[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 124 (Thursday, September 19, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6632-S6634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           RESPONSIBLE HELIUM ADMINISTRATION AND STORAGE ACT

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the energy committee 
is discharged from further consideration of H.R. 527 and the Senate 
will proceed to the immediate consideration of the bill, which the 
clerk will report by title.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 527) to amend the Helium Act to complete the 
     privatization of the Federal helium reserve in a competitive 
     market fashion that ensures stability in the helium markets 
     while protecting the interests of American taxpayers, and for 
     other purposes.


                           Amendment No. 1960

  (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the substitute 
amendment, No. 1960, is agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 15 
minutes of debate equally divided between the Senator from Oregon, Mr. 
Wyden, and the Senator from Texas, Mr. Cruz, or their designees.
  The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, as I said this morning, Washington, DC, 
seems to have an inexhaustible capacity to manufacture false crises. I 
am here to say that this is not one of them. If the Congress does not 
act immediately to pass the legislation Senator Murkowski and I advance 
today, scores of

[[Page S6633]]

American manufacturing and technology companies employing millions of 
American workers are going to find it impossible to continue their 
current operations.
  Our government got involved with helium after World War I because the 
defense sector needed it. Ever since, President after President and 
Congress after Congress has tried to come up with a policy that gets 
government out of the helium business while still meeting the needs of 
our middle-class workers, our businesses, and our taxpayers.
  Senator Murkowski and I are here to say that our bipartisan bill does 
that. The reality also is that it raises some revenue. With that 
revenue, we will be able to meet--we talked about it in the committee--
ongoing needs, particularly for folks hurting in rural communities 
where the Federal Government owns most of the land. They are concerned 
about their schools and their police and their roads. And because of 
the good work by colleagues on the other side of the aisle--
particularly Senators Risch and Flake--we were able to secure an 
additional $51 million to pay down the deficit.
  We have 7 minutes on each side. I know colleagues are anxious to 
vote. I yield time to Senator Murkowski. I thank Senator Cruz for his 
courtesy in this matter. I would yield to Senator Murkowski. I would 
urge all colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this 
legislation that came out of our committee unanimously.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, thanks to the chairman of our energy 
committee, we have been working on this legislation for some time now--
a couple of years. As the chairman has noted, what we are doing with 
the reauthorization of this Helium Program is we are getting the 
government out of the business of helium. We are on our way to 
completing a process that has been underway effectively in Congress 
since 1996.
  We have an opportunity today to do the right thing, but we also have 
a very clear opportunity to make sure that we do not have a helium 
crisis, that we do not see a disruption in supply. That is effectively 
what could happen if we here in the Senate do not act quickly and work 
with the House to get this resolved before an October 1 deadline. So 
that is the imperative to take this vote this afternoon and move it 
across the line so we can conclude our business as it relates to the 
Helium Program. This is significant. It is important. We have a chance 
to make a difference. We can prevent a massive disruption to the helium 
supply chain.
  We recognize that when we are talking about helium, it is not just 
party balloons; we are truly talking about an impact on our high-tech 
sector, our manufacturing sector, so many sectors of our economy that 
are reliant and dependent on helium. We should also finish the business 
we started back in 1996--fully privatize the helium business so that 
the government is out of the way. Truly, what we are doing is making 
sure helium supplies are determined by market forces.
  As the chairman has noted, we need to address other priorities here 
in the Congress. We have done that with the revenues and the 
distribution that the chairman has outlined and that I have outlined 
previously here on the floor, and at the same time we have seen fit to 
direct a good portion of revenues toward deficit reduction. These are 
good, responsible decisions.
  Our legislation here in the Senate differs from what our counterparts 
in the House have done. We end the government's intervention or 
activities within the helium business. We have a thoughtful glidepath 
out.
  It is legislation that is not only thoughtful, it is bipartisan. It 
moved through the energy committee unanimously. I am pleased to be able 
to stand here today with the chairman of the energy committee urging 
colleagues to support this critically important legislation.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President. I rise today in support of H.R. 527, the 
Helium Stewardship Act, as amended by the Wyden substitute. This bill 
is very important to protecting the U.S. supply of helium. Helium is 
used in MRI scanners, superconductors, and has many other very 
important uses. For example, helium is even used to test mechanical 
heart valves to make sure they don't leak.
  Helium also has important security implications. It is used by DoD, 
NASA, and other agencies. The bill helps those efforts by extending the 
authority of the Secretary of the Interior to sell helium from the 
Federal Helium Reserve.
  The bill also includes important reforms such as provisions ensuring 
that the Secretary sells helium at market prices, and most importantly, 
it gets the Federal Government out of the helium business once and for 
all.
  The bill would also reduce the Federal debt and deficit by $51 
million. The bill has bipartisan support. In June, the Energy Committee 
voted to report the helium bill by voice vote. The Senate should pass 
this bill as soon as possible so we have an opportunity to negotiate 
with the House.
  I understand that some of my colleagues had some concerns with the 
bill. I appreciate them giving me the opportunity to speak with them 
before the vote about those concerns. I also thank my colleagues for 
agreeing to allow this bill to come to a vote. While I do not support 
every item in the bill, I believe it is a critical piece of legislation 
that needs to be passed.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise in support of the substitute 
amendment to H.R. 527, the Responsible Helium Administration and 
Stewardship Act, which would reauthorize the Federal Helium Reserve and 
extend its operation for commercial sales. This bill prevents a severe 
disruption to the Nation's helium supply which threatens critical 
industries, hospitals, national security, and scientific research.
  I would like to thank Chairman Wyden, Ranking Member Murkowski, and 
their staffs for excellent work on this bill, which would ensure 
continued access to helium so that New York hospitals, our successful 
chip industry, and other high-tech companies will not go over the 
helium cliff, while making critical reforms to the sale process and 
reducing the deficit. Passage of this bill will prevent shortages for 
businesses and hospitals as well as skyrocketing prices that would have 
resulted from closure of the Federal Helium Reserve on October 7.
  Helium's unique physical and chemical properties have made it 
critical to the manufacturing of a broad range of technologies from 
aerospace to semiconductors, medical devices, and fiber optics. It is 
also widely used in medical research, cutting-edge science, and 
hospital care. Helium is also essential to our national security, as 
the Department of Defense relies on it for a range of weapons systems 
and intelligence applications.
  Here is just a sampling of how critical helium is.
  MRI scanners at hospitals use helium to cool powerful magnets. 
Without helium, $2 million machines couldn't be operated without risk 
of damage.
  Semiconductors cannot be made without helium, which serves as an 
essential coolant during the manufacturing process. Semiconductors are 
the core of all electronics embedded in cars, computers, health 
devices, weapons systems, nuclear reactors, et cetera. A robust supply 
of helium allows American semiconductor manufacturers, like 
GlobalFoundries and IBM, to create good-paying, high-tech jobs in 
upstate New York.
  The production of optical fiber--the backbone of all telecom 
infrastructure--uses helium to prevent impurities.
  The Department of Defense uses significant quantities of helium as 
part of the guidance correction systems for air-to-air missiles used by 
our military. It also relies on it for surveillance of combat terrain, 
helping protect our troops.
  Our DOE National Laboratories, such as Brookhaven National Laboratory 
in my State, relies on helium for cutting--edge science.
  Failure to act would hurt our economic competitiveness, cause job 
losses, and harm our national security when we can least afford it.
  If we don't reauthorize the Reserve, we would have to get helium from 
one of two places: Russia or the Middle East, the only other regions in 
the world producing it.
  I strongly urge my colleagues in the Senate to support this important 
legislation and I look forward to its swift passage.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.

[[Page S6634]]

  Mr. WYDEN. I thank my colleague from Alaska for all of her work. We 
await our colleague from Texas who would like to speak.
  How much time remains on our side?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 2\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. WYDEN. Let me yield 1 minute at this time to our friend who in 
the House had begun working on this literally years ago. I thank the 
Senator from Massachusetts for all of his efforts.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Oregon. This bill 
is something that shows we can work across the lines of politics in 
this institution.
  I began this bill with Doc Hastings, a Republican from Washington 
State, in the House of Representatives a year ago. It passed over 
there. Now it is over here in the Senate, and the same kind of 
bipartisanship is working to pass this critical bill which is central 
for companies like Siemens, Philips, and GE just in Massachusetts that 
support thousands of jobs in the high-tech sector.
  There was a shutdown that was looming, but it was a shutdown in the 
helium industry. This is one shutdown that we are going to make sure 
does not happen. I thank the chairman for making this possible because 
it took a lot of leadership to make sure that House bill, the Hastings-
Markey bill, is now over here, and it has been solved in a way that 
every Member should feel very comfortable voting yes for because it 
really is going to solve a big problem that was going to hit our high-
tech industry in the United States.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I believe we have 1\1/2\ minutes left. 
Let's go to Senator Cruz, and then hopefully we can vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I am going to be brief and not take my 
entire time. I think the underlying extension and reform of the Helium 
Program in this bill is a good provision. It maintains the program. 
Helium is critical for our businesses, for our industry, for our high-
tech community. So I salute the Senator from Oregon and the Senator 
from Alaska for working together.
  As written, the Senate bill raises $500 million over 10 years in new 
revenue. The House bill took the revenue raised by this program and put 
it to deficit reduction and reducing our debt. The Senate bill--I think 
unfortunately--instead of using the revenue for deficit reduction, uses 
$400 of the $500 million for new spending.
  I raised internally an objection and asked my colleagues if they 
would consider reducing spending in other parts of the budget to 
balance it given that we have nearly a $17 trillion national debt. I 
think the more fiscally responsible thing to do, if we have $500 
million in new revenue, is to use it to pay down the deficit and the 
debt.
  We have worked together in a bipartisan way to allow this to come to 
a vote. I thank the Senator from Oregon for agreeing to do that. I 
intend to vote no, but I am hopeful that in conference committee 
perhaps the House and Senate can work together to take care of the 
important concerns with the Helium Program but at the same time 
demonstrate some additional fiscal responsibility, which I think would 
be a win-win for everyone.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, we have a minute and a half. I will be very 
brief. I thank the Senator from Texas for his courtesy.
  The bottom line is that the House bill, which the Senator is calling 
for, does not get the government out of the helium business. That is 
the single most important distinction. We are reaching out to all those 
hard-hit middle-class workers in aerospace and tech and a whole host of 
industries. We are doing it in a way that protects taxpayers. It gets 
the government out of the helium business.
  This legislation passed the Energy and Natural Resources Committee 
unanimously. I urge my colleagues to vote yes.
  I ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back and the Senate 
now proceed to vote on the passage of the bill, as amended.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question is on the engrossment of the amendment and third reading 
of the bill.
  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill was read the third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill having been read the third time, the 
question is, Shall the bill pass?
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a 
sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Florida (Mr. Rubio).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Hirono). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 97, nays 2, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 203 Leg.]

                                YEAS--97

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Boxer
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Chiesa
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Flake
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson (WI)
     Kaine
     King
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Lee
     Levin
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Paul
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Toomey
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                                NAYS--2

     Cruz
     Sessions
       
       

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Rubio
       
  The bill (H.R. 527), as amended, was passed.

                          ____________________