[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 185 (Tuesday, November 19, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6672-S6674]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Ms. Duckworth):
  S. 2896. A bill to establish the Pullman National Historical Park in 
the State of Illinois as a unit of the National Park System, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  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. 2896

       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 ``Pullman National Historical 
     Park Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) in 1970, the Secretary of the Interior designated the 
     Pullman Historic District as a National Historic Landmark 
     District because of--
       (A) the significance of the District to the labor history, 
     social history, architecture, and urban planning of the 
     United States; and
       (B) the pivotal role of events in the District in creating 
     the first national Labor Day holiday in the world;
       (2) between 1880 and 1884, George M. Pullman, owner of the 
     Pullman Palace Car Company, built the Pullman community, 
     which was envisioned by Pullman as an industrial town that 
     would provide employees with--
       (A) a model community; and
       (B) suitable living conditions;
       (3) the town developed by George M. Pullman, which 
     consisted of over 1,000 buildings and homes, was awarded 
     ``The World's Most Perfect Town'' at the International 
     Hygienic and Pharmaceutical Exposition in 1896;
       (4) the Pullman factory site is a true symbol of the 
     historic struggle in the United States to achieve fair labor 
     practices for the working class, with the original factory 
     serving as the catalyst for the first industry-wide strike in 
     the United States;
       (5) in the midst of economic depression in 1894, to protest 
     unsafe conditions and reductions in pay, Pullman factory 
     workers initiated a strike that--
       (A) when taken up as a cause by the American Railway Union, 
     crippled the entire rail industry;
       (B) continued even in the face of a Federal injunction and 
     a showdown between laborers and Federal troops that turned 
     violent and deadly; and
       (C) set a national example for the ability of working 
     people in the United States to change the existing system in 
     favor of more just practices for protecting workers rights 
     and safety;
       (6) following the deaths of a number of workers at the 
     hands of the United States military and United States 
     Marshals during the 1894 strike, Congress unanimously voted 
     to approve rush legislation that created a national Labor Day 
     holiday, which was signed into law by President Grover 
     Cleveland 6 days after the end of the strike;
       (7) the Pullman Palace Car Company also played an important 
     role in African-American and early civil rights history 
     through the legacy of the Pullman porters, many of whom were 
     ex-slaves and employed in a heavily discriminatory 
     environment immediately following the Civil War;
       (8) the Pullman porters, who served diligently between the 
     1870s and the 1960s, have been commended for--
       (A) their level of service and attention to detail; and
       (B) their contributions to the development of the African-
     American middle class;
       (9) the information, ideas, and commerce the Pullman 
     porters carried across the country while traveling on trains 
     helped to bring education and wealth to African-American 
     communities throughout the United States;
       (10) the positive role of the Pullman porters in the 
     historical image of the first-class service that was made 
     available on Pullman cars is unmistakable;
       (11) the Pullman community was the seminal home to the 
     Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, which--
       (A) was founded by civil rights pioneer A. Philip Randolph 
     in 1925;
       (B) was the first African-American labor union with a 
     collective bargaining agreement;
       (C) fought--
       (i) against discrimination; and
       (ii) in support of just labor practices; and
       (D) helped lay the groundwork for what became the great 
     Civil Rights Movement of the 20th Century;
       (12) the Pullman community is--
       (A) a paramount illustration of the work of architect Solon 
     Spencer Beman;
       (B) a well-preserved example of 19th Century community 
     planning, architecture, and landscape design; and
       (C) comprised of a number of historic structures, including 
     the Administration Clock Tower Building, Hotel Florence, 
     Greenstone Church, Market Square, and hundreds of units of 
     rowhouses built for Pullman workers;
       (13) the preservation of the Pullman site has been 
     threatened by--
       (A) plans for demolition in 1960; and
       (B) a fire in 1998, which damaged the iconic clock tower 
     and the rear erecting shops;
       (14) the diligent efforts of community organizations, 
     foundations, nonprofit organizations, residents, the State, 
     and units of local government in the restoration and 
     preservation of the District after the 1998 fire were vital 
     to the protection of the Pullman site;
       (15) due to the historic and architectural significance of 
     the District, the District is designated as--
       (A) a registered National Historic Landmark District;
       (B) an Illinois State Landmark; and
       (C) a City of Chicago Landmark District; and
       (16) the preservation, enhancement, economic, and tourism 
     potential and management of the important historic and 
     architectural resources of the Park requires cooperation and 
     partnerships from among local property owners, the Federal 
     Government, the State, units of local government, the private 
     and nonprofit sectors, and the more than 100 civic 
     organizations that have expressed support for community 
     preservation through the establishment of the Pullman 
     National Historical Park.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Park.--The term ``Park'' means the Pullman National 
     Historical Park established by section 4(a).
       (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (3) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Illinois.

[[Page S6673]]

  


     SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF PULLMAN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.

       (a) Establishment and Purpose.--There is established in the 
     State a unit of the National Park System, to be known as the 
     ``Pullman National Historical Park''--
       (1) to preserve and interpret for the benefit of future 
     generations--
       (A) the significant labor, industrial, civil rights, and 
     social history of the Park;
       (B) the significant architectural structures in the Park; 
     and
       (C) the role of the Pullman community in the creation of 
     the first national Labor Day holiday in the world;
       (2) to coordinate preservation, protection, and 
     interpretation efforts of the Park by the Federal Government, 
     the State, units of local government, and private and 
     nonprofit organizations; and
       (3) to coordinate appropriate management options necessary 
     to ensure the protection, preservation, and interpretation of 
     the many significant aspects of the Park.
       (b) Park Boundary.--The boundary of the Park--
       (1) shall be established by the Secretary; but
       (2) shall not exceed the boundary of the approximately 300-
     acre Pullman Historic District in Chicago, which is between--
       (A) 103rd Street on the north;
       (B) 115th Street on the south;
       (C) Cottage Grove Avenue on the west; and
       (D) the Norfolk & Western Rail Line on the east.
       (c) Inclusion of Historic Sites.--On conveyance by the 
     State to the Secretary, the Park shall include--
       (1) the Pullman Factory Complex, including the Clock Tower 
     Building and rear erecting shops; and
       (2) the approximately 13 acres of land on which the 
     structures described in paragraph (1) are located.

     SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary shall administer land within 
     the boundary of the Park in accordance with--
       (1) this Act; and
       (2) the laws generally applicable to units of the National 
     Park System, including--
       (A) section 100101(a), chapter 1003, and sections 
     100751(a), 100752, 100753, and 102101 of title 54, United 
     States Code; and
       (B) chapter 3201 of title 54, United States Code.
       (b) Cooperative Agreements.--The Secretary may enter into 
     cooperative agreements with the State or other public and 
     nonpublic entities, under which the Secretary may identify, 
     interpret, and provide assistance for the preservation of 
     non-Federal land within the boundaries of the Park and at 
     sites in close proximity to the Park but located outside the 
     boundaries of the Park, including providing for placement of 
     directional and interpretive signage, exhibits, and 
     technology-based interpretive devices.
       (c) Acquisition of Land.--The Secretary may acquire for 
     inclusion in the Park any land (including interests in land), 
     buildings, or structures owned by the State or any other 
     political, private, or nonprofit entity by donation, 
     transfer, exchange, or purchase from a willing seller.
       (d) Technical and Preservation Assistance.--The Secretary 
     may provide public interpretation and technical assistance 
     for the preservation of historic structures of, the 
     maintenance of the cultural landscape of, and local 
     preservation planning for, related historic and cultural 
     resources within the boundaries of the Park.
       (e) Management Plan.--Not later than 3 fiscal years after 
     the date on which funds are first made available to carry out 
     this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the State, 
     shall complete a general management plan for the Park in 
     accordance with--
       (1) section 100502 of title 54, United States Code; and
       (2) any other applicable laws.
       (f) Effect.--Nothing in this Act modifies any authority of 
     the Federal Government to carry out Federal laws on Federal 
     land located in the Park.

     SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are 
     necessary to carry out this Act.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mrs. Shaheen):
  S. 2901. A bill to establish within the Office of the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services a special task force on ensuring Medicare 
beneficiary access to innovative diabetes technologies and services; to 
the Committee on Finance.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
with my fellow co-chair of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, Senator Jeanne 
Shaheen, which would improve access to innovative diabetes 
technologies. Our bill, the Improving Medicare Beneficiary Access to 
Innovative Diabetes Technologies Act, would create a special task force 
at the Department of Health and Human Services to examine and address 
barriers that seniors face in accessing the latest diabetes management 
technologies.
  Since I founded the bipartisan Senate Diabetes Caucus in 1997 Federal 
funding for diabetes research has tripled from $319 million to more 
than $1 billion last year, and these research dollars are yielding 
results. This past summer, the Aging Committee held a hearing in 
conjunction with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Children's 
Congress titled ``Redefining Reality: How the Special Diabetes Program 
is Changing the Lives of Americans with Type 1 Diabetes.'' We heard 
compelling testimony from Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers, Director of the 
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and 
JDRF President and CEO Dr. Aaron Kowalski on the pipeline from private-
public research to commercially available products.
  New diabetes technologies--such as the artificial pancreas and 
implantable continuous glucose monitoring systems--allow diabetes 
patients to better manage and improve glycemic control, assess needed 
therapy on a timely basis, and adhere to treatment regimens. These 
technological advances make diabetes easier to manage. The market 
arrival of cutting-edge diabetes technologies, however, does not 
immediately benefit patients if our nation's seniors are unable to 
afford them.
  As Chairman of the Aging Committee, I have heard from numerous 
seniors who, when transitioning from employer-provided insurance to 
Medicare, were shocked to learn that the technologies they have relied 
upon for years to manage their diabetes are no longer covered. For 
example, one Mainer was unfortunately met with the reality that 
Medicare's coverage denial of a particular sensor he needs for his 
insulin pump means paying up to $8,000 out-of-pocket each year if he 
wants to continue with his current treatment regimen. He wrote, 
``Because I am now 65, I am denied care that was available when I was 
64.'' He continued, ``This approach not only puts me at risk but is 
quite likely not cost effective. While the sensors are expensive, the 
cost of ambulance calls and hospitalizations . . . is certainly more.''
  I couldn't agree more. To better support adoption of these 
technologies, our bill would require HHS to create a special task force 
on coverage and payment for innovative diabetes technologies that would 
bring all stakeholders--from patients to device manufacturers to 
government officials who are making coverage decisions--to the same 
table. The Task Force would identify and plan for changes in Medicare 
coverage and payment policies to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries 
have access to innovative diabetes technologies that are currently 
available, as well as those that are in the pipeline. The Task Force 
would also be tasked with developing strategies for supporting adoption 
of these technologies.
  This effort builds on my past advocacy with Senator Shaheen to 
improve the day-to-day life of individuals with diabetes by improving 
coverage of innovative diabetes technologies. In January 2017, in 
response to our bipartisan effort, CMS first approved the use of 
continuous glucose monitors (CGMs). We also successfully urged CMS last 
year to support the use of smartphone apps in conjunction with CGMs. 
These proven, lifesaving devices are relied upon by people with 
diabetes to provide them with real-time measurements of their glucose 
levels. This information is key to preventing costly--and sometimes 
deadly--diabetes complications.
  While I am pleased our advocacy has helped spur these policy changes, 
I remain frustrated with the pace at which Medicare lags behind 
commercial insurers. Greater adoption of new diabetes technologies can 
literally change our country's future with regard to addressing the 
explosive growth in the financial and human tolls of diabetes. Diabetes 
accounts for an exorbitant one in three dollars in Medicare spending. 
It is paramount that we encourage HHS to adopt a more cost-effective 
approach to treating this chronic disease that affects more than 30 
million Americans.
  The Improving Medicare Beneficiary Access to Innovative Diabetes 
Technologies Act encourages a proactive approach to diabetes technology 
coverage and payment, and I encourage my colleagues to support its 
adoption.
  Thank you, Mr. President.

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