[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 15, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4940-S4942]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Risch,
Mr. Johnson, Mr. Thune, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Begich, Mr. Sanders,
Mr. Tester, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Enzi, and Mrs. Shaheen):
S. 3485. A bill to amend title 23, United States Code, to improve
highway mobility in rural States for the benefit of all States; to the
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague Senator
Barrasso in introducing the Rural Mobility and Access for America Act.
The transportation challenges in rural States are unique. In my State
of North Dakota, we have more miles of road per capita than any State
in the Nation. There are more than 11,000 miles of highway in North
Dakota, which translates into approximately 166 miles of road for every
1,000 people in North Dakota. We have a very large road network with a
small population base to support it. In fact, North Dakota only has 16
people supporting each lane mile of Federal-aid road. The national
average is 129 people per lane mile.
Highways in North Dakota and other rural States connect the Nation
and help ensure the effective movement of people and goods across the
country. Today, the highways in the western part of my State are being
impacted by a rise in truck traffic as a result of the oil boom
occurring from the development of the Bakken formation. Our roads and
highways are seeing a dramatic increase in trucks that are transporting
supplies to the oil fields or oil to gathering lines.
The agriculture industry is also reliant on a strong, nationally
connected road network to move products and services. Approximately 69
percent of the goods shipped annually from North Dakota are carried by
truck. Significant and growing agricultural businesses throughout my
state rely on the road network to receive raw goods and transport their
finished products to market.
In addition, we have a large percentage of truck traffic that crosses
our state. Sixty percent of the truck traffic does not originate or
terminate within the state, but it still has an impact on our highways.
In the next 10 years, commercial trucking in North Dakota is expected
to increase by 42 percent.
Discussions surrounding the reauthorization of the highway bill have
focused on congestion and the needs of large metropolitan areas. Some
of the proposals being advanced shift money from the traditional
highway formula programs to set-asides for large metro areas. However,
maintaining a nationally connected system requires substantial
investments in highways in and across rural areas as well.
It is important that our transportation policy continues to recognize
the importance of investment in rural States, like North Dakota. The
bill I am introducing with Senator Barrasso makes certain rural States
are not left behind. Under this proposal, if a metro mobility program
is included in the highway reauthorization, a corresponding rural
program would be funded at a level equal to \1/3\ of the amount
provided for the metro mobility program. The funds would be distributed
evenly to the 18 States that qualify under our bill, and the States
could use the funds for any of the eligible uses under the Surface
Transportation Program.
Our bill provides an important balance to make sure our roads, both
urban and rural, get the support necessary to maintain a nationally
connected system. I urge my colleagues to support it.
______
By Mr. UDALL of Colorado:
S. 3487. A bill to amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act
of 1978 to provide electric consumers the right to access certain
electric energy information, and for other purposes; to the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources.
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss a bill
that I filed, called the Electric Consumer Right to Know Act. This bill
takes a common-sense step toward broadening consumers' access to data
about their electricity usage. On top of that, I am proud to say that
this idea came directly from one of my Colorado constituents.
In today's marketplace, consumers have a clear understanding of the
price of gasoline and what their car mileage means for their pocket
books. They also have ready access to the number of minutes remaining
on their cell phone. However, consumers lack clear, timely data about
their electricity use and its price. Providing increased transparency
will help consumers with their decisions about electricity usage in
their home or business.
The bill I filed today would provide timely access to these data by
establishing consumers' clear right to access data on their own
electricity usage. This right is an important step toward a more
effective, reliable and efficient electrical grid, and a step toward
helping consumers use electricity more efficiently and save money on
their electric bills.
For the past year I have been travelling across Colorado as part of a
work force tour to talk directly to Coloradans and hear their
innovative policy ideas to create jobs, including hosting an Energy
Jobs Summit in Denver back in February. As part of this Summit, we
asked experts in energy policy and business to join us for a
conversation about how we can better position Colorado and the United
States to lead in the 21st century clean energy economy.
We heard from Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Governor Bill Ritter,
Senator Michael Bennet, and Congressman Ed Perlmutter. But, more
importantly, we heard from Coloradans who came to share their views on
what the Federal Government can do, or in some instances not do, to
support job creation and transition to cleaner and more efficient
energy use.
One consumer participant at the Summit noted that, even though he had
a smart meter at his home, his power company would not let him access
his electrical meter readings to learn how he was using electricity. If
he could access those readings, he could better understand his energy
use, learn how to be more energy efficient and save money. That is why
I am introducing the Electric Consumer Right to Know Act to improve
communication between the consumers and their utility, spur innovation
in developing creative technologies that will save energy, and provide
clarity while these programs are being developed.
This bill has several important parts. First, it establishes a
framework for the right to access information, defining specifically
what that right means, and giving clarity to those who will further
develop and enforce that right. This bill says that if you have a smart
meter, or similar electronic device that reads electric energy usage,
that you ought to have access to the utility company's data on your
energy use.
How that access is granted is delineated in three ways in this bill:
If your meter communicates with your utility on an hourly or shorter
time interval, my bill states that your meter readings should be
available within 24 hours.
Second, if your smart meter is capable of communicating energy use
data directly from your meter, under this bill, you have the right to
access those data and use them directly at your home or business.
[[Page S4941]]
Third, for consumers who have standard meters, with this bill, there
are no additional requirements except that your readings shall be
available electronically in a timely manner.
Next, the bill directs the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission to
convene an open, extensive and inclusive stakeholder process to work
through the details of this measure to ensure that implementing the
consumers' right to access their information also retains consumer
privacy, and ensures the integrity and reliability of the grid.
The outcome of this process will be national guidelines establishing
the right of consumers to access their electricity data, including
minimum national standards that utilities must meet to ensure that
right of access. In developing those minimum standards, the FERC will
take into consideration the ongoing and important work at the National
Institute of Standards and Technology in developing a smart grid
roadmap, as well as the innovative state and local programs already
being developed across the country to integrate smart meters into the
electrical grid, including Colorado, California, Texas, Pennsylvania,
and others.
In Colorado, Xcel Energy has been working with the City of Boulder on
a pilot program called SmartGridCity to develop a community-scale smart
grid with over 20,000 residents participating. Not only are these
consumers improving their understanding of their electricity use, Xcel
notes that they have already avoided several blackouts due to the
improved communication between consumers and the grid. Power
interruptions cost the American economy roughly $80 billion per year
and \2/3\ of those losses come from interruptions lasting less than
five minutes. I am proud to see Coloradans and our state's utilities
taking important steps together in learning how to make the grid more
reliable, efficient, and help save everyone money.
Finally, part of ensuring the right to access your data includes the
right to retain the privacy of your data. When consumers gain access to
their data, they will also need to clearly understand how it will be
used, especially when consumers grant third-party access to it. This is
why this bill states that the FERC will establish, among other
important measures, guidelines for consumer consent requirements.
Retaining privacy is critical to building consumer trust in the smart
grid and facilitating the transition to when the smart grid becomes a
part of everyday life for every American family.
I look forward to working with my colleagues and all interested
stakeholders in establishing this right, defining it in a way that
eliminates unintended consequences, and enforcing this right in a way
that improves the efficient use of electrical energy.
This bill is an important first step in implementing smart meters
across the country, moving us toward an electrical grid that is more
reliable and more efficient a smart grid' if you will. There are
several pieces of the puzzle that will be required to realize that
future, and one critical part of that puzzle is the right of consumers
to access their electricity data. I urge my colleagues of both parties
to join me in supporting this important legislation.
______
Mr. SPECTER (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. Menendez):
S. 3493. A bill to reauthorize and enhance Johanna's Law to increase
public awareness and knowledge with respect to gynecologic cancers; to
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition today to
introduce The Gynecological Cancer Education and Awareness Act of 2010
also known as Johanna's Law.
Every year, over 80,000 women in the United States are newly
diagnosed with some form of gynecologic cancer such as ovarian,
uterine, or cervical cancer. In 2009, 28,000 American women are
estimated to have died from these cancers.
Early detection of these cancers must be improved to decrease this
tragic loss of life. Unfortunately, thousands of women in the U.S. each
year aren't diagnosed until their cancers have progressed to more
advanced and far less treatable stages. In the case of ovarian cancer,
which kills more women in the U.S. than all other gynecologic cancers
combined, more than 40 percent of all new diagnoses take place after
this cancer has progressed beyond its earliest and most survivable
stage.
Women are often diagnosed many months, sometimes more than a year
after they first experience symptoms due to a lack of knowledge of
early warning signs of gynecological cancers. Adding to the challenge
of a prompt and accurate diagnosis is the similarity of gynecological
cancer symptoms to those of more common gastrointestinal conditions and
benign gynecologic conditions such as perimenopause and menopause.
Women too often receive diagnoses reflecting these benign conditions
without their physicians having first considered gynecologic cancers as
a possible cause of the symptoms.
The Gynecological Cancer Education and Awareness Act has improved
early detection of gynecologic cancers by creating a national awareness
and an education outreach campaign to inform physicians and individuals
of the risk factors and symptoms of these diseases. When gynecological
cancer is detected in its earliest stage, patients 5-year survival
rates are greater than 90 percent and many go on to live normal,
healthy lives.
The national awareness campaign has been carried out by the
Department of Health and Human Services, HHS, to increase women's
awareness and knowledge of gynecologic cancers. The campaign has
maintained and distributed a supply of written materials that provide
information to the public about gynecologic cancers. Further, the
program has developed public service announcements encouraging women to
discuss their risks for gynecologic cancers with their physicians, and
inform the public about the availability of written materials and how
to obtain them. The cost of continuing this awareness campaign is $5.5
million per year from 2010-2012, totaling $16.5 million.
The educational outreach campaign will be carried out through
demonstration grants through HHS. These demonstration grants will go to
local and national non-profits to test different outreach and education
strategies, including those directed at providers, women, and their
families. Groups with demonstrated expertise in gynecologic cancer
education, treatment, or in working with groups of women who are at
especially high risk will be given priority. Grant funding recipients
will also be asked to work in cooperation with health providers,
hospitals, and state health departments. The projected cost of the
educational outreach campaign is $5 million per year from 2010-2012,
totaling $15 million.
This legislation was brought to my attention by my friend Fran
Drescher, who was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2000 and whose
diagnosis was also delayed due to her lack of knowledge about symptoms
of this disease. She has recovered from uterine cancer and is
advocating on behalf of gynecological cancer awareness. She also
brought to my attention one of the many victims of gynecological
cancers, Johanna Silver Gordon, after whom this bill is named, who was
diagnosed at an advanced stage of ovarian cancer.
Johanna, the daughter and sister of physicians, was extremely health
conscious taking the appropriate measures to maintain a healthy
lifestyle including exercising regularly, eating nutritiously, and
receiving annual pap smears and pelvic exams. Johanna however did not
have the information to know that the gastric symptoms she experienced
in the fall of 1996 were common symptoms of ovarian cancer. She didn't
learn these crucial facts until after she was diagnosed at an advanced
stage of this cancer. Despite aggressive treatment that included four
surgeries, various types of chemotherapy, and participation in two
clinical trials, Johanna died from ovarian cancer 3 1/2 years after
being diagnosed. Johanna is survived by her sister Sheryl Silver who
has tirelessly worked to increase the information available regarding
gynecological cancers.
As former Chairman and Ranking Member of the Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, I led, along with
Senator Harkin, the effort to double funding for the National
Institutes of Health, NIH, over 5 years. Funding
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for the NIH has increased from $12 billion in fiscal year 1995 to $27
billion in fiscal year 2003. In 2004, the NIH, through the National
Cancer Institute provided $243 million for gynecological cancer
research. We must continue this growth to gain more information about
gynecological cancers so that we can find a cure for this cancer.
I believe this bill can provide desperately needed information to
physicians and individuals so that women can be diagnosed faster and
more effectively. I urge my colleagues to move this legislation forward
promptly.
Mr. President, 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. 3493
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. REAUTHORIZATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF JOHANNA'S LAW.
(a) In General.--Section 317P(d)(4) of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b-17(d)(4)) is amended by inserting
after ``2009'' the following: ``, $16,500,000 for the period
of fiscal years 2010 through 2012, and such sums as are
necessary for each subsequent fiscal year''.
(b) Collaboration With Nonprofit Gynecologic Cancer
Organizations.--Section 317P(d) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b-
17(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(5) Collaboration with nonprofit gynecologic cancer
organizations.--In carrying out the national campaign under
this subsection, the Secretary shall collaborate with the
leading nonprofit gynecologic cancer organizations, with a
mission both to conquer ovarian cancer nationwide and to
provide outreach to State and local governments and
communities, for the purpose of determining the best
practices for providing gynecologic cancer information and
outreach services to varied populations.''.
SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS REGARDING OUTREACH AND
EDUCATION STRATEGIES RELATING TO GYNECOLOGIC
CANCER.
(a) In General.--Section 317P of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 247b-17) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(e) Demonstration Projects Regarding Outreach and
Education Strategies.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out a program
to make grants to nonprofit private entities for the purpose
of carrying out demonstration projects to test different
outreach and education strategies to increase the awareness
and knowledge of women and health care providers with respect
to gynecologic cancers, including early warning signs, risk
factors, prevention, screening, and treatment options. Such
strategies shall include strategies directed at women and
their families, physicians, nurses, and key health
professionals.
``(2) Preferences in making grants.--In making grants under
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give preference to--
``(A) applicants with demonstrated expertise in gynecologic
cancer education or treatment or in working with groups of
women who are at especially high risk of gynecologic cancers;
and
``(B) applicants that, in the demonstration project funded
by the grant, will establish linkages between physicians,
nurses, and key health professionals, hospitals, payers, and
State health departments.
``(3) Application for grant.--A grant may be made under
paragraph (1) only if an application for the grant is
submitted to the Secretary and the application is in such
form, is made in such manner, and contains such agreements,
assurances, and information as the Secretary determines to be
necessary to carry out this subsection.
``(4) Certain requirements.--In making grants under
paragraph (1)--
``(A) the Secretary shall make grants to not fewer than
five applicants, subject to the extent of amounts made
available in appropriations Acts; and
``(B) the Secretary shall ensure that information provided
through demonstration projects under such grants is
consistent with the best available medical information.
``(5) Report to congress.--Not later than 6 months after
the date of the enactment of this subsection and annually
thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a
report that--
``(A) summarizes the activities of demonstration projects
under paragraph (1);
``(B) evaluates the extent to which the projects were
effective in increasing early detection of gynecologic
cancers and awareness of risk factors and early warning signs
in the populations to which the projects were directed; and
``(C) identifies barriers to early detection and
appropriate treatment of such cancers.
``(6) Authorization of appropriations.--
``(A) In general.--For purposes of carrying out this
subsection, there is authorized to be appropriated in the
aggregate $15,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2010
through 2012 and such sums as are necessary for each
subsequent fiscal year.
``(B) Administration, technical assistance, and
evaluation.--Of the amounts appropriated under subparagraph
(A), not more than 9 percent may be expended for the purpose
of administering this subsection, providing technical
assistance to grantees under this subsection, and preparing
the report under paragraph (5).''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Subsection (d)(3)(A) of such
section is amended by inserting ``(other than subsections
(e))'' after ``this section''.
____________________