[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 43 (Thursday, March 17, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1594-S1600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. WYDEN:
  S. 2706. A bill to promote innovative approaches to outdoor 
recreation on Federal land and to open up opportunities for 
collaboration with non-Federal partners, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, last summer, I set out on a tour of 
Oregon's Seven Wonders to hear from Oregonians in every corner of the 
State about how to improve access to outdoor recreation. Recreation is 
a big economic multiplier for my State, and Oregonians are the true 
experts on--outdoor recreation--it is in our DNA.
  Oregon's recreation and tourism economy generates an estimated $10 
billion a year in direct economic impact for the state and supports 
more than 101,000 jobs--enough people essentially to fill every seat in 
Autzen and Reser stadiums, home to the University of Oregon Ducks and 
Oregon State Beavers. Recreation supports communities and businesses 
large and small throughout urban and rural Oregon and can have 
astounding benefits on veterans, youth, and seniors.
  Not only do you have outfitters and the crafts people who produce 
recreation products, like canoes, kayaks, bikes, and fishing poles, 
recreation supports the broader travel and tourism industry including 
equipment retailers and gear shops. But the benefit doesn't stop when 
the sun goes down. Then visitors go to the brewpubs and restaurants, 
and they stay overnight at the hotels and the motels. So what we need 
to do is ensure that recreation is a higher priority for the future so 
it can continue to boost economies large and small.
  Yet on my tour of Oregon's Seven Wonders, I consistently heard one 
troubling theme that's yanking our recreation economy's potential back 
down to earth. Simply put, red tape is tying down the opportunities for 
Oregon recreation and tourism to lift off to even greater heights. 
Outfitters and guides must navigate confusing permit processes only to 
wait months or years for their permits to get approved, and outdoor 
enthusiasts searching for outdoor recreation opportunities often get 
lost in the paperwork before they ever hit the trails.
  That is why today I am introducing the Recreation Not Red-Tape, RNR, 
Act to ensure that recreation is a priority for Federal agencies and to 
cut the bureaucratic red tape in the recreation permitting process to 
make accessing outdoor recreation opportunities easier and much more 
fun. I gathered input from Oregonians who enjoy public lands, 
entrepreneurs in the outdoor travel and tourism industry, and community 
leaders from Oregon and across the Nation. The bill focuses on making 
sure everyone has easier access to the outdoors, recognizing and 
building on recreation as an economic driver, and making the repair and 
management of our recreational public lands easier. Additionally, the 
bill supports improving access to outdoor recreation for veterans, 
seniors, and youth.
  My friend and colleague, Representative Earl Blumenauer, is today 
introducing the House companion of the Recreation Not Red-Tape Act. The 
bill is supported by over 50 Oregon and national organizations, from 
American Alpine Club to Vet Voice.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. COTTON:
  S. 2708. A bill to provide for the admission to the United States of 
up to 10,000 Syrian religious minorities as refugees of special 
humanitarian concern in each of the fiscal years 2016 through 2020; to 
the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, 6 months ago, a 12-year-old boy stood 
before a crowd in a Syrian village not far from Aleppo. This boy was 
Christian and standing above him were Islamic State terrorists holding 
knives. In the crowd was the boy's father, a Christian minister. 
Methodically, the terrorists began cutting off the young boy's fingers. 
Amidst his screams, they turned to the minister, his father. If he 
renounced his faith and in their terms returned to Islam, his son's 
suffering would stop. In the end, however, these ISIS terrorists killed 
the boy, killed his father, and killed two other Christians solely over 
the faith they professed. They did so by crucifixion.
  In the time of Christ, the cross was not just a means of execution 
but a brutal and public warning to all. Because of Christ's suffering, 
the cross was transformed into a revered symbol of His sacrifice and 
promise of salvation, but today it is clear ISIS seeks to turn the 
cross once again into a message of dread.
  Eight other Christians in the village that day were also killed. They 
were executed by public beheading, but not before ISIS barbarians raped 
the two women among the victims and forced the crowd to witness the 
atrocity.
  Today was the deadline set by law for Secretary of State Kerry to 
present Congress with an evaluation of the persecution of Christians, 
Yazidis, and other religious minorities in Syria and Iraq. I am 
heartened Secretary Kerry this morning took the needed step of 
declaring the systemic murder of religious minorities by ISIS what it 
plainly is: genocide.
  The nature of these horrific crimes of ISIS has not been a secret. It 
is no secret that the story of the torture and death of that 12-year-
old Syrian boy, his minister father, and 10 other Christians is 
repeated many times over in different villages, with different victims 
of different religions throughout the region. It is no secret that 
hundreds of thousands of religious minorities in Syria and Iraq have 
been driven by war and violence from homes and lands they have held for 
generations. It is no secret ISIS terrorists have destroyed Christian 
churches, desecrated holy ancient shrines, and dug up Christian graves 
and smashed their tombstones. It is no secret bishops, priests, and 
other clerical leaders are being abducted and murdered. It is no secret 
ISIS terrorists capture Yazidi women and girls and lock them into a 
life of sexual slavery and repeated rape. Many of these victims choose 
to take their own lives, seeing suicide as their only escape amidst 
hopelessness and unimaginable suffering. It is no secret that thousands 
of Christians and other religious minorities have been systematically 
raped and tortured, beheaded, crucified, burned alive, and buried in 
mass graves, if buried at all. It is no secret the word we should use 
to describe the whole of these atrocities--the word we must use--is 
``genocide.''
  The plain reality is that the Islamic State is seeking to eradicate 
Christians, Yazidis, Sabean-Mandeans, Jews, and other religious groups 
it sees as apostates and infidels. This is part of its fanatical focus 
on establishing a caliphate first in the Middle East and eventually 
across the rest of the world.
  Christians, Yazidis, and others who have managed to find refuge have 
seen ISIS's genocidal campaign firsthand. They can list name after name 
of missing family members--wives and daughters kidnapped into sexual 
slavery,

[[Page S1595]]

sons and brothers killed, and others spirited away to unknown fates. 
These victims know the truth of the genocide occurring in Syria and 
Iraq, and now that truth is recognized officially by the United States 
of America.
  There are those who wavered on whether this was genocide. They feared 
that uttering this truth would compel U.S. action to stop the genocide. 
My answer is--and? A mortal enemy who wishes to commit mass terrorist 
atrocities against the United States is also systematically persecuting 
and exterminating Christians and other religious minorities. When will 
our national security interests ever overlap more perfectly with our 
moral sentiment than now? We can and we ought to stop ISIS dead, stop 
them before they kill more Americans, stop them before they eliminate 
Christian communities that have existed since the days of Christ 
himself.
  Still others argue that while a genocide may be occurring, 
recognizing it may somehow play into ISIS's propaganda that it is 
fighting a righteous jihad against a supposed new Crusade. I never 
understood this argument. To stay silent in the face of ISIS's 
propaganda is to accommodate that propaganda. To cede any power to 
ISIS's narrative is to bend the light of truth to the hard darkness of 
a lie. Standing up for the practitioners of religions born in the 
Middle East and calling the region home since the beginning of recorded 
history is not a new Crusade. It is a defense of world order 
demonstrated through the periods of peaceful coexistence of the many 
religions in those ancient lands--an existence that today is threatened 
with extinction by ISIS's barbarism.
  Today the United States rightly recognizes this genocide, but we must 
also take action to relieve it. ISIS is a threat to the United States, 
our allies, and to the stability of the whole Middle East. Destroying 
ISIS and stopping its malignant expansion is a core national security 
interest of the United States, but stopping ISIS and the depraved 
ideology that enables it is also a pursuit that aligns with our highest 
ideals and humanitarian principles.
  I and many of my colleagues in the Senate have deep disagreements 
with the President's policy to defeat ISIS. For 2 years his policy of 
confusion, delay, and paralysis has failed to stop these terrorists. An 
entirely new approach that has the United States in the lead of a 
determined coalition is badly needed, but it is not only President 
Obama's strategic approach that is ill-considered. His policy on Syrian 
refugee resettlement is as well. Because the United States unwisely 
relies on the United Nations for all referrals of refugees seeking 
resettlement in the United States, Christians and other religious 
minorities fleeing persecution are the victims of unintentional 
discrimination when seeking asylum and protection in the United States.
  Last year, of the 1,790 Syrian refugees resettled in the United 
States, only 41 were religious minorities. Of that 41, 29 were 
Christian. That means that while 13 percent of Syria's prewar 
population consisted of religious minorities, only 2.3 percent of the 
refugees who make it to the United States are religious minorities. 
Without doubt, Syrians of all confessions are being victimized by this 
savage war and are facing unimaginable suffering, but only Christians 
and other religious minorities are the deliberate targets of systemic 
persecution and genocide. Their ancient communities are at risk of 
extermination. Their ancestral homes and religious sites are being 
erased from the Middle Eastern map. Christians and other minorities 
should not be shut out from the small number of refugees who find 
shelter in the United States. We ought to help ensure that these faith 
communities survive, but why are Christians underrepresented among the 
refugees? There are a number of factors. Perhaps chief among them is 
that the United States, for all intents and purposes, relies 
exclusively on the U.N. refugee agency to identify candidates for 
resettlement. According to the State Department, less than 1 percent of 
the thousands of Syrian refugees referred by the U.N. to the United 
States are religious minorities.
  Let me stress that this underrepresentation is not the result of 
intentional discrimination. The U.N. does praiseworthy and hard work in 
relieving the suffering of refugees around the world and, as a result, 
improving the security and stability of nations in and near conflict 
and disaster zones, but it is well established that many religious 
minorities in Syria are very reluctant to register as refugees with the 
United Nations because they fear facing even more persecution. The U.N. 
itself has reported that minority communities ``fear that registration 
might bring retribution from other refugees'' in camps or other areas 
in which they sought safe haven. The U.S. Commission on International 
Religious Freedom has reported that Christians refrain from registering 
with the U.N. because they fear being marked for revenge by forces 
loyal to Bashar al-Assad should he remain in power in Syria.
  Whether these fears are well-founded or not, the reality is, they 
exist and they deter Christians from seeking U.N. protection. While the 
U.N. has sought to educate minority populations on the safety of the 
registration system, the fact remains that only 1 percent of the 
millions of Syrian refugees who registered with the U.N. are non-
Muslim.
  The United States ought not to depend solely on the U.N. for refugee 
resettlement referrals. If we are to do our part in saving ancient 
faith communities from genocide, we must find alternate ways to 
identify persecuted people to whom we can grant safe haven.
  Today I am introducing legislation to create that alternate way. The 
Religious Persecution Relief Act would grant religious minorities 
fleeing persecution from groups like ISIS and other groups in Syria 
priority status so they can apply directly to the U.S. resettlement 
program, without going through the U.N. first. It will set aside 10,000 
resettlement slots annually that must be devoted to religious 
minorities.
  The priority status, known as P-2 status, will allow religious 
minorities to skip the U.N. referral process, and it will fast track 
the process by which we confirm that they are in fact targets of 
persecution and genocide. To answer in advance a most urgent and 
understandable question, those who apply for P-2 status will be subject 
to the exact same security vetting process as all other refugee 
applicants. It is my strong position that the United States must work 
with known religious leaders in the region and pursue other proven 
vetting methods to ensure that those who enter this country are not 
threats to the security of the American people.
  Extending a hand to help persecuted people in this manner is not a 
new idea. In 1989, the late Senator from New Jersey, Frank Lautenberg, 
crafted what has been called the Lautenberg amendment, which granted P-
2 priority status to Soviet Jewry, Vietnamese nationals, and other 
religious minorities seeking refuge. In 2004, the late Senator from 
Pennsylvania, Arlen Specter, expanded the Lautenberg amendment to cover 
religious minorities fleeing oppression from the Ayatollahs in Iran. In 
2007 the late Senator from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy, passed a bill 
that granted priority status to certain Iraqi religious minority 
members.
  The bill I am introducing today follows this bipartisan tradition of 
the Senate and our country. Among the first Americans were Pilgrims 
from religious persecution in the Old World. That is one reason we have 
a long tradition of defending religious minorities here and around the 
world.
  In the coming weeks, I will discuss this bill with my fellow 
Senators. My hope is, it will pass and pass soon because each day will 
bring another Christian child who is tortured, another minister 
crucified, and another girl raped. Faith communities in the Middle East 
are slowly being strangled out of existence.
  We are coming upon Easter, the day of Christ's resurrection. The 
message of Easter is one for all of humanity; that in times of pain and 
suffering, trial and tribulation, there can ultimately be salvation, 
there can ultimately be triumph over death.
  I try to keep this message in mind, particularly amidst these times 
when religious conflict and oppression do not seem to be waning but 
waxing. Today Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the 
world. Other religions are not far behind in the scope and depth of the 
oppression they face. While the United States cannot save all those

[[Page S1596]]

who are suffering from religious persecution, when the persecutors are 
rabid terrorists who want to kill Americans and we have the means not 
only to defeat those terrorists but to also protect the innocent, we 
ought to act. Certainly we have an obligation to stop the unintentional 
discrimination in our own refugee process that unfairly blocks 
Christians and other religious minorities from seeking safety in the 
United States.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. 
        Heinrich, Mrs. Murray, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. 
        Brown):
  S. 2710. A bill to increase the participation of historically 
underrepresented demographic groups in science, technology, 
engineering, and mathematics education and industry; to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, March is Women's History Month. So this 
morning I would like to highlight the progress women have made in the 
fields of science, technology, engineering, and math--or the STEM 
fields--challenges that persist, and legislation that I will be 
introducing to help overcome these challenges.
  Today we rely on computers for much of our modern life. For that, we 
thank pioneer RDML Grace Hopper, who was one of the first computer 
programmers. Space travel is one of the most technologically 
challenging endeavors that humankind has undertaken. The road to 
becoming an astronaut requires intelligence and toughness, not to 
mention fortitude. Astronauts like Sally Ride, the first American woman 
in space, have shown that women belong in every endeavor.
  Hawaii is home to women leaders in STEM fields. Dr. Isabella Aiona 
Abbott was raised in rural Hana on the island of Maui. She became the 
first Native Hawaiian woman to receive a Ph.D. in science and went on 
to discover over 200 species of algae. She remains a leading expert on 
Pacific algae. These women persevered and rose to great heights of 
success in the STEM fields. However, we must do better to make sure 
that many more women have the opportunity to pursue STEM careers. While 
girls and boys express a similar level of interest in STEM at an early 
age, studies have found that women start to lose interest in STEM as 
early as in middle school. This loss of women and minorities continues 
at nearly every stage of the STEM career trajectory. For example, women 
are more likely to switch from a STEM to non-STEM major in their first 
year of college than their male counterparts.
  Girls and women report many reasons for losing interest in STEM. 
These include negative stereotypes about women in STEM, perceived 
gender barriers, feelings of isolation, and a lack of female role 
models and mentors. Gender bias and institutional barriers still slow 
the advancement of girls and women. Research shows that issues of bias 
can hinder interest in STEM, influence academic performance, and 
influence whether faculty encourages female students to pursue STEM 
careers. Furthermore, bias--whether conscious or unconscious--can harm 
the hiring, promotion, and career advancement of women in STEM. Bias 
can even hurt female researchers' chances of winning competitive 
science grants. Approximately half of the U.S. population and workforce 
is made up of women. But women make up just over a quarter of the STEM 
workforce.
  As our economy becomes more global, our entire population--men and 
women--must be engaged in fields that will keep America competitive on 
the world stage. Expanding the number of women and minorities in STEM 
fields is essential to meeting that challenge. The importance of 
growing the U.S. STEM workforce is acknowledged by leaders and 
businesses in all fields at all levels. For example, this recognition 
was very evident in the Senate's immigration reform debate. When I 
served on the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2013, increasing our STEM 
workforce through immigration policy drove major sections of the 
bipartisan immigration reform bill passed by the Senate.
  In Hawaii and elsewhere, there are programs that expose students to 
STEM careers through mentoring and interactive activities such as 
robotics. I want to focus on one school in Hawaii that created these 
opportunities for their students--Molokai Middle School. This is a 
school that struggled with science and math scores, but when their 
teachers established a robotics programs, students from all backgrounds 
got interested in science. The year the program started, the Molokai 
Middle School robotics team overcame all odds to represent Hawaii in a 
national robotics tournament. This year, they will compete in an 
international robotics competition in Kentucky. Molokai is an island of 
only about 7,000 people. Their students have thrived and succeeded 
through their STEM experience. While programs like these have a 
positive impact on encouraging students to stay excited about STEM 
fields, there are not enough of such programs.
  That is why today I am proud to be joined by Senators Gillibrand, 
Murray, Feinstein, Heinrich, Baldwin, Stabenow, and Brown to introduce 
the Women and Minorities in STEM Booster ACT to improve the 
recruitment, retention, and success of women and minorities at all 
stages of the STEM pipeline. This bill authorizes the National Science 
Foundation to award competitive grants for outreach, mentoring, and 
professional development programs.
  The STEM booster act also authorizes funding for STEM education 
outreach programs at the elementary and secondary school levels, 
funding for mentoring programs, and programs to increase the 
recruitment and retention of women and minority faculty.
  I am also working on another bill to address some of the cultural and 
institutional barriers that I mentioned today, which impede women's and 
minorities' advancement in STEM fields. In addition to increasing 
mentoring and outreach programs, the second bill will improve guidance, 
training, and coordination among Federal STEM agencies and universities 
to proactively combat bias and discrimination.
  We are on the right track to grow our STEM workforce in the United 
States, but we still need to move forward faster. We must act now to 
speed this process. My bill will help expose more girls, women, and 
minorities to opportunities in STEM fields and accelerate their 
participation.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting women and minorities in 
STEM now.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. McCAIN:
  S. 2711. A bill to expand opportunity for Native American children 
through additional options in education, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Indian Affairs.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to help 
tackle the challenging problem of fixing our broken education system on 
Indian reservations. The bill, known as the Native American Education 
Opportunity Act, would expand the education opportunities of Native 
American student living on reservations by allowing their parents to 
take full advantage of Education Savings Account which would be funded 
by the Bureau of Indian Education, BIE.
  Under this bill, eligible students could apply for up to 90 percent 
of the per pupil expenditure that BIE would spend on them at a BIE 
school and use those funds to pay for private school tuition, tutors, 
online curriculum courses, special needs services, and other K-12 
education needs. This funding would be provided through the use of 
Education Savings Accounts, or ESA's, which are established State-
administered programs in the States of Arizona, Mississippi, Florida, 
Tennessee, and Nevada.
  Across the Nation, there is a growing interest in State legislatures 
in enacting ESA's because of the freedom and opportunity they give to 
families, but in particular low-income students. My home State of 
Arizona is at the forefront of this revolutionary approach of 
empowering parents-To customize their child's education. I believe that 
families living on Indian reservations in my state and elsewhere should 
reap the benefits of ESA's too.
  As my colleagues know, the need to improve Indian County is a crisis 
issue. I'm of course referring to the broken Bureau of Indian Education 
system which consists of 185 schools and 41,000 students. By some 
estimates, the BIE's

[[Page S1597]]

average per pupil spending is $15,000--higher than the national 
average. Less than 7 percent of all Native American students attend a 
BIE school, but the performance disparity between BIE students and 
Native American students attending non-BIB schools is staggering. 
Almost half of BIE students do not graduate from high school. Their 
test scores trail by double digits compared to their peers. Some BIB 
schools have facilities that are unsuitable as a learning environment. 
A series of recent reports by the Government Accountability Office, 
GAO, have focused on the disrepair of schools and bureaucratic 
mismanagement. Some schools desks, school supplies, and even heat.
  I wholeheartedly agree that Congress must intervene and implement 
administrative reforms and maintenance improvements. But, let us 
consider that market competition could be a powerful tool for improving 
teacher retention, diversifying education options, and improving test 
scores and graduation rates in Indian Country more so than any 5-year 
BIB plan developed in Washington.
  This bill is particularly useful for rural Indian reservations with 
large land bases where children living on the reservation have little 
choice but to attend a BIB school. Take for example the Navajo Nation 
where non-BIB public schools can be over 50 miles away, and private 
school options are few and far between. It is unconscionable to leave 
students stranded in failing schools when we can create the option of 
expanding their educational opportunities in even the most remote parts 
of Indian County. We can and should do more to create a market that 
attracts private schools and other education services willing to open 
shop on remote Indian reservations.
  School choice initiatives, while still relatively new, are building a 
track record of success. One example is a Federal program set up 12 
years ago to address the beleaguered public school system in our 
Nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Congress established the D.C. 
Opportunity Scholarship Program which at one time provided up to $20 
million in scholarships to low income families to pull their children 
out of a failing DC public schools and place them in a private school. 
The DC program transformed the future of thousands of children in the 
District. In 2011, a U.S. Department of Education study found that 
graduation rates, particularly among minority students jumped by as 
much as 20 percent for the kids who participated in the program.
  The situation in the BIE school system is failing, and it is a 
reflection of our failure in our solemn obligation to meet certain 
needs of Native Americans living on Indian reservations. I believe that 
opening up education opportunism beyond BIE schools for Native American 
families can prove to be one of the most effective agents for change 
for education in Indian Country. I encourage my colleagues to support 
this legislation.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. REED (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Whitehouse):
  S. 2716. A bill to update the oil and gas and mining industry guides 
of the Securities and Exchange Commission; to the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to 
require the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, to update its 
industry guides for oil, gas, and mining companies.
  In November 2015, Peabody Energy agreed to provide comprehensive SEC 
disclosures about climate change risks facing the company when it 
settled charges of misleading investors. The company executed this 
settlement with the New York Attorney General after an investigation 
discovered that Peabody Energy ``repeatedly denied in public financial 
filings to the SEC that it had the ability to predict the impact that 
potential regulation of climate change pollution would have on its 
business, even though Peabody and its consultants actually made 
projections that such regulation would have severe impacts on the 
company.''
  Unfortunately, it appears that the SEC had no role in this 
settlement, in which Peabody Energy agreed to amend its SEC 
disclosures, admitting that ``concerns about the environmental impacts 
of coal combustion . . . could significantly affect demand for our 
products or our securities.''
  It is clear that the SEC needs to do more when it comes to critically 
reviewing the disclosures being filed by publicly traded companies, but 
it is also clear that the SEC's industry guides for oil, gas, and 
mining companies should be updated to reflect the growing risk of 
climate change to these companies. By so doing, the investing public 
can access the material information necessary to make informed 
decisions when investing in these types of companies. Indeed, it is for 
this reason that the SEC has established industry guides for certain 
industries with complex financial and non-financial data.
  These disclosures are important to investors, such as Allianz Global 
Investors, which is a global diversified active investment manager with 
nearly $500 billion in assets under management. Allianz has 
specifically called for ``achieving better disclosure of the effects of 
carbon costs on the Oil & Gas companies.''
  In updating the industry guides for oil, gas, and mining companies, 
my legislation would direct the SEC to work with the SEC's Investor 
Advisory Committee. This Committee was established by the Wall Street 
Reform and Consumer Protection Act to advise and consult with the SEC 
on regulatory priorities, the regulation of securities products, 
trading strategies, fee structures, disclosure effectiveness, and on 
initiatives to promote investor confidence and the integrity of the 
securities marketplace.
  I thank Ceres for their support, and I also thank Representative 
Cartwright for introducing companion legislation in the House of 
Representatives today. I urge our colleagues to join us in supporting 
this legislation.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. BARRASSO (for himself and Mr. McCain):
  S. 2717. A bill to improve the safety and address the deferred 
maintenance needs of Indian dams to prevent flooding on Indian 
reservations, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Indian 
Affairs.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Dam 
Repairs and Improvements for Tribes Act of 2016 or DRIFT Act. This 
important legislation is intended to address the flood prevention and 
dam safety needs in Indian Country. It would address the deferred 
maintenance needs of Bureau of Indian Affairs, BIA, dams, as well as 
reform tribal programs within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
  The BIA has 137 high-hazard dams and over 700 low-hazard dams across 
the United States. Nearly all of the high-hazard dams are in Western 
United States, including two high-hazard dams on the Wind River 
Reservation in my home State of Wyoming--Washakie Dam and Ray Lake Dam. 
According to the BIA staff, on average these dams are 70 to 80 years 
old and have over $500 million in deferred maintenance needs. Funding 
is simply not keeping up with the maintenance needs of these dams and 
the threat to public safety in and around Indian Country is very real. 
The United States has a trust obligation to maintain and operate these 
dams and prevent what could be a future dam failure.
  The legislation I am introducing today would require the Assistant 
Secretary of Indian Affairs, in consultation with the Secretary of the 
Army, to address the maintenance backlog of BIA dams by establishing a 
High-Hazard Indian Dam Safety Deferred Maintenance Fund and a Low-
Hazard Indian Dam Safety Deferred Maintenance Fund. The high-hazard 
fund would receive $22,750,000 each year from fiscal years 2017 through 
2037. The low-hazard fund would receive $10,000,000 for the same time 
period. The bill funds low-hazard dams if their needs are critical as 
well and are not being addressed by available scarce resources. 
Neglecting the deferred maintenance needs of these dams may result in 
them becoming high hazard dams in the near future.
  The DRIFT Act establishes criteria for how the money would be 
prioritized, looking at criteria such as threats to public safety, 
natural or cultural resources, and economic concerns. The criteria also 
looks at the ability of increasing water storage capacity of BIA dams 
to prevent flooding to downstream communities.
  The legislation also seeks to make other important flood prevention 
and

[[Page S1598]]

dam safety policy reforms for both the BIA and the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers. Specifically, the DRIFT Act establishes a 4-year pilot 
program for a BIA flood mitigation program for tribes; establishes a 
Tribal Safety of Dams Committee within the Department of the Interior 
to make recommendations to Congress for modernizing the Indian Dam 
Safety Act; and mandates that tribes regularly report their dam 
inventory to BIA.
  The bill requires the BIA to report annually on the safety status of 
their dams to Congress; makes reforms to the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers' Tribal Partnership Program to allow the Corps to pay for any 
feasibility study of a project costing not more than $10,000,000; 
allows in-kind contributions by tribes to count towards a cost-share of 
a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' feasibility study; and allows tribes to 
not have a cost share for studies and projects that cost up to 
$200,000. This is the same cost-sharing requirements the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers allows for U.S. territories.
  It is time to make sure that we make the necessary changes to ensure 
that tribes and surrounding communities are protected, and that the 
Federal Government collaborates with and empowers Indian tribes to 
secure their communities.''
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. KAINE (for himself, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Portman, Mrs. Capito, 
        and Ms. Ayotte):
  S. 2718. A bill to amend the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical 
Education Act of 2006 to support innovative approaches to career and 
technical education and redesign the high school experience for 
students by providing students with equitable access to rigorous, 
engaging, and relevant real world education through partnerships with 
business and industry and higher education that prepare students to 
graduate from high school and enroll into postsecondary education 
without the need for remediation and with the ability to use knowledge 
to solve complex problems, think critically, communicate effectively, 
collaborate with others, and develop academic mindsets; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, the demands of today's competitive global 
market require that students have the right skills and knowledge to 
succeed in postsecondary education and enter the workforce. Providing 
students with an engaging experience that is relevant to the workforce 
and integrates partnerships with industry and higher education is 
critical to our Nation's future. Unfortunately, these opportunities are 
lacking in many of today's high schools, leaving students unprepared 
for 21st century careers.
  Career and technical education, CTE, is often overlooked in 
discussions on increasing relevancy and rigor in our Nation's schools--
despite the fact that a strong focus on academics is the cornerstone of 
high-quality CTE. When the National Research Center for Career and 
Technical Education conducted a 4-year longitudinal study in three 
states, they found that students participating in CTE programs or 
career pathways outperformed their peers on the number of credits they 
earned in science, technology, engineering and math, STEM, and AP 
classes, while also earning higher grade point averages in their CTE 
classes.
  That is why I am introducing with my colleagues, Senators Portman, 
Baldwin, and Capito, the CTE Excellence and Equity Act. This bipartisan 
legislation supports funding for innovation in career and technical 
education to help redesign the high school experience for historically 
underserved students. It would authorize grants to partnerships among 
school districts, employers, and institutions of higher education in 
Virginia and other states that help students earn industry recognized 
credentials or credit toward a postsecondary degree or certificate. The 
bill also places an emphasis on understanding the relevance of 
coursework in the context of a future career by placing an emphasis on 
teaching workplace skills through job shadowing, internships, and 
apprenticeships.
  CTE programs are critical components to every student's education. I 
am pleased to be introducing this bipartisan legislation to strengthen 
CTE programs in high school so that students are better prepared for 
postsecondary studies and the workforce. I hope that my colleagues 
consider this legislation as we move to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins 
CTE Act.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. 
        Durbin, and Ms. Warren):
  S. 2719. A bill to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to 
improve the protections provided to members of the uniformed services 
and their families, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I have often said when our nation sends 
men and women to war we commit to taking care of them when they return 
home. We also promise them important legal protections to allow them to 
focus on their mission and in recognition that while they are deployed 
or away from home servicemembers often do not have the resources to 
respond to a range of financial and legal issues. Despite these 
protections, too many servicemembers have been cheated on their student 
loans, on their mortgages, and on their credit cards.
  When our men and women in uniform are serving our country, they 
should not have to worry about whether our government is going to hold 
up its end of the bargain and fulfill its responsibilities to them.
  So today I introduce the SCRA Enhancement and Improvement Act of 
2016, which will put an end to many of these predatory practices and 
give servicemembers and the government the tools they need to fight 
back when banks and student loan servicers deny servicemembers their 
rights.
  In 2014, I learned of allegations that at least one major student 
loan servicer had been overcharging men and women in uniform on their 
student loans while they were on active duty. That's unacceptable. One 
servicemember overcharged on their student loans is one too many.
  That is why this bill will end the unfair and improper practices of 
student loan servicers by requiring them to automatically apply the 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, SCRA, interest rate cap, respond 
within 14 days to any request for SCRA protections, and provide a full 
explanation any time they deny an SCRA protection, along with clear 
instructions on how to remedy the situation so the servicemember can 
receive that protection. It will also require student loan servicers to 
have a designated service representative or point of contact for 
servicemembers and ensure these individuals are properly trained on the 
needs of servicemembers, how the military operates, and the protections 
required by SCRA, the Higher Education Act, and other laws.
  The bill will hold servicers accountable for their conduct and 
treatment of servicemembers by requiring them to retain all 
communications with servicemembers so we can conduct thorough 
oversight.
  The SCRA Enhancement and Improvement Act will also hold the 
Department of Education accountable for enforcing standards and the law 
with its student loan servicers. Following numerous allegations of 
servicemembers being mistreated by student loan servicers who were not 
complying with the SCRA interest rate caps, and at least 69,000 
servicemembers who were overcharged by one Federal contractor, I asked 
the Department to review how many servicemembers had been improperly 
denied their benefits under SCRA. Shockingly, the Department told us 
that the servicers were complying in the ``vast majority of cases.'' 
This was inconsistent with what the Department of Justice and the 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had found.
  I wrote to the Department of Education's Inspector General and asked 
her to review the Department's findings. Two weeks ago the IG released 
their report, and it showed that instead of doing a thorough 
investigation to find out exactly how many servicemembers may have been 
overcharged on their student loans, the Department's review was riddled 
with errors and papered over mishandling of military borrowers' loans.
  The bill I am introducing today will require sufficient notice to be 
given when a loan is transferred or sold, and that all benefits or 
protections for the servicemember are seamlessly transferred to the new 
loan servicer. It will

[[Page S1599]]

also forgive all Federal and private student loan debt in the event the 
servicemember dies in the line of duty.
  The SCRA Enhancement and Improvement Act also expands protections 
beyond student loans. I was concerned when several years ago some of 
the nation's largest mortgage servicers improperly overcharged and 
foreclosed upon deployed servicemembers in violation of the SCRA. 
Thousands of servicemembers and veterans were wronged over several 
years. After those allegations came to light, and after the Department 
of Justice reached a settlement with those mortgage servicers, GAO 
released a report in 2014 looking at the importance of mortgage and 
foreclosure protections in the SCRA. The results were concerning, 
especially when they found at one mortgage servicer that 82 percent of 
loans that would have benefitted from the SCRA's interest rate cap 
still had rates in excess of 6 percent.
  This bill would reduce the interest rate cap to three percent to 
provide meaningful protection to servicemembers, including a zero 
percent cap for servicemembers eligible for hostile fire or imminent 
danger pay. It would expand the SCRA interest rate protection to all of 
a servicemember's debt regardless of when it was incurred, in order to 
cover consolidation loans and in recognition that the same challenges 
exist for military borrowers regardless of when a debt was first 
incurred. It would also strengthen the protections that prevent 
judgements against a servicemember who cannot appear in court because 
of military service.
  As the daughter of a World War II veteran, I know how much our 
military families sacrifice on behalf of their country. So I believe 
protecting our military men and women from predatory practices is an 
absolutely essential commitment we make to them. We will not allow our 
servicemembers to be taken advantage of.
  Finally, as we have seen too often, these protections are only as 
good as our ability to enforce the law and hold people accountable. The 
SCRA Enhancement and Improvement Act will give servicemembers, the 
Department of Justice, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau the 
legal and oversight tools they need to hold entities accountable. It 
would clarify that servicemembers may bring a private right of action 
to enforce their rights and make arbitration clauses unenforceable 
unless all parties agree after a dispute arises. The bill will give the 
Attorney General the authority to issue civil investigative demands in 
SCRA investigations. It would double the fines against parties found to 
be violating the protections afforded by the SCRA.
  With the number of Federal entities involved, it is essential the 
departments and agencies work collaboratively to protect 
servicemembers. The Defense Department must ensure it is providing 
clear, useful information to servicemembers on their rights and how to 
invoke them, and that the training stays current. I especially commend 
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for its dedicated work on 
behalf of our men and women in uniform.
  Our servicemembers deserve better than what they have gotten over the 
last several years. The SCRA Enhancement and Improvement Act will go a 
long way to ensuring our servicemembers are protected, putting a stop 
to the predatory practices of banks and student loan servicers, and 
change the apathy that has characterized the Department of Education's 
oversight. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this 
legislation.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Ms. Warren):
  S. 2730. A bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 23rd 
Headquarters Special Troops, known as the ``Ghost Army'', collectively, 
in recognition of its unique and incredible service during World War 
II; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Ghost Army 
Congressional Gold Medal Act to honor the 23rd Headquarters Special 
Troops, called the ''Ghost Army,'' which was a top-secret unit of the 
United States Army that served in the European Theater of Operations 
during World War II. The unit was actively engaged in battlefield 
operations from June of 1944 through March of 1945. The deceptive 
activities of the Ghost Army were essential to several Allied victories 
across Europe and are estimated to have saved thousands of lives.
  I was inspired to introduce this bill after hearing the story of Jack 
McGlynn of Medford, MA. I have known Jack for decades going back to my 
time in the Massachusetts State Legislature, but I never knew that he 
was a member of the Ghost Army. Like many World War II Veterans, Jack 
returned home to Massachusetts after the War, started a family, and got 
involved in local politics. Jack was a city councilor, Mayor, and State 
Representative. He kept his service in the Ghost Army a secret from 
everyone, even his wife and 6 children. Finally in 2008, Jack read that 
it was declassified and he finally shared the story with his family and 
friends.
  In evaluating the performance of the Ghost Army after the War, a U.S. 
Army analysis found that ``Rarely, if ever, has there been a group of 
such a few men which had so great an influence on the outcome of a 
major military campaign.''. Many Ghost Army soldiers were specially 
selected for their mission, and were recruited from art schools, 
advertising agencies, communications companies, and other creative and 
technical professions.
  The first four members of the Ghost Army landed on D-day and two 
became casualties while camouflaging early beach installations. The 
Ghost Army's secret deception operations commenced in France on June 
14, 1944, when Task Force Mason landed at Omaha Beach to draw enemy 
fire and protect the 980th Artillery.
  Task Force Mason was a prelude to full scale tactical deceptions 
completed by the Ghost Army. Often operating on or near the front 
lines, the Ghost Army used inflatable tanks, artillery, air planes and 
other vehicles, advanced engineered soundtracks, and skillfully crafted 
radio trickery to create the illusion of sizable American forces where 
there were none and to draw the enemy away from Allied troops.
  Ghost Army soldiers impersonated other, larger Army units by sewing 
counterfeit patches onto their uniforms, painting false markings on 
their vehicles, and creating phony headquarters staffed by fake 
generals, all in an effort to feed false information to Axis spies. 
During the Battle of the Bulge, the Ghost Army created counterfeit 
radio traffic to mask the efforts of General George Patton's Third Army 
as it mobilized to break through to the 101st Airborne. It also 
provided assistance to elements of 10th Armored Division in the 
besieged Belgian town of Bastogne.
  In its final mission, Operation Viersen, the Ghost Army deployed a 
tactical deception that drew German units down the Rhine River and away 
from the 9th Army, allowing the 9th Army to cross the Rhine into 
Germany. On this mission, the 1,100 men of the Ghost Army, with the 
assistance of other units, impersonated forty thousand men, or two 
complete divisions of American forces, by using fabricated radio 
networks, soundtracks of construction work and artillery fire, and more 
than 600 inflatable vehicles.
  Three Ghost Army soldiers gave their lives and dozens were injured in 
carrying out their mission. Their activities remained classified for 
more than forty years after the war and I believe the extraordinary 
accomplishments of this unit are deserving of belated recognition. The 
United States will be eternally grateful to the Ghost Army for their 
proficient use of innovative tactics throughout World War II, which 
saved thousands of lives and were instrumental in the defeat of Nazi 
Germany.
  I ask all my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation to give a 
Congressional Gold Medal to the members of the Ghost Army.

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