committee on Finance.

                           Resolution No. 70

       Whereas, the Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement 
     Act of 2000 was approved in a bipartisan effort by 391 
     members of the United States House of Representatives in the 
     106th Congress, including the entire Kentucky delegation to 
     Congress; and
       Whereas, more than 80 United States Senators, including 
     both Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell and Kentucky Senator 
     Jim Bunning, signed letters of support for this legislation 
     in 2000; and
       Whereas, the bill now before the 107th Congress modernizes 
     the railroad retirement system for its 748,000 beneficiaries 
     nationwide, including over 16,600 in Kentucky; and
       Whereas, railroad management, labor, and retiree 
     organizations have agreed to support this legislation; and
       Whereas, this legislation provides tax relief to freight 
     railroad, Amtrak, and commuter lines; and
       Whereas, this legislation provides benefits improvements 
     for surviving spouses of rail workers who currently suffer 
     deep cuts in income when the rail retiree dies; and
       Whereas, no outside contributions from taxpayers are needed 
     to implement the changes called for in this legislation; and
       Whereas, all changes will be paid for from within the 
     railroad industry, including a full share by active 
     employees: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the 
     Commonwealth of Kentucky:
       Section 1. This honorable body hereby urges the United 
     States Congress to support the Railroad Retirement and 
     Survivors' Improvement Act in the 107th Congress.
       Section 2. That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby directed 
     to transmit a copy of this Resolution to the President of the 
     United States, the President of the United States Senate, the 
     Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, 
     members of the Kentucky Congressional delegation, and to the 
     United Transportation Union, 3904 Bishop Lane, Suite #5, 
     Louisville, KY 40218.
                                  ____

       POM-71. A resolution adopted by the City Counsel of 
     Napavine, Washington relative to the Memorial Day holiday; to 
     the Committee on the Judiciary.

                          ____________________