[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1586-S1587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. McCAIN:
  S. 2111. A bill to reauthorize the Yuma Crossing National Heritage 
Area; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I am please to introduce legislation that 
would reauthorize the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area located in 
Yuma, AZ. A companion bill is being introduced in the House of 
Representatives by Congressman Raul Grijalva and Congressman Ed Pastor 
from Arizona.
  The Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area is a unique success story in 
the National Heritage Areas, NHA, system. It was first authorized in 
2000 under legislation sponsored by myself and former Senator Jon Kyl, 
P.L. 106-319. Yuma Crossing NHA has proven to be a central component in 
a collaborative effort by local, tribal and federal partners to 
transform the City of Yuma downtown riverfront area and restore 
riparian habitat along the banks of the Colorado River. Like many other 
NHAs, it was established as a means of encouraging historic 
preservation at a local level without assigning large federal resources 
for the management of land as a National Park. The Yuma Crossing NHA 
model continues to involve a broad coalition of local businesses, 
farmers, and the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation 
among others.
  Yuma Crossing NHA was the first NHA to be established west of the 
Mississippi River. Its purpose is to preserve and share the history of 
the Yuma Crossing, which is a narrow granite outcropping on the 
Colorado River that for centuries served as the only transportation 
gateway for those traveling west to California, including Spanish 
missionaries, American pioneers, and gold rush prospectors. Prior to 
the completion of the transcontinental railroad in the 1860's, if you 
wanted to trade or travel to California, you had to go through Yuma 
Crossing.
  The NHA designation has enabled the City of Yuma to develop plans to 
leverage about $80 million in private investments, not Federal funding, 
for the revitalization of downtown Yuma and the historic landmark. The 
Yuma Crossing NHA also played a critical role in saving a former 
Arizona State Park unit, the historic Yuma Quartermaster Depot, which 
had closed and fallen into disrepair due to state budget cuts. 
Moreover, the Yuma Crossing NHA has led the way in a remarkable 
environmental project along the Colorado River known as the Yuma East 
Wetlands project, which aims to remove 1,400 acres of non-native, 
water-guzzling salt cedar thickets and re-vegetate the area with native 
willows, cottonwood, and mesquite trees. The 400 acres completed thus 
far has aided in the initial recovery of a number of endangered and 
migratory bird species, including the Yuma clapper rail, the yellow-
billed cuckoo, and the southwestern willow flycatcher.
  As a testament to its successes, the National Park Service has 
downgraded the Yuma Crossing historic landmark from Threatened to Watch 
status. However, more work remains to be done. For example, the Yuma 
East Wetlands project has secured a funding commitment from non-federal 
parties for the next fifty years. Because NHA's have an authorization 
period of 15 years, it's critical that Congress reauthorize the Yuma 
Crossing NHA before the end of Fiscal Year 2015 so that this effort 
continues uninterrupted. I understand there may be a need to offset the 
federal spending that's authorized by this legislation, and I hope to 
address this concern as the bill advances through the legislative 
process. I encourage my colleagues to support the passage of this bill.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Reed, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Brown, Mrs. 
        Feinstein, Mr. Markey, Mr. Casey, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Boxer, and 
        Mrs. Hagan):
  S. 2115. A bill to provide for the establishment of a fund to provide 
for an expanded and sustained national investment in biomedical 
research; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. DURBIN. 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. 2115

       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 ``American Cures Act''.

     SEC. 2. BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH FUND.

       (a) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this section to 
     establish a Biomedical Research Fund (referred to in this 
     section as the ``Fund''), to be administered by the Secretary 
     of the Treasury, to provide for an expanded and sustained 
     national investment in biomedical research through the 
     programs and agencies described in subsection (b)(2).
       (b) Use of Fund.--
       (1) In general.--For each fiscal year, amounts shall be 
     transferred from the Fund to the accounts related to the 
     programs and agencies described in paragraph (2) to ensure 
     that funding for such programs and agencies for such fiscal 
     year does not fall below 105 percent of the level of funding 
     provided for the fiscal year immediately preceding the

[[Page S1587]]

     fiscal year for which the determination is being made and an 
     additional amount to account for any increases in the Gross 
     Domestic Product for the year involved.
       (2) Agencies.--The programs and agencies described in this 
     paragraph are the following:
       (A) The National Institutes of Health.
       (B) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
       (C) The Department of Defense health program.
       (D) The medical and prosthetics research program of the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs.
       (c) Minimum Continued Funding Requirement.--Amounts 
     appropriated for each of the programs and agencies described 
     in subsection (b)(2) for a fiscal year shall not be less than 
     the amounts appropriated for such programs and agencies for 
     fiscal year 2014.
       (d) Funding.--There are hereby authorized to be 
     appropriated, and appropriated, to the Fund, out of any 
     monies in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums 
     as may be necessary in each fiscal year to enable the 
     transfers to be made in accordance with subsection (b)(1).
       (e) Transfer Authority.--The Committee on Appropriations of 
     the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
     of Representatives may provide for the transfer of funds in 
     the Fund to eligible programs and agencies under this 
     section, subject to subsection (b).
       (f) Exemption of Certain Payments From Sequestration.--
       (1) In general.--Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the Balanced 
     Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act (2 U.S.C. 
     905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting after ``Advances to the 
     Unemployment Trust Fund and Other Funds (16-0327-0-1-600).'' 
     the following:
       ``Biomedical Research Fund.''.
       (2) Applicability.--The amendment made by this section 
     shall apply to any sequestration order issued under the 
     Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 
     U.S.C. 900 et seq.) on or after the date of enactment of this 
     Act.

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