[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 76 (Thursday, May 2, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3318-S3319]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Casey):
  S. 4238. A bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act 
to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through 
the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, 
to award grants to eligible entities to carry out construction or 
modernization projects designed to strengthen and increase capacity 
within the specialized pediatric health care infrastructure, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Pediatric 
Access to Critical Health Care, PATCH Act. This legislation would boost 
our continued efforts to support our Nation's healthcare safety net for 
kids across America.
  The PATCH Act would provide $6 billion over 10 years to increase 
pediatric healthcare capacity and improve dedicated children's 
hospitals and pediatric preparedness response. These funds will 
prioritize increased critical care capacity and telehealth technology, 
as well as address attentive care workforce shortages, particularly for 
high Medicaid providers who serve child populations with the greatest 
health disparities. Matching requirements supporting contributions from 
the private sector would double the impact of this Federal investment, 
greatly increasing pediatric healthcare capacity for all children 
across the country.
  Children represent over 20 percent of the Nation's population and 
have unique health needs. As a result, pediatric hospital facilities, 
which are at the frontline of care for children, require separate 
investments to provide appropriate treatment and care and have not kept 
up with the level of need.

[[Page S3319]]

  I would like to thank Congressman Cardenas for leading this 
legislation in the House of Representatives, and I look forward to 
working with my colleagues to enact the Pediatric Access to Critical 
Health Care Act as soon as possible.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. King):
  S. 4251. A bill to establish a payment program for unexpected loss of 
markets and revenues to timber harvesting and timber hauling businesses 
due to major disasters, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I rise to introduce a bill with my 
colleague, Senator King, that will help the hard-working loggers across 
this country affected by severe storms and natural disasters. In Maine 
alone, logging has a roughly $582 million annual economic impact and is 
the backbone of the forest products economy.
  In Maine and in many places across the country, the logging industry 
has felt the effects of severe weather events and warmer than normal 
winters. This past winter, Maine experienced many storms, including two 
December and January that were designated Federal disasters. These 
storms were detrimental to many industries but especially logging, as 
the winter months are usually the best months for loggers to harvest 
timber when the frozen ground makes access easier. The rainstorms 
saturated the ground, and the mud made it much more difficult to 
operate and transport heavy logging equipment without disturbing the 
soil underneath.
  These storms also closed bridges and roads on vital trucking routes, 
hindering the movement of equipment and employees to logging sites. For 
example, the December 18 storm washed out a bridge on a vital trucking 
route that forced an 80-mile detour for wood being distributed to both 
northern and southern markets. According to the Professional Logging 
Contractors of the Northeast, this December wind and rainstorm in Maine 
resulted in more than $2.5 million in losses.
  Despite these documented losses, there is currently no Federal 
program to assist loggers who have been affected by federally declared 
disasters. That is why I am introducing the Logger Economic Assistance 
and Relief Act, which would authorize income replacement for logging 
contractors equal to 10 percent of eligible gross lost revenue from the 
previous calendar year. Funds received under this program can only be 
used for operating expenses. Our legislation is modeled off of the 
successful Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers 
Program, which I created during the COVID pandemic to provide much 
needed aid to our timber harvesters.
  I am grateful for the Professional Logging Council of the Northeast 
and the American Logging Council's support of our legislation, and I 
urge my colleagues to join in this effort to support one of our 
country's core economic drivers.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. THUNE (for himself, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. 
        Daines, and Mr. Tillis):
  S. 4257. A bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from 
allowing IRS personnel to use a personal device, including a mobile 
device, to access, process, transmit, or store taxpayer information; to 
the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. THUNE. Madam 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. 4257

       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 ``Ensuring No Devices Bear 
     Your Own Data Act'' or the ``END BYOD Act''.

     SEC. 2. PROHIBITING IRS PERSONNEL FROM USING PERSONAL DEVICES 
                   FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary may not establish, permit, 
     or administer any program (regardless of whether such program 
     was established before, on, or after the date of enactment of 
     this Act) which allows any individual described in subsection 
     (b) to use a personal device to access, process, transmit, or 
     store any taxpayer information which is subject to 
     restrictions on disclosure pursuant to section 6103 of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
       (b) Covered Individuals.--An individual is described in 
     this subsection if such individual is--
       (1) an employee of the Internal Revenue Service;
       (2) an employee of an entity that is a party to a contract 
     with the Internal Revenue Service whose job duties involve 
     working under such contract; or
       (3) a volunteer with the Internal Revenue Service.
       (c) Other Definitions.--In this section--
       (1) Personal device.--The term ``personal device'' means 
     any electronic device (including mobile devices, smartphones, 
     tablet computing devices, or laptop computing devices) 
     which--
       (A) is the personal property of an individual described in 
     subsection (b);
       (B) has not been furnished to an individual described in 
     subsection (b) by the Internal Revenue Service or any other 
     Federal agency; or
       (C) in the case of an individual described in subsection 
     (b)(2), has not been furnished to such individual by their 
     employer (except in the case of an individual who is self-
     employed).
       (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Treasury or the Secretary's delegate.

                          ____________________