[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 162 (Tuesday, October 15, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5797-S5799]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. Shatz):
  S. 2597. A bill to require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration to make certain operational models available to the 
public, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation.
  Mr. THUNE. 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. 2597

       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 the ``Learning Excellence and Good 
     Examples from New Developers Act of 2019'' or the ``LEGEND 
     Act of 2019''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the 
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
       (2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
     Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and 
     Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration.
       (3) Model.--The term ``model'' means any numerical model of 
     the Earth's system or its components produced by scientists 
     employed by the Administration.
       (4) Operational model.--The term ``operational model'' 
     means any model that has an output used by the Administration 
     for operational or public service functions.
       (5) Open source code.--The term ``open source code'' means 
     computer code or programming language that is available for 
     public use or modification.

     SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

       The purposes of this Act are--
       (1) to support innovation in modeling by allowing 
     interested stakeholders to have easy and complete access to 
     the models used by the Administration; and
       (2) to use vetted innovations arising from access provided 
     under paragraph (1) to improve modeling by the 
     Administration.

     SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT TO MAKE CERTAIN OPERATIONAL MODELS 
                   AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC.

       (a) In General.--The Administrator shall make available to 
     the public the following:
       (1) Current and future operational models developed by the 
     Administration, in the form of open source code for a period 
     consistent with applicable records retention requirements.
       (2) All Government-owned data, subject to redistribution 
     rights, associated with such models and used in operational 
     forecasting by the Administration, including--
       (A) relevant metadata;
       (B) data used for current operational forecasts; and
       (C) a description of intended model outputs.
       (b) Discretion to Make Experimental or Development Models 
     Available.--The Administrator may make experimental or 
     developmental models associated with development projects 
     funded by the Administration available to the public as open 
     source code.
       (c) Platform.--In carrying out subsections (a) and (b), the 
     Administrator may use government servers, contracts or 
     agreements with a private vendor, or any other platform 
     consistent with the purpose of this Act.
       (d) Technical Correction.--Section 102(b) of the Weather 
     Research Forecasting and Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 
     8512(b)) is amended by redesignating the second paragraph (4) 
     (as added by section 4(a) of the National Integrated Drought 
     Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 
     115-423)) as paragraph (5).
       (e) Phased Implementation.--
       (1) Immediate effect for certain models.--For operational 
     models that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, 
     meet the requirements described in paragraph (5)(E)(ii) of 
     section 102(b) of the Weather Research Forecasting and 
     Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8512(b)), as redesignated 
     by subsection (d), the Administrator shall implement the 
     requirements of subsection (a) as soon as practicable after 
     such date of enactment.
       (2) New models.--For operational models that meet the 
     requirements described in paragraph (1) and are created or 
     substantially updated after the date of the enactment of this 
     Act, the Administrator shall implement the requirements of 
     subsection (a) not later than 1 year after such date of 
     enactment.

     SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT TO REVIEW MODELS AND LEVERAGE 
                   INNOVATIONS.

       The Administrator shall--
       (1) consistent with the mission of the Earth Prediction 
     Innovation Center, periodically review innovations and 
     improvements made by persons outside the Administration to 
     the operational models made available to the public under 
     section 4 in order to improve the accuracy and timeliness of 
     forecasts of the Administration; and
       (2) if the Administrator identifies an innovation for such 
     a model the Administrator considers suitable, develop and 
     implement a plan to use the innovation to improve the model.

     SEC. 6. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to 
     the appropriate congressional committees a report on the 
     implementation of this Act that includes a description of--
       (1) how operational models have been made publicly 
     available as required by section 4(a);
       (2) the process of the Administration under section 5--
       (A) for engaging with interested stakeholders to learn what 
     innovations those stakeholders have found;
       (B) for reviewing those innovations; and
       (C) for operationalizing innovations the Administrator 
     considers suitable.
       (b) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this 
     section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
     means--
       (1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
     and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
       (2) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the 
     Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

     SEC. 7. PROTECTION OF NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     this Act, the Administrator may withhold models or data used 
     in

[[Page S5798]]

     operational weather forecasting if the Administrator 
     determines doing so to be necessary to protect the national 
     security interests of the United States.
       (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
     construed to supersede any other provision of law governing 
     the protection of the national security interests of the 
     United States.

     SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
     Administration for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2026 
     such sums may be necessary to carry out this Act.
                                 ______
                                 
       By Ms. BALDWIN:
  S. 2598. A bill to require the payment of user fees by qualified 
professional asset managers seeking an individual exemption from 
certain requirements; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I introduce my legislation today to help 
shore up the government's insurance plan for these pensions. The 
Pension Stability Act would add funding to the Pension Benefit Guaranty 
Corporation's multiemployer program by imposing a fee on financial 
firms that are convicted of financial crimes.
  This weekend, I was in Endeavor, WI. I was meeting there with 
retirees who meet once a month at the fire station in order to update 
one another on the progress here in Washington. In the months since the 
House passed the Butch Lewis Act, there hasn't been much progress to 
speak of. The Senate hasn't taken up the bill, and no other proposals 
have been presented. All the while, retirees and workers in the Central 
States Pension Fund continue to doubt their retirement security.
  If Washington does not act, workers and retirees face massive cuts to 
the pensions they have earned over decades of hard work. I have come to 
the floor many times over these past 3\1/2\ years to remind this body 
about the retirees who stand to lose 50 percent--some more than 50 
percent--of their pensions if Washington fails to act. Since then, 
nothing has been done, so I am here to, once again, remind my 
colleagues that this is about a promise that must be kept.
  This is about a promise made to Bob Brockway, who stands to lose more 
than half of his monthly pension. Bob retired in 1999. He has made the 
trip to Washington to be a part of the solution even though Margie, his 
wife, would rather he stayed at home. He also organizes the meetings 
that are held every month in Endeavor.
  This is about a promise made to Thomas from Hartland, WI. Thomas is a 
72-year-old retired semitruck driver and an Army veteran.
  He is also a cancer patient, and his wife has significant medical 
bills.
  Thomas wrote to me this summer. He said:

       I've put many, much-needed home repairs on hold since this 
     whole mess started. We have had no vacations or any other 
     extravagances since I retired. We did nothing wrong. We paid 
     into Central States and somehow the government dropped the 
     ball.

  This is about a promise made to Donald and his wife Janet in Beaver 
Dam, WI. Donald wrote to me to tell me the following:

       After 25 years working at a company where I earned a 
     pension as part of a wage and benefit package, I retired. I 
     retired four years ago because my body wouldn't let me 
     perform tasks in the factory that could more easily be 
     performed in my younger years. My pension and Social Security 
     allow me to pay for heat, electricity, food and maintenance 
     on my home. A 50 percent reduction in my monthly pension 
     payment would mean we could no longer afford visiting our 
     children or grandchildren, buying Christmas and birthday 
     gifts, or seeing an occasional movie. And without this 
     pension, I doubt we could afford the most basic of household 
     expenditures.

  This is about a promise made to Mary in Greenfield, WI. Mary wrote to 
tell me the following:

       My story is simple. In November 2014, my husband passed 
     away. In December, I learned the bad news about my pension. 
     Worrying all this time has taken its toll. What will I be 
     able to afford? I will probably have to move. I need a new 
     car, but that's on hold. The list goes on. I am turning 70 in 
     a few days and I never thought at this age I would have to 
     worry about how I will survive.

  If Washington does not act, we will be breaking a promise made to 1.5 
million retirees nationwide. Pension promises must be kept. So once 
again I will say: Washington needs to act, and we need to do it now.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. DURBIN:
  S. 2600. A bill to promote minimum State requirements for the 
prevention and treatment of concussions caused by participation in 
school sports, and for other purposes; 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. 2600

       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 the ``Protecting Student Athletes 
     from Concussions Act of 2019''.

     SEC. 2. MINIMUM STATE REQUIREMENTS.

       (a) Minimum Requirements.--Each State that receives funds 
     under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
     U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and does not meet the requirements 
     described in this section, as of the date of enactment of 
     this Act, shall, not later than the last day of the fifth 
     full fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act 
     (referred to in this Act as the ``compliance deadline''), 
     enact legislation or issue regulations establishing the 
     following minimum requirements:
       (1) Local educational agency concussion safety and 
     management plan.--Each local educational agency in the State, 
     in consultation with members of the community in which such 
     agency is located, shall develop and implement a standard 
     plan for concussion safety and management that--
       (A) educates students, parents, and school personnel about 
     concussions, through activities such as--
       (i) training school personnel, including coaches, teachers, 
     athletic trainers, related services personnel, and school 
     nurses, on concussion safety and management, including 
     training on the prevention, recognition, and academic 
     consequences of concussions and response to concussions; and
       (ii) using, maintaining, and disseminating to students and 
     parents--

       (I) release forms and other appropriate forms for reporting 
     and record keeping;
       (II) treatment plans; and
       (III) prevention and post-injury observation and monitoring 
     fact sheets about concussion;

       (B) encourages supports, where feasible, for a student 
     recovering from a concussion (regardless of whether or not 
     the concussion occurred during school-sponsored activities, 
     during school hours, on school property, or during an 
     athletic activity), such as--
       (i) guiding the student in resuming participation in 
     athletic activity and academic activities with the help of a 
     multi-disciplinary concussion management team, which may 
     include--

       (I) a health care professional, the parents of such 
     student, a school nurse, relevant related services personnel, 
     and other relevant school personnel; and
       (II) an individual who is assigned by a public school to 
     oversee and manage the recovery of such student; and

       (ii) providing appropriate academic accommodations aimed at 
     progressively reintroducing cognitive demands on the student; 
     and
       (C) encourages the use of best practices designed to 
     ensure, with respect to concussions, the uniformity of safety 
     standards, treatment, and management, such as--
       (i) disseminating information on concussion safety and 
     management to the public; and
       (ii) applying uniform best practice standards for 
     concussion safety and management to all students enrolled in 
     public schools.
       (2) Posting of information on concussions.--Each public 
     elementary school and each public secondary school shall post 
     on school grounds, in a manner that is visible to students 
     and school personnel, and make publicly available on the 
     school website, information on concussions that--
       (A) is based on peer-reviewed scientific evidence (such as 
     information made available by the Centers for Disease Control 
     and Prevention);
       (B) shall include information on--
       (i) the risks posed by sustaining a concussion;
       (ii) the actions a student should take in response to 
     sustaining a concussion, including the notification of school 
     personnel; and
       (iii) the signs and symptoms of a concussion; and
       (C) may include information on--
       (i) the definition of a concussion;
       (ii) the means available to the student to reduce the 
     incidence or recurrence of a concussion; and
       (iii) the effects of a concussion on academic learning and 
     performance.
       (3) Response to concussion.--If an individual designated 
     from among school personnel for purposes of this Act, one of 
     whom must be in attendance at every school-sponsored 
     activity, suspects that a student has sustained a concussion 
     (regardless of whether or not the concussion occurred during 
     school-sponsored activities, during school hours, on school 
     property, or during an athletic activity)--
       (A) the student shall be--
       (i) immediately removed from participation in a school-
     sponsored athletic activity; and

[[Page S5799]]

       (ii) prohibited from returning to participate in a school-
     sponsored athletic activity on the day that student is 
     removed from such participation; and
       (B) the designated individual shall report to the parent or 
     guardian of such student--
       (i) any information that the designated school employee is 
     aware of regarding the date, time, and type of the injury 
     suffered by such student (regardless of where, when, or how a 
     concussion may have occurred); and
       (ii) any actions taken to treat such student.
       (4) Return to athletics.--If a student has sustained a 
     concussion (regardless of whether or not the concussion 
     occurred during school-sponsored activities, during school 
     hours, on school property, or during an athletic activity), 
     before such student resumes participation in school-sponsored 
     athletic activities, the school shall receive a written 
     release from a health care professional, that--
       (A) states that the student is capable of resuming 
     participation in such activities; and
       (B) may require the student to follow a plan designed to 
     aid the student in recovering and resuming participation in 
     such activities in a manner that--
       (i) is coordinated, as appropriate, with periods of 
     cognitive and physical rest while symptoms of a concussion 
     persist; and
       (ii) reintroduces cognitive and physical demands on such 
     student on a progressive basis only as such increases in 
     exertion do not cause the reemergence or worsening of 
     symptoms of a concussion.
       (b) Noncompliance.--
       (1) First year.--If a State described in subsection (a) 
     fails to comply with subsection (a) by the compliance 
     deadline, the Secretary of Education shall reduce by 5 
     percent the amount of funds the State receives under the 
     Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
     6301 et seq.) for the first fiscal year following the 
     compliance deadline.
       (2) Succeeding years.--If the State fails to so comply by 
     the last day of any fiscal year following the compliance 
     deadline, the Secretary of Education shall reduce by 10 
     percent the amount of funds the State receives under that Act 
     for the following fiscal year.
       (3) Notification of noncompliance.--Prior to reducing any 
     funds that a State receives under the Elementary and 
     Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) in 
     accordance with this subsection, the Secretary of Education 
     shall provide a written notification of the intended 
     reduction of funds to the State and to the appropriate 
     committees of Congress.

     SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

       Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect civil or 
     criminal liability under Federal or State law.

     SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Concussion.--The term ``concussion'' means a type of 
     mild traumatic brain injury that--
       (A) is caused by a blow, jolt, or motion to the head or 
     body that causes the brain to move rapidly in the skull;
       (B) disrupts normal brain functioning and alters the mental 
     state of the individual, causing the individual to 
     experience--
       (i) any period of observed or self-reported--

       (I) transient confusion, disorientation, or impaired 
     consciousness;
       (II) dysfunction of memory around the time of injury; or
       (III) loss of consciousness lasting less than 30 minutes; 
     or

       (ii) any 1 of 4 types of symptoms, including--

       (I) physical symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, or 
     dizziness;
       (II) cognitive symptoms, such as memory disturbance or 
     slowed thinking;
       (III) emotional symptoms, such as irritability or sadness; 
     or
       (IV) difficulty sleeping; and

       (C) can occur--
       (i) with or without the loss of consciousness; and
       (ii) during participation in any organized sport or 
     recreational activity.
       (2) Health care professional.--The term ``health care 
     professional''--
       (A) means an individual who has been trained in diagnosis 
     and management of concussion in a pediatric population; and
       (B) is registered, licensed, certified, or otherwise 
     statutorily recognized by the State to provide such diagnosis 
     and management.
       (3) Local educational agency; state.--The terms ``local 
     educational agency'' and ``State'' have the meanings given 
     such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
     Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
       (4) Related services personnel.--The term ``related 
     services personnel'' means individuals who provide related 
     services, as defined under section 602 of the Individuals 
     with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401).
       (5) School-sponsored athletic activity.--The term ``school-
     sponsored athletic activity'' means--
       (A) any physical education class or program of a school;
       (B) any athletic activity authorized during the school day 
     on school grounds that is not an instructional activity;
       (C) any extra-curricular sports team, club, or league 
     organized by a school on or off school grounds; and
       (D) any recess activity.

                          ____________________