[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

[[Page S4942]]

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''.

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