[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 22, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3062-S3063]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. Jones):
S. 1599. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create
a refundable tax credit for foster families, and for other purposes; to
the Committee on Finance.
Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Foster Care Tax
Credit Act, with my colleague Senator Jones. Enacting this bill would
go a long way towards helping families with the expenses that come with
taking in and providing homes for foster children.
Currently, foster families are only eligible for the Child Tax Credit
if the same child lives with them for at least six months. Many foster
families take in children for shorter periods, and sometimes take in
multiple different children throughout the year. Even if these
placements add up to more than six months, these families are
potentially not eligible for the tax credit. Further, state funding for
foster care families often fails to cover the cost of meeting the
child's basic needs.
The Foster Care Tax Credit Act would create a new refundable tax
credit targeted at these families that take in foster children but are
not eligible for the Child Tax Credit. The tax credit would help ease
the financial strain that many of these families face. Further, the
bill instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Secretary
of the Treasury to conduct outreach to state and tribal agencies to
better educate foster families about provisions of the tax code that
may benefit them.
I hope my colleagues will support this bill to provide assistance to
families who have chosen to offer a loving home for children who need
it most.
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By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Risch, Mr. King, Mr. Crapo, Mr.
Merkley, and Ms. Collins):
S. 1614. A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to modify the definition
of ``renewable biomass'' under the renewable fuel program; to the
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, Oregonians have a strong interest in using
biomass as a source of renewable fuels. This desire, coupled with how
well we grow biomass in Oregon, creates the opportunity to use
carefully selected wood waste as a source for cleaner transportation
fuel. If we do it right, this effort will lead to healthier forests,
more carbon sequestration, cleaner transportation fuels as compared to
traditional gasolines, and protected old growth forests.
Current law excludes the use of federal biomass in the making of
renewable fuels as defined by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The
bill being introduced today eliminates that exclusion.
In addition to being an energy matter, this is an important forest
management issue. Over many decades there has been an unnatural buildup
of woody material on the forest floor. It becomes fuel for catastrophic
wildfires. For months, each summer, Oregonians in every corner of the
state, from Astoria to Adel and from Medford to Madras, suffer from
smokey skies, hazardous air quality, and the almost constant threat
that a wildfire may burn down their homes. In the eastern portion of
the state, invasive species like juniper trees pose challenges, on both
private and public lands--lowering water tables, posing fire risks, and
encroaching on sage grouse habitat. It is time we stopped putting our
heads in the sand, hoping the environmental ship will right itself.
Instead, this excess woody biomass should be contributing to U.S.
energy independence by being converted to transportation or electricity
fuels. This bill makes that economically feasible. It would make it
more cost efficient for private landowners to remove low-value brush,
like juniper. The bill also helps pay for programs to reduce dead and
dying trees that fuel catastrophic wildfires and helps thin out
unhealthy second-growth forests. The bill ensures that all residuals
from the milling process and certain biomass from national forests and
BLM forests qualify for the RFS standards.
Importantly, under this new definition biomass materials harvested
from federal lands must be done so in accordance with all federal laws,
regulations, and land-use plans and designations. In addition, the bill
pays specific attention to biomass removal from insect and disease
ridden forests and wildfire prone areas. And, to ensure environmental
problems are being solved, not created, the bill restricts the types of
biomass materials that can be harvested from federal lands so that old
growth trees and stands will continue to be protected.
At the end of the day, the small diameter trees, the limbs, the
debris, even sawdust at the mill presents real opportunities to
generate green energy, generate green jobs, lower wildfire risks in
rural areas across the country, and better position the United States
to meet the RFS.
There is a lot of bipartisan support for the biomass definition in
this bill. It balances sound energy policy with sound environmental
policy.
I want to thank my colleagues Senators Risch, King, Crapo, and
Merkley for joining me on this important bill.
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By Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Smith, Mr.
Gardner, Mr. Coons, Ms. McSally, and Mr. King):
S. 1602. A bill to amend the United States Energy Storage
Competitiveness Act of 2007 to establish a research, development, and
demonstration program for grid-scale energy storage systems, and for
other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Better
Energy
[[Page S3063]]
Storage Technology Act. I am pleased to be partnering with Senator
Heinrich on this initiative. I would also like to thank Senator
Gardner, Senator Smith, Senator Coons, Senator McSally, and Senator
King who have joined us as original cosponsors of the BEST Act.
Our bipartisan bill supports narrowly tailored energy storage
research to develop the next generation of technologies at the
Department of Energy. Advancing next generation energy storage
technology will allow us to integrate more renewables into the power
grid, such as wind energy or solar energy which, in turn, will help to
reduce emissions and slow climate change.
Energy storage systems provide a wide range of benefits. First, these
technologies increase the reliability and the resilience of the
electric grid by limiting potential disruptions. Energy storage helps
us to better manage supply and demand on the grid and allows for the
expanded use of renewable energy. The reliability of our grid and grid-
scale storage systems go hand-in-hand.
Second, this type of technology can decrease energy costs, a goal
that we all share. In Maine, the price of electricity rises steeply
during the coldest days of the year. For example, in late 2017 and
early 2018, very cold temperatures in New England led to higher energy
costs--more than a billion dollars in the wholesale energy market--in
just 15 days.
The next generation of energy storage technologies could help to
transform our grid, meaning that we would no longer need to generate
more expensive power to meet demands during the hottest and coldest
days of the year. Instead, we could use more affordable energy sources
that have been stored for later use.
Third, energy storage systems can allow for more intermittent
renewable sources, such as wind and solar power, to be placed on the
grid and used precisely when they are needed. The Aqua Ventus, a
floating, deepwater offshore wind project being developed by the
University of Maine and a consortium of groups, could benefit from
energy storage innovation. Off the coast of Maine, there are very
strong and consistent winds where offshore wind turbines can produce
electricity almost 50 percent of the time. This next generation storage
technology will ensure that we can use this wind power closer to 100
percent of the time by storing electricity to use when the wind isn't
blowing.
One of the biggest hurdles to commercializing energy storage is cost.
To overcome this obstacle, our bill specifically directs the Department
of Energy to work to decrease the cost of this exciting technology.
This is similar to the Department's SunShot initiative that decreased
the price of solar power by approximately 75 percent in less than a
decade.
Furthermore, energy storage systems are technology neutral. This bill
will foster innovation and enhance deployment of these innovative
technologies without picking winners or losers.
Specifically, our bill would do the following: It would focus energy
storage research on highly flexible, longer duration, and seasonal
storage systems. It would support five energy storage demonstration
projects. The bill would create a strategic plan and allow the
Department of Energy to develop cost targets. It would coordinate
research and support the coordination of research. Finally, the bill
would authorize $60 million annually for each of the next 5 years.
I am pleased to report that our bipartisan bill has earned very broad
support, including the endorsements of the Bipartisan Policy Center,
Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, ClearPath, Edison Electric
Institute, Energy Storage Association, the Information Technology and
Innovation Foundation, the National Audubon Society, the Natural
Resources Council of Maine, the National Hydropower Association, Solar
Energy Industries Association, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Frankly, it has been a long time since I have seen a bill be able to
attract that much support from groups that have different ideological
goals, and I am very proud that we were able to line up the support of
all of those groups.
The BEST Act will help advance energy storage technologies to improve
the efficiency of our Nation's electrical grid while helping to promote
the wider use of clean, renewable energy. The goals of this bill are
those which I would hope every Member of this body could embrace. I
urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Thank you, Mr. President.
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