[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 122 (Thursday, July 30, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6189-S6191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. KAINE:
  S. 1900. A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow 
the Secretary of Education to award job training Federal Pell Grants; 
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, by 2020, it is estimated that 65 percent of 
all jobs will require at least some form of postsecondary education and 
training. The National Skills Coalition estimates that nearly half of 
all job openings between now and 2022 will be middle skill jobs that 
require education beyond high school, but not a 4-year degree. While 
the number of students pursuing postsecondary education is growing, the 
supply of skilled workers still falls short of industry demand. 
According to one estimate, the U.S. faces a shortfall of as many as 4.7 
million new workers with postsecondary certificates by the year 2018 
and according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 3.7 million U.S. jobs 
are currently vacant because of a shortage of qualified workers.
  Our current Federal higher education policy could be improved to help 
solve this problem. Pell Grants--the primary form of Federal tuition 
assistance for low-income and working students--can only be awarded 
towards programs that are over 600 clock hours or at least 15 weeks in 
length. These grants cannot be used to support many of the short-term 
occupational training programs at community and technical colleges and 
other institutions that provide skills and credentials employers need 
and recognize. When it comes to higher education, Federal policies need 
to support the demands of the changing labor market and support 
alternate career pathways that align with industry demand. According 
the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 
shorter-term educational investments pay off--the average postsecondary 
certificate holder has 20 percent higher lifetime earnings than 
individuals with only a high school diploma.
  I am pleased to introduce the Jumpstart Our Businesses by Supporting 
Students or JOBS Act. The JOBS Act would amend the Higher Education Act 
by expanding Pell Grant eligibility to students enrolled in short-term 
skills and job training programs that lead to industry-based 
credentials and ultimately employment in in-demand industry sectors or 
careers. Since job training programs are shorter and less costly, Pell 
Grant awards would be half of the current discretionary Pell amount. 
The legislation defines eligible job training programs as those 
providing career and technical education instruction at an institution 
that provides at least 150 clock hours of instruction time over a 
period of at least 8 weeks and that provides training that meets the 
needs of the local or regional workforce. These programs must also 
provide students with licenses, certifications, or credentials that 
meet the hiring requirements of multiple employers in the field for 
which the job training is offered.
  The JOBS Act also ensures that students who receive Pell Grants are 
earning high-quality postsecondary credentials by requiring that the 
credentials meet the standards under the Workforce Innovation and 
Opportunity Act, are recognized by employers, industry, or sector 
partnerships, and align with the skill needs of industries in the 
States or local economies.
  We need to make sure that Federal student aid supports the demand of 
a 21st century economy. As Congress works to reauthorize the Higher 
Education Act, I hope that my colleagues ensure that Pell Grants are 
accessible for individuals participating in high-quality, short-term 
occupational training programs that are leading to industry-recognized 
credentials and certificates.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. REED:
  S. 1902. A bill to provide for the treatment and extension of 
temporary financing of short-time compensation programs; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Layoff Prevention 
Extension Act. This bill would extend the financing and grant 
provisions for the successful work sharing legislation I authored and 
worked to include in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act 
of 2012.
  The concept of work sharing is simple. It helps people who are 
currently employed, but in danger of being laid off, to keep their 
jobs. By giving struggling companies the flexibility to reduce hours 
instead of their workforce, work sharing programs prevent layoffs and 
help employers save money on rehiring costs. Employees who participate 
in work sharing keep their jobs and receive a portion of unemployment 
insurance benefits to make up for lost wages.
  Since becoming law, work sharing has helped save over 110,000 jobs, 
including 1,200 jobs in my State of Rhode Island, according to 
estimates from the Department of Labor. And it has saved States $225 
million by reimbursing them for work sharing benefits they paid out to 
workers--benefits that helped keep people on the job.
  Before my bill became law in 2012, only a handful of States had work 
sharing programs. Now, these programs enjoy broad bipartisan support 
and have been established in 29 States and the District of Columbia. 
However, the $100 million in implementation grants expired at the end 
of 2014, and the 100 percent Federal financing of these work sharing 
benefits will expire next month.

[[Page S6190]]

  The legislation I am introducing today would extend these deadlines 
by 2 years so that states with existing work sharing programs, and 
those that are looking to enact a program, can qualify for Federal 
support.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting passage of this bill to 
keep American workers on the job, save taxpayers money, and provide 
employers with a practical, positive, and cost-effective alternative to 
layoffs.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. Coons):
  S. 1911. A bill to implement policies to end preventable maternal, 
newborn, and child deaths globally; to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, today I am very pleased to be joined by 
my colleague from Delaware, Senator Chris Coons, in introducing the 
Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2015. The purpose of our bill is to 
improve the health and well-being of women and children in developing 
countries. Every day approximately 800 women will die from preventable 
causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
  In addition, more than 17,000 children under the age of 5 will die 
each day of treatable conditions such as prematurity, pneumonia, and 
diarrhea, with malnutrition being the underlying cause in nearly half 
those deaths. While progress has been made in improving the health of 
mothers and their children, it is a tragedy that so many preventable 
deaths still occur, especially given that there are many effective and 
established lifesaving maternal and child health protocols and 
policies.
  These lifesaving interventions include clean birthing practices, 
vaccines, nutritional supplements, hand washing with soap, and other 
basic needs that remain elusive for far too many women and children in 
developing countries.
  Our legislation would strengthen the American government's commitment 
to ending preventable deaths of mothers, newborns, and young children 
in the developing world. There are simple, proven, cost-effective 
interventions which we know will work if we can reach the mothers and 
children who need them to survive. Our bill will also allow us to 
leverage greater investments from other parties, especially the private 
sector, partner governments, private foundations, and multinational 
organizations.
  According to USAID, a concentrated effort could end preventable 
maternal and child deaths worldwide by the year 2035. However, U.S. 
leadership and support of the international community are critical to 
meeting this goal.
  The U.S. Agency for International Development--USAID--has set an 
ambitious interim goal of preventing the deaths of 15 million children 
and 600,000 women in the next 5 years to ensure steadfast progress 
toward the ultimate goal. Due in part to American leadership and 
generosity, many lives have already been saved. Since 1990 the annual 
number of deaths of children under the age of 5 has been cut in half. 
Nevertheless, far too many mothers, newborns, and young children under 
the age of 5 still succumb to disease and malnutrition that could 
easily be prevented. The deployment of interventions that have proved 
to be successful must be accelerated.
  Our bill would require the administration to develop a 10-year 
strategy to achieve the goal of preventing these deaths by the year 
2035. Our bill would charge USAID with meeting that goal.
  One provision of our bill would establish a maternal and child 
survival coordinator at USAID who would focus on implementing the 10-
year strategy and verifying that the most effective interventions are 
scaled up in target countries. Our bill would also establish an 
interagency working group to assist the coordinator in promoting 
greater collaboration among all the Federal agencies involved in this 
effort.
  To promote transparency and greater accountability, our bill requires 
that detailed reporting be published on the Foreign Assistance 
Dashboard, where it can be assessed by the public, Congress, and 
nongovernmental organizations to track the implementation of the 
strategy and the progress being made.
  Finally, the United States cannot and should not take on the goal of 
eradicating these preventable deaths alone. Our bill recognizes this 
reality and requires the administration to develop a financing 
framework which would allow the use of U.S. Government dollars to 
leverage additional commitments from the private sector, nonprofit 
organizations, partner countries, and multinational organizations. As 
other investments grow, the need for U.S. Government assistance would 
decline. At a time when we must make very difficult decisions regarding 
Federal priorities in our budget, this is an important and responsible 
provision that ultimately will reduce the reliance on U.S. Government 
contributions.
  Improving the health and well-being of mothers and children around 
the world has far-reaching social and economic benefits as well. An 
independent group of economists and global health experts from around 
the world, known as the Lancet Commission, indicated that the return on 
investment in global health initiatives is very high. In fact, for 
every $1 invested, there is a return of $9 to $20 in growing the gross 
domestic product of the country receiving the investment.
  Other global health initiatives, such as the successful President's 
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which was started by 
President George Bush, demonstrate that results-risen interventions can 
turn the tide for global health challenges such as maternal and child 
survival. Taking lessons learned from past initiatives, our bill would 
provide the focus and the tools necessary to accelerate progress toward 
ending preventable maternal and child deaths.
  I urge my colleagues to take a close look at the bill we are 
introducing today and to join Senator Coons and me in supporting this 
bill to save the lives of mothers and children around the world.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I join my colleague from Maine on the floor 
this afternoon to talk about what we can do to save the lives of 
newborn children and their mothers in some of the poorest communities 
around our globe.
  I wish to start by thanking Senator Collins for her impressive 
leadership and for the energy she has brought to this work. I share her 
belief that our bipartisan bill, which is called the Reach Every Mother 
and Child Act or just the REACH Act, will go a long way toward 
eliminating preventable maternal and child deaths and will do so in an 
impressively targeted and cost-effective way.
  The preventable death of newborns, their mothers, and children under 
5 is a genuine tragedy that remains a widespread reality in far too 
many places around our world today. As Senator Collins said, 17,000 
children a day lose their lives to preventable diseases such as 
pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria--illnesses we know how to not just 
treat but prevent--and worldwide, 3 million children will lose their 
lives to malnutrition this year. Nearly 3 million newborns die every 
year, 1 million of whom don't live to their second day, and 300,000 
women don't get to experience the joy of raising their child as either 
pregnancy or birth takes their lives. I doubt it would come to any 
surprise to those in this Chamber today that it is the families who are 
living in the poorest communities in the developing world who are most 
at risk.
  So what brings Senator Collins and me to the floor today is the fact 
that there are things we can do to prevent these deaths from ever 
happening and to do so in a cost-effective and transparent way. Since I 
first entered office, I have been confronted with challenges both at 
home and around the world that demand our action but where real 
solutions remain out of the reach of this Senate or our government. 
This is not one of those issues.
  Some doubt that we can make a lasting and meaningful impact on the 
poorest of the poor in the developing world, but the fact is, we have 
made real progress. It was time spent in east Africa 30 years ago that 
first really changed my life and engaged me passionately in these 
issues. What is striking is how much progress we have actually made. 
Over the past 25 years, we have cut in half the number of children and 
mothers who have died, the number of children under 5, and mothers who 
die in illnesses associated with

[[Page S6191]]

childbirth. Mortality rates are now declining faster than ever. And 
while we do face real and seemingly intractable challenges across the 
international landscape, our progress on this issue remains a telling 
sign of what is possible when we pull together and apply thoughtful 
interventions.
  Just last year the administration took an important next step, laying 
out a new strategy with ambitious goals--saving the lives of 15 million 
children and 600,000 women by the end of this decade. Think about the 
scope and reach of the change that would mean for families and for 
communities in some of the poorest places on this planet. These goals 
are based in the lessons we have learned about what really works. 
Providing neonatal care to expectant mothers works. Vaccinating young 
children works. Providing access to clean water so that children don't 
die from diarrhea works. Providing HIV-positive mothers with 
antiretroviral drugs works.
  I am hopeful about our ability to find cost-effective solutions 
because many of these remedies are simple things which are already at 
work here in our own country and which we as Americans take for 
granted. In the United States, what would be a fairly routine 
complication of childbirth would, in many communities in the developing 
world, be a life-or-death situation.
  For example, let me talk for a moment about something called a 
resuscitation bag--a simple piece of plastic that costs just a few 
dollars. Most American parents have either seen one used or ready to be 
used in the delivery room. We know that in an American hospital--and it 
should be in the hospital of any developed country--when a nurse needs 
a resuscitation bag for a newborn who is struggling to breathe, it is 
right there and waiting. But in the poorest communities, where newborns 
are losing their lives at astounding rates, a significant factor is the 
simple absence of these bags to save the lives of newborns. When a 
nurse--if there is even a nurse--reaches for one, there is none to be 
found. Yet these simple devices that cost just a few dollars could save 
literally hundreds or thousands of lives.
  So what our bipartisan REACH Act does is recognize that many of the 
steps we can take are very much within our grasp, and our bill would 
take these solutions a step further by reforming them and scaling them 
up so they have a larger, longer term impact.
  Our bill would increase coordination to better implement U.S. 
strategies with the goal of ending preventable maternal, newborn, and 
child deaths within 20 years. It would build new partnerships with the 
private sector, improve coordination across agencies, and insist on 
real targets and transparent and measurable progress. It would also, as 
Senator Collins referenced, allow U.S. Government dollars to be 
leveraged. And I love it when we leverage our resources with the 
private sector, with multilateral donors, and with our partner 
countries in the developing world. Critically, it would focus on the 
most effective interventions in the poorest and most vulnerable 
communities and put in place targets that can be effectively tracked.
  These communities in the poorest parts of our planet face many 
challenges, but when it comes to saving the lives of young mothers and 
children, we know exactly what it will take to make a meaningful 
difference. Today, together, we are offering a strong path forward.
  I close by urging my colleagues to follow the real leadership of 
Senator Collins and to join both of us in ensuring that American 
ingenuity and leadership can continue to save lives and to offer 
communities around our world a brighter future.
  Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I wish to thank the Senator from Delaware 
for his very eloquent statement. I know how passionate he is about 
helping people, particularly in Africa. He has extraordinary expertise 
about that region of the world, about that continent, and has been 
there many times. I look forward to working with him to make this bill 
a law. It is bipartisan, and it should bring people together across 
party lines. I hope we will be able to get it signed into law this 
year.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. Warner):
  S. 1914. A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act with 
respect to the guidelines for specification of certain disposal sites 
for dredged or fill material; to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, today, I am pleased to join my bipartisan 
Virginia colleagues Senator Mark Warner and Congressmen Robert Hurt and 
Morgan Griffith in introducing the Commonsense Permitting for Job 
Creation Act of 2015, a bipartisan, bicameral piece of legislation to 
address an aspect of water permitting law that has touched several 
economic development projects in Virginia.
  Southern Virginia has seen great economic challenges in recent years 
due to the overall economic downturn compounded by fundamental changes 
to the region's traditional industries such as manufacturing, textiles, 
and tobacco. Throughout this region there are several business park 
sites that could be developed to accommodate one or multiple 
manufacturing operations. County economic development authorities have 
worked to secure all necessary permits and authorities to develop these 
sites but have encountered an issue pertaining to Clean Water Act 
Section 404 permits.
  Several of these counties have had difficulty securing approval from 
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for 404 permits because the Corps is 
reluctant to issue a permit without a company that has committed to the 
site and prepared detailed development blueprints. In speaking to 
potential companies, county officials have heard that it is difficult 
for a company to commit to a site without assurance that all government 
permits are secured. This has created a ``chicken and egg'' conundrum--
a company will not relocate to the site without an approved permit, but 
a permit cannot be approved without a company willing to relocate.
  This legislation simply addresses that regulatory ambiguity by 
specifying that the lack of a committed end-user shall not be the sole 
reason to deny a Corps permit that meets all other legal requirements 
under Section 404.
  I believe Federal, State, and local stakeholders can work in good 
faith to follow all laws protecting our water resources, while taking 
reasonable steps to make it easier to pursue economic development 
opportunities in economically distressed communities. My colleagues and 
I introduced a version of this bill in the previous Congress, and we 
were pleased to help speed the process that led to the approval of a 
permit for the Commonwealth Crossing Business Center in Henry County, 
VA, last year.
  I am optimistic that this bill will help expedite approval of 
important economic development projects in a manner that is acceptable 
to all stakeholders. We are proud to be able to work across the aisle 
and with state and local officials on this commonsense, bipartisan 
solution.

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