[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 18 (Monday, February 7, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S615-S617]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. LUGAR:
S. 293. A bill to modify the authority to use Cooperative Threat
Reduction funds for proliferation threat reduction projects and
activities outside the states of the former Soviet Union; to the
Committee on Armed Services.
Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, today I introduce the Nunn-Lugar Global
Cooperative Threat Reduction Improvement Act of 2011.
For many years, I have labored to ensure that the global Nunn-Lugar
program has the flexibility it needs. Now that the global Nunn-Lugar
program has begun to undertake important biological threat reduction
campaigns in Africa and other regions, I believe the need has arisen to
reexamine the authorities we have provided to the program to ensure
that it can effectively implement projects around the globe. These
projects protect the American people from nuclear, chemical and
biological proliferation.
The record of the global Nunn-Lugar program has been impressive. The
results now total: 7,599 strategic nuclear warheads deactivated; 791
intercontinental ballistic missiles, ICBMs, destroyed; 498 ICBM silos
eliminated; 180
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ICBM mobile launchers destroyed; 669 submarine launched ballistic
missiles, SLBMs, eliminated; 492 SLBM launchers eliminated; 32 nuclear
submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles destroyed; 155
bombers eliminated; 906 nuclear air-to-surface missiles, ASMs,
destroyed; 194 nuclear test tunnels eliminated; and 507 nuclear weapons
transport train shipments secured. We have also upgraded security at 24
nuclear weapons storage sites; built and equipped 20 biological
monitoring stations; and neutralized 1,742 metric tons of Russian and
Albanian chemical weapons agent.
In addition to authorities to operate worldwide, the global Nunn-
Lugar program has been granted much needed flexibility in carrying out
its mission. The global Nunn-Lugar program has been granted
notwithstanding authority to spend up to 10 percent of annual program
funds notwithstanding any other provision of law. The Secretary of
Defense has the authority to accept funds from foreign governments and
other entities to contribute to activities carried out under the global
Nunn-Lugar program.
This flexibility came after more than a decade of work to eliminate
annual certifications on global Nunn-Lugar assistance that hampered the
ability of the United States to use the global Nunn-Lugar program
quickly and effectively. The certification and waiver processes
consumed hundreds of man-hours of work by the State Department, the
Intelligence Community, the Pentagon, as well as other departments and
agencies. I argued that this time could be better spent tackling the
proliferation threats facing our country. Former Under Secretary of
State Bob Joseph noted during his confirmation process that, at the
time, more than a dozen individual steps were required in the State
Department alone to complete these annual certifications and waivers.
After a strong vote in the Senate, Congress eliminated these annual
certifications.
In 2003, I sought authority to use Nunn-Lugar funds outside states of
the former Soviet Union. This was favored by the Bush administration.
The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2004, as amended
by the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2008,
provides that the Secretary of Defense may spend Nunn-Lugar/Cooperative
Threat Reduction funds for a proliferation threat reduction project or
activity outside the states of the former Soviet Union if the Secretary
of Defense, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, determines
that such projects or activities will assist the United States in the
resolution of a critical emerging proliferation threat or permit the
United States to take advantage of opportunities to achieve long-
standing nonproliferation goals. The law specifies that the Secretary
of Defense may not obligate funds for projects or activities until the
Secretary of State concurs in a determination regarding these projects
and activities and in notifying Congress. The Secretary of State is
also involved in subsequent steps before the global Nunn-Lugar program
can put boots on the ground.
Unfortunately, the State Department has not been efficient in
carrying out concurrences required by existing law. It is troubling
that, after eliminating the lengthy certification processes of the
1990s, equally burdensome and ultimately un-executable interagency
concurrence, determination and notification processes for the global
Nunn-Lugar program are limiting accomplishments.
The bill I introduce today remedies this situation by providing that
the Secretary of Defense be given sole authority regarding global Nunn-
Lugar funds--to include making all relevant determinations and
notifications to Congress. Originally, this authority had been given to
the President. I worked to delegate it to the Secretary of Defense.
When it was given by Congress to the Secretary of Defense, State
Department officials insisted they had a role in the process. We have
now had time to observe how this works in practice, and the result is
clear: it does not function in a manner consistent with the intent of
law. Congress clearly intended that efficiency and immediacy accompany
this authority.
I do not believe that reserving this authority to the Secretary of
Defense means that the State Department does not play a role in other
efforts; however, in the reorganized non-proliferation and arms control
bureaus who oversee these matters within the State Department, as well
as in its regional bureaus, it is the case that simply adding
bureaucratic boxes to check has had little positive result. Too often,
bureaucratic politics and inertia have intervened to prevent timely
success.
We must work to ensure that our implementers have the tools and
authorities they need to perform their missions in the Defense
Department. It is to this end that I offer this simple bill. I look
forward to working with Chairman Levin and Ranking Member McCain on the
Armed Services Committee on this legislation.
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By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Ms. Snowe):
S. 297. A bill to amend section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934
to provide that funds received as universal service contributions and
the universal service support programs established pursuant to that
section are not subject to certain provisions of title 31, United
States Code, commonly known as the Antideficiency Act; to the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, today, along with my colleague
Senator Snowe of Maine, I am introducing legislation to exempt
universal service contributions and the universal service support
programs from what is commonly referred to as the Antideficiency Act.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 demonstrated our long-standing
commitment to ensuring the availability of telecommunications to all
Americans at reasonable prices. This concept known as universal service
has been the responsibility of the Federal Communications Commission,
FCC, since its beginnings in 1934. As a result of the 1996 Act, the
Universal Service Fund, USF, was established in 1997. This fund is
administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company, USAC,
whose Board of Directors is appointed by the Chairman of the FCC.
USAC administers the High Cost, Low Income, Rural Health Care, and
Schools and Libraries, E-rate, universal service programs. USAC makes
commitments, through letters, to schools for each school year under FCC
rules, and it is obviously important these commitments be made before
the beginning of the school year to assist schools in their planning
processes and achievement of educational goals. The letters of
commitment are based upon funds the USF is authorized to collect, and
the USF can adjust the contribution factor quarterly to ensure its
receipts.
While the USF receives no Federal monies, FCC staff directed USAC in
late September 2004 to treat E-rate and Rural Health Care commitment
letters as government obligations subject to ADA requirements. Among
the ADA requirements is the demand for cash on hand to cover all
obligations. This requirement disrupted the distribution of funds for
four months. Congress realized how ill-advised it is to subject these
funds to the ADA and enacted legislation to provide for a one-year
exemption of the USF from the ADA, through December 31, 2005, and this
exemption has been extended for one-year increments in each subsequent
year. The current extension expires December 31, 2011. Congress has
made permanent similar exemptions for at least fourteen different
programs, and we believe the time has come to end these annual one-year
extensions and simply make the exemption permanent. This will allow
USAC to continue administering these important programs in the most
sensible and effective way.
It is important to understand that there is precedence to provide a
permanent exemption. There are 14 agencies that currently have a
permanent exemption for the ADA, including the Federal Aviation
Administration, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration.
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By Ms. STABENOW:
S. 298. A bill to drive American innovation and advanced vehicle
manufacturing, to reduce costs for consumers, and for other purposes;
to the Committee on Finance.
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Charging
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America Forward Act, based on similar legislation I offered last year,
to drive innovation and advance vehicle manufacturing and to lower
costs for consumers when they buy these great new cars and trucks of
the future which, by the way, I would remind folks are being made in
Michigan. So we want people to be buying those automobiles.
In his State of the Union Address, President Obama called on us to
rise to the challenge of the 21st-century economy to outinnovative,
outeducate, and outbuild the rest of the world. We can do that.
He also challenged us to put 1 million electric vehicles on the road
by 2015. The bill I have introduced today will help us achieve that
goal. By investing in electric vehicle innovation, we can create the
jobs of the future in America. We are already creating those jobs in
Michigan with these investments.
We all know new technologies are always the most expensive, which is
why we passed a tax credit of up to $7,500 on the purchase of a new
electric vehicle. My bill makes that work even better for consumers. It
turns that credit into a rebate that can be used at the time of
purchase so that when you by a car, you would get up to the $7,500 off
at the beginning, at the dealership, rather than waiting until you fill
out your tax forms the next year.
Right now there is a cap on how many people can take advantage of
these credits. My bill would double that so more people can get the
savings from these particular credits and buy these new, great
vehicles. Right now, when we see gas prices anticipated to rise like
crazy into the summer, wouldn't it be great if you had an automobile
that went 200 or 300 miles on a gallon of gas, or maybe didn't need any
gas at all? That is what this is about.
The bill also increases investments in battery technology and
innovation. We know that by supporting American innovation and
manufacturing, we can bring jobs back. In fact, we are bringing jobs
back from other countries because of what we have been doing through
our investment efforts in the Recovery Act, and we can continue to
create jobs in manufacturing in America.
We have invested $2 billion in the Recovery Act toward advanced
batteries--the kind of batteries that power these electric vehicles.
Before we made that investment, the United States made 2 percent of the
world's advanced batteries. In just 4 years, because of that
investment, we will be making 40 percent of the world's advanced
batteries. That is a big deal, an effective investment.
My bill calls for doubling this smart investment and building on
these partnerships to create even more jobs. We want to make our
country the undisputed leader in advanced battery technology,
manufacturing, and development, and we are on the way to doing that. We
need to keep focused and we will get there.
The Charging America Forward Act also extends a tax credit for
businesses that purchase hybrid medium and heavy-duty trucks. This will
help keep those technologies more affordable for our companies and job
creators, in addition to the savings they will get from better fuel
efficiency.
The bill extends an important tax credit to support charging
stations, so we have the infrastructure needed in our homes or in our
garages to be able to power the electric vehicles.
Innovation is the reason America has the strongest economy in the
world, even with our challenges. We have always been the leader. To
compete in the 21st century economy, we need a strong, vibrant
investment strategy, an economy that looks to the future, not the past.
That is what Charging America Forward is all about. With the right
investments, we can create jobs today that will last for years and
years to come.
We are in a race for the future. We need to outcompete our global
competitors around the world. We can do that. We will do that if we out
innovate, outeducate, and outbuild. That is what this legislation is
about--investing in the future to win that race, investing in advanced
vehicles so we can get to that future we all want.
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