[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 189 (Monday, December 14, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13183-S13185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I want to express my strong support for the 
Omnibus appropriations act for fiscal year 2010, H.R. 3288. This bill 
combines six appropriations bills that provide funding for essential 
programs related to improving education, housing, and transportation; 
increasing research opportunities; providing justice; strengthening our 
foreign operations; constructing needed military facilities; and caring 
for our Nation's veterans. I thank the chairman and ranking member of 
the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senators Inouye and Cochran, as 
well as the various subcommittee chairmen and ranking members, for 
their efforts to bring this important bill to the floor.
  I am pleased that included in this bill is funding for a number of K-
12 and postsecondary educational initiatives,

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as well as cultural and financial literacy efforts. These programs will 
benefit Hawaii and the Nation and are especially critical now when 
States are facing increased financial pressure. These investments in 
education will aid individuals and society as a whole by helping to 
better prepare our keiki, our children, for tomorrow's challenges.
  For elementary and secondary education, resources in the act support 
such areas as history, science, literacy, and college prep. I supported 
additional resources for National History Day, a program that 
encourages more than half a million students each year to research, 
synthesize, and interpret primary and secondary sources in order to 
create an original work for the programs' annual contest. As science, 
technology, engineering, and math, STEM, are four subjects whose study 
is critical to national goals, the Maui Economic Development Board and 
Kauai Economic Development Board will work to advance STEM education 
and careers for students from underrepresented groups on Maui and Kauai 
using appropriations in this act. I also joined a number of my 
colleagues in working to fund Reach Out and Read, a nonprofit 
organization that makes use of pediatric doctor's visits as a teachable 
moment on the importance of parents reading to their children. 
Additionally, the Consolidated Appropriations Act will assist programs 
that prepare high school students for college at Hawaii Community 
College, Leeward Community College, and the Pacific Islands Center for 
Educational Development.
  Included among the postsecondary initiatives in the bill are two 
programs at the Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii at 
Manoa, one of which comprehensively works to address issues relating to 
Native Hawaiians and the law and a second that will create a center on 
health policy. The bill will also allow the University of Hawaii at 
Hilo to expand programs at the Imiloa Astronomy Education Center and to 
establish a clinical training and applied science programs at the 
state's only pharmacy school.
  I believe that historic preservation is necessary to ensure that 
future generations benefit from an understanding of their heritage and 
that cultural programs are integral to a broad-based education in a 
multicultural nation and interconnected world. Therefore, I am pleased 
that the Henry Giugni Kupuna Memorial Archives at the University of 
Hawaii, Bishop Museum, and Polynesian Voyaging Society will receive 
funding.
  In addition, this bill includes vital financial education resources. 
My Excellence in Economic Education, EEE, Act program will receive 
$1.447 million for fiscal year 2010. The Triple-E funds a range of 
activities such as teacher training, research and evaluation, and 
school-based activities to further economic principles and ensure that 
our students are more financially literate. Financial literacy in 
schools is essential to ensure that students are able to be prepared to 
effectively participate in the modern complex economy. Moreover, I was 
pleased to continue my efforts in championing financial literacy 
efforts by backing provisions for the Council for Economic Education 
and Center for Civic Education.
  Additionally, the Department of Treasury's Office of Financial 
Education will have an increase of $1 million to further their efforts, 
revise the national strategy on financial literacy, and develop 
measurable goals and objectives for the Financial Literacy and 
Education Commission.
  One of the fundamental causes of the financial crisis was that people 
were steered into mortgages with risks and costs they could not afford 
or even understand. The Financial Education and Pre-Home Counseling 
Pilot Program was authorized pursuant to section 1132 of the Housing 
and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, Public Law 110-289. I am proud that 
the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and I were able to secure 
$3.15 million for a demonstration program in Hawaii. This program will 
strengthen the CDFI Fund's support for a range of financial education 
and counseling services to prospective homebuyers and address critical 
financial literacy needs of families.
  This is a competitive grant that will be awarded by the Department of 
the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. 
Grants awarded through the Pilot Program will have the ultimate goal of 
identifying successful methods of financial education and counseling 
services that result in positive behavioral change for financial 
empowerment and establishing program models for organizations to 
deliver effective financial education and counseling services to 
prospective homebuyers.
  The National Low Income Housing Coalition's Out of Reach report 
ranked Hawaii as the most expensive State for housing. As credit has 
become harder to obtain and downpayment requirements for home purchases 
have significantly increased, working families in Hawaii need 
assistance to better prepare for purchasing a home. These services can 
include credit counseling, assisting with savings planning, and 
educating potential home buyers about mortgage products and available 
programs intended to support home ownership. Pre-home ownership 
counseling helps prepare prospective homeowners to be better able to 
purchase a home and select an appropriate mortgage product and 
increases the likelihood that families will be able to remain in their 
homes. This project will focus on providing assistance to low-and 
moderate-income prospective home buyers in under served communities. 
The Government Accountability Office is required to study the impact 
and effectiveness of the demonstration grants authorized by section 
1132.
  Additionally, the legislation provides necessary resources for 
housing and transportation. Thirteen million dollars is provided for 
the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant, which is administered in the 
State of Hawaii by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, DHHL. These 
resources are extremely important to support additional home ownership 
opportunities for residents throughout Hawaii. DHHL is the largest 
housing developer in the State of Hawaii.
  In addition to having high housing costs, Honolulu has among the 
Nation's worst driving travel times. That is why I am pleased that this 
bill contains Federal dollars to supplement the substantial local 
investment in the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project. 
Furthermore, I am glad that the Neighbor Islands will receive needed 
resources for their rural bus service. These projects will help to 
reduce our reliance on imported fuels that pollute our islands, promote 
economic development and provide additional transportation options for 
our State's families.
  A number of programs through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration in the Consolidated Appropriations Act will also assist 
my State. Funding for Hawaiian monk seal recovery plan implementation 
furthers work to protect the less than 1,200 monk seals living today, 
while funds for coral reef maintenance are important to coastal 
communities in terms of supporting tourism, fisheries, biodiversity, 
carbon sequestration, and shoreline protection. The bill's funding of 
$2 million facilitates a University of Hawaii, University of 
Mississippi, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and University of 
California San Diego consortium dedicated to employing infrasound, or 
low-frequency sound, as a warning tool for natural hazards, such as 
volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, having the potential for catastrophic 
human and economic impacts to taxpayers. Efforts at the International 
Pacific Research Center, IPRC, within the University of Hawaii School 
of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology are also supported by $1.5 
million in funding. The IPRC makes data resources readily accessible 
and usable to researchers and the general public and conducts data-
intensive climate research activities.
  The bill also includes provisions that will help to improve the 
effectiveness of State and local justice systems to enforce the laws, 
bring criminals to justice, address the needs of crime victims, and 
prevent crime and delinquency. In particular, this bill includes 
$500,000 for the National Center for State Courts, NCSC, which serves 
as a think tank, forum, and voice for 30,000 judges, and 20,000 
courthouses, in the State court system in the 50 States, DC, Puerto 
Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, where annually 
98 percent of court filings are submitted. Funding in this bill

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will implement the NCSC's State Courts Improvement Initiative to 
provide increased support services to judges, administrators, and other 
personnel in the State court system as well as help to shape and 
bolster Americans' understanding of and confidence in the Nation's 
judicial system. I am also pleased that this bill provides $300,000 to 
the Hawaii Innocence Project, which provides pro bono assistance to 
Hawaii prisoners with credible claims of actual innocence who no longer 
have access to legal resources and whose innocence may now be proven by 
technology unavailable at the time of their trials.
  To address the needs of victims and prevent crime and delinquency, I 
am pleased that the bill provides $400,000 to enable both the Hawaii 
and Kauai YWCAs to continue their programs to address sexual and 
domestic violence and provide services for victims of such violence. It 
also provides $500,000 for A Child Is Missing, ACIM, Hawaii, which will 
provide the critical rapid response that will assist Hawaii law 
enforcement agencies to locate missing children and adults. In 
addition, $350,000 is provided for Ka Wili Pu--Native Hawaiian for 
``the blend''--which will provide 400 at-risk youth on Maui with adult 
guidance and adult role models and one-on-one instruction to encourage 
them to remain in school, fulfill their promise, avoid a problematic 
future with few meaningful options while promoting a healthy and stable 
society. To help provide cost-effective legal, medical, psychological, 
and social services to indigent immigrant women, the bill also provides 
$200,000 for the Hawaii Immigrant Justice Center to help prevent 
violence against women.
  In addition to providing for our domestic needs, the bill provides 
critical funding to improve our foreign relations. I am particularly 
pleased by two programs funded by this bill: the East West Center, 
which will receive $23 million, and the U.S. Institute of Peace, which 
will receive $19.2 million. The Hawaii-based East West Center is a 
premier U.S. public diplomacy program focusing on Asia and the Pacific 
and is a vital tool to promote U.S. values and interests in the region. 
The funding provided by this bill will allow existing programs to 
continue and provide additional funds for program enhancements and some 
facility upgrades.
  The U.S. Institute of Peace, a national center of research, 
education, and training on conflict management, works to resolve 
international conflicts by peaceful means without violence and war. The 
USIP was championed by former Senator Spark Matsunaga, and I am pleased 
to see the vital work of this institution continue, especially in this 
current international climate.
  Significant funding for military construction projects is also 
included in this bill, which will support the construction of troop 
barracks, mission critical operational facilities, support the 
construction needs of the Guard and Reserves, and the construction of 
military family housing, child care centers, and chapels. We must 
continue to provide for our troops and their families as they sacrifice 
so much for this Nation.
  I am particularly pleased that my request for a shipyard 
modernization project at the Pearl Harbor Naval Station was authorized 
and appropriated at $25 million. Shipyard modernization is essential to 
give our workers the opportunity to most efficiently maintain and 
repair our fleet. The Production Services Support Facility is a much 
needed step in the right direction. In addition, my request for an 
additional runway at Kona was approved as funding was included for the 
planning and design of a C-17 short auxiliary airfield. Once completed, 
this will allow Hickam AFB C-17 aircrews to complete their required 
training in the local area instead of travelling the 16-hour round trip 
to the mainland.
  In addition to ensuring that our military members have the facilities 
necessary to assist in the performance of their duties, this bill 
ensures that our military members are taken care of when they return 
home. As chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am pleased 
that the Omnibus appropriations bill includes strong funding for the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, in recognition of the fact that 
caring for veterans is a cost of war and must be funded as such.Funding 
for VA would be substantially increased, billions of dollars above the 
previous budget. This funding will allow VA to improve care for 
veterans of all service-eras and further the administration's goal of 
opening enrollment for more than 500,000 veterans of modest incomes by 
providing VA with the resources to prepare for them in the coming 
years. The bill also fully funds VA's research programs, which are 
vital to improving the Department's ability to treat the signature 
wounds of the current conflicts and develop other improvements that 
will help veterans and nonveterans alike.
  I am delighted that for the first time VA will receive advance 
appropriations for fiscal year 2011 for three VA medical care accounts. 
This coincides with the landmark legislation, Veterans Health Care 
Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009, which was signed into law 
as Public Law 111-81 by the President on October 22, 2009. Funding VA 
health care in advance will go a long way toward resolving the 
problematic underfunding of VA health care, which left so many of the 
Nation's veterans with unmet health care needs.
  Importantly, this bill contains an amendment I offered that will 
extend VA's authority to operate the Manila VA Regional Office. I 
extend my deepest thanks to the staff of the Manila Regional Office who 
have continued to demonstrate unwavering dedication to their duty to 
assist Filipino World War II veterans and indeed all veterans who apply 
for benefits from VA. Earlier this year, more than 60 years after the 
end of the World War II, surviving Filipino World War II veterans who 
served under U.S. military command received a measure of compensation 
for their service in the form of a one-time lump sum payment. 
Dispersing these payments has been a significant challenge as a series 
of steps are required to authenticate their World War II service. In 
addition, the Manila Regional Office administers Social Security in the 
Philippines while at the same time administering compensation, pension, 
vocational rehabilitation, employment, and education benefits to over 
18,000 individuals. Without this extension, VA's authority to operate 
the Manila VA Regional Office would have expired on December 31, 2009.
  These are just some of the projects and programs this important bill 
will fund for the 2010 fiscal year. Once again, I want to thank the 
hard work of the Appropriations Committee for bringing this bill before 
us today, and I urge my colleagues to support it.


                            VOTE EXPLANATION

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, the Senate voted Sunday on final passage 
of the conference report to accompany H.R. 3288, the Transportation, 
Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 
for 2010. I was unable to vote because I was attending my son's college 
graduation ceremony at the University of Minnesota, which occurred at 
the same time as the Senate vote. Had I been present during the vote, I 
would have voted in favor of the legislation.

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