[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 36 (Friday, March 2, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2560-S2562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. ALLARD (for himself, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Baucus,
Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Harkin):
S. 746. A bill to establish a competitive grant program to build
capacity in veterinary medical education and expand the workforce of
veterinarians engaged in public health practice and biomedical
research; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, today I come to the floor to discuss an
important piece of legislation that I am introducing to address a major
public health need.
I am pleased to be joined by Senators Hagel, Brownback, and Baucus.
Today, I am introducing the Veterinary Public Health Workforce
Expansion Act, to address the growing shortage of veterinarians in the
public health sector.
Over the past decade, the world has faced a significant increase of
newly emerging infectious disease outbreaks, including West Nile virus;
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS; monkeypox; and avian
influenza.
In addition to their ability to cause severe illness, and even death,
these diseases share another important characteristic: they are all
transmitted from animals to man.
Veterinary medicine is an integral and indispensable component of our
Nation's public health system.
Veterinarians protect human health by preventing and controlling
infectious diseases, ensuring the safety and security of the Nation's
food supply, promoting healthy environments, and providing health care
for animals.
Veterinarians are essential for early detection and response to
unusual disease events that could be linked to newly emerging
infectious diseases, or other biothreat agents of concern.
In fact, it was a veterinarian who first diagnosed West Nile virus in
the United States and a veterinarian who first notified health
authonties of the introduction of monkeypox to the United States.
A veterinarian's prompt diagnosis and reporting of screwworm
infestation prevent this disease from becoming reestablished in the
United States, thus saving hundreds of millions of dollars in expensive
eradication programs.
There is a need to build national capacity in research and training
in the prevention, surveillance, diagnosis, and control of newly
emerging and reemerging infectious diseases.
Veterinarians are uniquely qualified to address these high-priority
public health issues because of their extensive professional training
in basic biomedical sciences, population medicine, and broad, multi-
species, comparative medical approach to disease prevention and
control.
There is a shortage of veterinarians working in public health
practice. As used in the preceding sentence, the term ``public health
practice'' includes bioterrorism and emergency preparedness,
environmental health, food safety and food security, regulatory
medicine, diagnostic laboratory medicine, and biomedical research.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects there to be 28,000 job
openings in the veterinary medical profession by 2012 due to growth and
net replacements, a turnover of nearly 38 percent.
The Nation's veterinary medical colleges do not have the capacity to
satisfy the current and future demand for veterinarians and veterinary
expertise that is vital to maintain public health preparedness.
Veterinary colleges also provide a broad, multi-species, comparative
medical approach to disease prevention and control, which is
fundamental to understanding the transmission and life cycle of
infectious disease agents, especially those that are shared with
animals.
Veterinarians have special expertise in preventing and controlling
these types of diseases, but there is a critical shortage of
veterinarians working in public health practice, and the Nation's
veterinary medical colleges do not have enough capacity to meet the
demand.
In order to meet the critical shortages of veterinarians today I am
introducing the Veterinary Public Health Workforce Expansion Act, which
will allow veterinary medical colleges to expand their training
programs for veterinary public health professionals.
The Veterinary Public Health Workforce Expansion Act will create a
new competitive grant program for capital improvements to allow
veterinary medical colleges to expand their training programs for
public health professionals.
There are critical shortages of veterinarians across the United
States, and the Nation's veterinary medical colleges do not have enough
capacity to meet the demand.
The Veterinary Public Health Workforce Expansion Act will build
infrastructure, research laboratories, and classroom space to provide
training for veterinary students in public health, food safety,
infectious diseases, global health, and environmental quality.
______
By Mr. ISAKSON (for himself, Mr. Allard, Mr. Chambliss, Mr.
Crapo, and Mr. Graham):
S. 747. A bill to terminate the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and
for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, back in Georgia, we have a saying. When
people are treating the symptoms and never treating the cause, we say
they are avoiding the 800-pound gorilla in the living room. I wish to
talk for a minute about a 6-pound gorilla that is in the United States
Capitol. It is called the U.S. Tax Code.
Printed in the 8-point font type, the U.S. Tax Code weighs 6 pounds,
but the
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burden is equal to that or more of an 800-pound gorilla on the backs of
American business and American families. To that end, I am joined by
Senators Vitter, Chambliss, Allard, Graham, and others in the
introduction of Tax Code simplification legislation to finally address
the 800-pound gorilla in the living room and the 6-pound gorilla on the
back of every American.
This bill simply calls on the Congress to establish a tax review
commission which will be required to report back to the Congress on
July 4, 2010. Its job will be to analyze all options for revenue for
the United States. Consumption taxes or sales taxes, flat taxes, income
taxes, productivity taxes, whatever it might be, wipe the slate clean
and say: If we could do it all over again, what would be the best way
to finance this great country of ours.
Second, once they have made those determinations, they make the
recommendations back to the Congress. Then it is the Congress's
responsibility to either adopt the commission's recommendations, much
as we do with BRAC, or to reject them and affirmatively ratify the Tax
Code of 1986, amended thousands of times, now weighing 6 pounds on the
back of every single American.
All of us have different ideas over what is the right way to do
things. All of us know the United States of America needs revenue to
operate. All of us know that. But since 1986 and the major rewrite of
the Tax Code, every year all we have done is decorate it like a
Christmas tree, amend it here, lower it there, raise it somewhere
else--until it has become an absolute burden.
We all know--I know the Presiding Officer deals with it in his State,
as I do--the tremendous upheaval over the alternative minimum tax which
passed in the 1960s to address the 169 taxpayers who made over a
million dollars who did not pay any taxes. Today, the AMT affects
everybody, including a family of four making $50,000 a year, if they
own their own home, deduct interest, and itemize their deductions. That
is just wrong.
So rather than take individual Senators--I respect every one of us in
the Chamber, including, obviously, myself--take our ideas and try to
volley them back and forth, why not get a distinguished commission of
learned people to sit down for a protracted period of time, analyze
what is right for this country, and make recommendations to us?
We solved the political disability in terms of reforming the military
when we passed BRAC. Why not take the greatest disability on the
American people--and that is the Tax Code--and approach it the same
way: have thoughtful people who are knowledgeable and understand the
Tax Code as it is make the recommendations on what might make it
better? It may be a sales tax or a consumption tax. It may be a flat
income tax. It may be a series of fees or other revenue streams. It may
be a combination.
But what we need most importantly is simplicity, fairness, equity,
and I would submit one other thing--participation by all Americans.
Everybody has a stake in this country, and everybody should contribute
something. I think if we open up the Tax Code to scrutiny, we give this
group 3 solid years to look and make their determination, we get the
recommendation back by July 4, and then we debate it in this Congress,
then, by the end of 2010, we have two choices: We ratify what we have
today, which is the 600-pound gorilla on the back of every American
citizen, or we look to a vision for the future and adopt a fair and a
simpler and a more equitable tax system for every citizen of the United
States of America.
I urge my colleagues to join us on this legislation, help bring about
and make it a reality, and, for the first time since 1986, address the
cause and not the symptom of the cumbersome nature of the American Tax
Code.
______
By Mr. DOMENICI (for himself and Mr. Bingaman):
S. 750. A bill to authorize to be appropriated $1,800,000 for fiscal
year 2008 to acquire real property and carry out a military
construction project at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico; to the
Committee on Armed Services.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise today with Senator Bingaman to
introduce legislation authorizing new construction at Kirtland Air
Force Base, NM.
Kirtland Air Force Base serves many roles for the Department of
Defense and the U.S. Air Force. The Nuclear Weapons Center, Air Force
Research Laboratories, the New Mexico Air National Guard, and a
Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration national
laboratory are some of the many Federal entities doing work at
Kirtland. As such, Kirtland's construction needs are many.
Therefore, I am proud to offer this bill to authorize replacement of
a fuel unloading facility at Kirtland Air Force Base. The President's
fiscal year 2008 budget requests $1.8 million for this work, and in
keeping with that request my legislation authorizes $1.8 million for
the work.
Our Armed Forces deserve our full support. I am proud to offer my
support for the personnel at Kirtland Air Force Base by introducing
this bill.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 750
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO CARRY OUT MILITARY CONSTRUCTION
PROJECT AT KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, NEW MEXICO.
(a) Authority.--Using amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations under subsection (b), the
Secretary of the Air Force may acquire real property and
carry out a military construction project at Kirtland Air
Force Base, New Mexico, as specified under such subsection.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated for fiscal year 2008 for military
construction and land acquisition for the Department of the
Air Force for the replacement of a fuel unloading facility at
Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, $1,800,000.
______
By Mr. GRASSLEY:
S. 751. A bill to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to
modify certain administrative eligibility rules relating to children
born in the United States to Medicaid-eligible mothers; to the
Committee on Finance.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am pleased today to introduce the
Guaranteed Access to Medicaid for Newborns Act. This bill corrects a
problem that has arisen during the implementation of the Deficit
Reduction Act, DRA, of 2005. Through this act, we will guarantee that
children born in America who are eligible for Medicaid can seamlessly
get Medicaid coverage.
For the last two decades, Medicaid recipients have been required to
be a U.S. citizen or qualified alien who has been in the country for at
least 5 years. In a July 2005 report, the HHS Office of Inspector
General found that 47 States allowed individuals to ``self attest''
their citizenship status to qualify for Medicaid benefits. In short,
the State simply asked a Medicaid applicant if they were a citizen. The
applicant need only respond, ``Yes, I am an American.'' No documents
necessary. And of those 47 States, 27 did no followup verification such
as checking with the Social Security Administration. In response to
this report, the DRA included a House-led provision that I supported to
require States to more carefully document the citizenship of Medicaid
recipients and applicants.
Implementation of this provision, as is often the case with
legislation, has not been without its challenges. The interim final
rule that was issued by CMS effective July 6, 2006, did make many
improvements so that the new statute could be implemented consistent
with legislative intent. I think, on the whole, CMS did a good job.
However, there was one specific provision in the interim final rule
that I do not think is consistent with congressional intent: the
provision that makes it more difficult for children born to
undocumented mothers to gain Medicaid eligibility.
In section 1903(v) of the Social Security Act, the Medicaid statute
makes available payment to States for treatment of an alien who is not
otherwise eligible for Medicaid in the case of an emergency medical
condition. A woman who is undocumented or not
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otherwise eligible for Medicaid is covered under Medicaid for labor and
delivery. Nothing in the DRA changed that nor was anything in the DRA
intended to change that.
Under section 1902(e)(4) of the Social Security Act, a child born to
a woman receiving Medicaid at the time of the child's birth is deemed
onto Medicaid for a year. States had been interpreting that to mean the
child of a woman who was undocumented could be deemed onto Medicaid for
a year since the mother, under 1903(v), was eligible for Medicaid at
the time of the child's birth. The interim final rule now specifically
prevents a State from deeming the child of an undocumented mother onto
the State Medicaid program without properly documenting the child's
citizenship first.
In this case, I believe CMS has gone too far. A child born in the
United States of America is a citizen. Before the DRA, children born to
mothers on Medicaid were deemed onto Medicaid, and I think that is
absolutely in the best interest of that newborn child. The DRA did not
change two fundamental facts: First, the mother, regardless
of documentation status, was eligible for Medicaid at the time of the
child's birth and, second, the child is a citizen. In my mind, there is
no reason then to have any new documentation requirement for the child.
The legislation I am introducing today reinstitutes the pre-DRA
policy with one notable exception. Under the old rule, a State could
issue a temporary Medicaid identification number to the mother which
served as the identification number for the child for up to a year. I
don't think that it's necessary or appropriate for a State to provide a
child Medicaid benefits by issuing the mother a Medicaid card. This
especially problematic in cases where the mother may not be in the
country legally nor eligible for Medicaid after delivery. My
legislation changes the old policy by requiring the State to issue an
identification number to the child of the undocumented mother. This
does not in any way change the States' responsibility to provide the
mother benefits when she comes to the emergency room in labor.
The legislation makes one further change to the statute to benefit
newborns. Under the interim final rule, all children born to mothers on
Medicaid are required to document their citizenship within 1 year of
birth. I do not think that is necessary. Medicaid paid for the birth of
an American citizen. It is simple common sense that the child is a
citizen and requiring any further documentation is redundant and
counter-intuitive.
I want to be clear that I support the requirement that a State more
fully document the citizenship of applicants for Medicaid. Given what
the Congressional Budget Office has told us would be the cost of making
undocumented aliens eligible for public programs, the Deficit Reduction
Act addressed a real concern by requiring documentation. I want the new
statutory provision to go forward to ensure that the people getting the
benefits are actually eligible for the benefits. However, CMS and the
States should recognize what is to me, common sense: A child born in
the United States whose birth was paid for by Medicaid is a citizen
under current law. No further documentation necessary.
______
By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Reed, Mr. Hagel,
Mr. Baucus, Mr. Roberts, and Mr. Cochran):
S. 753. A bill to enhance scientific research and competitiveness
through the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, and
for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions.
Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, today, I introduce the EPSCoR
Research and Competitive Act of 2007, and I am proud to have the
bipartisan support of my colleagues, Senators Snowe, Reed, Hagel,
Baucus, Roberts, and Cochran.
The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, EPSCoR,
is part of the National Science Foundation and is intended to assist
smaller States competing for research grants that historically have not
received as much funding from the NSF as larger States. Twenty-six
States, representing 20 percent of our Nation's population and 25
percent of our doctoral and research institutions are currently
eligible for the EPSCoR program yet receive only 10 percent of the
total NSF research funding. EPSCoR funding provides valuable research
opportunities in States with unique scientific features. States such as
West Virginia, Alaska, Hawaii, Montana and New Mexico all stand to gain
from EPSCoR funding, and our country will gain from the scientists and
innovations made in our States.
EPSCoR has the additional bonus of having a proven track record. Over
50 percent of researchers supported by EPSCoR funds have successfully
competed for non-EPSCoR funding. EPSCoR is also helping drive the
economy in active States by providing cutting edge job opportunities.
Seventy-five percent of new technology companies started by university
research are based in the States where the original research was done.
In order for our Nation to remain competitive in the global
marketplace, EPSCoR will play an important role in promoting science
nationwide. This legislation provides some specifics to meet that goal.
First off, this bill proposes that the Research Infrastructure
Improvements Grant increase to $75 million beginning in fiscal year
2009 and remain at that level through 2012. Secondly, it seeks 20
percent of the EPSCoR budget for the cofunding program, an innovative
initiative to help encourage each of the NSF directorates to
collaborate and fund meritorious projects from the EPSCoR States.
Thirdly, it encourages the NSF Director to develop creative ways to
ensure that the EPSCoR States are part of the new major initiatives of
the foundation, including cyberinfrastructure and major research
instrumentation.
The citizens of West Virginia have benefited tremendously as a result
of this program. Competitive Federal research has increased 68 percent
in West Virginia since 2001. In 2005 alone, research created more than
$147 million in economic activity and supported 4,432 jobs. Much like
other States involved, EPSCoR has been a tremendous boon to our
flagship higher institutions with West Virginia University and Marshall
University having worked together through this program to come up with
innovate solutions like never before. To help ensure that EPSCoR States
remain competitive, this legislation suggests that EPSCoR grow
proportionately with the foundation. To achieve our competitiveness
goals and to increase the numbers of engineers and scientists, every
State needs to play a role. It is encouraging to note that the
administration's budget request for this year seeks a $7 million
increase in EPSCoR.
Ensuring the economic well-being of all our States is an essential
part of keeping our entire Nation competitive and EPSCoR is an
important step in that direction. EPSCoR States are the home for 25
percent of the doctoral and research universities, and our States train
nearly 20 percent of our science and engineering graduate students.
This legislation will help encourage and promote competitiveness.
____________________