[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 14, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3030-S3032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. RISCH:
S. 2335. A bill to exempt certain 16- and 17-year-old children
employed in logging or mechanized operations from child labor laws; to
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, Senator Crapo and I would like to introduce
the Youth Careers in Logging Act. Small family logging companies, much
like family farms, rely on younger family members to help make their
companies successful. The agriculture industry enjoys exemptions from
child labor laws to allow for family members to learn the trade and
carry on the family business. This bill will provide those same
benefits for the logging industry.
The logging industry is struggling to recruit young employees. This
industry, like many others, has an aging work force that will soon
retire. Modern mechanized machinery opens up opportunities for a new
tech-savvy generation of loggers if we give them the chance.
There are 400 independent logging contractor businesses in Idaho,
most of which are family owned and operated. Current labor laws do not
allow the children of these family owned businesses to work and learn
in the same profession as their parents.
Should the Youth Careers in Logging Act be enacted, starting at the
age of 16 young adults will be allowed to operate safe and modern
machinery. These young loggers will help Idaho and the country to
create healthy, fire resilient forests and bring much needed natural
resources into our marketplace to help make paper and build homes.
By passing this legislation, Congress can help young adults earn good
wages through hard work in the great outdoors that will create a
generation of young Americans that understand the value of a great work
ethic.
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By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Mr. Franken, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs.
Feinstein, Mr. Begich, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Levin, and Mr.
Pryor):
S. 2337. A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to inter in national cemeteries
individuals who supported the United States in Laos during the Vietnam
War era; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President I have come to the floor today to
reintroduce a piece of legislation that I feel is long overdue. The
Hmong Veterans' Service Recognition Act is a bill to authorize the
interment in national cemeteries of Hmong veterans who served in
support of U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. Thousands of members of
the Hmong community fought for America during Vietnam yet they enjoy no
rights as veterans. The Hmong veterans are requesting to be buried in
national cemeteries and I, along with a bipartisan group of colleagues,
Senators Franken, Klobuchar, Feinstein, Begich, Whitehouse, and Pryor,
believe this is an appropriate honor.
To preserve Laos's neutrality during the Vietnam War, the U.S.,
Soviet Union, North Vietnam, and ten other countries signed the 1962
Geneva Declaration prohibiting all foreign military personnel from
Laos. While the U.S. and other countries withdrew all military
personnel, the North Vietnamese Army blatantly violated the Geneva
Declaration by keeping thousands of troops in Laos. Using Laotian
territory to circumvent borders, these NVA forces posed a direct threat
to America's military position in South Vietnam. Unable to be present
in Laos, but needing to counteract the NVA, America required a covert
military force. The Hmong were ideal candidates for America's secret
war--they were renowned as being brave fighters who knew the rocky
mountain terrain of Northern Laos well.
All told, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency conducted covert
operations in Laos which employed some 60,000 Hmong volunteers in
Special Guerilla Units. The Hmong Fighters interrupted operations on
the Ho Chi Minh trail and assisted in downed aircraft recovery
operations of American Airmen. In Laos, they valiantly fought the
Vietnamese and Laotian Communists for over a decade and were critical
to America's war efforts in Vietnam. In all, over 35,000 Hmong lost
their lives by the end of our involvement in Vietnam.
Since the end of the Vietnam War, thousands of Hmong and Lao families
have resettled around the United States to become legal permanent
residents or United States citizens and have greatly contributed to
American society. There are currently over 260,000 Hmong people in
America. According to the 2010 Census, the heaviest concentrations are
in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Michigan,
Colorado, Georgia, Oklahoma, Oregon, and my home State of Alaska.
Of the Hmong who became U.S. citizens, approximately 6,000 veterans
are
[[Page S3031]]
still with us today, and they deserve the choice to be buried in
national cemeteries. This concept is not without precedent. Currently,
burial benefits are available for Philippine Armed Forces veterans who
answered the call to serve during World War II, just like the Hmong.
This legislation would not grant the small group of Hmong veterans full
veteran benefits, but would simply authorize their interment in
national cemeteries across the Nation. A small, but deserved token of
appreciation and an appropriate honor for their sacrifices towards a
common goal of democracy and freedom in the world.
This new legislation is improved from the previous version, S. 200,
in that it connects with Public Law 106-207: The Hmong Veterans'
Naturalization Act of 2000 which acknowledges Hmong Special Guerilla
Unit's contributions during Vietnam and provides a path to validation
of a Hmong veteran's service for the purpose of naturalization. Public
Law already recognizes the service of Hmong Special Guerilla Unit
veterans for the purpose of naturalization, so it is a natural
connection to afford them burial rights as well.
Hmong-Americans who fought and risked their lives in secret for
America deserve the same public respect and honor we give the men and
women they served with and rescued. I believe it's time to honor the
service and sacrifice of Hmong Special Guerilla Unit Veterans by
allowing them to be buried alongside their brothers in arms in our
national cemeteries. Again, I appreciate the support of my colleagues
from across the aisle for this legislation and look forward to working
with them and others in the Senate to finally getting this approved
into law this year.
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. 2337
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 ``Hmong Veterans' Service
Recognition Act''.
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY FOR INTERMENT IN NATIONAL CEMETERIES.
(a) In General.--Section 2402(a) of title 38, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(10) Any individual--
``(A) who--
``(i) was naturalized pursuant to section 2(1) of the Hmong
Veterans' Naturalization Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-207; 8
U.S.C. 1423 note); and
``(ii) at the time of the individual's death resided in the
United States; or
``(B) who--
``(i) the Secretary determines served with a special
guerrilla unit or irregular forces operating from a base in
Laos in support of the Armed Forces of the United States at
any time during the period beginning February 28, 1961, and
ending May 7, 1975; and
``(ii) at the time of the individual's death--
``(I) was a citizen of the United States or an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United
States; and
``(II) resided in the United States.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this Act shall
apply with respect to an individual dying on or after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
______
By Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Enzi, Mr. McCain,
Mr. Coburn, and Mr. Chambliss):
S. 2339. A bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act to require States with failed American Health Benefit Exchanges to
reimburse the Federal Government for amounts provided under grants for
the establishment and operation of such Exchanges; to the Committee on
Finance.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, yesterday I came to the floor to address
remarks made by the majority leader. Just yesterday the majority leader
came to the floor and said the Republicans were ``going quiet'' on
health care. Senator Reid said ObamaCare is no longer high on the
Republicans' radar screen. Yesterday I said that it was certainly still
very high on my radar screen and that Republicans have every intention
of continuing to focus on the Democrats' health care law and all of its
harmful side effects.
Americans all across the country have been feeling those damaging
side effects of the President's health care law, and the side effects
are getting worse. Hard-working middle-class families who didn't want
this health care law in the first place are facing higher premiums.
They are facing smaller paychecks. They are facing fewer jobs, fewer
doctors, and many other problems as a result specifically of the
President's health care law.
Today I want to talk about another side effect of the law; that is,
the millions, if not billions, of taxpayer dollars that have been
absolutely wasted by bureaucrats who set up State health insurance
exchanges that have failed. Under the health care law, States could
choose to set up their own exchange or to use the Federal exchange.
States got Federal grants to help plan which one they would do. If a
State decided to set up its own exchange, it got even more money from
Washington to cover the costs.
So how much money are we talking about? Well, according to the
Congressional Research Service, the Federal Government has awarded
grants of over $7.4 billion as of this March.
People all across the country know the Federal exchange was an
absolute train wreck when it was launched. In one State after another,
the State exchanges also have been collapsing and costing taxpayers a
fortune. Now some of those States have absolutely given up. They have
decided they want to scrap their own systems and go into the Federal
exchange after all--an option they had at first, but they decided to go
first to the State exchange and now it has failed. What they have done
is they have spent a lot of taxpayer money--money Washington sent to
them. Where is the money? The money is gone. Their system doesn't work,
and now what they want to do is have a fresh start.
President Obama says Democrats should forcefully defend and be proud
of the law. I want to see where the people are now coming to the floor
to forcefully defend and be proud of this health care law.
I ask the President--is he proud that these ObamaCare exchanges are
failing all across the country? Are Democrats who voted for this health
care law ready to forcefully defend all the taxpayer dollars that we
now know have been wasted? Democrats don't want to talk about the law's
expensive side effects or about the Americans harmed by the law.
Republicans have been offering solutions. Today Senator Hatch and I
are introducing legislation that would address these State failures and
protect taxpayers. After all, that is what Americans want. They want
accountability for their hard-earned taxpayer dollars. This bill,
called the State Exchange Accountability Act, says that if the State
got Federal money to set up its own exchange and later decided to give
up and move back on to the Federal exchange, it would have to pay back
the money. It is that simple. Taxpayers shouldn't have to pay twice for
the mistakes of incompetent State bureaucrats who couldn't set up a
working health care exchange. States would have 10 years to pay back
the grants. They would have to pay them back in full. I know State
budgets are tight, so they wouldn't have to come up with the whole
amount all at once. They would pay back 10 percent of the total each
year for the next 10 years. These States that walk away from their
exchanges are conceding that they wasted the money they received, and
it is only fair that these States should repay the American taxpayers.
The failure of these exchanges and the money squandered on them was a
side effect of the health care law. Democrats told States they could
set up these exchanges and Washington would pay the bill. So some
States didn't really care what it cost. They didn't care if the work
was being done well or even done at all. As far as they were concerned,
don't worry, whether it works or not it is somebody else's money.
Well, this bill I am introducing today tells these State
bureaucracies that it is time for them to care about the money they
have wasted. This won't fix all of the harmful side effects the
Democrats created with the health care law, but it is a start, and it
is the right thing to do.
If you want a sense of how big the problem is, look at an article
that ran in Politico on Monday this week. The headline is ``Four States
in a Fix Over Their Troubled Exchanges.'' The article talks about four
State exchanges
[[Page S3032]]
that basically embraced ObamaCare: Massachusetts, Maryland, Nevada,
Oregon. It says that these four State exchanges spent at least $474
million and ``are now in shambles.''
Look at it--Maryland, $118 million; Massachusetts, $57 million;
Nevada, $51 million; for Oregon, $248 million of taxpayer money from
around the country was sent to Oregon for programs that are now in
shambles. So now some of these States want even more money to fix what
has gone wrong in the first place.
According to Politico, Maryland spent $118 million to set up its own
exchange, and State officials did such a bad job that they are now
planning to scrap the whole thing and use software from Connecticut's
exchange. Massachusetts spent $57 million. Politico called the program
in Massachusetts ``fatally crippled.'' Nevada spent $51 million.
Politico says salvaging that exchange ``would be a huge feat.'' Oregon
spent $248 million to set up its own exchange. It was such a
spectacular failure that CNBC ran a headline on May 5 stating ``FBI
probing Oregon's ObamaCare exchange.'' The FBI is probing the exchange.
The State plans to use the Federal exchange from now on, getting rid of
their State exchange. That is the kind of double-dipping our bill goes
after.
Why should Democrats in Washington, DC, be telling taxpayers across
America that they have to pay for the failures of State officials in
Massachusetts, Nevada, Maryland, Oregon, and other States that may find
themselves in the same situation?
Democrats have said and the President continues to say that he wants
everyone to have a fair shot. Are Americans from other States who have
to pay higher taxes because of these failed exchanges getting a fair
shot? Well, they are not.
Our bill will start to give a fair shot to Americans who don't want
to pay twice to bail out incompetent State bureaucrats. It will give a
fair shot to Americans who want to reclaim some of their hard-earned
taxpayer dollars.
This is just one of many ideas Republicans have offered and will
continue to offer to create a patient-centered approach to health care.
The plans we have offered will solve the biggest problems families
face, which is the cost of care and access to care, problems that seem
to have been ignored when Democrats forced this law through Congress.
That means measures that would allow small businesses to pull together
in order to buy health insurance for employees. Small businesses
deserve a fair shot. It means letting people shop for health insurance
that works for them and their families--not what the government says is
best for them but what they say is best for themselves and their
families. People deserve a fair shot at buying a plan that is best for
themselves and their families. It means adequately funding State high-
risk pools that help people get insurance--people who have disease,
people who are sick--without raising the costs for healthier people.
These are just a few of the solutions Republicans have offered and
continue to offer to give Americans real health care reform and a real
fair shot, health care reform that gives people the care they need from
a doctor they choose at lower costs, without all of the harmful and
expensive ObamaCare side effects.
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