[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 59 (Thursday, April 12, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S4442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. Harkin):
  S. 1099. A bill to amend chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code, 
to make individuals employed by the Roosevelt Campobello International 
Park Commission eligible to obtain Federal health insurance; to the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President. I rise to introduce a bill that would 
solve a serious health-insurance problem for some Americans who work on 
Campobello Island, Canada, near the Maine border, at a park that honors 
the memory of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  Ten residents of the State of Maine are employed on that beautiful 
island by the Roosevelt Campobello International Park. The park centers 
on the spacious summer cottage that FDR loved and visited often, from 
his childhood in the 1880s up to his last trip in 1939. Today, the 
Roosevelt cottage and the park draw thousands of visitors from around 
the world.
  The Roosevelt Campobello International Park was dedicated in 1964 as 
a memorial to President Roosevelt, and is funded by both the U.S. and 
the Canadian Governments under terms of a treaty.
  Unfortunately, the drafters of the treaty did not address the need 
for health insurance for park employees. As a result, the State 
Department concluded in 1965 that those employees ``shall be subject to 
the relevant Canadian labor laws.'' Based on that State Department 
opinion, the U.S. Civil Service Commission--precursor of the Office of 
Personnel Management--determined that the employees were not eligible 
for Federal Employee Health Benefits Program coverage.
  Meanwhile, even if the employees could join the Canadian health plan, 
the park's location makes it impractical for them to seek medical 
treatment in Canada. The closest doctors and hospitals are in Maine, 
and the only access to the park is from the United States.
  Consequently, the employees have relied on a small-group insurance 
plan negotiated by the Park Commission and have paid for their own 
insurance. But as with millions of other Americans, drastic increases 
in premiums have made that small-group plan unaffordable for the Park 
employees. The result is a genuine hardship for them and their 
families.
  My bill will resolve this problem simply, by making these employees 
eligible for FEHBP health insurance. This is a matter of equal 
treatment as well as compassion. Full-time employees of other joint-
responsibility parks on the U.S.A.-Canada border, like Glacier National 
Park, are already eligible for coverage under the FEHBP.
  Adding this handful of employees to the rolls is a negligible cost to 
the government, but a huge relief for these deserving citizens.
  I am pleased to be joined in this effort by Senator Harkin. He serves 
ably on the Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission, and so 
understands the problem faced by my Maine constituents employed at the 
park.
  I hope that our colleagues will join us to support this bill so that 
the American citizens maintaining a park honoring a great American 
President will be treated fairly. I ask unanimous concent 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. 1099

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. HEALTH INSURANCE.

       Section 8901(1) of title 5, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in subparagraph (I), by inserting ``and'' after the 
     semicolon; and
       (3) by inserting before the matter following subparagraph 
     (I) the following:
       ``(J) an individual who is employed by the Roosevelt 
     Campobello International Park Commission and is a citizen of 
     the United States,''.
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