[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 133 (Wednesday, December 6, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11326-S11348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mrs. Boxer):
S. 4084. A bill to authorize the implementation of the San Joaquin
River Restoration Settlement; to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce--with my
cosponsor Senator Boxer--a historic bill that will end 18 years of
litigation between the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Friant
Water Authority, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. The
legislation will enact a settlement that accomplishes the restoration
of California's second longest river, the San Joaquin, while
maintaining a stable water supply for the farmers who have made the
Valley bloom and have supplied low-cost agricultural products to
Americans from coast to coast.
The alternative to a consensus resolution to this long-running
western water battle basis is to continue the fight. To my knowledge,
every farmer and every environmentalist who has considered the
possibility of continued litigation believes that an outcome imposed by
a judge is likely to be worse for everyone on all counts: more costly,
riskier for the farmers, and less beneficial for the environment.
Because the settlement provides a framework that all interests can
accept, this legislation has the strong support of the Bush
administration, the Schwarzenegger administration, the environmental
and fishing communities and numerous California farmers and water
districts, including all 22 Friant water districts that have been part
of the litigation.
In announcing the signing of this San Joaquin River settlement in
September, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior praised it as a
``monumental agreement.'' And when the Federal court then approved the
settlement in late October, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne
further praised settlement for launching ``one of the largest
environmental restoration projects in California's history.'' The
Secretary further observed that ``This Settlement closes a long chapter
of conflict and uncertainty in California's San Joaquin Valley . . .
and open[s] a new chapter of environmental restoration and water supply
certainty for the farmers and their communities.''
I share the Secretary's strong support for this balanced and historic
agreement, and it is my honor to join with Senator Boxer and a
bipartisan group of California House Members in introducing legislation
to approve and authorize this settlement before we end the 109th
Congress.
The legislation indicates how the settlement agreement forged by the
parties is going to be implemented. It involves the Departments of the
Interior and Commerce, and essentially gives the Secretary of the
Interior the additional authority to:
take the actions to restore the San Joaquin River;
reintroduce the California Central Valley Spring Run Chinook
Salmon;
minimize water supply impacts on Friant water districts; and
avoid reductions in water supply for third-party water
contractors.
One of the major benefits of this settlement is the restoration of a
long-lost salmon fishery. The return of one of California's most
important salmon runs will create significant benefits for local
communities in the San Joaquin Valley, helping to restore a beleaguered
fishing industry while improving recreation and quality of life.
The legislation provides for improvements to the San Joaquin River
channel to allow salmon restoration to begin in 2014. Beginning in that
year, the river would see an annual flow regime mandated by the
settlement, with pulses of additional water in the spring and greater
flows available in wetter years. There is flexibility to add or
subtract up to 10 percent from the annual flows, as the best science
dictates.
A visitor to the revitalized river channel in a decade will find an
entirely different place providing recreation and relaxation for
residents of small towns like Mendota, and a refuge for residents of
larger cities like Fresno.
The legislation I am introducing today includes provisions to benefit
the farmers of the San Joaquin Valley as well as the salmon: In wet
years, Friant contractors can purchase surplus flows at $10 per acre-
foot for use in dry years, far less than the approximately $35 per
acre-foot that they would otherwise pay for this water. The Secretary
of the Interior is authorized to recirculate new restoration flows from
the Delta via the California aqueduct and the Cross-Valley Canal to
provide additional supply for Friant.
Today's legislation also includes substantial protections for other
water districts in California that were not party to the original
settlement negotiations. These other water contractors will be able to
avoid all but the smallest water impacts as a result of the settlement,
except on a voluntary basis.
In addition, the restoration of flows for over 150 miles below Friant
Dam, and reconnecting the upper river to the critical San Joaquin-
Sacramento Delta, will be a welcome change for the more than 22 million
Californians who rely on that crucial source for their drinking water.
Finally, restoring the San Joaquin as a living salmon river may
ultimately help struggling fishing communities on California's north
coast--and even into southern Oregon. The restoration of the San
Joaquin and the government's commitment to reintroduce and rebuild
historic salmon populations provide a rare bright spot for these
communities.
In addition to congratulating the parties for making a settlement
that will enable the long-sought restoration of the San Joaquin River,
I am mindful of and remain committed to progress in implementing and
funding the December 19, 2000, Trinity River restoration
[[Page S11327]]
record of decision and the Hoopa Valley Tribe's comanagement of the
decision's important goal of restoring the fishery resources that the
United States holds in trust for the tribe.
Support of this agreement is almost as far reaching as its benefits.
This historic agreement would not have been possible without the
participation of a remarkably broad group of agencies, stakeholders and
legislators, reaching far beyond the settling parties. The Department
of the Interior, the State of California, the Friant Water Users
Authority, the Natural Resources Defense Council on behalf of 13 other
environmental organizations and countless other stakeholders came
together and spent countless hours with legislators in Washington to
ensure that we found a solution that the large majority of those
affected could support.
Last month, California voters showed their support by approving
Propositions 84 and 1E that will help pay for the settlement by
committing at least $100 million and likely $200 million or more toward
the restoration costs. Indeed, this legislation includes a diverse mix
of approximately $200 million in direct Water User payments, new State
payments, $240 million in dedicated Friant Central Valley Project
capital repayments, and future Federal appropriations limited to $250
million. This mix of funding sources is intended to ensure that the
river restoration program will be sustainable over time and truly a
joint effort of Federal, State and local agencies.
I would like to emphasize that the Federal funding in the bill is for
implementation of both the restoration goal to reestablish a salmon
fishery in the river, and the water management goal to avoid or
minimize water supply losses supplied by Friant Water Districts. It is
important to recognize that these efforts are of equal importance.
At the end of the day, I believe that this agreement is something
that we can all feel very proud of, and I urge my colleagues in the
Senate to move quickly to approve this legislation and provide the
administration the authorization it needs to fully carry out its legal
obligations and the extensive restoration opportunities under the
settlement.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the
Record.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
S. 4084
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 ``San Joaquin River
Restoration Settlement Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to authorize implementation of
the Stipulation of Settlement dated September 13, 2006
(referred to in this Act as the ``Settlement''), in the
litigation entitled NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, et al.
v. KIRK RODGERS, et al., United States District Court,
Eastern District of California, No. CIV. S-88-1658-LKK/GGH.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the terms ``Friant Division long-term
contractors'', ``Interim Flows'', ``Restoration Flows'',
``Recovered Water Account'', ``Restoration Goal'', and
``Water Management Goal'' have the meanings given the terms
in the Settlement.
SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF SETTLEMENT.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior (referred to
in this Act as the ``Secretary'') is hereby authorized and
directed to implement the terms and conditions of the
Settlement in cooperation with the State of California,
including the following measures as these measures are
prescribed in the Settlement:
(1) Design and construct channel and structural
improvements as described in paragraph 11 of the Settlement,
provided, however, that the Secretary shall not make or fund
any such improvements to facilities or property of the State
of California without the approval of the State of California
and the State's agreement in 1 or more Memoranda of
Understanding to participate where appropriate.
(2) Modify Friant Dam operations so as to provide
Restoration Flows and Interim Flows.
(3) Acquire water, water rights, or options to acquire
water as described in paragraph 13 of the Settlement,
provided, however, such acquisitions shall only be made from
willing sellers and not through eminent domain.
(4) Implement the terms and conditions of paragraph 16 of
the Settlement related to recirculation, recapture, reuse,
exchange, or transfer of water released for Restoration Flows
or Interim Flows, for the purpose of accomplishing the Water
Management Goal of the Settlement, subject to--
(A) applicable provisions of California water law;
(B) the Secretary's use of Central Valley Project
facilities to make Project water (other than water released
from Friant Dam pursuant to the Settlement) and water
acquired through transfers available to existing south-of-
Delta Central Valley Project contractors; and
(C) the Secretary's performance of the Agreement of
November 24, 1986, between the United States of America and
the Department of Water Resources of the State of California
for the coordinated operation of the Central Valley Project
and the State Water Project as authorized by Congress in
section 2(d) of the Act of August 26, 1937 (50 Stat. 850, 100
Stat. 3051), including any agreement to resolve conflicts
arising from said Agreement.
(5) Develop and implement the Recovered Water Account as
specified in paragraph 16(b) of the Settlement, including the
pricing and payment crediting provisions described in
paragraph 16(b)(3) of the Settlement, provided that all other
provisions of Federal reclamation law shall remain
applicable.
(b) Agreements.--
(1) Agreements with the state.--In order to facilitate or
expedite implementation of the Settlement, the Secretary is
authorized and directed to enter into appropriate agreements,
including cost sharing agreements, with the State of
California.
(2) Other agreements.--The Secretary is authorized to enter
into contracts, memoranda of understanding, financial
assistance agreements, cost sharing agreements, and other
appropriate agreements with State, tribal, and local
governmental agencies, and with private parties, including
agreements related to construction, improvement, and
operation and maintenance of facilities, subject to any terms
and conditions that the Secretary deems necessary to achieve
the purposes of the Settlement.
(c) Acceptance and Expenditure of Non-Federal Funds.--The
Secretary is authorized to accept and expend non-Federal
funds in order to facilitate implementation of the
Settlement.
(d) Mitigation of Impacts.--Prior to the implementation of
decisions or agreements to construct, improve, operate, or
maintain facilities that the Secretary determines are needed
to implement the Settlement, the Secretary shall identify--
(1) the impacts associated with such actions; and
(2) the measures which shall be implemented to mitigate
impacts on adjacent and downstream water users and
landowners.
(e) Design and Engineering Studies.--The Secretary is
authorized to conduct any design or engineering studies that
are necessary to implement the Settlement.
(f) Effect on Contract Water Allocations.--Except as
otherwise provided in this section, the implementation of the
Settlement and the reintroduction of California Central
Valley Spring Run Chinook salmon pursuant to the Settlement
and section 10, shall not result in the involuntary reduction
in contract water allocations to Central Valley Project long-
term contractors, other than Friant Division long-term
contractors.
(g) Effect on Existing Water Contracts.--Except as provided
in the Settlement and this Act, nothing in this Act shall
modify or amend the rights and obligations of the parties to
any existing water service, repayment, purchase or exchange
contract.
SEC. 5. ACQUISITION AND DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY; TITLE TO
FACILITIES.
(a) Title to Facilities.--Unless acquired pursuant to
subsection (b), title to any facility or facilities, stream
channel, levees, or other real property modified or improved
in the course of implementing the Settlement authorized by
this Act, and title to any modifications or improvements of
such facility or facilities, stream channel, levees, or other
real property--
(1) shall remain in the owner of the property; and
(2) shall not be transferred to the United States on
account of such modifications or improvements.
(b) Acquisition of Property.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized to acquire
through purchase from willing sellers any property, interests
in property, or options to acquire real property needed to
implement the Settlement authorized by this Act.
(2) Applicable law.--The Secretary is authorized, but not
required, to exercise all of the authorities provided in
section 2 of the Act of August 26, 1937 (50 Stat. 844,
chapter 832), to carry out the measures authorized in this
section and section 4.
(c) Disposal of Property.--
(1) In general.--Upon the Secretary's determination that
retention of title to property or interests in property
acquired pursuant to this Act is no longer needed to be held
by the United States for the furtherance of the Settlement,
the Secretary is authorized to dispose of such property or
interest in property on such terms and conditions as the
Secretary deems appropriate and in the best interest of the
United States, including possible transfer of such property
to the State of California.
(2) Right of first refusal.--In the event the Secretary
determines that property acquired pursuant to this Act
through the exercise of its eminent domain authority is no
longer necessary for implementation of the Settlement, the
Secretary shall provide a right of first refusal to the
property owner
[[Page S11328]]
from whom the property was initially acquired, or his or her
successor in interest, on the same terms and conditions as
the property is being offered to other parties.
(3) Disposition of proceeds.--Proceeds from the disposal by
sale or transfer of any such property or interests in such
property shall be deposited in the fund established by
section 9(c).
SEC. 6. COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAW.
(a) Applicable Law.--
(1) In general.--In undertaking the measures authorized by
this Act, the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce shall
comply with all applicable Federal and State laws, rules, and
regulations, including the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Endangered Species
Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as necessary.
(2) Environmental reviews.--The Secretary and the Secretary
of Commerce are authorized and directed to initiate and
expeditiously complete applicable environmental reviews and
consultations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes
of the Settlement.
(b) Effect on State Law.--Nothing in this Act shall preempt
State law or modify any existing obligation of the United
States under Federal reclamation law to operate the Central
Valley Project in conformity with State law.
(c) Use of Funds for Environmental Reviews.--
(1) Definition of environmental review.--For purposes of
this subsection, the term ``environmental review'' includes
any consultation and planning necessary to comply with
subsection (a).
(2) Participation in environmental review process.--In
undertaking the measures authorized by section 4, and for
which environmental review is required, the Secretary may
provide funds made available under this Act to affected
Federal agencies, State agencies, local agencies, and Indian
tribes if the Secretary determines that such funds are
necessary to allow the Federal agencies, State agencies,
local agencies, or Indian tribes to effectively participate
in the environmental review process.
(3) Limitation.--Funds may be provided under paragraph (2)
only to support activities that directly contribute to the
implementation of the terms and conditions of the Settlement.
(d) Nonreimbursable Funds.--The United States' share of the
costs of implementing this Act shall be nonreimbursable under
Federal reclamation law, provided that nothing in this
subsection shall limit or be construed to limit the use of
the funds assessed and collected pursuant to sections
3406(c)(1) and 3407(d)(2) of the Reclamation Projects
Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-575;
106 Stat. 4721, 4727), for implementation of the Settlement,
nor shall it be construed to limit or modify existing or
future Central Valley Project Ratesetting Policies.
SEC. 7. COMPLIANCE WITH CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT IMPROVEMENT
ACT.
Congress hereby finds and declares that the Settlement
satisfies and discharges all of the obligations of the
Secretary contained in section 3406(c)(1) of the Reclamation
Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 (Public Law
102-575; 106 Stat. 4721), provided, however, that--
(1) the Secretary shall continue to assess and collect the
charges provided in section 3406(c)(1) of the Reclamation
Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 (Public Law
102-575; 106 Stat. 4721), as provided in the Settlement and
section 9(d); and
(2) those assessments and collections shall continue to be
counted towards the requirements of the Secretary contained
in section 3407(c)(2) of the Reclamation Projects
Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-575;
106 Stat. 4726).
SEC. 8. NO PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.
(a) In General.--Nothing in this Act confers upon any
person or entity not a party to the Settlement a private
right of action or claim for relief to interpret or enforce
the provisions of this Act or the Settlement.
(b) Applicable Law.--This section shall not alter or
curtail any right of action or claim for relief under any
other applicable law.
SEC. 9. APPROPRIATIONS; SETTLEMENT FUND.
(a) Implementation Costs.--
(1) In general.--The costs of implementing the Settlement
shall be covered by payments or in kind contributions made by
Friant Division contractors and other non-Federal parties,
including the funds provided in paragraphs (1) through (5) of
subsection (c), estimated to total $440,000,000, of which the
non-Federal payments are estimated to total $200,000,000 (at
October 2006 price levels) and the amount from repaid Central
Valley Project capital obligations is estimated to total
$240,000,000, the additional Federal appropriation of
$250,000,000 authorized pursuant to subsection (b)(1), and
such additional funds authorized pursuant to subsection
(b)(2); provided however, that the costs of implementing the
provisions of section 4(a)(1) shall be shared by the State of
California pursuant to the terms of a Memorandum of
Understanding executed by the State of California and the
Parties to the Settlement on September 13, 2006, which
includes at least $110,000,000 of State funds.
(2) Additional agreements.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall enter into 1 or more
agreements to fund or implement improvements on a project-by-
project basis with the State of California.
(B) Requirements.--Any agreements entered into under
subparagraph (A) shall provide for recognition of either
monetary or in-kind contributions toward the State of
California's share of the cost of implementing the provisions
of section 4(a)(1).
(3) Limitation.--Except as provided in the Settlement, to
the extent that costs incurred solely to implement this
Settlement would not otherwise have been incurred by any
entity or public or local agency or subdivision of the State
of California, such costs shall not be borne by any such
entity, agency, or subdivision of the State of California,
unless such costs are incurred on a voluntary basis.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--In addition to the funds provided in
paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (c), there are also
authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $250,000,000 (at
October 2006 price levels) to implement this Act and the
Settlement, to be available until expended; provided however,
that the Secretary is authorized to spend such additional
appropriations only in amounts equal to the amount of funds
deposited in the Fund (not including payments under
subsection (c)(2), proceeds under subsection (c)(3) other
than an amount equal to what would otherwise have been
deposited under subsection (c)(1) in the absence of issuance
of the bond, and proceeds under subsection (c)(4)), the
amount of in-kind contributions, and other non-Federal
payments actually committed to the implementation of this Act
or the Settlement.
(2) Other funds.--The Secretary is authorized to use monies
from the Fund created under section 3407 of the Reclamation
Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 (Public Law
102-575; 106 Stat. 4727) for purposes of this Act.
(c) Fund.--There is hereby established within the Treasury
of the United States a fund, to be known as the ``San Joaquin
River Restoration Fund'', into which the following shall be
deposited and used solely for the purpose of implementing the
Settlement, to be available for expenditure without further
appropriation:
(1) Subject to subsection (d), at the beginning of the
fiscal year following enactment of this Act, all payments
received pursuant to section 3406(c)(1) of the Reclamation
Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 (Public Law
102-575; 106 Stat. 4721).
(2) Subject to subsection (d), the capital component (not
otherwise needed to cover operation and maintenance costs) of
payments made by Friant Division long-term contractors
pursuant to long-term water service contracts beginning the
first fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act.
The capital repayment obligation of such contractors under
such contracts shall be reduced by the amount paid pursuant
to this paragraph and the appropriate share of the existing
Federal investment in the Central Valley Project to be
recovered by the Secretary pursuant to Public Law 99-546 (100
Stat. 3050) shall be reduced by an equivalent sum.
(3) Proceeds from a bond issue, federally-guaranteed loan,
or other appropriate financing instrument, to be issued or
entered into by an appropriate public agency or subdivision
of the State of California pursuant to subsection (d)(2).
(4) Proceeds from the sale of water pursuant to the
Settlement, or from the sale of property or interests in
property as provided in section 5.
(5) Any non-Federal funds, including State cost-sharing
funds, contributed to the United States for implementation of
the Settlement, which the Secretary may expend without
further appropriation for the purposes for which contributed.
(d) Guaranteed Loans and Other Financing Instruments.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized to enter into
agreements with appropriate agencies or subdivisions of the
State of California in order to facilitate a bond issue,
federally-guaranteed loan, or other appropriate financing
instrument, for the purpose of implementing this Settlement.
(2) Requirements.--If the Secretary and an appropriate
agency or subdivision of the State of California enter into
such an agreement, and if such agency or subdivision issues 1
or more revenue bonds, procures a federally secured loan, or
other appropriate financing to fund implementation of the
Settlement, and if such agency deposits the proceeds received
from such bonds, loans, or financing into the Fund pursuant
to subsection (c)(3), monies specified in paragraphs (1) and
(2) of subsection (c) shall be provided by the Friant
Division long-term contractors directly to such public agency
or subdivision of the State of California to repay the bond,
loan or financing rather than into the Fund.
(3) Disposition of payments.--After the satisfaction of any
such bond, loan, or financing, the payments specified in
paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (c) shall be paid
directly into the Fund authorized by this section.
(e) Limitation on Contributions.--Payments made by long-
term contractors who receive water from the Friant Division
and Hidden and Buchanan Units of the Central Valley Project
pursuant to sections 3406(c)(1) and 3407(d)(2) of the
Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992
(Public Law 102-575; 106 Stat. 4721, 4727) and payments made
pursuant to paragraph 16(b)(3) of the Settlement and
subsection (c)(2) shall be the limitation of such entities'
[[Page S11329]]
direct financial contribution to the Settlement, subject to
the terms and conditions of paragraph 21 of the Settlement.
(f) No Additional Expenditures Required.--Nothing in this
Act shall be construed to require a Federal official to
expend Federal funds not appropriated by Congress, or to seek
the appropriation of additional funds by Congress, for the
implementation of the Settlement.
(g) Reach 4B.--
(1) Study.--
(A) In general.--In accordance with the Settlement and the
Memorandum of Understanding executed pursuant to paragraph 6
of the Settlement, the Secretary shall conduct a study that
specifies--
(i) the costs of undertaking any work required under
paragraph 11(a)(3) of the Settlement to increase the capacity
of Reach 4B prior to reinitiation of Restoration Flows;
(ii) the impacts associated with reinitiation of such
flows; and
(iii) measures that shall be implemented to mitigate
impacts.
(B) Deadline.--The study under subparagraph (A) shall be
completed prior to restoration of any flows other than
Interim Flows.
(2) Report.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall file a report with
Congress not later than 90 days after issuing a
determination, as required by the Settlement, on whether to
expand channel conveyance capacity to 4500 cubic feet per
second in Reach 4B of the San Joaquin River, or use an
alternative route for pulse flows, that--
(i) explains whether the Secretary has decided to expand
Reach 4B capacity to 4500 cubic feet per second; and
(ii) addresses the following matters:
(I) The basis for the Secretary's determination, whether
set out in environmental review documents or otherwise, as to
whether the expansion of Reach 4B would be the preferable
means to achieve the Restoration Goal as provided in the
Settlement, including how different factors were assessed
such as comparative biological and habitat benefits,
comparative costs, relative availability of State cost-
sharing funds, and the comparative benefits and impacts on
water temperature, water supply, private property, and local
and downstream flood control.
(II) The Secretary's final cost estimate for expanding
Reach 4B capacity to 4500 cubic feet per second, or any
alternative route selected, as well as the alternative cost
estimates provided by the State, by the Restoration
Administrator, and by the other parties to the Settlement.
(III) The Secretary's plan for funding the costs of
expanding Reach 4B or any alternative route selected, whether
by existing Federal funds provided under this Act, by non-
Federal funds, by future Federal appropriations, or some
combination of such sources.
(B) Determination required.--The Secretary shall, to the
extent feasible, make the determination in subparagraph (A)
prior to undertaking any substantial construction work to
increase capacity in Reach 4B.
(3) Costs.--If the Secretary's estimated Federal cost for
expanding Reach 4B in paragraph (2), in light of the
Secretary's funding plan set out in paragraph (2), would
exceed the remaining Federal funding authorized by this Act
(including all funds reallocated, all funds dedicated, and
all new funds authorized by this Act and separate from all
commitments of State and other non-Federal funds and in-kind
commitments), then before the Secretary commences actual
construction work in Reach 4B (other than planning, design,
feasibility, or other preliminary measures) to expand
capacity to 4500 cubic feet per second to implement this
Settlement, Congress must have increased the applicable
authorization ceiling provided by this Act in an amount at
least sufficient to cover the higher estimated Federal costs.
SEC. 10. CALIFORNIA CENTRAL VALLEY SPRING RUN CHINOOK SALMON.
(a) Finding.--Congress finds that the implementation of the
Settlement to resolve 18 years of contentious litigation
regarding restoration of the San Joaquin River and the
reintroduction of the California Central Valley Spring Run
Chinook salmon is a unique and unprecedented circumstance
that requires clear expressions of Congressional intent
regarding how the provisions of the Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) are utilized to achieve the
goals of restoration of the San Joaquin River and the
successful reintroduction of California Central Valley Spring
Run Chinook salmon.
(b) Reintroduction in the San Joaquin River.--California
Central Valley Spring Run Chinook salmon shall be
reintroduced in the San Joaquin River below Friant Dam
pursuant to section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1539(j)) and the Settlement, provided that
the Secretary of Commerce finds that a permit for the
reintroduction of California Central Valley Spring Run
Chinook salmon may be issued pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(A)
of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.
1539(a)(1)(A)).
(c) Final Rule.--
(1) Definition of third party.--For the purpose of this
subsection, the term ``third party'' means persons or
entities diverting or receiving water pursuant to applicable
State and Federal law and shall include Central Valley
Project contractors outside of the Friant Division of the
Central Valley Project and the State Water Project.
(2) Issuance.--The Secretary of Commerce shall issue a
final rule pursuant to section 4(d) of the Endangered Species
Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(d)) governing the incidental take
of reintroduced California Central Valley Spring Run Chinook
salmon prior to the reintroduction.
(3) Required components.--The rule issued under paragraph
(2) shall provide that the reintroduction will not impose
more than de minimis: water supply reductions, additional
storage releases, or bypass flows on unwilling third parties
due to such reintroduction.
(4) Applicable law.--Nothing in this section--
(A) diminishes the statutory or regulatory protections
provided in the Endangered Species Act for any species listed
pursuant to section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1533) other than the reintroduced population of
California Central Valley Spring Run Chinook salmon,
including protections pursuant to existing biological
opinions or new biological opinions issued by the Secretary
or Secretary of Commerce; or
(B) precludes the Secretary or Secretary of Commerce from
imposing protections under the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) for other species listed pursuant to
section 4 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1533) because those
protections provide incidental benefits to such reintroduced
California Central Valley Spring Run Chinook salmon.
(d) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than December 31, 2024, the
Secretary of Commerce shall report to Congress on the
progress made on the reintroduction set forth in this section
and the Secretary's plans for future implementation of this
section.
(2) Inclusions.--The report under paragraph (1) shall
include--
(A) an assessment of the major challenges, if any, to
successful reintroduction;
(B) an evaluation of the effect, if any, of the
reintroduction on the existing population of California
Central Valley Spring Run Chinook salmon existing on the
Sacramento River or its tributaries; and
(C) an assessment regarding the future of the
reintroduction.
(e) FERC Projects.--
(1) In general.--With regard to California Central Valley
Spring Run Chinook salmon reintroduced pursuant to the
Settlement, the Secretary of Commerce shall exercise its
authority under section 18 of the Federal Power Act (16
U.S.C. 811) by reserving its right to file prescriptions in
proceedings for projects licensed by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission on the Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne,
Merced, and San Joaquin rivers and otherwise consistent with
subsection (c) until after the expiration of the term of the
Settlement, December 31, 2025, or the expiration of the
designation made pursuant to subsection (b), whichever ends
first.
(2) Effect of subsection.--Nothing in this subsection shall
preclude the Secretary of Commerce from imposing
prescriptions pursuant to section 18 of the Federal Power Act
(16 U.S.C. 811) solely for other anadromous fish species
because those prescriptions provide incidental benefits to
such reintroduced California Central Valley Spring Run
Chinook salmon.
(f) Effect of Section.--Nothing in this section is intended
or shall be construed--
(1) to modify the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) or the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et
seq.); or
(2) to establish a precedent with respect to any other
application of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) or the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et
seq.).
______
By Mr. DeWINE:
S. 4086. A bill to improve data collection efforts with respect to
the safety of pregnant women and unborn children in motor vehicle
crashes, provide for research and development of appropriate
countermeasures, educate the public regarding motor vehicle safety
risks affecting pregnant women and unborn children, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, during my 12 years in the Senate, I have
always fought to increase our Nation's commitment to children's health
and safety. One of the areas where I have had the privilege of working
together with Democrats and Republicans on children's issues is highway
safety. Whether the matter at hand was making school buses safer or
enacting new motor vehicle safety standards that protect small children
in crashes, I have always been fortunate to find fellow Senators
committed to crafting legislation that will make a difference in
children's lives.
One of the things I have learned over the years is that the research,
testing, and public awareness programs operated by the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration--NHTSA--play a major role helping prevent
injuries and saving lives on our roads. We lose over 42,000 lives each
year in motor vehicle crashes, but that total would be astronomically
higher without the work done by NHTSA and its partners. As vehicles
have changed, technologies
[[Page S11330]]
have matured, and the safety challenges facing the driving public have
shifted over time, NHTSA has responded by instituting new programs.
Sometimes, however, it takes a little action by Congress to get NHTSA
moving on these important safety objectives.
Today, I rise to introduce a measure that I hope my colleagues will
consider in the future as they continue to work on highway safety
issues. I also hope that this bill might spur additional action by
NHTSA.
In speaking with leading safety advocates, I have come to understand
just how significant the safety challenges are for pregnant women and
their unborn children in motor vehicle crashes. Yet despite these great
challenges and the importance we all place on ensuring maternal health
and safety, we know very little about the way crash forces affect
mothers and their unborn children over both the short-term and long-
term. While university researchers have begun to document some of the
chief safety challenges facing pregnant mothers, we need to do more to
fully understand these issues and to develop ways of applying what we
have learned in manufacturing vehicles that are safer for pregnant
women and their unborn children.
Additionally, we need to do a better job communicating the immediate
and lifelong safety risks associated with motor vehicle crashes to
pregnant mothers so that they can do everything possible to ensure not
only their own health, but that of their babies. Sometimes, these steps
may be as simple as making sure that safety belts are worn and
positioned properly. At some point, technologies may become available
on the market designed specifically to cater to the motor vehicle
safety needs of pregnant women.
To achieve these goals and ultimately to prevent injuries and save
lives, we need NHTSA to act and we need to provide new resources for
research and testing. The bill I am introducing today does precisely
that.
The Maternal Motor Vehicle Crash Safety Act of 2006 addresses these
issues in a number of ways. First, the bill presents findings defining
the challenges facing pregnant women and their unborn children in motor
vehicle crashes. I particularly want to thank Dr. Hank Weiss of the
University of Pittsburgh for his assistance in bringing this important
research to my attention.
Second, the bill contains sections providing incentives for states to
link various databases in a way that will lead to a better
understanding of the number of mothers and babies that are impacted by
motor vehicle crashes each year and what the long-term health impacts
are for children who were involved in crashes before being born.
Furthermore, the bill sets several high priority research areas for
NHTSA, including an investigation into computer modeling systems and
biofidelic crash-test dummies capable of simulating a pregnant woman
and her child during dangerous crashes. Sadly, we have functional
dummies that accurately simulate men, women, and children--but none for
pregnant women.
I strongly urge my colleagues to take up and pass this legislation
during the 110th Congress. Members of the Senate and leaders at NHTSA
work hard every year to do their best to improve highway safety here in
the United States, and I believe the measures outlined in this bill
have the potential to make a lasting contribution to those efforts in
the years ahead.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill, the
Maternal Motor Vehicle Crash Safety Act of 2006, be printed in the
Record.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
S. 4086
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 ``Maternal Motor Vehicle Crash
Safety Act of 2006''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.
(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee
on Appropriations and Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on
Appropriations and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of
the House of Representatives.
(3) Biofidelic.--The term ``biofidelic'' means having the
property of responding to and being impacted by crash and
other external forces in a manner directly consistent with
the way in which a live human being would respond to and be
impacted by such forces.
(4) Data linkage system.--The term ``data linkage system''
means an information system that is capable of accurately
tracking adverse health effects and birth outcomes for
pregnant women who are occupants of a motor vehicle that is
involved in a crash and the unborn children of such women,
through the connection and analysis of multiple data sources.
(5) Unborn child.--The term ``unborn child'' means a member
of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who
is carried in the womb.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Injuries are the leading cause of pregnancy-associated
deaths in the United States.
(2) Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury
deaths in women of reproductive age and the leading cause of
injury hospitalizations among pregnant women.
(3) Studies have indicated that motor vehicles are
estimated to account for up to 80 percent of injury related
deaths among unborn children.
(4) Transportation Research Board publications indicate
that deaths among unborn children due to motor vehicle
crashes are more frequent than several notable fatal
childhood injuries, including bicycle related deaths in
children aged 0 through 15, firearm related deaths in
children aged 0 through 9, and motor vehicle crash related
deaths in children aged 0 through 1.
(5) Studies suggest that approximately 3 percent of all
babies born in the United States are involved in a motor
vehicle crash while in utero.
(6) Studies have shown that elevated risks of birth-related
threats and obstetric complications following crashes
involving pregnant women include--
(A) premature childbirth;
(B) low birth weight;
(C) placental injury;
(D) uterine rupture; and
(E) amniotic rupture.
(7) Despite advances in vehicle safety, pregnant women have
not received the special attention and consideration needed
to understand, reduce, and prevent the risks of adverse
pregnancy outcomes related to crashes.
(8) There is a need for more research and application using
anthropometric test devices and computerized modeling systems
that represent pregnant women during all stages of pregnancy.
(9) During pregnancy, the risks of traumatic injury to a
woman is shared by the woman's unborn child. Assessing the
magnitude and characteristics of those risks through data
linkage systems, comparing the risks to other injuries and
diseases, and reducing them, are important unmet challenges
for improving maternal and child health.
(10) A better understanding is needed about what can happen
during, and after, a pregnant woman is involved in a motor
vehicle crash. This includes the effects of a crash on the
mother, the unborn child, and the delicate physiological
balance between the mother and child that separates healthy
from unhealthy pregnancies, including the effects of maternal
physiologic adaptations to trauma, fluid loss and shock,
effects from maternal stress, effects from diagnostic
regimens, medical or surgical procedures, or the wide variety
of prescription medicines, and other medication taken by the
mother.
(11) Despite the importance of the health of mothers and
unborn children involved in motor vehicle crashes, agencies
and data linkage systems responsible for tracking motor
vehicle injuries, deaths, and other measures of adverse
outcome rarely capture pregnancy status.
(12) Existing data collection and analysis systems
generally do not count unborn children involved in motor
vehicle crashes and do not follow them after their birth to
ascertain the effects of the crash on long-term neuro-
developmental and functional outcomes.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON IMPROVEMENTS TO THE NATIONAL
AUTOMOTIVE SAMPLING SYSTEM CRASHWORTHINESS DATA
SYSTEM.
It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator--
(1) should continue to include in the National Automotive
Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System maintained by the
Administrator data related to motor vehicle crashes that
involved a pregnant women; and
(2) should identify other means to advance the current
level of understanding regarding the number, nature, and
impact of motor vehicle crashes involving pregnant women and
their unborn children through data collection, data linkage
systems, and analysis systems.
SEC. 5. GRANTS FOR DATA LINKAGE SYSTEMS PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--The Administrator shall, in consultation
with appropriate officials of
[[Page S11331]]
State agencies or public health organizations, carry out a
program to provide grants and other incentives, including
technical assistance to eligible entities for the purpose
described in subsection (b).
(b) Purpose.--A grant or other incentive provided under
this section shall be used to promote the development of data
linkage systems described in subsection (e).
(c) Eligible Entity.--In this section, the term ``eligible
entity'' means an academic, public health, or transportation
safety organization or a State or local government agency
that the Administrator determines is appropriate to receive a
grant or incentive under this section.
(d) Application and Award Process.--
(1) Applications.--Each eligible entity seeking a grant
under this section shall submit an application to the
Administrator at such time and in such manner as the
Administrator may require.
(2) Awards.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish--
(A) the criteria for awarding a grant or incentive under
this section; and
(B) a competitive, merit-based process to select
applications to receive a grant or incentive under this
section.
(3) Publication.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall publish in
the Federal Register the criteria and process described in
paragraph (2).
(e) Program Structure.--The data linkage systems eligible
to receive assistance under this section are systems that use
the following sources:
(1) State and local vital statistics databases, including
birth, infant, and death records.
(2) State and local crash and driver's license records.
(3) Other computerized health records as available,
including emergency medical services reports and hospital and
emergency room admission and discharge records.
(f) Existing Data Systems.--To the maximum extent possible,
the Administrator shall integrate the grant and incentive
program carried out under this section with the existing
State specific Crash Outcome Data Evaluation Systems carried
out by the Administrator to utilize the capabilities, linkage
expertise, and organizational relationships of such Systems
to provide a foundation for improving the tracking of adverse
health effects and birth outcomes for pregnant women who are
occupants of a motor vehicle at the time of a crash and their
unborn children.
(g) Data Security and Privacy.--In carrying out this
section, the Administrator and any eligible entity selected
to receive a grant or incentive under this section for a data
linkage system shall ensure that personal identifiers and
other information utilized in that data linkage system
related to a specific individual is handled in a manner
consistent with all applicable Federal, State, and local laws
and regulations and to ensure the confidentiality of such
information, and in the manner necessary to prevent the
theft, manipulation, or other unlawful or unauthorized use of
personal information contained in data sources used for
linkage studies.
(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated
$2,500,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007, 2008, 2009, and
2010 to carry out this section.
(2) Availability of funds.--Funds appropriated pursuant to
the authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1) shall
remain available until expended.
SEC. 6. SAFETY RESEARCH PROGRAM AND NATIONAL CONFERENCE.
(a) Safety Research Program.--
(1) Requirement to conduct.--The Administrator shall
conduct a research program as described in this section to
promote the health and safety of pregnant women who are
involved in motor vehicle crashes and of their unborn
children.
(2) High priority research areas.--In carrying out the
research program under this section, the Administrator shall
place a high priority on conducting research to--
(A) investigate methods to maximize the injury prevention
performance of standard 3-point safety belts for pregnant
women during all stages of pregnancy;
(B) analyze the effectiveness of technologies designed to
modify or extend the safety performance of 3-point safety
belts for pregnant women across a range of pregnancy phases,
including technologies currently available in the
marketplace;
(C) develop biofidelic, anthropometric test devices that
are representative of pregnant women during all stages of
pregnancy; and
(D) develop biofidelic, computer models that are
representative of pregnant women during all stages of
pregnancy to aid in understanding crash forces relevant to
the safety of pregnant women and unborn children that may
include the utilization of existing modeling systems
developed by private and academic institutions, if
appropriate.
(b) National Conference.--
(1) Requirement to convene.--Not later than 18 months after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in
consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal
agencies, shall convene a national research conference for
the purpose of identifying critical scientific issues for
research on the safety of pregnant women involved in motor
vehicle crashes and their unborn children.
(2) Purpose of the conference.--The purpose of the
conference required by paragraph (1) shall be to establish
and prioritize a list of research questions to guide future
research related to the safety of pregnant women involved in
motor vehicle crashes and their unborn children.
(3) Authority to partner with other organizations.--The
Administrator is authorized to carry out the conference
required by paragraph (1) in a partnership with organizations
recognized for expertise related to the research described in
paragraph (2).
(c) Report Required.--Not later than 2 years after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit
to the appropriate congressional committees a report that
describes--
(1) the research program carried out by the Administration
pursuant to subsection (a), including any findings or
conclusions associated with such research program; and
(2) the priorities established at the national conference
required by subsection (b), plans for regulations or future
programs, or factors limiting the effectiveness of such
research.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--For each of the fiscal years 2007, 2008,
and 2009, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as necessary to carry out this section.
(2) Availability of funds.--Funds appropriated pursuant to
the authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1) shall
remain available until expended.
SEC. 7. PUBLIC OUTREACH AND EDUCATION.
(a) In General.--The Administrator shall conduct a public
outreach and education program to increase awareness of the
unique safety risks associated with motor vehicle crashes for
pregnant women and the unborn children of such women and of
the methods available to reduce such risks. Such program
shall include making information regarding the injury-
prevention value of proper safety belt and airbag use
available to the public.
(b) Targeted Outreach.--The Administrator shall carry out
the program described in subsection (a) in a manner that
utilizes media and organizational partners to effectively
educate pregnant women, ensure an overall educational impact,
and efficiently utilize the program's resources.
(c) Program Initiation and Duration.--The Administrator
shall initiate the program described in subsection (a) not
later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of this
Act, and shall maintain such program for not less than 24
months, subject to the availability of funds.
SEC. 8. INCLUSION OF SAFETY DATA IN ANNUAL ASSESSMENT.
(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), the
Administrator shall include a discussion of data regarding
the safety of pregnant women who are involved in motor
vehicle crashes and of their unborn children, including any
relevant trends in such data, in each of the Annual
Assessment of Motor Vehicle Crashes published by the National
Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration or an equivalent publication of
such Center.
(b) Report to Congress.--If the Administrator determines
that including the information described in subsection (a) in
the Annual Assessment of Motor Vehicle Crashes or an
equivalent publication is not feasible, the Administrator
shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional
committees not later than 60 days after the date of the
release of such Annual Assessment or equivalent publication
that states the reasons that it was not feasible to include
such information and an analysis of the steps necessary to
make such information available in the future.
______
By Mr. CRAPO (for himself, Mrs, Lincoln, Mr. Grassley, Mr.
Baucus, and Mr. Allard).
S. 4087. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code to provide a tax
credit to individuals who enter into agreements to protect the habitats
of endangered and threatened species, and for other purposes; to the
Committee on Finance.
Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise today with my colleagues--Senator
Lincoln from Arkansas, Senator Charles Grassley from Iowa, and Senator
Max Baucus from Montana--to introduce the Endangered Species Recovery
Act or ESRA. Nearly a year ago, Senator Lincoln and I introduced the
Collaboration for the Recovery of the Endangered Species Act, or CRESA,
an earlier bill to amend the Endangered Species Act or ESA. This new
bill, which does not amend the current ESA, builds on ideas set forth
in CRESA. It creates new policies that finance the recovery of
endangered species by private landowners. ESRA makes it simpler for
landowners to get involved in conservation and reduces the conflict
often emanating from the ESA. It will be an important codification of
much-needed incentives to help recover endangered species.
Over 80 percent of endangered species live on private property. Under
the current law, however, there are too few incentives and too many
obstacles for
[[Page S11332]]
private landowners to participate in conservation agreements to help
recover species under the ESA. ESRA, like the voluntary farm bill
conservation programs that inspired its creation, will make it more
attractive for private landowners to contribute to the recovery of
species under the ESA.
This bill resulted from effective and inclusive collaboration among
key stakeholders most affected by the implementation of the ESA.
Landowner interests include farmers, ranchers, and those from the
natural resource-using communities. For example, some current
supporters of ESRA who contributed invaluable advice are the American
Farm Bureau, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and the Society
of American Foresters. This could not rightly be called a collaborative
project without the vital and necessary input received from the
Defenders of Wildlife, Environmental Defense and the National Wildlife
Federation--key environmental groups that made significant
contributions. And they further understand that landowners must be
treated as allies to ensure success in the long-run for the
conservation of habitat and species. Finally, while the genesis of this
bill has many roots, a passionate catalyst was James Cummins of
Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation, whose passion for the
outdoors provided inspiration to move these ideas forward.
This collaborative expertise worked together to craft the ESRA, which
provides new tax incentives for private landowners who voluntarily
contribute to the recovery of endangered species. The tax credits will
reimburse landowners for property rights affected by agreements that
include conservation easements and costs incurred by species management
plans. For landowners who limit their property rights through
conservation easements, there will be 100 percent compensation of all
costs. That percentage declines to 75 percent for 30-year easements and
50 percent for cost-share agreements not encumbered by an easement.
It is worth noting that this is the same formula that works
successfully for farm bill programs such as the Wetlands Reserve
Program. Private property owners are appropriately rewarded for crucial
ecological services that they provide with their property. The public
benefits from those actions which ensure biodiversity; instead of
placing the financial burdens on the landowner, we ought to find
appropriate ways to compensate them. While the primary returns from
this investment are protection and recovery of endangered species, the
public will also undoubtedly gain additional benefits such as
aesthetically pleasing open space, combating invasive species and
enhanced water quality.
The legislation provides a list of options that give landowners a
choice, and this is a crucial element for the success of this proposal.
For some landowners, a conservation easement will be the most
attractive option. Easements are flexible tools that can be tailored to
each landowner and species' interests. An easement restricts certain
activities, but it still works well with traditional rural activities
such as ranching and farming. For agreements without easements, there
is flexibility to do what is necessary for the concerned species
without the need to sacrifice property rights into perpetuity.
The tax credits provide essential funding that is necessary to
respect private property rights. Wildlife should be an asset rather
than a liability; which is how it has sometimes been viewed under the
ESA. With wildlife becoming valuable to a landowner, those who may been
reluctant to participate in recovery efforts in the past will be more
likely to contribute with these incentives. When people want to take
part in the process and do not fear it, the likelihood of conflict and
litigation is reduced. For years, this type of conflict has proven
costly not only in dollars to individuals and the government, but also
in terms of relationships between people who share the land and natural
resources. With a new trust and new model for finding conservation
solutions, we can do more and better conservation work.
Provisions have been made to accommodate landowners whose taxes may
be less than the tax credit provides. Partnerships in the agreements
will allow any party to an agreement to receive a credit as long as
they pay or incur costs as a result of the agreement. This language
will allow creative collaboration among governments, landowners,
taxpayers and environmentalists, further increasing the number of
people involved in finding new solutions for conservation.
Furthermore, this bill also expands tax deductions for any landowner
who takes part in the recovery plans approved under the ESA, and allows
landowners to exclude from taxable income certain federal payments
under conservation costshare programs. This will allow both individuals
and businesses to deduct the cost of recovery work without bureaucratic
obstacles.
This bill not only sets forth the financing for private landowners,
but it also makes it easier to implement the agreements. Landowners
will receive technical assistance to implement the agreements. Also, to
remove some legal disincentives to recover species, liability
protection may be provided to protect the landowners from penalties
under the ESA. This removes the fear of trying to help species;
currently, more species usually just means more liability for a
landowner.
As a result of these incentives, I expect to see a phenomenal
increase in the number of success stories. These stories will sound
familiar to those creative collaborators working on the ground now
where we have learned that the types of tools provided in this bill can
work if consistently offered.
The Endangered Species Recovery Act is very exciting to those of us
who value protecting our natural resources. It provides collaborative,
creative ways to balance resource conservation with economic uses of
our natural resources and preserving rural ways of life. I look forward
to working with my colleagues in the Senate and House to move ahead
with this legislation which will allow better, more effective
conservation work for future generations.
I am deeply grateful to my colleagues from Arkansas, Iowa and Montana
for their essential expertise and support to create ESRA. I ask
unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
S. 4087
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 ``Endangered Species Recovery
Act of 2006''.
SEC. 2. ENDANGERED SPECIES RECOVERY CREDIT.
(a) In General.--Subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of
chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by
adding at the end the following new section:
``SEC. 30D. ENDANGERED SPECIES RECOVERY CREDIT.
``(a) In General.--In the case of an eligible taxpayer,
there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by
this chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to the sum
of--
``(1) the habitat protection easement credit, plus
``(2) the habitat restoration credit.
``(b) Limitation.--
``(1) In general.--The credit allowed under subsection (a)
for any eligible taxpayer for any taxable year shall not
exceed the endangered species recovery credit limitation
allocated to the eligible taxpayer under subsection (f) for
the calendar year in which the taxpayer's taxable year ends.
``(2) Carryforwards.--
``(A) In general.--If the amount of the credit allowable
under subsection (a) for any taxpayer for any taxable year
exceeds the endangered species recovery credit limitation
allocated under subsection (f) to such taxpayer for the
calendar year in which the taxpayer's taxable year ends, such
excess may be carried forward to the next taxable year for
which such taxpayer is allocated a portion of the endangered
species recovery credit limitation.
``(B) Carryforward of allocation amount.--If the amount of
the endangered species recovery credit limitation allocated
to an eligible taxpayer for any calendar year under
subsection (f) exceeds the amount of the credit allowed to
the taxpayer under subsection (a) for the taxable year ending
in such calendar year, such excess may be carried forward to
the next taxable year of the taxpayer. For purposes of this
paragraph, any amount carried to another taxable year under
this subparagraph shall be treated as allocated to the
taxpayer for use in such taxable year under subsection (f).
``(c) Eligible Taxpayer.--For purposes of this section--
``(1) In general.--The term `eligible taxpayer' means--
``(A) a taxpayer who--
``(i) owns real property which contains the habitat of a
qualified species, and
[[Page S11333]]
``(ii) enters into a qualified perpetual habitat protection
agreement, a qualified 30-year habitat protection agreement,
or a qualified habitat protection agreement with the
appropriate Secretary with respect to such real property, and
``(B) any other taxpayer who--
``(i) is a party to a qualified perpetual habitat
protection agreement, a qualified 30-year habitat protection
agreement, or a qualified habitat protection agreement, and
``(ii) as part of any such agreement, agrees to assume
responsibility for costs paid or incurred in protecting or
preserving the habitat which is the subject of such
agreement.
``(2) Qualified perpetual habitat protection agreement.--
The term `qualified perpetual habitat protection agreement'
means an agreement--
``(A) under which the taxpayer grants to the appropriate
Secretary, the Secretary of Agriculture, or a State an
easement in perpetuity for the protection of the habitat of a
qualified species, and
``(B) which meets the requirements of paragraph (5).
``(3) Qualified 30-year habitat protection agreement.--The
term `qualified 30-year habitat protection agreement' means
an agreement--
``(A) under which the taxpayer grants to the appropriate
Secretary, the Secretary of Agriculture, or a State an
easement for a period of not less than 30 years and less than
perpetuity for the protection of the habitat of a qualified
species, and
``(B) which meets the requirements of paragraph (5).
``(4) Qualified habitat protection agreement.--The term
`qualified habitat protection agreement' means an agreement--
``(A) under which the taxpayer enters into an agreement
with the appropriate Secretary, the Secretary of Agriculture,
or a State to protect the habitat of a qualified species for
a specified period of time, and
``(B) which meets the requirements of paragraph (5).
``(5) Requirements.--An agreement meets the requirements of
this paragraph if--
``(A) the agreement is not inconsistent with any recovery
plan which has been approved for a qualified species under
section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973,
``(B) the appropriate Secretary and the eligible taxpayer
enter into a habitat management plan designed to--
``(i) restore or enhance the habitat of a qualified
species, or
``(ii) reduce threats to a qualified species through the
management of the habitat, and
``(C) the appropriate Secretary ensures that the eligible
taxpayer is provided with technical assistance in carrying
out the duties of the taxpayer under the terms of the
agreement.
``(d) Habitat Protection Easement Credit.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes of subsection (a)(1), the
habitat protection easement credit for any taxable year is an
amount equal to--
``(A) in the case of an eligible taxpayer who has entered
into a qualified perpetual habitat protection agreement
during such taxable year, 100 percent of the excess (if any)
of--
``(i) the fair market value of the real property with
respect to which the qualified perpetual habitat protection
agreement is made, determined on the day before such
agreement is entered into, over
``(ii) the fair market value of such property, determined
on the day after such agreement is entered into,
``(B) in the case of an eligible taxpayer who has entered
into a qualified 30-year habitat protection agreement during
such taxable year, 75 percent of such excess, and
``(C) in the case of any other eligible taxpayer, zero.
``(2) Reduction for amount received for easement.--The
credit allowed under subsection (a)(1) shall be reduced by
any amount received by the taxpayer in connection with the
easement.
``(3) Limitation based on amount of tax.--The credit
allowed under subsection (a)(1) for any taxable year shall
not exceed the sum of--
``(A) the taxpayer's regular tax liability for the taxable
year reduced by the sum of the credits allowable under
subpart A and sections 27, 30, 30B, and 30C, and
``(B) the tax imposed by section 55(a) for the taxable
year.
``(4) Carryforward of unused credit.--If the credit
allowable under subsection (a)(1) for any taxable year
exceeds the limitation imposed by paragraph (3) for such
taxable year, such excess shall be carried to the succeeding
taxable year and added to the credit allowable under
subsection (a)(1) for such succeeding taxable year.
``(5) Qualified appraisals required.--No amount shall be
taken into account under this subsection unless the eligible
taxpayer includes with the taxpayer's return for the taxable
year a qualified appraisal (within the meaning of section
170(f)(11)(E)) of the real property.
``(e) Habitat Restoration Credit.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes of subsection (a)(2), the
habitat restoration credit for any taxable year shall be an
amount equal to--
``(A) in the case of a qualified perpetual habitat
protection agreement, 100 percent of the costs paid or
incurred by an eligible taxpayer during such taxable year
pursuant to such agreement,
``(B) in the case of a qualified 30-year habitat protection
agreement, 75 percent of the costs paid or incurred by an
eligible taxpayer during such taxable year pursuant to such
agreement, and
``(C) in the case of a qualified habitat protection
agreement, 50 percent of the costs paid or incurred by an
eligible taxpayer during such taxable year pursuant to such
agreement.
``(2) Limitation based on amount of tax.--The credit
allowed under subsection (a)(2) for any taxable year shall
not exceed the excess (if any) of--
``(A) the regular tax liability for the taxable year
reduced by the sum of the credits allowable under subpart A
and sections 27, 30, 30B, and 30C, over
``(B) the tentative minimum tax for the taxable year.
``(3) Carryforward of unused credit.--If the credit
allowable under subsection (a)(2) for any taxable year
exceeds the limitation imposed by paragraph (2) for such
taxable year, such excess shall be carried to the succeeding
taxable year and added to the credit allowable under
subsection (a)(2) for such succeeding taxable year.
``(4) Special rules.--
``(A) Certain costs not included.--No credit shall be
allowed under subsection (a)(2) for any cost which is paid or
incurred by a taxpayer to comply with any requirement of a
Federal, State, or local government.
``(B) Subsidized financing.--For purposes of paragraph (1),
the amount of costs paid or incurred by an eligible taxpayer
pursuant to any agreement described in subsection (c) shall
be reduced by the amount of any financing provided under any
Federal or State program a principal purpose of which is to
subsidize financing for the conservation of the habitat of a
qualified species.
``(f) Endangered Species Recovery Credit Limitation.--
``(1) In general.--There is an endangered species recovery
credit limitation for each calendar year. Such limitation is
--
``(A) for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011--
``(i) $300,000,000 with respect to qualified perpetual
habitat protection agreements,
``(ii) $60,000,000 with respect to qualified 30-year
habitat protection agreements, and
``(iii) $40,000,000 with respect to qualified habitat
protection agreements, and
``(B) except as provided in paragraph (3), zero thereafter.
``(2) Allocation of limitation.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary, in consultation with the
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce,
shall allocate the endangered species recovery credit
limitation to eligible taxpayers.
``(B) Considerations.--In making allocations to eligible
taxpayers under this section, priority shall be given to
taxpayers with agreements--
``(i) relating to habitats that will significantly increase
the likelihood of recovering and delisting a species as an
endangered species or a threatened species (as defined under
section 2 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973),
``(ii) that are cost-effective and maximize the benefits to
a qualified species per dollar expended,
``(iii) relating to habitats of species which have a
federally approved recovery plan pursuant to section 4 of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973,
``(iv) relating to habitats with the potential to
contribute significantly to the improvement of the status of
a qualified species,
``(v) relating to habitats with the potential to contribute
significantly to the eradication or control of invasive
species that are imperiling a qualified species,
``(vi) with habitat management plans that will manage
multiple qualified species,
``(vii) with habitat management plans that will create
adjacent or proximate habitat for the recovery of a qualified
species,
``(viii) relating to habitats for qualified species with an
urgent need for protection,
``(ix) with habitat management plans that assist in
preventing the listing of a species as endangered or
threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 or a
similar State law,
``(x) with habitat management plans that may resolve
conflicts between the protection of qualified species and
otherwise lawful human activities, and
``(xi) with habitat management plans that may resolve
conflicts between the protection of a qualified species and
military training or other military operations.
``(3) Carryover of unused limitation.--If for any calendar
year the limitation under paragraph (1) (after the
application of this paragraph) exceeds the amount allocated
to all eligible taxpayers for such calendar year, the
limitation amount for the following calendar year shall be
increased by the amount of such excess.
``(g) Other Definitions and Special Rules.--
``(1) Appropriate secretary.--The term `appropriate
Secretary' has the meaning given to the term `Secretary'
under section 3(15) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
``(2) Habitat management plan.--The term `habitat
management plan' means, with respect to any habitat, a plan
which--
``(A) identifies one or more qualified species to which the
plan applies,
``(B) describes the management practices to be undertaken
by the taxpayer,
[[Page S11334]]
``(C) describes the technical assistance to be provided to
the taxpayer and identifies the entity that will provide such
assistance,
``(D) provides a schedule of deadlines for undertaking such
management practices, and
``(E) requires monitoring of the management practices and
the status of the qualified species.
``(3) Qualified species.--The term `qualified species'
means--
``(A) any species listed as an endangered species or
threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973,
or
``(B) any species for which a finding has been made under
section 4(b)(3) of Endangered Species Act of 1973 that
listing under such Act may be warranted.
``(4) Taking.--The term `taking' has the meaning given to
such term under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
``(5) Reduction in basis.--For purposes of this subtitle,
the basis of any property for which a credit is allowable
under subsection (a)(1) shall be reduced by the amount of the
credit so allowed.
``(6) Denial of double benefit.--No deduction shall be
allowed under this chapter for any amount with respect to
which a credit is allowed under subsection (a).
``(7) Certification.--No credit shall be allowed under
subsection (a) unless the appropriate Secretary certifies
that any agreement described in subsection (c) which is
entered into by an eligible taxpayer will contribute to the
recovery of a qualified species.
``(8) Request for authorization of incidental takings.--The
Secretary shall request the appropriate Secretary to consider
whether to authorize under the Endangered Species Act of 1973
takings by an eligible taxpayer of a qualified species to
which an agreement described in subsection (c) relates if the
takings are incidental to--
``(A) the restoration, enhancement, or management of the
habitat pursuant to the habitat management plan under the
agreement, or
``(B) the use of the property to which the agreement
pertains at any time after the expiration of the easement or
the specified period described in subsection (c)(4)(A), but
only if such use will leave the qualified species at least as
well off on the property as it was before the agreement was
made.
``(9) Recapture.--The Secretary shall, by regulations,
provide for recapturing the benefit under any credit
allowable under subsection (a) if the Secretary, in
consultation with the appropriate Secretary, determines that
the eligible taxpayer has failed to carry out the duties of
the taxpayer under the terms of a qualified perpetual habitat
protection agreement, a qualified 30-year habitat protection
agreement, or a qualified habitat protection agreement.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 1016(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is
amended by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (36), by
striking the period at the end of paragraph (37) and
inserting ``, and'', and by inserting after paragraph (37)
the following new paragraph:
``(38) to the extent provided in section 30D(g)(5).''.
(2) The table of sections for subpart B of part IV of
subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 30C the
following new item:
``Sec. 30D. Endangered species recovery credit.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
2006.
SEC. 3. DEDUCTION FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES RECOVERY
EXPENDITURES.
(a) Deduction for Endangered Species Recovery
Expenditures.--
(1) In general.--Paragraph (1) of section 175(c) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to definitions) is
amended by inserting after the first sentence the following
new sentence: ``Such term shall include expenditures paid or
incurred for the purpose of achieving specific actions
recommended in recovery plans approved pursuant to the
Endangered Species Act of 1973.''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--
(A) Section 175 of such Code is amended by inserting ``, or
for endangered species recovery'' after ``prevention of
erosion of land used in farming'' each place it appears in
subsections (a) and (c).
(B) The heading of section 175 of such Code is amended by
inserting ``; endangered species recovery expenditures''
before the period.
(C) The item relating to section 175 in the table of
sections for part VI of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such
Code is amended by inserting ``; endangered species recovery
expenditures'' before the period.
(b) Limitations.--Paragraph (3) of section 175(c) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to additional
limitations) is amended--
(1) in the heading, by inserting ``or endangered species
recovery plan'' after ``conservation plan'', and
(2) in subparagraph (A)(i), by inserting ``or the recovery
plan approved pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of
1973'' after ``Department of Agriculture''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to expenditures paid or incurred after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. EXCLUSION FOR COST SHARING PAYMENTS UNDER THE
PARTNERS FOR FISH AND WILDLIFE ACT AND CERTAIN
OTHER PROGRAMS AUTHORIZED BY THE FISH AND
WILDLIFE ACT OF 1956.
(a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 126 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to certain cost-
sharing payments) is amended by redesignating paragraph (10)
as paragraph (12) and by inserting after paragraph (9) the
following new paragraphs:
``(10) The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program
authorized by the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act.
``(11) The Landowner Incentive Program, the State Wildlife
Grants Program, and the Private Stewardship Grants Program
authorized by the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to payments received after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
______
By Mr. McCAIN:
S. 4089. A bill to modernize and expand the reporting requirements
relating to child pornography, to expand cooperation in combating child
pornography, to require convicted sex offenders to register online
identifiers, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Stop the Online
Exploitation of Our Children Act of 2006. This legislation would reduce
the sexual exploitation of our children, and punish those who cause
them physical and emotional harm through sex crimes.
Twenty-two years ago, President Ronald Reagan inaugurated the opening
of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, known as
NCMEC. At a White House ceremony, he called on the center to ``wake up
America and attack the crisis of child victimization.'' Today, thanks
to the efforts of NCMEC and many others in the public and private
sectors, America is more conscious of the dangers of child
exploitation, but our children still face significant threats from
those who see their innocence as an opportunity to do harm. The
continuing victimization of our children is readily and all too
painfully apparent in the resurgence of child pornography in our world.
In recent years, technology has contributed to the greater
distribution and availability, and, some believe, desire for child
pornography. I say child pornography, but that label does not describe
accurately what is at issue. As emphasized by a recent Department of
Justice report, ``child pornography'' does not come close to describing
these images, which are nothing short of recorded images of child
sexual abuse. These images are, quite literally, digital evidence of
violent sexual crimes perpetrated against the most vulnerable among us.
Experts are also finding that the images of child sexual exploitation
produced and distributed today involve younger and younger children. As
emphasized by NCMEC, 83 percent of offenders surveyed in a recent study
were caught with images of children younger than 12 years old. Thirty-
nine percent had images of children younger than 6. Almost 20 percent
had images of children younger than 3. These are not normal criminals,
and I cannot fathom the extent of the physical and emotional harm they
cause their victims.
The violence of the images continues to increase as well. Dr. Sharon
Cooper, a nationally recognized expert on this subject, stated before a
September Senate Commerce Committee hearing that the images often
depict ``sadistic gross sexual assault and sodomy.'' This view was
underscored by Mike Brown, the sheriff of Bedford County, VA, and the
director of the Blue Ridge Thunder Internet Crimes Against Children
Task Force, who also testified to his direct experience with
increasingly violent and disturbing images of child sexual
exploitation.
The Federal Government has in place a system for online companies
such as Internet service providers to report these images to NCMEC. The
center is directed by law to relay that information to Federal and
State law enforcement agencies. This reporting system has been
successful, but it is in need of several vital improvements.
The bill would enhance the current reporting system by expanding the
range of companies obligated to report child pornography to NCMEC;
stating specifically what information must be reported to the center;
moving the reporting obligations into the Federal
[[Page S11335]]
criminal code; imposing higher penalties on companies that do not
report child pornography to NCMEC in the manner required by law; and
providing greater legal certainty around the child pornography
reporting requirement.
As suggested by NCMEC, the reporting of child pornography should be
more widespread. To that end, the bill would expand and clarify the
types of online companies that would be obligated to report child
pornography to the center. Today, Federal law requires electronic
communication service providers and providers of remote computing
services to report child pornography they discover to NCMEC through the
center's CyberTipline. However, what types of companies fall into each
category is sometimes unclear. To better define and expand the types of
online companies obligated to report child pornography, the legislation
would require a broad range of online service providers--including Web
hosting companies, domain name registrars, and social networking
sites--to report child pornography to NCMEC.
Another weakness in the current reporting system is that the law does
not say exactly what information should be reported to NCMEC. This
failure to set forth specific reporting requirements makes the current
statute both difficult to comply with and tough to enforce, and this
omission may have led to less effective prosecution of child
pornographers. According to testimony submitted by the center to the
Senate Commerce Committee, ``because there are no guidelines for the
contents of these reports, some [companies] do not send customer
information that allows NCMEC to identify a law enforcement
jurisdiction. So potentially valuable investigative leads are left to
sit in the CyberTipline database with no action taken.'' This is
unacceptable.
The bill would cure this problem by requiring that reporting
companies convey to the center a defined set of information, which is
in large part the information that is provided to NCMEC today by the
Nation's leading Internet service providers. Among other things, the
bill would require online service providers to report specific
information about the individual involved in producing, distributing,
or receiving child pornography such as that individual's e-mail
address. In addition, it would require reporting companies to NCMEC
geographic location of the involved individual such as the individual's
physical address and the IP address from which the individual connected
to the Internet.
To ensure that law enforcement officials have better odds of
prosecuting involved individuals, the bill would also require online
service providers to preserve all data that they report to NCMEC for at
least 180 days, and to not knowingly destroy any other information that
they possess that relates to a child pornography incident reported to
NCMEC.
The legislation would help ensure greater compliance with the child
pornography reporting requirements under Federal law by increasing
threefold the penalties for knowing failure to report child pornography
to NCMEC. It would also move the reporting requirement from title 42,
which relates to the public's health and welfare, to title 18, our
Federal Criminal Code. This is to underscore that a breach of the
reporting obligations is a violation of criminal law. In addition, the
act would eliminate the legal liability of online service providers for
actions taken to comply with the child pornography reporting
requirements.
The bottom line is that this legislation should result in more
thorough reporting of child pornography to NCMEC. I expect that more
and better information provided to the center will lead to a greater
number of prosecutions and enhanced protection of our children. As
stated by NCMEC, with improvements to the reporting system there would
be more reports that are actionable by law enforcement, which will lead
to more prosecutions and convictions and, more importantly, to the
rescue of more children.
In addition to the provisions relating to child pornography, the bill
also would ensure that sex offenders will register information relevant
to their online activities on sex offender registries. Specifically, it
would require sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses, as well
as their instant messaging and chat room handles and any other online
identifiers they use. If a sex offender failed to do so, he could be
prosecuted, convicted, and thrown into jail for up to 10 years. The
bill would also make the use of the Internet in the commission of a
crime of child exploitation an aggravating factor that would add 10
years to the offender's sentence.
To help address the international nature of child pornography, the
bill would permit NCMEC to share reports with foreign law enforcement
agencies, subject to approval by the Department of Justice. In
addition, the act would state the sense of Congress that the executive
branch should make child pornography a priority when engaging in
negotiations or talks with foreign countries.
Finally, the act would authorize $20.3 million for our Nation's
Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces. This increase of $5
million above that currently requested by the Administration is
recommended by NCMEC, Sheriff Brown, and others who believe that the
additional amount would significantly improve the efforts of these
teams of Federal, State, and local law enforcement officials dedicated
to identifying and prosecuting those who use the Internet to prey upon
our Nation's children.
Mr. President, protecting our children is a top priority for Members
of Congress, regardless of party affiliation. This legislation would
help us achieve that goal. I look forward to working with my colleagues
to debate and move this bill through the legislative process during the
next Congress.
______
By Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. Kerry, Ms. Landrieu, and Mr.
Vitter):
S. 4097. A bill to improve the disaster loan program of the Small
Business Administration, and for other purposes; to the Committee on
Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today with Senators Kerry, Landrieu
and Vitter to introduce The Small Business Disaster Response and Loan
Improvements Act of 2006, a bill that would provide a comprehensive;
package of reforms to improve the Small Business Administration's, SBA,
disaster loan program.
As you know, the entire gulf coast of the United States was ravaged
in 2005 by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. These natural disasters,
unprecedented in scope and economic impact, presented a prime
opportunity for the SBA to showcase its programs and resources for
small businesses. Unfortunately, SBA's response was subpar at best,
leaving some disaster victims waiting three months or more for disaster
loans to be processed.
As chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship, I remain committed to doing everything in my power to
provide small businesses and homeowners with the tools they need to
recover from disasters. The SBA is and must be at the forefront of
disaster relief efforts. We must ensure that victims of future
disasters have access to the resources they need to restore their
lives, their businesses, and their dreams.
Many of the provisions in this bid have already passed unanimously
through the Small Business Committee this year as part of the Small
Business Reauthorization and Improvements Act of 2006 S. 3778,
bipartisan legislation I authored that features sweeping reforms to
help the SBA lead with the same dedication to excellence found in the
entrepreneurs it serves. The committee unanimously approved this
legislation and reported it to the full Senate, where it awaits
consideration.
This bill before the Senate today includes essential provisions that
would better assist victims applying for SBA disaster loans. Among
other items, this legislation would increase the maximum size of an SBA
disaster loan from $1.5 million per loan to $5 million per loan and
would make it possible for non-profit institutions to be eligible for
disaster loans.
Recognizing the increased demand disasters place on all small
business lending programs, the legislation establishes a private
disaster loan PDL program that allows for PDLs to be made to disaster
victims by private banks, which would have to apply to the SBA for
eligibility. A business would be eligible for a PDL if the county in
which the business is located was
[[Page S11336]]
declared a disaster area anytime in the last 24 months. The business
would not have to show a nexus between its need for a loan, and the
disaster that occurred. It would be enough to be located in that
county. The SBA would provide an 85 percent guarantee for the loans.
In addition, our legislation would provide authorization for the SBA
to enter into agreements with qualified private contractors to process
disaster loans. It also would require the SBA to provide Congress with
a report on how the disaster loan application process can be improved,
including methods to expedite loan processing and verification for
sources vital to rebuilding efforts.
This legislation would also require the SBA to promulgate rules
within 6 months that would create a new ``expedited disaster assistance
business loan program.'' These short-term loans would have low interest
rates similar to regular disaster loans. The program is intended to
respond to major disasters, but at the discretion of the SBA
Administrator, it can be implemented in the event of any disaster.
I firmly believe the product before us is the best package to aid
families, businesses, and communities through challenging times
following disasters. We must not forget their pain, their
determination, and their resolute refusal to walk away from the
communities and small businesses they cherish.
When a disaster strikes, the spirit, determination, and will of
America's small businesses help to create the firm economic foundation,
propelling our nation's economic growth forward. Therefore, we in turn
must create an atmosphere favorable for small businesses and provide
this assistance package to the SBA. We must allow our Nation's small
businesses to do what they do best--create jobs.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Too much is at stake for
small businesses, and the economy as a whole, to allow this critical
legislation to languish. Clearly, if we strive for anything less, we
fail to support the backbone of our economy, our hope for new
innovation, and the entrepreneurs reach for the American dream.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 4097
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Small
Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act of
2006''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
TITLE I--PRIVATE DISASTER LOANS
Sec. 101. Private disaster loans.
Sec. 102. Technical and conforming amendments.
TITLE II--DISASTER RELIEF AND RECONSTRUCTION
Sec. 201. Definition of disaster area.
Sec. 202. Disaster loans to nonprofits.
Sec. 203. Disaster loan amounts.
Sec. 204. Small business development center portability grants.
Sec. 205. Assistance to out-of-State businesses.
Sec. 206. Outreach programs.
Sec. 207. Small business bonding threshold.
Sec. 208. Contracting priority for local small businesses.
Sec. 209. Termination of program.
Sec. 210. Increasing collateral requirements.
TITLE III--DISASTER RESPONSE
Sec. 301. Definitions.
Sec. 302. Business expedited disaster assistance loan program.
Sec. 303. Catastrophic national disasters.
Sec. 304. Public awareness of disaster declaration and application
periods.
Sec. 305. Consistency between Administration regulations and standard
operating procedures.
Sec. 306. Processing disaster loans.
Sec. 307. Development and implementation of major disaster response
plan.
Sec. 308. Congressional oversight.
TITLE IV--ENERGY EMERGENCIES
Sec. 401. Findings.
Sec. 402. Small business energy emergency disaster loan program.
Sec. 403. Agricultural producer emergency loans.
Sec. 404. Guidelines and rulemaking.
Sec. 405. Reports.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the terms ``Administration'' and ``Administrator'' mean
the Small Business Administration and the Administrator
thereof, respectively;
(2) the term ``small business concern'' has the same
meaning as in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
632); and
(3) the term ``small business concern owned and controlled
by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals'' has
the same meaning as in section 8 of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 637).
TITLE I--PRIVATE DISASTER LOANS
SEC. 101. PRIVATE DISASTER LOANS.
(a) In General.--Section 7 of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 636) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections
(d) and (e), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
``(c) Private Disaster Loans.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
``(A) the term `disaster area' means a county, parish, or
similar unit of general local government in which a disaster
was declared under subsection (b);
``(B) the term `eligible small business concern' means a
business concern that is--
``(i) a small business concern, as defined in this Act; or
``(ii) a small business concern, as defined in section 103
of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958; and
``(C) the term `qualified private lender' means any
privately-owned bank or other lending institution that the
Administrator determines meets the criteria established under
paragraph (9).
``(2) Authorization.--The Administrator may guarantee
timely payment of principal and interest, as scheduled on any
loan issued by a qualified private lender to an eligible
small business concern located in a disaster area.
``(3) Use of loans.--A loan guaranteed by the Administrator
under this subsection may be used for any purpose authorized
under subsection (a) or (b).
``(4) Online applications.--
``(A) Establishment.--The Administrator may establish,
directly or through an agreement with another entity, an
online application process for loans guaranteed under this
subsection.
``(B) Other federal assistance.--The Administrator may
coordinate with the head of any other appropriate Federal
agency so that any application submitted through an online
application process established under this paragraph may be
considered for any other Federal assistance program for
disaster relief.
``(C) Consultation.--In establishing an online application
process under this paragraph, the Administrator shall consult
with appropriate persons from the public and private sectors,
including private lenders.
``(5) Maximum amounts.--
``(A) Guarantee percentage.--The Administrator may
guarantee not more than 85 percent of a loan under this
subsection.
``(B) Loan amounts.--The maximum amount of a loan
guaranteed under this subsection shall be $3,000,000.
``(6) Loan term.--The longest term of a loan for a loan
guaranteed under this subsection shall be--
``(A) 15 years for any loan that is issued without
collateral; and
``(B) 25 years for any loan that is issued with collateral.
``(7) Fees.--
``(A) In general.--The Administrator may not collect a
guarantee fee under this subsection.
``(B) Origination fee.--The Administrator may pay a
qualified private lender an origination fee for a loan
guaranteed under this subsection in an amount agreed upon in
advance between the qualified private lender and the
Administrator.
``(8) Documentation.--A qualified private lender may use
its own loan documentation for a loan guaranteed by the
Administrator, to the extent authorized by the Administrator.
The ability of a lender to use its own loan documentation for
a loan offered under this subsection shall not be considered
part of the criteria for becoming a qualified private lender
under the regulations promulgated under paragraph (9).
``(9) Implementation regulations.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the Small Business Disaster Response and Loan
Improvements Act of 2006, the Administrator shall issue final
regulations establishing permanent criteria for qualified
private lenders.
``(B) Report to congress.--Not later than 6 months after
the date of enactment of the Small Business Disaster Response
and Loan Improvements Act of 2006, the Administrator shall
submit a report on the progress of the regulations required
by subparagraph (A) to the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small
Business of the House of Representatives.
``(10) Authorization of appropriations.--
``(A) In general.--Amounts necessary to carry out this
subsection shall be made available from amounts appropriated
to the Administration under subsection (b).
``(B) Authority to reduce interest rates.--Funds
appropriated to the Administration to carry out this
subsection, may be used by the Administrator, to the extent
available, to reduce the applicable rate of interest for a
loan guaranteed under this subsection by not more than 3
percentage points.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to disasters declared under section 7(b)(2) of
the Small Business Act (631 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) before, on, or
after the date of enactment of this Act.
[[Page S11337]]
SEC. 102. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 4(c)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``7(c)(2)'' and inserting
``7(d)(2)''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by striking ``7(c)(2)'' and inserting ``7(d)(2)''; and
(ii) by striking ``7(e),''; and
(2) in section 7(b), in the undesignated matter following
paragraph (3)--
(A) by striking ``That the provisions of paragraph (1) of
subsection (c)'' and inserting ``That the provisions of
paragraph (1) of subsection (d)''; and
(B) by striking ``Notwithstanding the provisions of any
other law the interest rate on the Administration's share of
any loan made under subsection (b) except as provided in
subsection (c),'' and inserting ``Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, and except as provided in subsection (d),
the interest rate on the Administration's share of any loan
made under subsection (b)''.
TITLE II--DISASTER RELIEF AND RECONSTRUCTION
SEC. 201. DEFINITION OF DISASTER AREA.
In this title, the term ``disaster area'' means an area
affected by a natural or other disaster, as determined for
purposes of paragraph (1) or (2) of section 7(b) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)), during the period of such
declaration.
SEC. 202. DISASTER LOANS TO NONPROFITS.
Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b))
is amended by inserting immediately after paragraph (3) the
following:
``(4) Loans to nonprofits.--In addition to any other loan
authorized by this subsection, the Administrator may make
such loans (either directly or in cooperation with banks or
other lending institutions through agreements to participate
on an immediate or deferred basis) as the Administrator
determines appropriate to a nonprofit organization located or
operating in an area affected by a natural or other disaster,
as determined under paragraph (1) or (2), or providing
services to persons who have evacuated from any such area.''.
SEC. 203. DISASTER LOAN AMOUNTS.
(a) Increased Loan Caps.--Section 7(b) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended by inserting
immediately after paragraph (4), as added by this title, the
following:
``(5) Increased loan caps.--
``(A) Aggregate loan amounts.--Except as provided in clause
(ii), and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
aggregate loan amount outstanding and committed to a borrower
under this subsection may not exceed $5,000,000.
``(B) Waiver authority.--The Administrator may, at the
discretion of the Administrator, waive the aggregate loan
amount established under clause (i).''.
(b) Disaster Mitigation.--
(1) In general.--Section 7(b)(1)(A) of the Small Business
Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ``of the
aggregate costs of such damage or destruction (whether or not
compensated for by insurance or otherwise)'' after ``20 per
centum''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)
shall apply with respect to a loan or guarantee made after
the date of enactment of this Act.
(c) Technical Amendments.--Section 7(b) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking
``the, Administration'' and inserting ``the Administration'';
(2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ``Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act'' and inserting ``Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121
et seq.)''; and
(3) in the undesignated matter at the end--
(A) by striking ``, (2), and (4)'' and inserting ``and
(2)''; and
(B) by striking ``, (2), or (4)'' and inserting ``(2)''.
SEC. 204. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER PORTABILITY
GRANTS.
Section 21(a)(4)(C)(viii) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)(viii)) is amended--
(1) in the first sentence, by striking ``as a result of a
business or government facility down sizing or closing, which
has resulted in the loss of jobs or small business
instability'' and inserting ``due to events that have
resulted or will result in, business or government facility
downsizing or closing''; and
(2) by adding at the end ``At the discretion of the
Administrator, the Administrator may make an award greater
than $100,000 to a recipient to accommodate extraordinary
occurrences having a catastrophic impact on the small
business concerns in a community.''.
SEC. 205. ASSISTANCE TO OUT-OF-STATE BUSINESSES.
Section 21(b)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
648(b)(3)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``At the discretion'' and inserting the
following: ``Small business development centers.--
``(A) In general.--At the discretion''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) During disasters.--
``(i) In general.--At the discretion of the Administrator,
the Administrator may authorize a small business development
center to provide such assistance to small business concerns
located outside of the State, without regard to geographic
proximity, if the small business concerns are located in a
disaster area declared under section 7(b)(2)(A).
``(ii) Continuity of services.--A small business
development center that provides counselors to an area
described in clause (i) shall, to the maximum extent
practicable, ensure continuity of services in any State in
which such small business development center otherwise
provides services.
``(iii) Access to disaster recovery facilities.--For
purposes of providing disaster recovery assistance under this
subparagraph, the Administrator shall, to the maximum extent
practicable, permit small business development center
personnel to use any site or facility designated by the
Administrator for use to provide disaster recovery
assistance.''.
SEC. 206. OUTREACH PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
the declaration of a disaster area, the Administrator may
establish a contracting outreach and technical assistance
program for small business concerns which have had a primary
place of business in, or other significant presence in, such
disaster area.
(b) Administrator Action.--The Administrator may fulfill
the requirement of subsection (a) by acting through--
(1) the Administration;
(2) the Federal agency small business officials designated
under section 15(k)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
644(k)(1)); or
(3) any Federal, State, or local government entity, higher
education institution, procurement technical assistance
center, or private nonprofit organization that the
Administrator may determine appropriate, upon conclusion of a
memorandum of understanding or assistance agreement, as
appropriate, with the Administrator.
SEC. 207. SMALL BUSINESS BONDING THRESHOLD.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), and
notwithstanding any other provision of law, for any
procurement related to a major disaster (as that term is
defined in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)), the
Administrator may, upon such terms and conditions as the
Administrator may prescribe, guarantee and enter into
commitments to guarantee any surety against loss resulting
from a breach of the terms of a bid bond, payment bond,
performance bond, or bonds ancillary thereto, by a principal
on any total work order or contract amount at the time of
bond execution that does not exceed $5,000,000.
(b) Increase of Amount.--Upon request of the head of any
Federal agency other than the Administration involved in
reconstruction efforts in response to a major disaster, the
Administrator may guarantee and enter into a commitment to
guarantee any security against loss under subsection (a) on
any total work order or contract amount at the time of bond
execution that does not exceed $10,000,000.
SEC. 208. CONTRACTING PRIORITY FOR LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES.
Section 15(d) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(d))
is amended--
(1) by striking ``(d) For purposes'' and inserting the
following:
``(d) Contracting Priorities.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Disaster contracting priority in general.--The
Administrator shall designate any disaster area as an area of
concentrated unemployment or underemployment, or a labor
surplus area for purposes of paragraph (1).
``(3) Local small businesses.--
``(A) In general.--The head of each executive agency shall
give priority in the awarding of contracts and the placement
of subcontracts for disaster relief to local small business
concerns by using, as appropriate--
``(i) preferential factors in evaluations of contract bids
and proposals;
``(ii) competitions restricted to local small business
concerns, where there is a reasonable expectation of
receiving competitive, reasonably priced bids or proposals
from not fewer than 2 local small business concerns;
``(iii) requirements of preference for local small business
concerns in subcontracting plans; and
``(iv) assessments of liquidated damages and other
contractual penalties, including contract termination.
``(B) Other disaster assistance.--Priority shall be given
to local small business concerns in the awarding of contracts
and the placement of subcontracts for disaster relief in any
Federal procurement and any procurement by a State or local
government made with Federal disaster assistance funds.
``(4) Definitions.--In this subsection--
``(A) the term `declared disaster' means a disaster, as
designated by the Administrator;
``(B) the term `disaster area' means any State or area
affected by a declared disaster, as determined by the
Administrator;
``(C) the term `executive agency' has the same meaning as
in section 105 of title 5, United States Code; and
``(D) the term `local small business concern' means a small
business concern that--
``(i) on the date immediately preceding the date on which a
declared disaster occurred--
``(I) had a principal office in the disaster area for such
declared disaster; and
``(II) employed a majority of the workforce of such small
business concern in the disaster area for such declared
disaster; and
``(ii) is capable of performing a substantial proportion of
any contract or subcontract
[[Page S11338]]
for disaster relief within the disaster area for such
declared disaster, as determined by the Administrator.''.
SEC. 209. TERMINATION OF PROGRAM.
Section 711(c) of the Small Business Competitive
Demonstration Program Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 644 note) is
amended by inserting after ``January 1, 1989'' the following:
``, and shall terminate on the date of enactment of the Small
Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act of
2006''.
SEC. 210. INCREASING COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS.
Section 7(d)(6) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636),
as so designated by section 101, is amended by striking
``$10,000 or less'' and inserting ``$14,000 or less (or such
higher amount as the Administrator determines appropriate in
the event of a catastrophic national disaster declared under
subsection (b)(6))''.
TITLE III--DISASTER RESPONSE
SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS.
In this title--
(1) the term ``catastrophic national disaster'' has the
meaning given the term in section 7(b)(6) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)), as added by this Act;
(2) the term ``declared disaster'' means a major disaster
or a catastrophic national disaster;
(3) the term ``disaster loan program of the
Administration'' means assistance under section 7(b) of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b));
(4) the term ``disaster update period'' means the period
beginning on the date on which the President declares a major
disaster or a catastrophic national disaster and ending on
the date on which such declaration terminates;
(5) the term ``major disaster'' has the meaning given the
term in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122); and
(6) the term ``State'' means any State of the United
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, Guam,
American Samoa, and any territory or possession of the United
States.
SEC. 302. BUSINESS EXPEDITED DISASTER ASSISTANCE LOAN
PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``immediate disaster assistance'' means
assistance provided during the period beginning on the date
on which a disaster declaration is made and ending on the
date that an impacted small business concern is able to
secure funding through insurance claims, Federal assistance
programs, or other sources; and
(2) the term ``program'' means the expedited disaster
assistance business loan program established under subsection
(b); and
(b) Creation of Program.--The Administrator shall take such
administrative action as is necessary to establish and
implement an expedited disaster assistance business loan
program to provide small business concerns with immediate
disaster assistance under section 7(b) of the Small Business
Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)).
(c) Consultation Required.--In establishing the program,
the Administrator shall consult with--
(1) appropriate personnel of the Administration (including
District Office personnel of the Administration);
(2) appropriate technical assistance providers (including
small business development centers);
(3) appropriate lenders and credit unions;
(4) the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of
the Senate; and
(5) the Committee on Small Business of the House of
Representatives.
(d) Rules.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall promulgate
rules establishing and implementing the program in accordance
with this section. Such rules shall apply as provided for in
this section, beginning 90 days after their issuance in final
form.
(2) Contents.--The rules promulgated under paragraph (1)
shall--
(A) identify whether appropriate uses of funds under the
program may include--
(i) paying employees;
(ii) paying bills and other financial obligations;
(iii) making repairs;
(iv) purchasing inventory;
(v) restarting or operating a small business concern in the
community in which it was conducting operations prior to the
declared disaster, or to a neighboring area, county, or
parish in the disaster area; or
(vi) covering additional costs until the small business
concern is able to obtain funding through insurance claims,
Federal assistance programs, or other sources; and
(B) set the terms and conditions of any loan made under the
program, subject to paragraph (3).
(3) Terms and conditions.--A loan made by the
Administration under this section--
(A) shall be a short-term loan, not to exceed 180 days,
except that the Administrator may extend such term as the
Administrator determines necessary or appropriate on a case-
by-case basis;
(B) shall have an interest rate not to exceed 1 percentage
point above the prime rate of interest that a private lender
may charge;
(C) shall have no prepayment penalty;
(D) may be refinanced as part of any subsequent disaster
assistance provided under section 7(b) of the Small Business
Act; and
(E) shall be subject to such additional terms as the
Administrator determines necessary or appropriate.
(e) Report to Congress.--Not later than 5 months after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall report
to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of
the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House
of Representatives on the progress of the Administrator in
establishing the program.
(f) Authorization.--There are authorized to be appropriated
to the Administrator such sums as are necessary to carry out
this section.
SEC. 303. CATASTROPHIC NATIONAL DISASTERS.
Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b))
is amended by inserting immediately after paragraph (5), as
added by this Act, the following:
``(6) Catastrophic national disasters.--
``(A) Definition.--In this paragraph the term `catastrophic
national disaster' means a disaster, natural or other, that
the President determines has caused significant adverse
economic conditions outside of the geographic reach of the
disaster.
``(B) Authorization.--The Administrator may make such loans
under this paragraph (either directly or in cooperation with
banks or other lending institutions through agreements to
participate on an immediate or deferred basis) as the
Administrator determines appropriate to small business
concerns located anywhere in the United States that are
economically adversely impacted as a result of a catastrophic
national disaster.
``(C) Loan terms.--A loan under this paragraph shall be
made on the same terms as a loan under paragraph (2).''.
SEC. 304. PUBLIC AWARENESS OF DISASTER DECLARATION AND
APPLICATION PERIODS.
(a) In General.--Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended by inserting immediately after
paragraph (6), as added by this Act, the following:
``(7) Coordination with fema.--
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, for any disaster (including a catastrophic national
disaster) declared under this subsection or major disaster
(as that term is defined in section 102 of the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5122)), the Administrator, in consultation with the
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall
ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that all
application periods for disaster relief under this Act and
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) begin on the same
date and end on the same date.
``(B) Deadline extensions.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law--
``(i) not later than 10 days before the closing date of an
application period for disaster relief under this Act for any
disaster (including a catastrophic national disaster)
declared under this subsection, the Administrator, in
consultation with the Director of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, shall notify the Committee on Small
Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee
on Small Business of the House of Representatives as to
whether the Administrator intends to extend such application
period; and
``(ii) not later than 10 days before the closing date of an
application period for disaster relief under the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act for any
major disaster (as that term is defined in section 102 of the
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)) for which the President has declared a
catastrophic national disaster under paragraph (6), the
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in
consultation with the Administrator, shall notify the
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the
Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of
Representatives as to whether the Director intends to extend
such application period.
``(8) Public awareness of disasters.--If a disaster
(including a catastrophic national disaster) is declared
under this subsection, the Administrator shall make every
effort to communicate through radio, television, print, and
web-based outlets, all relevant information needed by
disaster loan applicants, including--
``(A) the date of such declaration;
``(B) cities and towns within the area of such declaration;
``(C) loan application deadlines related to such disaster;
``(D) all relevant contact information for victim services
available through the Administration (including links to
small business development center websites);
``(E) links to relevant Federal and State disaster
assistance websites;
``(F) information on eligibility criteria for Federal
Emergency Management Agency disaster assistance applications,
as well as for Administration loan programs, including where
such applications can be found; and
``(G) application materials that clearly state the function
of the Administration as the Federal source of disaster loans
for homeowners and renters.''.
(b) Coordination of Agencies and Outreach.--Not later than
90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Administrator and the Director of the Federal Emergency
[[Page S11339]]
Management Agency shall enter into a memorandum of
understanding that ensures, to the maximum extent
practicable, adequate lodging and transportation for
employees of the Administration, contract employees, and
volunteers during a major disaster, if such staff are needed
to assist businesses, homeowners, or renters in recovery.
(c) Marketing and Outreach.--Not later than 90 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall
create a marketing and outreach plan that--
(1) encourages a proactive approach to the disaster relief
efforts of the Administration;
(2) distinguishes between disaster services provided by the
Administration and disaster services provided by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, including contact information,
application information, and timelines for submitting
applications, the review of applications, and the
disbursement of funds;
(3) describes the different disaster loan programs of the
Administration, including how they are made available and
what eligibility requirements exist for each loan program;
(4) provides for regional marketing, focusing on disasters
occurring in each region before the date of enactment of this
Act, and likely scenarios for disasters in each such region;
and
(5) ensures that the marketing plan is made available at
small business development centers and on the website of the
Administration.
SEC. 305. CONSISTENCY BETWEEN ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS AND
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
(a) In General.--The Administrator shall, promptly
following the date of enactment of this Act, conduct a study
of whether the standard operating procedures of the
Administration for loans offered under section 7(b) of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) are consistent with the
regulations of the Administration for administering the
disaster loan program.
(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administration shall submit to
Congress a report containing all findings and recommendations
of the study conducted under subsection (a).
SEC. 306. PROCESSING DISASTER LOANS.
(a) Authority for Qualified Private Contractors to Process
Disaster Loans.--Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended by inserting immediately after
paragraph (8), as added by this Act, the following:
``(9) Authority for qualified private contractors.--
``(A) Disaster loan processing.--The Administrator may
enter into an agreement with a qualified private contractor,
as determined by the Administrator, to process loans under
this subsection in the event of a major disaster (as defined
in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)) or a catastrophic
national disaster declared under paragraph (6), under which
the Administrator shall pay the contractor a fee for each
loan processed.
``(B) Loan loss verification services.--The Administrator
may enter into an agreement with a qualified lender or loss
verification professional, as determined by the
Administrator, to verify losses for loans under this
subsection in the event of a major disaster (as defined in
section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)) or a catastrophic
national disaster declared under paragraph (6), under which
the Administrator shall pay the lender or verification
professional a fee for each loan for which such lender or
verification professional verifies losses.''.
(b) Coordination of Efforts Between the Administrator and
the Internal Revenue Service To Expedite Loan Processing.--
The Administrator and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
shall, to the maximum extent practicable, ensure that all
relevant and allowable tax records for loan approval are
shared with loan processors in an expedited manner, upon
request by the Administrator.
(c) Report on Loan Approval Rate.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit a
report to the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small
Business of the House of Representatives detailing how the
Administration can improve the processing of applications
under the disaster loan program of the Administration.
(2) Contents.--The report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall include--
(A) recommendations, if any, regarding--
(i) staffing levels during a major disaster;
(ii) how to improve the process for processing, approving,
and disbursing loans under the disaster loan program of the
Administration, to ensure that the maximum assistance is
provided to victims in a timely manner;
(iii) the viability of using alternative methods for
assessing the ability of an applicant to repay a loan,
including the credit score of the applicant on the day before
the date on which the disaster for which the applicant is
seeking assistance was declared;
(iv) methods, if any, for the Administration to expedite
loss verification and loan processing of disaster loans
during a major disaster for businesses affected by, and
located in the area for which the President declared, the
major disaster that are a major source of employment in the
area or are vital to recovery efforts in the region
(including providing debris removal services, manufactured
housing, or building materials);
(v) legislative changes, if any, needed to implement
findings from the Administration's Accelerated Disaster
Response Initiative; and
(vi) a description of how the Administration plans to
integrate and coordinate the response to a major disaster
with the technical assistance programs of the Administration;
and
(B) the plans of the Administrator for implementing any
recommendation made under subparagraph (A).
SEC. 307. DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF MAJOR DISASTER
RESPONSE PLAN.
(a) In General.--Not later than March 15, 2007, the
Administrator shall--
(1) by rule, amend the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season
disaster response plan of the Administration (in this section
referred to as the ``disaster response plan'') to apply to
major disasters and catastrophic national disasters,
consistent with this Act and the amendments made by this Act;
and
(2) submit a report to the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small
Business of the House of Representatives detailing the
amendments to the disaster response plan.
(b) Contents.--The amended report required under subsection
(a)(2) shall include--
(1) any updates or modifications made to the disaster
response plan since the report regarding the disaster
response plan submitted on July 14, 2006;
(2) a description of how the Administrator plans to utilize
and integrate District Office personnel of the Administration
in the response to a major disaster, including information on
the utilization of personnel for loan processing and loan
disbursement;
(3) a description of the disaster scalability model of the
Administration and on what basis or function the plan is
scaled;
(4) a description of how the agency-wide Disaster Oversight
Council is structured, which offices comprise its membership,
and whether the Associate Deputy Administrator for
Entrepreneurial Development of the Administration is a
member;
(5) a description of how the Administrator plans to
coordinate the disaster efforts of the Administration with
State and local government officials, including
recommendations on how to better incorporate State
initiatives or programs, such as State-administered bridge
loan programs, into the disaster response of the
Administration;
(6) recommendations, if any, on how the Administrator can
better coordinate its disaster response operations with the
operations of other Federal, State, and local entities;
(7) any surge plan for the system in effect on or after
August 29, 2005 (including surge plans for loss verification,
loan processing, mailroom, customer service or call center
operations, and a continuity of operations plan);
(8) the number of full-time equivalent employees and job
descriptions for the planning and disaster response staff of
the Administration;
(9) the in-service and preservice training procedures for
disaster response staff of the Administration;
(10) information on the logistical support plans of the
Administration (including equipment and staffing needs, and
detailed information on how such plans will be scalable
depending on the size and scope of the major disaster;
(11) a description of the findings and recommendations of
the Administrator, if any, based on a review of the response
of the Administration to Hurricane Katrina of 2005, Hurricane
Rita of 2005, and Hurricane Wilma of 2005; and
(12) a plan for how the Administrator, in cooperation with
the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will
coordinate the provision of accommodations and necessary
resources for disaster assistance personnel to effectively
perform their responsibilities in the aftermath of a major
disaster.
(c) Exercises.--Not later than May 31, 2007, the
Administrator shall develop and execute simulation exercises
to demonstrate the effectiveness of the amended disaster
response plan required under this section.
SEC. 308. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT.
(a) Monthly Accounting Report to Congress.--
(1) Definition.--In this subsection the term ``applicable
period'' means the period beginning on the date on which the
President declares a major disaster and ending on the date
that is 30 days after the later of the closing date for
applications for physical disaster loans for such disaster
and the closing date for applications for economic injury
disaster loans for such disaster.
(2) Reporting requirements.--Not later than the fifth
business day of each month during the applicable period for a
major disaster, the Administrator shall provide to the
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and to the
Committee on Small Business and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives a report on
the operation of the disaster loan program authorized under
section 7 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636) for such
disaster during the preceding month.
[[Page S11340]]
(3) Contents.--Each report under paragraph (2) shall
include--
(A) the daily average lending volume, in number of loans
and dollars, and the percent by which each category has
increased or decreased since the previous report under
paragraph (2);
(B) the weekly average lending volume, in number of loans
and dollars, and the percent by which each category has
increased or decreased since the previous report under
paragraph (2);
(C) the amount of funding spent over the month for loans,
both in appropriations and program level, and the percent by
which each category has increased or decreased since the
previous report under paragraph (2);
(D) the amount of funding available for loans, both in
appropriations and program level, and the percent by which
each category has increased or decreased, noting the source
of any additional funding;
(E) an estimate of how long the available funding for such
loans will last, based on the spending rate;
(F) the amount of funding spent over the month for staff,
along with the number of staff, and the percent by which each
category has increased or decreased since the previous report
under paragraph (2);
(G) the amount of funding spent over the month for
administrative costs, and the percent by which such spending
has increased or decreased since the previous report under
paragraph (2);
(H) the amount of funding available for salaries and
expenses combined, and the percent by which such funding has
increased or decreased, noting the source of any additional
funding; and
(I) an estimate of how long the available funding for
salaries and expenses will last, based on the spending rate.
(b) Daily Disaster Updates to Congress for Presidentially
Declared Disasters.--
(1) In general.--Each day during a disaster update period,
excluding Federal holidays and weekends, the Administration
shall provide to the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate and to the Committee on Small
Business of the House of Representatives a report on the
operation of the disaster loan program of the Administration
for the area in which the President declared a major disaster
or a catastrophic national disaster, as the case may be.
(2) Contents.--Each report under paragraph (1) shall
include--
(A) the number of Administration staff performing loan
processing, field inspection, and other duties for the
declared disaster, and the allocations of such staff in the
disaster field offices, disaster recovery centers, workshops,
and other Administration offices nationwide;
(B) the daily number of applications received from
applicants in the relevant area, as well as a breakdown of
such figures by State;
(C) the daily number of applications pending application
entry from applicants in the relevant area, as well as a
breakdown of such figures by State;
(D) the daily number of applications withdrawn by
applicants in the relevant area, as well as a breakdown of
such figures by State;
(E) the daily number of applications summarily declined by
the Administration from applicants in the relevant area, as
well as a breakdown of such figures by State;
(F) the daily number of applications declined by the
Administration from applicants in the relevant area, as well
as a breakdown of such figures by State;
(G) the daily number of applications in process from
applicants in the relevant area, as well as a breakdown of
such figures by State;
(H) the daily number of applications approved by the
Administration from applicants in the relevant area, as well
as a breakdown of such figures by State;
(I) the daily dollar amount of applications approved by the
Administration from applicants in the relevant area, as well
as a breakdown of such figures by State;
(J) the daily amount of loans dispersed, both partially and
fully, by the Administration to applicants in the relevant
area, as well as a breakdown of such figures by State;
(K) the daily dollar amount of loans dispersed, both
partially and fully, from the relevant area, as well as a
breakdown of such figures by State;
(L) the number of applications approved, including dollar
amount approved, as well as applications partially and fully
dispersed, including dollar amounts, since the last report
under paragraph (1); and
(M) the declaration date, physical damage closing date,
economic injury closing date, and number of counties included
in the declaration of a major disaster.
(c) Notice of the Need for Supplemental Funds.--On the same
date that the Administrator notifies any committee of the
Senate or the House of Representatives that supplemental
funding is necessary for the disaster loan program of the
Administration in any fiscal year, the Administrator shall
notify in writing the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate and to the Committee on Small
Business of the House of Representatives regarding the need
for supplemental funds for such loan program.
(d) Report on Contracting.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date on
which the President declares a declared disaster, and every 6
months thereafter until the date that is 18 months after the
date on which the declared disaster was declared, the
Administrator shall submit a report to the Committee on Small
Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and to the
Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives
regarding Federal contracts awarded as a result of the
declared disaster.
(2) Contents.--Each report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall include--
(A) the total number of contracts awarded as a result of
the declared disaster;
(B) the total number of contracts awarded to small business
concerns as a result of the declared disaster;
(C) the total number of contracts awarded to women and
minority-owned businesses as a result of the declared
disaster; and
(D) the total number of contracts awarded to local
businesses as a result of the declared disaster.
TITLE IV--ENERGY EMERGENCIES
SEC. 401. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) a significant number of small business concerns in the
United States, nonfarm as well as agricultural producers, use
heating oil, natural gas, propane, or kerosene to heat their
facilities and for other purposes;
(2) a significant number of small business concerns in the
United States sell, distribute, market, or otherwise engage
in commerce directly related to heating oil, natural gas,
propane, and kerosene; and
(3) significant increases in the price of heating oil,
natural gas, propane, or kerosene--
(A) disproportionately harm small business concerns
dependent on those fuels or that use, sell, or distribute
those fuels in the ordinary course of their business, and can
cause them substantial economic injury;
(B) can negatively affect the national economy and regional
economies;
(C) have occurred in the winters of 1983 to 1984, 1988 to
1989, 1996 to 1997, 1999 to 2000, 2000 to 2001, and 2004 to
2005; and
(D) can be caused by a host of factors, including
international conflicts, global or regional supply
difficulties, weather conditions, insufficient inventories,
refinery capacity, transportation, and competitive structures
in the markets, causes that are often unforeseeable to, and
beyond the control of, those who own and operate small
business concerns.
SEC. 402. SMALL BUSINESS ENERGY EMERGENCY DISASTER LOAN
PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (9),
as added by this Act, the following:
``(10) Energy emergencies.--
``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
``(i) the term `base price index' means the moving average
of the closing unit price on the New York Mercantile Exchange
for heating oil, natural gas, or propane for the 10 days, in
each of the most recent 2 preceding years, which correspond
to the trading days described in clause (ii);
``(ii) the term `current price index' means the moving
average of the closing unit price on the New York Mercantile
Exchange, for the 10 most recent trading days, for contracts
to purchase heating oil, natural gas, or propane during the
subsequent calendar month, commonly known as the `front
month';
``(iii) the term `heating fuel' means heating oil, natural
gas, propane, or kerosene; and
``(iv) the term `significant increase' means--
``(I) with respect to the price of heating oil, natural
gas, or propane, any time the current price index exceeds the
base price index by not less than 40 percent; and
``(II) with respect to the price of kerosene, any increase
which the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary
of Energy, determines to be significant.
``(B) Authorization.--The Administration may make such
loans, either directly or in cooperation with banks or other
lending institutions through agreements to participate on an
immediate or deferred basis, to assist a small business
concern that has suffered or that is likely to suffer
substantial economic injury as the result of a significant
increase in the price of heating fuel occurring on or after
October 1, 2004.
``(C) Interest rate.--Any loan or guarantee extended under
this paragraph shall be made at the same interest rate as
economic injury loans under paragraph (2).
``(D) Maximum amount.--No loan may be made under this
paragraph, either directly or in cooperation with banks or
other lending institutions through agreements to participate
on an immediate or deferred basis, if the total amount
outstanding and committed to the borrower under this
subsection would exceed $1,500,000, unless such borrower
constitutes a major source of employment in its surrounding
area, as determined by the Administrator, in which case the
Administrator, in the discretion of the Administrator, may
waive the $1,500,000 limitation.
``(E) Declarations.--For purposes of assistance under this
paragraph--
``(i) a declaration of a disaster area based on conditions
specified in this paragraph shall be required, and shall be
made by the President or the Administrator; or
``(ii) if no declaration has been made under clause (i),
the Governor of a State in which a significant increase in
the price of heating fuel has occurred may certify to the
Administration that small business concerns have
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suffered economic injury as a result of such increase and are
in need of financial assistance which is not otherwise
available on reasonable terms in that State, and upon receipt
of such certification, the Administration may make such loans
as would have been available under this paragraph if a
disaster declaration had been issued.
``(F) Use of funds.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, loans made under this paragraph may be used by a small
business concern described in subparagraph (B) to convert
from the use of heating fuel to a renewable or alternative
energy source, including agriculture and urban waste,
geothermal energy, cogeneration, solar energy, wind energy,
or fuel cells.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments Relating to Heating Fuel.--
Section 3(k) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(k)) is
amended--
(1) by inserting ``, significant increase in the price of
heating fuel'' after ``civil disorders''; and
(2) by inserting ``other'' before ``economic''.
(c) Effective Period.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply during the 4-year period beginning on the date on
which guidelines are published by the Administrator under
section 404.
SEC. 403. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCER EMERGENCY LOANS.
(a) In General.--Section 321(a) of the Consolidated Farm
and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1961(a)) is amended--
(1) in the first sentence--
(A) by striking ``operations have'' and inserting
``operations (i) have''; and
(B) by inserting before ``: Provided,'' the following: ``,
or (ii)(I) are owned or operated by such an applicant that is
also a small business concern (as defined in section 3 of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), and (II) have suffered
or are likely to suffer substantial economic injury on or
after October 1, 2004, as the result of a significant
increase in energy costs or input costs from energy sources
occurring on or after October 1, 2004, in connection with an
energy emergency declared by the President or the
Secretary'';
(2) in the third sentence, by inserting before the period
at the end the following: ``or by an energy emergency
declared by the President or the Secretary''; and
(3) in the fourth sentence--
(A) by inserting ``or energy emergency'' after ``natural
disaster'' each place that term appears; and
(B) by inserting ``or declaration'' after ``emergency
designation''.
(b) Funding.--Funds available on the date of enactment of
this Act for emergency loans under subtitle C of the
Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1961 et
seq.) shall be available to carry out the amendments made by
subsection (a) to meet the needs resulting from energy
emergencies.
(c) Effective Period.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply during the 4-year period beginning on the date on
which guidelines are published by the Secretary of
Agriculture under section 404.
SEC. 404. GUIDELINES AND RULEMAKING.
(a) Guidelines.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator and the Secretary of
Agriculture shall each issue such guidelines as the
Administrator or the Secretary, as applicable, determines to
be necessary to carry out this title and the amendments made
by this title.
(b) Rulemaking.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator, after consultation
with the Secretary of Energy, shall promulgate regulations
specifying the method for determining a significant increase
in the price of kerosene under section 7(b)(10)(A)(iv)(II) of
the Small Business Act, as added by this Act.
SEC. 405. REPORTS.
(a) Small Business Administration.--Not later than 12
months after the date on which the Administrator issues
guidelines under section 404, and annually thereafter until
the date that is 12 months after the end of the effective
period of section 7(b)(10) of the Small Business Act, as
added by this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the
Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of
Representatives, a report on the effectiveness of the
assistance made available under section 7(b)(10) of the Small
Business Act, as added by this Act, including--
(1) the number of small business concerns that applied for
a loan under such section and the number of those that
received such loans;
(2) the dollar value of those loans;
(3) the States in which the small business concerns that
received such loans are located;
(4) the type of heating fuel or energy that caused the
significant increase in the cost for the participating small
business concerns; and
(5) recommendations for ways to improve the assistance
provided under such section 7(b)(10), if any.
(b) Department of Agriculture.--Not later than 12 months
after the date on which the Secretary of Agriculture issues
guidelines under section 404, and annually thereafter until
the date that is 12 months after the end of the effective
period of the amendments made to section 321(a) of the
Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C.
1961(a)) by this title, the Secretary shall submit to the
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the
Senate and the Committee on Small Business and the Committee
on Agriculture of the House of Representatives, a report
that--
(1) describes the effectiveness of the assistance made
available under section 321(a) of the Consolidated Farm and
Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1961(a)); and
(2) contains recommendations for ways to improve the
assistance provided under such section 321(a), if any.
Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, in the 15 months since Hurricane Katrina
decimated gulf coast communities, Senators Snowe, Landrieu, Vitter, and
I have worked to produce a comprehensive package to reform the SBA's
disaster loan program. The SBA's failed response in a time of unmatched
need demonstrated to everyone that this program is broken and needs
fixing.
Immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit, I introduced an amendment
with Senator Landrieu to the fiscal year 2006 Commerce, Justice and
Science appropriations bill to address the needs of gulf region small
business and homeowners. The amendment was adapted with input from
Chair Snowe, and a subsequent bipartisan amendment passed the Senate
with a vote of 96 to 0. Although the entire Senate supported the
amendment, it was stripped out of the bill conference.
On September 30, 2005, I again worked with Chair Snowe and Senators
Landrieu and Vitter to introduce the Small Business Hurricane Relief
and Reconstruction Act of 2006, S. 1807. Although this bill presented a
bipartisan, comprehensive approach to hurricane relief, it stalled in
the face of the Administration's opposition. In June, I introduced the
Small Business Disaster Loan Reauthorization and Improvements Act of
2006, S. 3487, which once again attempted to comprehensively address
the shortcomings of this program. Finally, in August, and with
continued opposition from the administration, the, committee
unanimously reported S. 3778, the Small Business Reauthorization and
Improvements Act of 2006, which again put forward a bipartisan,
comprehensive fix for this program.
Many of the provisions included in the bill we are introducing today
were included in one or more of these previous proposals. The bill
includes directives for the SBA to create a private disaster loan
program, to allow for lenders to issue disaster loans. To ensure that
these loans are borrower friendly, we provide authorization for
appropriations so that the agency can subsidize the interest rates. In
addition, the administrator is authorized to enter into agreements with
private contractors in order to expedite loan application processing
for direct disaster loans.
The bill also includes language directing SBA to create an expedited
disaster assistance loan program to provide businesses with short-term
loans so that they may keep their doors open until they receive
alternative forms of assistance. The days immediately following a
disaster are crucial for business owners--statistics show that once
they close their doors, they likely will not open them again. These
short-term loans should help prevent those doors from closing.
A Presidential declaration of catastrophic national disaster will
allow the administrator to offer economic injury disaster loans to
adversely affected business owners beyond the geographic reach of the
disaster area.
Nonprofit entities working to provide services to victims should be
rewarded and given access to the capital they require to continue their
services. To this end, the administrator is authorized to make disaster
loans to nonprofit entities, including religious organizations.
Construction and rebuilding contracts being awarded are likely to be
larger than the current $2 million threshold currently applied to the
SBA Surety Bond Program which helps small construction firms gain
access to contracts. This bill increases the guarantee against loss for
small business contracts up to $5 million and allows the administrator
to increase that level to $10 million, if deemed necessary.
The bill also provides for small business development centers to
offer business counseling in disaster areas and to travel beyond
traditional geographic
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boundaries to provide services during declared disasters. To encourage
small business development centers located in disaster areas to keep
their doors open, the maximum grant amount is waived.
So that Congress may remain better aware of the status of the
administration's disaster loan program, this bill directs the
administration to report to the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate and to the Committee on Small Business
of the House of Representatives regularly on the fiscal status of the
disaster loan program as well as the need for supplemental funding. The
administration is also directed to report on the number of Federal
contracts awarded to small businesses, minority-owned small businesses,
women-owned businesses, and local businesses during a disaster
declaration.
Finally, gas prices continue to fluctuate, and fuel-dependent small
businesses are struggling with the cost of energy. This bill provides
relief to small business owners during times of above average energy
price increases, authorizing energy disaster loans through the Small
Business Administration and the Department of Agriculture to companies
that depend on fuel.
Residents of the gulf coast continue to rebuild from last year's
hurricane season. By all accounts, Administrator Preston has
implemented policies that are helping gulf coast victims get back on
their feet. However, the SBA needs the tools offered in this bill in
order to comprehensively address the needs of business owners following
a large-scale disaster. As the 109th Congress prepares to adjourn, it
is unconscionable that we have not yet put in place the reforms needed
for this program to function effectively. I urge my colleagues in the
final days of this session to support this legislation, so that God
forbid another region has to deal with a disaster the size and scope of
the 2005 gulf coast hurricanes, the SBA will be fully able to provide
the assistance that homeowners and business owners require.
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, as we all know, there was a tremendous
amount of criticism of the Federal Government's response to Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita last year. Things are better now and the region is
slowly recovering. But having just finished the 2006 Hurricane season,
and with the 2007 season a few months away, we must be sure that if we
have another disaster, the Federal Government's response will be better
this time around. Disaster response agencies have to be better
organized, more efficient, and more responsive in order to avoid the
problems, the delays, mismanagement, and the seeming incompetence that
occurred last year.
Today, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of legislation to
improve the disaster response of one agency that had a great deal of
problems last year, the Small Business Administration, SBA. This bill,
the Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act, makes
major improvements to the SBA's disaster response and provides them
with essential tools to ensure that they are more efficient and better
prepared for future disasters--big and small. I should also note that
this bill is a result of intensive bipartisan work over the past few
months. As such, it is reflective of the priorities from Senators Snowe
and Kerry, respectively chair and ranking member of the Senate Small
Business Committee, as well as Senator Landrieu. For my part, I have
heard loud and clear from our impacted businesses that SBA reforms
should be implemented as soon as possible. That is why in September, I
sent a letter to the new SBA Administrator Steve Preston, expressing
concerns on the lack of progress on SBA Disaster reforms, which were
included in S. 3778, the fiscal year 2007 SBA reauthorization bill
reported out of the Senate Small Business Committee. In this letter, I
requested his cooperation, along with our committee, to pass this
important legislation before Congress adjourns at the end of the year.
The introduction of this bill today, shows the progress that the
committee made since September on this issue. I hope that this spirit
of bipartisanship continues well into the 110th Congress and that I can
continue to work with my colleagues on the Senate Small Business
Committee to reform SBA.
This legislation offers new tools to enhance SBA's disaster
assistance programs. In every disaster, the SBA disaster loan program
is a lifeline for businesses and homeowners who want to rebuild their
lives after a catastrophe. When Katrina hit, our businesses and
homeowners had to wait months for loan approvals. I do not know how
many businesses we lost because help did not come in time. Because of
the scale of this disaster, what these businesses needed was immediate,
short-term assistance to hold them over until SBA was ready to process
the tens of thousands of loan applications it received.
That is why this legislation provides the SBA Administrator with the
ability to set up an expedited disaster assistance business loan
program to make short-term, low-interest loans to keep them afloat.
These loans will allow businesses to make payroll, begin making
repairs, and address other immediate needs while they are awaiting
insurance payouts or regular SBA disaster loans. However, I realize
that every disaster is different and could range from a disaster on the
scale of Hurricane Katrina or 911, to an ice storm or drought. This
legislation gives the SBA additional options and flexibility in the
kinds of relief they can offer a community. When a tornado destroys 20
businesses in a small town in the Midwest, SBA can get the regular
disaster program up and running fairly quickly. You may not need short-
term loans in this instance. But if you know that SBA's resources would
be overwhelmed by a storm--just as they were initially with Katrina--
these expedited business loans would be very helpful.
This legislation also would direct SBA to study ways to expedite
disaster loans for those businesses in a disaster area that have a
good, solid track record with the SBA or can provide vital recovery
efforts. We had many businesses in the gulf coast that had paid off
previous SBA loans, were major sources of employment in their
communities, but had to wait months for decisions on their SBA disaster
loan applications. I do not want to get rid of the SBA's current
practice of reviewing applications on a first-come- first-served basis,
but there should be some mechanism in place for major disasters to get
expedited loans out the door to specific businesses that has a positive
record with SBA or those that could serve a vital role in the recovery
efforts. Expedited loans would jump- start impacted economies, get
vital capital out to businesses, and retain essential jobs following
future disasters.
This bill also makes an important modification to the collateral
requirements for disaster loans. The SBA cannot disburse more than
$10,000 for an approved loan without showing collateral. This is to
limit the loss to the SBA in the event that a loan defaults. However,
this disbursement amount has not been increased since 1998, and these
days, $10,000 is not enough to get a business up and running. That is
why this bill increases this collateral requirement to $14,000 and
gives the Administrator the ability to increase that amount, in the
event of another large-scale disaster. I believe this is a reasonable
and fiscally responsible increase, and at the same time gives the
Administrator flexibility for future disasters which will inevitably
occur.
As you may know, pushed to get language in the last hurricane
supplemental appropriations bill in June 2006 to require SBA to develop
a disaster plan and report to Congress on its contents by July 15,
2006. SBA provided this status report in July, and I am pleased that,
since then, SBA has been working on a comprehensive disaster response
plan. That said, I believe that with the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season
fast approaching, and other disasters possible before then, the SBA
should be looking at additional ways to improve upon this plan. This
legislation requires SBA to report to Congress, by March 15, 2007, on
the current status of its response plan and to provide us with a
snapshot of where they were with Katrina and where they are now. The
report also requests SBA feedback on suggested improvements. These
improvements include better incorporating State disaster assistance
efforts into SBA's response, as well as better coordination with
Federal response agencies like FEMA.
[[Page S11343]]
The Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act will
provide essential tools to make the SBA more proactive, flexible, and
most important, more efficient during future disasters. Again, I look
forward to working with both Senator Snowe and Senator Kerry during the
110th Congress to ensure that the SBA has everything it needs to meet
these goals.
I thank the Chair and ask that my entire statement appear in the
Record. I also ask unanimous consent that a copy of my September 27,
2006, letter to SBA be printed in the Record at the conclusion of my
statement.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC, September 27, 2006.
Hon. Steven C. Preston,
Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration,
Washington, DC.
Dear Administrator Preston: Let me take this opportunity to
again congratulate you on your confirmation as Administrator
of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Your
management experience and passion to serve will prove
extremely helpful to you in this challenging position.
I write you today because, as member of the Senate
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, as well as
senator from a state hit hard by both Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita, I believe it is my duty to ensure that we implement
substantive changes to SBA's Disaster Assistance Program
during this session of Congress.
The SBA's response to Katrina and Rita was too slow and
lacking in urgency--threatening the very survival of our
affected businesses. A year has passed since Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, yet while Congress is currently acting on
extensive reforms for the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA), there has been only incremental changes to SBA's
Disaster Assistance Program. That is why I am pleased to
learn that you have recently created the Accelerated Disaster
Response Initiative to identify and help implement process
improvements to enable the SBA to respond more quickly in
assisting small businesses and homeowners in need of
assistance after a disaster. I applaud these efforts and your
leadership on this issue. But much more must be done to
address the systemic problems that led to delays and inaction
post-Katrina and Rita.
For our part, the Senate is also attempting to address the
multiple problems that hampered SBA's ability to assist
impacted Gulf Coast small businesses and homeowners. Under
the leadership of the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Senators
Snowe and Kerry, the committee voted unanimously to approve
S. 3778, the ``Small Business Reauthorization and
Improvements Act of 2006'' and sent it to the full Senate for
consideration. A copy of the bill is attached for your
convenience. This bipartisisan legislation re-authorizes SBA
programs, and also of great importance to me and my
constitutents, makes essential reforms to SBA's Disaster
Assistance Program. However, since S. 3778 was introduced on
August 2, 2006, almost nine weeks ago, it has been blocked
from consideration and the Committee is still waiting for
budget information so that it may file its report on the
bill. It is my understanding that the administration and SBA
has several concerns about this bill in its current form.
I am very concerned at this apparent deadlock, a deadlock
which threatens our bipartisan efforts to implement
comprehensive SBA Diaster Assistance reforms before the end
of the year. In particular, I believe that there must be SBA
reforms in the following areas:
Short-Term Assistance: Following Katrina and Rita small
businesses waited, on average, four to six months for
approvals and disbursements on SBA Disaster Loans, In order
to ensure the long-term survival of small businesses impacted
by a catastrophic disaster, SBA needs to be in the business
of short-term recovery--by providing either emergency bridge
loans or grants.
Disaster Loan Process for Homeowners: While SBA's mission
is to ``aid, counsel, assist and protect, insofar as is
possible, the interests of small business concerns'' it also
has the added responsibility of helping affected homeowners
rebuild their housing post-disaster. Katrina and Rita
resulted in record numbers of SBA Disaster Loan applications,
from homeowners, which strained SBA's existing resources and
personnel. If the SBA must bear this responsibility, the
agency should improve the process as well as possibly seek
greater coordination and cooperation with the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development on disaster housing
assistance.
Expedited Disaster Loans to Businesses: The SBA currently
has no mechanism in place to expedite Disaster Loans to
impacted businesses that are either a major source of
employment or that can demonstrate a vital contribution to
recovery efforts in the area, such as businesses who
construct housing, provide building materials, or conduct
debris removal. The SBA needs the ability to fast-track loans
to these businesses, in order to jumpstart local economies
and recovery efforts.
Economic Injury Disaster Loans: Although Katrina and Rita
directly affected businesses along the Gulf Coast, additional
businesses in the region, as well as the rest of the country,
were economically impacted by the storms. The SBA must have
the ability to provide nationwide, or perhaps regional,
economic injury disaster loans to businesses which can
demonstrate economic distress or disruption from a future
major disaster.
Loss Verification and Loan Processing: Following the Gulf
Coast hurricanes, the SBA struggled for months to hire enough
staff to inspect losses and process loan applications.
Although SBA now has trained reserves to handle such surges
in demand, the SBA also needs the permanent authority to
enter into agreements with qualified private lenders and
credit unions to process Disaster Loans and provide loss
verification services.
Administrator Preston, I was impressed by your expressed
willingness to be a bridge between Congress and the White
House. For the SBA truly bring its disaster capabilities to
the next level, I believe that it must work in concert with
the Congress. Together, we must remove layers of bureaucracy
and red tape, which, following Katrina and Rita, both
overwhelmed and frustrated dedicated SBA employees and those
affected by the hurricanes. We must also give the SBA new
tools to ensure that problems that occurred post-Katrina and
Rita never happen again.
Last month we marked the 1-year anniversary of Hurricane
Katrina, and now mark the 1-year anniversary of hurricane
Rita. It is essential that we take action now to make
substantive reforms to the SBA Disaster Assistance Program.
We owe nothing less to our small businesses. I ask that you
continue working with my office on this important issue and
respond to our approach in writing no later than October 31,
2006. This will help us develop a proposal which can address
the concerns of the SBA as well as provide a better and more
responsive SBA Disaster Assistance Program for our small
businesses.
Thank you in advance for your assistance with this request.
Sincerely,
Mary L. Landrieu,
United States Senator.
______
By Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. DeWine):
S. 4098. A bill to improve the process for the development of needed
pediatric medical devices; to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Pediatric
Medical Device Safety and Improvement Act of 2006. I want to begin by
thanking Senator Mike DeWine for joining me in introducing this
legislation and for his leadership on children's health. He has been my
partner over the years as we fought to make drugs safer and more widely
available for children. I believe the legislation we are introducing
today will achieve a similar goal for pediatric medical devices. I
would also like to especially thank the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS
Foundation, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Thoracic
Society and the National Organization for Rare Disorders for their
expertise in helping craft this legislation as well as their tireless
support for making medical devices safer for use in children.
This legislation provides a comprehensive approach to ensuring that
children are not left behind as cutting-edge research and revolutionary
technologies for medical devices advance. Like drugs, where for too
long children were treated like small adults and could just be given
reduced doses of adult products, many essential medical devices used
extensively by pediatricians are not designed or sized for children. In
fact, the development of new medical devices suitable for children's
smaller and growing bodies can lag 5 or 10 years behind those for
adults.
While children and adults suffer from many of the same diseases and
conditions, their device needs can vary considerably due to differences
in size, rates of growth, critical development periods, anatomy,
physiological differences such as breathing and heart rate, and
physical activity levels. To date, because the pediatric market is so
small and pediatric diseases relatively rare, there has been little
incentive for device manufacturers to focus their attention on
children. The result has been that pediatric providers must resort to
``jerry-rigging'' or fashioning make-shift device solutions for
pediatric use. When that is not an option, providers may be forced to
use more invasive treatment or less effective therapies.
For example, at present, left ventricular assist devices, LVADs, do
not exist in the U.S. for children less than 5 years old. An LVAD is a
mechanical pump that helps a heart that is too weak to pump blood
through the body.
[[Page S11344]]
So infants and children under 5 years of age who have critical failure
of their left or right ventricles have to be supported through
extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, ECMO. An ECMO consists of a pump,
an artificial lung, a blood warmer and an arterial filter, which is
installed by inserting tubes into large veins or arteries located in
the right side of the neck or the groin. While ECMOs can help children
for short periods of time, they are problematic. They can cause
dangerous clots and the blood thinners that prevent these clots may
lead to internal bleeding. In addition, children must remain bedridden
while using the device.
For young children needing to be on a ventilator to assist their
breathing, the lack of non-invasive ventilators with masks that
suitably fit babies has led to respiratory treatments that are
inadequate or invasive treatment options such as placing a tube in the
baby's throat.
Children needing prosthetic heart valves face a disproportionately
high failure rate. Because of the biochemistry of children's growing
bodies, prosthetic heart valves implanted in children calcify and
deteriorate much faster than in adults. Typically, children with a
heart valve implant who survive to adulthood will need four or five
operations. Additionally, devices currently available for children must
be better able to expand and grow as the child grows.
Over the past 2 years, several efforts have been launched to better
identify barriers to the development of pediatric devices and to
generate solutions for improving children's access to needed medical
devices.
Beginning in June 2004, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the National Organization
for Rare Disorders, NORD, the National Association of Children's
Hospitals, and the Advanced Medical Technology Association, AdvaMed,
hosted a series of stakeholders meetings that yielded recommendations
for improving the availability of pediatric devices. In October 2004,
in response to a directive in the Medical Devices Technical Corrections
Act of 2004, the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, released a report
that identified numerous barriers to the development and approval of
devices for children. And in July 2005, the Institute of Medicine, IOM,
issued a report on the adequacy of postmarket surveillance of pediatric
medical devices, as mandated by the Medical Device User Fee and
Modernization Act of 2002. The IOM found significant flaws in safety
monitoring and recommended expanding the FDA's ability to require
postmarket studies of certain products and improving public access to
information about postmarket pediatric studies.
Our legislation seeks to address the equally important issues of
pediatric medical device safety and availability. To begin with, the
bill creates a mechanism to allow the FDA to track the number and types
of medical devices approved specifically for children or for conditions
that occur in children. It also allows the FDA to use adult data to
support a determination of reasonable assurance of effectiveness in
pediatric populations and to extrapolate data between pediatric
subpopulations.
The market for pediatric medical devices simply isn't what it is for
adults. Therefore, many device manufacturers have been reluctant to
make devices for children. Our bill creates an incentive for companies
by modifying the existing humanitarian device exemption, HDE, provision
to allow manufacturers to profit from devices that are specifically
designed to meet a pediatric need.
To prevent abuse, our bill reverts to current law which allows no
profit on sales of devices that exceed the number estimated to be
needed for the approved condition. This provision is modeled after the
existing Orphan Products Division designation process. Under no
circumstances can there be a profit on sales if the device is used to
treat or diagnose diseases or conditions affecting more than 4,000
individuals in the U.S. per year which is the same as under current
law. Already approved adult HDEs upon date of enactment are eligible
for the HDE profit modification but only if they are meet the
conditions of the bill. The lifting of the profit restriction for new
pediatric HDEs sunsets in 2012 and FDA is required to issue a report on
its impact within 5 years.
In order to encourage pediatric medical device research, our bill
requires the National Institutes of Health, NIH, to designate a point
of contact at the agency to help innovators and physicians access
funding for pediatric medical device development. It also requires the
NIH, the FDA, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, AHRQ,
to submit a plan for pediatric medical device research that identifies
gaps in such research and proposes a research agenda for addressing
them. In identifying the gaps, the plan can include a survey of
pediatric medical providers regarding unmet pediatric medical device
needs.
To better foster innovation in the private sector, our bill
establishes demonstration grants for non-profit consortia to promote
pediatric device development, including matchmaking between inventors
and manufacturers and federal resources. These demonstration grants
which are authorized for $6 million annually require that the federal
government mentor and help manage pediatric device projects through the
development process, including product identification, prototype
design, device development and marketing. Under the bill, grantees must
coordinate with the NIH's pediatric devices point of contact to
identify research issues that require further study and with the FDA to
help facilitate approval of pediatric indications.
Finally, in its 2005 report on pediatric medical device safety, the
IOM found serious flaws in the postmarket safety surveillance of these
devices. Our legislation allows FDA to require postmarket studies as a
condition of clearance for certain categories of devices. This includes
``a class II or class III device the failure of which would be
reasonably likely to have serious adverse health consequences or is
intended to be (1) implanted in the human body for more than one year,
or (2) a life sustaining or life supporting device used outside a
device user facility.''
The legislation also gives the FDA the ability to require studies
longer than 3 years with respect to a device that is to have
significant use in pediatric populations if such studies would be
necessary to address longer term pediatric questions, such as the
impact on growth and development. And, it establishes a publicly
accessible database of postmarket study commitments that involve
questions about device use in pediatric populations.
The legislation we are introducing today has been many years in the
making. In addition to the lead republican bill sponsor, Senator
DeWine, and the public health organizations I mentioned earlier, I
would like to thank the Advanced Medical Technology Association and its
member company Johnson & Johnson, for their contributions to this
legislation. The bill we are introducing today reflects many of the
comments and suggestions they provided through the development of this
legislation. Several device manufacturers including Respironics,
Seleon, Breas Medical AB, and Stryker have submitted letters of support
for this legislation and I ask unanimous consent that their letters as
well as the letters of all organizations supporting this bill be
entered in the record following my remarks.
I look forward to working with patient groups, physicians, industry
and my colleagues--including the chairman and ranking member of the
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senators Enzi and
Kennedy--to move this legislation next year when the committee
considers medical device legislation. I urge my colleagues to support
this legislation and I am hopeful that it will become law as soon as
possible.
I ask unanimous consent that the letters and the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Elizabeth Glaser
Pediatric AIDS Foundation,
Washington, DC, December 5, 2006.
Hon. Christopher Dodd,
Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Mike DeWine,
Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senators Dodd and DeWine: On behalf of the Elizabeth
Glaser Pediatric AIDS
[[Page S11345]]
Foundation, I would like to express our strong support for
the Pediatric Medical Device Safety and Improvement Act of
2006. Your leadership on this issue has been outstanding and
I applaud your efforts to introduce legislation that will
improve the health and well-being of children across the U.S.
While cutting-edge research and revolutionary technologies
have led to the development of countless innovative medical
devices, as science and medicine move forward children are at
risk of being left behind. Physical differences such as
children's size, anatomy, and growth provide challenges that
limit children's access to safe and effective medical
devices. With very few devices available for pediatric use,
pediatric providers must resort to ``jury-rigging'' or
fashioning make-shift device solutions for their patients.
When that is not an option, providers may be forced to use
more invasive treatment or less effective therapies.
This legislation recognizes the urgent need for improved
access to medical devices designed specifically for children
and provides a comprehensive approach to addressing this
issue that includes providing assistance to innovators,
streamlining regulatory processes, elevating pediatric device
issues at the FDA and NIH, and improving incentives for
devices for small markets--while still preserving the ability
to ensure the safety of new products.
Thank you for your leadership and commitment to this issue.
We look forward to working closely with you to ensure that
children across the U.S. benefit from this important piece of
legislation.
Sincerely,
Pamela W. Barnes,
President and Chief Executive Officer.
____
American Thoracic Society,
New York, NY, September 11, 2006.
Hon. Mike DeWine,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator DeWine: On behalf of the American Thoracic
Society, I want to encourage you to continue your efforts to
improve access to medical devices for children by introducing
legislation this fall.
The ATS represents over 13,000 physicians, researchers, and
allied health professionals, who are actively engaged in the
diagnosis, treatment and research of respiratory disease and
critical care medicine. Many of the patients we treat are
children suffering from respiratory diseases.
You have long been a champion of the health needs of
children and you are well aware that children are not
``little people.'' Children have specific health needs and
challenges. This is particularly true in the case of medical
equipment.
The medical device industry has excelled in developing new
products that improve the care and well being for patients
with respiratory diseases. However, due to the reduced market
size, many of these breakthrough respiratory devices are not
available to children. Children do not have the same access
to ventilators, sleep apnea machines, masks and other
respiratory related equipment that adults enjoy. The device
access issue for children is a persistent problem in other
fields of medicine.
The research and regulatory requirements for making
pediatric specific devices can be daunting and may outweigh
the business potential for entering the pediatric device
market.
We have worked with our colleagues at the American Academy
of Pediatrics and members of your staff to develop a
legislative proposal that would remove many of the barriers
that exist to binging pediatric specific medical devices
products to the market. We strongly encourage you to
introduce this legislation this fall.
The American Thoracic Society looks forward to working with
you to bring this legislative proposal to fruition.
Sincerely,
John E. Heffner,
President.
____
American Academy of Pediatrics,
Elk Grove Village, IL, December 4, 2006.
Hon. Christopher J. Dodd,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Hon. Mike DeWine,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Senators Dodd and DeWine: On behalf of the 60,000
primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists,
and surgical specialists of the American Academy of
Pediatrics who are committed to the attainment of optimal
physical, mental and social health and well-being for all
infants, children, adolescents, and young adults, we write
today to express our gratitude and support for the
``Pediatric Medical Device Safety and Improvement Act of
2006.'' This legislation is an important step towards
improving the process for the development of needed pediatric
medical devices.
Children and adults often suffer from many of the same
diseases and conditions, however their medical device needs
vary considerable. Children are not just small adults and
medical device technologies manufactured for adults often do
not fit the needs of children. This problems forces
pediatricians to ``jury-rig'' adult medical devices that are
often too large in order to make them fit smaller bodies.
This practice, however, is not always effective and leaves
children without optimal treatment. Additionally, children's
device needs vary considerable, due not only to size, but
also to different rates of growth, anatomy, physiological
differences and physical activity levels.
This legislation offers incentives to manufacturers to
create needed medical devices specifically designed to meet
the needs of pediatric patients and it gives the Food and
Drug Administration the authority to require post-market
studies to ensure continued efficacy and safety of these
devices. The need for pediatric medical devices to treat or
diagnose diseases and conditions affecting children is clear.
Hence, it is essential that medical devices be manufactured
with children's needs in mind.
Thank you for your continued commitment to improving the
health and well-being of children. The American Academy of
Pediatrics looks forward to working with you as this
important legislation moves through Congress.
Sincerely,
American Academy of Pediatrics.
The American Pediatric Society.
The Association of Medical School Pediatric Department
Chairs.
The Society for Pediatric Research.
____
Murrysville, PA, August 16, 2006.
Hon. Mike DeWine,
Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator DeWine, Respironics, Inc. is a global medical
device company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We are the
worldwide leader at anticipating needs and providing valued
solutions to the sleep and respiratory markets. We employ
approximately 4,700 employees and have annual sales in excess
of one billion dollars.
In our business, we often are called upon to work with
pediatric patients. Based on this work, it is clear that
changes are needed to facilitate an improvement in the
availability of diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices
for children.
Currently, a draft of a bill entitled ``To improve the
process for the development of needed pediatric medical
devices'' is being circulated among some Senators for
discussion. After reviewing this bill, Respironics believes
that the changes contemplated by this bill could help improve
the availability of medical devices for children. Therefore,
Respironics supports enactment of the bill.
We hope that you will join Respironics in supporting this
important legislation.
Sincerely,
David P. White,
Chief Medical Officer.
____
Seleon, Inc.,
Baltimore, MD, September 23, 2006.
Hon. Mike DeWine,
Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator DeWine: On behalf of Seleon Inc., I want to
encourage you to continue your efforts to improve access to
medical therapies for children by introducing the bill, ``to
improve the process for the development of needed pediatric
medical devices'' this fall.
Seleon Inc., a medical device manufacturing company,
strongly supports this bill. Thank you for your ongoing
support of children's health and this important issue.
Sincerely,
Michael Lauk,
President.
____
Breas Medical AB,
Molnlycke, Sweden, August 17, 2006.
Hon. Christopher J. Dodd,
Hon. Mike DeWine,
Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senators Dodd and DeWine, On behalf of Breas Medical,
I would like to thank you for your efforts to expand the
availability of medical devices for children. We appreciate
your long-standing leadership on behalf of children and
welcome your interest in ensuring that they are not left
behind when it comes to critical medical advances. Our
devices were developed in Europe and are available for home
use in the pediatric population there. We have partnered with
companies in the United States, including Sleep Services of
America, and now have FDA approval for device use in adults.
We are seeking approval for the use of our devices in
children where there is a great need.
While children and adults suffer from many of the same
diseases and conditions, their device needs can vary
considerably. Cutting-edge research and revolutionary
technologies have led to the development of many innovative
medical products; however, very few are designed specifically
for children. We support your efforts to address the barriers
to pediatric device development through legislation,
particularly in the following areas:
1. Improving the ability of the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to track how many and what types of
devices are approved for children each year;
2. Streamlining pediatric device approvals by allowing the
extrapolation of adult data to support pediatric indications,
as appropriate;
3. Encouraging device manufacturers to create products for
conditions that affect small numbers of children by removing
existing restrictions on profit;
4. Improving federal support for pediatric device
development by creating a coordinated research agenda and
establishing a
[[Page S11346]]
contact point at the National Institutes of Health to help
innovators access existing funding;
5. Improving pediatric device availability by establishing
demonstration grants to promote pediatric device development,
including connecting inventors and manufacturers, product
identification, prototype development, and testing;
6. Improving post-market safety of pediatric devices by
allowing FDA to call for postmarket pediatric studies,
establishing a publicly accessible database of postmarket
studies, and giving FDA the ability to require studies longer
than 3 years if needed to answer longer-term pediatric
questions.
Thank you for your leadership and commitment to this issue.
We look forward to working closely with you toward passage of
legislation to improve children's access to medical devices.
Sincerely,
Ulf Jonsson,
President.
____
Stryker Corporation,
Washington, DC, December 4, 2006.
Senator Christopher J. Dodd,
Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Dodd: On behalf of Stryker Corporation
(``Stryker''), I am pleased to announce our support for your
legislation to improve the availability and safety of
pediatric medical devices--the Pediatric Medical Device
Safety and Improvement Act of 2006. Like you and your
colleagues, we want our children to have access to the
fullest and best range of possible medical treatments, even
if that means doing or inventing something new just for them.
We view this as our responsibility both as the leading
manufacturer of orthopaedic oncology prostheses in the United
States and as a global medical technology company with a
significant presence in other medical specialties, including
craniofacial deformities such as cleft lip and palate. We
take pride in partnering with and sponsoring a range of
medical organizations, including one which last year was able
to provide free cleft lip surgeries to 8,531 children in 23
countries. The surgery took only about 45 minutes and cost
$750 per child, but the corrective surgery changed, in a
positive way, forevermore the lives of each and every child
and the lives of their families too.
We sincerely appreciate your leadership role on children's
issues. We take very seriously not only our commitment to
children with cancer and craniofacial deformities but also
our responsibility to ensure that our devices are safe and
effective for use in pediatric patients.
As you may know, there has been significant progress over
the past two decades in the management of patients with
musculoskeletal cancers that has improved both the survival
rates and quality of life of afflicted individuals. Twenty
years ago, the standard treatment for any primary malignant
bone and soft tissue sarcomas of the extremity was amputation
of the affected arm or leg. Since that time, Stryker is proud
to have partnered with leading pediatric oncology surgeons to
develop limb-sparing, surgical solutions, including the
implantation of a growing prosthesis that can be elongated to
account for children's growth.
As with cancer, the treatment of craniofacial deformities
is an area in which Stryker has also significantly improved
and broadened its range of available medical products and
solutions. With continued innovation of new and improved
craniomaxillofacial technologies, Stryker hopes to continue
to transform the lives of children with craniofacial
deformities, such as craniosynostis and cleft lip and palate
too.
It is our hope that your legislation will further spur the
evolution of novel health care solutions for children. The
bill's efforts to streamline approvals for devices with
pediatric indications, improve incentives for the development
of devices for small pediatric populations, and encourage the
establishment of non-profit consortia for pediatric device
development should be commended.
Stryker stands ready to assist you in your drive to
stimulate the further development of child-centered medical
technologies while closely monitoring the safety of such
products after they have entered the market. Thank you again
for your leadership on this important issue, and we look
forward to working with you to advance your bill as medical
device reauthorization legislation moves forward in the 110th
Congress.
Sincerely,
Ed Rozynski,
Vice President,
Global Government Affairs.
____
S. 4098
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 ``Pediatric Medical Device
Safety and Improvement Act of 2006''.
SEC. 2. TRACKING PEDIATRIC DEVICE APPROVALS.
Chapter V of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21
U.S.C. 351 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 515
the following:
``SEC. 515A. PEDIATRIC USES OF DEVICES.
``(a) New Devices.--
``(1) In general.--A person that submits to the Secretary
an application under section 520(m), or an application (or
supplement to an application) or a product development
protocol under section 515, shall include in the application
or protocol the information described in paragraph (2).
``(2) Required information.--The application or protocol
described in paragraph (1) shall include, with respect to the
device for which approval is sought and if readily
available--
``(A) a description of any pediatric subpopulations that
suffer from the disease or condition that the device is
intended to treat, diagnose, or cure; and
``(B) the number of affected pediatric patients.
``(3) Annual report.--Not later than 18 months after the
date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter,
the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives a report that includes--
``(A) the number of devices approved in the year preceding
the year in which the report is submitted, for which there is
a pediatric subpopulation that suffers from the disease or
condition that the device is intended to treat, diagnose, or
cure;
``(B) the number of devices approved in the year preceding
the year in which the report is submitted, labeled for use in
pediatric patients;
``(C) the number of pediatric devices approved in the year
preceding the year in which the report is submitted, exempted
from a fee pursuant to section 738(a)(2)(B)(v); and
``(D) the review time for each device described in
subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C).
``(b) Determination of Pediatric Effectiveness Based on
Similar Course of Disease or Condition or Similar Effect of
Device on Adults.--
``(1) In general.--If the course of the disease or
condition and the effects of the device are sufficiently
similar in adults and pediatric patients, the Secretary may
conclude that adult data may be used to support a
determination of a reasonable assurance of effectiveness in
pediatric populations, as appropriate.
``(2) Extrapolation between subpopulations.--A study may
not be needed in each pediatric subpopulation if data from
one subpopulation can be extrapolated to another
subpopulation.''.
SEC. 3. MODIFICATION TO HUMANITARIAN DEVICE EXEMPTION.
(a) In General.--Section 520(m) of the Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360j(m)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``No'' and inserting
``Except as provided in paragraph (6), no'';
(2) in paragraph (5)--
(A) by inserting ``, if the Secretary has reason to believe
that the requirements of paragraph (6) are no longer met,''
after ``public health''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following: ``If the person
granted an exemption under paragraph (2) fails to demonstrate
continued compliance with the requirements of this
subsection, the Secretary may suspend or withdraw the
exemption from the effectiveness requirements of sections 514
and 515 for a humanitarian device only after providing notice
and an opportunity for an informal hearing.'';
(3) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the following:
``(6)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (D), the
prohibition in paragraph (3) shall not apply with respect to
a person granted an exemption under paragraph (2) if each of
the following conditions apply:
``(i)(I) The device with respect to which the exemption is
granted is intended for the treatment or diagnosis of a
disease or condition that occurs in pediatric patients or in
a pediatric subpopulation, and such device is labeled for use
in pediatric patients or in a pediatric subpopulation in
which the disease or condition occurs.
``(II) The device was not previously approved under this
subsection for the pediatric patients or the pediatric
subpopulation described in subclause (I) prior to the date of
enactment of the Pediatric Medical Device Safety and
Improvement Act of 2006.
``(ii) During any calendar year, the number of such devices
distributed during that year does not exceed the annual
distribution number specified by the Secretary when the
Secretary grants such exemption. The annual distribution
number shall be based on the number of individuals affected
by the disease or condition that such device is intended to
treat, diagnose, or cure, and of that number, the number of
individuals likely to use the device, and the number of
devices reasonably necessary to treat such individuals. In no
case shall the annual distribution number exceed the number
identified in paragraph (2)(A).
``(iii) Such person immediately notifies the Secretary if
the number of such devices distributed during any calendar
year exceeds the annual distribution number referred to in
clause (ii).
``(iv) The request for such exemption is submitted on or
before October 1, 2012.
``(B) The Secretary may inspect the records relating to the
number of devices distributed during any calendar year of a
person granted an exemption under paragraph (2) for which the
prohibition in paragraph (3) does not apply.
[[Page S11347]]
``(C) A person may petition the Secretary to modify the
annual distribution number specified by the Secretary under
subparagraph (A)(ii) with respect to a device if additional
information on the number of individuals affected by the
disease or condition arises, and the Secretary may modify
such number but in no case shall the annual distribution
number exceed the number identified in paragraph (2)(A).
``(D) If a person notifies the Secretary, or the Secretary
determines through an inspection under subparagraph (B), that
the number of devices distributed during any calendar year
exceeds the annual distribution number, as required under
subparagraph (A)(iii), and modified under subparagraph (C),
if applicable, then the prohibition in paragraph (3) shall
apply with respect to such person for such device for any
sales of such device after such notification.
``(E)(i) In this subsection, the term `pediatric patients'
means patients who are 21 years of age or younger at the time
of the diagnosis or treatment.
``(ii) In this subsection, the term `pediatric
subpopulation' means 1 of the following populations:
``(I) Neonates.
``(II) Infants.
``(III) Children.
``(IV) Adolescents.''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(7) The Secretary shall refer any report of an adverse
event regarding a device for which the prohibition under
paragraph (3) does not apply pursuant to paragraph (6)(A)
that the Secretary receives to the Office of Pediatric
Therapeutics, established under section 6 of the Best
Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (Public Law 107-109)). In
considering the report, the Director of the Office of
Pediatric Therapeutics, in consultation with experts in the
Center for Devices and Radiological Health, shall provide for
periodic review of the report by the Pediatric Advisory
Committee, including obtaining any recommendations of such
committee regarding whether the Secretary should take action
under this Act in response to the report.''.
(b) Report.--Not later than January 1, 2011, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the
Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House
of Representatives a report on the impact of allowing persons
granted an exemption under section 520(m)(2) of the Federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360j(m)(2)) with
respect to a device to profit from such device pursuant to
section 520(m)(6) of such Act (21 U.S.C. 360j(m)(6)) (as
amended by subsection (a)), including--
(1) an assessment of whether such section 520(m)(6) (as
amended by subsection (a)) has increased the availability of
pediatric devices for conditions that occur in small numbers
of children, including any increase or decrease in the number
of--
(A) exemptions granted under such section 520(m)(2) for
pediatric devices; and
(B) applications approved under section 515 of such Act (21
U.S.C. 360e) for devices intended to treat, diagnose, or cure
conditions that occur in pediatric patients or for devices
labeled for use in a pediatric population;
(2) the conditions or diseases the pediatric devices were
intended to treat or diagnose and the estimated size of the
pediatric patient population for each condition or disease;
(3) the costs of the pediatric devices, based on a survey
of children's hospitals;
(4) the extent to which the costs of such devices are
covered by health insurance;
(5) the impact, if any, of allowing profit on access to
such devices for patients;
(6) the profits made by manufacturers for each device that
receives an exemption;
(7) an estimate of the extent of the use of the pediatric
devices by both adults and pediatric populations for a
condition or disease other than the condition or disease on
the label of such devices;
(8) recommendations of the Comptroller General of the
United States regarding the effectiveness of such section
520(m)(6) (as amended by subsection (a)) and whether any
modifications to such section 520(m)(6) (as amended by
subsection (a)) should be made;
(9) existing obstacles to pediatric device development; and
(10) an evaluation of the demonstration grants described in
section 5.
(c) Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs
shall issue guidance for institutional review committees on
how to evaluate requests for approval for devices for which a
humanitarian device exemption under section 520(m)(2) of the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360j(m)(2))
has been granted.
SEC. 4. ENCOURAGING PEDIATRIC MEDICAL DEVICE RESEARCH.
(a) Access to Funding.--The Director of the National
Institutes of Health shall designate a contact point or
office at the National Institutes of Health to help
innovators and physicians access funding for pediatric
medical device development.
(b) Plan for Pediatric Medical Device Research.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, in
collaboration with the Director of the National Institutes of
Health and the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality, shall submit to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives a plan for expanding pediatric medical device
research and development. In developing such plan, the
Commissioner of Food and Drugs shall consult with individuals
and organizations with appropriate expertise in pediatric
medical devices.
(2) Contents.--The plan under paragraph (1) shall include--
(A) the current status of federally funded pediatric
medical device research;
(B) any gaps in such research, which may include a survey
of pediatric medical providers regarding unmet pediatric
medical device needs, as needed; and
(C) a research agenda for improving pediatric medical
device development and Food and Drug Administration clearance
or approval of pediatric medical devices, and for evaluating
the short- and long-term safety and effectiveness of
pediatric medical devices.
SEC. 5. DEMONSTRATION GRANTS FOR IMPROVING PEDIATRIC DEVICE
AVAILABILITY.
(a) In General.--
(1) Request for proposals.--Not later than 90 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health
and Human Services shall issue a request for proposals for 1
or more grants or contracts to nonprofit consortia for
demonstration projects to promote pediatric device
development.
(2) Determination on grants or contracts.--Not later than
180 days after the date the Secretary of Health and Human
Services issues a request for proposals under paragraph (1),
the Secretary shall make a determination on the grants or
contracts under this section.
(b) Application.--A nonprofit consortium that desires to
receive a grant or contract under this section shall submit
an application to the Secretary of Health and Human Services
at such time, in such manner, and containing such information
as the Secretary may require.
(c) Use of Funds.--A nonprofit consortium that receives a
grant or contract under this section shall--
(1) encourage innovation by connecting qualified
individuals with pediatric device ideas with potential
manufacturers;
(2) mentor and manage pediatric device projects through the
development process, including product identification,
prototype design, device development, and marketing;
(3) connect innovators and physicians to existing Federal
resources, including resources from the Food and Drug
Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Small
Business Administration, the Department of Energy, the
Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the
Department of Veterans Affairs, the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality, and the National Institute of Standards
and Technology;
(4) assess the scientific and medical merit of proposed
pediatric device projects;
(5) assess business feasibility and provide business
advice;
(6) provide assistance with prototype development; and
(7) provide assistance with postmarket needs, including
training, logistics, and reporting.
(d) Coordination.--
(1) National institutes of health.--Each consortium that
receives a grant or contract under this section shall--
(A) coordinate with the National Institutes of Health's
pediatric device contact point or office, designated under
section 4; and
(B) provide to the National Institutes of Health any
identified pediatric device needs that the consortium lacks
sufficient capacity to address or those needs in which the
consortium has been unable to stimulate manufacturer
interest.
(2) Food and drug administration.--Each consortium that
receives a grant or contract under this section shall
coordinate with the Commissioner of Food and Drugs and device
companies to facilitate the application for approval or
clearance of devices labeled for pediatric use.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this section $6,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011.
SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO OFFICE OF PEDIATRIC THERAPEUTICS AND
PEDIATRIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) Office of Pediatric Therapeutics.--Section 6(b) of the
Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (21 U.S.C. 393a(b)) is
amended by inserting ``, including increasing pediatric
access to medical devices'' after ``pediatric issues''.
(b) Pediatric Advisory Committee.--Section 14 of the Best
Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (42 U.S.C. 284m note) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``(including drugs and
biological products) and medical devices'' after
``therapeutics''; and
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``(including drugs and
biological products) and medical devices'' after
``therapeutics''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and 505B'' and
inserting ``505B, 510(k), 515, and 520(m)'';
(ii) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the
following:
``(B) identification of research priorities related to
therapeutics (including drugs and biological products) and
medical devices for
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pediatric populations and the need for additional diagnostics
and treatments for specific pediatric diseases or conditions;
and''; and
(iii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ``(including drugs
and biological products) and medical devices'' after
``therapeutics''.
SEC. 7. STUDIES.
(a) Postmarket Studies.--Section 522 of the Federal Food,
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360l) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by inserting ``, or as a condition to approval of an
application (or a supplement to an application) or a product
development protocol under section 515 or as a condition to
clearance of a premarket notification report under section
510(k),'' after ``The Secretary may by order''; and
(B) by inserting ``, that is expected to have significant
use in pediatric populations,'' after ``health
consequences''; and
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) by striking ``(b) Surveillance Approval.--Each'' and
inserting the following:
``(b) Surveillance Approval.--
``(1) In general.--Each'';
(B) by striking ``The Secretary, in consultation'' and
inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
Secretary, in consultation'';
(C) by striking ``Any determination'' and inserting
``Except as provided in paragraph (2), any determination'';
and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Longer studies for pediatric devices.--The Secretary
may by order require a prospective surveillance period of
more than 36 months with respect to a device that is expected
to have significant use in pediatric populations if such
period of more than 36 months is necessary in order to assess
the impact of the device on growth and development, or the
effects of growth, development, activity level, or other
factors on the safety or efficacy of the device.''.
(b) Database.--
(1) In general.--
(A) Establishment.--The Secretary of Health and Human
Services, acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs,
shall establish a publicly accessible database of studies of
medical devices that includes all studies and surveillances,
described in paragraph (2)(A), that were in progress on the
date of enactment of this Act or that began after such date.
(B) Accessibility.--Information included in the database
under subparagraph (A) shall be in language reasonably
accessible and understood by individuals without specific
expertise in the medical field.
(2) Studies and surveillances.--
(A) Included.--The database described in paragraph (1)
shall include--
(i) all postmarket surveillances ordered under section
522(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C.
360l(a)) or agreed to by the manufacturer; and
(ii) all other studies completed by the manufacturer with
respect to a medical device after--
(I) the premarket approval of such device under section 515
of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360e);
(II) the clearance of a premarket notification report under
section 510(k) of such Act (21 U.S.C. 360(k)) with respect to
such device; or
(III) submission of an application under section 520(m) of
such Act (21 U.S.C. 360j(m)) with respect to such device.
(B) Excluded.--The database described in paragraph (1)
shall not include any studies with respect to a medical
device that were completed prior to the initial approval of
such device.
(3) Contents of study and surveillance.--For each study or
surveillance included in the database described in paragraph
(1), the database shall include--
(A) information on the status of the study or surveillance;
(B) basic information about the study or surveillance,
including the purpose, the primary and secondary outcomes,
and the population targeted;
(C) the expected completion date of the study or
surveillance;
(D) public health notifications, including safety alerts;
and
(E) any other information the Secretary of Health and Human
Services determines appropriate to protect the public health.
(4) Once completed or terminated.--In addition to the
information described in paragraph (3), once a study or
surveillance has been completed or if a study or surveillance
is terminated, the database shall also include--
(A) the actual date of completion or termination;
(B) if the study or surveillance was terminated, the reason
for termination;
(C) if the study or surveillance was submitted but not
accepted by the Food and Drug Administration because the
study or surveillance did not meet the requirements for such
study or surveillance, an explanation of the reasons and any
follow-up action required;
(D) information about any labeling changes made to the
device as a result of the study or surveillance findings;
(E) information about any other decisions or actions of the
Food and Drug Administration that result from the study or
surveillance findings;
(F) lay and technical summaries of the study or
surveillance results and key findings, or an explanation as
to why the results and key findings do not warrant public
availability;
(G) a link to any peer reviewed articles on the study or
surveillance; and
(H) any other information the Secretary of Health and Human
Services determines appropriate to protect the public health.
(5) Public access.--The database described in paragraph (1)
shall be--
(A) accessible to the general public; and
(B) easily searchable by multiple criteria, including
whether the study or surveillance involves pediatric
populations.
(c) Medical Device Coding.--The Secretary of Health and
Human Services, in consultation with the Commissioner of Food
and Drugs, shall adopt voluntary national standards for
medical device coding. In adopting voluntary national
standards for medical device coding, the Secretary of Health
and Human Services shall coordinate with other efforts by the
Secretary to adopt and implement standards for the electronic
exchange of health information.
Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, today I join my colleague Senator Dodd to
introduce a bill designed to help protect our Nation's children. Simply
put, our bill would help ensure that our children have access to
lifesaving medical devices that are designed specifically for their
small bodies. Since the beginning of my career, my No. 1 priority has
been to ensure that our children are healthy and safe. There is no
other issue more important to me.
Today, many medical devices used by pediatricians are not designed
for children. That means that doctors have to fit adult sized devices
into children's bodies. This is not right. We need to encourage the
development of devices that are sized appropriately for children.
According to pediatricians, medical devices sized appropriately for
children are developed sometimes 5 to 10 years behind those for adults.
The Pediatric Medical Device Safety and Improvement Act takes a step
towards fixing this problem by providing incentives for manufacturers
to develop devices for children while also ensuring the safety of new
products once on the market.
By introducing this bill, we are saying that we care about our
children. We are saying that we care that children have access to
lifesaving medical devices that are designed specifically for their
small bodies. We are saying that we know we can do better for our
children and this bill will do just that.
We all want to see better health care options for our sick children.
I believe that with this bill we are taking the first step to resolve a
serious national health problem. While this legislation obviously will
not pass this year, I know that Senator Dodd will continue to work on
it next year and encourage my Republican colleagues to take a close
look at this bill and support it in the 110th Congress.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the
Record.
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