[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 73 (Wednesday, April 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2294-S2296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTION
______
By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Blumenthal, and Ms.
Hirono):
[[Page S2295]]
S. 1423. A bill to amend the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
of 1998 to give Americans the option to delete personal information
collected by internet operators as a result of the person's internet
activity prior to age 13; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation.
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. 1423
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 ``Clean Slate for Kids Online
Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. ENHANCING THE CHILDREN'S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION
ACT OF 1998.
(a) Definitions.--Section 1302 of the Children's Online
Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(13) Delete.--The term `delete' means to remove personal
information such that the information is not maintained in
retrievable form and cannot be retrieved in the normal course
of business.''.
(b) Regulation of Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices
in Connection With the Collection and Use of Personal
Information From and About Children on the Internet.--Section
1303 of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998
(15 U.S.C. 6502) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Failure to delete.--It is unlawful for an operator of
a website or online service directed to children, or any
operator that has actual knowledge that it is collecting
personal information from a child, to fail to delete personal
information collected from or about a child if a request for
deletion is made pursuant to regulations prescribed under
subsection (e).''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Right of an Individual To Delete Personal Information
Collected When the Person Was a Child.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall promulgate
under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, regulations
that require the operator of any website or online service
directed to children, or any operator that has actual
knowledge that it has collected personal information from a
child or maintains such personal information--
``(A) to provide notice in a prominent place on the website
of how an individual over the age of 13, or a legal guardian
of an individual over the age of 13 acting with the knowledge
and consent of the individual, can request that the operator
delete all personal information in the possession of the
operator that was collected from or about the individual when
the individual was a child notwithstanding any parental
consent that may have been provided when the individual was a
child;
``(B) to promptly delete all personal information in the
possession of the operator that was collected from or about
an individual when the individual was a child when such
deletion is requested by an individual over the age of 13 or
by the legal guardian of such individual acting with the
knowledge and consent of the individual, notwithstanding any
parental consent that may have been provided when the
individual was a child;
``(C) to provide written confirmation of deletion, after
the deletion has occurred, to an individual or legal guardian
of such individual who has requested such deletion pursuant
to this subsection; and
``(D) to except from deletion personal information
collected from or about a child--
``(i) only to the extent that the personal information is
necessary--
``(I) to respond to judicial process; or
``(II) to the extent permitted under any other provision of
law, to provide information to law enforcement agencies or
for an investigation on a matter related to public safety;
and
``(ii) if the operator retain such excepted personal
information for only as long as reasonably necessary to
fulfill the purpose for which the information has been
excepted and that the excepted information not be used,
disseminated or maintained in a form retrievable to anyone
except for the purposes specified in this subparagraph.''.
(c) Safe Harbors.--Section 1304 of the Children's Online
Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6503) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``section 1303(b)'' and
inserting ``subsections (b) and (e) of section 1303''; and
(2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``subsection (b)''
and inserting ``subsections (b) and (e)''.
(d) Actions by States.--Section 1305(a)(1) of the
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C.
6504(a)(1)) is amended by striking ``1303(b)'' and inserting
``subsection (b) or (e) of section 1303''.
______
By Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. Carper):
S. 1424. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit
high deductible health plans to provide chronic disease prevention
services to plan enrollees prior to satisfying their plan deductible;
to the Committee on Finance.
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. 1424
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 ``Chronic Disease Management
Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. CHRONIC DISEASE PREVENTION.
(a) In General.--Section 223(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(F) Preventive care services and items for chronic
conditions.--For purposes of subparagraph (C)--
``(i) preventive care shall include any service or item
used to treat an individual with a chronic condition if--
``(I) such service or item is low-cost,
``(II) in regards to such service or item, there is medical
evidence supporting high cost efficiency of preventing
exacerbation of the chronic condition or the development of a
secondary condition, and
``(III) there is a strong likelihood, documented by
clinical evidence, that with respect to the class of
individuals utilizing such service or item, the specific
service or use of the item will prevent the exacerbation of
the chronic condition or the development of a secondary
condition that requires significantly higher cost treatments,
and
``(ii) an individual who has been prescribed preventive
care for any chronic condition may be presumed to have been
diagnosed with such condition if such preventive care is
customarily prescribed for such condition.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section
shall apply to coverage for months beginning after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
______
By Ms. COLLINS:
S. 1429. A bill to provide compensation for United States victims of
Libyan state-sponsored terrorism, and for other purposes; to the
Committee on the Judiciary.
Mrs. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to reintroduce the Justice
for the Living victims of Lockerbie Act. This bill would create a
process to seek justice for a group Pan American World Airways pilots
who lost their careers and pensions following the bombing of Pan Am
Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the subsequent bankruptcy and
closure of Pan Am.
On December 21, 1988, the State of Libya committed an infamous act of
terror by bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing
270 innocent civilians. Despite Pan Am's greatly improved financial
position in 1988, the media coverage of the terrorist attack wreaked
havoc on Pan Am sales leading to its bankruptcy in 1991.
In 2008, the U.S. entered into the U.S.-Libya Humanitarian Settlement
Agreement, in which Libya paid $ 1.5 billion to settle claims by U.S.
citizens for Libyan-sponsored terrorism. After payments by the State
Department to families of death victims from Lockerbie and the La Belle
Disco bombing in Germany, compensation to other victims was to be
determined by the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission. The Commission
could only consider further claims referred to it by the State
Department.
One of these claimants was a group of senior Pan Am pilots, most of
whom were veterans, who were over the age of 50 and lost and
livelihoods when Pan Am went bankrupt and closed. Due to the federally
required retirement age of 60 at that time, and the airline industry's
seniority system, they were unable to get new pilot jobs with other
airlines. Two of these pilots reside in Maine--Ron Fitch of Poland
Spring and Schafer Bean of Diamond Cove--and I have heard their stories
and their pleas for justice on behalf of their own families and the
others who suffered as a result of Libya's acts of terrorism.
Mr. Fitch served nearly ten years in the Air Force and flew rescue
helicopters during the Vietnam War. Mr. Bean served in the Navy where
he was stationed at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station during the
1960's. Both of these veterans told me that lost their jobs, pensions,
health care, and savings as a result of the Pan Am bombing.
This group's initial lawsuit against Libya, which had been joined
with the families of those who died at
[[Page S2296]]
Lockerbie, was dismissed by the courts due to sovereign immunity.
Following the 2008 settlement agreement with Libya, the group of pilots
approached the State Department in 2009 seeking the necessary referral
to have their claims heard by the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.
For more than four years the State Department failed to refer the
group's claims to the Commission, but following bipartisan letters to
then-Secretaries Clinton and Kerry signed by myself and more than 60
other members of Congress, the State Department finally referred the
claims in 2013.
After an initial denial of claims in a preliminary ruling by the
Commission in July 2016, the group of pilots was granted a hearing in
December 2016. So many of the pilots and their families attended the
hearing that it was moved to a U.S. District Court courtroom in
Washington, D.C. Three senior Pan Am executives testified at the
hearing, including the former Pan Am CEO, Thomas Plaskett; former Pan
Am Senior Vice President for Finance, Ramesh Punwani; and former Pan Am
Vice President of Strategic Planning, Peter Pappas. Each explained why
the Lockerbie bombing and the subsequent media coverage directly caused
the airline's collapse.
In January 2018, more than a year following that hearing, the
Commission ruled against the pilots. Using an undefined standard of
proof and applying international law, the Commission argued that Pan
Am's demise was not caused by the Lockerbie bombing, contrary to the
testimony of the former Pan Am executives themselves. The pilots'
referred claim was the very last of the Libya claims adjudicated by the
Commission, and the Libya settlement fund is now exhausted from the
claims it approved prior to the final adjudication of the pilots'
claims.
Mr. President, these terrorism victims were denied an opportunity to
even make their case for four years by the Department of State, and
when finally referred to the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, they
were forced to wait another three years for a preliminary ruling and
another two years for a final decision, by which point the Commission
had already awarded claims that essentially exhausted the settlement
funds provided by Libya. That simply is not fair, and I believe these
Mainers and other Americans deserve a quick and fair process to
compensate them for their losses.
I urge my colleagues to join me in working toward justice for all of
the victims of the Lockerbie bombing perpetrated by Libya.
______
By Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. Padilla):
S. 1432. A bill to require the Secretary of Energy to establish an
electric grid resilience grant program and an electric grid resilience
research and development program; to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources.
Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to join Senator Cornyn in
introducing the ``Preventing Outages With Enhanced Resilience and
Operations Nationwide (POWER ON) Act of 2021''.
This legislation would authorize the Federal government to offer
grants to States and Tribal governments to modernize the electrical
grid and better withstand extreme weather events and natural disasters.
It would also serve as a catalyst for our Nation's research and
development and deployment of new technologies that will ensure our
Nation's grid can meet the challenges of climate change and continue to
provide reliable electricity to our citizens.
The ``POWER ON Act'' is a bipartisan step-forward to combating the
devastating impact of climate change and keep the lights on for
everyone.
This legislation would help protect America's electric grid and make
it more resilient.
Climate change is real and nowhere is that fact more clear than in my
State of California. As the State continues to experience historic
wildfires, droughts, dangerous mudslides, prolonged heatwaves, and
extreme wind events that prompt sustained power shutoffs, the Federal
government can and must help. We must work with States to invest in our
electrical infrastructure and make our grids more reliable.
This legislation would establish a grant program through the
Department of Energy for States and Tribal governments to award funds
to eligible entities to deploy projects that enhance the resilience of
the electric grid.
This legislation specifically includes natural disasters, such as
wildfires, and extreme weather such as heatwaves, drought, and high
winds as threats to the resiliency of the electrical grid.
Additionally, it explicitly includes Public Safety Power Shutoffs,
which have become all too routine in California in recent years, as
eligible events.
To protect ratepayers, this legislation ensures that a utility may
not seek any cost recovery for any grant awarded through this new
program.
Lastly, this legislation would establish a grant program through the
Department of Energy for research, development, demonstration, and
commercial application of innovations to enhance resilience and
strengthen emergency response and management of the electric grid.
California has always been a leader in research and development, and
this new program would allow universities, national laboratories and
others to make our grid smarter and more resilient. This legislation
will not only work to harden our grid but it will allow our world-
renowned institutions to usher in new technologies that will keep our
grid and our citizens safe.
I thank my colleague Senator Cornyn and our House partners,
Representatives Doris Matsui, Jared Huffman, Doug LaMalfa, Eddie
Bernice Johnson, Kevin Brady, and Michael Burgess for championing this
bill.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the ``POWER ON
Act'' as quickly as possible.
Thank you, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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