[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 12, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3365-S3367]
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, Mr. Isakson, and Mr. King):
  S. 1793. A bill to establish a grant program for the purpose of 
public health data system modernization; to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, Our Nation's public health system needs 
high quality, timely, and accurate data to protect the public from 
health threats like opioid overdoses, influenza, measles, and more. 
Effective prevention and response to health threats requires 
coordinated efforts between health care providers and public health 
officials across all levels of government.
  Unfortunately, the public health data systems we rely on for our 
health and safety are antiquated and fragmented. Systems lack the 
interoperability needed to facilitate timely, secure information 
exchange. Too often, public health departments are forced to rely on 
systems with manual processes that are time consuming and error prone, 
such as paper records, faxes, and phone calls. Only two jurisdictions 
have begun the process to receive electronic case reports directly from 
health records, and only for a small number of diseases. Our public 
health data infrastructure lacks the automation, security, 
interoperability, and skilled workforce we need to confront the public 
health threats of today and tomorrow.
  Today, I am pleased to introduce with my colleagues, Senator Isakson 
and Senator King, the Saving Lives Through Better Data Act to assist in 
building the 21st Century public health data infrastructure our Nation 
needs. The Saving Lives Through Better Data Act awards grants to State, 
local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments to improve 
data collection and analysis, simplify provider reporting, enhance 
interoperability, promote electronic case reporting, and support 
earlier disease detection and response. Grant recipients must support 
interoperability standards endorsed by the National Coordinator for 
Health Information Technology or those adopted by the HHS Secretary.
  The Saving Lives Through Better Data Act also requires the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct activities to improve its 
public health data systems. The CDC must also develop and utilize 
public-private partnerships to support State, local, Tribal, and 
territorial public health departments in modernizing and expanding 
electronic case reporting and public health data systems. The 
legislation calls for reporting on barriers public health authorities 
may face in implementing electronic case reporting or interoperable 
public health data systems as well as an assessment of the potential 
public health impact of making such improvements. We make the necessary 
investment to improve our public health infrastructure by authorizing 
$100 million per year for each of fiscal years 2020-2024.
  The Saving Lives Through Better Data Act will strengthen our public 
health data systems so we can be well-equipped to identify and respond 
to public health threats, which will save lives.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Tester, Mr. Tillis, 
        and Ms. Sinema):
  S. 1802. A bill to provide a work opportunity tax credit for military 
spouses and to provide for flexible spending arrangements for childcare 
services for military families; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Jobs and 
Childcare for Military Families Act, with my colleagues Senators 
Boozman and Tester. Enacting this bill would improve financial 
stability for Gold Star families across the Nation.
  The families of America's servicemembers make sacrifices that often 
go unrecognized. Among them is packing up and moving frequently, with 
military spouses regularly having to quit stable employment to move to 
a new area and start over. This is compounded by the complex system of 
State licensing and certification requirements, which can limit these 
spouses' from taking jobs that utilize their expertise and experience. 
Because of this, military spouses have unemployment rates substantially 
higher than the national average, and are often underemployed when they 
do have jobs. Adding to the financial struggle that frequent periods of 
unemployment and underemployment cause, the rising cost of childcare 
puts a substantial burden on many military families.
  The Jobs and Childcare for Military Families Act would help these 
families

[[Page S3366]]

in two ways. First, the bill makes military spouses an eligible 
population for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. This tax credit has 
been proven effective in improving the employment prospects for other 
groups, and extending it to military spouses would help them find 
employment easier after moving to new areas. Second, the bill instructs 
the administration to implement dependent care flexible spending 
accounts for all servicemembers. These accounts would allow military 
families to contribute pre-tax dollars to accounts that they can then 
use to pay for childcare services, helping ease the financial burden of 
childcare.
  I hope my colleagues will support this bill to help families who have 
made the greatest sacrifice for our Nation.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Ms. Baldwin, Mrs. Capito, and Mr. 
        Tester):
  S. 1803. A bill to modify the Federal TRIO programs; to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Educational 
Opportunity and Success Act, a bill to strengthen the Federal TRIO 
Programs and improve their administration. Across the Nation, TRIO 
helps students from disadvantaged backgrounds gain access to a college 
education and provide many of the supports that they need to prepare 
for, succeed in, and graduate from higher education programs. I would 
very much like to thank Senator Baldwin, Senator Capito, and Senator 
Tester for joining me as original cosponsors.
  In the State of Maine, TRIO Programs serve students from all over our 
State and are focused on increasing educational opportunities for first 
generation, low-income, and disabled students. From 2007 to 2017, TRIO 
has expanded from 20 programs to 28 in our State and has expanded from 
serving 6,690 students to nearly 7,500 students in our State. Over the 
course of my Senate service, I have been so inspired by the stories of 
countless TRIO students with whom I have talked. They have described to 
me firsthand the positive impact of these programs on their academic 
success and on their futures.
  For example, Autumn Mallet from Bangor, ME, graduated from Bangor 
High School in 2015, unsure about whether she even wanted to pursue 
higher education. Neither she nor her parents had any experience with 
higher education. That is very typical of what I found in talking with 
students who are enrolled in the TRIO Programs. Autumn decided to 
enroll at Eastern Maine Community College, where she connected with 
TRIO's Student Support Services Program. Autumn called TRIO 
``irreplaceable'' and her ``full support system.'' The academic 
advisers were her ``go-to people'' when it came to signing up for 
classes, finding tutors, navigating financial aid, and advocating for 
herself.
  Autumn graduated in May 2018 with an associate's degree in liberal 
studies and secondary education, and she has gone on to the University 
of Maine where she is currently earning her bachelor's degree. At the 
University, she also taps into the resources of the Student Support 
Services Program. And, very movingly, Autumn is giving back to TRIO. 
She is a TRIO peer mentor at Eastern Maine Community College, helping 
students, just like herself, successfully navigate higher education and 
giving them the tools and the confidence to succeed. For Autumn, TRIO 
has made all the difference as she has pursued her own goals and helped 
other students achieve theirs.
  Congress created the TRIO Programs because it recognized that low-
income, first-generation students often face significant financial and 
societal obstacles to accessing and achieving success in higher 
education. The Educational Opportunity and Success Act would better 
serve those students by implementing key reforms.
  First, and most important, our bipartisan bill would reauthorize the 
TRIO Programs for an additional 5 years.
  Second, our bill would instruct the Department of Education to 
publish guidance at least 90 days before each grant competition, giving 
colleges and universities adequate opportunity to prepare the 
successful applications to secure the funding needed to offer the TRIO 
Programs.
  Third, our bill would remove the administrative burdens in the 
application process for these schools, making sure that Federal funds 
get out the door more efficiently and to the programs and the students 
they are meant to serve. Under the current administrative process, many 
colleges and universities experience delays while the Department 
reviews administrative errors before making all of the grant awards. 
This reform would help to expedite the grant process.
  Fourth, our legislation would institute commonsense guidelines at the 
Department of Education for TRIO grant applications.
  Let me tell you what happened in 2017. In that year, the Department 
initially rejected dozens of applications for the Upward Bound Program 
based on arbitrary, nonsubstantive formatting criteria, such as line 
spacing and font size irregularities. This was bureaucracy at its 
worst. One of those applications was from the University of Maine at 
Presque Isle, which had been a longtime recipient of funding to provide 
TRIO Programs. Here is what happened with the University of Maine at 
Presque Isle. It submitted a 65-page application. In that application, 
the University of Maine of Presque Isle used 1\1/2\-line spacing 
instead of double spacing in the text appearing in the graphics on two 
of its application's 65 pages.
  I am not making this up. For that reason alone, because the spacing 
was 1\1/2\ lines rather than 2 on just 2 of the graphs in a 65-page 
application, the Department of Education rejected it--based on that 
alone.
  The Department's bureaucratic decision would have denied 960 
disadvantaged Maine high school students the chance to fulfill their 
academic potential. Imagine that--that 960 students, who needed the 
support of the TRIO Program to be successful, would not have been 
served because of a tiny formatting error on 2 pages of a 65-page 
application. It was nothing substantive, just a formatting error.
  After months of advocacy, I was able to work with the Department of 
Education and my Appropriations colleagues to reverse this ill-
conceived decision, and I am very happy to report that the University 
of Maine of Presque Isle is today serving those students.
  Our bill would prevent the Department of Education from rejecting 
applications simply on the basis of the formatting criteria that it 
suggests and instead would establish a straightforward process of 
correction for applications with minor formatting or budgeting errors. 
This is a commonsense reform that will prevent unnecessary bureaucratic 
obstacles in the future--obstacles that have a real impact on the lives 
of the students who are intended to benefit from the TRIO Programs.
  Fifth, our bill would make it simpler for students who receive free 
and reduced-priced lunches and Pell grants to qualify for the TRIO 
Programs. Proving income eligibility can be a barrier to services, and 
this bill would make it easier to identify potential participants for 
the TRIO Programs.
  The bill would also update TRIO eligibility criteria to reflect the 
most recent requirements for Federal financial aid. This would ensure 
that TRIO administrators would not have to consult multiple data 
sources and can instead use a student's most recent financial aid 
information to determine eligibility for the TRIO Programs rather than 
having them go through an additional process.
  Finally, the bill would require the Department of Education to 
conduct additional virtual training sessions, better ensuring that all 
areas of the country--especially our small, rural communities--have the 
ability to know about and access the TRIO Programs.
  As the longtime cochair of the Congressional TRIO Caucus, I have long 
supported the TRIO Programs. I have worked to ensure that they are 
reaching the students who most need them. So many students in Maine and 
across the country have truly had their lives changed by these 
wonderful programs, such as Upward Bound. They have been introduced to 
the world of higher education. They have been given the support they 
need to succeed. In my State, where so many families simply do not have 
experience with higher education, the TRIO Programs have made all the 
difference for their sons and daughters.

[[Page S3367]]

  I urge my colleagues to support the bipartisan Educational 
Opportunity and Success Act.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Mr. King, Mr. Schatz, and 
        Mr. Reed):
  S. 1821. A bill to amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 
2007 to provide for research on, and the development and deployment of, 
marine energy, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, marine energy technologies generate 
electricity using the natural power found in ocean waves, tides, 
currents, and temperature differences in ocean water. This 
nontraditional form of hydropower has the potential to fuel American 
homes and businesses with renewable electricity and address the very 
real challenge of climate change. Additionally, establishing a 
commercially viable marine energy industry in the United States would 
support a robust manufacturing and construction supply chain and create 
thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs.
  The Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that marine energy could 
produce enough renewable energy to power millions of homes. 
Furthermore, with more than half of the U.S. population living within 
50 miles of a body of water, there is vast potential for marine energy 
to efficiently provide clean electricity to communities across the 
country--from large cities to remote coastal communities.
  Because these promising marine renewable energy technologies are 
still in the early stages of development, federal support is needed to 
encourage private investments in marine energy projects, moving the 
United States closer to large-scale deployment of these innovative 
clean energy technologies.
  The Marine Energy Research and Development Act advances this research 
by reauthorizing DOE's marine renewable energy programs from 2020 
through 2021. The bill gives priority to projects and technologies that 
have the highest likelihood to lead to commercial utilization of new 
marine energy systems.
  The bill also directs DOE to research ways of building a stable 
marine energy supply chain in the United States, as well as ways of 
harmonizing marine energy development with ocean navigation, fisheries, 
and critical infrastructure such as undersea cables.
  The bill includes funding authorization for the National Marine 
Renewable Energy Research Centers, which are located in Florida, Hawaii 
and the Pacific Northwest. These three centers make use of federal 
funding and the resources of five universities to test and refine 
various marine energy technologies. The bill also provides DOE new 
authority to establish new National Marine Energy Centers.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Reed, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. 
        Brown):
  S. 1823. A bill to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to 
prohibit employment of children in tobacco-related agriculture by 
deeming such employment as oppressive child labor; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  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. 1823

       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 ``Children Don't Belong on Tobacco 
     Farms Act''.

     SEC. 2. TOBACCO-RELATED AGRICULTURE EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN.

       Section 3(l) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
     U.S.C. 203(l)) is amended--
       (1) in the first sentence--
       (A) by striking ``in any occupation, or (2)'' and inserting 
     ``in any occupation, (2)''; and
       (B) by inserting before the semicolon the following: ``, or 
     (3) any employee under the age of eighteen years has direct 
     contact with tobacco plants or dried tobacco leaves''; and
       (2) in the second sentence, by striking ``other than 
     manufacturing and mining'' and inserting ``, other than 
     manufacturing, mining, and tobacco-related agriculture as 
     described in paragraph (3) of the first sentence of this 
     subsection,''.

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