[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 8, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2246-S2274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. THOMAS (for himself and Mr. Kyl):
S. 545. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create
Lifetime Savings Accounts; to the Committee on Finance.
______
By Mr. THOMAS (for himself and Mr. Kyl):
S. 546. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide
for retirement savings accounts, and for other purposes; to the
Committee on Finance.
______
By Mr. THOMAS (for himself and Mr. Kyl):
S. 547. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide
for employer retirement savings accounts, and for other purposes; to
the Committee on Finance.
Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce the Savings
Account Vehicle Enhancement, or ``SAVE,'' initiative, comprised of
three separate bills to create, respectively, Lifetime Savings
Accounts, Retirement Savings Accounts, and Employer Retirement Savings
Accounts.
Much attention has been focused lately on the retirement security of
Americans, but the focus thus far has centered primarily on Social
Security. It is imperative that we remember that Social Security was
never intended as a primary income source for retirees, but rather as a
safety net and a supplement to private savings. The bills I introduce
today focus on private savings, for both pre-retirement expenses and
retirement security.
My reasons for introducing these bills are threefold. First of all,
it is important that we address the appallingly-low personal savings
rate in this country. Personal savings rates in the United States since
1960 have reached a new low at less than 2 percent. These bills will
encourage additional savings and reduce the temptation for individuals
to tap into retirement savings for other, pre-retirement purposes.
Secondly, our tax code is entirely too complex and contributes to
lack of participation in the tax-preferred vehicles that already exist.
These bills, by allowing individuals to accumulate tax-free interest
and by streamlining current savings vehicles, represent an important
step toward fundamental tax reform.
Finally, as the Social Security system strains under increasing
pressure, it is even more important that we provide a better, more
responsive, simpler system for Americans to accumulate personal savings
for retirement.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bills be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the bills were ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 545
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 ``Lifetime Savings Account Act
of 2005''.
SEC. 2. LIFETIME SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.
(a) In General.--Subchapter F of Chapter 1 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exempt organizations) is
amended by adding at the end the following new part:
``PART IX--LIFETIME SAVINGS ACCOUNTS
``SEC. 530A. LIFETIME SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.
``(a) General Rule.--A Lifetime Savings Account shall be
exempt from taxation under this subtitle. Notwithstanding the
preceding sentence, such account shall be subject to the
taxes imposed by section 511 (relating to imposition of tax
on unrelated business income of charitable organizations).
``(b) Lifetime Savings Account.--For purposes of this
section, the term `Lifetime Savings Account' means a trust
created or organized in the United States for the exclusive
benefit of an individual or his beneficiaries and which is
designated (in such manner as the Secretary shall prescribe)
at the time of the establishment of the trust as a Lifetime
Savings Account, but only if the written governing instrument
creating the trust meets the following requirements:
``(1) Except in the case of a qualified rollover
contribution described in subsection (d)--
``(A) no contribution will be accepted unless it is in
cash, and
``(B) contributions will not be accepted for the calendar
year in excess of the contribution limit specified in
subsection (c)(1).
``(2) The trustee is a bank (as defined in section 408(n))
or another person who demonstrates to the satisfaction of the
Secretary that the manner in which that person will
administer the trust will be consistent with the requirements
of this section or who has so demonstrated with respect to
any individual retirement plan.
``(3) No part of the trust assets will be invested in life
insurance contracts.
``(4) The interest of an individual in the balance of his
account is nonforfeitable.
``(5) The assets of the trust shall not be commingled with
other property except in a common trust fund or common
investment fund.
``(c) Treatment of Contributions and Distributions.--
``(1) Contribution limit.--
``(A) In general.--The aggregate amount of contributions
(other than qualified rollover contributions described in
subsection
[[Page S2247]]
(d)) for any calendar year to all Lifetime Savings Accounts
maintained for the benefit of an individual shall not exceed
$5,000.
``(B) Cost-of-living adjustment.--
``(i) In general.--In the case of any calendar year after
2006, the $5,000 amount under subparagraph (A) shall be
increased by an amount equal to--
``(I) such dollar amount, multiplied by
``(II) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under
section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year, determined by
substituting `calendar year 2005' for `calendar year 1992' in
subparagraph (B) thereof.
``(ii) Rounding rules.--If any amount after adjustment
under clause (i) is not a multiple of $500, such amount shall
be rounded to the next lower multiple of $500.
``(2) Distributions.--Any distribution from a Lifetime
Savings Account shall not be includible in gross income.
``(d) Qualified Rollover Contribution.--For purposes of
this section, the term `qualified rollover contribution'
means a contribution to a Lifetime Savings Account--
``(1) from another such account of the same beneficiary,
but only if such amount is contributed not later than the
60th day after the distribution from such other account,
``(2) from a Lifetime Savings Account of a spouse of the
beneficiary of the account to which the contribution is made,
but only if such amount is contributed not later than the
60th day after the distribution from such other account, and
``(3) before January 1, 2007, from--
``(A) a qualified tuition program pursuant to section
529(c)(3)(E), or
``(B) a Coverdell education savings account pursuant to
section 530(d)(9).
``(e) Loss of Taxation Exemption of Account Where
Beneficiary Engages in Prohibited Transaction.--Rules similar
to the rules of paragraph (2) of section 408(e) shall apply
to any Lifetime Savings Account.
``(f) Custodial Accounts.--For purposes of this section, a
custodial account or an annuity contract issued by an
insurance company qualified to do business in a State shall
be treated as a trust under this section if--
``(1) the custodial account or annuity contract would,
except for the fact that it is not a trust, constitute a
trust which meets the requirements of subsection (b), and
``(2) in the case of a custodial account, the assets of
such account are held by a bank (as defined in section
408(n)) or another person who demonstrates, to the
satisfaction of the Secretary, that the manner in which he
will administer the account will be consistent with the
requirements of this section.
For purposes of this title, in the case of a custodial
account or annuity contract treated as a trust by reason of
the preceding sentence, the person holding the assets of such
account or holding such annuity contract shall be treated as
the trustee thereof.
``(g) Reports.--The trustee of a Lifetime Savings Account
shall make such reports regarding such account to the
Secretary and to the beneficiary of the account with respect
to contributions, distributions, and such other matters as
the Secretary may require. The reports required by this
subsection shall be filed at such time and in such manner and
furnished to such individuals at such time and in such manner
as may be required.''.
(b) Tax on Excess Contributions.--
(1) In general.--Subsection (a) of section 4973 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to tax on excess
contributions to certain tax-favored accounts and annuities)
is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (4), by
inserting ``or'' at the end of paragraph (5), and by
inserting after paragraph (5) the following new paragraph:
``(6) a Lifetime Savings Account (as defined in section
530A),''.
(2) Excess contribution.--Section 4973 of such Code is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(h) Excess Contributions to Lifetime Savings Accounts.--
For purposes of this section--
``(1) In general.--In the case of Lifetime Savings Accounts
(within the meaning of section 530A), the term `excess
contributions' means the sum of--
``(A) the amount by which the amount contributed for the
calendar year to such accounts (other than qualified rollover
contributions (as defined in section 530A(d))) exceeds the
contribution limit under section 530A(c)(1), and
``(B) the amount determined under this subsection for the
preceding calendar year, reduced by the excess (if any) of
the maximum amount allowable as a contribution under section
530A(c)(1) for the calendar year over the amount contributed
to the accounts for the calendar year.
``(2) Special rule.--A contribution shall not be taken into
account under paragraph (1) if such contribution (together
with the amount of net income attributable to such
contribution) is returned to the beneficiary before July 1 of
the year following the year in which the contribution is
made.''.
(c) Failure to Provide Reports on Lifetime Savings
Accounts.--Paragraph (2) of section 6693(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to failure to provide reports
on individual retirement accounts or annuities) is amended by
striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (D), by striking
the period at the end of subparagraph (E) and inserting ``,
and'', and by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(F) section 530A(g) (relating to Lifetime Savings
Accounts).''.
(d) Rollovers From Certain Other Tax-Free Accounts.--
(1) Qualified state tuition plans.--Paragraph (3) of
section 529(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating
to distributions) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subparagraph:
``(E) Rollovers to lifetime savings accounts.--
``(i) In general.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the
qualified portion of any distribution which, before January
1, 2007, and within 60 days of such distribution, is
transferred to a Lifetime Savings Account (within the meaning
of section 530A) of the designated beneficiary. This
subparagraph shall only apply to distributions in accordance
with the previous sentence from an account which was in
existence with respect to such designated beneficiary on
December 31, 2004.
``(ii) Qualified portion.--For purposes of this
subparagraph, the term `qualified portion' means the amount
equal to the sum of--
``(I) the lesser of $50,000 or the amount which is in the
account of the designated beneficiary on December 31, 2004,
``(II) any contributions to such account for the taxable
year beginning after December 31, 2004, and before January 1,
2006, and
``(III) any earnings of such account for such year.
``(iii) Limitation.--The sum of the amounts taken into
account under clause (ii)(II) with respect to all accounts of
the designated beneficiary plus any amounts with respect to
such designated beneficiary taken into account under section
530(d)(9)(B)(ii) shall not exceed the sum of $5,000 plus the
earnings attributable to such amounts.''.
(2) Coverdell education savings accounts.--Subsection (d)
of section 530 of such Code (relating to tax treatment of
distributions) is amended by inserting at the end the
following new paragraph:
``(9) Rollovers to lifetime savings accounts.--
``(A) In general.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the
qualified portion of any amount paid or distributed from a
Coverdell education savings account to the extent that the
amount received is paid, before January 1, 2007, and not
later than the 60th day after the date of such payment or
distribution, into a Lifetime Savings Account (within the
meaning of section 530A) for the benefit of the same
beneficiary. This paragraph shall only apply to amounts paid
or distributed in accordance with the preceding sentence from
an account which was in existence with respect to such
beneficiary on December 31, 2004.
``(B) Qualified portion.--For purposes of this paragraph,
the term `qualified portion' means the amount equal to the
sum of--
``(i) the amount which is in the account of the beneficiary
on December 31, 2004,
``(ii) any contributions to such account for the taxable
year beginning after December 31, 2004, and before January 1,
2006 and
``(iii) any earnings of such account for such year.
``(C) Limitation.--The sum of the amounts taken into
account under subparagraph (B)(ii) with respect to all
accounts of the beneficiary plus any amounts with respect to
such beneficiary taken into account under section
529(c)(3)(E)(ii)(II) shall not exceed the sum of $5,000 plus
the earnings attributable to such amounts.''.
(e) Conforming Amendment.--The table of parts for
subchapter F of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``Part IX. Lifetime Savings Accounts''.
(f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
2005.
S. 546
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, ETC.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Retirement
Savings Account Act''.
(b) Amendment of 1986 Code.--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 Internal
Revenue Code of 1986.
SEC. 2. RETIREMENT SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.
(a) In General.--Section 408A (relating to Roth IRAs) is
amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 408A. RETIREMENT SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.
``(a) In General.--Except as provided in this section, a
retirement savings account shall be treated for purposes of
this title in the same manner as an individual retirement
plan.
``(b) Retirement Savings Account.--For purposes of this
title, the term `retirement savings account' means an
individual retirement plan (as defined in section
7701(a)(37)) which--
``(1) is designated (in such manner as the Secretary may
prescribe) at the time of establishment of the plan as a
retirement savings account, and
``(2) does not accept any contribution (other than a
qualified rollover contribution) which is not in cash.
``(c) Treatment of Contributions.--
``(1) Contribution limit.--Notwithstanding subsections
(a)(1) and (b)(2)(A) of section 408, the aggregate amount of
contributions for any taxable year to all retirement savings
accounts maintained for the benefit of an individual shall
not exceed the lesser of--
[[Page S2248]]
``(A) $5,000, or
``(B) the amount of compensation includible in the
individual's gross income for such taxable year.
``(2) Special rule for certain married individuals.--In the
case of any individual who files a joint return for the
taxable year, the amount taken into account under paragraph
(1)(B) shall be increased by the excess (if any) of--
``(A) the compensation includible in the gross income of
such individual's spouse for the taxable year, over
``(B) the aggregate amount of contributions for the taxable
year to all retirement savings accounts maintained for the
benefit of such spouse.
``(3) Contributions permitted after age 70\1/2\.--
Contributions to a retirement savings account may be made
even after the individual for whom the account is maintained
has attained age 70\1/2\.
``(4) Mandatory distribution rules not to apply before
death.--Notwithstanding subsections (a)(6) and (b)(3) of
section 408 (relating to required distributions), the
following provisions shall not apply to any retirement
savings account:
``(A) Section 401(a)(9)(A).
``(B) The incidental death benefit requirements of section
401(a).
``(5) Rollover contributions.--
``(A) In general.--No rollover contribution may be made to
a retirement savings account unless it is a qualified
rollover contribution.
``(B) Coordination with limit.--A qualified rollover
contribution shall not be taken into account for purposes of
paragraph (1).
``(6) Rollovers from plans with taxable distributions.--
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding sections 402(c),
403(a)(4), 403(b)(8), 408(d)(3), and 457(e)(16), in the case
of any contribution to which this paragraph applies--
``(i) there shall be included in gross income any amount
which would be includible were it not part of a qualified
rollover contribution,
``(ii) section 72(t) shall not apply, and
``(iii) unless the taxpayer elects not to have this clause
apply for any taxable year, any amount required to be
included in gross income for such taxable year by reason of
this paragraph for any contribution before January 1, 2007,
shall be so included ratably over the 4-taxable year period
beginning with such taxable year.
Any election under clause (iii) for any contributions during
a taxable year may not be changed after the due date
(including extensions of time) for filing the taxpayer's
return for such taxable year.
``(B) Contributions to which paragraph applies.--This
paragraph shall apply to any qualified rollover contribution
to a retirement savings account (other than a rollover
contribution from another such account).
``(C) Conversions of iras.--The conversion of an individual
retirement plan (other than a retirement savings account) to
a retirement savings account shall be treated for purposes of
this paragraph as a contribution to which this paragraph
applies.
``(D) Additional reporting requirements.--Trustees and plan
administrators of eligible retirement plans (as defined in
section 402(c)(8)(B)) and retirement savings accounts shall
report such information as the Secretary may require to
ensure that amounts required to be included in gross income
under subparagraph (A) are so included. Such reports shall be
made at such time and in such form and manner as the
Secretary may require. The Secretary may provide that such
information be included as additional information in reports
required under section 408(i) or 6047.
``(E) Special rules for contributions to which a 4-year
averaging applies.--In the case of a qualified rollover
contribution to which subparagraph (A)(iii) applied, the
following rules shall apply:
``(i) Acceleration of inclusion.--
``(I) In general.--The amount required to be included in
gross income for each of the first 3 taxable years in the 4-
year period under subparagraph (A)(iii) shall be increased by
the aggregate distributions from retirement savings accounts
for such taxable year which are allocable under subsection
(d)(3) to the portion of such qualified rollover contribution
required to be included in gross income under subparagraph
(A)(i).
``(II) Limitation on aggregate amount included.--The amount
required to be included in gross income for any taxable year
under subparagraph (A)(iii) shall not exceed the aggregate
amount required to be included in gross income under
subparagraph (A)(iii) for all taxable years in the 4-year
period (without regard to subclause (I)) reduced by amounts
included for all preceding taxable years.
``(ii) Death of distributee.--
``(I) In general.--If the individual required to include
amounts in gross income under such subparagraph dies before
all of such amounts are included, all remaining amounts shall
be included in gross income for the taxable year which
includes the date of death.
``(II) Special rule for surviving spouse.--If the spouse of
the individual described in subclause (I) acquires the
individual's entire interest in any retirement savings
account to which such qualified rollover contribution is
properly allocable, the spouse may elect to treat the
remaining amounts described in subclause (I) as includible in
the spouse's gross income in the taxable years of the spouse
ending with or within the taxable years of such individual in
which such amounts would otherwise have been includible. Any
such election may not be made or changed after the due date
(including extensions of time) for filing the spouse's return
for the taxable year which includes the date of death.
``(F) 5-year holding period rules.--If--
``(i) any portion of a distribution from a retirement
savings account is properly allocable to a qualified rollover
contribution with respect to which an amount is includible in
gross income under subparagraph (A)(i),
``(ii) such distribution is made during the 5-taxable year
period beginning with the taxable year for which such
contribution was made, and
``(iii) such distribution is not described in clause (i),
(ii), or (iii) of subsection (d)(2)(A),
then section 72(t) shall be applied as if such portion were
includible in gross income.
``(7) Time when contributions made.--For purposes of this
section, a taxpayer shall be deemed to have made a
contribution to a retirement savings account on the last day
of the preceding taxable year if the contribution is made on
account of such taxable year and is made not later than the
time prescribed by law for filing the return for such taxable
year (not including extensions thereof).
``(8) Cost-of-living adjustment.--
``(A) In general.--In the case of any taxable year
beginning in a calendar year after 2006, the $5,000 amount
under paragraph (1)(A) shall be increased by an amount equal
to--
``(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by
``(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under
section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable
year begins, determined by substituting `calendar year 2005'
for `calendar year 1992' in subparagraph (B) thereof.
``(B) Rounding rules.--If any amount after adjustment under
subparagraph (A) is not a multiple of $500, such amount shall
be rounded to the next lower multiple of $500.
``(d) Distribution Rules.--For purposes of this title--
``(1) Exclusion.--Any qualified distribution from a
retirement savings account shall not be includible in gross
income.
``(2) Qualified distribution.--For purposes of this
subsection--
``(A) In general.--The term `qualified distribution' means
any payment or distribution--
``(i) made on or after the date on which the individual
attains age 58,
``(ii) made to a beneficiary (or to the estate of the
individual) on or after the death of the individual,
``(iii) attributable to the individual's being disabled
(within the meaning of section 72(m)(7)), or
``(iv) to which section 72(t)(2)(F) applies (if such
payment or distribution is made before January 1, 2009).
``(B) Distributions of excess contributions and earnings.--
The term `qualified distribution' shall not include any
distribution of any contribution described in section
408(d)(4) and any net income allocable to the contribution.
``(3) Ordering rules.--For purposes of applying this
section and section 72 to any distribution from a retirement
savings account, such distribution shall be treated as made--
``(A) from contributions to the extent that the amount of
such distribution, when added to all previous distributions
from the retirement savings account, does not exceed the
aggregate contributions to the retirement savings account,
and
``(B) from such contributions in the following order:
``(i) Contributions other than qualified rollover
contributions with respect to which an amount is includible
in gross income under subsection (c)(6)(A)(i).
``(ii) Qualified rollover contributions with respect to
which an amount is includible in gross income under
subsection (c)(6)(A)(i) on a first-in, first-out basis.
Any distribution allocated to a qualified rollover
contribution under subparagraph (B)(ii) shall be allocated
first to the portion of such contribution required to be
included in gross income.
``(4) Aggregation rules.--Section 408(d)(2) shall be
applied separately with respect to retirement savings
accounts and other individual retirement plans.
``(e) Qualified Rollover Contribution.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the term
`qualified rollover contribution' means--
``(A) a rollover contribution to a retirement savings
account of an individual from another such account of such
individual or such individual's spouse, or from an individual
retirement plan of such individual, but only if such rollover
contribution meets the requirements of section 408(d)(3), and
``(B) a rollover contribution described in section 402(c),
402A(c)(3)(A), 403(a)(4), 403(b)(8), or 457(e)(16).
``(2) Coordination with limitation on ira rollovers.--For
purposes of section 408(d)(3)(B), there shall be disregarded
any qualified rollover contribution from an individual
retirement plan (other than a retirement savings account) to
a retirement savings account.
``(f) Individual Retirement Plan.--For purposes of this
section--
``(1) a simplified employee pension or a simple retirement
account may not be designated as a retirement savings
account, and
[[Page S2249]]
``(2) contributions to any such pension or account shall
not be taken into account for purposes of subsection (c)(1).
``(g) Compensation.--For purposes of this section, the term
`compensation' includes earned income (as defined in section
401(c)(2)). Such term does not include any amount received as
a pension or annuity and does not include any amount received
as deferred compensation. Such term shall include any amount
includible in the individual's gross income under section 71
with respect to a divorce or separation instrument described
in section 71(b)(2)(A). For purposes of this subsection,
section 401(c)(2) shall be applied as if the term trade or
business for purposes of section 1402 included service
described in section 1402(c)(6).''.
(b) Roth IRAs Treated as Retirement Savings Accounts.--In
the case of any taxable year beginning after December 31,
2005, any Roth IRA (as defined in section 408A(b) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as in effect on the day before
the date of the enactment of this Act) shall be treated for
purposes of such Code as having been designated at the time
of the establishment of the plan as a retirement savings
account under section 408A(b) of such Code (as amended by
this section).
(c) Contributions to Other Individual Retirement Plans
Prohibited.--
(1) Individual retirement accounts.--Paragraph (1) of
section 408(a) is amended to read as follows:
``(1) Except in the case of a simplified employee pension,
a simple retirement account, or a rollover contribution
described in subsection (d)(3) or in section 402(c),
403(a)(4), 403(b)(8), or 457(e)(16), no contribution will be
accepted on behalf of any individual for any taxable year
beginning after December 31, 2005. In the case of any
simplified employee pension or simple retirement account, no
contribution will be accepted unless it is in cash and
contributions will not be accepted for the taxable year on
behalf of any individual in excess of--
``(A) in the case of a simplified employee pension, the
amount of the limitation in effect under section
415(c)(1)(A), and
``(B) in the case of a simple retirement account, the sum
of the dollar amount in effect under subsection (p)(2)(A)(ii)
and the employer contribution required under subparagraph
(A)(iii) or (B)(i) of subsection (p)(2).''.
(2) Individual retirement annuities.--Paragraph (2) of
section 408(b) is amended--
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) as
subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D), respectively, and by
inserting before subparagraph (B), as so redesignated, the
following new subparagraph:
``(A) except in the case of a simplified employee pension,
a simple retirement account, or a rollover contribution
described in subsection (d)(3) or in section 402(c),
403(a)(4), 403(b)(8), or 457(e)(16), a premium shall not be
accepted on behalf of any individual for any taxable year
beginning after December 31, 2005,'', and
(B) by amending subparagraph (C), as redesignated by
subparagraph (A), to read as follows:
``(C) the annual premium on behalf of any individual will
not exceed--
``(i) in the case of a simplified employee pension, the
amount of the limitation in effect under section
415(c)(1)(A), and
``(ii) in the case of a simple retirement account, the sum
of the dollar amount in effect under subsection (p)(2)(A)(ii)
and the employer contribution required under subparagraph
(A)(iii) or (B)(i) of subsection (p)(2), and''.
(d) Conforming Amendments.--
(1)(A) Section 219 is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 219. CONTRIBUTIONS TO CERTAIN RETIREMENT PLANS
ALLOWING ONLY EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS.
``(a) Allowance of Deduction.--In the case of an
individual, there shall be allowed as a deduction the amount
contributed on behalf of such individual to a plan described
in section 501(c)(18).
``(b) Maximum Amount of Deduction.--The amount allowable as
a deduction under subsection (a) to any individual for any
taxable year shall not exceed the lesser of--
``(1) $7,000, or
``(2) an amount equal to 25 percent of the compensation (as
defined in section 415(c)(3)) includible in the individual's
gross income for such taxable year.
``(c) Beneficiary Must Be Under Age 70\1/2\.--No deduction
shall be allowed under this section with respect to any
contribution on behalf of an individual if such individual
has attained age 70\1/2\ before the close of such
individual's taxable year for which the contribution was
made.
``(d) Special Rules.--
``(1) Married individuals.--The maximum deduction under
subsection (b) shall be computed separately for each
individual, and this section shall be applied without regard
to any community property laws.
``(2) Reports.--The Secretary shall prescribe regulations
which prescribe the time and the manner in which reports to
the Secretary and plan participants shall be made by the plan
administrator of a qualified employer or government plan
receiving qualified voluntary employee contributions.
``(e) Cross Reference.--For failure to provide required
reports, see section 6652(g).''.
(B) Section 25B(d) is amended--
(i) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``(as defined in
section 219(e))'', and
(ii) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) Qualified retirement contribution.--The term
`qualified retirement contribution' means--
``(A) any amount paid in cash for the taxable year by or on
behalf of an individual to an individual retirement plan for
such individual's benefit, and
``(B) any amount contributed on behalf of any individual to
a plan described in section 501(c)(18).''.
(C) Section 86(f)(3) is amended by striking ``section
219(f)(1)'' and inserting ``section 408A(g)''.
(D) Section 132(m)(3) is amended by inserting ``(as in
effect on the day before the date of the enactment of the
Retirement Savings Account Act)'' after ``section
219(g)(5)''.
(E) Subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of section 220(d)(4)
are each amended by inserting ``, as in effect on the day
before the date of the enactment of the Retirement Savings
Account Act'' at the end.
(F) Section 408(b) is amended in the last sentence by
striking ``section 219(b)(1)(A)'' and inserting ``paragraph
(2)(C)''.
(G) Section 408(p)(2)(D)(ii) is amended by inserting ``(as
in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of the
Retirement Savings Account Act)'' after ``section
219(g)(5)''.
(H) Section 409A(d)(2) is amended by inserting ``(as in
effect on the day before the date of the enactment of the
Retirement Savings Account Act)'' after ``subparagraph
(A)(iii))''.
(I) Section 501(c)(18)(D)(i) is amended by striking
``section 219(b)(3)'' and inserting ``section 219(b)''.
(J) Section 6652(g) is amended by striking ``section
219(f)(4)'' and inserting ``section 219(d)(2)''.
(K) The table of sections for part VII of subchapter B of
chapter 1 is amended by striking the item relating to section
219 and inserting the following new item:
``Sec. 219. Contributions to certain retirement plans allowing only
employee contributions.''.
(2)(A) Section 408(d)(4)(B) is amended to read as follows:
``(B) no amount is excludable from gross income under
subsection (h) or (k) of section 402 with respect to such
contribution, and''.
(B) Section 408(d)(5)(A) is amended to read as follows:
``(A) In general.--In the case of any individual, if the
aggregate contributions (other than rollover contributions)
paid for any taxable year to an individual retirement account
or for an individual retirement annuity do not exceed the
dollar amount in effect under subsection (a)(1) or (b)(2)(C),
as the case may be, paragraph (1) shall not apply to the
distribution of any such contribution to the extent that such
contribution exceeds the amount which is excludable from
gross income under subsection (h) or (k) of section 402, as
the case may be, for the taxable year for which the
contribution was paid--
``(i) if such distribution is received after the date
described in paragraph (4),
``(ii) but only to the extent that such excess contribution
has not been excluded from gross income under subsection (h)
or (k) of section 402.''.
(C) Section 408(d)(5) is amended by striking the last
sentence.
(D) Section 408(d)(7) is amended to read as follows:
``(7) Certain transfers from simplified employee pensions
prohibited until deferral test met.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of this subsection or section 72(t),
paragraph (1) and section 72(t)(1) shall apply to the
transfer or distribution from a simplified employee pension
of any contribution under a salary reduction arrangement
described in subsection (k)(6) (or any income allocable
thereto) before a determination as to whether the
requirements of subsection (k)(6)(A)(iii) are met with
respect to such contribution.''.
(E) Section 408 is amended by striking subsection (j).
(F)(i) Section 408 is amended by striking subsection (o).
(ii) Section 6693 is amended by striking subsection (b) and
by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (b)
and (c), respectively.
(G) Section 408(p) is amended by striking paragraph (8) and
by redesignating paragraphs (9) and (10) as paragraphs (8)
and (9), respectively.
(3)(A) Section 4973(a)(1) is amended to read as follows:
``(1) an individual retirement plan,''.
(B) Section 4973(b) is amended to read as follows:
``(b) Excess Contributions to Simplified Employee Pensions
and Simple Retirement Accounts.--For purposes of this
section, in the case of simplified employee pensions or
simple retirement accounts, the term `excess contributions'
means the sum of--
``(1) the excess (if any) of--
``(A) the amount contributed for the taxable year to the
pension or account, over
``(B) the amount applicable to the pension or account under
subsection (a)(1) or (b)(2) of section 408, and
``(2) the amount determined under this subsection for the
preceding taxable year, reduced by the sum of--
``(A) the distributions out of the account for the taxable
year which were included in the gross income of the payee
under section 408(d)(1),
``(B) the distributions out of the account for the taxable
year to which section 408(d)(5) applies, and
``(C) the excess (if any) of the maximum amount excludable
from gross income for the
[[Page S2250]]
taxable year under subsection (h) or (k) of section 402 over
the amount contributed to the pension or account for the
taxable year.
For purposes of this subsection, any contribution which is
distributed from a simplified employee pension or simple
retirement account in a distribution to which section
408(d)(4) applies shall be treated as an amount not
contributed.''.
(C) Section 4973 is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(h) Excess Contributions to Certain Individual Retirement
Plans.--For purposes of this section, in the case of
individual retirement plans (other than retirement savings
accounts, simplified employee pensions, and simple retirement
accounts), the term `excess contribution' means the sum of--
``(1) the aggregate amount contributed for the taxable year
to the individual retirement plans, and
``(2) the amount determined under this subsection for the
preceding taxable year, reduced by the sum of--
``(A) the distributions out of the plans which were
included in gross income under section 408(d)(1), and
``(B) the distributions out of the plans for the taxable
year to which section 408(d)(5) applies.
For purposes of this subsection, any contribution which is
distributed from the plan in a distribution to which section
408(d)(4) applies shall be treated as an amount not
contributed.''.
(4)(A) Sections 402(c)(8)(B), 402A(c)(3)(A)(ii),
1361(c)(2)(A), 3405(e)(1)(B), and 4973(f) are each amended by
striking ``Roth IRA'' each place it appears and inserting
``retirement savings account''.
(B) Section 4973(f)(1)(A) is amended by striking ``Roth
IRAs'' and inserting ``retirement savings accounts''.
(C) Paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(B) of section 4973(f) are
each amended by striking ``sections 408A(c)(2) and (c)(3)''
and inserting ``section 408A(c)(1)''.
(D) Subsection (f) of section 4973 is amended in the
heading by striking ``Roth IRAs'' and inserting ``Retirement
Savings Accounts''.
(e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
2005.
S. 547
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. EMPLOYER RETIREMENT SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.
(a) In General.--Subpart A of part 1 of subchapter D of
chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by
inserting after section 401 the following new section:
``SEC. 401A. EMPLOYER RETIREMENT SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.
``(a) In General.--A defined contribution plan shall not
fail to meet the requirements of section 401(a) merely
because the plan includes an employer retirement savings
account arrangement.
``(b) Employer Retirement Savings Account Arrangement.--An
employer retirement savings account arrangement is any
arrangement which is part of a plan which meets the
requirements of section 401(a)--
``(1) under which a covered employee may elect to have the
employer make payments as contributions to a trust under the
plan on behalf of the employee, or to the employee directly
in cash,
``(2) under which amounts held by the trust which are
attributable to employer contributions made pursuant to the
employee's election--
``(A) may not be distributable to participants or other
beneficiaries earlier than--
``(i) severance from employment, death, or disability,
``(ii) an event described in subsection (g),
``(iii) the attainment of age 59\1/2\, or
``(iv) upon hardship of the employee, and
``(B) will not be distributable merely by reason of the
completion of a stated period of participation or the lapse
of a fixed number of years,
``(3) which provides that an employee's right to the
employee's accrued benefit derived from employer
contributions made to the trust pursuant to the employee's
election is nonforfeitable, and
``(4) which does not require, as a condition of
participation in the arrangement, that an employee complete a
period of service with the employer (or employers)
maintaining the plan extending beyond the period permitted
under section 410(a)(1) (determined without regard to
subparagraph (B)(i) thereof).
``(c) Application of Nondiscrimination Standards.--
``(1) Contribution percentage requirement.--An arrangement
shall not be treated as an employer retirement savings
account arrangement for any plan year unless--
``(A) the contribution percentage for eligible highly
compensated employees for the plan year does not exceed 200
percent of such percentage for all other eligible employees
for the preceding plan year, or
``(B) the contribution percentage of nonhighly compensated
employees for the preceding plan year exceeded 6 percent.
``(2) Alternative methods of meeting nondiscrimination
requirements.--
``(A) In general.--An arrangement shall be treated as
meeting the requirements of paragraph (1)(A) if such
arrangement--
``(i) meets the contribution requirements of subparagraph
(B), and
``(ii) meets the notice requirements of subparagraph (D).
``(B) Contribution requirement.--The requirements of this
subparagraph are met if, under the arrangement, the employer
is required to make contributions to a defined contribution
plan on behalf of each eligible employee who is not a highly
compensated employee in an amount equal to at least 3 percent
of the employee's compensation. For purposes of this
subparagraph, elective deferrals and employee contributions
shall not be taken into account in determining the amount of
contributions the employer makes to the plan.
``(C) Special rules for matching contributions.--
``(i) In general.--If an employer takes matching
contributions into account for purposes of subparagraph (B),
the requirements of such subparagraph shall be treated as met
only if the matching contributions on behalf of each employee
who is not a highly compensated employee are equal to 50
percent of the elective deferrals of the employee to the
extent that such elective deferrals do not exceed 6 percent
of the employee's compensation.
``(ii) Alternative plan designs.--If the rate of any
matching contribution with respect to any rate of elective
deferral is not equal to the percentage required under clause
(i), an arrangement shall not be treated as failing to meet
the requirements of clause (i) if--
``(I) the rate of an employer's matching contribution does
not increase as an employee's rate of elective contributions
increases, and
``(II) the aggregate amount of matching contributions at
such rate of elective contribution is at least equal to the
aggregate amount of matching contributions which would be
made if matching contributions were made on the basis of the
percentages described in clause (i).
``(iii) Rate for highly compensated employees.--The
requirements of this subparagraph are not met if, under the
arrangement, the rate of matching contribution with respect
to any elective deferral of a highly compensated employee at
any rate of elective deferral is greater than that with
respect to an employee who is not a highly compensated
employee.
``(D) Notice requirement.--An arrangement meets the
requirements of this subparagraph if, under the arrangement,
each employee eligible to participate is, within a reasonable
period before any year, given written notice of the
employee's rights and obligations under the arrangement
which--
``(i) is sufficiently accurate and comprehensive to apprise
the employee of such rights and obligations, and
``(ii) is written in a manner calculated to be understood
by the average employee eligible to participate.
``(E) Other requirements.--
``(i) Withdrawal and vesting restrictions.--An arrangement
shall not be treated as meeting the requirements of
subparagraph (B) unless the requirements of paragraphs (2)
and (3) of subsection (b) are met with respect to all
employer contributions (including matching contributions)
taken into account in determining whether the requirements of
subparagraph (B) are met.
``(ii) Social security and similar contributions not taken
into account.--An arrangement shall not be treated as meeting
the requirements of subparagraph (B) unless such requirements
are met without regard to section 401(l), and, for purposes
of section 401(l), employer contributions under subparagraph
(B) shall not be taken into account.
``(F) Other plans.--An arrangement shall be treated as
meeting the requirements of subparagraph (B) if any other
plan maintained by the employer meets such requirements with
respect to employees eligible under the arrangement.
``(3) Contribution percentage.--For purposes of paragraph
(1), the contribution percentage for an eligible employee for
a specified group of employees for a plan year shall be the
average of the ratios (calculated separately for each
employee in such group) of--
``(A) the sum of the elective deferrals, matching
contributions, employee contributions, and qualified
nonelective contributions paid under the plan on behalf of
each such employee for such plan year, to
``(B) the employee's compensation for such plan year.
``(4) Special rules.--For purposes of this subsection--
``(A) Multiple arrangements.--If 2 or more plans which
include employer retirement savings account arrangements are
considered as 1 plan for purposes of section 401(a)(4) or
410(b), all such arrangements included in such plans shall be
treated as 1 arrangement.
``(B) Employees in more than 1 arrangement.--If any highly
compensated employee is a participant under 2 or more
employer retirement savings account arrangements of the
employer, for purposes of determining the contribution
percentage with respect to such employee, all such
arrangements shall be treated as 1 arrangement.
``(C) Use of current year.--An employer may elect to apply
paragraph (1) (A) or (B) by using the plan year rather than
the preceding plan year. An employer may change such an
election only with the consent of the Secretary.
``(D) 1st plan year.--In the case of the first plan year of
any plan (other than a successor plan), the amount taken into
account as the contribution percentage of nonhighly
compensated employees for the preceding plan year shall be--
[[Page S2251]]
``(i) 3 percent, or
``(ii) if the employer makes an election under this clause,
the contribution percentage of nonhighly compensated
employees determined for such first plan year.
``(E) Special rule for early participation.--If an employer
elects to apply section 410(b)(4)(B) in determining whether
an employer retirement savings account arrangement meets the
requirements of section 410(b)(1), the employer may, in
determining whether the arrangement meets the requirements of
this subsection, exclude from consideration all eligible
employees (other than highly compensated employees) who have
not met the minimum age and service requirements of section
410(a)(1)(A).
``(5) Exceptions.--
``(A) Governmental plans.--A governmental plan (within the
meaning of section 414(d)) maintained by a State or local
government or political subdivision thereof (or agency or
instrumentality thereof) shall be treated as meeting the
requirements of this subsection.
``(B) Tax exempt plans.--
``(i) In general.--A plan not described in subparagraph (A)
which is maintained by an organization described in section
501(c)(3) shall be treated as meeting the requirements of
this subsection for any plan year if the plan provides that
all employees of such organization may elect to have the
employer make contributions of more than $200 pursuant to a
salary reduction agreement if any employee of the
organization may elect to have the organization make
contributions pursuant to such agreement.
``(ii) Exception.--Clause (i) shall not apply to any plan
if under the plan--
``(I) matching contributions may be made on behalf of any
employee, or
``(II) an employee may make contributions other than
elective deferrals.
``(iii) Exclusion.--For purposes of clause (i), there may
be excluded any employee who is--
``(I) a participant in another employer retirement savings
account arrangement of the organization,
``(II) a nonresident alien described in section
410(b)(3)(C), or
``(III) subject to the conditions applicable under section
410(b)(4), a student performing services described in section
3121(b)(10) or an employee who normally works less than 20
hours per week.
``(6) Coordination with subsection (a)(4).--A cash or
deferred arrangement shall be treated as meeting the
requirements of subsection (a)(4) with respect to
contributions if the requirements of paragraph (1) are met.
``(d) Other Requirements.--For purposes of this section--
``(1) Benefits (other than matching contributions) must not
be contingent on election to defer.--An employer retirement
savings account arrangement of any employer shall not be
treated as such an arrangement if any other benefit is
conditioned (directly or indirectly) on the employee electing
to have the employer make or not make contributions under the
arrangement in lieu of receiving cash. The preceding sentence
shall not apply to any matching contribution made by reason
of such an election.
``(2) Coordination with other plans.--Any employer
contribution made pursuant to an employee's election under an
employer retirement savings account arrangement shall not be
taken into account for purposes of determining whether any
other plan meets the requirements of section 401(a) or
410(b). This paragraph shall not apply for purposes of
determining whether a plan meets the average benefit
requirement of section 410(b)(2)(A)(ii).
``(e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
``(1) Eligible employee.--The term `eligible employee'
means any employee who is eligible to benefit under the
employer retirement savings account arrangement.
``(2) Highly compensated employee.--For purposes of this
subsection, the term `highly compensated employee' has the
meaning given such term by section 414(q).
``(3) Matching contribution.--The term `matching
contribution' means--
``(A) any employer contribution made to a defined
contribution plan on behalf of an employee on account of an
employee contribution made by such employee, and
``(B) any employer contribution made to a defined
contribution plan on behalf of an employee on account of an
employee's elective deferral.
``(4) Elective deferral.--The term `elective deferral'
means any employer contribution described in section
402(g)(3).
``(5) Qualified nonelective contributions.--The term
`qualified nonelective contribution' means any employer
contribution (other than a matching contribution) with
respect to which--
``(A) the employee may not elect to have the contribution
paid to the employee in cash instead of being contributed to
the plan, and
``(B) the requirements of paragraphs (2) and (3) of
subsection (b) are met.
``(6) Compensation.--The term `compensation' has the
meaning given such term by section 414(s).
``(f) Arrangement Not Disqualified If Excess Contributions
Distributed.--
``(1) In general.--An employer retirement savings account
arrangement shall not be treated as failing to meet the
requirements of subsection (c)(1)(A) for any plan year if,
before the close of the following plan year--
``(A) the amount of the excess contributions for such plan
year (and any income allocable to such contributions) is
distributed, or
``(B) to the extent provided in regulations, the employee
elects to treat the amount of the excess contributions as an
amount distributed to the employee and then contributed by
the employee to the plan.
Any distribution of excess contributions (and income) may be
made without regard to any other provision of law.
``(2) Excess contributions.--For purposes of paragraph (1),
the term `excess contributions' means, with respect to any
plan year, the excess of--
``(A) the aggregate amount of employer contributions
actually paid over to the trust on behalf of highly
compensated employees for such plan year, over
``(B) the maximum amount of such contributions permitted
under the limitations of subsection (c)(1)(A) (determined by
reducing contributions made on behalf of highly compensated
employees in order of the contribution percentages beginning
with the highest of such percentages).
``(3) Method of distributing excess contributions.--Any
distribution of the excess contributions for any plan year
shall be made to highly compensated employees on the basis of
the amount of contributions by, or on behalf of, each of such
employees.
``(4) Additional tax under section 72(t) not to apply.--No
tax shall be imposed under section 72(t) on any amount
required to be distributed under this subsection.
``(5) Treatment of matching contributions forfeited by
reason of excess deferral or contribution.--For purposes of
subsection (b)(3), a matching contribution shall not be
treated as forfeitable merely because such contribution is
forfeitable if the contribution to which the matching
contribution relates is treated as an excess contribution
under paragraph (2) or an excess deferral under section
402(g)(2)(A).
``(6) Cross reference.--For excise tax on certain excess
contributions, see section 4979.
``(g) Distributions Upon Termination of Plan.--
``(1) In general.--An event described in this subsection is
the termination of the plan without establishment or
maintenance of another defined contribution plan (other than
an employee stock ownership plan as defined in section
4975(e)(7)).
``(2) Distributions must be lump sum distributions.--
``(A) In general.--A termination shall not be treated as
described in paragraph (1) with respect to any employee
unless the employee receives a lump sum distribution by
reason of the termination.
``(B) Lump-sum distribution.--For purposes of this
paragraph, the term `lump-sum distribution' has the meaning
given such term by section 402(e)(4)(D) (without regard to
subclauses (I), (II), (III), and (IV) of clause (i) thereof).
Such term includes a distribution of an annuity contract
from--
``(i) a trust which forms a part of a plan described in
section 401(a) and which is exempt from tax under section
501(a), or
``(ii) an annuity plan described in section 403(a).
``(h) Special Rules for Small Employers.--
``(1) In general.--An arrangement maintained by an eligible
employer shall not fail to meet the requirements of this
section merely because contributions under the arrangement on
behalf of any employee are made to an individual retirement
plan (as defined under section 7701(a)(37)) established on
behalf of the employee.
``(2) Eligible employer.--For purposes of paragraph (1),
the term `eligible employer' means, with respect to any year,
an employer which had no more than 10 employees who received
at least $5,000 of compensation from the employer for the
preceding year. An eligible employer who establishes and
maintains an arrangement under this subsection for 1 or more
years and who fails to be an eligible employer for any
subsequent year shall be treated as an eligible employer for
the 2 years following the last year the employer was an
eligible employer. If such failure is due to any acquisition,
disposition, or similar transaction involving an eligible
employer, the preceding sentence shall not apply.
``(i) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe such
regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of
this section, including regulations permitting appropriate
aggregation of plans and contributions.
``(j) Transition Rules.--
``(1) Deemed ersas.--Any arrangement which, as of December
31, 2005--
``(A) is part of a plan meeting the requirements of section
401(a), and
``(B) is--
``(i) a qualified cash or deferred arrangement (as defined
in section 401(k)(2)), or
``(ii) subject to the requirements of section 401(m),
shall be treated as an employer retirement savings account
arrangement and subject to the requirements of this title
applicable to such an arrangement for plan years beginning
after December 31, 2005.
``(2) Electable ersas.--
``(A) In general.--If an employer makes an election under
this paragraph with respect to
[[Page S2252]]
any applicable arrangement, such arrangement shall be treated
as an employer retirement savings account arrangement and
subject to the requirements of this title applicable to such
an arrangement for plan years beginning after December 31,
2005.
``(B) Applicable arrangement.--For purposes of subparagraph
(A), the term `applicable arrangement' means an arrangement
which, as of December 31, 2005, is--
``(i) an arrangement under which amounts are contributed by
an individual's employer for an annuity contract described in
section 403(b),
``(ii) an eligible deferred compensation plan (within the
meaning of section 457(b)) maintained by an eligible employer
described in section 457(e)(1)(A),
``(iii) a simplified employee pension (within the meaning
of section 408(k)) for which an election is in effect under
paragraph (6) thereof, or
``(iv) a simple retirement account (within the meaning of
section 408(p).''.
(b) Elective Deferrals.--Section 402 of such Code is
amended--
(1) in subsection (e)(3), by inserting ``, an employer
retirement savings account arrangement (as defined in section
401A(b)),'' after ``section 401(k)(2))'' , and
(2) in subsection (g)(3)(A), by inserting ``, or an
employer retirement savings account arrangement (as defined
in section 401A(b)),'' before ``to the extent''.
(c) Termination of Contributions to Other Plans.--
(1) 401(k) plans.--Section 401(k) of such Code is amended
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(13) Termination.--This subsection shall not apply to any
plan year beginning after December 31, 2005.''.
(2) 403(b) annuity contracts.--Section 403(b) of such Code
is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(14) Termination.--No elective deferral (as defined in
section 402(g)(3)) may be contributed under this subsection
by an employer, and no amount may be transferred under an
eligible rollover, for an annuity contract after December 31,
2006.''.
(3) Governmental 457 plans.--Section 457 of such Code is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(h) Termination.--No amount may be deferred under this
subsection under a plan maintained by an eligible employer
described in subsection (e)(1)(A), and no amount may be
transferred under an eligible rollover to an eligible
deferred compensation plan maintained by such an employer,
after December 31, 2006.''.
(4) Sarseps.--Subparagraph (H) of section 408(k)(6) of such
Code is amended by adding at the end the following new
sentence: ``No amount may be contributed under this paragraph
to a simplified employee pension by an employer, and no
amount may be transferred to a simplified employee pension
maintained under this paragraph under an eligible rollover,
after December 31, 2006.''.
(5) Simple iras.--Section 408(p) of such Code is amended by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(11) Termination.--No amount may be contributed under
this paragraph to a simple retirement account after December
31, 2006.''.
(d) Other Conforming Changes.--
(1) Section 401 of such Code is amended by striking
subsection (m).
(2) Section 7701(j) of such Code (relating to tax treatment
of Federal Thrift Savings Fund) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ``section
401(k)(4)(B)'' and inserting ``section 401A(d)(1)'', and
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``section 401(k)'' and
inserting ``section 401A''.
(3) The Secretary of the Treasury shall, not later than 90
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit such
technical and other conforming changes as are necessary to
carry out the amendments made by this section.
(e) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart
A of part 1 of subchapter D of chapter 1 of such Code is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 401
the following new item:
``Sec. 401A. Employer Retirement Savings Accounts.''.
(f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to years beginning after December 31, 2005.
(g) Provisions Relating to Plan Amendments.--
(1) In general.--If this subsection applies to any plan or
contract amendment--
(A) such plan or contract shall be treated as being
operated in accordance with the terms of the plan during the
period described in paragraph (2)(C)(i), and
(B) except as provided by the Secretary of the Treasury,
such plan shall not fail to meet the requirements of section
401A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by reason of such
amendment.
(2) Amendments to which section applies.--
(A) In general.--This subsection shall apply to any
amendment to any plan or annuity contract which is made--
(i) pursuant to any amendment made by this section, or
pursuant to any regulation issued by the Secretary of the
Treasury or the Secretary of Labor under this section, and
(ii) on or before the last day of the first plan year
beginning on or after January 1, 2007.
(B) Governmental plan.--In the case of a governmental plan
(as defined in section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986), subparagraph (A) shall be applied by substituting
``2009'' for ``2007''.
(C) Conditions.--This subsection shall not apply to any
amendment unless--
(i) during the period--
(I) beginning on the date the legislative or regulatory
amendment described in subparagraph (A)(i) takes effect (or
in the case of a plan or contract amendment not required by
such legislative or regulatory amendment, the effective date
specified by the plan), and
(II) ending on the date described in subparagraph (A)(ii)
(or, if earlier, the date the plan or contract amendment is
adopted), the plan or contract is operated as if such plan or
contract amendment were in effect; and
(ii) such plan or contract amendment applies retroactively
for such period.
______
By Mr. CORZINE (for himself, Mr. Obama, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Bingaman,
Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Durbin,
Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Leahy, Ms.
Mikulski, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Kerry):
S. 550. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to
facilitating the development of microbicides for preventing
transmission of HIV and other diseases, and for other purposes; to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation,
the Microbicides Development Act of 2005. I am very pleased to be
introducing this bipartisan bill along with my colleagues, Senators
Snowe, Obama, Bingaman, Cantwell, Clinton, Dodd, Durbin, Feinstein,
Kennedy, Lautenberg, Leahy, Mikulski, Murray, Schumer, and Smith. I
thank my colleagues for their support of this important legislation,
which we believe is vital to the pursuit of combating the global HIV/
AIDS crisis.
Today we are celebrating International Women's Day. Not only should
we celebrate the achievements of women nationally and globally today,
but we should also promise to redouble our efforts to improve the lives
of women around the globe. I can't think of an issue more deserving of
our attention in the United States Senate than that of the toll that
HIV/AIDS is having on women and their children around the world.
Today, nearly half of the 37 million adults now living with HIV
worldwide are women. The U.N.'s new Epidemic Update released in late
2004 shows that women and girls are increasingly affected by the
disease in each region of the world and the epidemic continues to
worsen. Women are the new face of AIDS. Approximately 7,000 women are
infected with HIV everyday. The biggest rise in HIV/AIDS among women is
occurring in East Asia, which has seen a 56 percent infection rate
increase, followed by the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Notably, these are areas of the world that are not currently included
in the President's AIDS initiative (PEPFAR). I would like to note that
later this week I will be introducing legislation to make India
eligible for PEPFAR assistance. It is estimated that by 2010, India
could have 20 million HIV infected individuals up from five million
currently and women are at the center of the rapid growth of the
disease.
I would like to quote from a recent news article in USA Today, which
discusses the HIV/AIDS vulnerabilities that women confront.
``In this male-dominated society, ironclad traditions
surrounding marriage leave women little say over their sexual
or reproductive lives. So many married men bring HIV home to
their wives that married women are one of India's highest-
risk groups. Nearly half of all new HIV infections occur in
women, and studies indicate that 90 percent of women with HIV
were virgins when they married and remained faithful to their
husbands.''
This statement describes the plight of women in so many societies and
countries where women simply do not have the economic or political
power to insist that their husbands use condoms or abstain from having
sex outside of marriage. The typical woman who gets infected with HIV
has only one partner--her husband. This trend devastates families and
puts children at risk.
This astounding reality bears restating: The single greatest risk
factor for a woman in the developing world of
[[Page S2253]]
contracting the HIV virus is being married.
Women need HIV-prevention tools that they can control to safeguard
their health and that of their families and communities. Unfortunately,
there exists absolutely no HIV or STD prevention method that is within
a woman's personal control. Condom use must be negotiated with a
partner. We are all aware that for too many women, particularly low-
income women in the developing world and many in our own country who
rely upon a male partner for economic support, there is no power of
negotiation. We know these women are at risk--yet, we expect them to
protect themselves without any tools.
Today we have the opportunity to invest in groundbreaking research
that can produce these tools, and ultimately, empower women.
Microbicides are self-administered products that women could use to
prevent transmission of STDs, including HIV/AIDS. I say ``could'',
because due to insufficient research investments, no microbicides have
been brought to market. This legislation would expand Federal
investments for microbicide research at the National Institutes for
Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and
the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
In addition to encouraging new investments in microbicide research,
the Microbicides Development Act will expedite the implementation of
the NIH's five-year strategic plan for microbicide research, as well as
expand coordination among federal agencies already involved in this
research, including NIH, CDC, and the United States Agency on
International Development (USAID).
Perhaps most importantly, the legislation calls for the establishment
of a Microbicide Research and Development Branch within the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The National Institutes of Health, principally through the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), spends the
majority of Federal dollars in this area. However, microbicide research
at NIH is currently conducted with no single line of administrative
accountability or specific funding coordination. In addition, other
Federal agencies such as CDC and USAID undertake microbicides research
and development activities. Because there is no Federal coordination,
however, there is the risk that inefficiencies and duplication of
effort could result. Through a variety of committees Congress has
requested that NIH and its Office of AIDS Research provide Congress
with a ``Federal coordination plan'' for research and development in
this area, but formal submission of this plan has been repeatedly
delayed.
A unit dedicated to microbicide research and development at the NIH
is essential to providing the appropriate staff and funding for the
coordination of these activities at the NIH and across agencies.
Microbicides may not be a magic bullet, but they are essential to
addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis. With leading scientists concluding that
a vaccine is likely to be at least 10 years away, we need to make a
strong commitment to developing complementary prevention tools such as
microbicides.
Microbicides are a public health good for which the social benefits
are high but economic incentives to private investment are low. Despite
the potential market size, neither pharmaceutical nor major biotech
companies have made large investments in the field because development
is costly and the likelihood of finding an effective product is
unknown. Like other public health goods, such as vaccines, public
funding must fill the gap left by market failure.
The cost of developing the existing pipeline of microbicide candidate
products has been estimated at $775 million over five years. This
investment should generate a number of safe, effective microbicides by
2010. Currently, however, U.S. Federal funding for microbicides is only
about $88.8 million annually and is spread across all areas of
microbicide research, not just product development.
As for any pharmaceutical or health care product, the key to
developing safe, effective, affordable and accessible microbicides is
sufficient investment. If we are to realize the promise of microbicides
and the lifesaving properties they may provide, then additional public
funding must be made available for research and development. The
Microbicide Development Act of 2005 will help us achieve this goal.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of my legislation be printed in
the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 550
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 ``Microbicide Development
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Women and girls are the new face of HIV/AIDS, and are
increasingly affected by the disease in each region of the
world. Women account for nearly \1/2\ of the 37,000,000
adults living with HIV and AIDS worldwide as of 2005.
Approximately 7,000 women are newly infected with HIV each
day.
(2) Because of their social and biological vulnerabilities,
young women are particularly at risk. In Sub-Saharan Africa,
76 percent of the young people (between ages 15 and 24) with
HIV are girls under 20.
(3) When women become infected with HIV, they can pass
along the infection to their children during pregnancy, labor
and delivery, or breast-feeding. The most effective way to
halt mother-to-child transmission is to ensure that mothers
are not infected in the first place.
(4) An increasing number of women who become infected with
HIV have only 1 sexual partner, their husband. Unfortunately,
marriage is not necessarily effective protection against HIV,
because to protect themselves from HIV, women have to rely on
their male partners to be faithful or to use condoms. Many
women in the developing world are unable to insist on mutual
monogamy or negotiate condom use, especially in long-term
relationships.
(5) Scientists are working on a promising new prevention
tool that could slow down the spread of the HIV/AIDS
epidemic, microbicides. Formulated as gels, creams, or rings,
microbicides inactivate, block, or otherwise interfere with
the transmission of the pathogens that cause AIDS and other
sexually transmitted diseases (``STD''s). Microbicides could
allow a woman to protect herself from disease.
(6) Married couples need a method of HIV protection that
will allow them to conceive a child and start a family. No
existing HIV prevention method also allows conception.
Microbicides are being developed to allow women to both
conceive children and protect themselves from HIV.
(7) Households in developing countries often dissolve when
a mother dies. In the hardest hit countries, the number of
children who are orphaned by AIDS is increasing dramatically.
(8) Women in the United States also need HIV prevention
tools like microbicides. AIDS is now the number 1 cause of
death among African-American women between the ages of 25 and
34.
(9) In addition to HIV, other STDs continue to be a major
health threat in the United States. The United States has the
highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases of any
industrialized nation. Nineteen million STD infections occur
every year. It is estimated that by age 25, \1/2\ of all
sexually active people in the United States can expect to be
infected with an STD.
(10) HIV and AIDS represent a threat to national security
and economic well being, with direct medical costs of up to
$15,500,000,000 per year. The pandemic undermines armies,
foments unrest, and burdens the United States military.
(11) As the Nation's largest single provider of HIV/AIDS
care, the Veterans Affairs health care system spent
$359,000,000 to provided care to more than 20,000 American
veterans with HIV/AIDS in fiscal year 2004.
(12) The microbicide field has achieved an extraordinary
amount of scientific momentum, with several first-generation
candidates now in large scale human trials around the world.
At same time, new products, based upon recent advances in HIV
treatment, have advanced into early safety trials.
(13) Microbicides are a classic public health good for
which the social benefits are high but the economic incentive
to private investment is low. Like other public health goods,
such as vaccines, public funding must fill the gap.
Microbicide research depends in large part on Government
leadership and investment.
(14) The Federal Government needs to make a strong
commitment to microbicide research and development. Three
agencies--the National Institutes of Health (``NIH''), the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (``CDC''), and the
United States Agency of International Development
(``USAID'')--have played important roles in the progress to
date, but further strong, well-coordinated, and visible
public sector leadership will be essential for the promise of
microbicides to be realized.
(15) As of 2005, microbicide research at NIH is conducted
under several institutes with no single line of
administrative accountability, no specific funding
coordination, and highly
[[Page S2254]]
variable levels of interest and commitment across institute
leadership. Only a few NIH staff can claim microbicides as
their sole focus.
(16) The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
(``PEPFAR'') recognizes the urgency of developing safe and
effective microbicides to prevent HIV. In addition, NIH
documents state that ``the US government is firmly committed
to accelerating the development of safe and effective
microbicides to prevent HIV,'' recognizing that microbicides
may provide ``one of the most promising preventative
interventions given that could be inexpensive, readily
available, and widely acceptable''. But as of 2005, NIH
spends barely 2 percent of its HIV/AIDS research budget on
microbicides. As more microbicide candidates are advanced
into later-stage clinical trials and development costs rise
correspondingly, 2005 funding levels are simply inadequate.
(17) USAID and the CDC have expanded their microbicide
portfolios, but without overall Federal coordination, costly
inefficiencies and unproductive duplication of effort may
result. USAID sustains strong partnerships with public and
private organizations working on microbicide research,
importantly including clinical trials in developing countries
where its experience is extensive. USAID is well positioned
to facilitate the introduction of microbicides once they are
available. The CDC also engages in critical microbicide
research and clinical testing, and has a long history of
conducting field trials in developing countries.
(18) HIV prevention options available as of 2005 are not
enough. HIV prevention strategies must recognize women's
needs and vulnerabilities. If women are to have a genuine
opportunity to protect themselves, their best option is the
rapid development of new HIV-prevention technologies like
microbicides, which women can initiate and control.
TITLE I--MICROBICIDE RESEARCH AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
SEC. 101. OFFICE OF AIDS RESEARCH; PROGRAM REGARDING
MICROBICIDES FOR PREVENTING TRANSMISSION OF HIV
AND OTHER DISEASES.
Subpart I of part D of title XXIII of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300cc-40 et seq.) is amended by
inserting after section 2351 the following:
``SEC. 2351A. MICROBICIDES FOR PREVENTING TRANSMISSION OF HIV
AND OTHER DISEASES.
``(a) Federal Strategic Plan.--
``(1) In general.--The Director of the Office of AIDS
Research shall--
``(A) expedite the implementation of a Federal strategic
plan for the conduct and support of microbicide research and
development; and
``(B) annually review and, as appropriate, revise such
plan, to prioritize funding and activities in terms of their
scientific urgency.
``(2) Coordination.--In implementing, reviewing, and
prioritizing elements of the plan described under paragraph
(1), the Director of the Office of AIDS Research shall
coordinate with--
``(A) other Federal agencies, including the Director of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development, involved in microbicide research;
``(B) the microbicide research community; and
``(C) health advocates.
``(b) Expansion and Coordination of Activities.--The
Director of the Office of AIDS Research, acting in
coordination with other relevant institutes and offices,
shall expand, intensify, and coordinate the activities of all
appropriate institutes and components of the National
Institutes of Health with respect to research and development
of microbicides to prevent the transmission of the human
immunodeficiency virus (`HIV') and other sexually transmitted
diseases.
``(c) Microbicide Development Unit.--In carrying out
subsection (b), the Director of the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases shall establish within the
Division of AIDS in the Institute, a clearly defined
organizational unit charged with carrying out microbicide
research and development. In establishing such unit, the
Director shall ensure that there are a sufficient number of
employees dedicated to carrying out the mission of the unit.
``(d) Microbicide Clinical Trials.--In carrying out
subsection (c), the Director of the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases shall assign priority to
ensuring adequate funding and support for the integration of
basic science and clinical research, with particular emphasis
on implementation of trials leading to product licensure.
``(e) Reports to Congress.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date
of enactment of the Microbicide Development Act, and annually
thereafter, the Director of the Office of AIDS Research shall
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report
that describes the strategies being implemented by the
Federal Government regarding microbicide research and
development.
``(2) Contents of reports.--Each report submitted under
paragraph (1) shall include--
``(A) a description of activities with respect to
microbicide research and development conducted and supported
by the Federal Government;
``(B) a summary and analysis of the expenditures made by
the Director of the Office of AIDS Research during the
preceding year for activities with respect to microbicide-
specific research and development, including basic research,
preclinical product development, clinical trials, and process
development and production;
``(C) a description and evaluation of the progress made,
during the preceding year, toward the development of
effective and acceptable microbicides; and
``(D) a review of scientific and programmatic obstacles to
expediting the commercial availability of microbicide
products.
``(3) Appropriate committees of congress defined.--In this
subsection, the term `appropriate committees of Congress'
means the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the
Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary
for each fiscal year to carry out this section.''.
TITLE II--MICROBICIDE RESEARCH AT THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND
PREVENTION
SEC. 201. MICROBICIDES FOR PREVENTING TRANSMISSION OF HIV AND
OTHER DISEASES.
Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by transferring section 317R so as to appear after
section 317Q; and
(2) by inserting after section 317R (as so transferred) the
following:
``SEC. 371S. MICROBICIDES FOR PREVENTING TRANSMISSION OF HIV
AND OTHER DISEASES.
``(a) Development and Implementation of the Microbicide
Agenda Supported by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.--The Director of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention shall fully implement such Centers' topical
microbicide agenda to support microbicide research and
development. Such an agenda shall include--
``(1) conducting laboratory research in preparation for,
and support of, clinical microbicide trials;
``(2) conducting behavioral research in preparation for,
and support of, clinical microbicide trials;
``(3) developing and characterizing domestic populations
and international cohorts appropriate for Phases I, II, and
III clinical trials of candidate topical microbicides;
``(4) conducting Phases I and II clinical trials to assess
the safety and acceptability of candidate microbicides;
``(5) conducting Phase III clinical trials to assess the
efficacy of candidate microbicides;
``(6) providing technical assistance to, and consulting
with, a wide variety of domestic and international entities
involved in developing and evaluating topical microbicides,
including health agencies, extramural researchers, industry,
health advocates, and nonprofit organizations; and
``(7) developing and evaluating the diffusion and effects
of implementation strategies for use of effective topical
microbicides.
``(b) Personnel.--The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention shall ensure that there are sufficient numbers of
dedicated employees for carrying out the microbicide agenda
under subsection (a).
``(c) Report to Congress.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the Microbicide Development Act, and annually
thereafter, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention shall submit to the appropriate committees of
Congress, a report on the strategies being implemented by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect to
microbicide research and development. Such report shall be
submitted alone or as part of the overall Federal strategic
plan on microbicides compiled annually by the National
Institutes of Health Office of AIDS Research as required
under section 2351A.
``(2) Contents of report.--Such report shall include--
``(A) a description of activities with respect to
microbicides conducted or supported by the Director of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
``(B) a summary and analysis of the expenditures made by
such Director during the preceding year, for activities with
respect to microbicide-specific research and development,
including the number of employees of such Centers involved in
such activities;
``(C) a description and evaluation of the progress made,
during the preceding year, toward the development of
effective and acceptable microbicides; and
``(D) a review of scientific and programmatic obstacles to
expediting the commercial availability of microbicide
products.
``(3) Appropriate committees of congress defined.--For the
purposes of this subsection, the term `appropriate committees
of Congress' means the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions and the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary
for each fiscal year to carry out this section.''.
[[Page S2255]]
TITLE III--MICROBICIDE RESEARCH AT THE UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
SEC. 301. MICROBICIDES FOR PREVENTING TRANSMISSION OF HIV AND
OTHER DISEASES.
Section 104A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2151b-2) is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
``(h) Microbicides for Preventing Transmission of HIV and
Other Diseases.--
``(1) Development and implementation of the microbicide
agenda.--The head of the Office of HIV/AIDS of the United
States Agency for International Development, in conjunction
with other offices of such Agency, shall develop and
implement a program to support the development of
microbicides products for the prevention of the transmission
of HIV and other diseases, and facilitate wide-scale
availability of such products after such development. The
program shall be known as the `microbicide agenda' and shall
include--
``(A) support for the discovery, development, and
preclinical evaluation of topical microbicides;
``(B) support for the conduct of clinical studies of
candidate microbicides to assess the safety, acceptability,
and effectiveness of such microbicides in reducing the
transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases;
``(C) support for behavioral and social science research
relevant to microbicide development, testing, acceptability,
and use;
``(D) support for preintroductory and introductory studies
of safe and effective microbicides in developing countries;
and
``(E) facilitation of access to microbicides by women at
highest risk of contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted
diseases, at the earliest possible time.
``(2) Staffing.--The head of the Office of HIV/AIDS shall
ensure that the Agency has a sufficient number of dedicated
employees to carry out the microbicide agenda.
``(3) Reports to congress.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the Microbicide Development Act, and annually
thereafter, the Administrator of the Agency shall submit to
the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the
activities of the Administrator to carry out the microbicide
agenda and on any other activities carried out by the
Administrator related to microbicide research and
development.
``(B) Contents of report.--Each report submitted under
subparagraph (A) shall include--
``(i) a description of activities with respect to
microbicides conducted or supported by the Administrator;
``(ii) a summary and analysis of the expenditures made by
the Administrator during the preceding year for activities
with respect to microbicide-specific research and
development, including the number of employees of the Agency
who are involved in such activities;
``(iii) a description and evaluation of the progress made
during the preceding year toward the development of effective
and acceptable microbicides;
``(iv) a review of scientific and programmatic obstacles to
expediting the commercial availability of microbicide
products; and
``(v) a description of the activities carried out to
increase the availability of microbicides approved to prevent
the transmission of HIV or other sexually transmitted
diseases.
``(C) Consultation.--The Administrator shall consult with
the Director of the Office of AIDS Research of the National
Institutes of Health in preparing a report required by
subparagraph (A).
``(D) Appropriate committees of congress defined.--In this
paragraph, the term `appropriate committees of Congress'
means the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on
International Relations and the Committee on Appropriations
of the House of Representatives.
``(4) Authorization of appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary
for each fiscal year to carry out this subsection.''.
______
By Mr. AKAKA:
S. 552. A bill to make technical corrections to the Veterans Benefits
Improvement Act of 2004; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, today I introduce a bill that would provide
a technical correction to the Veterans Benefits Improvements Act of
2004.
Last session, the law that allowed severely disabled members of the
Armed Forces to receive specially adapted housing grants from the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), while still on active duty, was
inadvertently repealed. This was an oversight that occurred when the
law was changed that authorized the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to
provide specially adapted housing for veterans whose disability is the
result of the loss, or loss of use, of both upper arms above the elbow.
Currently, only veterans are statutorily eligible for adapted housing
grants. Congress originally intended eligibility for both disabled
veterans and servicemembers, as was the case before the change in law
last Session.
The correcting language in my bill would again provide the adapted
housing benefit to disabled servicemembers in need of accommodations as
they return to their homes. The adapted housing benefit is essential
for providing an adequate standard of living for our disabled
servicemembers. The benefit provides necessary modifications to
servicemembers' homes to accommodate their disabilities.
I ask that we continue to make every effort to ensure that those
servicemembers who have sacrificed to defend Freedom receive the
benefits that they deserve. We owe it to these great men and women to
pass this legislation.
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. 552
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO VETERANS BENEFITS
IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2004.
Section 2101 of title 38, United States Code, as amended by
section 401 of the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004
(Public Law 108-454), is further amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d);
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) a new subsection (c)
consisting of the text of subsection (c) of such section 2101
as in effect immediately before the enactment of such Act,
modified--
(A) by inserting after ``(c)'' the following: ``Assistance
to Members of the Armed Forces.--'';
(B) in paragraph (1)--
(i) in the first sentence, by striking ``paragraph (1),
(2), or (3)'' and inserting ``subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or
(D) of paragraph (2)''; and
(ii) in the second sentence, by striking ``the second
sentence'' and inserting ``paragraph (3)''; and
(C) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in the first sentence, by striking ``paragraph (1)''
and inserting ``paragraph (2)''; and
(ii) in the second sentence, by striking ``paragraph (2)''
and inserting ``paragraph (3)''; and
(3) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ``subsection (c)'' in
the matter preceding subparagraph (A) and inserting
``subsection (d)''.
SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by section 1 shall take effect
immediately after the enactment of the Veterans Benefits
Improvement Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-454).
______
By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. Allen):
S. 553. A bill to amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for
HOV-lane exemptions for low-emission and hybrid vehicles; to the
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill with
Senator Allen that would allow hybrids to access High Occupancy Vehicle
(HOV) lanes.
California and other States, such as Arizona, Colorado, and Georgia,
do not want to risk losing their Federal highway dollars by acting
without a waiver from the Department of Transportation to implement
laws permitting hybrid vehicles to use HOV lanes.
Virginia has decided to take that risk because the benefit of having
more fuel efficient cars on the roads is greater.
This bill would allow the Department of Transportation to grant such
a waiver to States.
The purpose of this bill is to encourage Americans to buy and drive
hybrids, which provide an innovative solution to help reduce our thirst
for gasoline.
Allowing hybrids into HOV lanes is a low-cost and quick incentive to
promote the use of hybrids.
Hybrid vehicles are more fuel efficient than cars powered by internal
combustion engines and they emit fewer greenhouse gases that lead to
global warming.
Burning less gas can also help us to gain independence from foreign
sources of energy.
The cost of hybrid technology will decrease by bringing more hybrids
into the market.
And, people can make smarter, more fuel efficient, less polluting
choices while getting to and from work faster.
Several States, including my State of California, have acted on their
own to permit hybrid vehicles to use HOV lanes.
[[Page S2256]]
Current Federal law, however, only grants States the flexibility to
allow electric or natural gas powered vehicles to drive in the HOV
lanes with a single passenger.
Right now, there are approximately 20,000 high-mileage hybrid car
owners in California waiting to take advantage of a State law that went
into effect on January 1, 2005. This State law, sponsored by
assemblywoman Fran Pavley, allows hybrid vehicles that get 45 miles-
per-gallon or better to use diamond or HOV lanes until 2008.
As California has 40 percent of the Nation's carpool lanes, high-
mileage hybrid owners stand to gain a significant benefit for driving
these cars.
Some critics have expressed concerns that HOV lanes will get
overloaeded, but each State can stop the program if congestion becomes
a problem.
Hybrids only account for a fraction of the cars sold today--43,435
hybrids out of a total of 16.7 million vehicles were sold in 2003!
If States want to act to encourage their citizens to drive more fuel
efficient, less polluting vehicles, we need to give them the tools to
do so.
It is my hope that Congress will pass this bill quickly so that
hybrid drivers in California, Georgia, Colorado and elsewhere can take
advantage of the HOV lanes.
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. 553
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. HOV-LANE EXEMPTION FOR LOW-EMISSION AND HYBRID
VEHICLES
Section 102(a)(2) of title 23, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) by striking the first sentence and inserting the
following:
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a State
may permit a vehicle with fewer than 2 occupants to operate
in high occupancy vehicle lanes if the vehicle is--
``(i)(I) certified as meeting the inherently low-emission
vehicle evaporative emission standard under part 88 of title
40, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation)
(including a vehicle produced before or during the 2004 model
year that meets that standard); and
``(II) labeled in accordance with section 88.312-93(c) of
title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor
regulation); or
``(ii) a motor vehicle that--
``(I) draws propulsion energy from onboard sources of
stored energy produced or stored by--
``(aa) an internal combustion or heat engine using
combustible fuel; and
``(bb) a rechargeable energy storage system that provides
at least 5 percent of the maximum available power; and
``(II) meets such other requirements or criteria as may be
specified by the State.''; and
(2) in the second sentence, by striking ``Such permission''
and inserting the following:
``(B) Revocation.--The permission under subparagraph (A)''.
______
By Mr. DeWINE (for himself, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Grassley,
Mr. Feingold, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Levin,
Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Corzine, and Mr. Dayton):
S. 555. A bill to amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and
exporting cartels illegal; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise today, along with my colleagues--
Senators Kohl, Leahy, Grassley, Feingold, Snowe, Schumer, Durbin,
Levin, Boxer, Wyden, Corzine, and Dayton--to introduce the No Oil
Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2005 (NOPEC). This legislation
would give the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission legal
authority to bring an antitrust case against the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Every consumer in America knows that gasoline prices have reached
record highs recently. Likewise, the price of home heating oil has
dramatically increased. These price increases have been acutely painful
to people in my home State of Ohio.
Moreover, the rise in jet fuel prices is crippling our already weak
airline industry. One of the main reasons that many U.S. airlines have
not been able to make a profit has been due to skyrocketing jet fuel
costs. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2004, Continental
Airlines' jet fuel costs were $453 million, which was a 48 percent
increase compared to last year, and Delta's jet fuel costs were $385
million, which was 76 percent increase compared to last year. No wonder
so many U.S. airlines are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy or are
already in bankruptcy.
What is the cause of these high gas and fuel prices? There are a
number of factors at play, but there is clear agreement among industry
experts about the primary cause of high gas and fuel prices--and that
is the increase in imported crude oil prices. Who sets crude oil
prices? OPEC does. The unacceptably high price of imported crude oil is
a direct result of price fixing by the OPEC nations to keep the price
of oil unnaturally high.
OPEC's hunger for ill-gotten gains is astounding. It seems its
appetite can never be satisfied. For example, despite the fact that oil
prices recently hit the historic high of $55 a barrel, OPEC members met
in December 2004 and decided to cut the output of oil by another 1
million barrels. When demand is high and supplies are cut, that means
prices will increase. Nonetheless, OPEC cut production. This is an
outrage.
OPEC is probably the most notorious example of an illegal cartel in
the world today. It is an affront to the principle that markets should
be free. Nation after nation has adopted antitrust laws that make it
illegal to fix prices. In 1998, the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development, then composed of 29 member nations, issued
a formal recommendation denouncing price fixing. OPEC's continued
actions, in ongoing defiance of American and international antitrust
norms, should not be tolerated.
Until now, however, OPEC has effectively received a ``free pass''
from prosecution under U.S. antitrust laws. For over two decades,
enforcement has been constrained by two related court opinions. In
1979, a Federal district court found that OPEC's price-setting
decisions were ``governmental'' acts. As a result, they were given
sovereign status and protected by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
Subsequently, in 1981, a Federal court of appeals declined to consider
the appeal of that antitrust case based on the so-called ``act of
state'' doctrine, which holds that a court will not consider a case
regarding the legality of the acts of a foreign nation.
Our bill would effectively reverse these decisions. It makes it clear
that OPEC's activities are not protected by sovereign immunity and that
the Federal courts should not decline to hear a case against OPEC based
on the ``act of state'' doctrine. As a result, under NOPEC, the
Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission could bring an
antitrust enforcement action against OPEC's member nations. This bill
would force OPEC to begin pricing in a competitive, free-market manner
or face the possibility of civil or criminal antitrust prosecution.
Senator Kohl and I have introduced this bill three times before--in
2000, 2001, and 2004. We intend to keep fighting for American consumers
and businesses so that they will not be fleeced by OPEC in the future.
NOPEC says to OPEC: When you want to do business with America, you
must abide by our antitrust laws and the rules of the free market. And
when OPEC, one day, abides by the rules of the free market, we will all
see lower oil and gas prices.
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. 555
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 ``No Oil Producing and
Exporting Cartels Act of 2005'' or ``NOPEC''.
SEC. 2. SHERMAN ACT.
The Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) is amended by adding
after section 7 the following:
``SEC. 7A. OIL PRODUCING CARTELS.
``(a) In General.--It shall be illegal and a violation of
this Act for any foreign state, or any instrumentality or
agent of any foreign state, to act collectively or in
combination with any other foreign state, any instrumentality
or agent of any other foreign state, or any other person,
whether by cartel or any other association or form of
cooperation or joint action--
[[Page S2257]]
``(1) to limit the production or distribution of oil,
natural gas, or any other petroleum product;
``(2) to set or maintain the price of oil, natural gas, or
any petroleum product; or
``(3) to otherwise take any action in restraint of trade
for oil, natural gas, or any petroleum product;
when such action, combination, or collective action has a
direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect on the
market, supply, price, or distribution of oil, natural gas,
or other petroleum product in the United States.
``(b) Sovereign Immunity.--A foreign state engaged in
conduct in violation of subsection (a) shall not be immune
under the doctrine of sovereign immunity from the
jurisdiction or judgments of the courts of the United States
in any action brought to enforce this section.
``(c) Inapplicability of Act of State Doctrine.--No court
of the United States shall decline, based on the act of state
doctrine, to make a determination on the merits in an action
brought under this section.
``(d) Enforcement.--The Attorney General of the United
States and the Federal Trade Commission may bring an action
to enforce this section in any district court of the United
States as provided under the antitrust laws.''.
SEC. 3. SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.
Section 1605(a) of title 28, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``or'' after the
semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period and inserting
``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(8) in which the action is brought under section 7A of
the Sherman Act.''.
Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce, with Senator
DeWine and 11 co-sponsors, of the No Oil Producing and Exporting
Cartels Act of 2005 (``NOPEC''). It is time for the U.S. government to
fight back on the price of oil and hold OPEC accountable when it acts
illegally. This bill will hold OPEC member nations to account under
U.S. antitrust law when they agree to limit supply or fix price in
violation of the most basic principles of free competition.
Our bill will authorize the Attorney General and Federal Trade
Commission to file suit against nations or other entities that
participate in a conspiracy to limit the supply, or fix the price, of
oil. In addition, it will expressly specify that the doctrines of
sovereign immunity and act of state do not exempt nations that
participate in oil cartels from basic antitrust law. Senator DeWine and
I have introduced this bill in each of the last three Congresses. This
legislation was the subject of an extensive hearing at the Antitrust
Subcommittee last year, and subsequently passed the Judiciary Committee
without dissent. It is now time, in this new Congress, to finally pass
this legislation into law and give our nation a long needed tool to
counteract this pernicious and anti-consumer conspiracy.
Throughout the last year, consumers all across the Nation have
watched gas prices rise to previously unimagined levels. As crude oil
prices exceeded $40, then $50 and then $55 per barrel, retail prices of
gasoline over $2.00 per gallon became commonplace. While prices
temporarily receded for short periods, the general trend was
significantly upwards, and rising even today. We now hear predictions
that the price of crude oil may soon break the $60 barrier, and oil
industry analysts even say $80 per barrel is not unthinkable. And one
fact has remained consistent--any move downwards in price would end as
soon as OPEC decided to cut production. The price of crude oil danced
to the tune set by OPEC members. Such blatantly anti-competitive
conduct by the oil cartel violates the most basic principles of fair
competition and free markets and should not be tolerated.
Real people suffer real consequences every day in our nation because
of OPEC's actions. Rising gas prices are a silent tax that takes hard-
earned money away from Americans every time they visit the gas pump.
Higher oil prices drive up the cost of transportation, harming
thousands of companies throughout the economy from trucking to
aviation. And those costs are passed on to consumers in the form of
higher prices for manufactured goods. Higher oil prices mean higher
heating oil and electricity costs. Anyone who has gone through a
Midwest winter can tell you about the tremendous personal costs
associated with higher home heating bills.
We have all heard many explanations offered for rising energy prices.
Some say that the oil companies are gouging consumers. Some blame
disruptions in supply. Others point to the EPA requirement mandating
use of a new and more expensive type of ``reformulated'' gas in the
Midwest or other ``boutique'' fuels around the country. Some even claim
that refiners and distributors have illegally fixed prices. On this
issue, Senator DeWine and I have repeatedly asked the Federal Trade
Commission to investigate these allegations. As a result of our
requests, the FTC has put a task force in place to find out if those
allegations were true. While we continue to urge the FTC to be
vigilant, the FTC has to date found no evidence of illegal domestic
price fixing as a cause of higher gas prices. And we conducted our own
inquiry in the Antitrust Subcommittee last year which found no basis to
challenge the FTC's conclusions.
But one cause of these escalating prices is indisputable: the price
fixing conspiracy of the OPEC nations. For years, this conspiracy has
unfairly driven up the cost of imported crude oil to satisfy the greed
of the oil exporters. We have long decried OPEC, but, sadly, no one in
government has yet tried to take any action. Our bill will, for the
first time, establish clearly and plainly that when a group of
competing oil producers like the OPEC nations act together to restrict
supply or set prices, they are violating U.S. law. The bill will not
authorize private lawsuits, but it will authorize the Attorney General
or FTC to file suit under the antitrust laws for redress. Our bill will
also make plain that the nations of OPEC cannot hide behind the
doctrines of ``Sovereign Immunity'' or ``Act of State'' to escape the
reach of American justice. In so doing, our bill will overrule one
twenty-year old lower court decision which incorrectly failed to
recognize that the actions of OPEC member nations was commercial
activity exempt from the protections of sovereign immunity.
The most fundamental principle of a free market is that competitors
cannot be permitted to conspire to limit supply or fix price. There can
be no free market without this foundation. And we should not permit any
nation to flout this fundamental principle.
Some critics of this legislation have argued that suing OPEC will not
work or that threatening suit will hurt more than help. I disagree. Our
NOPEC legislation will, for the first time, enable our antitrust
authorities to take legal action to combat the illegitimate price-
fixing conspiracy of the oil cartel. It will, at a minimum, have a real
deterrent effect on nations that seek to join forces to fix oil prices
to the detriment of consumers. This legislation will be the first real
weapon the U.S. government has ever had to deter OPEC from its
seemingly endless cycle of price increases. There is nothing remarkable
about applying U.S. antitrust law overseas. Our government has not
hesitated to do so when faced with clear evidence of anti-competitive
conduct that harms American consumers. A few years ago, for example,
the Justice Department secured record fines totaling $725 million
against German and Swiss companies engaged in a price fixing conspiracy
to raise and fix the price of vitamins sold in the United States and
elsewhere. Their behavior harmed consumers by raising the prices
consumers paid for vitamins every day and plainly needed to be
addressed. As this and other cases show, the mere fact that the
conspirators are foreign nations is no basis to shield them from
violating these most basic standards of fair economic behavior.
Even under current law, there is no doubt that the actions of the
international oil cartel would be in gross violation of antitrust law
if engaged in by private companies. If OPEC were a group of
international private companies rather than foreign governments, their
actions would be nothing more than an illegal price fixing scheme. But
OPEC members have used the shield of ``sovereign immunity'' to escape
accountability for their price-fixing. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities
Act, though, already recognizes that the ``commercial'' activity of
nations is not protected by sovereign immunity. And it is hard to
imagine an activity that is more obviously commercial than selling oil
for profit, as the OPEC nations do. Our legislation will establish that
the sovereign immunity doctrine will not divest a U.S. court from
jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit alleging that members of the oil cartel
are violating antitrust law.
[[Page S2258]]
The suffering of consumers across the Nation in the last year has
made me more certain than ever that this legislation is necessary.
Between OPEC's repeated decisions to cut oil production and the FTC's
conclusion for the last several years that there is no illegal conduct
by domestic companies responsible for rising gas prices, I am convinced
that we need to take action, and take action now, before the damage
spreads too far.
I urge my colleagues to support our legislation so that our Nation
will finally have an effective means to combat this price-fixing
conspiracy of oil-rich nations.
______
By Mr. McCAIN:
S. 556. A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture to jointly conduct a study of certain land
adjacent to the Walnut Canyon National Monument in the State of
Arizona; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to be joined today by my
colleague in the House of Representatives, Congressman Rick Renzi, in
introducing legislation to authorize a special resources and land
management study for the Walnut Canyon National Monument in Arizona.
The study is intended to evaluate a range of management options for
public lands adjacent to the monument to ensure adequate protection of
the canyon's cultural and natural resources.
For several years, local communities adjacent to the Walnut Canyon
National Monument have debated whether the land surrounding the
monument would be best protected from future development under
management of the U.S. Forest Service or the National Park Service. The
Coconino County Board and the Flagstaff City Council have passed
resolutions concluding that the preferred method to determine what is
best for the land surrounding Walnut Canyon National Monument is by
having a Federal study conducted. The recommendations from such a study
would help to resolve the question of future management and whether
expanding the monument's boundaries could compliment current public and
multiple-use needs.
The legislation also would direct the Secretary of the Interior and
the Secretary of Agriculture to provide recommendations for management
options for maintenance of the public uses and protection of resources
of the study area.
Mr. President, this legislation would provide a mechanism for
determining the management options for one of Arizona's high uses
scenic areas and protect the natural and cultural resources of this
incredibly beautiful monument. I urge my colleagues to support its
passage.
______
By Mr. REID (for himself, Mr. Biden, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Murray,
Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Salazar,
Mr. Bingaman, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs.
Lincoln, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. Durbin):
S. 558. A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to permit
certain additional retired members of the Armed Forces who have a
service-connected disability to receive both disability compensation
from the Department of Veterans Affairs for their disability and either
retired pay by reason of their years of military service or Combat-
Related Special compensation and to eliminate the phase-in period under
current law with respect to such concurrent receipt; to the Committee
on Armed Services.
Mr. President, I rise today to again introduce a bill along with my
colleagues Mr. Biden, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nelson of Florida,
Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Bingaman, Ms. Landrieu, Mr.
Jeffords, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Lieberman, and
Mr. Durbin.
Nothing is more important than keeping America safe. The key to our
security is a professional, well-trained military. And in order to
attract the dedicated soldiers we need, we must honor our commitment to
America's veterans. Most everyone in the Senate knows about the ban on
concurrent receipt . . . and our veterans certainly know about the
hardship it causes.
This is the outdated and unfair policy that prevents disabled
veterans from collecting both their military retirement pay and
disability compensation at the same time. Under current law, a retired
disabled veteran must deduct from his retirement pay, dollar for
dollar, the amount of any disability compensation he receives.
In many cases, this totally wipes out the veteran's retirement pay.
The end result is that the disabled military retiree loses all of the
value of his 20 or more years of service to our Nation. We don't
subject any other Federal retiree to this kind of offset, only our
disabled military retirees. So this policy amounts to a special tax on
our disabled veterans . . . men and women who have already sacrificed
so much for our Nation.
When this situation was first brought to my attention a few years ago
by a veteran from Nevada, I could hardly believe it. It seemed too
outrageous to be true. And to this day, I can't understand why it has
taken so long to correct the problem. Because to me, it just goes
without saying that we should treat our disabled veteran with honor . .
. with dignity . . . and with respect.
The members of this Senate share my feelings. For the past years, the
Senate has passed measures to end the ban on concurrent receipt. I want
to especially thank Senators Levin and Warner for their support of this
issue, year after year. Thanks to their strong leadership we have made
some progress each year.
In 2003 we passed a measure to allow concurrent receipt for those who
are 100 percent disabled. Last year we made that change immediate,
instead of being phased in over 10 years. This will benefit as many as
50,000 severely disabled veterans. But there are still hundreds of
thousands of disabled veterans who need our help.
We would not dream of leaving a soldier behind on the battlefield.
And we should not walk away from our disabled veterans now, when they
need our help. Frankly, I can't understand why the administration is
even debating whether this policy should be changed for veterans whose
disabilities make them unemployable. The fact is, many veterans with a
disability rated at less than 100 percent cannot get or hold a job
because of their disabilities.
And a 10-year phase-in simply isn't fair for these veterans, because
many of them will never live to see the benefits. They deserve
immediate help. We have to take care of these veterans--now. If the
administration doesn't want to do it, then Congress will be forced to
legislate the necessary changes. Taking care of veterans is the right
thing to do because we must never forget the sacrifices they made to
protect our freedom.
Taking care of our veterans is also a key to winning the war on
terror. In our all-volunteer military, it is critical to attract and
retain professional, dedicated soldiers.
These people serve because they love America. They don't expect to
get rich in the military but they do expect that we will honor our
commitments to provide health care and other benefits for them and
their families.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of this
legislation be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 558
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 ``Retired Pay Restoration Act
of 2005''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) For more than 100 years before 1999, all disabled
military retirees were required to fund their own veterans'
disability compensation by forfeiting one dollar of earned
retired pay for each dollar received in veterans' disability
compensation.
(2) Since 1999, Congress has enacted legislation every year
to progressively expand eligibility criteria for relief of
the retired pay disability offset and further reduce the
burden of financial sacrifice on disabled military retirees.
(3) Absent adequate funding to eliminate the sacrifice for
all disabled retirees, Congress has given initial priority to
easing financial inequities for the most severely disabled
and for combat-disabled retirees.
(4) In the interest of maximizing eligibility within cost
constraints, Congress effectively has authorized full
concurrent receipt for all
[[Page S2259]]
qualifying retirees with 100-percent disability ratings and
all with combat-related disability ratings, while phasing out
the disability offset to retired pay over 10 years for
retired members with noncombat-related, service-connected
disability ratings of 50 percent to 90 percent.
(5) In pursuing these good-faith efforts, Congress
acknowledges the regrettable necessity of creating new
thresholds of eligibility that understandably are
disappointing to disabled retirees who fall short of meeting
those new thresholds.
(6) Congress is not content with the status quo.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
military retired pay earned by service and sacrifice in
defending the Nation should not be reduced because a military
retiree is also eligible for veterans' disability
compensation awarded for service-connected disability.
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENT OF BOTH RETIRED PAY AND
VETERANS' DISABILITY COMPENSATION FOR CERTAIN
ADDITIONAL MILITARY RETIREES WITH COMPENSABLE
SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES.
(a) Extension of Concurrent Receipt Authority to Retirees
With Service-connected Disabilities Rated Less Than 50
Percent.--Section 1414 of title 10, United States Code, is
amended by striking paragraph (2) of subsection (a).
(b) Repeal of Phase-in of Concurrent Receipt of Retired Pay
and Veterans' Disability Compensation.--Such section is
further amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking the final sentence of
paragraph (1);
(2) by striking subsection (c) and redesignating
subsections (d) and (e) as subsections (c) and (d),
respectively; and
(3) in subsection (d) (as so redesignated), by striking
subparagraph (4).
(c) Clerical Amendments.--
(1) The heading for section 1414 of such title is amended
to read as follows:
``Sec. 1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also
eligible for veterans' disability compensation: concurrent
payment of retired pay and disability compensation''.
(2) The item relating to such section in the table of
sections at the beginning of chapter 71 of such title is
amended to read as follows:
``1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also eligible for
veterans' disability compensation: concurrent payment of
retired pay and disability compensation.''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect as of January 1, 2006, and shall apply to
payments for months beginning on or after that date.
SEC. 4. COORDINATION OF SERVICE ELIGIBILITY FOR COMBAT-
RELATED SPECIAL COMPENSATION AND CONCURRENT
RECEIPT.
(a) Eligibility for Tera Retirees.--Subsection (c) of
section 1413a of title 10, United States Code, is amended by
striking ``entitled to retired pay who--'' and all that
follows and inserting ``who--
``(1) is entitled to retired pay, other than a member
retired under chapter 61 of this title with less than 20
years of service creditable under section 1405 of this title
and less than 20 years of service computed under section
12732 of this title; and
``(2) has a combat-related disability''.
(b) Amendments to Standardize Similar Provisions.--
(1) Clerical amendment.--The heading for paragraph (3) of
section 1413a(b) of such title is amended by striking
``rules'' and inserting ``rule''.
(2) Specification of qualified retirees for concurrent
receipt purposes.--Subsection (a) of section 1414 of such
title, as amended by section 2(a), is amended--
(A) by striking ``a member or'' and all that follows
through ``retiree')'' and inserting ``an individual who is a
qualified retiree for any month'';
(B) by inserting ``retired pay and veterans' disability
compensation'' after ``both''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) Qualified retirees.--For purposes of this section, a
qualified retiree, with respect to any month, is a member or
former member of the uniformed services who--
``(A) is entitled to retired pay, other than in the case of
a member retired under chapter 61 of this title with less
than 20 years of service creditable under section 1405 of
this title and less than 20 years of service computed under
section 12732 of this title; and
``(B) is also entitled for that month to veterans'
disability compensation.''.
(3) Standardization with crsc rule for chapter 61
retirees.--Subsection (b) of section 1414 of such title is
amended--
(A) by striking ``Special rules'' in the subsection heading
and all that follows through ``is subject to'' in paragraph
(1) and inserting ``Special rule for chapter 61 disability
retirees.--In the case of a qualified retiree who is retired
under chapter 61 of this title, the retired pay of the member
is subject to''; and
(B) by striking paragraph (2).
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect as of January 1, 2006, and shall apply to
payments for months beginning on or after that date.
______
By Mr. BIDEN (for himself and Mr. Lugar):
S. 559. A bill to make the protection of vulnerable populations,
especially women and children, who are affected by a humanitarian
emergency a priority of the United States Government, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, as we stand here today women and children
are suffering the ravages and privations of war and natural disasters.
They are suffering food shortages and lack the most basic necessities
in so many nations around the world. Five million people have been
affected by the tsunami. Of that 5 million, 1.5 million are children,
many alone and parentless, vulnerable to human trafficking, forced
recruitment into military service or worse.
We can help. We can do our share by making sure U.S. programs do
their share.
Today, I am introducing--along with Senator Lugar--the Protection of
Vulnerable Populations During Humanitarian Emergencies Act of 2005, to
make vulnerable people, especially women and children, an absolute
priority of our foreign assistance programs. As a Nation, as a people,
we probably should do more, but we certainly can do no less than to
ensure the international community has a system in place to prevent the
exploitation of so many lost, vulnerable, suffering women and children
who are struggling to survive the most God-awful conditions imaginable.
Over the past fifty years the nature of war has changed dramatically.
In today's world, 90 percent of the casualties in any war are
civilians, most of them women and children. Since 1990, more than 2
million children have been killed, and 6 million maimed or injured as a
result of a war somewhere in this world.
It is extraordinary to think that, in what we believe is the most
sophisticated, technologically advanced period in world history, rape
has become a routine weapon of war used at will by bands of marauding
military forces--some of them young boys--everywhere from Burma to
Bosnia, and from Sierra Leone to Sudan.
Forced displacement of civilians, rather than being one of the
unfortunate results of war is now a deliberate tactic of war.
Look at Darfur in the last 18 months.
Civilians have been targeted by Khartoum in one of the most horrific
genocides we have seen in recent years. Homes have been bombed, and
villages attacked. Government sponsored militia are destroying crops
and have fouled the water supply. They're burning homes, leaving
mothers no choice but to flee for their lives and their children's
lives.
Civilians forced to flee during war find their way to camps, but
instead of relative safety what do they find? They find more suffering.
The camps become virtual prisons. Women and girls are beaten and raped
if they venture outside the camps for firewood.
When I recently read a report by a United Nations investigatory team
which states that a number of U.N. peacekeepers--U.N. peacekeepers,
mind you--deployed to protect civilians from ethnic violence in the
eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were sexually exploiting girls as
young as 13 years old, it reinforced my belief that we cannot stand by
any longer. Something must be done and this bill only begins to do it.
Let me read you what that report said:
Interviews with Congolese women and girls confirmed that
sexual contact with peacekeepers occurred with regularity,
usually in exchange for food or small sums of money . . .''
. . . ``Many of the contacts involved girls under the age
of 18.''
What's more horrifying to me: the investigators found that the abuse
was going on while they were there, on the ground, conducting the
investigation. These incidents as well as allegations of sexual
exploitation by camp residents and humanitarian workers in refugee
camps in West Africa and Nepal in 2002 are incredible, real life
examples of the sad fact that women and children remain vulnerable even
in the very places they flee for safety.
This bill seeks to do something about it.
It enhances the U.S. government's ability to see that women and
children are protected before, during, and after a complex humanitarian
emergency. It directs the Secretary of State to designate a special
coordinator for protection issues who will be charged with
[[Page S2260]]
making sure our embassies and consular posts are made aware of the
warning signs that an emergency which may put the lives and safety of
women and children at risk is imminent.
It directs the coordinator to compile a watch list of such countries
and regions so that the Agency for International Development can plan
to meet potential need. It prohibits U.S. funding for relief agencies
that do not sign a code of conduct that outlaws improper exploitative
relationships between aid workers and recipients.
It expresses the Sense of Congress that the U.N. Department of
Peacekeeping Operations should improve its mechanism to prevent and
respond to allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by
peacekeepers.
It establishes a fellowship with the AID for someone with expertise
and skills in preventing and responding to violence and exploitation of
those made vulnerable by war.
It calls upon the United States Executive Director of the
International Bank of Reconstruction and Development to try to make
sure World Bank demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration programs
extend the same benefits that ex-combatants receive to women and
children who were associated with them.
As it now stands, women and children who were used as cooks and
porters and so called ``wives,'' a euphemism for women who were
kidnaped to serve as sexual slaves, may well not be given a single
thing through these programs--nothing with which to rebuild their lives
despite the fact that they were not there by choice. Yet the very
people who forced them into such conditions receive assistance with no
qualms or reservations.
Finally, it amends the Foreign Assistance Act to authorize programs
and activities specifically aimed at making people--especially women
and children--who are affected by humanitarian emergencies safer from
further exploitation and abuse.
This bill is by no means a panacea, but it is a decent beginning. It
is the least we can do to mitigate the extraordinary violence against
women and children in times of war and natural disasters the results of
which we see all too often in a world that seems to have gone mad.
To do nothing in the face of it would be sinful, inhumane, and wrong.
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. 559
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 ``Protection of Vulnerable
Populations During Humanitarian Emergencies Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Findings.
TITLE I--PROGRAM AND POLICY COORDINATION
Sec. 101. Requirement to develop integrated strategy.
Sec. 102. Designation of coordinator.
TITLE II--PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS
Sec. 201. Reporting and monitoring systems.
Sec. 202. Protection training and expertise.
TITLE III--PROTECTION OF REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS
Sec. 301. Codes of conduct.
Sec. 302. Health services for refugees and displaced persons.
Sec. 303. Economic self-sufficiency of vulnerable populations affected
by a humanitarian emergency.
Sec. 304. International military education and training.
Sec. 305. Sense of Congress regarding actions of United Nations
peacekepers.
TITLE IV--PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE POPULATIONS AFFECTED BY A
HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY
Sec. 401. Report regarding programs to protect vulnerable populations.
Sec. 402. Protection assistance.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Agency.--The term ``Agency'' means the United States
Agency for International Development.
(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee
on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on
International Relations of the House of Representatives.
(3) Children.--The term ``children'' means persons under
the age of 18 years.
(4) Coordinator.--The term ``coordinator'' means the
individual designated by the Secretary under section 102(a).
(5) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of State.
(6) Exploitation of children.--The term ``exploitation of
children'' includes--
(A) adult sexual activity with children;
(B) kidnapping or forcibly separating children from their
families;
(C) subjecting children to forced child labor;
(D) forcing children to commit or witness acts of violence,
including compulsory recruitment into armed forces or as
combatants; and
(E) withholding or obstructing access of children to food,
shelter, medicine, and basic human services.
(7) HIV.--The term ``HIV'' means the human immunodeficiency
virus, the virus that causes the acquired immune deficiency
syndrome (AIDS).
(8) Humanitarian emergency.--The term ``humanitarian
emergency'' means a situation in which, due to a natural or
manmade disaster, civilians, including refugees and
internally displaced persons, require basic humanitarian
assistance.
(9) Inter-agency standing committee.--The term ``Inter-
Agency Standing Committee'' means the Inter-Agency Standing
Committee established in response to United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 46/182 of December 19, 1991.
(10) Protection.--The term ``protection'' means all
appropriate measures to provide the physical and
psychological security of, provide equal access to basic
services for, and safeguard the legal and human rights of,
individuals.
(11) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of State.
(12) Sex trafficking.--The term ``sex trafficking'' has the
meaning given the term in section 103 of Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).
(13) Sexual exploitation and abuse.--The term ``sexual
exploitation and abuse'' means causing harm to a person
through--
(A) rape;
(B) sexual assault or torture;
(C) sex trafficking and trafficking in persons;
(D) demands for sex in exchange for employment, goods,
services, or protection; and
(E) other forms of sexual violence.
(14) Trafficking in persons.--The term ``trafficking in
persons'' has the meaning given the term ``severe forms of
trafficking in persons'' in section 103 of Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).
(15) Vulnerable populations.--The term ``vulnerable
populations'' means those people, such as women, children,
the disabled, and the elderly, who by virtue of their status
are at a disadvantage in obtaining or accessing goods and
services.
SEC. 4. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The nature of war has changed dramatically in recent
decades, putting civilians, especially women and children, at
greater risk of death, disease, displacement, and
exploitation.
(2) In the last decade alone, more than 2,000,000 children
have been killed during wars, while more than 4,000,000 have
survived physical mutilation, and more than 1,000,000 have
been orphaned or separated from their families as a result of
war.
(3) The use of rape, particularly against women and girls,
is an increasingly common tactic in modern war.
(4) Civilians, particularly women and children, account for
the vast majority of those adversely affected by humanitarian
emergencies, including as refugees and internally displaced
persons, and increasingly are targeted by combatants and
armed elements for murder, abduction, forced military
conscription, involuntary servitude, displacement, sexual
abuse and slavery, mutilation, and loss of freedom.
(5) Large-scale natural disasters, such as the tsunami that
struck South East Asia, South Asia, and East Africa on
December 26, 2004, and claimed over 200,000 lives, are
particularly threatening to children, who are often orphaned
or separated from their families.
(6) Traditionally, the response to such humanitarian
emergencies has focused on providing food, medical care, and
shelter needs, and has placed less emphasis on the safety and
security of those affected by a humanitarian emergency.
(7) Refugee women and girls face particular threats because
of power inequities, including being forced to exchange sex
for food and humanitarian supplies, and being at increased
risk of rape and sexual exploitation and abuse due to poor
security in refugee camps.
(8) In some circumstances, humanitarian agencies have
failed to make individuals affected by a humanitarian
emergency, especially women and children, aware of their
rights to protection and assistance, to give them access to
effective channels of redress, and to make humanitarian
workers aware of their duty to respect these rights and
provide adequate assistance.
(9) Refugee and displaced women face heightened risks of
developing complications
[[Page S2261]]
during pregnancy, suffering a miscarriage, dying, being
injured during childbirth, becoming infected with HIV or
another sexually transmitted infection, or suffering from
posttraumatic stress disorder.
(10) Despite the heightened risks for women during a
humanitarian emergency, women's needs for specialized health
services have often been overlooked by donors and relief
organizations, which are focused on providing food, water,
and shelter.
(11) There is a substantial need for the protection of
civilians, especially women and children, to be given a high
priority during all humanitarian emergencies.
TITLE I--PROGRAM AND POLICY COORDINATION
SEC. 101. REQUIREMENT TO DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall, in consultation with
the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, develop a comprehensive strategy
for the protection of vulnerable populations, especially
women and children, who are affected by a humanitarian
emergency. The strategy shall include--
(1) measures to address the specific protection needs of
women and children;
(2) training for personnel to respond to the specific needs
of such vulnerable populations; and
(3) measures taken to comply with section 301.
(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report setting forth
the strategy described in subsection (a).
SEC. 102. DESIGNATION OF COORDINATOR.
(a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall designate an
individual within the Department or the Agency as the
coordinator to be responsible for the oversight and
coordination of efforts by the Department and the Agency to
provide protection for vulnerable populations, especially
women and children, affected by a humanitarian emergency.
(b) Consultation Requirement.--The Secretary shall consult
with the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development in making a designation under
subsection (a).
(c) Notification.--Not later than 5 days after designating
an official as a coordinator under subsection (a), the
Secretary shall inform the appropriate congressional
committees of such designation.
TITLE II--PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS
SEC. 201. REPORTING AND MONITORING SYSTEMS.
(a) Duties of Coordinator.--The coordinator shall--
(1) develop and maintain a database of historical
information about occurrences of sexual exploitation and
abuse, and other exploitation, of children during a
humanitarian emergency;
(2) establish a reporting and monitoring system for United
States diplomatic missions to collect and submit to the
coordinator information that indicates that vulnerable
populations, especially women and children, are being
targeted for or are at substantial risk of violence or
exploitation in humanitarian emergencies;
(3) assist United States diplomatic missions in developing
responses to situations where there is a substantial risk of
sexual exploitation and abuse or exploitation of children
that may occur during a humanitarian emergency; and
(4) develop mechanisms for the receipt and distribution of
reports to and from the public and relevant nongovernmental
and international organizations of evidence of sexual
exploitation and abuse and exploitation of children during a
humanitarian emergency.
(b) Consultation.--In carrying out duties under paragraphs
(1) and (2) of subsection (a), the Coordinator shall consult
with inter-governmental organizations and nongovernmental
organizations.
SEC. 202. PROTECTION TRAINING AND EXPERTISE.
(a) Fellowship Program.--The Administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development is authorized to
establish a fellowship program at the Agency to increase the
expertise of the personnel of the Agency in developing
programs and policies to carry out activities related to the
protection of vulnerable populations, especially women and
children, affected by a humanitarian emergency.
(b) Term of Fellowship.--An individual may participate in a
fellowship under this section for a term of not more than 3
years.
(c) Number of Fellows.--The Administrator is authorized to
employ up to 10 fellows at any one time under this program.
(d) Qualification.--An individual is qualified to
participate in a fellowship under this section if such
individual has the specific expertise required--
(1) to develop and implement policies and programs related
to the protection of vulnerable populations, especially women
and children; and
(2) to promote the exchange of knowledge and experience
between the Agency and entities that assist the Agency in
carrying out assistance programs.
TITLE III--PROTECTION OF REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS
SEC. 301. CODES OF CONDUCT.
None of the funds made available by the Department or
Agency to provide assistance under section 491 of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2292) or overseas
assistance under section 2 of the Migration and Refugee
Assistance Act of 1962 (22 U.S.C. 2601) may be provided to a
primary grantee or contractor for the purpose of providing
assistance to refugees or internally displaced persons unless
such grantee or contractor has adopted a code of conduct that
is consistent with the 6 core principles recommended by the
Inter-Agency Standing Committee. To the extent practicable, a
grantee or contractor that has adopted such a code of conduct
shall ensure that subgrantees and subcontractors of such
grantee or contractor have adopted, or agree to act in
accordance with, such a code of conduct.
SEC. 302. HEALTH SERVICES FOR REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS.
(a) Provision of Health Services to Vulnerable Populations
Affected by Humanitarian Emergencies.--The coordinator shall
seek to ensure that organizations funded by the Department
and the Agency for the purpose of responding to a
humanitarian emergency coordinate and implement activities
needed to respond to the health needs of vulnerable
populations, especially women and children, as soon as
practicable and not later than 30 days after the onset of a
humanitarian emergency.
(b) Activities Defined.--The activities referred to in
subsection (a) include activities to--
(1) prevent and manage the consequences of sexual violence;
(2) reduce transmission of HIV;
(3) provide obstetric care; and
(4) develop a plan to integrate women's health services
into the primary health care services provided during a
humanitarian emergency.
SEC. 303. ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY OF VULNERABLE POPULATIONS
AFFECTED BY A HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY.
(a) Amendments to Microenterprise Act of 2000.--Section 102
of the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 2000 (22
U.S.C. 2151f note) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (4)--
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D) and
subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:
``(B) Women displaced by armed conflict are particularly at
risk, lacking access to traditional livelihoods and means for
generating income.''; and
(2) in paragraph (13)--
(A) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C);
and
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:
``(B) Particular efforts should be made to expand the
availability of microcredit programs to internally displaced
persons, who historically have not had access to such
programs.''.
(b) Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act.--Section
256(b)(3) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2212(b)(3)) is amended by inserting after ``clients'' the
following: ``, including women microentrepeneurs,''.
SEC. 304. INTERNATIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION AND TRAINING.
Section 541 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2347) is amended--
(1) by striking ``or (iv)'' and inserting ``(iv)''; and
(2) by striking ``rights.'' and inserting ``rights, or (v)
improve the protection of civilians, especially women and
children, including those who are refugees or displaced
persons.''.
SEC. 305. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ACTIONS OF UNITED
NATIONS PEACEKEEPERS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Secretary-General of the United Nations should
strengthen the existing ability of the United Nations
Department of Peacekeeping Operations to protect civilians,
especially women and children, from sexual exploitation and
abuse by personnel in peace operation missions by--
(A) directing the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to
identify nongovernmental organizations and local community
officials to receive and communicate to senior level mission
officials credible reports from civilians of sexual
exploitation and abuse;
(B) ensuring that there is a mechanism in place for all
credible allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse to be
brought to the attention of senior level mission officials in
an expedited fashion;
(C) developing missions based rapid response teams to
investigate allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse;
(D) improving informational programs for United Nations
personnel on their responsibility not to engage in acts of
sexual exploitation and abuse and the sanctions for such
actions;
(E) identifying troop contributing countries that refuse to
investigate allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by
nationals serving in peacekeeping missions;
(F) permanently excluding individuals found to have engaged
in sexual abuse or exploitation, as well as troop contingent
commanders and civilian managerial personnel complicit in
such behavior, from participating in future United Nations
peacekeeping missions; and
(G) demanding that troop contributing countries--
[[Page S2262]]
(i) thoroughly investigate cases in which their nationals
have been alleged to have engaged in sexual abuse or
exploitation which on United Nations peacekeeping missions;
and
(ii) punish those found guilty of such misconduct;
(2) troop contributing states should ensure that their
soldiers are properly trained on United Nations guidelines
regarding proper conduct towards civilians, in particular
those guidelines that address gender-based violence, before
participating in United Nations peace operation missions;
(3) the United Nations should suspend payment of
peacekeeping funds to countries when there is credible
evidence of sexual exploitation and abuse by troops of such
countries that are participating in peacekeeping operations,
and the governments of such countries are not investigating
or punishing such conduct; and
(4) the Secretary should consider a suspension of United
States military assistance to countries that do not--
(A) investigate allegations of sexual exploitation and
abuse by troops participating in United Nations peacekeeping
operations; or
(B) hold perpetrators of such abuse and exploitation
accountable.
TITLE IV--PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE POPULATIONS AFFECTED BY A
HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY
SEC. 401. ACTIONS TO SUPPORT PROTECTION.
(a) Programs of the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development.--The United States Executive Director of the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development should
take steps to ensure that disarmament, demobilization, and
reintegration programs developed and funded by the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development provide
benefits to former combatants that are comparable to the
benefits provided by such programs to other individuals.
(b) Report Regarding Programs to Assist Civilian Police.--
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to the appropriate
congressional committees on all current programs being
conducted by the Department or the Agency to assist foreign
countries with the enforcement of the laws of such countries
that are designed to protect women and children and improve
accountability for sexual exploitation and abuse.
SEC. 402. PROTECTION ASSISTANCE.
Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
``SEC. 135. ASSISTANCE FOR THE PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE
POPULATIONS DURING HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES.
``(a) Authority.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, and subject to the limitations of subsection (b), the
President is authorized to provide assistance for programs,
projects, and activities to promote the security of, provide
equal access to basic services for, and safeguard the legal
and human rights of civilians, especially women and children,
who are affected by a humanitarian emergency. Such assistance
shall include programs--
``(1) to build the capacity of nongovernmental
organizations to address the special protection needs of
vulnerable populations, especially women and children,
affected by a humanitarian emergency;
``(2) to support local and international nongovernmental
initiatives to prevent, detect, and report exploitation of
children and sexual exploitation and abuse, including through
the provision of training humanitarian protection monitors
for refugees and internally displaced persons;
``(3) to conduct protection and security assessments for
refugees and internally displaced persons in camps or in
communities for the purpose of improving the design and
security of camps for refugees and internally displaced
persons, with special emphasis on the security of women and
children;
``(4) to provide, when practicable, education during a
humanitarian emergency, including structured activities that
create safe spaces for children, in particular girls;
``(5) to reintegrate and rehabilitate former combatants and
survivors of a humanitarian emergency, including through
education, psychosocial assistance and trauma counseling,
family and community reinsertion, medical assistance, and
strengthening community systems to support sustained
reintegration;
``(6) to establish registries and clearinghouses to trace
relatives and begin family reunification, with a specific
focus on helping children find their families;
``(7) to provide interim care and placement for separated
children and orphans, including monitoring and followup
services;
``(8) to provide legal services for survivors of sexual
exploitation, abuse, or torture, including the collection of
evidence for war crimes tribunals and advocacy for legal
reform; and
``(9) to provide to local law enforcement personnel working
in areas affected by a humanitarian emergency training in
human rights law, particularly as it relates to the
protection of women and children.
``(b) Availability of Assistance.--Amounts made available
to carry out this part and chapter 4 of part II may be made
available to carry out this section.''.
Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I rise to comment on International Women's
Day and to join Senator Biden in introducing the Protection of
Vulnerable Populations During Humanitarian Emergencies Act of 2005.
Today is International Women's Day, a day on which we celebrate the
progress of women and rededicate ourselves to overcoming the inequities
facing women around the globe. In many places in the world,
discrimination continues to deny women and girls full political and
economic equality. The lives and health of women and girls continue to
be endangered by violence that is directed at them simply because they
are female. In recognition of these issues, I co-sponsored a Resolution
with Senators Biden and Clinton commemorating International Women's Day
and reaffirming the Senate's commitment to improving the status of
women worldwide.
In addition, I am co-sponsoring with Senator Biden the Protection of
Vulnerable Populations During Humanitarian Emergencies Act of 2005,
which the Committee on Foreign Relations supported as an amendment to
our Foreign Affairs Authorization Act for fiscal years 2006 and 2007.
During humanitarian emergencies, women and children become more
vulnerable to a range of abuses including sexual exploitation,
trafficking and gender-based violence. Our bill seeks to ensure that
U.S. foreign assistance programs are a force for protecting women,
children, and other vulnerable populations in the wake of military
conflict and natural disasters.
The recent tsunami tragedy in the Indian Ocean region has highlighted
this important issue. Tens of thousands of children have lost family
members and friends and are coping with unspeakable trauma. Nearly
35,000 children have been orphaned, and many more have been separated
from their families. These children face the imminent threats of
hunger, disease, and diarrhea. Beyond these dangers, children are
vulnerable to being trafficked for sexual exploitation, forced labor,
or conscription. Without their families, the children orphaned by the
tsunami lack protection from predators who would profit from their
tragedy.
During many of the humanitarian crises that we have witnessed over
the last decade, including Rwanda, Bosnia, and Sudan, we have learned
that women and children are uniquely vulnerable to sexual violence and
exploitation. Over the course of the past year, the world has heard
accounts of rape at the camps in Darfur in Western Sudan. Our bill aims
to improve the ability of the United States to protect women and
children, like those in the tsunami-affected region and in Darfur, from
the additional dangers they face during a humanitarian emergency. Our
bill calls for a coordinator for protection issues and a strategy to
improve our ability to protect and respond to the needs of women and
children in such crises. Our bill authorizes funding for the specific
health care needs of women during an emergency, the establishment of
registries and clearinghouses to trace relatives and help children find
their families, and legal services for survivors of sexual exploitation
and abuse. In addition, the bill requires that any organization
receiving U.S. funds to assist in a humanitarian emergency have in
place a code of conduct forbidding its employees from sexually abusing
the victims of the crisis. Finally, our bill urges the United Nations
to strengthen its policies concerning sexual abuse and exploitation by
UN personnel involved in UN peacekeeping operations. I am hopeful that
Senators will join me in backing this legislation.
______
By Mr. DeWine (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller):
S. 560. A bill to enhance disclosure of automobile safety
information; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
______
By Mr. DeWine (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller):
S. 561. A bill to improve child safety in motor vehicles; to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
______
By Mr. DeWine (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller):
S. 562. A bill to amend title 23, United States Code, to improve the
highway safety improvement program and provide for a proportional
obligation of amounts made available for the
[[Page S2263]]
highway safety improvement program; to the Committee on Environment and
Public Works.
______
By Mr. DeWine (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller):
S. 563. A bill to improve driver licensing and education, and for
other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation.
______
By Mr. DeWine (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller):
S. 564. A bill to improve traffic safety by discouraging the use of
traffic signal preemption transmitters; to the Committee on the
Judiciary.
______
By Mr. DeWine (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller):
S. 565. A bill to direct the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration to establish and carry out traffic safety law
enforcement and compliance campaigns, and for other purposes; to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, the number one killer of those between the
ages of 4 and 34 in this country today is auto fatalities. If you look
at those between the ages of 16 and 25, the figures are even more
exaggerated. We all know that in this country over 42,000 Americans
lose their lives every year in auto accidents. That figure stays fairly
constant. The last year we have figures for is 2003, and in that year,
42,643 of our fellow citizens lost their lives.
In fact, in the next 12 minutes, to be precise, at least one person
will be killed in an automobile accident in this country, while nearly
six people will be injured in just the next 60 seconds.
This is a tragedy that we as a society are much too willing to
tolerate. If a foreign enemy were doing this to us, we would not
tolerate it. We would be up in arms. Someone said it is the equivalent
of a 747 airplane going down every two days in this country. If that
were happening, of course, it would be on CNN; we would be demanding an
explanation. Yet, these auto fatalities that occur, hour-by-hour, day-
by-day, just go on, and for some reason, we have become immune to it,
hardened to it. They just continue.
I come to the Floor today to discuss five bills--five bills that my
staff and I have been working on for a few years now--five bills that I
will be introducing, but hope will be incorporated in the
transportation bill we will be considering in the next several weeks.
These bills are commonsense, practical ways to save lives. Each bill is
built on solid evidence of what will, in fact, make a difference. These
are bills that will, in fact, save lives.
Last year, the Senate passed each of these bills as a part of the
SAFE-TEA transportation bill. I want to thank Senators Inhofe,
Jeffords, Bond, Reid, and McCain for their assistance in making that
happen. Our former colleague Senator Hollings was also instrumental in
clearing these bills. So, what I'm talking about today is a set of
bills that has already enjoyed the support of the Senate, and I believe
we ought to pass each and every one of them again this year as a part
of the transportation reauthorization. In particular, I look forward to
working with Senators Stevens, Lott, and Inouye on the Commerce
Committee portion of my transportation safety package.
I am thankful for the support and assistance of Senator Rockefeller
as the lead co-sponsor on the first several bills--the vehicle safety
bills--as well as Senator Lautenberg's leadership as my chief co-
sponsor on the drunk driving prevention campaign bill. Both Senators
are great leaders on highway safety, and I'm pleased to be working with
them this year in an effort to get these bills signed into law.
The first bill we call ``Stars on Cars.'' While its name is cute, its
focus is quite serious. When you go to buy a new car, there is a large
label in the window detailing the price, features, gas mileage, and
other information about the vehicle. This label is referred to in the
auto industry as the ``Monroney Label'' after a former member of this
body, Senator Monroney from Oklahoma. We all know what the sticker
looks like.
But, what we may not know is that most of the content on that sticker
is mandated by the Federal Government. The mileage per gallon has been
on there for a number of years. The Federal government says that your
city mileage has to be on there and your highway mileage has to be on
there. It has to tell you whether the vehicle has air-conditioning. It
has to tell you whether it has a stereo. It has to tell you a whole
bunch of other stuff.
One piece of information is not on there--and that is the vehicle's
safety rating.
The funny thing is that in the vast majority of cases, you have
already paid to have the Federal Government--specifically the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)--spend millions of
dollars to test that very car and others like it. In fact, the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration has put that information up on
the Internet. Nonetheless, the basic fact is that when you go in to buy
that car, that information is not available to you. It is not available
to the American consumer in the one place where it would make a
difference--where you buy the car, at the dealership.
Doing this right wouldn't cost the taxpayers another dime. The car
companies are already printing the labels. Under this legislation, we
would add a new section to the label titled ``Government Safety
Information.'' The new section would clearly lay out information from
each of the government crash tests--frontal crash impact, side impact,
and rollover resistance. For vehicles that haven't been tested yet, the
label will say so. We would show the ratings pure and simple, as
graphical star ratings on the label, just like many automakers do in
their commercials.
The bill requires that this be done in a manner that can be clearly
understood by your average car buyer, with short explanations as to
what each rating means.
What impact would this have? I happen to believe the consumer is
better off with more information than less information on whatever we
are talking about. The consumer ought to know what the Government does.
The consumer ought to know that type of information. The consumer would
make better choices. Consumers care about safety. They will make better
choices, and in all likelihood, they are going to choose safer vehicles
and more lives will, in fact, be saved.
It just makes good common sense to do this. We have worked hard to
fashion a bill that gets this life-saving information to consumers in a
way that is sensitive to the concerns of automakers, as well as the
NHTSA. We've reached out to a broad coalition to craft our bill for
2005, and I look forward to working with interested parties to continue
to improve and shape the language contained in it. In the end, this
bill is my number one safety priority for passage into law this year.
The second bill we call ``Safe Kids and Cars.'' Cars, unfortunately,
are involved in child deaths at unbelievable rates. According to NHTSA
data, automobile accidents happen to be the leading cause of death in
the United States for children age 4 and up, and are right among the
top causes for those ages 0 to 3.
More than cancer, more than homicide, more than fire, more than
drowning, more than anything else, auto accidents are the source of
child fatalities. We have a problem. And, while I congratulate auto
manufacturers, safety groups, and NHTSA for working hard on this issue,
there's more work to be done. Anything we can do to make a car safer
for our kids, we should be doing it. Complacency is not an option.
The focus of this bill is to improve data collection and vehicle
testing with regard to some specific dangers that small children face.
NHTSA has done an excellent job in terms of working from solid data,
and this is one area where unfortunately we just don't have enough data
to move forward. Likewise, we need the tools to perform effective
vehicle tests once we have those numbers, and my bill contains measures
to see to it that we develop these tools.
In terms of testing, child-size dummies are an area where NHTSA needs
to review its testing and look for areas where increased use of these
dummies would lead to increased safety, or a better understanding of
how crash forces impact small children. My bill directs NHTSA to
conduct a full review of test procedures and incorporate
[[Page S2264]]
these child dummies when and where suitable. We also ask the agency to
give a status update on the extremely important Hybrid-III 10-year-old
child test dummy.
The rest of the bill focuses on an emerging danger for small children
often referred to as ``non-traffic, non-crash'' accident situations.
These are incidents in which interaction between an automobile and a
child leads to injury or death when the vehicle is not on the road, or
where no actual crash has occurred. Instead, these are incidents that
happen in parked cars, driveways, parking lots, and other very common
situations. Unfortunately, these common situations can be deadly under
the wrong circumstances.
A prime example of ``non-traffic, non-crash'' dangers to small
children has to do with dangerous power window switches. In many cases,
children are left alone in a vehicle and manage to inadvertently
activate a power window switch--a situation which can lead to the
window moving up and crushing a limb or other part of the child's body.
Some children are killed almost instantaneously by the force of the
rising window. These incidents are not terribly frequent, but they are
preventable at almost no cost to consumers and manufacturers.
Power windows are an area where NHTSA has taken action since I last
introduced the child safety bill, and I want to pause to thank Dr.
Jeffrey Runge, NHTSA Administrator; Janette Fennel, President of the
safety advocacy group Kids and Cars; and several other groups for their
work to make the new power window safety rule possible. The new rule,
which I helped announce in Columbus late last year, will lead to the
elimination of unsafe power window switches--switches that can be
accidentally tripped by children with ease--in every car and light
truck sold in the United States. It is clearly a step in the right
direction, and it will save lives.
Unsafe power window switches show one kind of ``non-traffic, non-
crash'' danger children face today. Were it not for a one-time study of
death certificates by NHTSA, we would have no government data
whatsoever on how widespread this problem happens to be. We would not
know much about other types of ``non-traffic, non-crash'' dangers, such
as backover incidents and heat exhaustion in closed vehicles. These are
areas where there is a clear need for better data collection and
testing. My bill tackles each head-on.
The ``Safe Kids and Cars'' bill directs NHTSA to continue pushing
forward on ``non-traffic, non-crash'' incidents by instituting, for the
first time, regular collection of data on these kinds of accidents.
With time and some solid data, we may be able to tackle other kinds of
``non-traffic, non-crash'' problems in the future. Understanding the
problem is the first step.
A third bill has to do with dangerous road intersections. Every State
has them. Most States, fortunately, rank these roads. They keep a list
of the bad ones. But, amazingly, there are many States that keep this
information secret and don't tell the public.
Again, citizens have a right to know this information. What would you
do with the information? As a parent, I might tell my 16-year-old not
to go that way to the movie. At least I have the right to have that
information and would be able to say go another way. It might take
another 10 minutes, but go that way. Don't go by that intersection.
Don't go on that curvy road. State Departments of Transportation
already have that information.
Each State should provide that information to the public. They
already know it, and they should provide it. Policymakers need to know
that to make decisions about how to spend money in that state and what
roads to fix.
I would like to briefly talk about a woman by the name of Sandy
Johnson and her mother Jacqueline. On October 5, 2002, Sandy and
Jacqueline were killed in a car crash at a dangerous intersection near
Columbus.
What they did not know as they drove into that intersection--and what
countless other area residents who used the roads that cross through it
did not know at the time--was that this particular intersection was
known at that time by the Ohio Department of Transportation to be a
very dangerous area. In fact, ODOT had indeed known that information
for quite some time. Perhaps if Sandy Johnson had known that she would
have taken a different route that day. We will never know.
Following the tragic death of his wife and his mother-in-law, Dean
Johnson initiated a campaign to tackle the issue of dangerous roads and
dangerous intersections, not just in Ohio, but across the country. He
has tried with varying results from state to state to get information
on dangerous roads and intersection locations out to the public so
tragedies like the one involving his wife could be prevented.
As I have in the past, I would like to thank Dean Johnson for his
dedication to this very important public safety issue and for the
progress he has made in my home State of Ohio and elsewhere in terms of
getting critical lifesaving information out to citizens through the
Sandy Johnson Foundation. His assistance has been an asset in crafting
this legislation, and I look forward to working with him in the future.
My bill requires that safety information be disclosed to the public
as an eligibility requirement for a new Federal safety funding
program--the Highway Safety Improvement Program. States seeking
additional Federal dollars for safety construction projects will have
to take the quick and easy step of identifying their danger spots,
ranking them according to severity, and then disclosing them to the
public. I believe this is the least we can ask from States in exchange
for large chunks of federal aid.
In some cases, States would like to release the data but fear the
legal ramifications of doing so. My bill contains a fix for this that
provides the same kind of protection States already enjoy for other
types of highway safety data. In other words, no legal harm could come
to a State for releasing lists of dangerous locations under this bill.
Further, States need to find ways to get safety experts, law
enforcement, engineers, transportation officials, and the general
public working together to identify and correct dangerous locations.
I've borrowed language in my bill from last year's Senate-passed SAFE-
TEA bill--excellent language drafted and passed by Senator Inhofe and
the Environment and Public Works Committee that creates incentives for
States to foster this kind of collaboration. Collaboration between
these entities is essential to finding quick, effective solutions to
fatalities arising from dangerous intersections, as well as long
stretches of roadway that account for high crash rates. I am including
the Committee's language on Highway Safety Improvement Programs in my
bill because I strongly believe that it is a step in the right
direction.
The fourth bill I am introducing has to do with driver education.
Teen driving is an area where fatality rates are extremely high and
unfortunately where programs across the country are not getting the job
done.
Above average crash and fatality rates may be inevitable for teenage
drivers, but they can certainly be reduced substantially from present-
day levels. The Federal Government cannot run driver education. It is
clearly a State responsibility. But it can play a small, productive
role.
For decades, our attempt to address this problem--standard classroom-
based driver education--has been ineffective or worse, inspiring false
confidence in students and parents alike that graduates are ready to
drive safely. Fortunately, we've started to move in a new direction as
a nation, with 41 States adding innovative graduated driver licensing
(GDL) laws to their ongoing driver education efforts. These new laws
have been proven to be effective in reducing accident and fatality
rates. While my bill contains language to raise the bar on GDL laws and
make them more effective, its real emphasis is on finding a better way
with respect to driver education.
Revitalized driver education needs to be data-driven and cognizant of
the limitations associated with classroom-based instruction. It must
utilize new ways of inculcating young drivers with the knowledge and
skills they need to avoid unnecessary high-risk situations,
particularly in the first six months behind the wheel. Integration of
driver education with the graduated driver licensing process to
maximize the safety value of both programs also must be addressed.
[[Page S2265]]
Past failures in our Nation's history with regard to driver education
are not a reason to abandon these programs. They are a reason to go
back to the drawing board to re-invent more effective means of
promoting safe driving.
A recent study by the National Institutes for Health sheds some light
on the problem. The study suggests that due to their unique brain
development, risk tolerance, and other tendencies--teen drivers are
naturally inclined toward increased danger on the roads. Clearly, some
methods used in driver education today aren't getting the message
through, and in some areas, the message may never get through
independent of who does the teaching.
NHTSA and its research partners must find ways to tailor the content
and delivery of driver education so that it recognizes these realities
and focuses on areas where novice drivers can learn the skills
necessary to be safer drivers. A NHTSA pilot program is currently under
way with several states to test out updated ``best practices'' driver
education models--not mandates, not national standards, but just best
practices.
My bill responds to the call for national leadership in driver
education and licensing made at a recent National Transportation Safety
Board forum by creating a Driver Education and Licensing Improvement
Program within NHTSA. The new Improvement Program will provide NHTSA
with the resources and time it needs to run the pilot program and then
evaluate the results to see what works and what doesn't.
Once this pilot program has run its course, my bill provides a modest
amount of grant funding to supply states with the resources and
technical expertise necessary to implement the ``best practices'' model
in a way that fits their specific needs and circumstances. The grants
will be competitively awarded, and also will be available for
fulfillment of several other state needs with regard to novice driver
education and licensing. This grant program is 100 percent voluntary,
and my bill has been crafted carefully to ensure that the prerogatives
of States are protected in every manner.
The areas ripe for improvement are numerous: instructor
certification, curriculum improvement, outreach to increase parental
involvement, enforcement of graduated driver licensing laws, and
follow-up testing to ensure program effectiveness. These are just a few
examples. By creating a National Driver Education and Licensing
Improvement Program within NHTSA, and tasking that program to come up
with best practices, we can help States interested in improving their
programs do so without having to expend the time and resources
necessary to ``re-invent the wheel'' on their own.
I have worked for over a year with NHTSA, the American Driver
Training and Safety Education Association, the Governors' Highway
Safety Association, the American Motor Vehicle Administrators'
Association, AAA, the Driving School Association of America, Advocates
for Auto and Highway Safety, and several other groups to come up with
the bill that will be introduced today. Its contents are a compromise
that reflects significant input from each of these fine organizations,
and I believe we are now at a point where the road ahead toward safer,
more effective driver education and licensing programs is clear. The
goals set by this bill are clear, and the means to achieve them are
provided for in full. The time has come to take serious action on
driver education and licensing in this country.
Lastly, I'd like to introduce the Safe Intersections Act of 2005.
This bill would criminalize the unauthorized sale or use of mobile
infrared transmitters, also known as ``MIRTs.''
A MIRT is a remote control for changing traffic signals. These
devices have been used for years by ambulances, police cars, and fire
trucks, and maintenance crews, allowing them to reach emergencies
faster. As an ambulance approaches an intersection where the light is
red, the driver engages the transmitter. That transmitter then sends a
signal to a receiver on the traffic light, which changes to green
within a few seconds. This is a very useful tool when properly used in
emergency situations.
In a 2002 survey, the U.S. Department of Transportation found that in
the top 78 metropolitan areas, there are 24,683 traffic lights equipped
with the sensors. In Ohio, there is a joint pilot project underway by
the Washington Township Fire Department and the Dublin Police
Department to install these devices. Other areas in Ohio where they are
in use include Mentor, Twinsburg, Willoughby, and Westerville. Here in
the District of Columbia, emergency services across the country, law
enforcement officers, fire departments, and paramedics utilize this
technology to make communities safer.
However, recently it has come to light that this technology may be
sold to unauthorized individuals--individuals who want to use this
technology to bypass red lights during their commute or during their
everyday driving. MIRT was never intended for this use. MIRT
technology--in the hands of unauthorized users--could result in traffic
problems, like gridlock, or even worse, accidents in which people are
injured or killed.
Let me quote from an ad that was posted on the Internet auction site,
eBay:
``Tired of sitting at endless red lights? Frustrated by lights that
turn from green to red too quickly, trapping you in traffic? The MIRT
light changer used by police and other emergency vehicles Change the
Traffic Signal Red to Green [for] only $499.00. Traffic Signal Changing
Devices--it's every motorist's fantasy to be able to make a red traffic
light turn green without so much as easing off the accelerator. The
very technology that has for years allowed fire trucks, ambulances, and
police cars to get to emergencies faster--a remote control that changes
traffic signals--is now much cheaper and potentially accessible.''
This ad demonstrates the extent to which the potential widespread
sale and possession of MIRT technology by drivers would be a hazard to
public safety and must be stopped before it starts. The Congressional
Fire Service Institute, Ohio Fire Alliance, and several other
organizations have come out in support of this measure. I look forward
to working with my colleagues to ensure that it becomes law.
The sixth bill I am introducing today is a bi-partisan bill aimed at
reducing the number of drinking and driving deaths and injuries on our
roads. Tragically, our Nation has experienced increases in alcohol-
related traffic fatalities three of the past four years. In 2003--the
last year for which full statistics are available--17,013 Americans
died in alcohol-related incidents. This total represents 40 percent of
the 42,643 people killed in traffic incidents.
The bill I am introducing today along with Senator Lautenberg--the
Traffic Safety Law Enforcement Campaign Act--would require states to
conduct a combined media/law enforcement campaign aimed at reducing
drunk driving fatalities. Specifically, the law enforcement portion
consists of sobriety checkpoints in the District of Columbia and in the
39 States that allow them and saturation patrols in those states that
do not. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that the sobriety
checkpoints proposed in the underlying bill may reduce alcohol related
crashes by as much as 20 percent. Law enforcement officials from across
the United States underscored this point in a recent conference
sponsored by MADD, making high visibility enforcement campaigns a top
priority. More than 75 percent of the public has indicated in NHTSA
polls their support for sobriety checkpoints. In fact, NHTSA has
concluded that 62 percent of Americans want sobriety checkpoints to be
used more often.
These six bills will go a long way. They are common sense. They will
make a difference. This is something I have been interested in for many
years, going back to my time in the Ohio Legislature 20 years ago when
I introduced the drunk driving bill, and we were able to pass a tough
drunk driving bill in the Ohio Legislature. I worked for .08. It was
very controversial in the Senate, but we were able to pass .08. Senator
Lautenburg and I worked on that.
Anytime you lose 42,643 Americans every year, highway safety is
something we all have to be concerned about.
I know the SAFE-TEA highway bill is not on the Floor yet, but I have
seen it, and of course was pleased to support
[[Page S2266]]
it on the Floor last year. As passed by the Senate in 2004, the bill
goes farther than any highway bill regard to safety. This year's bill
from the Environment and Public Works Committee will enable the same
great progress on highway safety. I congratulate the authors.
In the weeks ahead, I look forward to working with the respective
committees and outside organizations on the bills I have described
above as amendments to the 2005 SAFE-TEA bill. But, I want to make it
very clear that these bills and amendments are not in any way critical
of the underlying bill. In fact, I hope they will be complementary and
simply add to a good product that is already a good product and will
help to improve it.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bills be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the bills were ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 560
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 ``Stars on Cars Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF AUTOMOBILE INFORMATION DISCLOSURE ACT.
(a) Safety Labeling Requirement.--Section 3 of the
Automobile Information Disclosure Act (15 U.S.C. 1232) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (e), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in subsection (f)--
(A) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``and'' after the
semicolon; and
(B) by striking the period at the end and inserting a
semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(g) if 1 or more safety ratings for such automobile have
been assigned and formally published or released by the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration under the New
Car Assessment Program, information about safety ratings
that--
``(1) includes a graphic depiction of the number of stars,
or other applicable rating, that corresponds to each such
assigned safety rating displayed in a clearly differentiated
fashion indicating the maximum possible safety rating;
``(2) refers to frontal impact crash tests, side impact
crash tests, and rollover resistance tests (whether or not
such automobile has been assigned a safety rating for such
tests);
``(3) contains information describing the nature and
meaning of the crash test data presented and a reference to
additional vehicle safety resources, including http://
www.safecar.gov; and
``(4) is presented in a legible, visible, and prominent
fashion and covers at least--
``(A) 8 percent of the total area of the label; or
``(B) an area with a minimum length of 4\1/2\ inches and a
minimum height of 3\1/2\ inches; and
``(h) if an automobile has not been tested by the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration under the New Car
Assessment Program, or safety ratings for such automobile
have not been assigned in one or more rating categories, a
statement to that effect.''.
(b) Regulations.--Not later than January 1, 2006, the
Secretary of Transportation shall issue regulations to
implement the labeling requirements under subsections (g) and
(h) of section 3 of the Automobile Information Disclosure
Act, as added by subsection (a).
(c) Applicability.--The labeling requirements under
subsections (g) and (h) of section 3 of such Act (as added by
subsection (a)), and the regulations prescribed under
subsection (b), shall apply to new automobiles delivered on
or after--
(1) September 1, 2006, if the regulations under subsection
(b) are prescribed not later than August 31, 2005; or
(2) September 1, 2007, if the regulations under subsection
(b) are prescribed after August 31, 2005.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of
Transportation, to accelerate the testing processes and
increasing the number of vehicles tested under the New Car
Assessment Program of the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration--
(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;
(2) $8,134,065 for fiscal year 2007;
(3) $8,418,760 for fiscal year 2008;
(4) $8,713,410 for fiscal year 2009; and
(5) $9,018,385 for fiscal year 2010.
S. 561
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 ``Safe Kids and Cars Act of
2005''.
(a) Incorporation of Child Dummies in Safety Tests.--
(1) Review process required.--Not later than 2 years after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall
conduct a review process to increase utilization of child
dummies, including Hybrid-III child dummies, in motor vehicle
safety tests, including crash tests, conducted by the
Administration.
(2) Criteria.--In conducting the review process under
subsection (a), the Administrator shall select motor vehicle
safety tests in which the inclusion of child dummies will
lead to--
(A) increased understanding of crash dynamics with respect
to children; and
(B) measurably improved child safety.
(3) Public input.--The Secretary of Transportation shall
solicit and consider input from the public regarding the
review process under paragraph (1).
(4) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish a report
regarding the implementation of this section. The report
shall include information regarding the current status of the
Hybrid-III 10 year old child test dummy.
(b) Child Safety Information Programs.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation
shall supplement ongoing consumer information programs
relating to child safety with information regarding hazards
to children in nontraffic, noncrash accident situations.
(2) Activities to supplement information.--In supplementing
such programs, the Secretary shall--
(A) utilize information collected in the database
maintained under subsection (e) regarding nontraffic,
noncrash injuries, as well as other relevant data from
private organizations, to establish priorities for the
program;
(B) address ways in which parents can mitigate dangers to
small children arising from preventable causes, including
backover incidents, hyperthermia in closed vehicles, and
accidental activation of power windows;
(C) partner with national child safety research
organizations and other interested organizations with respect
to the delivery of program information; and
(D) make information related to child safety available to
the public via the Internet and other means.
(c) Report on Vehicle Visibility.--Not later than 2 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Transportation shall submit a report to Congress on the
extent to which driver visibility of the area immediately
surrounding [light passenger vehicles] and obstructions to
such visibility affect pedestrian safety, including the
safety of infants and small children, in nontraffic, noncrash
situations.
(d) Report on Enhanced Vehicle Safety Technologies.--Not
later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall submit to Congress
a report that describes, evaluates, and determines the
relative effectiveness of--
(1) currently available and emerging technologies,
including auto-reverse functions, that are designed to
prevent and reduce the number of injuries and deaths to
children left unattended inside parked motor vehicles,
including injuries and deaths that result from hyperthermia
or are related to power windows or power sunroofs; and
(2) currently available and emerging technologies that are
designed to prevent deaths and injuries to small children
resulting from vehicle blind spots and backover incidents.
(e) Database on Injuries and Deaths in Nontraffic, Noncrash
Events.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Transportation shall
maintain a database of, and regularly collect data regarding,
injuries and deaths in nontraffic, noncrash events involving
motor vehicles. The database shall include information
regarding--
(A) the number, types, and proximate causes of injuries and
deaths resulting from such events;
(B) the characteristics of motor vehicles involved in such
events;
(C) the characteristics of the motor vehicle operators and
victims involved in such events; and
(D) the presence or absence in motor vehicles involved in
such events of advanced technologies designed to prevent such
injuries and deaths.
(2) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe regulations
regarding how to structure and compile the database. The
Secretary shall solicit and consider input from the public
regarding data collection procedures and the structure of the
database maintained under paragraph (1).
(3) Deadlines.--The Secretary shall--
(A) complete the prescription of regulations and the
consideration of public input under paragraph (2) not later
than September 1, 2006; and
(B) commence the collection of data under paragraph (1) not
later than January 1, 2007.
(4) Availability.--The Secretary shall make the database
maintained under paragraph (1) available to the public.
S. 562
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 ``Safe Streets and Highways
Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. HIGHWAY SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.
(a) Safety Improvement.--
(1) In general.--Section 148 of title 23, United States
Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 148. Highway safety Improvement program
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
[[Page S2267]]
``(1) Driver conditioning.--The term `driver conditioning'
means the process by which drivers learn to respond to
specific road conditions and traffic patterns that generally
remain consistent over time, making the driver susceptible to
error when confronted with minor changes in those road
conditions or traffic patterns.
``(2) Highway safety improvement program.--The term
`highway safety improvement program' means the program
carried out under this section.
``(3) Highway safety improvement project.--
``(A) In general.--The term `highway safety improvement
project' means a project described in the State strategic
highway safety plan that--
``(i) corrects or improves a hazardous road location or
feature; or
``(ii) addresses a highway safety problem.
``(B) Inclusions.--The term `highway safety improvement
project' includes a project for--
``(i) an intersection safety improvement;
``(ii) pavement and shoulder widening (including addition
of a passing lane to remedy an unsafe condition);
``(iii) installation of rumble strips or another warning
device, if the rumble strips or other warning devices do not
adversely affect the safety or mobility of bicyclists and
pedestrians;
``(iv) installation of a skid-resistant surface at an
intersection or other location with a high frequency of
accidents;
``(v) an improvement for pedestrian or bicyclist safety;
``(vi)(I) construction of any project for the elimination
of hazards at a railway-highway crossing that is eligible for
funding under section 130, including the separation or
protection of grades at railway-highway crossings;
``(II) construction of a railway-highway crossing safety
feature; or
``(III) the conduct of a model traffic enforcement activity
at a railway-highway crossing;
``(vii) construction of a traffic calming feature;
``(viii) elimination of a roadside obstacle;
``(ix) improvement of highway signage and pavement
markings, including improvements designed to implement
minimum retroflectivity standards in compliance with section
406 of the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 1993 (106 Stat. 1564), and signage
designed to identify high-crash locations or address driver
conditioning hazards;
``(x) installation of a priority control system for
emergency vehicles at signalized intersections;
``(xi) installation of a traffic control or other warning
device at a location with high accident potential;
``(xii) safety-conscious planning;
``(xiii) improvement in the collection and analysis of
crash data;
``(xiv) planning, integrated, interoperable emergency
communications, equipment, operational activities, or traffic
enforcement activities (including police assistance) relating
to workzone safety;
``(xv) installation of guardrails, barriers (including
barriers between construction work zones and traffic lanes
for the safety of motorists and workers), and crash
attenuators;
``(xvi) the addition or retrofitting of structures or other
measures to eliminate or reduce accidents involving vehicles
and wildlife; or
``(xvii) installation and maintenance of signs (including
fluorescent, yellow-green signs) at pedestrian-bicycle
crossings and in school zones.
``(4) Safety project under any other section.--
``(A) In general.--The term `safety project under any other
section' means a project carried out for the purpose of
safety under any other section of this title.
``(B) Inclusion.--The term `safety project under any other
section' includes a project to--
``(i) promote the awareness of the public and educate the
public concerning highway safety matters; or
``(ii) enforce highway safety laws.
``(5) State highway safety improvement program.--The term
`State highway safety improvement program' means projects or
strategies included in the State strategic highway safety
plan carried out as part of the State transportation
improvement program under section 135(f).
``(6) State strategic highway safety plan.--The term `State
strategic highway safety plan' means a plan developed by the
State transportation department that--
``(A) is developed after consultation with--
``(i) a highway safety representative of the Governor of
the State;
``(ii) regional transportation planning organizations and
metropolitan planning organizations, if any;
``(iii) representatives of major modes of transportation;
``(iv) State and local traffic enforcement officials;
``(v) persons responsible for administering section 130 at
the State level;
``(vi) representatives conducting Operation Lifesaver;
``(vii) representatives conducting a motor carrier safety
program under section 31104 or 31107 of title 49;
``(viii) motor vehicle administration agencies; and
``(ix) other major State and local safety stakeholders;
``(B) analyzes and makes effective use of State, regional,
or local crash data;
``(C) addresses engineering, management, operation,
education, enforcement, and emergency services elements
(including integrated, interoperable emergency
communications) of highway safety as key factors in
evaluating highway projects;
``(D) considers safety needs of, and high-fatality segments
of, public roads;
``(E) considers the results of State, regional, or local
transportation and highway safety planning processes;
``(F) describes a program of projects or strategies to
reduce or eliminate safety hazards;
``(G) is approved by the Governor of the State or a
responsible State agency; and
``(H) is consistent with the requirements of section
135(f).
``(b) Program.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out a highway
safety improvement program.
``(2) Purpose.--The purpose of the highway safety
improvement program shall be to achieve a significant
reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on
public roads.
``(c) Eligibility.--
``(1) In general.--To obligate funds apportioned under
section 104(b)(5) to carry out this section, a State shall
have in effect a State highway safety improvement program
under which the State--
``(A) develops and implements a State strategic highway
safety plan that identifies and analyzes highway safety
problems and opportunities as provided in paragraph (2);
``(B) produces a program of projects or strategies to
reduce identified safety problems;
``(C) evaluates the plan on a regular basis to ensure the
accuracy of the data and priority of proposed improvements;
and
``(D) submits to the Secretary an annual report that--
``(i) describes, in a clearly understandable fashion, not
less than 25 percent of locations determined by the State,
using criteria established in accordance with paragraph
(2)(B)(ii), as exhibiting the most severe safety needs; and
``(ii) contains an assessment of--
``(I) potential remedies to hazardous locations identified;
``(II) estimated costs associated with those remedies; and
``(III) impediments to implementation other than cost
associated with those remedies.
``(2) Identification and analysis of highway safety
problems and opportunities.--As part of the State strategic
highway safety plan, a State shall--
``(A) have in place a crash data system with the ability to
perform safety problem identification and countermeasure
analysis;
``(B) based on the analysis required by subparagraph (A)--
``(i) identify hazardous locations, sections, and elements
(including roadside obstacles, railway-highway crossing
needs, and unmarked or poorly marked roads) that constitute a
danger to motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and other
highway users; and
``(ii) using such criteria as the State determines to be
appropriate, establish the relative severity of those
locations, in terms of accidents, injuries, deaths, traffic
volume levels, and other relevant data;
``(C) adopt strategic and performance-based goals that--
``(i) address traffic safety, including behavioral and
infrastructure problems and opportunities on all public
roads;
``(ii) focus resources on areas of greatest need; and
``(iii) are coordinated with other State highway safety
programs;
``(D) advance the capabilities of the State for traffic
records data collection, analysis, and integration with other
sources of safety data (such as road inventories) in a manner
that--
``(i) complements the State highway safety program under
chapter 4 and the commercial vehicle safety plan under
section 31102 of title 49;
``(ii) includes all public roads;
``(iii) identifies hazardous locations, sections, and
elements on public roads that constitute a danger to
motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and other highway users;
and
``(iv) includes a means of identifying the relative
severity of hazardous locations described in clause (iii) in
terms of accidents, injuries, deaths, and traffic volume
levels;
``(E)(i) determine priorities for the correction of
hazardous road locations, sections, and elements (including
railway-highway crossing improvements), as identified through
crash data analysis;
``(ii) identify opportunities for preventing the
development of such hazardous conditions; and
``(iii) establish and implement a schedule of highway
safety improvement projects for hazard correction and hazard
prevention; and
``(F)(i) establish an evaluation process to analyze and
assess results achieved by highway safety improvement
projects carried out in accordance with procedures and
criteria established by this section; and
``(ii) use the information obtained under clause (i) in
setting priorities for highway safety improvement projects.
``(d) Eligible Projects.--
[[Page S2268]]
``(1) In general.--A State may obligate funds apportioned
to the State under section 104(b)(5) to carry out--
``(A) any highway safety improvement project on any public
road or publicly owned bicycle or pedestrian pathway or
trail; or
``(B) as provided in subsection (e), for other safety
projects.
``(2) Use of other funding for safety.--
``(A) Effect of section.--Nothing in this section prohibits
the use of funds made available under other provisions of
this title for highway safety improvement projects.
``(B) Use of other funds.--States are encouraged to address
the full scope of their safety needs and opportunities by
using funds made available under other provisions of this
title (except a provision that specifically prohibits that
use).
``(e) Flexible Funding for States With a Strategic Highway
Safety Plan.--
``(1) In general.--To further the implementation of a State
strategic highway safety plan, a State may use up to 25
percent of the amount of funds made available under this
section for a fiscal year to carry out safety projects under
any other section as provided in the State strategic highway
safety plan.
``(2) Other transportation and highway safety plans.--
Nothing in this subsection requires a State to revise any
State process, plan, or program in effect on the date of
enactment of this section.
``(f) Reports.--
``(1) In general.--A State shall submit to the Secretary a
report that--
``(A) describes progress being made to implement highway
safety improvement projects under this section;
``(B) assesses the effectiveness of those improvements; and
``(C) describes the extent to which the improvements funded
under this section contribute to the goals of--
``(i) reducing the number of fatalities on roadways;
``(ii) reducing the number of roadway-related injuries;
``(iii) reducing the occurrences of roadway-related
crashes;
``(iv) mitigating the consequences of roadway-related
crashes; and
``(v) reducing the occurrences of roadway-railroad grade
crossing crashes.
``(2) Contents; schedule.--The Secretary shall establish
the content and schedule for a report under paragraph (1).
``(3) Transparency.--The Secretary shall make reports under
subsection (c)(1)(D) available to the public through--
``(A) the Internet site of the Department; and
``(B) such other means as the Secretary determines to be
appropriate.
``(4) Discovery and admission into evidence of certain
reports, surveys, and information.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or data
compiled or collected for any purpose directly relating to
paragraph (1) or subsection (c)(1)(D), or published by the
Secretary in accordance with paragraph (3), shall not be
subject to discovery or admitted into evidence in a Federal
or State court proceeding or considered for other purposes in
any action for damages arising from any occurrence at a
location identified or addressed in such reports, surveys,
schedules, lists, or other data.
``(g) Federal Share of Highway Safety Improvement
Projects.--Except as provided in sections 120 and 130, the
Federal share of the cost of a highway safety improvement
project carried out with funds made available under this
section shall be 90 percent.
``(h) Funds for Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety.--A State
shall allocate for bicycle and pedestrian improvements in the
State a percentage of the funds remaining after
implementation of sections 130(e) and 150, in an amount that
is equal to or greater than the percentage of all fatal
crashes in the States involving bicyclists and pedestrians.
``(i) Roadway Safety Improvements for Older Drivers and
Pedestrians.--For each of fiscal years 2005 through 2010,
$25,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated out of the
Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for
projects in all States to improve traffic signs and pavement
markings in a manner consistent with the recommendations
included in the publication of the Federal Highway
Administration entitled `Guidelines and Recommendations to
Accommodate Older Drivers and Pedestrians (FHWA-RD-01-103)'
and dated October 2001.''.
(2) Allocations of apportioned funds.--Section 133(d) of
title 23, United States Code, is amended--
(A) by striking paragraph (1);
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (5) as
paragraphs (1) through (4), respectively;
(C) in paragraph (2) (as redesignated by subparagraph
(B))--
(i) in the first sentence of subparagraph (A)--
(I) by striking ``subparagraphs (C) and (D)'' and inserting
``subparagraph (C)''; and
(II) by striking ``80 percent'' and inserting ``90
percent'';
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``tobe'' and
inserting ``to be'';
(iii) by striking subparagraph (C);
(iv) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) and (E) as
subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively; and
(v) in subparagraph (C) (as redesignated by clause (iv)),
by adding a period at the end; and
(D) in paragraph (4)(A) (as redesignated by subparagraph
(B)), by striking ``paragraph (2)'' and inserting ``paragraph
(1)''.
(3) Administration.--Section 133(e) of title 23, United
States Code, is amended in each of paragraphs (3)(B)(i),
(5)(A), and (5)(B) of subsection (e), by striking ``(d)(2)''
each place it appears and inserting ``(d)(1)''.
(4) Conforming amendments.--
(A) The analysis for chapter 1 of title 23, United States
Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 148
and inserting the following:
``148. Highway safety improvement program''.
(B) Section 104(g) of title 23, United States Code, is
amended in the first sentence by striking ``sections 130,
144, and 152 of this title'' and inserting ``sections 130 and
144''.
(C) Section 126 of title 23, United States Code, is
amended--
(i) in subsection (a), by inserting ``under'' after
``State's apportionment''; and
(ii) in subsection (b)--
(I) in the first sentence, by striking ``the last sentence
of section 133(d)(1) or to section 104(f) or to section
133(d)(3)'' and inserting ``section 104(f) or 133(d)(2)'';
and
(II) in the second sentence, by striking ``or 133(d)(2)''.
(D) Sections 154, 164, and 409 of title 23, United States
Code, are amended by striking ``152'' each place it appears
and inserting ``148''.
(b) Apportionment of Highway Safety Improvement Program
Funds.--Section 104(b) of title 23, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting
after ``Improvement program,'' the following: ``the highway
safety improvement program,''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Highway safety improvement program.--
``(A) In general.--For the highway safety improvement
program, in accordance with the following formula:
``(i) 25 percent of the apportionments in the ratio that--
``(I) the total lane miles of Federal-aid highways in each
State; bears to
``(II) the total lane miles of Federal-aid highways in all
States.
``(ii) 40 percent of the apportionments in the ratio that--
``(I) the total vehicle miles traveled on lanes on Federal-
aid highways in each State; bears to
``(II) the total vehicle miles traveled on lanes on
Federal-aid highways in all States.
``(iii) 35 percent of the apportionments in the ratio
that--
``(I) the estimated tax payments attributable to highway
users in each State paid into the Highway Trust Fund (other
than the Mass Transit Account) in the latest fiscal year for
which data are available; bears to
``(II) the estimated tax payments attributable to highway
users in all States paid into the Highway Trust Fund (other
than the Mass Transit Account) in the latest fiscal year for
which data are available.
``(B) Minimum apportionment.--Notwithstanding subparagraph
(A), each State shall receive a minimum of \1/2\ of 1 percent
of the funds apportioned under this paragraph.''.
(c) Elimination of Hazards Relating to Railway-Highway
Crossings.--
(1) Funds for railway-highway crossings.--Section 130(e) of
title 23, United States Code, is amended by inserting before
``At least'' the following: ``For each fiscal year, at least
$200,000,000 of the funds authorized and expended under
section 148 shall be available for the elimination of hazards
and the installation of protective devices at railway-highway
crossings.''.
(2) Biennial reports to congress.--Section 130(g) of title
23, United States Code, is amended in the third sentence--
(A) by inserting ``and the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation,'' after ``Public Works''; and
(B) by striking ``not later than April 1 of each year'' and
inserting ``every other year''.
(3) Expenditure of funds.--Section 130 of title 23, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(k) Expenditure of Funds.--Funds made available to carry
out this section shall be--
``(1) available for expenditure on compilation and analysis
of data in support of activities carried out under subsection
(g); and
``(2) apportioned in accordance with section 104(b)(5).''.
(d) Transition.--
(1) Implementation.--Except as provided in paragraph (2),
the Secretary shall approve obligations of funds apportioned
under section 104(b)(5) of title 23, United States Code (as
added by subsection (b)) to carry out section 148 of that
title, only if, not later than October 1 of the second fiscal
year after the date of enactment of this Act, a State has
developed and implemented a State strategic highway safety
plan as required under section 148(c) of that title.
(2) Interim period.--
(A) In general.--Before October 1 of the second fiscal year
after the date of enactment of this Act and until the date on
which a State develops and implements a State strategic
highway safety plan, the Secretary shall apportion funds to a
State for the highway safety improvement program and the
State may obligate funds apportioned to the State for the
highway safety improvement program under section 148 for
projects that were eligible for funding under sections 130
and 152 of that title, as in effect on the day before the
date of enactment of this Act.
[[Page S2269]]
(B) No strategic highway safety plan.--If a State has not
developed a strategic highway safety plan by October 1 of the
second fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act,
but demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that
progress is being made toward developing and implementing
such a plan, the Secretary shall continue to apportion funds
for 1 additional fiscal year for the highway safety
improvement program under section 148 of title 23, United
States Code, to the State, and the State may continue to
obligate funds apportioned to the State under this section
for projects that were eligible for funding under sections
130 and 152 of that title, as in effect on the day before the
date of enactment of this Act.
(C) Penalty.--If a State has not adopted a strategic
highway safety plan by the date that is 2 years after the
date of enactment of this Act, funds made available to the
State under section 1101(6) shall be redistributed to other
States in accordance with section 104(b)(3) of title 23,
United States Code.
S. 563
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 ``Driver Licensing and
Education Improvement Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. DRIVER LICENSING AND EDUCATION.
(a) National Driver Licensing and Education Improvement
Program.--Section 105 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(f)(1) There is established, within the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, the National Driver Licensing
and Education Improvement Program.
``(2) The National Driver Licensing and Education
Improvement Program shall--
``(A) provide States with services for coordinating the
motor vehicle driver education and licensing programs of the
States;
``(B) develop, and make available to the States, a
cooperatively developed, research-based model for novice
driver motor vehicle driver education and graduated licensing
that incorporates the best practices in driver education and
graduated licensing;
``(C) carry out such research and undertake such other
activities that the Administrator determines appropriate to
develop and continually improve the model described in
subparagraph (B);
``(D) provide States with voluntary technical assistance
for the implementation and deployment of the model described
in subparagraph (B) through pilot programs and other means;
``(E) develop and recommend to the States methods for
harmonizing the presentation of motor vehicle driver
education and licensing with the requirements of multistage
graduated licensing systems, including systems described in
section 410(b)(1)(D) of title 23, and to demonstrate and
evaluate the effectiveness of those methods in selected
States;
``(F) develop programs identifying best practices for the
certification of driver education instructors;
``(G) provide States with financial assistance under
section 412 of title 23 for--
``(i) the implementation of the motor vehicle driver
education and licensing comprehensive model recommended under
subparagraph (B);
``(ii) the establishment or improved administration of
multistage graduated licensing systems; and
``(iii) the support of other improvements in motor vehicle
driver education and licensing programs;
``(H) evaluate the effectiveness of the comprehensive model
recommended under subparagraph (B); and
``(I) perform such other functions relating to motor
vehicle driver education or licensing as the Secretary may
require.
``(3) Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of
the Driver Licensing and Education Improvement Act of 2005,
the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the
progress made by the National Driver Licensing and Education
with respect to the functions described in paragraph (2).''.
(b) Grant Program for Improvement of Driver Education and
Licensing.--
(1) Authority.--Chapter 4 of title 23, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 412. Driver education and licensing
``(a) Authority.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a program
to provide grants to States to--
``(A) improve motor vehicle driver education programs; and
``(B) establish and improve the administration of graduated
licensing systems, including systems described in section
410(b)(1)(D).
``(2) Program administration.--The Secretary shall
administer the program established under this section through
the National Driver Licensing and Education Improvement
Program.
``(b) Rulemaking.--
``(1) Eligibility requirements.--Not later than 18 months
after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary
shall issue regulations, which describe the eligibility
requirements, application and approval procedures and
standards, and authorized uses of grant funds awarded under
this section.
``(2) Use of funds.--The regulations issued under this
subsection shall authorize the use of grant funds--
``(A) for quality assurance testing, including followup
testing to monitor the effectiveness of--
``(i) driver licensing and education programs;
``(ii) instructor certification testing; and
``(iii) other statistical research designed to evaluate the
performance of driver education and licensing programs;
``(B) to improve motor vehicle driver education curricula;
``(C) to train instructors for motor vehicle driver
education programs;
``(D) to test and evaluate motor vehicle driver
performance;
``(E) for public education and outreach regarding motor
vehicle driver education and licensing; and
``(F) to improve State graduated licensing programs and
carry out related enforcement activities.
``(3) Consultation requirement.--In prescribing regulations
under this subsection, the Secretary shall consult with--
``(A) the heads of such Federal departments and agencies as
the Secretary considers appropriate on the basis of relevant
interests or expertise;
``(B) appropriate officials of the governments of States
and political subdivisions of States; and
``(C) other experts and organizations recognized for
expertise, with respect to novice drivers, in--
``(i) graduated driver licensing;
``(ii) publicly administered driver education; or
``(iii) privately administered driver education.
``(c) Matching Requirement.--The amount of grant funds
awarded for a program, project, or activity under this
section may not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of such
program, project, or activity.
``(d) Prohibited Activities.--Grant funds provided to
States under this section may not be used to finance--
``(1) the day-to-day operational expenses, including
employee salaries and facilities costs, of publicly or
privately administered driver education programs; or
``(2) the activities described in subparagraphs (A) through
(C) of subsection (b)(2) in fiscal year 2006 or 2007.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 4 of title 23, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``412. Driver education and licensing.''.
(c) Study of National Driver Education Standards.--
(1) Requirement for study.--The Secretary of Transportation
shall conduct a study to determine whether the establishment
and imposition of nationwide minimum standards of motor
vehicle driver education would improve national highway
traffic safety or the performance and legal compliance of
novice drivers.
(2) Time for completion of study.--The Secretary shall
complete the study not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act.
(3) Report.--The Secretary shall publish a report on the
results of the study under this section not later than 2
years after the study is completed.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated
$25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2010 to
carry out section 412 of title 23, United States Code, as
added by subsection (b).
(2) Availability.--Funds appropriated pursuant to paragraph
(1) for fiscal years 2006 and 2007 may be used for the
National Driver Licensing and Education Improvement Program
established under section 105(f) of title 49, United States
Code.
(e) Grants for Support of Alcohol-Impaired Driving
Countermeasures.--
(1) Revised eligibility requirements.--Section 410(b)(1)(D)
of title 23, United States Code, is amended to read as
follows:
``(D) Graduated licensing system.--A multiple-stage
graduated licensing system for young drivers that--
``(i) authorizes the issuance of an initial license or
learner's permit to a driver on or after the driver's 16th
birthday;
``(ii) makes it unlawful for a person under age 21 to
operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of
.02 percent or greater;
``(iii) provides for a learning stage of at least 6 months
and an intermediate stage of at least 6 months; and
``(iv) applies the following restrictions and features to
the stages described in clause (iii) and to such other stage
or stages as may be provided under State law:
``(I) A restriction that not more than 2 passengers under
age 18 may occupy a vehicle while it is being operated by a
young driver.
``(II) Nighttime driving restrictions applicable, at a
minimum, during the hours between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.
``(III) Special penalties (including delays in progression
through the stages of the graduated licensing system) for
violations of restrictions under the system and violations of
other State laws relating to operation of motor vehicles.''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)
shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act.
____
S. 564
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 ``Safe Intersections Act of
2005''.
[[Page S2270]]
SEC. 2. SAFE INTERSECTIONS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 2 of title 18, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 39. Traffic signal preemption transmitters
``(a) Offenses.--
``(1) Sale.--A person who knowingly sells a traffic signal
preemption transmitter in or affecting interstate or foreign
commerce to a person who is not acting on behalf of a public
agency or private corporation authorized by law to provide
fire protection, law enforcement, emergency medical services,
transit services, maintenance, or other services for a
Federal, State, or local government entity, shall,
notwithstanding section 3571(b) of title 18, United States
Code, be fined not more than $10,000, imprisoned not more
than 1 year, or both.
``(2) Use.--A person who makes unauthorized use of a
traffic signal preemption transmitter in or affecting
interstate or foreign commerce shall be fined not more than
$10,000, imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both.
``(b) Definitions.--In this section, the following
definitions apply:
``(1) Traffic signal preemption transmitter.--The term
`traffic signal preemption transmitter' means any mechanism
that can change or alter a traffic signal's phase time or
sequence.
``(2) Unauthorized use.--The term `unauthorized use' means
use of a traffic signal preemption transmitter by a person
who is not acting on behalf of a public agency or private
corporation authorized by law to provide fire protection, law
enforcement, emergency medical services, transit services,
maintenance, or other services for a Federal, State, or local
government entity. The term `unauthorized use' does not apply
to use of a traffic signal preemption transmitter for
classroom or instructional purposes.''.
(b) Chapter Analysis.--The chapter analysis for chapter 2
of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``39. Traffic signal preemption transmitters.''.
S. 565
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 ``Traffic Safety Law
Enforcement Campaign Act''.
SEC. 2. TRAFFIC SAFETY LAW ENFORCEMENT CAMPAIGNS.
(a) In General.--The Administrator of the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration shall establish a program to
conduct at least 3 high-visibility traffic safety law
enforcement campaigns each year.
(b) Focus.--The campaigns shall focus on--
(1) reducing alcohol-impaired driving;
(2) increasing seat belt use; and
(3) a combination of reducing alcohol-impaired driving and
increasing seat belt use.
(c) Advertising.--The Administrator may use, or authorize
the use of, funds available to carry out this section for the
development, production, and use of broadcast and print media
advertising in carry out this section.
(d) Evaluation and Report.--The Administrator shall
evaluate the effectiveness of the campaigns at the end of
each year and, not later than 90 days after the end of each
year, submit a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of
Representatives that sets forth the findings, conclusions,
and recommendations of the Administrator with respect to the
program.
SEC. 3. FUNDING.
(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated
out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than from the Mass
Transit Account) to the Administrator to carry out this Act
$150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2011, of
which--
(1) $48,000,000 shall be used for each fiscal year for
nationwide advertising by the Administration;
(2) $48,000,000 shall be made available each fiscal year by
the Administrator to States for advertising;
(3) $48,000,000 shall be made available each fiscal year by
the Administrator to States for traffic safety law
enforcement; and
(4) $6,000,000 shall be available to the Administrator for
evaluation of the program under section 2.
(b) Program Standards.--Within 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall promulgate
program standards and criteria for the use of funds under
subsection (a)(2) and (3) that will ensure the effective and
appropriate use of such funds in accordance with this Act,
taking into account State efforts, needs, administrative
resources, and priorities.
(c) Apportionment.--The Administrator shall apportion funds
under subsection (a)(2) and (3) among the States on the same
basis as funds are apportioned among the States under section
402(c) of title 23, United States Code.
______
By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Corzine, and
Mr. Lautenberg):
S. 566. A bill to continue State coverage of medicaid prescription
drug coverage to medicare dual eligible beneficiaries for 6 months
while still allowing the medicare part D benefit to be implemented as
scheduled; to the Committee on Finance.
Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, millions of seniors and disabled
Americans are facing a major disruption in their health care when the
Medicare prescription drug law goes into effect on January 1, 2006. On
that singular date, 6.4 million dual eligibles--individuals who are
eligible for both Medicare and full Medicaid benefits--will lose their
Medicaid prescription drug coverage regardless of whether they have
obtained coverage through a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan and
regardless of whether their Part D plan's coverage is as broad as their
State's Medicaid coverage. Such a short transition period leaves no
time to address the inevitable problems that will occur with a
transition of this magnitude.
Dual eligibles should have as smooth a transition as possible to
Medicare prescription drug coverage. Unfortunately, a smooth transition
is not what will happen under current law. The Medicare prescription
drug law only requires a six-week transition period for dual eligibles,
from November 15, 2005, to January 1, 2006. This is the largest
transition of individuals from one insurance program to another, public
or private, and it is unrealistic to believe that such a huge
transition can take place in the span of six weeks.
Moving a large number of seniors and people with disabilities to an
entirely new system for prescription drug coverage is a major
undertaking. Dual eligibles will require adequate outreach, education,
and time to adjust to a change of this magnitude. The stakes are
extremely high for this population. Over half are limited in activities
of daily living. Many live alone or in nursing homes. And, in
comparison to other Medicare beneficiaries, dual eligibles are much
more likely to have heart disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, or
Alzheimer's. Therefore, it is absolutely critical that we get this
transition right the first time.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken
several steps to improve the transition of the dual eligibles from
Medicaid to Medicare. However, I fear these steps do not go far enough.
Automatic enrollment does not guarantee that beneficiaries will know
that they have been enrolled in a new Medicare drug plan or know how to
access necessary prescription drugs using that drug plan. Once
beneficiaries are enrolled, they are likely to experience ongoing
confusion about covered drugs, authorized pharmacies, and the Medicare
appeals process.
In its June 2004 report to Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory
Commission (MedPAC) suggested that even large, private employers need
at least six months to transition their employees' drug coverage from
one pharmacy benefit manager to another. The two large employers that
MedPAC studied had 25,000 and 75,000 employees, respectively. The
states and the federal government are taking on a far more complex task
with 6.4 million dual eligibles, and should have at least six months to
transition the duals to Medicare in order prevent major disruptions in
access to prescription drugs.
I am pleased to be joined today by my distinguished colleagues in the
Senate, Senators Kennedy, Corzine, and Lautenberg, as well my
distinguished co-sponsor in the House of Representatives, Congressman
Tom Allen of Maine, in introducing the Medicare Dual Eligible
Prescription Drug Coverage Act of 2005. This important legislation
would extend the dual eligible transition period to six months in order
to achieve the best possible health outcomes for some of our Nation's
most vulnerable citizens. An extended timeframe would give states
enough time to carry out comprehensive education and outreach
initiatives. It would also give seniors and individuals with
disabilities time to explore their options and gradually transition to
Medicare Part D.
Specifically, the Medicare Dual Eligible Prescription Drug Coverage
Act of 2005 would extend the availability of Medicaid prescription drug
coverage for six months while still allowing the Part D benefit to be
implemented as scheduled. Since states would be temporarily
supplementing Medicare Part D, they would be fully relieved of any
``clawback'' responsibilities during the six-month transition. This
legislation would also provide dedicated resources
[[Page S2271]]
for education and outreach to the dual eligibles, including additional
resources for State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs).
Finally, the Medicare Dual Eligible Prescription Drug Coverage Act
would require CMS to share drug utilization data with state Medicaid
programs so that states can appropriately coordinate non-prescription
drug coverage for the duals.
This is an issue of fundamental fairness. The Medicare law provides
Medicare beneficiaries who are not dually eligible for Medicaid six
months to transition to Medicare prescription drug coverage. Dual
eligibles should not be treated any differently. Medicare's
universality is something I fought hard for during the Medicare debate.
I strongly believe low-income seniors and disabled individuals should
not be excluded from Medicare benefits because of their income levels.
The Medicare law should not merely support the principle of
universality in statute. It must also support universality in fact, and
that means Medicare beneficiaries who are dually eligible for Medicaid
must also be given enough time to make a smooth transition to Medicare.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this important
legislation. I ask that the full text of this bill, be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 566
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 ``Medicare Dual Eligible
Prescription Drug Coverage Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Senate finds the following:
(1) Individuals who are dually eligible for benefits under
the medicare program and full benefits under the medicaid
program--
(A) are among the most vulnerable populations in our
society; and
(B) require adequate outreach, education, and timing in
order to adjust to changes in our health care delivery
system.
(2) The transition of 6,400,000 dual eligibles from
prescription drug coverage under the medicaid program to
prescription drug coverage under part D of the medicare
program is the largest transition ever of individuals from
one insurance program to another.
(3) In its June 2004 report to Congress, the Medicare
Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) suggested that large,
private employers with 75,000 employees or less need at least
6 months to transition their employees' drug coverage from
one pharmacy benefit management company to another such
company. The States and the Federal Government are taking on
a far more complex task with 6,400,000 dual eligibles having
to make the transition described in paragraph (2).
(4) Timely access to prescription drugs leads to higher
quality of life and prevents avoidable emergency room visits,
hospitalizations, and premature nursing home placements.
(5) Since even a short-term gap in prescription drug
coverage could have serious health consequences for dual
eligibles, Congress must work to guarantee as smooth a
transition as possible for dual eligibles so that no dual
eligible is without prescription drug coverage even for one
day.
SEC. 3. CONTINUING STATE COVERAGE OF MEDICAID PRESCRIPTION
DRUG COVERAGE TO MEDICARE DUAL ELIGIBLE
BENEFICIARIES FOR 6 MONTHS.
(a) Six-Month Transition.--For prescriptions filled during
the period beginning on January 1, 2006, and ending on June
30, 2006, section 1935(d) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1396u-5(d)) shall not apply and, notwithstanding any
other provision of law, a State (as defined for purposes of
title XIX of such Act) shall continue to provide (and receive
Federal financial participation for) medical assistance under
such title with respect to prescription drugs as if such
section 1935(d) had not been enacted.
(b) Application.--
(1) Medicare as primary payer.--Nothing in subsection (a)
shall be construed as changing or affecting the primary payer
status of a prescription drug plan or an MA-PD plan under
part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect
to prescription drugs furnished to any full-benefit dual
eligible individual (as defined in section 1935(c)(6) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 1396u-5(c)(6)) during the 6-month period
described in such subsection.
(2) Third party liability.--Nothing in subsection (a) shall
be construed as limiting the authority or responsibility of a
State under section 1902(a)(25) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(25)) to seek reimbursement from a
prescription drug plan, an MA-PD plan, or any other third
party, of the costs incurred by the State in providing
prescription drug coverage described in such subsection.
SEC. 4. DELAY IN IMPLEMENTATION OF MEDICAID CLAWBACK
PAYMENTS.
Notwithstanding section 1935(c) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1396u-5(c)), a State or the District of Columbia
shall not be required to provide for a payment under such
section to the Secretary of Health and human Services for any
month prior to July 1, 2006.
SEC. 5. EDUCATION AND OUTREACH TO DUAL ELIGIBLES REGARDING
PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE AND MONITORING OF
THE TRANSITION OF DUAL ELIGIBLES TO
PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE UNDER MEDICARE.
(a) MMA Amounts.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, of the amounts appropriated for the Centers for Medicare
& Medicaid Services under section 1015(a)(1) of the Medicare
Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
(Public Law 108-173; 117 Stat. 2446), the following rules
shall apply:
(1) Education and outreach to duals.--$100,000,000 shall be
used to provide education and outreach, including through
one-on-one counseling and application assistance, to full-
benefit dual eligible individuals (as defined in section
1935(c)(6) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396u-
5(c)(6))) regarding prescription drug coverage under part D
of title XVIII of the such Act. Of such amount--
(A) at least $20,000,000 (but in no case more than
$50,000,000) shall be used to award grants to States under
section 4360 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990
(42 U.S.C. 1395b-4) to provide such education and outreach;
and
(B) the remaining amount shall be used to provide funding
to community-based organizations that work with full-benefit
dual eligible individuals (as so defined) in order to provide
such education and outreach.
(2) Monitoring impact on duals.--
(A) In general.--$50,000,000 shall be used by the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in consultation with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the
Administration on Aging, and the Social Security
Administration, to develop and implement a standardized
protocol to collect data from health departments and other
sources in 10 representative urban and rural communities on
the impact of the transition of full benefit dual eligible
individuals (as so defined) from prescription drug coverage
under the medicaid program to prescription drug coverage
under part D of the medicare program. Such protocol shall be
implemented by not later than July 1, 2005.
(B) Monitoring.--The protocol developed under subparagraph
(A) shall include for the monitoring of the following
information with respect to such full benefit dual eligible
individuals:
(i) Emergency room visit rates.
(ii) Hospitalization rates.
(iii) Nursing home placement rates.
(iv) Deaths.
(C) Collection by pdps and ma-pds.--The protocol developed
under subparagraph (A) shall require that such data be
collected by the prescription drug plans and the MA-PDs in
which the individuals are enrolled and include information on
race and ethnicity.
(D) Reports.--Not later than January 1, 2006, and July 1,
2006, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services, in consultation with the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, the Administration on Aging,
and the Social Security Administration, shall submit a report
to Congress on the implementation of the protocol under
subparagraph (A).
(b) New Amounts.--There are appropriated to the Secretary
of Health and Human Services, to be transferred from the
Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal
Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, for fiscal year
2005 and each subsequent fiscal year, an amount not to exceed
$50,000,000 (or if greater, an amount equal to $1 multiplied
by the number of individuals entitled to benefits under part
A of title XVIII of the Social Security Act or enrolled under
part B of such title for the year) in order award grants to
States under section 4360 of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 1395b-4).
(c) Extension of Availability of Amounts Appropriated Under
MMA.--Section 1015(b) of the Medicare Prescription Drug,
Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-
173; 117 Stat. 2446) is amended by striking ``September 30,
2005'' and inserting ``September 30, 2006''.
SEC. 6. COLLECTION AND SHARING OF DUAL ELIGIBLE DRUG
UTILIZATION DATA.
(a) In General.--Section 1860D-42 of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-152) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(c) Collection and Sharing of Dual Eligible Drug
Utilization Data.--
``(1) Plan requirement.--A PDP sponsor of a prescription
drug plan and an MA organization offering an MA-PD plan shall
submit to the Secretary such information regarding the drug
utilization of enrollees in such plans who are full-benefit
dual eligible individuals (as defined in section 1935(c)(6))
as the Secretary determines appropriate to carry out
paragraph (2).
``(2) Collection and sharing of data.--The Secretary shall
collect data on the drug utilization of full-benefit dual
eligible individuals (as so defined). The Secretary shall
share such data with the States and the District of Columbia
in as close to a real-time basis as possible.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall take effect as if included in the enactment of section
101(a) of
[[Page S2272]]
the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and
Modernization Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-173; 117 Stat.
2071).
SEC. 7. GAO STUDY ON THE CLAWBACK FORMULA.
(a) Study.--
(1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United
States shall conduct a study on the clawback formula
contained in section 1935(c) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1396u-5(c)), as added by section 103(b) of the
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization
Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-173; 117 Stat. 2155).
(2) Requirements.--The study conducted under paragraph (1)
shall include a full examination of--
(A) disincentives for States to enroll full-benefit dual
eligible individuals (as defined in section 1935(c)(6) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396u-5(c)(6))) in the
medicaid program or part D of title XVIII of the Social
Security Act;
(B) the 6-month delay in States receiving rebate data;
(C) the prescription drug cost containment measures
implemented by States after 2003; and
(D) issues relating to States having to pay more for
prescription drug coverage for full benefit dual eligible
individuals (as so defined) than they otherwise would have if
the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and
Modernization Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-173; 117 Stat. 2066
et seq.) had not been enacted.
(b) Report.--Not later than April 1, 2006, the Comptroller
General of the United States shall submit to Congress a
report on the study conducted under subsection (a) together
with such recommendations as the Comptroller General
determines appropriate.
______
By Mr. LUGAR:
S. 567. A bill to provide immunity for nonprofit athletic
organizations in lawsuits arising from claims of ordinary negligence
relating to the passage, adoption, or failure to adopt rules of play
for athletic competitions and practices; to the Committee on the
Judiciary.
Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President. Today I rise to introduce the Nonprofit
Athletic Organization Protection Act of 2005. I am pleased to join with
my good friend and colleague, Representative Mark Souder, in
introducing this measure. This legislation is based on a bill that was
introduced in the last legislative session.
I believe that this legislation is very important to encouraging
health promotion in our country. The United States has invested a
tremendous number of resources in providing our children with the
ability to promote fitness through sports. In every town in America,
you will find boys and girls playing America's most popular sports:
baseball, soccer, football, and, of course, basketball. A recent study
by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association showed that in 2000 at
least 36 million American children played on at least one team sport.
Of those 36 million, 26 million children between the ages of 6 and 17,
played on an organized team in an organized league. A study by
Statistical Research, Inc. for the Amateur Athletic Foundation and ESPN
found that 94 percent American children play some sport during the
year.
The ability for children to participate in sporting events provides
our society many benefits that government cannot provide. Studies have
shown that these benefits include betterment to a child's health,
academic performance, social development and safety. The most obvious
benefit of organized sports is physical fitness. The National Institute
of Health Care Maintenance has identified physical activity such as
sports as a key factor in the maintenance of a healthy body. Lack of
physical activity, along with unhealthy eating habits, has been
identified as the leading cause of obesity in children. The center
notes: ``Physical activity provides numerous mental and physical
benefits to health, including reduction in the risk of premature
mortality, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, depression,
and cancers.'' A Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research study
indicated, ``Low fitness outranks fatness as a risk factor for
mortality.'' By encouraging our children to participate in organized
sports, we increase physical fitness and fight obesity.
A second benefit in the participation of organized sports is an
increase in academic performance. The National Institute of Health Care
Maintenance has highlighted ``a recent large-scale analysis reported by
the California Department of Education [has shown] that the level of
physical fitness attained by students was directly related to their
performance on standardized achievement measures.'' When we encourage
our children to participate in organized sports, we increase the
ability for them to achieve academically.
A third benefit for young people who participate in organized sports
is that they learn positive social development. Organized sports teach
values of teamwork, fair play, and friendly competition. Success in
organized sports is also a vital self-esteem builder in many children.
These three benefits have been widely discussed on the floor of the
Senate and we have acted to implement several programs designed to
reduce obesity and increase fitness, educational standards and the
social well-being of our children.
The fourth benefit to participation in organized youth sports,
providing a safe place to play, is a topic that has not received as
much attention as the first three. Nonetheless, it is no less
important. Fewer kids are simply going outside to play, due to the
attraction of TV, video games, and the Internet, combined with parents'
safety concerns about letting children run around outside unsupervised.
As a result, organized sports teams are an increasingly important
source of safe physical activity in children. The American Academy of
Pediatrics has stated, ``In contrast to unstructured or free play,
participation in organized sports provides a greater opportunity to
develop rules specifically designed for health and safety.''
One primary reason why organized sports provide such an opportunity
for safe play is that non-profit, volunteer organizations establish
rules to provide a safe place to play. These organizations are made up
of professional people who are in the business of providing children a
fun and safe avenue for athletic exercise. Organizations like the Boys
and Girls Club, the National Council of Youth Sports, the National
Federation of State High School Associations and others exist largely
to establish rules in order to minimize the risk of injury our children
face while participating in sports. No matter how well these
organizations perform their work, however, boys and girls will be
injured.
Over the last several years, more and more of these rule making
bodies have become targets for lawsuits seeking to prove that the rule
maker was negligent in making the rules of play. These lawsuits claim
that had a different rule been in place, the injury would not have
happened. Indeed, these suits place rule makers into a Catch-22. A
child can be injured in almost any situation no matter how a rule is
written. The result has been to have more and more lawsuits.
As a consequence, the insurance premiums of these organizations have
risen dramatically over the past several years. In his testimony before
the House Judiciary Committee last year, Robert Kanaby the Executive
Director of the National Federation of State High School Associations
testified that:
``Over the last three years, the annual liability insurance premiums
for the National High School Federation have increased three-fold to
about $1,000,000. We have been advised by experts that given our claims
experience and the reluctance of insurers to offer such coverage to an
organization `serving 7,000,000 potential claimants,' the premiums will
likely increase significantly in years to come. Since we operate on a
total budget of about $9,000,000, such an increase would be, to put it
mildly, problematical.''
The costs have increased to the point where it is possible that these
organizations will cease from providing age appropriate rules and the
safety of youth sports will decline.
Because of this problem, I join, once again, with Representative Mark
Souder in introducing the Nonprofit Athletic Organization Protection
Act of 2005. This legislation will eliminate lawsuits based on claims
that a non-profit rulemaking body is liable for the physical injury
when the rules was made by a properly licensed rulemaking body that has
acted within the scope of its authority. Lawsuits may be maintained if
the rule maker was grossly negligent or engaged in criminal or reckless
misconduct. This reasonable legislation will help sports rule makers to
do their job. If we do not pass this legislation, it is likely that
rule makers will eventually close their doors since they will be unable
to afford the insurance needed to provide a safe sporting environment.
[[Page S2273]]
No one who has participated in the debate surrounding this problem
has disagreed that the current lawsuit culture needs reform. Instead,
concerns have arisen that the remedy was overly broad preventing
lawsuits against rule makers on other issue.
To remedy these concerns, the legislation introduced today contains a
provision that explicitly says that lawsuits involving ``antitrust,
labor, environmental, defamation, tortuous interference of contract law
or civil rights law, or any other federal, state, or local law
providing protection from discrimination'' are not barred by this bill.
This provision was worked out between the civil rights groups,
including the National Women's Law Center and the National Federation
of State High School Associations, in an effort to alleviate this
concern.
As many of my colleagues know, I am a runner. I enjoy the activity
and the positive effect that running and athletics have played in my
life. I would hope that my nine grandchildren will be able to have an
opportunity to participate in organized sports and that lawsuits
against rule makers for allegedly faulty rules will not prevent these
organizations from functioning properly. I look forward to the
consideration and passage of the Nonprofit Athletic Organization
Protection Act of 2005 during the 109th Congress.
______
By Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Corzine,
and Mrs. Boxer):
S. 569. A bill to improve the health of women through the
establishment of Offices of Women's Health within the Department of
Health and Human Services, to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions.
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today, on International Women's Day,
to introduce the Women's Health Office Act with my colleague, Senator
Barbara Mikulski.
Historically, women's health care needs have been ignored or poorly
understood, and women have been systematically excluded from important
health research. We heard just this week about a landmark example. One
federally-funded study examined the ability of aspirin to prevent heart
attacks in 20,000 medical doctors, all of whom were men, despite the
fact that heart disease is the leading cause of death among women. When
a benefit was found in men, many physicians assumed that the same
protective effect applied to women. Just this week, after research on
women was finally conducted, we learned that the effect of aspirin on
women appear to be quite different. We are simply not protected in the
same way men are protected. It is tragic that so much of our medicine
has been based on such assumptions.
Today we recognize that both genders should benefit equally from
medical research and health care services. Yet equity does not yet
exist in health care, and we have a long way to go. Knowledge about
differences in women--in symptoms of disease, and in appropriate
measures for prevention and treatment--frequently lags far behind our
knowledge of men's health.
We must also recognize that some diseases--such as ovarian cancer and
endometriosis--affect only women. Other diseases affect women
disproportionately--such as osteoporosis. We also see differences in
health care access between men and women. These simply must be
reflected in our health policy.
It is for these reasons that we are again introducing the Women's
Health Office Act. This legislation provides permanent authorization
for offices of women's health in five federal agencies: the Department
of Health and Human Services; the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; the Health
Resources and Services Administration; and the Food and Drug
Administration. Currently only two women's health offices in the
Federal Government have statutory authorization; the Office of Research
on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health and the Office
for Women's Services within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration.
With some offices established, but not authorized, the needs of women
could be compromised without the consent of Congress. We must create
statutory authority for these offices, to ensure that health policy
flows from fact, not assumption. Improving the health of American women
requires a far greater understanding of women's health needs and
conditions, and ongoing evaluation in the areas of research, education,
prevention, treatment and the delivery of services--and this bill will
ensure that.
I must also note today, on International Women's Day, that of all the
disease threats to women, few rival the threat of AIDS. Increasingly,
the face of the individual with HIV-infection is a woman's. Tragically,
it is often the woman's husband who places her at risk, yet in many
societies, the status of women makes her use of prevention difficult.
One promising way to counter the risk of HIV infection is the
development of an effective microbicide--a typical product which women
could use to reduce their risk of contracting HIV. A number of
scientists are working to develop such a product. If successful, this
could prevent millions of infections, and would be a practical means of
prevention in much of the world where options for women are so few. For
this reason I again join Senator Corzine today in introducing the
Microbicides Development Act. This legislation will establish a
coordination of this development at the NIH to reduce the toll of AIDS.
Just today we read of a promising new microbicide which appears to show
great promise. We must ensure that the promise of microbicides become
reality for millions of women. This research is spread over multiple
Institutes at NIH, and definitely will benefit from the coordination
and integration which this Act will instill.
Today, on a day when we recognize both the achievements and
contributions of women, it is fitting, that we provide the support and
opportunity to facilitate the continued progress of women, I call on my
colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation, which will ensure
better health for our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, both here
and abroad.
Ms. MIKULSKI. I rise to introduce the Women's Health Office Act with
my colleague, Senator Olympia Snowe. The Women's Health Office Act
authorizes and strengthens women's health offices or officers at
Federal health agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services.
This legislation will make sure that men and women get equal benefit
from Federal investments in medical research and health care services.
Today, doctors, scientists, Members of Congress, and the American
public know that women and men have different bodies and different
health care needs. Diseases like ovarian cancer and endometriosis
affect only women. Women are four times more likely to develop
osteoporosis than men and according to some estimates, half of all
women over 50 will fracture a bone because of osteoporosis in her
lifetime.
Despite these differences, men's health needs have set the standard
for our health care system and our health care research agenda. Women
have been systematically excluded from medical research because
decision-makers said that our hormone cycles complicated the results.
One study on heart disease risk factors was conducted on 13,000 men--
and not one women. But the results of studies like these were applied
to both men and women. This neglect puts women's health and lives at
risk.
That's why my colleagues and I took action. More than a decade ago, I
worked with Olympia Snowe, Ted Kennedy, Tom Harkin, and other women in
the House to get an Office of Research on Women's Health at the
National Institutes of Health, NIH. In 1993, I worked with these same
women and Galahads in Congress to make sure that the women's health
office would stay at NIH by putting it into law.
This office at NIH has made a real difference in how women are
treated for certain illnesses. We now know that men and women often
have different symptoms before a heart attack. Women's symptoms are
more subtle, like nausea and back pain. Knowing these symptoms means
women can get to the hospital sooner and can be treated earlier. That's
turning women's health research into life-saving information.
I am proud that there are now women's health offices or officers at
nearly every federal health agency at the Department of Health and
Human Services. Like the one at NIH, women's
[[Page S2274]]
health offices mean that women's health needs are always at the table.
These offices at the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, and the Health Resources and
Services Administration, HRSA, make sure women are included in clinical
drug trials, reach out to low-income and minority women to make sure
they are getting vaccines and cancer screenings, and work with health
care providers to put research on women's health into practice. Recent
questions about the risks and benefits of mammography and hormone
replacement therapy remind us that women's health offices are as
important as ever.
Right now, many of these offices--and the important work they do--
could be eliminated or cut back without the consent of Congress. That
is why this bill is so important. This bill would put women's health
offices into our nation's lawbooks.
The Women's Health Office Act does more than protect the status quo.
It keeps us moving forward on women's health. It gives women's health
offices a clear, consistent framework throughout the department. By
writing them into law, it gives women's health offices the stature they
need to be strong, effective advocates for women's health within the
Federal Government. This legislation coordinates women's health
activities within each agency, to identify needs and set goals. The
Women's Health Office Act centralizes overall coordination throughout
the Department of Health and Human Services, to clarify lines of
accountability and chart a clear course on women's health. Finally, it
authorizes funding for these women's health offices or officers, to
make sure that we put our nation's priorities in the federal checkbook
as well as the Federal lawbooks.
I would like to thank Senator Olympia Snowe for leading the way on
this important legislation. As Dean of the Senate women, I will
continue to fight to get this bill signed into law and to make progress
to improve the health of American women.
____________________