[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 125 (Thursday, September 16, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7176-S7178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Ms. Collins):
S. 3794. A bill to amend chapter 5 of title 40, United States Code,
to include organizations whose membership comprises substantially
veterans as recipient organizations for the donation of Federal surplus
personal property through State agencies; to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, I am introducing bipartisan
legislation to add military veterans to the list of groups eligible to
receive excess property donations from the Federal Government. The
sacrifices that members of our armed forces make every day for us and
our country cannot be overstated, and I welcome any opportunity to
recognize their services. While this bill is a small token, it is
another effort to give back to our military veterans. I encourage the
Senate to act swiftly and pass this bill.
The FOR VETS Act will enable military veterans to receive surplus
goods donations through the Federal Government's property distribution
program. The types of property donated through this program include
computers, trucks, snowmobiles, home appliances, and electronics. These
are items that would be of good use to our military veterans, and which
they should have the opportunity to claim.
The administrator of General Services oversees this property
distribution program, which currently donates property to medical
institutions, providers of assistance to the homeless, universities,
and child care facilities, among others. Given the surplus of available
goods, military veterans' groups are simply being added into this pool
of recipients for goods that might otherwise go unused.
I am pleased to be joined by the Homeland Security and Government
Affairs Committee Ranking Member, Senator Collins, in sponsoring this
legislation. This is a bipartisan effort, as legislation to support our
veterans should always be, and I hope Congress will come together to
promptly send this legislation to the President to be signed into law.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent 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. 3794
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Formerly Owned Resources for
Veterans to Express Thanks for Service Act of 2010'' or ``FOR
VETS Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. RECIPIENTS OF CERTAIN FEDERAL SURPLUS PERSONAL
PROPERTY.
Section 549(c)(3)(B) of title 40, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in clause (viii), by striking ``or'' after the
semicolon;
(2) in clause (ix), by striking the period and inserting
``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(x) an organization whose membership comprises
substantially veterans (as defined under section 101 of title
38).''.
______
By Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Mr. Brownback):
S. 3798. A bill to authorize appropriations of United States
assistance to help eliminate conditions in foreign prisons and other
detention facilities that do not meet minimum human standards of
health, sanitation, and safety, and for other purposes; to the
Committee on Foreign Relations.
=========================== NOTE ===========================
On page S7176, September 16, 2010, in the third column, the
following appears: S. 3798. A bill to authorize appropriations of
United States assistance to help eliminate conditions in foreign
prisons and other detentions facilities that do not meet minimum
human standards of health, sanitation, and safety, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
The Record has been corrected to read: S. 3798. A bill to
authorize appropriations of United States assistance to help
eliminate conditions in foreign prisons and other detention
facilities that do not meet minimum human standards of health,
sanitation, and safety, and for other purposes; to the Committee
on Foreign Relations.
========================= END NOTE =========================
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am very pleased to join today with the
Senator from Kansas, Senator Brownback, in introducing a piece of
legislation that has already attracted broad support from across the
social and political spectrum.
This bill, titled the Foreign Prison Conditions Improvement Act of
2010, seeks to address a much neglected, global human rights problem--
the inhumane treatment of people in foreign prisons and other detention
facilities.
On any given day, millions of people are languishing in foreign
prisons, many awaiting trial not yet having been formally charged or
proven guilty of anything, deprived of their freedom for years longer
than they could have been sentenced to prison if convicted. Others
convicted of crimes, often after woefully unfair trials, including for
nothing more than peacefully expressing political or religious beliefs
or defending human rights. Regardless of their status they have one
thing in common. They are deprived of the most basic rights and
necessities--safe water, adequate food, essential medical care,
personal safety, and dignity.
Anyone who has been inside one of these facilities, or seen
photographs or the press reports of what they are like, understands
that I am talking about the mistreatment of human beings in ways that
are reminiscent of the Dark Ages.
A few examples are all that are needed to illustrate the point. In
Haiti's National Penitentiary before the January 12th earthquake, more
than 4,000 prisoners were confined in a space built for less than 900.
Many did not have room to lie down and had to sleep standing up.
Sanitation was practically non-existent. Deadly contagious diseases
were rampant. The overwhelming majority of inmates had never been
formally charged, never seen a lawyer or a judge. The earthquake
damaged the prison and the prison guards fled, leaving the inmates to
fend for themselves without food or water. They managed to get out, but
the squalid facility is quickly filling up again. Today I am told the
conditions there are worse than ever.
A recent newspaper article described how in Benin, in West Africa,
maggots digest the bodies of dead prisoners. The skin of prisoners is
ragged from the extraction of fly larvae, a scourge that is symptomatic
of the deplorable conditions. Many inmates suffer from tuberculosis,
scabies, parasites, lung infections or other illnesses. The prison in
[[Page S7177]]
Abomey, located in southern Benin, was built in 1904 to house a maximum
of 150 prisoners. These days, more than 1,000 are reportedly confined
there.
It is common in prisons from Central America to Central Africa to
Central Asia for inmates to be severely malnourished and to go for
months without being able to wash. Many prisoners depend for survival
on food brought to them by their relatives. In many countries
individuals awaiting trial, young and old, are housed together with
convicted, violent criminals.
Prisoners and other detainees in many countries are also routinely
victimized by poorly trained, abusive guards, who are virtually
unsupervised and unaccountable to any higher authority. Sexual abuse of
men, women and children is common.
A government commission in Cameroon reported that an average of five
prisoners die per month in a prison there, simply from lack of proper
medical care. Inmates in many countries suffer from HIV/AIDS and other
illnesses, in prisons with no medical records, where doctors do not
enter. Prisoners intentionally cut or otherwise harm themselves in the
hope of receiving medical attention for life-threatening illnesses. If
and when they are released, they infect the local population.
A recent New York Times article described how in Zambia prisoners are
punished by being stripped naked and held in solitary confinement in
small, windowless cells, sometimes for days on end, in ankle-to-calf-
high water contaminated with their own excrement. It is like something
out of The Count of Monte Cristo, only worse because it is happening in
the 21st Century.
But the article went on to describe how the Zambian Prison Service
completed its own internal audit, appointed a new medical director and
allowed human rights workers access to its facilities.
The bill Senator Brownback and I are introducing seeks to provide
incentives for those kinds of improvements. Our bill would do the
following:
First, it calls attention to this long ignored problem. Most people
know little if anything about what goes on inside foreign prisons, and
many would prefer not to know.
Second, it sets forth minimum standards for the elimination of
inhumane conditions in foreign prisons and other detention facilities,
such as human waste facilities that are sanitary and accessible, and
adequate ventilation, food, and safe drinking water.
Third, it requires the Secretary of State to report annually on those
countries that receive United States assistance that do not meet
minimum standards for the elimination of inhumane conditions but are
making significant efforts to comply, and those that are not making
such efforts.
Fourth, it encourages the Secretary and the Administrator of the U.S.
Agency for International Development to assist countries that are
making significant efforts to eliminate inhumane conditions. And for
those that are not, it requires the Secretary to enter into
negotiations with such governments to eliminate inhumane conditions. It
authorizes the Secretary and the Administrator to restructure,
reprogram, or reduce assistance, or to furnish or deny U.S. visas to
the officials of the government of such a country, if doing so would
help achieve that goal.
The bill also provides for training of Foreign Service Officers, and
creates a new full time equivalent Deputy Assistant Secretary position
at the Department of State's Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor to monitor foreign prison conditions, which has long been needed.
Finally, it authorizes the expenditure of funds to implement the
bill.
Once enacted, the Foreign Prison Conditions Improvement Act of 2010
will help foreign governments ensure that prisoners in their countries
are treated as any people deprived of their freedom should be--as human
beings, with dignity, in safety, and provided the basic necessities of
life.
In countries around the world, the United States is helping to reform
justice systems and strengthen the rule of law. No justice system can
claim to deliver justice if prisoners and other detainees are treated
like animals, or worse. By helping to change attitudes, and showing how
with relatively little money, conditions in a prison can be
dramatically improved, we can help advance the cause of justice more
broadly.
Millions of people around the world still look to the United States
as a defender of justice. This bill will further that goal, and it
reflects the best instincts of the American people.
This bill has already been endorsed by a wide range of groups,
including the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern
Baptist Convention, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch,
International Justice Mission, Open Society Policy Center, Penal Reform
International, Prison Fellowship, Jewish Council for Public Affairs,
National American Religious Liberty Association, United Methodist
Church General Board of Church and Society, National Advocacy Center of
the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Disciples Justice Action Network, and
the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bandais of the United States.
An identical bill is being introduced today in the House of
Representatives by Representatives William Delahunt and Joseph Pitts,
so this is a bipartisan, bicameral effort.
I want to thank Senator Brownback, and his staff, who have been
extremely helpful in the drafting and introduction of this bill. At a
time when some people seem to get satisfaction from calling Washington
broken, this is a tangible example of how two Senators, of different
parties, whose political views often differ, can work together in
furtherance of a just cause.
______
By Mr. AKAKA:
S. 3801. A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to increase
the maximum age for children eligible for medical care under the
CHAMPVA program, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs.
Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Veterans' Affairs, I am proposing a needed adjustment to current
eligibility requirements for children who receive health care under the
Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
CHAMPVA, established in 1973 within VA, provides health care services
to dependents and survivors of certain veterans. CHAMPVA enrollment has
grown steadily over the years and, as of fiscal year 2009, covers
nearly 336,300 unique beneficiaries. Servicemembers continue to deploy
and return home from Afghanistan and Iraq, and CHAMPVA plays a vital
role in caring for veterans' loved ones.
Under the current law, a dependent child loses eligibility for
CHAMPVA upon turning 18 years old, unless the child is enrolled in
school on a full time basis. Also, after losing full-time status at
school, or upon turning 23 years old, an eligible child of a veteran
would lose eligibility.
With the passage earlier this year of the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148, many veterans' families have
expressed concern regarding their own children's health care coverage.
The PPACA contains a provision that extends health insurance coverage
to dependent children until age 26. I believe it is only fair to afford
children who are CHAMPVA beneficiaries the same eligibility as
dependent children whose parents have private sector coverage. Though
this Congress is in its final month, we need to open the discussion on
this issue now so that, if we must wait until next year to act, we can
do so quickly.
My hope in introducing this legislation is to ensure that CHAMPVA
recipients, without regard to their type of coverage, student status,
or other limitation, are eligible for health care coverage under their
parent's plan in the same way as their peers. I urge my colleagues to
support this necessary modification.
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. 3801
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. INCREASE OF MAXIMUM AGE FOR CHILDREN ELIGIBLE FOR
MEDICAL CARE UNDER CHAMPVA PROGRAM.
(a) Increase.--Subsection (c) of section 1781 of title 38,
United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
[[Page S7178]]
``(c)(1) Notwithstanding clauses (i) and (iii) of section
101(4)(A) of this title and except as provided in paragraph
(2), for purposes of this section, a child who is eligible
for benefits under subsection (a) shall remain eligible for
benefits under this section until the child's 26th birthday,
regardless of the child's marital status.
``(2) Before January 1, 2014, paragraph (1) shall not apply
to a child who is eligible to enroll in an eligible employer-
sponsored plan (as defined in section 5000A(f)(2) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986).
``(3) This subsection shall not be construed to limit
eligibility for coverage of a child described in section
101(4)(A)(ii) of this title.''.
(b) Effective Date.--Such subsection, as so amended, shall
apply with respect to medical care provided on or after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
____________________