[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.
                                 ______
                                 
      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.
                                 ______
                                 
      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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