[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 107 (Thursday, July 10, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4406-S4417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
______
By Mr. NELSON (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. Boxer, Mr.
Brown, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Markey, Mr. Merkley, Mr.
Pryor, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. Bennet):
S. 2581. A bill to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to
promulgate a rule to require child safety packaging for liquid nicotine
containers, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation.
Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, we all recognize the danger that many
hazardous chemicals and over-the-counter drugs pose to children. That's
why we require child-resistant packaging for these substances to
prevent accidental poisonings that could result in serious injury or
death.
Unfortunately, there is no child-resistant packaging required for
concentrated liquid nicotine, which can be toxic if ingested or even
absorbed through skin in large amounts. According to the American
Academy of Pediatrics, AAP, some small 15 mL bottles of liquid nicotine
contain as much as 540 mg of nicotine. At the estimated lethal dose
range of nicotine, AAP notes that this small bottle contains enough
nicotine to kill 4 small children. And even a very small amount of the
liquid splashed on a child's skin can make the child very ill.
The American Association of Poison Control Centers, AAPCC, reports
that local poison control centers had already received 1,571 calls
between January 1 and May 31 of this year related to liquid nicotine
exposure. According to some experts who study nicotine exposure, it's
only a matter of time before an accidental nicotine ingestion results
in death.
Today I am introducing the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act
with Senators Pryor, Bennet, Blumenthal, Boxer, Brown, Durbin, Harkin,
Markey, Merkley, and Schumer to prevent these unnecessary tragedies.
This common-sense legislation gives the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission, CPSC, authority and direction to issue rules requiring
safer, child-resistant packaging for liquid nicotine products within 1
year of passage.
The CPSC already requires child-resistant packaging for many
household products, including over-the-counter medicines and cleaning
agents. These rules have prevented countless injuries and deaths to
children. There is no reason that bottles of liquid nicotine should not
also be required to have child-resistant packaging as well.
I invite my colleagues to join us to support the Child Nicotine
Poisoning Prevention Act. Working together, we can take simple steps to
prevent accidental child nicotine poisonings.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 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. 2581
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 ``Child Nicotine Poisoning
Prevention Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. CHILD SAFETY PACKAGING FOR LIQUID NICOTINE
CONTAINERS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Consumer
Product Safety Commission.
(2) Liquid nicotine container.--The term ``liquid nicotine
container'' means a consumer product, as defined in section
3(a)(5) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C.
2052(a)(5)) notwithstanding subparagraph(B) of such section,
that consists of a container that--
(A) has an opening that is accessible through normal and
reasonably foreseeable use by a consumer; and
(B) is used to hold liquid containing nicotine in any
concentration.
(3) Nicotine.--The term ``nicotine'' means any form of the
chemical nicotine, including any salt or complex, regardless
of whether the chemical is naturally or synthetically
derived.
(4) Special packaging.--The term ``special packaging'' has
the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Poison
Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (15 U.S.C. 1471).
(b) Required Use of Special Packaging for Liquid Nicotine
Containers.--
(1) Rulemaking.--
(A) In general.--Notwithstanding section 3(a)(5)(B) of the
Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)(5)(B)) or
section 2(f)(2) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15
U.S.C. 1261(f)(2)), not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate a
rule requiring special packaging for liquid nicotine
containers.
(B) Amendments.--The Commission may promulgate such
amendments to the rule promulgated under subparagraph (A) as
the Commission considers appropriate.
(2) Expedited process.--The Commission shall promulgate the
rules under paragraph (1) in accordance with section 553 of
title 5, United States Code.
(3) Inapplicability of certain rulemaking requirements.--
The following provisions shall not apply to a rulemaking
under paragraph (1):
(A) Sections 7 and 9 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15
U.S.C. 2056 and 2058).
(B) Section 3 of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15
U.S.C. 1262).
(C) Subsections (b) and (c) of section 3 of the Poison
Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (15 U.S.C. 1472).
(4) Savings clause.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to limit or diminish the authority of the Food and
Drug Administration to regulate the manufacture, marketing,
sale, or distribution of liquid nicotine, liquid nicotine
containers, electronic cigarettes, or similar products that
contain or dispense liquid nicotine.
______
By Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. Portman, and Mr. Warner):
S. 2584. A bill to amend the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical
Education Act of 2006 to raise the quality of career and technical
education programs and to allow local eligible recipients to use
funding to establish high-quality career academics; to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Educating
Tomorrow's Workforce Act of 2014. This is a bipartisan bill with
Senator Portman, who will follow me on the floor today. Senator Portman
and I are working together as cochairs of the Senate Career and
Technical Education Caucus.
Let me first explain why career and technical education is important
to me.
I grew up in a household in Kansas City where my dad ran a union-
organized ironworking shop. He was the owner. Ironworkers and welders--
in a good year, eight employees; in a bad year, five employees. My
mother and my brothers and I worked in my dad's shop, and I came to
appreciate working in that ironworking shop, the tremendous
craftsmanship and skill that went into being an ironworker. That lesson
has stuck with me for the rest of my life, and I really credit my dad
with my work ethic. In a manufacturing welding shop, you get up and you
go to work early because you want to get the work done before it gets
too hot in the middle of the day.
I then had the experience in 1980 to take a year off from Harvard Law
School and go to Honduras, where I was the principal of the Instituto
Tecnico Loyola, which was a school that taught kids to be welders and
carpenters. I was able to use the trades I had learned in my dad's
shop, and what I saw in Honduras was the same thing: that the
acquisition of skills--whether it be welding or carpentry or other
skills--is a great path to life's success.
But one thing I noticed about the education system in my country--
even
[[Page S4407]]
as I was working in my dad's shop, even as I was a principal of the
school in Honduras--was in the United States we sort of downgrade
career and technical education. When I was a kid, it was called
vocational education. Often, in high schools especially, students who
were thought to be kind of problems or not college material would kind
of get trapped into vocational education curricula, and that would
usually not be a good sign.
In fact, a friend of mine, who is a middle school teacher in
southwest Virginia, told me that she would often see her students after
they had gone to the high school and ask, ``Hey, tell me what you are
up to.'' And when a student said ``I am in the vocational education
program,'' the student would almost slump their shoulders, like ``I
know you are going to be disappointed to hear this: I am in the
vocational education program.''
Career and technical education is a very important pathway for life's
success, and there should be no stigma surrounding career and technical
education programs. But whether it is in our K-12 schools or in the
higher ed world or in the mindset of parents or guidance counselors or
even in the military--in the military today, our military members can
get tuition assistance benefits, but they can only be used for college
courses. You can get up to $4,500 a year in the military as a tuition
assistance benefit, but you cannot use even $500 of it to take the
certification exam from the American Welding Society to get your
welding certificate. We still have a stigma against career and
technical education, and we should not.
CTE integrates numerous aspects of liberal arts degrees for practical
and applied purposes. CTE prepares students with industry-recognized
credentials, professional certificates, occasionally college credits,
and, most importantly, training for careers as varied as nursing,
physician assistant, business administration, manufacturing, oil and
natural gas exploration, automotive maintenance, agriculture, welding,
software programming, culinary arts, and many other careers.
CTE happens in interesting places. CTE happens in K-12 school
systems. It happens on community college campuses. It happens in 4-year
colleges. It happens in stand-alone institutions such as the Newport
News Shipbuilding apprenticeship program, where people learn to
manufacturer the largest items on planet Earth: nuclear aircraft
carriers and submarines in Newport News, VA. It happens online. It
happens anywhere where there is somebody who wants to attain a skill
and there is a qualified teacher or program that can convey and educate
a student in that skill so they can get a good job.
CTE programs are proven solutions for creating jobs, for retraining
workers, older workers who need to find new skills so they can be
successful and fill open jobs in the market, and ensure that students
of all ages and walks of life are ready for a successful career.
When I was Governor, I worked on a number of educational issues, but
one I was very proud of was starting Governor's Career and Technical
Academies. We had 17 in Virginia--Governor's schools--that were college
prep, academic, regional, magnet public high schools. It started in the
1970s. But when I was running for Governor, I realized, wow, we do not
have a single school in the State that is a career and technical
education program that we have deemed fit to hang the Governor's label:
This is a Governor's career and technical academy. I said this has to
be just as important as college prep. So when I was Governor, we
started Governor's Career and Technical Academies. By the end of my one
term--and that is all you get in Virginia--we had nine. The Republican
Governor who followed me liked the idea. By the end of his term, we had
22. The Democratic Governor who has followed him is continuing to
expand it, and we now have academies around the Commonwealth, developed
at partnerships among schools, employers, business organizations, and
postsecondary institutions looking for these skills.
Last week, during our break week, I traveled in Virginia, and I heard
the same message from employers and educators: Education has to be job
relevant. It has to start at earlier grades. Completion rates need to
be maximized. We need to make sure all of our students have the skills
they will need to be able to build successful careers throughout their
lives.
One entrepreneur even said to me: I am so glad I ended up going to
the Valley Career and Technical Education Program in the Shenandoah
Valley and went into CTE because it has enabled me to be my own boss.
I said: What do you mean by that?
He said: If I had gone to college, I would have gotten a good job
offer from a good company and would have taken it, and I probably would
still be there. I would have been having a good career, but somebody
else would have been by boss. But by going to a career and technical
program and learning a skill, it also encouraged me to be
entrepreneurial. So I did not join somebody else's company; I started
my own company. CTE promotes entrepreneurial activity.
It is essential for the United States to invest in creating a world-
class system of education across the spectrum to ensure the technically
skilled and well-trained workforce we need. That is why we are
introducing this bill--Senator Portman and I--the Educating Tomorrow's
Workforce Act.
Here is what the legislation does.
It takes the existing Carl D. Perkins career and technical education
program, which is the major source for Federal funding for programs
that connect education to real-world careers, and it amends it by doing
a couple of things.
First, it ensures that students have access to high-quality CTE
programs in their schools so they can prepare to be college and career
ready. Second, it defines what a rigorous program of study for CTE
students is that links secondary and postsecondary education, to
culminate in a degree or a credit or a credential or a license or an
apprenticeship or a postsecondary certificate.
It emphasizes the opportunities for secondary students to earn
college or postsecondary credits while they are in high school. I was
able to graduate from college in 3 years because of credits I earned in
high school. That was at a time when it was critically important
financially for my family that I was able to get through college in 3
years.
This dual enrollment piece of our bill is a piece that Senator
Portman worked very hard to make sure was included. The legislation
allows the Perkins funding to be used by States that want to establish
CTE academies as we did in Virginia and ensures that the academies are
of a high quality.
Finally, the bill promotes the kinds of partnerships we need between
businesses, industries, postsecondary and other community stakeholders.
Partnerships are important to connect people to the workforce. The
Southern Regional Education Board cites that students with highly
integrated CTE programs, where the CTE programs and the academic
programs are integrated together, that those schools have significantly
higher achievement rates in reading, mathematics, and sciences than
students at schools that do not have integrated programs.
In closing, and then I defer to my colleague from Ohio, I noticed
something when I was mayor of Richmond and Governor that was a change
in the kind of economic development world. As mayor, I was often trying
to get a business to come to Richmond. I was competing against Savannah
or against the county next door. What I found was in these
competitions, the closing factor was always the incentive package: Mr.
Mayor, how much money can you put on the table? What kind of tax
incentives can you put on the table?
Oh, you either beat the other guy or you don't. But by the time I--5,
6, 7 years later I was Governor, the last issue now was not the
incentive package anymore. The deciding issue for companies that were
choosing whether to come to Virginia or South Carolina or Singapore was
not the tax incentives, it was the workforce.
Tell me, Governor, that we will have the kind of people we need when
we open the door tomorrow. Give me confidence that we will have the
kind of people we need 20 years from now. Long after the ribbon has
been cut and the photos have been taken, are we still going to have the
kinds of people we need to do to the kind of work that has to be done?
In today's world, talent is the most precious asset--more than oil,
more
[[Page S4408]]
than water, more than rare Earth minerals. It is talent and human
capital that is precious. Recently we did something good in this body,
Democrats and Republicans together. We passed the Workforce Innovation
and Opportunity Act. It was passed in the House yesterday.
This looks at the Nation's workforce programs and makes them
stronger. Now we have to make the policy changes that go into our
education programs and match what we did in the WIOA reauthorization to
prepare our students for a 21st century workforce. I very much hope the
Senate moves forward on the Carl D. Perkins Act this year. I look
forward to promoting this bill as part of that reauthorization. I am
honored to have Senator Portman, my cochair on the CTE caucus, as the
cosponsor of this legislation.
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. 2584
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 ``Educating Tomorrow's
Workforce Act of 2014.''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
Section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical
Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through (9), (10)
through (23), and (24) through (34), as paragraphs (7)
through (10), (12) through (25), and (27) through (37),
respectively;
(2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
``(6) Career and technical education program of study.--The
term `career and technical education program of study' means
a coordinated, non-duplicative sequence of secondary and
postsecondary academic and technical courses that--
``(A) incorporate rigorous, State-identified college and
career readiness standards, including state-identified career
and technical education standards that address both academic
and technical contents;
``(B) support attainment of employability and career
readiness skills;
``(C) progress in content specificity (by beginning with
all aspects of an industry or career cluster and leading to
more occupationally specific instruction or by preparing
students for ongoing postsecondary career preparation);
``(D) incorporate multiple entry and exit points with
portable demonstrations of technical or career competency,
which may include credit-transfer agreements or industry-
recognized certifications; and
``(E) culminate in the attainment of--
``(i) an industry-recognized certification, credential, or
license;
``(ii) a registered apprenticeship or credit-bearing
postsecondary certificate; or
``(iii) an associate or baccalaureate degree.'';
(3) by inserting after paragraph (10), as redesignated by
paragraph (1), the following:
``(11) Credit-transfer agreement.--The term `credit-
transfer agreement' means an opportunity for secondary
students to be awarded transcripted postsecondary credit,
supported with a formal agreement between secondary and
postsecondary education systems, for--
``(A) technical credit such as dual enrollment, dual
credit, or articulated credit, which may include credit by
examination or credit by performance on technical
assessments; or
``(B) academic credit such as dual enrollment, dual credit,
or articulated credit, which may include credit by
examination or credit by performance on academic
assessments.''; and
(4) by inserting after paragraph (25), as redesignated by
paragraph (1), the following:
``(26) Registered apprenticeship program.--The term
`registered apprenticeship program' means an apprenticeship
program--
``(A) registered under the Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly
known as the ``National Apprenticeship Act''; 50 Stat. 664,
chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.); and
``(B) that meets such other criteria as may be established
by the Secretary under this section.''.
SEC. 3. STATE PLAN.
Section 122(c)(1) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and
Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2342(c)(1)) is
amended--
(1) by striking subparagraph (A);
(2) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) through (L) as
subparagraphs (A) through (K), respectively; and
(3) in subparagraph (A), as redesignated by (2), by
striking ``the career and technical programs of study
described in subparagraph (A)'' and inserting ``career and
technical education programs of study, including a
description of how the eligible agency will ensure the
quality of any program of study culminating in an industry-
recognized certificate, credential, or license''.
SEC. 4. STATE LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES.
Section 124 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical
Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2344) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(6), by striking ``programs of study,
as described in section 122(c)(1)(A)'' and inserting
``education programs of study''; and
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) in paragraph (9), by striking ``,career academies,'';
(B) in paragraph (16)(B), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(C) in paragraph (17), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(18) support for career academies, which--
``(A) implement a college and career ready curriculum at
the secondary education level that integrates rigorous
academic, technical, and employability contents through
career and technical education programs of study and high-
quality elements, including those described in section
134(b)(7);
``(B) include experiential or work-based learning for
secondary school students, in collaboration with local and
regional employers;
``(C) include opportunities for secondary school students
to earn postsecondary credit while in secondary school, such
as through credit transfer agreements including dual
enrollment; and
``(D) establish and maintain ongoing partnerships--
``(i) between the local educational agency, business and
industry, and institutions of higher education, or
postsecondary vocational institutions (as defined in section
102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1002(c))); and
``(ii) which may also include local government, such as
workforce and economic development entities.''.
SEC. 5. LOCAL PLAN FOR CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION
PROGRAMS.
Section 134(b) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical
Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2354(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ``programs of study
described in section 122(c)(1)(A)'' and inserting ``education
programs of study''; and
(2) by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the following:
``(7) describe how the eligible recipient will conduct an
assessment of local needs related to career and technical
education as part of the local plan development process and
how such needs assessment will be updated annually in
subsequent years of the local plan, including how the needs
assessment includes an evaluation of progress toward specific
elements leading to high-quality implementation of career and
technical education programs of study, including--
``(A) sustained, intensive, and focused professional
development for teachers, principals, administrators, and
school counselors on both content and pedagogy that--
``(i) supports high-quality academic and career and
technical education instruction; and
``(ii) ensures local, regional, and State labor market
information as applicable is utilized to make informed
decisions about program offerings and to advise students of
career opportunities and benefits;
``(B) a curriculum aligned with the requirements for a
career and technical education program of study;
``(C) teaching and learning strategies focused on the
integration of academic and career and technical education
content, including supports necessary to implement such
strategies;
``(D) ongoing relationships between education, business and
industry, and other community stakeholders;
``(E) opportunities for secondary students to earn
postsecondary credit while in secondary school, such as
through credit transfer agreements including dual enrollment;
``(F) career and technical student organizations, or other
activities that promote the development of leadership and
employability skills;
``(G) appropriate equipment and technology aligned with
business and industry needs;
``(H) a continuum of work-based learning opportunities,
such as job shadowing, mentorships, internships,
apprenticeships, clinical experiences, service learning
experiences, and cooperative education;
``(I) valid and reliable technical skills assessments to
measure student achievement, which may include industry-
recognized certifications or may lead to other credentials;
``(J) support services to ensure equitable participation
for all students; and
``(K) recruitment and retention efforts to ensure highly
effective educators, principals, and administrators.''.
SEC. 6. LOCAL USES OF FUNDS.
Section 135 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical
Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2355) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``programs of study
described in section 122(c)(1)(A)''; and inserting
``education programs of study''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``career and technical
program of study described in section 122(c)(1)(A)'' and
inserting ``career and technical education program of
study''; and
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) in paragraph (19)--
(i) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``programs of study
described in section
[[Page S4409]]
122(c)(1)(A)'' and inserting ``education programs of study'';
and
(ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(B) in paragraph (20), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(21) to provide support for career academies, as
described in section 124(c)(18).''.
SEC. 7. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
Section 113 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical
Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2323) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(4)(C)(ii)(I), by striking ``section
3(29)'' and inserting ``section 3(32)''; and
(2) in subsection (c)(2)(A), by striking ``section 3(29)''
and inserting ``section 3(32)''.
Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Virginia and
appreciate his comments. He has a passion for this issue. It fits very
well with what so many of us are trying to do in the Congress, which is
to put in place policies that actually create more opportunities for
our young people.
We are living through the weakest economic recovery we have had in
this country since the Great Depression. I know we have seen some
improvement recently in the job numbers, but in fact unemployment
remains way too high. If we take into account folks who have dropped
out of the workforce altogether as compared to 4 or 5 years ago, we
have unemployment rates at over 10 percent.
Among young people coming out of school it is far higher. It is
double digits, about 12 or 13 percent for 18 to 25 year olds, we are
told. Again, the real numbers are worse than that when we take out the
folks who have dropped out of the workforce altogether.
Our GDP growth, the growth of our economy, is too low. So there are a
number of things we ought to do, in my view. One is, we have to deal
with ensuring that we have a workforce that is trained for these 21st
century jobs that are out there. We also need to reform our Tax Code.
We need to put regulatory relief in place that is sensible. We need to
do much more to take advantage of the energy resources we have in this
country. We need to get back in the business of exporting and trade.
There are some things relatively quickly we could do to get the
country back on track, but none is more important than having that
workforce. Because we can have a great environment--which unfortunately
we do not have now for many businesses because we have not created the
climate for economic growth with good policy in Washington.
But if we had that--if we do not have the workers in this
increasingly competitive global economy we are in, jobs will be created
somewhere else. That is happening right now. It is happening partly
because we do not have the skilled workers to be able to attract those
jobs here, those businesses here, and to fill the jobs here in America.
Four and one-half million jobs are open right now, they say. That
might surprise some people listening because they are thinking: Wow. I
cannot get a job or my son or daughter cannot get a job or my neighbor
cannot get a job. As I said, unemployment is high. Yet there are 4\1/2\
million jobs open. When we look at those jobs and what is available out
there--and Senator Kaine talked some about this, a lot of them require
skills that young people and workers who are shifting careers, maybe
they have lost a job, are in their forties or fifties, skills they do
not have.
So it is IT, it is high-tech jobs, it is health care jobs, it is
bioscience jobs. Yes, it is manufacturing jobs. My own State of Ohio is
a big manufacturing State. We are particularly sensitive to this. There
are lots of manufacturers in Ohio who are saying: If we had the
workers, we could add new jobs, new opportunities, grow this economy.
The spinoff from that, all of the other jobs that are created through a
successful manufacturing company that makes something is the backbone
of our higher economy, international economy.
This is exciting for me to work with Senator Kaine and others who
say: Let's take a piece of this, which is career and technical
education, to encourage young people to get these skills, to be able to
access these great jobs. Some of them, by the way, will do it right out
of high school.
I was in Ohio on Monday. We had a roundtable on this. We had a bunch
of employers there. We had some educators there. We had some students
there. One was a senior in high school who is currently in career and
technical school. For those who do not follow this closely, you
probably are more familiar with the word ``vocational'' school, because
that is typically what it has been called over the years. That is the
same thing as the career and technical schools.
Again, Senator Kaine and I have cofounded this Career and Technical
Education Caucus in the Senate over the last couple of months. We have
a number of our colleagues now joining and so on. We are trying to
raise this, let people know about this great opportunity out there.
This young man is a senior. He is going back to his high school and
saying: You Guys are crazy not to do this CTE stuff because I am
getting great skills, where I can get a great job, and I am getting
college credit because they have one of those dual credit programs in
this particular CTE program.
Then there were two students there who graduated earlier this year.
They both have been in the CTE program. They both have been taking
advantage of it to get the skills but also working part time as
apprentices or interns--19 years old, two young men. Both of them are
now out in the workforce, working for these manufacturers. One of their
bosses was there, one of the executives from one of the small
manufacturing companies.
These young men at 19 years old are making $50,000 a year. They have
benefits on top of that. They have the opportunity now to run very
sophisticated machines. Both of them started off learning as
apprentices. Now they are both running machines. These machines are
worth over $1 million apiece. These are in CNC machines. In one case it
is a plastic injecting molding machine. It is very exciting. By the
way, they now have been encouraged to go back to their high school and
say: Hey, 4-year college or university, that is great if you want to do
that, but here is another opportunity.
By the way, they may go back to school. They both have some credit
where they could go back and maybe get an associate's degree or a 4-
year degree or maybe a graduate engineering degree someday, but in the
meantime they are providing the opportunities for these companies in
Ohio to have skilled workers so they can compete globally. For them and
their families, they are providing a tremendous opportunity, rather
than graduating with a bunch of debt. The average debt is $20,000,
$30,000 a year now. Instead of having debt, they are making money.
For the next 4 years, even if they are not promoted 0--0 which I
think they will be, having met these two young men--that is $200,000
they are going to be making and spending and investing in our economy.
I am very excited about this opportunity to hold this up to say there
is a way for us to help get this economy moving by helping to fill this
skills gap. In Ohio alone, if you go on ohiomeansjobs.com right now, go
on their Web site, you will see about 140,000 jobs open. Yet we have
about 400,000 people out of work. If you look at these jobs, again, you
will see a lot of them require skills that simply are not out there in
the workforce now.
Help provide these skills and we are going to see some of these jobs
get filled. That helps our economy, keeps businesses here, and expands
businesses here. We did, as Senator Kaine said, just pass the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act, so-called WIOA. I was very pleased
about that. The House just passed it this week. The Senate passed it 2
weeks ago.
In that there is something called the CAREER Act that Senator Bennet
and I have been promoting the last few years. We were able to include a
number of our provisions in there to add more accountability, to add
more performance measures to improve that legislation. I am happy that
was done. That helps on retraining. That is critically important. We
spend about $15 billion a year on that at the Federal Government level.
What we are talking about is starting with the career and technical
education even before we get into the WIOA programs and the retraining
money that is necessary when somebody loses a job and needs to move to
another job. We are talking about young people coming up and having
this opportunity. According to the U.S.
[[Page S4410]]
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ohio is gaining jobs in manufacturing. That
is great news. But we also hear, in the latest skills gap report by the
Manufacturing Institute, 74 percent of manufacturers are experiencing
workforce shortages or skill deficiencies that keep them from expanding
their plant and operations and improving productivity--74 percent.
We could be doing much more to close that skills gap. The legislation
that Senator Kaine and I talked about that we are introducing today is
a very important step toward that. It is going to help open
opportunities for the next generation of workers by ensuring that they
have these skills to participate in the 21st century economy.
We were talking a moment ago, some of us, about high school
graduation rates. Unfortunately, we have unacceptably high numbers of
people who do not graduate from high schools in this country. So there
was a lot of discussion about postsecondary and so on. But we have a
real problem: Our high school graduation rate is way too low. According
to the U.S. Department of Education, 81 percent of high school dropouts
say real-world learning opportunities would have kept them in school.
That is interesting. The average high school graduation rate is now
about 80 percent--way too low. In fact, it is closer to 50 percent in
some of our great cities and in some of our poorer rural areas. But
even 80 percent is the average--way too low for high school graduation.
But what they say is they would have been more likely to stay in
school if they had real-world learning opportunities. That is why the
graduation rates for kids involved in CTE--
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
Mr. PORTMAN. I would ask unanimous consent for 2 additional minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. PORTMAN. For kids in CTE concentrations, it is a 90-percent
graduation rate. That is because they are getting that real-world
experience. So I think a good place to start, again, is with this
legislation we are introducing today. This is legislation that begins
with reforms to the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.
It needs to be reauthorized. The reauthorization ought to include these
reforms that Senator Kaine and I have talked about.
This is the major source of Federal support for the development of
CTE skills. It was last reauthorized in 2006. So it has to be
modernized to meet the demands of this workforce today to ensure that
students have access to these programs.
It does a few different things. Senator Kaine has talked about it. It
requires a more rigorous CTE curriculum, requiring Perkins grant
participants to incorporate key elements into the programs; that is,
things such as academic and technical skill assessments to measure
student achievement, making sure they are actually accomplishing what
they are supposed to be based on industry standards, making sure the
CTE curriculum is in alignment with whatever the local and regional
needs are in the workforce, what the demands are. Employers are looking
for kids who have specific skills. We have to be sure we are providing
them.
It also increases flexibility for States and localities, allowing
them to use these Perkins grant funds to establish academies such as
the one Governor Kaine started when he was in Virginia.
It also improves the link between high school and postsecondary
education to ease the attainment of industry-recognized credentials,
licensing, apprenticeship, postsecondary certificates. We do a lot of
that in Ohio, the dual credit programs I talked about earlier.
It promotes partnerships between local businesses, regional
industries, and other community stakeholders to create pathways for
students through more internships, service opportunities, and so on.
I believe this legislation is urgently needed, and we have to move
forward with it. If we do, we are going to be able to provide more
opportunity for our young people and more jobs in this country because
we will be filling that skills gap and we will be able to have more
young people who will able to have this experience, such as these two
young men I met earlier this week, where they are able to go out on
their own, get a good job, good benefits, help themselves and their
family, and help create a stronger economy for all of us.
I thank my colleague from Virginia for his hard work on this
legislation, and I look forward to working with him toward its passage.
______
By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr.
Brown, and Mr. Franken):
S. 2589. A bill to amend title 11, United States Code, to improve
protections for employees and retirees in business bankruptcies; to the
Committee on the Judiciary.
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. 2589
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting
Employees and Retirees in Business Bankruptcies Act of
2014''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
TITLE I--IMPROVING RECOVERIES FOR EMPLOYEES AND RETIREES
Sec. 101. Increased wage priority.
Sec. 102. Claim for stock value losses in defined contribution plans.
Sec. 103. Priority for severance pay.
Sec. 104. Financial returns for employees and retirees.
Sec. 105. Priority for WARN Act damages.
TITLE II--REDUCING EMPLOYEES' AND RETIREES' LOSSES
Sec. 201. Rejection of collective bargaining agreements.
Sec. 202. Payment of insurance benefits to retired employees.
Sec. 203. Protection of employee benefits in a sale of assets.
Sec. 204. Claim for pension losses.
Sec. 205. Payments by secured lender.
Sec. 206. Preservation of jobs and benefits.
Sec. 207. Termination of exclusivity.
Sec. 208. Claim for withdrawal liability.
TITLE III--RESTRICTING EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION PROGRAMS
Sec. 301. Executive compensation upon exit from bankruptcy.
Sec. 302. Limitations on executive compensation enhancements.
Sec. 303. Assumption of executive benefit plans.
Sec. 304. Recovery of executive compensation.
Sec. 305. Preferential compensation transfer.
TITLE IV--OTHER PROVISIONS
Sec. 401. Union proof of claim.
Sec. 402. Exception from automatic stay.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Business bankruptcies have increased sharply in recent
years and remain at high levels. These bankruptcies include
several of the largest business bankruptcy filings in
history. As the use of bankruptcy has expanded, job
preservation and retirement security are placed at greater
risk.
(2) Laws enacted to improve recoveries for employees and
retirees and limit their losses in bankruptcy cases have not
kept pace with the increasing and broader use of bankruptcy
by businesses in all sectors of the economy. However, while
protections for employees and retirees in bankruptcy cases
have eroded, management compensation plans devised for those
in charge of troubled businesses have become more prevalent
and are escaping adequate scrutiny.
(3) Changes in the law regarding these matters are urgently
needed as bankruptcy is used to address increasingly more
complex and diverse conditions affecting troubled businesses
and industries.
TITLE I--IMPROVING RECOVERIES FOR EMPLOYEES AND RETIREES
SEC. 101. INCREASED WAGE PRIORITY.
Section 507(a) of title 11, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (4)--
(A) by striking ``$10,000'' and inserting ``$20,000'';
(B) by striking ``within 180 days''; and
(C) by striking ``or the date of the cessation of the
debtor's business, whichever occurs first,'';
(2) in paragraph (5)(A), by striking--
(A) ``within 180 days''; and
(B) ``or the date of the cessation of the debtor's
business, whichever occurs first''; and
(3) in paragraph (5), by striking subparagraph (B) and
inserting the following:
``(B) for each such plan, to the extent of the number of
employees covered by each such plan, multiplied by
$20,000.''.
SEC. 102. CLAIM FOR STOCK VALUE LOSSES IN DEFINED
CONTRIBUTION PLANS.
Section 101(5) of title 11, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``or'' at the end;
[[Page S4411]]
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) right or interest in equity securities of the debtor,
or an affiliate of the debtor, held in a defined contribution
plan (within the meaning of section 3(34) of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002(34)))
for the benefit of an individual who is not an insider, a
senior executive officer, or any of the 20 next most highly
compensated employees of the debtor (if 1 or more are not
insiders), if such securities were attributable to either
employer contributions by the debtor or an affiliate of the
debtor, or elective deferrals (within the meaning of section
402(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986), and any
earnings thereon, if an employer or plan sponsor who has
commenced a case under this title has committed fraud with
respect to such plan or has otherwise breached a duty to the
participant that has proximately caused the loss of value.''.
SEC. 103. PRIORITY FOR SEVERANCE PAY.
Section 503(b) of title 11, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (8), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and inserting
a semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(10) severance pay owed to employees of the debtor (other
than to an insider, other senior management, or a consultant
retained to provide services to the debtor), under a plan,
program, or policy generally applicable to employees of the
debtor (but not under an individual contract of employment),
or owed pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement, for
layoff or termination on or after the date of the filing of
the petition, which pay shall be deemed earned in full upon
such layoff or termination of employment; and''.
SEC. 104. FINANCIAL RETURNS FOR EMPLOYEES AND RETIREES.
Section 1129(a) of title 11, United States Code is
amended--
(1) by adding at the end the following:
``(17) The plan provides for recovery of damages payable
for the rejection of a collective bargaining agreement, or
for other financial returns as negotiated by the debtor and
the authorized representative under section 1113 (to the
extent that such returns are paid under, rather than outside
of, a plan).''; and
(2) by striking paragraph (13) and inserting the following:
``(13) With respect to retiree benefits, as that term is
defined in section 1114(a), the plan--
``(A) provides for the continuation after its effective
date of payment of all retiree benefits at the level
established pursuant to subsection (e)(1)(B) or (g) of
section 1114 at any time before the date of confirmation of
the plan, for the duration of the period for which the debtor
has obligated itself to provide such benefits, or if no
modifications are made before confirmation of the plan, the
continuation of all such retiree benefits maintained or
established in whole or in part by the debtor before the date
of the filing of the petition; and
``(B) provides for recovery of claims arising from the
modification of retiree benefits or for other financial
returns, as negotiated by the debtor and the authorized
representative (to the extent that such returns are paid
under, rather than outside of, a plan).''.
SEC. 105. PRIORITY FOR WARN ACT DAMAGES.
Section 503(b)(1)(A)(ii) of title 11, United States Code is
amended to read as follows:
``(ii) wages and benefits awarded pursuant to a judicial
proceeding or a proceeding of the National Labor Relations
Board as back pay or damages attributable to any period of
time occurring after the date of commencement of the case
under this title, as a result of a violation of Federal or
State law by the debtor, without regard to the time of the
occurrence of unlawful conduct on which the award is based or
to whether any services were rendered on or after the
commencement of the case, including an award by a court under
section 2901 of title 29, United States Code, of up to 60
days' pay and benefits following a layoff that occurred or
commenced at a time when such award period includes a period
on or after the commencement of the case, if the court
determines that payment of wages and benefits by reason of
the operation of this clause will not substantially increase
the probability of layoff or termination of current employees
or of nonpayment of domestic support obligations during the
case under this title;''.
TITLE II--REDUCING EMPLOYEES' AND RETIREES' LOSSES
SEC. 201. REJECTION OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.
Section 1113 of title 11, United States Code, is amended by
striking subsections (a) through (f) and inserting the
following:
``(a) The debtor in possession, or the trustee if one has
been appointed under this chapter, other than a trustee in a
case covered by subchapter IV of this chapter and by title I
of the Railway Labor Act, may reject a collective bargaining
agreement only in accordance with this section. In this
section, a reference to the trustee includes the debtor in
possession.
``(b) No provision of this title shall be construed to
permit the trustee to unilaterally terminate or alter any
provision of a collective bargaining agreement before
complying with this section. The trustee shall timely pay all
monetary obligations arising under the terms of the
collective bargaining agreement. Any such payment required to
be made before a plan confirmed under section 1129 is
effective has the status of an allowed administrative expense
under section 503.
``(c)(1) If the trustee seeks modification of a collective
bargaining agreement, the trustee shall provide notice to the
labor organization representing the employees covered by the
agreement that modifications are being proposed under this
section, and shall promptly provide an initial proposal for
modifications to the agreement. Thereafter, the trustee shall
confer in good faith with the labor organization, at
reasonable times and for a reasonable period in light of the
complexity of the case, in attempting to reach mutually
acceptable modifications of such agreement.
``(2) The initial proposal and subsequent proposals by the
trustee for modification of a collective bargaining agreement
shall be based upon a business plan for the reorganization of
the debtor, and shall reflect the most complete and reliable
information available. The trustee shall provide to the labor
organization all information that is relevant for
negotiations. The court may enter a protective order to
prevent the disclosure of information if disclosure could
compromise the debtor's position with respect to its
competitors in the industry, subject to the needs of the
labor organization to evaluate the trustee's proposals and
any application for rejection of the agreement or for interim
relief pursuant to this section.
``(3) In consideration of Federal policy encouraging the
practice and process of collective bargaining and in
recognition of the bargained-for expectations of the
employees covered by the agreement, modifications proposed by
the trustee--
``(A) shall be proposed only as part of a program of
workforce and nonworkforce cost savings devised for the
reorganization of the debtor, including savings in management
personnel costs;
``(B) shall be limited to modifications designed to achieve
a specified aggregate financial contribution for the
employees covered by the agreement (taking into consideration
any labor cost savings negotiated within the 12-month period
before the filing of the petition), and shall be not more
than the minimum savings essential to permit the debtor to
exit bankruptcy, such that confirmation of a plan of
reorganization is not likely to be followed by the
liquidation, or the need for further financial
reorganization, of the debtor (or any successor to the
debtor) in the short term; and
``(C) shall not be disproportionate or overly burden the
employees covered by the agreement, either in the amount of
the cost savings sought from such employees or the nature of
the modifications.
``(d)(1) If, after a period of negotiations, the trustee
and the labor organization have not reached an agreement over
mutually satisfactory modifications, and further negotiations
are not likely to produce mutually satisfactory
modifications, the trustee may file a motion seeking
rejection of the collective bargaining agreement after notice
and a hearing. Absent agreement of the parties, no such
hearing shall be held before the expiration of the 21-day
period beginning on the date on which notice of the hearing
is provided to the labor organization representing the
employees covered by the agreement. Only the debtor and the
labor organization may appear and be heard at such hearing.
An application for rejection shall seek rejection effective
upon the entry of an order granting the relief.
``(2) In consideration of Federal policy encouraging the
practice and process of collective bargaining and in
recognition of the bargained-for expectations of the
employees covered by the agreement, the court may grant a
motion seeking rejection of a collective bargaining agreement
only if, based on clear and convincing evidence--
``(A) the court finds that the trustee has complied with
the requirements of subsection (c);
``(B) the court has considered alternative proposals by the
labor organization and has concluded that such proposals do
not meet the requirements of paragraph (3)(B) of subsection
(c);
``(C) the court finds that further negotiations regarding
the trustee's proposal or an alternative proposal by the
labor organization are not likely to produce an agreement;
``(D) the court finds that implementation of the trustee's
proposal shall not--
``(i) cause a material diminution in the purchasing power
of the employees covered by the agreement;
``(ii) adversely affect the ability of the debtor to retain
an experienced and qualified workforce; or
``(iii) impair the debtor's labor relations such that the
ability to achieve a feasible reorganization would be
compromised; and
``(E) the court concludes that rejection of the agreement
and immediate implementation of the trustee's proposal is
essential to permit the debtor to exit bankruptcy, such that
confirmation of a plan of reorganization is not likely to be
followed by liquidation, or the need for further financial
reorganization, of the debtor (or any successor to the
debtor) in the short term.
``(3) If the trustee has implemented a program of incentive
pay, bonuses, or other financial returns for insiders, senior
executive officers, or the 20 next most highly compensated
employees or consultants providing services to the debtor
during the bankruptcy, or such a program was implemented
[[Page S4412]]
within 180 days before the date of the filing of the
petition, the court shall presume that the trustee has failed
to satisfy the requirements of subsection (c)(3)(C).
``(4) In no case shall the court enter an order rejecting a
collective bargaining agreement that would result in
modifications to a level lower than the level proposed by the
trustee in the proposal found by the court to have complied
with the requirements of this section.
``(5) At any time after the date on which an order
rejecting a collective bargaining agreement is entered, or in
the case of an agreement entered into between the trustee and
the labor organization providing mutually satisfactory
modifications, at any time after such agreement has been
entered into, the labor organization may apply to the court
for an order seeking an increase in the level of wages or
benefits, or relief from working conditions, based upon
changed circumstances. The court shall grant the request only
if the increase or other relief is not inconsistent with the
standard set forth in paragraph (2)(E).
``(e) During a period in which a collective bargaining
agreement at issue under this section continues in effect,
and if essential to the continuation of the debtor's business
or in order to avoid irreparable damage to the estate, the
court, after notice and a hearing, may authorize the trustee
to implement interim changes in the terms, conditions, wages,
benefits, or work rules provided by the collective bargaining
agreement. Any hearing under this subsection shall be
scheduled in accordance with the needs of the trustee. The
implementation of such interim changes shall not render the
application for rejection moot.
``(f)(1) Rejection of a collective bargaining agreement
constitutes a breach of the agreement, and shall be effective
no earlier than the entry of an order granting such relief.
``(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), solely for purposes of
determining and allowing a claim arising from the rejection
of a collective bargaining agreement, rejection shall be
treated as rejection of an executory contract under section
365(g) and shall be allowed or disallowed in accordance with
section 502(g)(1). No claim for rejection damages shall be
limited by section 502(b)(7). Economic self-help by a labor
organization shall be permitted upon a court order granting a
motion to reject a collective bargaining agreement under
subsection (d) or pursuant to subsection (e), and no
provision of this title or of any other provision of Federal
or State law may be construed to the contrary.
``(g) The trustee shall provide for the reasonable fees and
costs incurred by a labor organization under this section,
upon request and after notice and a hearing.
``(h) A collective bargaining agreement that is assumed
shall be assumed in accordance with section 365.''.
SEC. 202. PAYMENT OF INSURANCE BENEFITS TO RETIRED EMPLOYEES.
Section 1114 of title 11, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``, without regard to
whether the debtor asserts a right to unilaterally modify
such payments under such plan, fund, or program'' before the
period at the end;
(2) in subsection (b)(2), by inserting after ``section''
the following: ``, and a labor organization serving as the
authorized representative under subsection (c)(1),'';
(3) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the following:
``(f)(1) If a trustee seeks modification of retiree
benefits, the trustee shall provide a notice to the
authorized representative that modifications are being
proposed pursuant to this section, and shall promptly provide
an initial proposal. Thereafter, the trustee shall confer in
good faith with the authorized representative at reasonable
times and for a reasonable period in light of the complexity
of the case in attempting to reach mutually satisfactory
modifications.
``(2) The initial proposal and subsequent proposals by the
trustee shall be based upon a business plan for the
reorganization of the debtor and shall reflect the most
complete and reliable information available. The trustee
shall provide to the authorized representative all
information that is relevant for the negotiations. The court
may enter a protective order to prevent the disclosure of
information if disclosure could compromise the debtor's
position with respect to its competitors in the industry,
subject to the needs of the authorized representative to
evaluate the trustee's proposals and an application pursuant
to subsection (g) or (h).
``(3) Modifications proposed by the trustee--
``(A) shall be proposed only as part of a program of
workforce and nonworkforce cost savings devised for the
reorganization of the debtor, including savings in management
personnel costs;
``(B) shall be limited to modifications that are designed
to achieve a specified aggregate financial contribution for
the retiree group represented by the authorized
representative (taking into consideration any cost savings
implemented within the 12-month period before the date of
filing of the petition with respect to the retiree group),
and shall be no more than the minimum savings essential to
permit the debtor to exit bankruptcy, such that confirmation
of a plan of reorganization is not likely to be followed by
the liquidation, or the need for further financial
reorganization, of the debtor (or any successor to the
debtor) in the short term; and
``(C) shall not be disproportionate or overly burden the
retiree group, either in the amount of the cost savings
sought from such group or the nature of the modifications.'';
(4) in subsection (g)--
(A) by striking ``(g)'' and all that follows through the
semicolon at the end of paragraph (3) and inserting the
following:
``(g)(1) If, after a period of negotiations, the trustee
and the authorized representative have not reached agreement
over mutually satisfactory modifications and further
negotiations are not likely to produce mutually satisfactory
modifications, the trustee may file a motion seeking
modifications in the payment of retiree benefits after notice
and a hearing. Absent agreement of the parties, no such
hearing shall be held before the expiration of the 21-day
period beginning on the date on which notice of the hearing
is provided to the authorized representative. Only the debtor
and the authorized representative may appear and be heard at
such hearing.
``(2) The court may grant a motion to modify the payment of
retiree benefits only if, based on clear and convincing
evidence--
``(A) the court finds that the trustee has complied with
the requirements of subsection (f);
``(B) the court has considered alternative proposals by the
authorized representative and has determined that such
proposals do not meet the requirements of subsection
(f)(3)(B);
``(C) the court finds that further negotiations regarding
the trustee's proposal or an alternative proposal by the
authorized representative are not likely to produce a
mutually satisfactory agreement;
``(D) the court finds that implementation of the proposal
shall not cause irreparable harm to the affected retirees;
and
``(E) the court concludes that an order granting the motion
and immediate implementation of the trustee's proposal is
essential to permit the debtor to exit bankruptcy, such that
confirmation of a plan of reorganization is not likely to be
followed by liquidation, or the need for further financial
reorganization, of the debtor (or a successor to the debtor)
in the short term.
``(3) If a trustee has implemented a program of incentive
pay, bonuses, or other financial returns for insiders, senior
executive officers, or the 20 next most highly compensated
employees or consultants providing services to the debtor
during the bankruptcy, or such a program was implemented
within 180 days before the date of the filing of the
petition, the court shall presume that the trustee has failed
to satisfy the requirements of subparagraph (f)(3)(C).''; and
(B) by striking ``except that in no case'' and inserting
the following:
``(4) In no case''; and
(5) by striking subsection (k) and redesignating
subsections (l) and (m) as subsections (k) and (l),
respectively.
SEC. 203. PROTECTION OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS IN A SALE OF
ASSETS.
Section 363(b) of title 11, United States Code, is amended
by adding at the end the following:
``(3) In approving a sale under this subsection, the court
shall consider the extent to which a bidder has offered to
maintain existing jobs, preserve terms and conditions of
employment, and assume or match pension and retiree health
benefit obligations in determining whether an offer
constitutes the highest or best offer for such property.''.
SEC. 204. CLAIM FOR PENSION LOSSES.
Section 502 of title 11, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(l) The court shall allow a claim asserted by an active
or retired participant, or by a labor organization
representing such participants, in a defined benefit plan
terminated under section 4041 or 4042 of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, for any shortfall in
pension benefits accrued as of the effective date of the
termination of such pension plan as a result of the
termination of the plan and limitations upon the payment of
benefits imposed pursuant to section 4022 of such Act,
notwithstanding any claim asserted and collected by the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation with respect to such
termination.
``(m) The court shall allow a claim of a kind described in
section 101(5)(C) by an active or retired participant in a
defined contribution plan (within the meaning of section
3(34) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
(29 U.S.C. 1002(34))), or by a labor organization
representing such participants. The amount of such claim
shall be measured by the market value of the stock at the
time of contribution to, or purchase by, the plan and the
value as of the commencement of the case.''.
SEC. 205. PAYMENTS BY SECURED LENDER.
Section 506(c) of title 11, United States Code, is amended
by adding at the end the following: ``If employees have not
received wages, accrued vacation, severance, or other
benefits owed under the policies and practices of the debtor,
or pursuant to the terms of a collective bargaining
agreement, for services rendered on and after the date of the
commencement of the case, such unpaid obligations shall be
deemed necessary costs and expenses of preserving, or
disposing of, property securing an allowed secured claim and
shall be recovered even if the trustee has otherwise waived
the provisions of this subsection under an agreement with the
holder of the allowed secured claim or a successor or
predecessor in interest.''.
[[Page S4413]]
SEC. 206. PRESERVATION OF JOBS AND BENEFITS.
Chapter 11 of title 11, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by inserting before section 1101 the following:
``Sec. 1100. Statement of purpose
``A debtor commencing a case under this chapter shall have
as its principal purpose the reorganization of its business
to preserve going concern value to the maximum extent
possible through the productive use of its assets and the
preservation of jobs that will sustain productive economic
activity.'';
(2) in section 1129(a), as amended by section 104, by
adding at the end the following:
``(18) The debtor has demonstrated that the reorganization
preserves going concern value to the maximum extent possible
through the productive use of the debtor's assets and
preserves jobs that sustain productive economic activity.'';
(3) in section 1129(c)--
(A) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(c)''; and
(B) by striking the last sentence and inserting the
following:
``(2) If the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) are
met with respect to more than 1 plan, the court shall, in
determining which plan to confirm--
``(A) consider the extent to which each plan would preserve
going concern value through the productive use of the
debtor's assets and the preservation of jobs that sustain
productive economic activity; and
``(B) confirm the plan that better serves such interests.
``(3) A plan that incorporates the terms of a settlement
with a labor organization representing employees of the
debtor shall presumptively constitute the plan that satisfies
this subsection.''; and
(4) in the table of sections, by inserting before the item
relating to section 1101 the following:
``1100. Statement of purpose.''.
SEC. 207. TERMINATION OF EXCLUSIVITY.
Section 1121(d) of title 11, United States Code, is amended
by adding at the end the following:
``(3) For purposes of this subsection, cause for reducing
the 120-day period or the 180-day period includes the
following:
``(A) The filing of a motion pursuant to section 1113
seeking rejection of a collective bargaining agreement if a
plan based upon an alternative proposal by the labor
organization is reasonably likely to be confirmed within a
reasonable time.
``(B) The proposed filing of a plan by a proponent other
than the debtor, which incorporates the terms of a settlement
with a labor organization if such plan is reasonably likely
to be confirmed within a reasonable time.''.
SEC. 208. CLAIM FOR WITHDRAWAL LIABILITY.
Section 503(b) of title 11, United States Code, as amended
by section 103 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(11) with respect to withdrawal liability owed to a
multiemployer pension plan for a complete or partial
withdrawal pursuant to section 4201 of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1381) where
such withdrawal occurs on or after the commencement of the
case, an amount equal to the amount of vested benefits
payable from such pension plan that accrued as a result of
employees' services rendered to the debtor during the period
beginning on the date of commencement of the case and ending
on the date of the withdrawal from the plan.''.
TITLE III--RESTRICTING EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION PROGRAMS
SEC. 301. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION UPON EXIT FROM BANKRUPTCY.
Section 1129(a) of title 11, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the following:
``Except for compensation subject to review under paragraph
(5), payments or other distributions under the plan to or for
the benefit of insiders, senior executive officers, and any
of the 20 next most highly compensated employees or
consultants providing services to the debtor, shall not be
approved except as part of a program of payments or
distributions generally applicable to employees of the
debtor, and only to the extent that the court determines that
such payments are not excessive or disproportionate compared
to distributions to the debtor's nonmanagement workforce.'';
and
(2) in paragraph (5)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) the compensation disclosed pursuant to subparagraph
(B) has been approved by, or is subject to the approval of,
the court as reasonable when compared to individuals holding
comparable positions at comparable companies in the same
industry and not disproportionate in light of economic
concessions by the debtor's nonmanagement workforce during
the case.''.
SEC. 302. LIMITATIONS ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ENHANCEMENTS.
Section 503(c) of title 11, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding subparagraph
(A)--
(A) by inserting ``, a senior executive officer, or any of
the 20 next most highly compensated employees or
consultants'' after ``an insider'';
(B) by inserting ``or for the payment of performance or
incentive compensation, or a bonus of any kind, or other
financial returns designed to replace or enhance incentive,
stock, or other compensation in effect before the date of the
commencement of the case,'' after ``remain with the debtor's
business,''; and
(C) by inserting ``clear and convincing'' before ``evidence
in the record''; and
(2) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:
``(3) other transfers or obligations, to or for the benefit
of insiders, senior executive officers, managers, or
consultants providing services to the debtor, in the absence
of a finding by the court, based upon clear and convincing
evidence, and without deference to the debtor's request for
such payments, that such transfers or obligations are
essential to the survival of the debtor's business or (in the
case of a liquidation of some or all of the debtor's assets)
essential to the orderly liquidation and maximization of
value of the assets of the debtor, in either case, because of
the essential nature of the services provided, and then only
to the extent that the court finds such transfers or
obligations are reasonable compared to individuals holding
comparable positions at comparable companies in the same
industry and not disproportionate in light of economic
concessions by the debtor's nonmanagement workforce during
the case.''.
SEC. 303. ASSUMPTION OF EXECUTIVE BENEFIT PLANS.
Section 365 of title 11, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``and (d)'' and
inserting ``(d), (q), and (r)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(q) No deferred compensation arrangement for the benefit
of insiders, senior executive officers, or any of the 20 next
most highly compensated employees of the debtor shall be
assumed if a defined benefit plan for employees of the debtor
has been terminated pursuant to section 4041 or 4042 of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, on or after
the date of the commencement of the case or within 180 days
before the date of the commencement of the case.
``(r) No plan, fund, program, or contract to provide
retiree benefits for insiders, senior executive officers, or
any of the 20 next most highly compensated employees of the
debtor shall be assumed if the debtor has obtained relief
under subsection (g) or (h) of section 1114 to impose
reductions in retiree benefits or under subsection (d) or (e)
of section 1113 to impose reductions in the health benefits
of active employees of the debtor, or reduced or eliminated
health benefits for active or retired employees within 180
days before the date of the commencement of the case.''.
SEC. 304. RECOVERY OF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.
(a) In General.--Subchapter III of chapter 5 of title 11,
United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 562
the following:
``Sec. 563. Recovery of executive compensation
``(a) If a debtor has obtained relief under subsection (d)
of section 1113, or subsection (g) of section 1114, by which
the debtor reduces the cost of its obligations under a
collective bargaining agreement or a plan, fund, or program
for retiree benefits as defined in section 1114(a), the
court, in granting relief, shall determine the percentage
diminution in the value of the obligations when compared to
the debtor's obligations under the collective bargaining
agreement, or with respect to retiree benefits, as of the
date of the commencement of the case under this title before
granting such relief. In making its determination, the court
shall include reductions in benefits, if any, as a result of
the termination pursuant to section 4041 or 4042 of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, of a defined
benefit plan administered by the debtor, or for which the
debtor is a contributing employer, effective at any time on
or after 180 days before the date of the commencement of a
case under this title. The court shall not take into account
pension benefits paid or payable under such Act as a result
of any such termination.
``(b) If a defined benefit pension plan administered by the
debtor, or for which the debtor is a contributing employer,
has been terminated pursuant to section 4041 or 4042 of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, effective at
any time on or after 180 days before the date of the
commencement of a case under this title, but a debtor has not
obtained relief under subsection (d) of section 1113, or
subsection (g) of section 1114, the court, upon motion of a
party in interest, shall determine the percentage diminution
in the value of benefit obligations when compared to the
total benefit liabilities before such termination. The court
shall not take into account pension benefits paid or payable
under title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
of 1974 as a result of any such termination.
``(c) Upon the determination of the percentage diminution
in value under subsection (a) or (b), the estate shall have a
claim for the return of the same percentage of the
compensation paid, directly or indirectly (including any
transfer to a self-settled trust or similar device, or to a
nonqualified deferred compensation plan under section
409A(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) to any
officer of the debtor serving as member of the board of
directors of the debtor within the year before the date
[[Page S4414]]
of the commencement of the case, and any individual serving
as chairman or lead director of the board of directors at the
time of the granting of relief under section 1113 or 1114 or,
if no such relief has been granted, the termination of the
defined benefit plan.
``(d) The trustee or a committee appointed pursuant to
section 1102 may commence an action to recover such claims,
except that if neither the trustee nor such committee
commences an action to recover such claim by the first date
set for the hearing on the confirmation of plan under section
1129, any party in interest may apply to the court for
authority to recover such claim for the benefit of the
estate. The costs of recovery shall be borne by the estate.
``(e) The court shall not award postpetition compensation
under section 503(c) or otherwise to any person subject to
subsection (c) if there is a reasonable likelihood that such
compensation is intended to reimburse or replace compensation
recovered by the estate under this section.''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of
sections for chapter 5 of title 11, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 562
the following:
``563. Recovery of executive compensation.''.
SEC. 305. PREFERENTIAL COMPENSATION TRANSFER.
Section 547 of title 11, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(j)(1) The trustee may avoid a transfer--
``(A) made--
``(i) to or for the benefit of an insider (including an
obligation incurred for the benefit of an insider under an
employment contract) made in anticipation of bankruptcy; or
``(ii) in anticipation of bankruptcy to a consultant who is
formerly an insider and who is retained to provide services
to an entity that becomes a debtor (including an obligation
under a contract to provide services to such entity or to a
debtor); and
``(B) made or incurred on or within 1 year before the
filing of the petition.
``(2) No provision of subsection (c) shall constitute a
defense against the recovery of a transfer described in
paragraph (1).
``(3) The trustee or a committee appointed pursuant to
section 1102 may commence an action to recover such transfer,
except that, if neither the trustee nor such committee
commences an action to recover such transfer by the time of
the commencement of a hearing on the confirmation of a plan
under section 1129, any party in interest may apply to the
court for authority to recover the claims for the benefit of
the estate. The costs of recovery shall be borne by the
estate.''.
TITLE IV--OTHER PROVISIONS
SEC. 401. UNION PROOF OF CLAIM.
Section 501(a) of title 11, United States Code, is amended
by inserting ``, including a labor organization,'' after ``A
creditor''.
SEC. 402. EXCEPTION FROM AUTOMATIC STAY.
Section 362(b) of title 11, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (27), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (28), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(29) of the commencement or continuation of a grievance,
arbitration, or similar dispute resolution proceeding
established by a collective bargaining agreement that was or
could have been commenced against the debtor before the
filing of a case under this title, or the payment or
enforcement of an award or settlement under such
proceeding.''.
______
By Mr. HOEVEN (for himself, Mr. McCain, Ms. Murkowski, and Mr.
Barrasso):
S. 2592. A bill to promote energy production and security, and for
other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Mr. HOEVEN. We are here today to talk about energy--energy for our
country but also energy for our allies. This is a discussion not just
about energy, it is about jobs, good-paying jobs. It is also about
economic growth. It is about generating tax revenues to help reduce the
debt and the deficit without raising taxes. It is about national
security--not only our national security but also working with our
closest friend and ally, Canada, as well as our allies in Europe, the
European Union, and working to help countries such as the Ukraine that
very much need energy supply from sources other than Russia.
With the current events going on in the Ukraine, it is very clear
that we need to play a long-term game, a long-term strategy--deploy a
long-term strategy when it comes to helping our allies, not only in
terms of our national security but working with our allies to make them
stronger, their strength, their national security. The national
security of allies also contributes to our strength and our security
here at home. So that is what we are here to talk about. We are here to
talk about the North Atlantic Energy Security Act, legislation we are
introducing today--myself, Senator Barrasso, Senator McCain, and
Senator Murkowski.
I am going to take a few minutes to talk about energy production,
transportation, and export in terms of building our energy future in
this country and working with our allies. Senator Barrasso is here, and
he will be talking about the specific legislation. Senator McCain will
join us as well to talk about the national security issues and
implications.
I will start with the first chart.
Very simply, what we want to do is continue to produce more energy in
our Nation, in the heartland of our Nation and throughout our country.
We want to transport that increased production to market. That includes
not only markets domestically but also markets where we can export it
to our friends and allies in the European Union, to the Ukraine, and to
Japan. That is the simple equation we are working on. Again, it is
about energy. It is about jobs. It is about a growing economy. It is
very much about national security.
That gas is produced throughout our country, more and more all the
time. Right now we produce 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas a
year. We only use 26 trillion cubic feet of natural gas a year, so we
are already producing more than we consume, and that number is growing.
What happens when you produce more than you consume and you do not
have a market for that gas? In places such as North Dakota, we are
flaring off that gas. Right now, just in my State alone, we flare $1.5
million a day of natural gas--$1.5 million a day. That is natural gas
that we need to capture, that we need to get in gathering systems, that
we need to transport to markets, and we need markets for that gas. This
is just common sense.
How do we move gas from North Dakota to places such as Ukraine, where
there is much need for a market? Well, we need both interstate and
intrastate pipeline systems. On this chart, you can see that the purple
is the interstate. That is how we move gas across State lines. But we
also need intrastate gathering systems. A lot of oil wells produce
natural gas as a byproduct; other wells are just gas wells. But you
need gathering systems, the blue systems that go to all those wells so
that gas can be gathered, put in the interstate system, and moved to
markets--markets throughout the United States and markets overseas.
As I said a minute ago, we produce 30 trillion cubic feet a year,
States such as North Dakota, Wyoming, and many others. That number is
growing. We produce 30 trillion cubic feet a year, but we only consume
26 trillion, so we are flaring off that gas.
We need markets. As we work to build those gathering systems and
those interstate pipelines, how do we get markets? Well, we move that
product to overseas as liquefied natural gas, LNG. It is cooled and
condensed, put on ships, and moved to other markets--the European
Union, Ukraine, Japan--by ship. But we need the LNG facilities to do
it. We do not have them. So that is a problem, right? Well, it is,
except we have many companies that are not only ready and willing but
anxious to build the facilities. Here are 16 right here, 16
applications.
Of the 26 applications that are pending, many of them have been
pending for over a year waiting to get approval from the Department of
Energy and from the FERC. So here we are flaring off natural gas, as I
showed a minute ago--$1.5 million a day in my State--flaring it off
because we produce more than we consume. We need markets. These
applications are just sitting there and have been for more than a year.
If they get approved, what happens? Let's take an example. Here is
one by a company everybody has heard of--Exxon. Exxon has an
application. As you can see here, they have had an application in for
over a year waiting to get approved at Sabine Pass, TX, which is right
down in that gulf area. They are ready, willing, and able to spend $10
billion right now, today, to build that facility.
Where are they going to move the gas? They are going to move it to
the United Kingdom so it can go right into the European system. We will
touch on that European system and how it gets to places such as the
Ukraine in a minute. But if they can get approval--
[[Page S4415]]
I have already talked to their CEO, Mr. Rex Tillerson. He indicates
that within 36 to 40 months of approval, they can be moving gas into
the European markets. Does that sound realistic? It certainly does.
Obviously that is a very large company with the capabilities to do what
they say they are willing and want to do.
Here is another example. Here is Cheniere. Same place--Sabine Pass.
This is one that did get approved. This is one that did get approval.
They intend to be delivering gas into the European market by the middle
of next year--middle of next year. So this is not something that is
going to take forever to happen.
We not only have the fact that we can start moving natural gas over
here in a very reasonable amount of time, but think of the impact on
the markets in Europe and the impact on Russia and gas prices when they
know it is coming.
I am going to ask Senator McCain to step in here. I mentioned a
minute ago that application I showed you that is pending from Exxon.
They want to move that natural gas to market right here in the UK.
What this chart shows is the pipeline network throughout Europe that
will enable them to move that product throughout Europe and even into
Eastern Europe, including places such as Ukraine.
Right now where is all that gas coming from? Russia, Gazprom. All
these pipelines are coming down from Russia and providing that gas to
the European countries, to the European Union, and to the Ukraine. Of
course, that makes them dependent on Russia and that enables Russia to
engage in the kind of activity we have seen and we can't always be
reacting short term. We need a long-term strategy to break that hold.
Here are some of the numbers. This shows not only Ukraine but look at
the impact on other NATO countries, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, 100
percent of their gas coming from Russia. Think of the leverage that
gives Russia in this situation.
The last chart is the North Atlantic Energy Security Act. Quite
simply, we are going to cut the redtape that is holding up production
and infrastructure, we are going to reduce flaring, and we are going to
expedite LNG to our friends and allies, to countries such as the
European Union, to Ukraine, to Japan. We reduce the redtape that is
holding up production. We are producing 30 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas, and we can produce a lot more, but we have to cut through
the redtape. We also enhance and expand our ability to build the
gathering systems that move that natural gas to market, and we allow
export.
We have an expedited process so we can export that gas to the markets
we need, to our friends, and to our allies. Again, this is about
energy, but it is about creating jobs, it is about growing our economy,
it is about the national security of our country and our allies, and it
is about having a long-term strategy that works, not going from crisis
to crisis.
With that, I turn to my colleague, the senior Senator from Arizona,
to comment on some of the national security implications.
Mr. McCAIN. I ask unanimous consent the colloquy between the three of
us be allowed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection.
Mr. McCAIN. I thank my two colleagues from North Dakota and Wyoming.
There are no two Members of the Senate who know more and have worked
harder on this energy issue. There are no two Senators who have worked
harder to try to bring to the American people the fact that if we could
export energy to these countries, it could literally change the world.
This is not only when it actually arrives, but when Vladimir Putin gets
the message, within 3 years--as I understand the Senator from North
Dakota's context--we could be sending energy to the living rooms.
If you would put the numbers back up with the countries and their
dependence on Russian energy.
Within 3 years the people within Latvia, Estonia, members of NATO,
would no longer be reliant--and it gets very cold up in those Baltic
countries as well. It can have a significant effect on the entire
world.
I would also point out if that energy--and I would ask my colleagues
from Wyoming or North Dakota--could get to the living room of Kiev--
which the Senator showed the different pipelines that cross Ukraine--
that has a huge effect.
I would ask my friend from Wyoming to comment.
We have threatened Russians time after time after they absorbed
Crimea in violation of an agreement they made in Budapest to respect
the territorial integrity of Ukraine. They absorbed Crimea. They
continue to provoke unrest in Eastern Ukraine.
They have been threatened time after time by the United States and
Europe, and I would argue that the handful of sanctions on individuals
has had very little effect whatsoever on Russian behavior.
I ask the Senator from Wyoming as well, this is not only about the
fact that the United States of America would be an energy exporter--
which is a huge effect on our economy--but this could have a huge
effect on the entire European Continent, because if Vladimir Putin
understands that this energy is coming from a friend of the ally of the
United States America, as opposed to them being dependent on Russian
oil and energy, I would argue that it could change the entire shape of
the world as we know it.
I thank both of the Senators who have been involved in this issue for
many years. I don't know how many times both Senators have come to the
floor--and I might just say I don't claim to be an expert on energy as
my two colleagues are--but I will say the presentation the Senator from
North Dakota just made should be understandable and I believe is
understandable to every American citizen how we can, within 3 years as
I understand it, achieve a level of energy independence and that for
Europe that could literally change the entire equation in Europe and in
the United States.
Mr. BARRASSO. My friend and colleague from Arizona is absolutely
right. The three of us have traveled together to Ukraine. We have
traveled together to Latvia and Lithuania.
What we hear everywhere we go is: Please sell us natural gas. Please
sell us energy. Please help us undermine what Putin is doing to us.
Energy should be used as a geopolitical weapon, and it is the
advances in technology in just the last decade that have made all of
this possible. The Senators from Arizona and North Dakota are both
correct. We are producing more now than ever. They are well aware of
that throughout Europe and throughout the Baltics--to the point that
Lithuania is even in the middle of acquiring an at-sea platform to
change liquefied natural gas into natural gas--to warm it up, if you
will, for use--and it is called the Independence. That is the name of
this platform. It is to give them independence from Russia.
That is what they are investing in, and now they are saying to us:
Please send it our way.
The technology has changed so much that in 2005 a book came out
called ``Beyond Oil,'' and it was sent to every University of Wyoming
first-year student coming in. They were invited to read it, and there
was a whole section on liquefied natural gas.
At the time the technology wasn't developed enough for us to be so
blessed in the United States to produce it, so that they were talking
about actually building terminals in Louisiana, Texas, to import
liquefied natural gas from other places.
Now we have reversed it. We are now in a position where we have such
an abundance of liquefied natural gas, as my colleague from North
Dakota said, we are flaring it off, burning it to the point of $1.5
million a day. That is the value of that gas, and there is also tax
revenue that is not being collected because this isn't being sold, so
our States could use the revenue. The Federal Government would benefit
from us selling this rather than burning it, but yet we don't have the
opportunity to do so because of the specifics of the laws with which we
are faced.
We need to change the law. We need to be able to export. We need to
be able to have permits to export, and we are seeing a lot of foot-
dragging by this administration, which is why there are bills on this
floor, bipartisan pieces of legislation, to help us use our energy
abundance as a geopolitical weapon to
[[Page S4416]]
undermine Vladimir Putin's ability to use energy as a weapon of his
own, a club against, as we have said, Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia,
Lithuania, Estonia--all of these areas that are so dependent upon
Russia for their gas, when they would rather buy it from us.
It would be an opportunity for us in America to become a net exporter
in a way that would help balance our trade and balance our payments. It
would bring cash back into the United States and we would be so much
less dependent on the Middle East for sources of energy. We should be
relying on that at home.
I look to my colleague from Arizona and say he is absolutely right in
his leadership, in his direction, and in his global view that he has
seen in his incredible service to our country. He has seen the shift.
He has seen the future, and he knows the future success for our country
comes in exporting liquefied natural gas to Europe, to our NATO allies,
to Ukraine.
That is why we bring to the floor today the North Atlantic Energy
Security Act, which we believe will help our country, help globally,
and help us not just economically but help us geopolitically as well.
I turn to my friends from either Arizona or North Dakota to continue
in this discussion, and then I will get back to some specific things
that are happening around the world.
Mr. McCAIN. I say to both of my colleagues, the Senator from North
Dakota, Americans understand, I believe, that we need to do what we can
to help our European friends become independent of Vladimir Putin as a
source of energy.
They also are beginning to understand the United States of America is
going to be an exporter of energy, which will obviously change our
dependence on Middle Eastern energy and on other forms of energy, but
the way the Senator from North Dakota described this, I think every
American, if they saw it, would ask: Why don't we move in that
direction? Why don't we believe the major energy companies that say
within 3 years--and beginning, I understand, next year with some of
them--we could be supplying these countries with energy which would
then give them not only the ability to have energy without dependency,
but it also sends a huge message to Vladimir Putin and to Europe that
they are no longer dependent on his largesse. There have been times in
the past where Vladimir Putin has shut off the energy in the
wintertime, and it gets very cold in some of these countries in the
wintertime.
It might also send a message to Vladimir Putin himself that he is not
going to get away with the kind of behavior that he has.
I would ask the Senator from North Dakota, what does it require--
suppose I am just an average citizen--to capture that natural gas that
is being burned for $1 million-plus a day? What does it require to
capture that and then get it to that port where it is going to be
exported?
I would finally say I intend to go every place I can in America in
the next few months and give the same presentation the Senator from
North Dakota did and help the American people understand that we don't
have to do a lot.
The energy is there. The question is, Do we have the national will
and legislative will to take the action necessary to get that energy to
the people who need it so badly, who are literally under the threat of
freezing cold this coming winter?
Mr. HOEVEN. I thank the Senator from Arizona for his comments, his
leadership, and for his willingness to work on this vitally important
issue.
In terms of responding to his question: OK. What needs to happen--I
wish to take a minute to give an overview of the legislation and then
ask the Senator from Wyoming to comment in more detail.
As I said at the outset, and I actually have said several times, this
is about more energy, it is about job creation, it is about growing the
economy, and it is about national security.
It is also very much about environmental benefits. I showed you gas
being flared off a well. This gas is just being flared.
Not only is that wasting a natural resource which we can capture and
get value for, but when we capture that, we also create environmental
benefits.
Nationally, we flare or vent, burn off, 212 billion cubic feet of gas
a year--212 billion cubic feet of gas a year now being burned off.
Mr. McCAIN. Which is roughly how much money?
Mr. HOEVEN. Oh, boy. To convert it, it is billions, right, it is in
the billions of dollars. I don't have the exact number, but it is a
huge amount. It is $1.5 million a day in my State alone so the Senator
can see we are talking billions of dollars. There are also tremendous
environmental benefits as well.
But let's go to the legislation for a minute because I think this is
responsive to the question asked by the Senator from Arizona about: OK.
How do we make it happen?
The reality is we are producing the energy now, we can produce more,
and this doesn't cost taxpayer money.
This creates revenues without raising taxes. This is going to create
revenues to help address the debt and the deficit. This is enabling and
empowering the private companies to make investments to create jobs,
make investments to produce the energy.
Going back to this chart, Exxon wants to invest $10 billion today,
creating thousands of jobs and a tremendous amount of revenue for the
Federal Government to reduce the deficit and debt. It doesn't cost a
penny. That is not what it is about. It is about streamlining the
regulation, cutting the redtape. That means making sure we streamline
and expedite the process to get wells approved. That is the first area
of legislation that increases our production onshore. We can do it
offshore as well. But we are talking about more production. As I say,
we are already producing more than we consume.
Second, it is about building those gathering systems. It requires
permits and approvals to build gathering systems, so we are not able to
build those gathering systems. If you can't build a gathering system,
what happens? You burn off the gas because you can't get it to market.
So that process is being held up. Again, it is about cutting through
the redtape, reducing the regulation and bureaucracy. It doesn't cost
anything.
The final piece, the same thing--getting approval to export LNG.
Right now there is one that has final approval from the DOE and FERC.
There are 26 applications pending. One has final approval from the
DOE--Department of Energy--and the FERC. Six have conditional approval
and 26 are pending. It is as simple as getting the approvals and
cutting through that redtape. This is not about spending taxpayer
dollars; it is about generating revenues.
Mr. McCAIN. If I could ask the Senator from North Dakota one
additional question, and maybe the Senator from Wyoming would comment
on it too. What about the environmental aspects of using natural gas as
opposed to other forms of energy, whether it be coal or oil or other
forms of energy?
Mr. HOEVEN. I would respond briefly to the Senator from Arizona and
then turn to the Senator from Wyoming on that issue as well for more
detail on the legislation. He has tremendous expertise in this area and
has been working on it for a long time.
Clearly, it is a double win because not only are we no longer burning
off or flaring that natural gas, but we are using natural gas, which is
a very clean resource, for a whole range of energy uses, whether it is
powering homes or many other uses. So it is a huge environmental win.
Mr. McCAIN. So I would think the EPA would be out there in front
arguing for this legislation.
Mr. HOEVEN. Absolutely an environmental win.
Mr. BARRASSO. It is interesting. The Senator from South Dakota, the
Senator from Arizona, and I were reviewing this article in today's Wall
Street Journal, Thursday, July 10.
The headline is ``In the Arctic, Shipping Route Is Set to Supply LNG
to Asia,'' and there is a map of the globe. It says:
Shipping companies in China and Japan said they would start
a regular service to carry Siberian natural gas across the
Arctic Ocean to East Asia, showing how Asian demand for the
fuel is reshaping global shipping routes.
So with the forces at play--Asia's demand for natural gas, Japan's
move
[[Page S4417]]
away from nuclear power, China's struggle with pollution--this is an
opportunity for us to use a resource we have in the United States and
export it in a very profitable way for our country, put people to work,
increase tax revenues to the States, increase tax revenues to the
Nation, and improve our balance of trade. The technology is now
allowing us to do it, but the government is not. That is the biggest
problem we have--a bureaucratic Federal Government that is not allowing
what we have and what we have learned to use. The government is
blocking it, and that is why we have come to the floor today to try to
encourage additional exports to Europe and support the North Atlantic
Energy Security Act.
Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I turn to the good Senator from Arizona
for any final comments. Seeing that he doesn't have any, I thank him.
I also thank the good Senator from Wyoming and ask if there are any
final comments he might have on the legislation. He has been an author
of much of this legislation. I thank him for that tremendous work and
for being part of this effort.
Mr. BARRASSO. The legislation is bipartisan. We have Republicans and
Democrats alike who realize there are incredible values to us as a
nation to be exporting liquefied natural gas.
At a time when the technology is there, the will is there, we need to
get a vote on the Senate floor. I offered the amendment before and
bring it again today as legislation, the North Atlantic Energy Security
Act. It is about energy, it is about security--our economic security,
our energy security--and our opportunities on the geopolitical stage to
use our resources to the best advantage of our Nation and our Nation's
citizens.
I thank the Senator from North Dakota for his continued leadership in
this area.
Mr. HOEVEN. I thank the Senator from Wyoming.
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