[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.
                                 ______
                                 
      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.
                                 ______
                                 
      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.

                          ____________________