[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 10243-10268]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. DODD:
  S. 1204. A bill to enhance Federal efforts focused on public 
awareness and education about the risks and dangers associated with 
Shaken Baby Syndrome; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce the Shaken Baby 
Syndrome Prevention Act of 2007, important legislation that promotes 
awareness and prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome, a devastating form of 
child abuse that results in the severe injury, disability or death of 
hundreds of children each year.
  Child abuse and neglect is a well-documented tragedy for some of our 
youngest and most vulnerable citizens. According to the National Child 
Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) almost 900,000 children were 
victims of abuse and neglect in 2005. More than four children die every 
single day as a result of abusive maltreatment in this country. Babies 
are particularly vulnerable; in 2005, children aged 12 months or 
younger accounted for nearly 42 percent of all child abuse and neglect 
fatalities and children under age 3 accounted for almost 77 percent. 
Yet even these disturbing statistics may not paint an accurate picture; 
most experts agree that child abuse is widely under-reported.
  Abusive head trauma, including Shaken Baby Syndrome, is the leading 
cause of death of physically abused children, in particular for infants 
younger than one. When a frustrated caregiver loses control and 
violently shakes a baby or impacts the baby's head, the trauma can kill 
the child or cause severe injuries, including loss of vision, loss of 
hearing, brain damage, paralysis, and/or seizures, resulting in 
lifelong disabilities and creating profound grief for many families.
  Far too many children have experienced the horrible devastation of 
Shaken Baby Syndrome. A 2003 report in the Journal of the American 
Medical Association estimates that as a result of Shaken Baby Syndrome, 
an average of 300 U.S. children will die each year, and 600 to 1,200 
more will be injured, of whom two-thirds will be infants younger than 
one. Medical professionals believe that thousands of Shaken Baby 
Syndrome cases are misdiagnosed or undetected, as many children do not 
immediately exhibit obvious symptoms after the abuse.
  Prevention programs can significantly reduce the number of cases of 
Shaken Baby Syndrome. For example, the Upstate New York SBS Prevention 
Project at Children's Hospital of Buffalo has used a simple video to 
educate new parents before they leave the hospital, reducing the number 
of shaken baby incidents in the area by nearly 50 percent.
  In Connecticut, a multifaceted prevention approach involving 
hospitals, schools, childcare providers, and community-based 
organizations in awareness and training activities, including home 
visits and targeted outreach, has raised awareness and encouraged 
prevention across the state. Hospitals in many States educate new 
parents about the dangers of shaking a baby, yet it is estimated that 
less than 60 percent of parents of newborns receive information about 
the dangers of shaking a baby. Without more outreach, education and 
training, the risk of Shaken Baby Syndrome will persist.
  With the introduction of the Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Act of 
2007, I hope to reduce the number of children injured or killed by 
abusive head trauma, and ultimately to eliminate Shaken Baby Syndrome. 
Our initiative provides for the creation of a public health campaign, 
including development of a National Action Plan to identify effective, 
evidence-based strategies for prevention and awareness of SBS, and 
establishment of a cross-disciplinary advisory council to help 
coordinate national efforts.
  The campaign will educate the general public, parents, child care 
providers, health care professionals and others about the dangers of 
shaking, as well as healthy preventative approaches for frustrated 
parents and caregivers coping with a crying or fussy infant. The 
legislation ensures support for families who have been affected by SBS, 
and for families and caregivers struggling with infant crying, through 
a 24-hour hotline and an informational website. All of these activities 
are to be implemented through the coordination of existing programs 
and/or the establishment of new efforts, to bring together the best in 
current prevention, awareness and education practices to be expanded 
into areas in need.
  Awareness is absolutely critical to prevention. Families, 
professionals and caregivers responsible for infants and young children 
and must learn about the dangers of violent shaking and abusive impacts 
to the head.
  On behalf of the victims of Shaken Baby Syndrome, including Cynthia 
from New York, Hannah from California, Sarah from New York, Kierra from 
Nevada, Miranda from Pennsylvania, Taylor from Illinois, Cassandra from 
Arizona, Gabriela from Florida,

[[Page 10244]]

Amber from New York, Bennett from Missouri, Jamison from Florida, 
Maggie from Texas, Dalton from Indiana, Stephen from Texas, Kaden from 
Washington, Joseph from Texas, Dawson from Pennsylvania, Macie from 
Minnesota, Jake from Maine, Benjamin from Michigan, Chloe from New 
Mexico, Madison of Oklahoma, Peanut from Texas, Nykkole from Minnesota, 
Gianna from Rhode Island, Brynn from Washington, Rachael from Texas, 
Jack from Maryland, Ryan from Virginia, David from California, Reagan 
from Virginia, Skipper from New York, and many other innocent lives 
lost or damaged, I look forward to working with my colleagues to see 
that this legislation becomes law so that we can expand efforts to 
eradicate Shaken Baby Syndrome.
  I ask unanimous consent that a list of groups supporting this 
resolution be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the list was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

   Groups Supporting the Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Act of 2007

       American Association of Neurological Surgeons; American 
     Professional Society on the Abuse of Children; American 
     Psychological Association; The Arc of the United States; 
     Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs; 
     Association of University Centers on Disabilities; Brain 
     Injury Association of America; Center for Child Protection 
     and Family Support; Child Welfare League of America; 
     Children's Defense Fund; Children's Healthcare is a Legal 
     Duty; Congress of Neurological Surgeons; The Connecticut 
     Children's Trust Fund; Council for Exceptional Children; 
     Cynthia Gibbs Foundation; Division for Early Childhood of the 
     Council for Exceptional Children; Easter Seals; Epilepsy 
     Foundation; Fight Crime: Invest in Kids; and The G.E.M. Child 
     Protection Foundation.
       Hannah Rose Foundation; IDEA Infant Toddler Coordinators 
     Association; Kierra Harrison Foundation; Lifetime Family 
     Resource Center, Inc.; Massachusetts Citizens for Children; 
     The Multidisciplinary Pediatric Education and Evaluation 
     Consortium; National Association of Child Care Resource & 
     Referral Agencies; National Association of Children's 
     Hospitals; National Association of State Head Injury 
     Administrators; National Center for Learning Disabilities; 
     National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome; National Child Abuse 
     Coalition; National Family Partnership; National Respite 
     Coalition; National Shaken Baby Coalition; National Shaken 
     Baby Syndrome Nursing Network; Parents Anonymous; 
     Pennsylvania Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention and Awareness 
     Program; Prevent Child Abuse America; Shaken Baby 
     Association; Shaken Baby Prevention, Inc.; Shaking Kills: 
     Instead Parents Please Educate and Remember Initiative 
     (SKIPPER); United Cerebral Palsy; and Upstate New York Shaken 
     Baby Syndrome Prevention and Awareness Program.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. SMITH (for himself and Mr. Harkin):
  S. 1205. A bill to require a pilot program on assisting veterans' 
service organizations and other veterans' groups in developing and 
promoting peer support programs that facilitate community reintegration 
of veterans returning from active duty, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Heroes 
Helping Heroes Demonstration Program of 2007, along with my 
distinguished colleague from Iowa, Senator Harkin. I ask unanimous 
consent that the text of this bill be printed in the Record.
  Our intention is to expand the use of peer-support approaches to 
assist the reintegration of America's veterans as they return from 
active duty to their homes and communities. We hope that this 
legislation will demonstrate the effectiveness of peer-support 
approaches and ease the burden of the social, economic, medical and 
psychological struggles our veterans face.
  Deployed soldiers face extreme stress and at times devastating 
injuries. Left untreated, this stress can have devastating impact on 
soldiers and their families. Army researchers have found that alcohol 
misuse went from 13 percent among soldiers to 21 percent one year after 
returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. It also has been found that 
soldiers with anger and aggression issues increase from 11 percent to 
22 percent after deployment. Furthermore, the best studies to date have 
shown that up to one-third of our current war veterans are coping with 
a serious mental health problem, most notably Post Traumatic Stress 
Disorder (PTSD).
  In addition to these personal struggles, returning soldiers also face 
serious social and economic challenges. Data from the U.S. Bureau of 
Labor Statistics indicates that unemployment among soldiers returning 
to civilian life is 15 percent--three times the national average. Those 
soldiers planning to divorce their spouse rose from nine percent to 15 
percent after time spent in the combat zone. Unfortunately, as more 
troops are deployed, deployments are extended and breaks between 
deployments become shorter these problems will only become more 
prevalent.
  At present, the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans 
Affairs are struggling to meet the needs of returning veterans. 
Situations like those recently uncovered at Walter Reed Hospital 
demonstrate a health care system stretched to its limits. Furthermore, 
it would require significant additional resources to build up 
traditional service organizations and approaches to be sufficient to 
deal with these serious problems.
  I have risen on this floor many times to speak about the need to 
adequately address the mental health and physical health needs of our 
citizens. However, there has never been a case when the responsibility 
and duty of this body and our country has been clearer than the duty to 
aid our veterans who have sacrificed their bodies, minds and lives for 
this country.
  Fortunately, ``peer-support'' approaches offer a low cost and 
effective adjunct to traditional services by allowing the heroes of our 
country to help each other. Veteran peer-support offers two things that 
no kind of professionalized service can ever hope to: the support of 
someone who has had the same kinds of experiences and truly understands 
what the veteran is going through; and the potential of a large pool of 
experienced volunteers who can assist and support returning veterans at 
very little cost.
  The effectiveness of these approaches has been documented in a 
variety of domains. Specifically, for mental health disorders like PTSD 
and depression, peer-support programs have shown that participation 
yields improvement in psychiatric symptoms and decreased 
hospitalizations, the development of larger social support networks, 
enhanced self-esteem and social functioning, as well as lower services 
costs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration 
(SAMHSA), and even the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental 
Health, have recognized peer-support approaches as an emerging best 
practice that is helping people recover from traumatic events.
  Although the peer-support approach is promising, the need for this 
type of assistance is growing and far exceeds the services that are 
available. A report from the National Symposium for the Needs of Young 
Veterans hosted by AMVETS recognized this need in Voices for Action: A 
Focus on the Changing Needs of America's Veterans.
  The legislation that I am introducing today requires the Veterans 
Administration to create a pilot project. This project would 
demonstrate and assess the feasibility of funding community based 
veterans' organizations and groups to create and expand peer-support 
programs for veterans. It also authorizes $13.5 million over three 
years for this program. These funds will be used to support the 
development or expansion of peer-support programs in up to 20 non-
profit organizations that support the reintegration of veterans on a 
local and national level.
  The use of peer-support approaches is supported by veterans, 
veterans' organizations and mental health professionals. I ask for 
unanimous consent to include in the record the following letters from 
the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Disabled American 
Veterans, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, Vets4Vets and 
the American Psychological Association.
  I am pleased that Senator Harkin has joined me in this effort. Our 
legislation is an important step to expand and improve the support 
available to

[[Page 10245]]

our veterans and their transition back to community life. We hope that 
this bill will continue to focus attention on the needs of our veterans 
who have given so much to their country.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1205

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. PILOT PROGRAM ON ASSISTING VETERANS ORGANIZATIONS 
                   IN FACILITATING COMMUNITY REINTEGRATION OF 
                   VETERANS.

       (a) Program Required.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
     carry out a pilot program to demonstrate and assess the 
     feasibility and advisability of delivering community 
     reintegration support and services to veterans by assisting 
     veterans organizations in developing and promoting peer 
     support programs for veterans.
       (2) Designation.--The pilot program required by paragraph 
     (1) shall be known as the ``Heroes Helping Heroes Program''.
       (b) Duration of Program.--The pilot program shall be 
     carried out during the three-year period beginning on October 
     1, 2007.
       (c) Selection of Pilot Program Participants.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall select not more than 
     20 eligible entities to participate in the pilot program.
       (2) Application.--Each eligible entity seeking to 
     participate in the pilot program shall submit an application 
     to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 
     accompanied by such information as the Secretary shall 
     require.
       (3) Selection.--The Secretary shall select participants in 
     the pilot program from among the applicants under paragraph 
     (1) that the Secretary determines--
       (A)(i) have existing peer support programs that can be 
     expanded or enhanced, and resources, for the delivery of 
     community reintegration support and services to veterans 
     (including mentoring programs, self-help groups, and Internet 
     and other electronic-based peer support resources) that are 
     suitable for the pilot program; or
       (ii) have the capacity, including the skill and resources 
     necessary, to develop and maintain new peer support programs 
     for the delivery of community reintegration support and 
     services (including mentoring programs, self-help groups, and 
     Internet and other electronic-based peer support resources) 
     that are suitable for the pilot program; and
       (B) have a plan to continue such peer support programs 
     after the pilot program ends.
       (d) Grants.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall award grants to pilot 
     program participants to develop and promote peer support 
     programs that deliver community reintegration support and 
     services for veterans.
       (2) Amount.--The Secretary shall ensure that the average 
     amount of the grant awarded under paragraph (1) to a pilot 
     program participant is not more than $300,000 and not less 
     than $100,000 per fiscal year.
       (3) Matching funds.--A recipient of a grant under paragraph 
     (1) shall contribute towards the development and promotion of 
     peer support programs that deliver community reintegration 
     support and services to veterans an amount equal to not less 
     than ten percent of the grant awarded to such recipient.
       (4) Duration.--The duration of any grant awarded under 
     paragraph (1) may not exceed three years.
       (e) Use of Funds.--A grant awarded to a pilot program 
     participant pursuant to subsection (d) shall be used by the 
     pilot program participant for costs and expenses connected 
     with the development and promotion of peer support programs 
     that deliver community reintegration support and services to 
     veterans, including costs and expenses of the following:
       (1) Program staff or a coordinator of volunteers, but not 
     more than 50 percent of such grant award may be used for such 
     purpose in any fiscal year of such pilot program.
       (2) Consultation services, but not more than 20 percent of 
     such grant award may be used for such purpose in any fiscal 
     year of such pilot program.
       (3) Program operations, including costs and expenses 
     relating to the following:
       (A) Advertising and recruiting.
       (B) Printing.
       (C) Training of volunteers, veterans, and staff.
       (D) Incentives, such as food and awards.
       (E) Overhead expenses, but not more than ten percent of 
     such grant award may be used for such purposes.
       (f) Technical Assistance.--In addition to the award of 
     grants under subsection (d), the Secretary shall provide 
     technical assistance to pilot program participants to assist 
     them in developing and promoting peer support programs that 
     deliver community reintegration support and services to 
     veterans.
       (g) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
       (A) a veterans service organization;
       (B) a not-for-profit organization--
       (i) the primary mission of which is to assist veterans;
       (ii) that has been in continuous operation for at least 12 
     months; and
       (iii) is not a veterans service organization; or
       (C) a partnership between an organization described in 
     subparagraph (A) or (B) and an organization that is not 
     described in subparagraph (A) or (B).
       (2) Pilot program participant.--The term ``pilot program 
     participant'' means an eligible entity that is selected by 
     the Secretary, in accordance with subsection (c), to 
     participate in the pilot program under this section.
       (3) Veterans service organization.--The term ``veterans 
     service organization'' means any organization recognized by 
     the Secretary for the representation of veterans under 
     section 5902 of title 38, United States Code.
       (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Department of Veterans Affairs to 
     carry out this section, $4,500,000 for each of fiscal years 
     2008, 2009, and 2010.
                                  ____

                                              Iraq and Afghanistan


                                          Veterans of America,

                                                   April 10, 2007.
     Hon. Gordon Smith,
     404 Russell Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Gordon Smith: Only a veteran can truly 
     understand the story of another veteran. When a servicemember 
     returns home from a combat zone they are subjected to a 
     myriad of transitional issues; finding a new job, 
     reconnecting with family, and mostly important, learning 
     about the person they have become. We must find creative ways 
     to reach out and connect these returning heroes with people 
     who understand their story.
       The Heroes Helping Heroes Program is a Demonstration 
     Project which seeks to aid existing veterans' service 
     organizations and other non-profit organizations that 
     currently work with veterans in the development and promotion 
     of peer support programs across America. Iraq and Afghanistan 
     Veterans of America (IAVA) strongly endorses the Heroes 
     Helping Heroes Program as a creative attempt to connect 
     returning veterans with other veterans.
       This program will bolster existing local veterans support 
     organizations by offering grants, allowing them to expand 
     services at the fraction of the cost of starting new 
     programs. Heroes Helping Heroes will help fulfill the 
     government's duty to assist our service men and women who 
     fulfilled their solemn duty to serve.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Paul Rieckhoff,
     Executive Director.
                                  ____



                                                    Vets4Vets,

                                        Tucson, AZ, April 4, 2007.
       To whom it may concern: Vets4Vets is proud to endorse 
     Senator Gordon Smith's bill setting up a pilot program to 
     encourage peer support programs for Iraq-era veterans.
       Vets4Vets is a non-partisan peer support program, staffed 
     almost exclusively by Iraq-era veterans and dedicated to 
     helping Iraq and Afghanistan era veterans feel good about 
     themselves and heal from any negative aspects of service and 
     war. In our weekend workshops, one-on-ones, and local groups, 
     Vets4Vets allows veterans to take equal and uninterrupted 
     turns sharing their experiences and expressing their feelings 
     in a truly confidential setting. To further promote healing 
     Vets4Vets encourages service men and women to take part in 
     positive community action of their choosing that empowers 
     them to reach out to other veterans.
       Over 200 Iraq-era veterans have taken part in one or more 
     of our nine weekend workshops in the last year in various 
     parts of the country. Almost all of them have been combat 
     veterans. Many of them are now actively reaching out to their 
     peers to set up local peer support groups. There are already 
     groups meeting in a half dozen or so cities around the 
     country.
       As would be expected from the existing body of research on 
     peer support programs, these veterans universally enjoyed the 
     program and report significant improvement in their lives.
       We urge Members of Congress to support this bill and the 
     peer support programs for Iraq-era veterans which it will 
     encourage.
           Sincerely,
     Abel Moreno,
       Former Sergeant 82nd Airborne with tours in Iraq and 
     Afghanistan; Vets4Vets Media and Local Outreach Coordinator.
     Jason Ridolfi,
       Former Sergeant, USMCR with two tours in Iraq; Vets4Vets 
     Internet Outreach Coordinator.

[[Page 10246]]

     
                                  ____
                                                National Coalition


                                        for Homeless Veterans,

                                   Washington, DC, April 11, 2007.
     Hon. Gordon Smith,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Smith: The National Coalition for Homeless 
     Veterans (NCHV) writes to express our support for your bill, 
     which would establish a demonstration project entitled 
     ``Heroes Helping Heroes Program.'' The project would provide 
     expanded peer support services for veterans through veteran 
     service organizations and other non-profit community-based 
     organizations that serve veterans.
       Established in 1990, NCHV is a nonprofit organization with 
     the mission of ending homelessness among veterans by shaping 
     public policy, promoting collaboration, and building the 
     capacity of service providers. NCHV's membership of over 250 
     community based organizations (CBOs) in 48 states and the 
     District of Columbia provides housing and supportive services 
     to homeless veterans and their families.
       The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reports an 
     estimated 400,000 veterans experience homelessness at some 
     time during a year, and 200,000 are homeless on any given 
     night. With the VA reaching only 25 percent of the homeless 
     veteran population and CBOs 30 percent of those in need, a 
     substantial number of homeless veterans undoubtedly do not 
     receive much needed services. Moreover, because some areas of 
     our country have no community based organizations or VA 
     facilities nearby, other programs that serve veterans are 
     needed.
       Findings from a survey conducted by NCHV in November 2005 
     suggest the homeless veteran population in America may be 
     experiencing significant changes. In addition to those who 
     are aging and need permanent supportive housing, the 
     percentage of women veterans seeking services is growing. 
     Moreover, combat veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 
     Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terror are 
     returning home and suffering from war related conditions that 
     may put them at risk for homelessness. These men and women 
     are beginning to trickle into the Nation's community-based 
     homeless veteran service provider organizations and need a 
     variety of services--from mental health programs and peer 
     support to housing, employment training and job placement 
     assistance. The Heroes Helping Heroes program will serve as a 
     starting point to help these returning heroes address their 
     many needs.
       NCHV supports your efforts and leadership on behalf of our 
     nation's veterans. Thank you for providing an opportunity to 
     help them successfully reintegrate back into civilian life.
           Sincerely,
                                                Cheryl Beversdorf,
     President and CEO.
                                  ____



                                   Disabled American Veterans,

                                                   March 28, 2007.
     Hon. Gordon Smith,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Smith: On behalf of the Disabled American 
     Veterans (DAV), I am writing with regards to the legislation 
     that would create the ``Heroes Helping Heroes Program.''
       As you know, active duty service members sometimes have 
     difficulty making the transition back to civilian life. This 
     is particularly true for our injured service members and 
     service members who served in combat. For some severely-
     disabled veterans of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, 
     the success of becoming a productive member of society will 
     be measured by their ability to live independently and 
     achieve the highest quality of life possible.
       Your legislation seeks to help veterans reintegrate into 
     their communities by authorizing the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs to create a pilot program to assist in the 
     development and capitalization of peer support programs. 
     While DAV does not have a resolution from our membership to 
     actively support this legislation, its purpose appears 
     beneficial and we would not be opposed to the favorable 
     consideration of this bill.
       The DAV sincerely appreciates your efforts and commitment 
     to improve the lives of our nation's sick and disabled 
     veterans, their dependents and survivors.
           Sincerely,
                                               Joseph A. Violante,
     National Legislative Director.
                                  ____



                           American Psychological Association,

                                                    April 4, 2007.
     Hon. Gordon Smith,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Tom Harkin,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senators Smith and Harkin: On behalf of the American 
     Psychological Association (APA) and our 148,000 members and 
     affiliates; I am writing to thank you for your leadership in 
     legislative efforts to promote the reintegration of America's 
     veterans as they return from active duty to their homes and 
     communities.
       Deployed soldiers face unique risks and experience stress 
     and at-times devastating injuries. Left untreated, the 
     attendant mental health problems can severely restrict 
     veterans' lives and their ability to reconnect to family, 
     work, and social relationships. In their most tragic forms, 
     such problems can also lead to marital dissolution, the abuse 
     of alcohol and other drugs, and suicide. At present, the 
     Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs (VA) are striving to meet the mental health 
     treatment. needs of returning veterans. It is imperative that 
     we redouble our efforts to aid our veterans who served in 
     Iraq and Afghanistan and are suffering from post-traumatic 
     stress disorder and other mental health problems.
       Your proposed bill, which would establish a demonstration 
     project entitled ``the Heroes Helping Heroes Program,'' would 
     provide expanded peer support services for veterans through 
     veterans service organizations and other non-profit 
     community-based organizations that serve veterans. Through 
     peer support programs, veterans help one another to cope with 
     the trauma of combat experience, the mental anguish that 
     comes from debilitating physical injury, and the difficulties 
     of readjusting to a civilian mindset and the rhythms of daily 
     life. Such programs are highly effective in providing needed 
     support to veterans, as we know from the veterans 
     readjustment counseling centers currently run by the VA.
       In closing, I thank you once again for your efforts and 
     leadership on behalf of our nation's veterans.
           Sincerely,
                                        Norman B. Anderson, Ph.D.,
                                          Chief Executive Officer.

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with the 
distinguished Senator from Oregon, Senator Smith, to introduce the 
Heroes Helping Heroes Act, to expand the availability of peer support 
programs for veterans.
  As our military personnel return from combat, they face daunting 
challenges in transitioning back to civilian life. They have to deal 
with family issues arising from their long absence from home. They have 
to find new employment. They also have to cope with separation from 
their close friends. After spending many months if not years with the 
men and women in their unit--sharing intense wartime experiences and 
looking out for each other--they may not find that same close support 
when they return.
  In addition, many members of our Armed Forces have endured tremendous 
stress during combat, which can trigger severe mental health issues 
after they have returned home. Research shows that one in three 
veterans of the war in Iraq, and one in nine veterans of the war in 
Afghanistan, are coping with a serious mental health problem, including 
depression, substance abuse, and/or post-traumatic stress disorder 
(PTSD). Untreated and under-treated stress exposure for soldiers 
results in a higher incidence of suicide, higher divorce rates, and 
higher rates of drug or alcohol abuse. Additionally, there have been 
almost 25,000 non-fatal American casualties. Such injuries often have 
serious impacts on the ability of transitioning veterans to reintegrate 
into their home and community life.
  Currently, VA facilities are overwhelmed by the sheer number of 
veterans who need assistance. The Government Accountability Office 
(GAO) reported that many VA medical facilities are unprepared to care 
for the mental health needs of the number of veterans who will need 
services. Peer support approaches offer a low-cost and effective 
supplement to traditional services by allowing veterans to help each 
other. In peer support programs, transitioning veterans can talk to 
someone who had similar experiences and understands what they are going 
through. Veteran peer counselors who are trained to provide support and 
refer for services when necessary can provide outreach to other 
veterans and assist in a smooth transition back to civilian life.
  The Heroes Helping Heroes program will allow veterans' service 
organizations to develop or expand peer support programs. Veterans' 
service organizations and other non-profits that serve veterans are 
well-equipped to provide such peer support programs. Given that the VA 
is stretched to capacity, these organizations are able to run such 
programs in addition to mental health services provided by professional 
counselors.
  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration

[[Page 10247]]

(SAMSHA) and the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health 
have recognized peer support approaches as an emerging best practice in 
helping people to recover from traumatic events. Research has found 
that peer support programs are effective in alleviating PTSD symptoms 
and depression, reducing the likelihood of hospitalization, and 
increasing social support.
  When members of our Armed Forces come home from war, this does not 
necessarily mean that the war is over for them. Many continue to carry 
physical and psychological wounds and scars. We have a profound moral 
contract to care for those who have fought for our country and 
sacrificed so much. One additional way to make good on that contract in 
a cost-effective way is to expand the availability peer support 
programs nationwide. To that end, I urge my colleagues to join with 
Senator Smith and me in sponsoring the Heroes Helping Heroes Act.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Ms. Stabenow, and Ms. Landrieu):
  S. 1206. A bill to amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 
1967 to clarify the age discrimination rules applicable to the pension 
plan maintained by the Young Woman's Christian Association Retirement 
Fund; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise to introduce a bill that will 
clarify the legal status of the Young Women's Christian Association's 
Retirement Fund.
  The YWCA Retirement Fund is one of the oldest pension plans serving 
the retirement needs of women. This bill will help protect the 
retirement security of thousands of YWCA employees nationwide who serve 
well over a million users.
  Whether it is providing day care for working mothers, keeping a 
battered women's shelter open, or meeting the other pressing needs of 
women in our communities, the YWCA has a long tradition of service. 
Those who work at our local YWCAs deserve to know that their retirement 
plan is secure.
  Today, the YWCA Retirement Fund is a unique pension program. First, 
approximately 90 percent of its participants are women. Second, it is a 
multiple employer pension plan--one that relies on 300 local YWCAs to 
make funding contributions. And lastly, since it was established in 
1924, the pension plan's structure has remained generally unchanged--it 
is partially a defined benefit plan, and partially a defined 
contribution plan.
  Recently, some employers have transformed their traditional defined 
benefit pension plans into various types of ``hybrid'' plans, and in 
the process, some have reduced the rate at which benefits accrue for 
their older workers. Older workers have successfully challenged some of 
these arrangements as age discriminatory. During its more than 80-year 
history, the YWCA Retirement Fund has never treated any worker 
differently based on age or longevity of employment. Most of the 
controversy surrounding these plans focuses on how employers treat 
certain participants when they convert their pre-existing pension 
plans. But the YWCA pension program never converted--its basic 
structure has remained the same since it was established in 1924.
  The success of some of these lawsuits has raised questions about 
whether the YWCA pension plan could be found to be age discriminatory 
merely on the basis of its design. This threat is particularly acute 
given the fact that the YWCA Retirement Fund is a multiple employer 
pension plan--a plan that relies on contributions from each local YWCA. 
This enormous potential liability would be shared jointly by all local 
YWCAs. Under current law, even the mere threat of a lawsuit could cause 
local YWCAs to end their participation in this plan.
  This legislation merely delineates many of the unique characteristics 
of the YWCA pension plan and clarifies what age discrimination standard 
applies to the plan with respect to any future legal claim. This bill 
protects participants from being treated differently on the basis of 
age, while eliminating the potential crippling legal threat that 
currently exists.
  Legislation was enacted in 2004--Public Law 108-476--to clarify the 
legal status of the YMCA pension plan, a plan that is similar to the 
YWCA plan. Congress was right to protect the YMCA pension plan then and 
now it is time to protect the pension plan serving our YWCAs.
  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. 1206

       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 ``Young Women's Christian 
     Association Pension Clarification Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Young Women's Christian Association Pension Plan is 
     a multiple employer plan (subject to the requirements of 
     section 210 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
     1974) which is maintained by a corporation created by State 
     law prior to the enactment of the Employee Retirement Income 
     Security Act of 1974 and the Age Discrimination in Employment 
     Act of 1967 and whose primary purpose is the maintenance of 
     retirement programs.
       (2) No applicable plan amendment, as defined in clause (v) 
     of section 204(b)(5)(B) of the Employee Retirement Income 
     Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1054(b)(5)(B)(v)) (added by 
     section 701(a) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Public 
     Law 109-280; 120 Stat. 982)) and clause (v) of section 
     4(i)(10)(B) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 
     1967 (29 U.S.C. 623(i)(10)(B)(v)) (added by section 701(c) of 
     the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-280; 120 
     Stat. 986)), or any applicable plan amendment causing a 
     participant's accrued benefit to be less than the amount 
     described in clause (iii) of such section 204(b)(5)(B) or 
     clause (iii) of such section 4(i)(10)(B), has ever been made 
     to the Young Women's Christian Association Pension Plan.
       (3) Under the terms of the Young Women's Christian 
     Association Pension Plan, as in effect as of June 29, 2005, 
     all pension benefits of all participants under the plan are 
     immediately nonforfeitable.
       (4) As of April 25, 2007, the Young Women's Christian 
     Association Pension Plan provides--
       (A) for periods including June 29, 2005, and ending on or 
     before December 31, 2007, a credit to the account of each 
     participant equal to 40 percent of the pay credit provided to 
     such participant and interest credits determined for each 
     plan year at the average of the annual rates of interest on 
     10-year Treasury securities during a designated period in the 
     preceding plan year, and
       (B) for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2008, 
     interest credits which satisfy the requirements of section 
     204(b)(5)(B)(i) of the Employee Retirement Income Security 
     Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1054(b)(5)(B)(i)) (added by section 
     701(a) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-
     280; 120 Stat. 981)) and section 4(i)(10)(B))(i) of the Age 
     Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 
     623(i)(10)(B)(i)) (added by section 701(c) of the Pension 
     Protection Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-280; 120 Stat. 989)).
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to clarify the age 
     discrimination rules under section 204(b)(1)(H) of the 
     Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and section 
     4(i)(1) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 
     as they relate to periods prior to June 29, 2005, during 
     which violations of such rules are alleged to have occurred 
     in civil actions commenced on or after April 25, 2007.

     SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF AGE DISCRIMINATION RULES.

       (a) In General.--In the case of any civil action which--
       (1) is commenced on or after April 25, 2007, and
       (2) alleges a violation of section 204(b)(1)(H) of the 
     Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
     1054(b)(1)(H)) or section 4(i)(1) of the Age Discrimination 
     in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 623(i)(1)) occurring 
     before June 29, 2005, with respect to any benefit provided 
     under the Young Women's Christian Association Pension Plan,

     such sections 204(b)(1)(H) and 4(i)(1) shall be applied as if 
     paragraph (5) of section 204(b) of the Employee Retirement 
     Income Security Act of 1974 (as added by section 701(a)(1) of 
     the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (29 U.S.C. 1054(b)(5); 120 
     Stat. 981) and paragraph (10) of section 4(i) of the Age 
     Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 
     623(i)(10); 120 Stat. 998) applied to any period in which 
     such alleged violation occurred.

[[Page 10248]]

       (b) Young Women's Christian Association Pension Plan.--For 
     purposes of this Act, the term ``Young Women's Christian 
     Association Pension Plan'' means the defined benefit plan (as 
     defined in section 3(35) of the Employee Retirement Income 
     Security Act of 1974) established on January 1, 1926, and 
     maintained by the Young Women's Christian Association 
     Retirement Fund, a corporation created by an Act of the State 
     of New York which became law on April 12, 1924.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Ms. LANDRIEU:
  S. 1207. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 
increase and extend the energy efficient commercial buildings 
deduction; to the Committee on Finance.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
entitled Giving Reductions to Energy Efficient New Buildings, the GREEN 
Buildings Act. This bill will extend the energy efficient building tax 
deduction from December 31, 2008 until December 31, 2013. This bill 
will also increase the tax deduction from $1.80 to $2.25 per square 
foot.
  Our Nation is diligently searching to find the long-term solutions to 
global warming and, how to reduce our carbon foot print. As Congress 
continues to search for these solutions, we must continue to provide 
incentives to those who have the knowledge and resources to make an 
impact now. Congress understands the impact `green buildings' have on 
reducing our Nation's energy consumption and carbon emissions. That is 
why in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 we created a tax deduction for 
energy efficient buildings. Unfortunately, that deduction will expire 
on December 31, 2008. Congress must not allow this deduction to expire. 
Building energy efficient buildings is one of the key things being done 
right now to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as well as reduce our 
Nation's energy consumption.
  Commercial buildings are a substantial part of our Nation's energy 
consumption and can be a key to reducing demand for electricity. These 
buildings are responsible for 40 percent of total U.S. energy 
consumption, they use 70 percent of the nation's electricity and they 
are accountable for 40 percent of the U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. 
They are a major piece to enabling our Nation's energy independence and 
to solving the global warming puzzle and Congress must not overlook 
them or leave them out.
  The average life-span of a commercial building is 75 years. We must 
use our resources, to build energy-efficient buildings today and make 
these buildings truly ready for the future. One way to do so is to 
provide incentives to those who are willing to step up to the plate and 
accept the challenge.
  Another benefit from building energy efficient or green buildings is 
that they also improve our health. Americans spend about 90 percent of 
their time indoors. The concentration of indoor pollutants is sometimes 
10 to 100 times more than outdoor pollutants increasing the frequency 
of illnesses and ailments.
  Researchers have proven that employees who are exposed to more 
sunlight are more productive workers. They have proven that by changing 
the carpets on the floor and paint on the walls workers have less 
respiratory ailments. These are simple things that can be done to 
increase employees' health and their productivity and our nation's 
overall success.
  Our Nation is doing a good job of researching and developing new 
technologies to reduce our dependence on foreign energy and to combat 
global warming, and Congress has helped move these technologies along 
by providing incentives in the way of tax deductions. Unfortunately, 
many of these incentives have an expiration date that expires too soon 
to provide the help it is intended to provide. Congress needs to keep 
these incentives intact and provide stability so companies and 
investors can be assured of their investment. In turn, maintaining 
these incentives will advance our Nation's energy independence and 
reduce our carbon dioxide emissions--two very important goals. I urge 
my fellow Senators to support this sensible and much needed tax 
incentive. We don't have another 75 years to wait.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. DORGAN:
  S. 1208. A bill to provide additional security and privacy protection 
for social security account numbers; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, today I am introducing a piece of 
legislation called the ``Social Security Account Number Protection 
Act'' that would restrict the ability of companies to sell or purchase 
Social Security numbers.
  Let me describe why this legislation is so necessary.
  On February 15, 2005, Georgia-based data warehouser ChoicePoint 
disclosed that it had compromised the private customer data of 145,000 
individuals. Criminals posing as legitimate small business people had 
purchased files on about 145,000 people, some of whom were later 
defrauded.
  One of the critical pieces of information that ChoicePoint sold to 
these criminals was Social Security numbers. That's Social Security 
numbers of 145,000 people in all 50 states.
  Here is a statistic that I found incredible: Choice Point has 17,000 
business ``customers'' for such information. Can you imagine your 
Social Security number potentially being sold to 117,000 businesses? 
And that's just one of the companies that was selling databases that 
included Social Security numbers at the time.
  I bet that most Americans were surprised to find out that it was 
perfectly legal for companies to sell their Social Security numbers to 
tens of thousands of other companies. If you took a national survey and 
asked Americans this question: ``Do you think that private companies 
should have the ability to purchase and sell your Social Security 
number?'' I assure you that the answer would overwhelmingly be ``no.''
  In the 109th Congress, when the Senate Commerce Committee marked up 
S. 1408, the ID Theft Protection Act, I offered an amendment that very 
simply said that it should be illegal to sell or purchase Social 
Security numbers.
  This as a commonsense amendment, and it passed unanimously. The ID 
Theft Protection Act was reported by the Commerce Committee in December 
2005, but the bill did not make it to the Senate floor.
  But the problem of ID theft has not gone away. In its most recent 
survey, the Better Business Bureau estimated that approximately 8.9 
million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2006. The total 
U.S. annual identity fraud cost is an estimated $52.6 billion per year.
  We will shortly be marking up another ID theft bill in the 110th 
Congress, through the Commerce Committee. The bill the Commerce 
Committee is considering now does not have provisions restricting the 
sale or purchase of Social Security numbers, and I intend to offset an 
amendment to fix that, with the language that I am introducing as 
standalone legislation today.
  I should note that the FTC issued a report on ID theft just this 
month, which emphasized the importance of protecting Social Security 
numbers.
  The FTC report said the following about Social Security numbers: 
``Consumer information is the currency of identity theft, and perhaps 
the most valuable piece of information for the thief is the SSN. The 
SSN and a name can be used in many cases to open an account and obtain 
credit or other benefits in the victim's name.''
  In fact elsewhere in the report, the FTC underscored that Social 
Security numbers are ``the most valuable commodity for an identity 
thief.''
  One of the FTC's top recommendations was that federal agencies should 
reduce the unnecessary use of Social Security numbers.
  And it's clear that the FTC heard from many Americans who were 
unhappy with the widespread overuse of Social Security numbers. Indeed, 
the FTC report notes that one of the main concerns that Americans have 
in protecting their identity is ``the overuse of Social Security 
numbers as identifiers.''
  It stands to reason that the more that Social Security numbers are 
sold from one business to another for marketing and other commercial 
purposes, the greater the chance that the numbers will be lost, 
misplaced, stolen,

[[Page 10249]]

leaked, or otherwise fall into the wrong hands.
  Now, I'll be the first to recognize that there are some instances 
where the use of Social security numbers is appropriate. So my 
amendment has a number of reasonable exceptions to the prohibition on 
the sale of Social Security numbers, for purposes such as national 
security, public health, law enforcement, administration of federal or 
state tax laws, credit reporting agencies, prevention and investigation 
of ID theft, and tracking of missing and abducted children.
  What's more, my bill allows an ``opt-in'' clause. That is, it allows 
individuals, if they so choose, to agree in writing to have their 
Social Security number sold or purchased by others--provided the 
individual provides his affirmative consent, and the individual is not 
obligated to provide the Social Security number as a condition for 
conducting a transaction.
  I think these are reasonable exemptions.
  I should add that in the 109th Congress, Senators Specter and Leahy 
also introduced S. 1332, a bill that similarly restricts the sale of 
Social Security numbers.
  So this is a bipartisan concept, and I hope that my legislation will 
have bipartisan support when it reaches the floor of the U.S. Senate.
  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. 1208

       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 ``Social Security Account 
     Number Protection Act''.

     SEC. 2. SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER PROTECTION.

       (a) Prohibition of Unnecessary Solicitation of Social 
     Security Numbers.--
       (1) In general.--Unless there is a specific use of a social 
     security account number for which no other identifier 
     reasonably can be used, a covered entity may not solicit a 
     social security account number from an individual except for 
     the following purposes:
       (A) For use in an identification, verification, accuracy, 
     or identity proofing process.
       (B) For any purpose permitted under the Fair Credit 
     Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) or the Gramm-Leach-
     Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6802(e)).
       (C) To comply with the requirement of Federal, State, or 
     local law.
       (2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) does not apply to the 
     solicitation of a social security account number--
       (A) for the purpose of obtaining a consumer report for any 
     purpose permitted under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
     U.S.C. 1681 et seq.),
       (B) by a consumer reporting agency for the purpose of 
     authenticating or obtaining appropriate proof of a consumer's 
     identity, as required under that Act;
       (C) for any purpose permitted under section 502(e) of the 
     Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6802(e)); or
       (D) to the extent necessary for verifying the accuracy of 
     information submitted by an individual to a covered entity, 
     its agents, contractors, or employees or for the purpose of 
     authenticating or obtaining appropriate proof of an 
     individual's identity;
       (E) to identity or locate missing or abducted children, 
     witnesses, criminals, fugitives, parties to lawsuits, parents 
     delinquent in child support payments, organ and bone marrow 
     donors, pension fund beneficiaries, and missing heirs;
       (F) to the extent necessary to prevent, detect, or 
     investigate fraud, unauthorized transactions, or other 
     financial liability or to facilitate the enforcement of an 
     obligation of, or collection of a debt from, a consumer, 
     provided that the person selling, providing, displaying, or 
     obtaining the social security account number does not do so 
     for marketing purposes.
       (b) Prohibition of the Display of Social Security Numbers 
     on Employee Identification Cards, Etc.--
       (1) In general.--A covered entity may not display an 
     individual's security account number (or any derivative of 
     such number) on any card or tag that is commonly provided to 
     employees (or to their family members), faculty, staff, or 
     students for purposes of identification.
       (2) Driver's licenses.--A State may not display the social 
     security account number of an individual on driver's licenses 
     issued by that State.
       (c) Prohibition of Prisoner Access to Social Security 
     Numbers.--
       (1) In general.--Section 205(c)(2)(C) of the Social 
     Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following:
       ``(x) No executive, legislative, or judicial agency or 
     instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or 
     political subdivision thereof (or person acting as an agent 
     of such an agency or instrumentality) may employ, or enter 
     into a contract for the use or employment of, prisoners in 
     any capacity that would allow such prisoners access to the 
     social security account numbers of other individuals. For 
     purposes of this clause, the term `prisoner' means an 
     individual who is confined in a jail, prison, or other penal 
     institution or correctional facility, serving community 
     service as a term of probation or parole, or serving a 
     sentence through a work-furlough program.''.
       (2) Treatment of current arrangements.--In the case of--
       (A) prisoners employed as described in clause (x) of 
     section 205(c)(2)(C) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
     405(c)(2)(C)), as added by paragraph (1), on the date of 
     enactment of this Act: and
       (B) contracts described in such clause in effect on such 
     date,

     the amendment made by paragraph (1) shall take effect 90 days 
     after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (d) Prohibition of Sale and Display of Social Security 
     Numbers to the General Public.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), it 
     shall be unlawful for any person--
       (A) to sell, purchase, or provide a social security account 
     number, to the general public or display to the general 
     public social security account numbers; or
       (B) to obtain or use any individual's social security 
     account number for the purpose of locating or identifying 
     such individual with the intent to physically injure or harm 
     such individual or using the identity of such individual for 
     any illegal purpose.
       (2) Exceptions.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), and subject 
     to paragraph (3), a social security account number may be 
     sold, provided, displayed, or obtained by any person--
       (A) to the extent necessary for law enforcement or national 
     security purposes;
       (B) to the extent necessary for public health purposes;
       (C) to the extent necessary in emergency situations to 
     protect the health or safety of 1 or more individuals;
       (D) to the extent that the sale or display is required, 
     authorized, or permitted under any law of the United States 
     or of any State (or political subdivision thereof);
       (E) for any purposes allowed under the Fair Credit 
     Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) or the Gramm-Leach-
     Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6802(e));
       (F) to the extent necessary for verifying the accuracy of 
     information submitted by an individual to a covered entity, 
     its agents, contractors, or employees or for the purpose of 
     authenticating or obtaining appropriate proof of the 
     individual's identity;
       (G) to the extent necessary to identify or locate missing 
     or abducted children, witnesses to an ongoing or potential 
     civil or criminal lawsuit, criminals, criminal suspects, 
     parties to lawsuits, parents delinquent in child support 
     payments, organ and bone marrow donors, pension fund 
     beneficiaries, missing heirs, and for similar legal, medical, 
     or family related purposes, if the person selling, providing, 
     displaying, or obtaining the social security account number 
     does not do so for marketing purposes;
       (H) to the extent necessary to prevent, detect, or 
     investigate fraud, unauthorized transactions, or other 
     financial liability or to facilitate the enforcement of an 
     obligation of, or collection of a debt from, a consumer, if 
     the person selling, providing, displaying, or obtaining the 
     social security account number does not do so for marketing 
     purposes;
       (I) to the extent the transmission of the number is 
     incidental to, and in the course of, the sale, lease, 
     franchising, or merger of all, or a portion of, a business; 
     or
       (J) to the extent necessary for research (other than market 
     research) conducted by an agency or instrumentality of the 
     United States or of a State or political subdivision thereof 
     (or an agent of such an agency or instrumentality) for the 
     purpose of advancing the public good, on the condition that 
     the researcher provides adequate assurances that--
       (i) the social security account numbers will not be used to 
     harass, target, or publicly reveal information concerning any 
     identifiable individuals;
       (ii) information about identifiable individuals obtained 
     from the research will not be used to make decisions that 
     directly affect the rights, benefits, or privileges of 
     specific individuals; and
       (iii) the researcher has in place appropriate safeguards to 
     protect the privacy and confidentiality of any information 
     about identifiable individuals, including procedures to 
     ensure that the social security account numbers will be 
     encrypted or otherwise appropriately secured from 
     unauthorized disclosure; or
       (K) to the extent that the transmission of the social 
     security account number is incidental to the sale or 
     provision of a document lawfully obtained from--

[[Page 10250]]

       (i) the Federal Government or a State or local government, 
     that the document has been made available to the general 
     public; or
       (ii) the document has been made available to the general 
     public via widely distributed media.
       (2) Limitation.--Paragraph (1)(K) does not apply to 
     information obtained from publicly available sources or from 
     Federal, State, or local government records if that 
     information is combined with information obtained from non-
     public sources.
       (3) Consensual sale.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a 
     social security account number assigned to an individual may 
     be sold, provided, or displayed to the general public by any 
     person to the extent consistent with such individual's 
     voluntary and affirmative written consent to the sale, 
     provision, or display of the social security account number 
     only if--
       (A) the terms of the consent and the right to refuse 
     consent are presented to the individual in a clear, 
     conspicuous, and understandable manner;
       (B) the individual is placed under no obligation to provide 
     consent to any such sale or display; and
       (C) the terms of the consent authorize the individual to 
     limit the sale, provision, or display to purposes directly 
     associated with the transaction with respect to which the 
     consent is sought.

     SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT.

       (a) Enforcement by Commission.--Except as provided in 
     subsection (c), this Act shall be enforced by the Commission.
       (b) Violation is Unfair or Deceptive Act or Practice.--The 
     violation of any provision of this Act shall be treated as an 
     unfair or deceptive act or practice proscribed under a rule 
     issued under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 
     Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).
       (c) Enforcement by Certain Other Agencies.--Compliance with 
     this Act shall be enforced exclusively under--
       (1) section 8 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 
     U.S.C. 1818), in the case of--
       (A) national banks, and Federal branches and Federal 
     agencies of foreign banks by the Office of the Comptroller of 
     the Currency;
       (B) member banks of the Federal Reserve System (other than 
     national banks), branches and agencies of foreign banks 
     (other than Federal branches, Federal agencies, and insured 
     State branches of foreign banks), commercial lending 
     companies owned or controlled by foreign banks, organizations 
     operating under section 25 or 25A of the Federal Reserve Act 
     (12 U.S.C. 601 and 611) by the Board of Governors of the 
     Federal Reserve System;
       (C) banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance 
     Corporation (other than members of the Federal Reserve 
     System), insured State branches of foreign banks by the Board 
     of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; 
     and
       (D) savings associations the deposits of which are insured 
     by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation by the Director 
     of the Office of Thrift Supervision;
       (2) the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) 
     by the Board of the National Credit Union Administration 
     Board with respect to any Federal credit union;
       (3) the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a 
     et seq.) by the Securities and Exchange Commission with 
     respect to--
       (A) a broker or dealer subject to that Act;
       (B) an investment company subject to the Investment Company 
     Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et seq.); and
       (C) an investment advisor subject to the Investment 
     Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b-1 et seq.); and
       (4) State insurance law, in the case of any person engaged 
     in providing insurance, by the applicable State insurance 
     authority of the State in which the person is domiciled.
       (d) Exercise of Certain Powers.--For the purpose of the 
     exercise by any agency referred to in subsection (c) of its 
     powers under any Act referred to in that subsection, a 
     violation of this Act is deemed to be a violation of a 
     requirement imposed under that Act. In addition to its powers 
     under any provision of law specifically referred to in 
     subsection (c), each of the agencies referred to in that 
     subsection may exercise, for the purpose of 2enforcing 
     compliance with any requirement imposed under this Act, any 
     other authority conferred on it by law.
       (e) Other Authority Not Affected.--Nothing in this Act 
     shall be construed to limit or affect in any way the 
     Commission's authority to bring enforcement actions or take 
     any other measure under the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 
     U.S.C. 41 et seq.) or any other provision of law.
       (f) Compliance With Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.--
       (1) Notice.--Any covered entity that is subject to the 
     Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6801 et. seq.), and gives 
     notice in compliance with the notification requirements 
     established for such covered entities under title V of that 
     Act is deemed to be in compliance with section 3 of this Act.
       (2) Safeguards.--Any covered entity that is subject to the 
     Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6801 et. seq.), and 
     fulfills the information protection requirements established 
     for such entities under title V of the Act and under section 
     607(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681e(a)) 
     to protect sensitive personal information shall be deemed to 
     be in compliance with section 2 of this Act.

     SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT BY STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL.

       (a) In General.--Except as provided in section 3(c), a 
     State, as parens patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf 
     of its residents in an appropriate state or district court of 
     the United States to enforce the provisions of this Act, to 
     obtain damages, restitution, or other compensation on behalf 
     of such residents, or to obtain such further and other relief 
     as the court may deem appropriate, whenever the attorney 
     general of the State has reason to believe that the interests 
     of the residents of the State have been or are being 
     threatened or adversely affected by a covered entity that 
     violates this Act or a regulation under this Act.
       (b) Notice.--The State shall serve written notice to the 
     Commission (or other appropriate Federal regulator under 
     section 3) of any civil action under subsection (a) at least 
     60 days prior to initiating such civil action. The notice 
     shall include a copy of the complaint to be filed to initiate 
     such civil action, except that if it is not feasible for the 
     State to provide such prior notice, the State shall provide 
     such notice immediately upon instituting such civil action.
       (c) Authority To Intervene.--Upon receiving the notice 
     required by subsection (b), the Commission (or other 
     appropriate Federal regulator under section 8) may intervene 
     in such civil action and upon intervening--
       (1) be heard on all matters arising in such civil action; 
     and
       (2) file petitions for appeal of a decision in such civil 
     action.
       (d) Construction.--For purposes of bringing any civil 
     action under subsection (a), nothing in this section shall 
     prevent the attorney general of a State from exercising the 
     powers conferred on the attorney general by the laws of such 
     State to conduct investigations or to administer oaths or 
     affirmations or to compel the attendance of witnesses or the 
     production of documentary and other evidence.
       (e) Venue; Service of Process.--In a civil action brought 
     under subsection (a)--
       (1) the venue shall be a judicial district in which--
       (A) the covered entity operates; or
       (B) the covered entity was authorized to do business;
       (2) process may be served without regard to the territorial 
     limits of the district or of the State in which the civil 
     action is instituted; and
       (3) a person who participated with a covered entity in an 
     alleged violation that is being litigated in the civil action 
     may be joined in the civil action without regard to the 
     residence of the person.
       (f) Limitation on State Action While Federal Action Is 
     Pending.--If the Commission (or other appropriate Federal 
     agency under section 3) has instituted a civil action or an 
     administrative action for violation of this Act, no State 
     attorney general, or official or agency of a State, may bring 
     an action under this subsection during the pendency of that 
     action against any defendant named in the complaint of the 
     Commission or the other agency for any violation of this Act 
     alleged in the complaint.

     SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
     Trade Commission.
       (2) Social security account number.--The term ``social 
     security account number'' means a social security account 
     number that contains more than 5 digits of the full 9-digit 
     number assigned by the Social Security Administration but 
     does not include social security account numbers to the 
     extent that they are included in a publicly available 
     information source, such as news reports, books, periodicals, 
     or directories or Federal, State, or local government 
     records.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mrs. Boxer):
  S. 1209. A bill to provide for the continued administration of Santa 
Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Park, in accordance with the laws 
(including regulations) and policies of the National Park Service, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague 
Senator Boxer in introducing the Channel Islands National Park 
Management Act of 2007.
  This legislation seeks to clarify the future use and management of 
the park, and specifically protects Santa Rosa Island for the use of 
the public.
  The taxpayers paid approximately $30 million to acquire Santa Rosa 
Island in 1986 to restore its native ecology and provide public access.
  Unfortunately, late last year during conference negotiations a 
provision was slipped into the fiscal year 2007 Defense Authorization 
bill seeking to

[[Page 10251]]

overturn a court-approved settlement agreement which requires the 
phasing out of private hunting on Santa Rosa Island.
  Under a binding court settlement in the late 1990s, non-native deer 
and elk must be removed from Santa Rosa Island over a phased, 4-year 
period beginning in 2008.
  Today, from mid-August through mid-November, a large portion of the 
island is closed to the public so that the island's prior owners can 
run a trophy hunting operation targeting the deer and elk on the 
island.
  Under the settlement, this hunting operation was to end in 2011 
allowing the island to be completely open to the public year round.
  Now, under last year's provision, the prior owners will seek to 
continue charging $16,000 or more for their privately operated hunting 
trips.
  Even though the Government purchased the island from them for $30 
million in taxpayer money, the prior owners would seek to keep 
essentially everything they had before--and that's simply not in the 
public interest.
  Some may be interested in learning a little history and background on 
this gem of an island: Santa Rosa Island is approximately 53,000 acres 
and lies about 50 miles west of Ventura Harbor. It is the second 
largest of the five islands making up the Channel Islands National 
Park. It is extremely rugged and pristine, with terrain ranging from 
grassy hills to steep, wind-carved canyons to white sandy beaches. 
Craggy, steep cliffs overlook rocky tide pools along its coast. 
Wildflowers cover many parts of the island during the spring and 
summer. It is ecologically sensitive and includes several endemic 
plants and species. For example, it is the only place in the world to 
see the island fox and spotted skunk in their natural habitat. A 
variety of shore birds--like the snowy plover--and sea mammals--such as 
seals and sea lions--breed on its beaches. It is seen by many 
scientists as one of the nation's most unique places. In addition to 
being the home of rare flora and fauna, it is an archaeological and 
paleontological treasure, with some sites dating back 11,000 years or 
to the Pleistocene-era. In fact, in 1994, the world's most complete 
skeleton of a pygmy mammoth was excavated on the island. It offers 
incredible recreational opportunities for the public, including hiking, 
camping, kayaking, fishing, sea sports, and wildlife watching.
  The limitation of public access to the island to accommodate 
privately run hunting trips would be a tragedy. This is the public's 
land. It's a national park, and the public should be able to visit it 
and enjoy its breath-taking beauty and remoteness.
  I also want to address one issue the provision in last year's Defense 
Authorization bill purportedly seeks to address: enhancing hunting 
opportunities for disabled veterans.
  While no one opposes providing hunting opportunities for our 
veterans, it is clear that it is neither a practical nor viable option 
to use Santa Rosa Island as a hunting reserve for injured and disabled 
veterans.
  This view is now supported by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, PVA, 
an organization which previously expressed support for the provision 
overturning the settlement.
  Notably, in July 2006, the PVA reached the conclusion following an 
investigative visit to Santa Rosa that the ``numerous obstacles 
inherent to the island, including ingress and egress, logistics, 
personal safety and cost, far outweigh the possible, limited benefit it 
could provide.''
  Furthermore, it should be pointed out that in California today, there 
are already 9 military installations that permit hunting--five that can 
accommodate disabled servicemembers.
  Two of these military installations, Camp Pendleton and Vandenberg 
Air Force Base, are relatively close to the Channel Islands National 
Park, and allow disabled veterans to hunt a variety of animals, 
including deer, waterfowl, quail, feral pigs, small game, and coyote.
  Altogether there are over 100 U.S. military installations where 
hunting is permitted, over 70 of which are currently accessible to 
disabled servicemembers and veterans.
  Naturally, the Park Service is firmly opposed to the provision 
seeking to overturn the settlement. But it is also important to note 
that neither the Department of Defense nor the Veterans Administration 
asked for the language.
  Consequently, I strongly believe that the Park Service should 
continue managing this National Park for the benefit of the general 
public. To allow any less would be a waste of taxpayer dollars and 
wrongly limit the public's access to this national treasure.
  I strongly believe that we must do everything to protect the island 
for the public and oppose any measures that could continue to restrict 
access to the island.
  This legislation we are introducing today would safeguard the island 
in just this manner. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation 
and I ask unanimous consent that the text of this proposed legislation 
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. 1209

       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 ``Channel Islands National 
     Park Management Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) Channel Islands National Monument was designated in 
     1938 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt under the authority 
     of the Act of June 8, 1906 (16 U.S.C. 431 note);
       (2) the Monument was expanded to include additional islands 
     and redesignated as Channel Islands National Park in 1980 to 
     protect the nationally significant natural, scenic, wildlife, 
     marine, ecological, archaeological, cultural, and scientific 
     values of the Channel Islands in California;
       (3) Santa Rosa Island was acquired by the United States in 
     1986 for approximately $29,500,000 for the purpose of 
     restoring the native ecology of the Island and making the 
     Island available to the public for recreational uses;
       (4) Santa Rosa Island contains numerous prehistoric and 
     historic artifacts and provides important habitat for several 
     threatened and endangered species;
       (5) under a court-approved settlement, the nonnative elk 
     and deer populations are scheduled to be removed from the 
     Park by 2011 and the Island is to be restored to management 
     consistent with other National Parks; and
       (6) there have been recent proposals to remove Santa Rosa 
     Island from the administration of the National Park Service 
     or to direct the management of the Island in a manner 
     inconsistent with existing legal requirements and the sound 
     management of Park resources.

     SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT OF SANTA ROSA ISLAND, CHANNEL ISLANDS 
                   NATIONAL PARK.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, the Secretary of the Interior shall manage Santa Rosa 
     Island, Channel Islands National Park (referred to in this 
     section as the ``Park'')--
       (1) in accordance with--
       (A) the National Park Service Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 1 et 
     seq.);
       (B) title II of Public Law 96-199 (16 U.S.C. 410ff et 
     seq.); and
       (C) any other laws generally applicable to units of the 
     National Park System; and
       (2) in a manner that ensures that--
       (A) the natural, scenic and cultural resources of Santa 
     Rosa Island are protected, restored, and interpreted for the 
     public; and
       (B) visitors to the Park are provided with a safe and 
     enjoyable Park experience.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1077(c) of Public Law 
     109-364 (120 Stat. 2406) is repealed.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Kohl, Mr. 
        Feingold, and Mr. Durbin):
  S. 1210. A bill to extend the grant program for drug-endangered 
children; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing with Senator 
Grassley, as well as Senators Kohl, Feingold and Durbin as original co-
sponsors, the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007. This bill would 
take an important grant program for drug-endangered children that 
Congress authorized in the USA PATRIOT Reauthorization Act, and extend 
it for two additional years.
  In particular, the USA PATRIOT Reauthorization Act authorized $20 
million in Federal grants for fiscal years 2006 and 2007 to States to 
assist in the treatment of children who have been

[[Page 10252]]

endangered by living at a home where methamphetamine has been 
manufactured or distributed. But unless we pass new legislation, that 
authorization will not continue beyond the current fiscal year.
  A companion bill was introduced earlier this year by California 
Congressman Dennis A. Cordoza, with bipartisan support in the House.
  The White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, or ONDCP, 
has documented that innocent children are sometimes found in homes and 
other environments, hotels, automobiles, apartments, etc., where 
methamphetamine and other illegal substances are produced.
  According to the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) National 
Clandestine Laboratory Seizure System, there were 1,660 children 
affected by or injured or killed at methamphetamine labs during 2005.
  These children who live at or visit drug-production sites or are 
present during drug production face a variety of health and safety 
risks, including: inhalation, absorption, or ingestion of toxic 
chemicals, drugs, or contaminated foods that may result in nausea, 
chest pain, eye and tissue irritation, chemical burns, and death; fires 
and explosions; abuse and neglect, and hazardous lifestyles, presence 
of booby traps, firearms, code violations, and poor ventilation.
  Where children are involved, drug lab seizures must go beyond the 
normal response from law enforcement, fire and HAZMAT organizations. 
Additional agencies and officials often must be called in to assist, 
including emergency medical personnel, social services, and physicians.
  Recognizing this need, the ONDCP several years ago announced a 
national Drug Endangered Children (DEC) initiative to assist with 
coordination between existing State programs and create a standardized 
training program to extend DEC to states where such a program does not 
yet exist.
  As a result of this initiative, several states developed DEC 
programs, to coordinate the efforts of law enforcement, medical 
services, and child welfare workers, to ensure that children found in 
these environments receive appropriate attention and care.
  These DEC programs began to develop interagency protocols to support 
drug-endangered children, addressing issues such as: staff training, 
including safety and cross training; roles and responsibilities of 
agencies involved; appropriate reporting, cross-reporting, and 
information sharing; safety procedures for children, families, and 
responding personnel; interviewing procedures; evidence collection and 
preservation procedures, and medical care procedures.
  Protocols were designed to identify and provide guidance on the 
variety of issues that responding agencies needed to address in these 
situations, such as taking children into protective custody and 
arranging for child protective services, immediately testing the 
children for methamphetamine exposure, conducting medical and mental 
health assessments, and ensuring short- and long-term care.
  Unfortunately, the ONDCP's initiative, which had been funded in part 
through a DOJ award of $2.124 million under the Community Oriented 
Policing Services (COPS) Methamphetamine Initiative of 2003, was not 
continued thereafter.
  The USA PATRIOT Reauthorization Act that we passed in 2005, 
establishing a specific grant program for this purpose, recognized the 
need to continue this initiative. Unfortunately, this grant program 
that we authorized was never funded. In fiscal year 2006, the program 
that we authorized was appropriated no funds at all.
  In fiscal year 2007, the House of Representatives voted to include $5 
million for this important program as part of its CJS Appropriations 
bill. But unfortunately, the 109th Congress adjourned without passing 
most of its FY2007 appropriations bills, and the Continuing Resolution 
we passed to keep the government running did not fund this provision 
either.
  So the bill that I introduce today would give the Congress another 
chance to revive this important initiative. And it can't come too soon 
for places like Merced, California, where three-quarters of all foster 
care cases are reported to be methamphetamine-related.
  I urge my colleagues to adopt this legislation and ask unanimous 
consent that the text of this 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. 1210

       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 ``Drug Endangered Children Act 
     of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. DRUG-ENDANGERED CHILDREN GRANT PROGRAM EXTENDED.

       Section 755(c) of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and 
     Reauthorization Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 3797cc-2(c)) is 
     amended by striking ``fiscal years 2006 and 2007'' and 
     inserting ``fiscal years 2008 and 2009''.

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague today, 
Senator Feinstein, in introducing the Drug Endangered Children Act 
(DEC) of 2007. As U.S. Senators representing States that have been 
among the hardest hit by the scourge of meth, we have witnessed first 
hand how this horrible drug has devastated individual lives and 
families. We have seen the havoc wreaked on the environment as well as 
the child welfare system and we have listened to the horror stories of 
those caught in the grips of addiction.
  Last year we worked together in a bi-partisan effort to pass the 
Combat Meth Act, which was eventually included in the USA PATRIOT Act 
Reauthorization. The result has been a dramatic decrease in the number 
of clandestine meth lab seizures. While this is certainly welcome news, 
particularly for our first responders and local law enforcement 
community, last year there were over 6,400 clandestine meth lab 
incidents throughout the country. In my home State, we saw a 73 percent 
decrease in the number of meth lab incidents compared to the previous 
year yet there were still over 300 incidents last year alone. Clearly, 
the Combat Meth Act has made progress against locally produced meth, 
but further action is needed to fully combat this epidemic.
  In spite of our success and ongoing efforts to reduce the dangers 
from ``mom and pop'' meth labs, new and more disturbing instances of 
meth production, trafficking, and abuse are becoming more prevalent 
throughout the country. In the State of Missouri, police recently made 
seven meth-related arrests in just as many hours in the tiny, quiet 
town of Ozark. The house where these arrests were made belonged to a 
45-year-old grandmother, who was baby sitting her infant grandson while 
his mother was away at school. Upon her arrest she admitted to using 
meth, but denied she was a dealer. However, while police searched the 
house, six more individuals were picked up on meth-related charges. 
When it was all said and done, three children under the age of 3 
watched as the police arrested their parent or grandparent for selling 
or possessing this dangerous drug.
  Sadly, this was not an unusual incident. Since 2002, more than 12,000 
children throughout the country have been affected, injured, or killed 
at meth lab sites and thousands more have been sent to foster homes or 
were victims of meth-related abuse in the home. In Iowa, the Department 
of Health reports that over 1,000 children over the past 4 years were 
classified as victims of abuse, and that nearly half of child abuse 
cases have been meth-related.
  Due to the shocking number of children that were being victimized by 
meth in one form or another, I joined my colleagues in supporting the 
``Drug Endangered Children Act of 2005.'' This bill which passed into 
law as part of the USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization, established a 
national grant program to support state Drug Endangered Children 
programs and to assist local law enforcement, medical services, and 
child welfare workers to ensure that victimized children would receive 
proper attention and treatment after living in these terrible 
environments. I'm pleased to report that since

[[Page 10253]]

we implemented this grant program, a large number of communities 
throughout the nation have formed multi-disciplinary alliances for the 
benefit of drug-exposed children. There are 16 communities throughout 
Iowa that have taken advantage of these grants and more are in the 
process of planning and setting up programs.
  The Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007 would re-authorize this 
important grant program for an additional 2 years and assist States in 
coordinating law enforcement, medical services, and child welfare 
efforts, to ensure that children found in such environments receive 
appropriate attention and care. I am pleased to join with my colleague 
again as we work together to renew this wonderful and worthwhile 
program. I ask that my colleagues join us in support of this important 
legislation and pass the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. Grassley):
  S. 1211. A bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide 
enhanced penalties for marketing controlled substances to minors; to 
the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I join with Senator Grassley in 
introducing the Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act of 2007. This bill 
would increase the criminal penalties that apply when criminals market 
their illegal drugs to our children, using appalling techniques like 
the recently reported sales on our streets of candy-flavored 
methamphetamine.
  In particular, the bill would: double the maximum penalties 
applicable to drug crimes if a criminal defendant manufactures, offers, 
distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute a controlled 
substance that is flavored, colored, packaged or otherwise altered in a 
way that is designed to make it more appealing to a person under the 
age of 21; if the violation is a repeat offense, the maximum sentence 
would be tripled; and a mandatory minimum prison sentence of at least a 
year would apply in every case involving illegal drugs that targets its 
marketing at minors.
  The growing problem of marketing illegal drugs to minors was 
highlighted in a recent USA Today article, entitled ``Flavored Meth Use 
on the Rise,'' which stated, ``Reports of candy-flavored 
methamphetamine are emerging around the nation, stirring concern among 
police and abuse prevention experts that drug dealers are marketing the 
drug to younger people.''
  Normally, methamphetamine--a highly addictive stimulant--is a 
brownish, bitter-tasting crystalline powder. But drug dealers, 
recognizing that this may not be appealing to children or teenagers, 
have reacted by reaching a new low: they are using candy and soda 
flavors to market their meth.
  Soda flavors. Strawberry methamphetamine that they market as 
``Strawberry Quick.'' Reddish methamphetamine marketed as an energy 
drink like ``Red Bull.'' Even ``chocolate quick.''
  Scott Burns, Deputy Drug Czar at the White House Office of National 
Drug Control Policy, warns that this development may negatively affect 
the gains we have recently made in getting the word out to our young 
people about how horrible this drug is.
  According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the number 
of people 12 and older who used methamphetamine for the first time in 
the previous year decreased from 318,000 people in 2004 to 192,000 
people in 2005. That's the good news.
  But Deputy Drug Czar Burns warns that with drug dealers having a 
tougher time selling their product, especially to young people, ``they 
have to come up with some sort of gimmick.'' And that gimmick, he 
warns, is the use of flavored methamphetamine.
  In my own State of California, San Francisco police since late 
January have arrested teens with quantities of meth designed to taste 
like chocolate. The Haight-Asbury clinic also confirms chocolate-
flavored methamphetamine being used on the streets.
  Dr. Alex Stalcup, a nationally renowned drug counselor, reports 
seeing teenage patients at the New Leaf Treatment Center suffering the 
ill effects of flavored methamphetamine since the first of this year.
  One of Dr. Stalcup's patients was unaware that the substance was meth 
at all, and said he was told that it was a solidified form of the 
energy drink Red Bull. Dr. Stalcup warns that this new form of the drug 
also may be more likely to lead to an overdose, by users who may not be 
aware of, or who may underestimate, a candy-flavored drug's impact.
  Perhaps the first report of this problem emerged in late January, 
when a Carson City, Nevada police informant purchased 2 grams of a 
strawberry-flavored methamphetamine from an alleged member of the Lima 
Street gang. Officers later served a search warrant on his home and 
found more. Police bulletins warned this ``new type of meth will be 
more attractive to a younger crowd and may surface in schools.''
  Additional reports also came in. On February 13, a police officer in 
Greene County, MO, seized a bag of ``strawberry meth'' from a female 
passenger in a car stopped in a rural area of Greene County, MO. And in 
Idaho, the Administrator of the Governor's Office of Drug Control 
Policy warned of how drug dealers were producing ``strawberry quick'' 
and ``chocolate quick'' forms of meth, to attract young buyers and 
spawn a new generation of drug buyers.
  The Idaho Press-Tribune even reported that at Valentine's Day, drug 
dealers compressed the flavored form of the drug into heart-shapes, 
colored it bright pink, and wrapped it in shiny paper.
  Based on intelligence gathered by Drug Enforcement Administration 
agents from informants, users, police and drug counselors, flavored 
crystals are now available in California, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, 
Texas, New Mexico, Missouri and Minnesota.
  The bill I offer today would address this problem, by enacting 
penalties to discourage colored and flavored drugs and the marketing of 
drugs to minors.
  Under current law, there is already an enhanced penalty if someone 
distributes illegal drugs to a minor. The maximum sentence is doubled, 
and tripled for a repeat offense, and there is a minimum of at least a 
year in prison. But the enhancement applies only if there is an actual 
distribution to a minor. Even possession with intent to distribute 
doesn't qualify. And current law doesn't address flavored drugs or 
marketing illegal drugs in ways appealing to kids.
  The bill I introduce would fix that. If someone manufactures, 
creates, distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute an illegal 
drug that is flavored, colored, packaged or altered in a way designed 
to make it more appealing to someone under age 21, they would face this 
same enhanced penalty.
  This bill will send a strong and clear message to the drug dealers--
if you flavor up your drugs or alter them in a way that makes it more 
appealing to our children, there will be a very heavy price to pay.
  Flavored meth is designed to get people to try it a few times. It's 
all about hooking young people. And that is truly tragic. Listen to 
what one former addict wrote after hearing about this new development:

       They do need to worry about our children because I happen 
     to know quite a few 10 and 12 year olds on up that are 
     already using it and selling it out there. So whoever thinks 
     it's not a threat to our children--WRONG WRONG WRONG! It's 
     more and more dangerous out there when people cannot handle 
     it and they develop a chemical imbalance and lose their mind 
     to where they don't even know who they are anymore. I happen 
     to know a very, very young pretty girl I've met, and she will 
     never come back to who she was. She's gone. She is crazy and 
     is gonna end up hurt then dead one of these days. I pray for 
     this girl all the time . . .

  Estimates now place the number of habitual meth users worldwide at 26 
million worldwide--more than the combined total for heroin and cocaine. 
It is extraordinarily addictive. We must act to preserve the gains we 
have made, and keep kids from getting cruelly tricked into an addiction 
they may never break.
  These new penalties will make dealers think twice before flavoring up

[[Page 10254]]

their drugs, and punish them appropriately if they don't. I urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation and 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. 1211

       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 ``Saving Kids from Dangerous 
     Drugs Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. SENTENCING ENHANCEMENTS FOR MARKETING CONTROLLED 
                   SUBSTANCES TO MINORS.

       Section 418 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 
     859) is amended--
       (1) in the section heading, by adding at the end the 
     following: ``; marketing to minors'';
       (2) in subsection (a), by inserting after ``twenty-one 
     years of age'' the following: ``, or who manufactures, 
     creates, distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute 
     a controlled substance that is flavored, colored, packaged, 
     or otherwise altered in a way that is designed to make that 
     controlled substance more appealing to a person under twenty-
     one years of age, or who attempts or conspires to do so,''; 
     and
       (3) in subsection (b), by inserting after ``twenty-one 
     years of age'' the following: ``, or who manufactures, 
     creates, distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute 
     a controlled substance that is flavored, colored, packaged, 
     or otherwise altered in a way that is designed to make that 
     controlled substance more appealing to a person under twenty-
     one years of age, or who attempts or conspires to do so,''.

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague today, 
Senator Feinstein, in introducing the Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs 
Act of 2007. I believe we have a moral obligation in this country to 
ensure our young people have every opportunity to grow up without being 
accosted by drug pushers at every turn, whether on TV, in the movies, 
or on the way to school.
  This important legislation comes in response to the recent warnings 
issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Office of 
National Drug Control Policy of candy-flavored meth and other illegal 
drugs being colored, packaged, and flavored in ways that appear to be 
designed to attract use by children and minors. As co-chairman of the 
Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, I can tell you that 
the most at-risk population for drug abuse is our young people. 
Research has shown time and again that if you can keep a child drug-
free until they turn 20, chances are very slim that they will ever try 
or become addicted. Unfortunately, unscrupulous drug dealers are all 
too aware of statistics like these and have developed new techniques 
and marketing gimmicks to lure in younger users. As a parent and now 
grandparent, this is extremely worrisome.
  Last year, we worked to pass the Combat Meth Act into law. Since that 
time, the number of clandestine meth lab seizures have dropped 
dramatically across the country. By placing the essential ingredient 
pseudoephedrine behind the counter, we have lifted a heavy burden from 
the shoulders of our local law enforcement and made our communities a 
safer place to live and raise a family. In my home State of Iowa alone, 
the number of seizures fell a remarkable 73 percent since the sale of 
pseudoephearine was restricted. But as anyone can tell you, we have a 
long way to go.
  Despite our best efforts and recent success, meth continues to wreak 
havoc on families and communities across the country. While local ``mom 
and pop'' meth labs are being dismantled everywhere, drug dealers 
continue to look for new ways to market their poison. This legislation 
is intended to protect our young people by expanding existing penalties 
for those marketing their poison to kids.
  Currently Federal law enhances Federal penalties for selling drugs to 
anyone under the age of 21. When a violation occurs, the Federal 
penalties are doubled--tripled for a repeat offense--and a mandatory 
minimum of at least 1 year also applies. However, only the dealer who 
directly sells drugs to someone under 21 is subject to a double 
sentence.
  The Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act would expand the 
circumstances under which these enhanced penalties apply. Under our 
bill, the enhanced penalties that already exist would also apply to 
anyone who ``manufactures, creates, distributes, or possesses with 
intent to distribute a controlled substance that is flavored, colored, 
packaged or otherwise altered in a way that is designed to make it more 
appealing to a person under 21 years of age, or who attempts or 
conspires to do so.''
  The fight against meth and other dangerous drugs is and will continue 
to be an ongoing struggle. We must adapt and change our tactics just as 
the dealers, distributors, and pushers have changed theirs. We must do 
all we can to protect the most vulnerable among us and send a clear 
message to those wishing to prey on our youth.
  I ask that my colleagues join us in support of this important 
legislation and pass the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Ms. MIKULSKI (for herself, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Inouye, Ms. 
        Cantwell, and Mrs. Murray):
  S. 1212. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to 
permit direct payment under the Medicare program for clinical social 
worker services provided to residents of skilled nursing facilities; to 
the Committee on Finance.
  Ms. MIKULSI. Mr. President, acknowledging the social workers' 
presence on Capitol Hill this week for their Annual Leadership Meeting 
Lobby Day, I rise today to introduce the ``Clinical Social Work 
Medicare Equity Act of 2007.'' I am proud to sponsor this legislation 
that will ensure clinical social workers receive Medicare 
reimbursements for the mental health services they provide in skilled 
nursing facilities. Under the current system, social workers are not 
paid for the services they provide. Psychologists and psychiatrists, 
who provide similar counseling, are able to separately bill Medicare 
for their services.
  Since my first days in Congress, I have been fighting to protect and 
strengthen the safety of our Nation's seniors. Making sure that seniors 
have access to quality, affordable mental health care is an important 
part of this fight. I know that millions of seniors do not have access 
to, or are not receiving, the mental health services they urgently 
need. Nearly 6 million seniors are affected by depression, but only 
one-tenth ever receive treatment. According to the American Psychiatric 
Association, up to 25 percent of the elderly population in the United 
States suffers from significant symptoms of mental illness and among 
nursing home residents the prevalence is as high as 80 percent. These 
mental disorders, which include severe depression and debilitating 
anxiety, interfere with the person's ability to carry out activities of 
daily living and adversely affect their quality of life. Furthermore, 
older people have a 20 percent suicide rate, the highest of any age 
group. Every year nearly 6,000 older Americans kill themselves. This is 
unacceptable and must be addressed.
  As a former social worker, I understand the role social workers play 
in the overall care of patients and seniors. This bill protects 
patients across the country and ensures that seniors living in 
underserved urban and rural areas, where clinical social workers are 
often the only available option for mental health care, continue to 
receive the treatment they need. Clinical social workers, much like 
psychologists and psychiatrists, treat and diagnose mental illnesses. 
In fact, clinical social workers are the primary mental health 
providers for nursing home residents and seniors residing in rural 
environments. Unlike other mental health providers, clinical social 
workers cannot bill Medicare directly for the important services they 
provide to their patients. Protecting seniors' access to clinical 
social workers ensures that our most vulnerable citizens get the 
quality, affordable mental health care they need. This bill will 
correct this inequity and make sure clinical social workers get the 
payments and respect they deserve.
  Before the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, clinical social workers 
billed Medicare Part B directly for mental

[[Page 10255]]

health services they provided in nursing facilities for each patient 
they served. Under the Prospective Payment System, services provided by 
clinical social workers are lumped, or ``bundled,'' along with the 
services of other health care providers for the purposes of billing and 
payments. Psychologists and psychiatrists, who provide similar 
counseling, were exempted from this system and continue to bill 
Medicare directly. This bill would exempt clinical social workers, like 
their mental health colleagues, from the Prospective Payment System, 
and would make sure that clinical social workers are paid for the 
services they provide to patients in skilled nursing facilities. The 
Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act 
addressed some of these concerns, but this legislation would remove the 
final barrier to ensuring that clinical social workers are treated 
fairly and equitably for the care they provide.
  This bill is about more than paperwork and payment procedures. This 
bill is about equal access to Medicare payments for the equal and 
important work done by clinical social workers. It is about making sure 
our Nation's most vulnerable citizens have access to quality, 
affordable mental health care. The overarching goal we should be 
striving to achieve for our seniors is an overall improved quality of 
life. Without clinical social workers, many nursing home residents may 
never get the counseling they need when faced with a life threatening 
illness or the loss of a loved one. I think we can do better by our 
Nation's seniors, and I'm fighting to make sure we do.
  The Clinical Social Work Medicare Equity Act of 2007 is strongly 
supported by the National Association of Social Workers. I also want to 
thank Senators Stabenow and Inouye for their co-sponsorship of this 
bill. I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this 
important legislation.
  I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:
                                              National Association


                                            of Social Workers,

                                   Washington, DC, April 25, 2007.
     Senator Barbara Mikulski,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Mikulski: I am writing on behalf of the 
     National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the largest 
     professional social work organization in the world with 
     150,000 members nationwide. NASW promotes, develops, and 
     protects the effective practice of social work services. NASW 
     strongly supports the Clinical Social Work Medicare Equity 
     Act of 2007, which will improve mental health care to nursing 
     home residents and end the unfair treatment of clinical 
     social workers under the Medicare Prospective Payment System 
     (PPS) for Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs).
       The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 authorized the creation of 
     the PPS, under which the cost of a variety of routine 
     services provided to SNF patients is bundled into a single 
     amount. Prior to adoption of the PPS, a separate Medicare 
     claim was filed by providers for individual services rendered 
     to a patient. However, Congress recognized that some 
     services, such as mental health and anesthesia, are provided 
     on an individual as-needed basis rather than as part of the 
     bundle of services. Thus, the following types of providers 
     were excluded from the PPS: physicians, clinical 
     psychologists, certified nurse-midwives, and certified 
     registered nurse anesthetists. Unfortunately, due to an 
     oversight during the drafting process, clinical social 
     workers were not listed among the PPS excluded providers.
       In 1996, the DHHS Inspector General issued a report 
     entitled ``Mental Health Services in Nursing Facilities,'' 
     which described the types of mental health services provided 
     in nursing facilities and identified their potential 
     vulnerabilities. One critical finding of the report was that 
     70 percent of respondents stated that permitting clinical 
     social workers and clinical psychologists to bill Medicare 
     independently had a beneficial effect on the provision of 
     mental health services in SNFs. Your legislation will improve 
     care for SNF residents by restoring Medicare payments for 
     specialized clinical social work services rendered to SNF 
     patients.
       Your tireless efforts on behalf of consumers of mental 
     health services and professional social workers nationwide 
     are greatly appreciated by our members. We thank you for your 
     strong interest in and commitment to these important issues 
     as demonstrated by your sponsorship of the Clinical Socia1 
     Work Medicare Equity Act. NASW looks forward to working with 
     you on this and future issues of mutual concern.
           Sincerely,
                                               Elizabeth J. Clark,
                                               Executive Director.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. KERRY (for himself and Ms. Snowe):
  S. 1214. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify 
the partial exclusion for gain from certain small business stocks; to 
the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, this week we are celebrating National Small 
Business Week to recognize the contributions made by small businesses, 
which are the engine of our economic growth. During 2005, more than 25 
billion small businesses in the United States contributed $918 billion 
to the economy.
  Many of our most successful corporations started as small businesses, 
including AOL, Apple Computer, Compac Computer, Datastream, Evergreen 
Solar, Intel Corporations, and Sun Microsystems. As you can see from 
this partial list, many of these companies played an integral role in 
making the Internet a reality.
  Today, Senator Snowe and I are introducing the Invest in Small 
Business Act of 2007, to encourage private investment in small 
businesses by making changes to the existing partial exclusion for gain 
from certain small business stock.
  We are at an integral juncture in developing technology to address 
global climate change. I believe that small business will repeat the 
role it played at the vanguard of the computer revolution by leading 
the Nation in developing the technologies to substantially reduce 
carbon emissions. Small businesses already are at the forefront of 
these industries, and we need to do everything we can to encourage 
investment in small businesses.
  Back in 1993, I worked with Senator Bumpers to provide a partial 
exclusion for gain from the sale of small business stock. This 
provision would provide a 50 percent exclusion for gain for individuals 
from the sale of certain small business stock that is held for five 
years. Since the enactment of this provision, the capital gains rate 
has been lowered twice without any changes to the exclusion. Due to the 
lower capital rates, this provision no longer provides a strong 
incentive for investment in small businesses.
  The Invest in Small Business Act makes several changes to the 
existing provision. This legislation increases the exclusion amount 
from 50 percent to 75 percent and decreases the holding period from 
five years to four years. This bill would allow corporations to benefit 
from the provision as long as they own less than 25 percent of the 
small business corporation stock.
  Currently, the exclusion is treated as a preference item for 
calculating the alternative minimum tax (AMT). The Invest in Small 
Business Act of 2007 would repeal the exclusion as an AMT preference 
item. Under current law, the nonexcluded amount of gain is taxed at 28 
percent. This legislation would tax the nonexcluded portion at the 
lower capital gains rate of 15 or 5 percent.
  The Invest in Small Business Act of 2007 will provide an effective 
tax rate of 3.75 percent for the gain from the sale of certain small 
businesses. This lower capital gains rate will encourage investment in 
small businesses. In addition, the changes made by the Invest in Small 
Business Act of 2007 will make more taxpayers eligible for this 
provision.
  As we celebrate the success of entrepreneurs this week, it is an 
appropriate time to encourage new investment. The Invest in Small 
Business Act of 2007 strengthens an existing tax incentive to provide 
an appropriate incentive to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill and a summary of 
the bill be printed in the Record
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1214

       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 ``Invest in Small Business Act 
     of 2007''.

[[Page 10256]]



     SEC. 2. INCREASED EXCLUSION AND OTHER MODIFICATIONS 
                   APPLICABLE TO QUALIFIED SMALL BUSINESS STOCK.

       (a) Increased Exclusion.--
       (1) In general.--Paragraph (1) of section 1202(a) of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating partial exclusion for 
     gain from certain small business stock) is amended to read as 
     follows:
       ``(1) In general.--Gross income shall not include 75 
     percent of any gain from the sale or exchange of qualified 
     small business stock held for more than 4 years.''.
       (2) Empowerment zone businesses.--Subparagraph (A) of 
     section 1202(a)(2) of such Code is amended--
       (A) by striking ``60 percent'' and inserting ``100 
     percent'', and
       (B) by striking ``50 percent'' and inserting ``75 
     percent''.
       (3) Rule relating to stock held among members of controlled 
     group.--Subsection (c) of section 1202 of such Code is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(4) Stock held among members of 25-percent controlled 
     group not eligible.--
       ``(A) In general.--Stock of a member of a 25-percent 
     controlled group shall not be treated as qualified small 
     business stock while held by another member of such group.
       ``(B) 25-percent controlled group.--For purposes of 
     subparagraph (A), the term `25-percent controlled group' 
     means any controlled group of corporations as defined in 
     section 1563(a)(1), except that--
       ``(i) `more than 25 percent' shall be substituted for `at 
     least 80 percent' each place it appears in section 
     1563(a)(1), and
       ``(ii) section 1563(a)(4) shall not apply.''.
       (4) Conforming amendments.--Subsections (b)(2), (g)(2)(A), 
     and (j)(1)(A) of section 1202 of such Code are each amended 
     by striking ``5 years'' and inserting ``4 years''.
       (b) Repeal of Minimum Tax Preference.--
       (1) In general.--Subsection (a) of section 57 of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to items of tax 
     preference) is amended by striking paragraph (7).
       (2) Technical amendment.--Subclause (II) of section 
     53(d)(1)(B)(ii) of such Code is amended by striking ``, (5), 
     and (7)'' and inserting ``and (5)''.
       (c) Repeal of 28 Percent Capital Gains Rate on Qualified 
     Small Business Stock.--
       (1) In general.--Subparagraph (A) of section 1(h)(4) of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
       ``(A) collectibles gain, over''.
       (2) Conforming amendments.--
       (A) Section 1(h) of such Code is amended by striking 
     paragraph (7).
       (B)(i) Section 1(h) of such Code is amended by 
     redesignating paragraphs (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), and (13) 
     as paragraphs (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), and (12), 
     respectively.
       (ii) Sections 163(d)(4)(B), 854(b)(5), 857(c)(2)(D) of such 
     Code are each amended by striking ``section 1(h)(11)(B)'' and 
     inserting ``section 1(h)(10)(B)''.
       (iii) The following sections of such Code are each amended 
     by striking ``section 1(h)(11)'' and inserting ``section 
     1(h)(10)'':
       (I) Section 301(f)(4).
       (II) Section 306(a)(1)(D).
       (III) Section 584(c).
       (IV) Section702(a)(5).
       (V) Section 854(a).
       (VI) Section 854(b)(2).
       (iv) The heading of section 857(c)(2) is amended by 
     striking ``1(h)(11)'' and inserting ``1(h)(10)''.
       (d) Increase Aggregate Asset Limitation for Qualified Small 
     Businesses.--
       (1) In general.--Paragraph (1) of section 1202(d) of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to qualified small 
     business) is amended by striking ``$50,000,000'' each place 
     it appears and inserting ``$100,000,000''.
       (2) Inflation adjustment.--Section 1202(d) of such Code is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(4) Inflation adjustment.--
       ``(A) In general.--In the case of any taxable year 
     beginning in a calendar year after 2007, each of the 
     $100,000,000 dollar amounts in paragraph (1) shall be 
     increased by an amount equal to--
       ``(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by
       ``(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under 
     section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable 
     year begins, determined by substituting `calendar year 2006' 
     for `calendar year 1992' in subparagraph (B) thereof.
       ``(B) Rounding.--If any amount as adjusted under 
     subparagraph (A) is not a multiple of $1,000, such amount 
     shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple of $100.''.
       (e) Effective Date.--
       (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section apply 
     to stock issued after December 31, 2007.
       (2) Special rule for stock issued before december 31, 
     2007.--The amendments made by subsections (a), (b), and (c) 
     shall apply to sales or exchanges--
       (A) made after December 31, 2007,
       (B) of stock issued before such date,
       (C) by a taxpayer other than a corporation.
                                  ____


          Summary of the Invest in Small Business Act of 2007

       The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 included a 
     provision to encourage investment in small businesses. This 
     provision created section 1202 of the tax code which provides 
     a 50 percent exclusion for the gain from the sale of certain 
     small business stock held for more than five years. The 
     amount of gain eligible for the exclusion is limited to the 
     greater of 10 times the taxpayer's basis in the stock, or $10 
     million gain from stock in that small business corporation. 
     This provision is limited to individual investments and not 
     the investments of a corporation. At the date of the issuance 
     of the stock, the gross assets of the corporation cannot 
     exceed $50 million. At least 80 percent of the assets of the 
     corporation are used for the active conduct of business. For 
     purposes of calculating the alternative minimum tax (AMT), 
     seven percent of the excluded amount is added back into the 
     AMT calculation. The nonexcluded portion of section 1202 gain 
     is taxed at the lesser of ordinary income rates or 28 
     percent, instead of the lower capital gains rates for 
     individuals. Since the enactment of this provision, the 
     capital gains rate has been lowered twice. No corresponding 
     changes were made to section 1202.
       The Invest in Small Business Act of 2007 makes the 
     following changes to section 1202 to encourage more 
     investment in small businesses.
       Increases the exclusion from 50 percent to 75 percent.
       Decreases the holding period from five to four years.
       Repeals the capital gains exclusions as an AMT preference.
       Taxes the nonexcluded portion of section 1202 gains at the 
     regular capital gains rate, which is currently 15 percent or 
     5 percent for individual taxpayers.
       Allows corporations the benefits of section 1202, but to be 
     eligible, a corporation cannot hold more than 25 percent of 
     the stock of a qualified small business.
       Provides a 100 percent exclusion for gain from the sale of 
     small business stock of corporations located in an 
     empowerment zone.
       Increases the asset limitation from $50 million to $100 
     million.
       Below are calculations based on $100 of gain calculated 
     under current law and under the Invest in Small Business Act 
     of 2007. Under the present law, calculations for the 
     remaining $50 would be taxed at 28 percent and result in a 
     tax of $14 for a regular taxpayer and $14.98 of tax for an 
     AMT taxpayer. (This calculation is based on a taxpayer paying 
     the 28 percent AMT rate.)


                              Present Law

Regular Tax Calculation:
Gain...............................................................$100
Exclusion...........................................................-50
Regular Tax Rate.................................................. 0.28
                                                             __________
                                                             
  Total Regular Tax.................................................$14
AMT Tax Calculation
Excluded amount.....................................................$50
AMT preference rate................................................ .07
AMT preference......................................................3.5
AMT taxable income.................................................53.5
(regular income plus preference)....................................
AMT rate.......................................................... 0.28
                                                             __________
                                                             
  Total AMT......................................................$14.98


                  Invest in Small Business Act of 2007

       There is only one calculation under this legislation for 
     individual taxpayers because section 1202 gain is no longer a 
     preference item under the AMT. The total amount of tax on 
     $100 of gain is $3.75 and this represents an effective tax 
     rate of 3.75 percent. Under the changes made by the Invest in 
     Small Business Act of 2007, the tax on capital gains of the 
     sale of qualified small business stock is 3.75 percent, 
     instead of 14 percent for individual taxpayers. Corporate 
     taxpayers would have an effective tax rate of 8.75 percent 
     instead of 35 percent.

Tax Calculation Individual Taxpayer:
Gain...............................................................$100
Excluded Amount.....................................................-75
Capital Gains Tax Rate............................................ 0.15
                                                             __________
                                                             
  Total Tax.......................................................$3.75
Tax Calculation Corporate Taxpayer:
Gain...............................................................$100
Excluded Amount.....................................................-75
Capital Gains Tax Rate............................................ 0.35
                                                             __________
                                                             
  Total Tax.......................................................$8.75
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. DOMENICI (for himself and Mr. Bingaman):
  S. 1216. A bill to allow certain nationals of Mexico entering the 
State of New Mexico on a temporary basis to travel up to 100 miles from 
the international border between the State of New Mexico and Mexico, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise today with Senator Bingaman to 
introduce a bill of importance to the economic development of our 
Southwest border States, the Laser Visa Extension Act of 2007.
  The United States and Mexico have had special travel rules for 
Mexican nationals who visit our country for short periods of time since 
1953. These visitors can come into our country with a document known as 
a ``laser visa'' or ``border crossing card'', which is an alternative 
to a passport and must be obtained from the U.S. government. In

[[Page 10257]]

the 1990s, the rule was that anyone who held such a document could 
travel up to 25 miles from the Mexico/U.S. border.
  In 1999, Arizona and the Border Trade Alliance mounted a successful 
campaign to extend the mileage limit in Arizona to 75 miles because 
there is no large town within 25 miles of the Arizona/Mexico border, so 
Arizona wasn't getting the economic benefits of these travelers.
  Similarly, there is no large town within 25 miles of the New Mexico/
Mexico border, so my constituents do not get the economic benefits of 
laser visa travelers. This disparity needs to be corrected. Moreover, 
all four Southwest border States should see the same benefits of laser 
visa travelers.
  Therefore, the bill I am introducing today extends the distance laser 
visa holders can travel into the United States to 100 miles, regardless 
of which State they are in. Such an extension will allow more towns in 
all four of our Southwest border States to reap the economic benefits 
of short-term visitors to our country who hold a travel document issued 
by our Federal Government.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1216

       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 ``Laser Visa Extension Act of 
     2007''.

     SEC. 2. TRAVEL PRIVILEGES FOR CERTAIN TEMPORARY VISITORS FROM 
                   MEXICO.

       (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the 
     Secretary of Homeland Security shall permit a national of 
     Mexico to travel up to 100 miles from the international 
     border between Mexico and the State of New Mexico if such 
     national--
       (1) possesses a valid machine-readable biometric border 
     crossing identification card issued by a consular officer of 
     the Department of State;
       (2) enters the State of New Mexico through a port of entry 
     where such card is processed using a machine reader;
       (3) has successfully completed any background check 
     required by the Secretary for such travel; and
       (4) is admitted into the United States as a nonimmigrant 
     under section 101(a)(15)(B) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(B)).
       (b) Exception.--On a case-by-case basis, the Secretary of 
     Homeland Security may limit the travel of a national of 
     Mexico who meets the requirements of paragraphs (1) through 
     (4) of subsection (a) to a distance of less than 100 miles 
     from the international border between Mexico and the State of 
     New Mexico if the Secretary determines that the national was 
     previously admitted into the United States as a nonimmigrant 
     and violated the terms and conditions of the national's 
     nonimmigrant status.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. Smith, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Akaka, 
        Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Lieberman):
  S. 1219. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
taxpayer protection and assistance, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the ``Taxpayer 
Protection and Assistance Act of 2007'' with Senators Smith, Akaka, 
Durbin, Kerry, and Lieberman. My colleagues may recall that similar 
legislation, S. 832, was introduced last Congress and ultimately 
reported out of the Finance Committee last year but unfortunately it 
never made it to the floor of the Senate. This Congress, the House has 
already passed taxpayer rights legislation which makes me optimistic 
that many of these long overdue reforms may finally become law.
  This Act is a combination of a variety of well-vetted provisions that 
will ensure that our Nation's taxpayers are better able to prepare and 
file their tax returns each year in a fashion that is fair, reasonable 
and affordable. As long as we continue to require taxpayers to 
determine their own tax liability, Congress has a responsibility to 
ensure that we do not leave taxpayers vulnerable to abuses from those 
masquerading as tax professionals. The current environment is bad for 
everyone including the majority of tax return preparers who provide 
professional and much needed services to taxpayers in their 
communities. I encourage all of my colleagues to work with us to pass 
this legislation before the next filing season begins.
  The first section of the Taxpayer Protection and Assistance Act would 
create a $10 million matching grant program for lower income tax 
preparation clinics much like the program we currently have in place 
for tax controversies. I have seen first hand the impact free tax 
preparation clinics can have on taxpayers and their communities, as we 
are fortunate to have one of the best State-wide programs in the Nation 
in New Mexico. Tax Help New Mexico, which has been in operation for 
many years, helped over 20,000 New Mexicans prepare and file their 
returns last year, resulting in over $20 million in refunds--all 
without refund anticipation loans. This program has turned into one of 
the best delivery mechanisms for public assistance I have seen in the 
State and has been fortunate enough to receive additional funding from 
the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the McCune Foundation. In order to 
continue to grow, though, we need to do our part in Congress and give 
them matching funding so they can continue their outreach into new 
communities in need of assistance.
  The second set of provisions contained in this legislation would 
ensure that when taxpayers hire someone to help them with their tax 
returns they can be sure that the person is competent and professional. 
The first part of the bill makes sure that an enrolled agent, a tax 
professional licensed to practice before the IRS, shall have the 
exclusive right to describe him or herself as an ``enrolled agent,'' 
``EA,'' or ``E.A.'' In New Mexico, enrolled agents play an important 
role in helping taxpayers with problems with the IRS and with preparing 
their returns. Enrolled agents have earned the right to use their 
credentials. Furthermore, we should protect the credentials of those 
who have taken the rigorous exams and have experience in tax 
preparation rather than allow others to confuse the public into 
thinking they too have the same credentials.
  The next part of the bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury to 
determine what standards need to be met in order for a person to 
prepare tax returns commercially. Like all other tax professionals, 
this will require people who make a living preparing tax returns to 
pass a minimum competency exam and take brush up courses each year to 
keep up to date with changes in tax law. The majority of tax return 
preparers already meet these standards, including many who have 
received credentials from the State or from a nationally recognized 
association of accountants or tax return preparers. We provide specific 
authority to the Secretary to determine whether people who have already 
taken a written proficiency exam as part of some other tax return 
credentialing will need to take the new exam. The Secretary will be 
able to exercise these authorizations only after thorough review of the 
specific examination and only for those examinations subsequently 
determined to be comparable. In that light, we urge the Secretary to 
exercise his authority in this area in a manner consistent with the 
goal of protecting taxpayers through ensuring the competency of 
enrolled preparers. The Treasury Department will also be required to 
operate a public awareness campaign so that taxpayers will know that 
they need to check to be sure that someone preparing their tax returns 
for a fee is qualified.
  The fourth set of provisions would directly address the problems with 
refund anticipation loans (RALs)--a problem throughout the country, but 
one that is particularly troublesome in New Mexico. First, this bill 
requires refund loan facilitators to register with the Treasury 
Department. Refund loan facilitators are those people who solicit, 
process, or otherwise facilitate the making of a refund anticipation 
loan in relation to a tax return being electronically filed. The 
legislation also requires these refund loan facilitators to properly 
disclose to taxpayers that they do not have to get a RAL in order to 
file their return electronically, as well as clearly disclose

[[Page 10258]]

what all the costs involved with the loan. Finally, the refund loan 
facilitators must disclose to taxpayers when the loans would allow 
their refunds to be offset by the amount of the loan. Much like the 
public awareness campaign for advertising the credentials required for 
preparing Federal tax returns, the Act requires the Treasury Department 
to operate a program to educate the public on the real costs of RALs as 
compared to other forms of credit. This program will be funded, at 
least in part, by amounts collected from penalties imposed on refund 
loan facilitators who have broken the law.
  The next section of the bill is an issue that my colleague from 
Hawaii, Senator Akaka, has been actively working on for the last 
several years. This provision would authorize the Treasury Department 
to award grants to financial institutions or charitable groups that 
help low income taxpayers set up accounts at a bank or credit union. 
Because many taxpayers do not have checking or savings accounts, their 
refunds from IRS cannot be electronically wired to them. The 
alternative is to have the check mailed to the taxpayer or to have the 
refund immediately loaned to the taxpayer in the form of a RAL. Of 
course, getting people to set up a checking or savings account for 
purposes of receiving their tax refund will also have the benefits of 
getting many of these people to start saving for the first time.
  Finally, we have added two new provisions to clarify existing law. 
The first clarifies that the National Taxpayer Advocate has the 
authority to issue taxpayer assistance orders in cases involving 
closing agreements and compromises. The other clarifies that the 
Secretary of the Treasury has the authority to take into account a 
taxpayers specific facts and circumstances when evaluating an offer in 
compromise. Both of these provisions are the result of bipartisan 
negotiations and are an improvement to our tax system.
  I hope my colleagues will join with me and the cosponsors of this 
bill to pass this important legislation. Our voluntary tax system is 
dependent on taxpayers being able to receive the best advice and 
assistance possible. We have a responsibility to our Nation's taxpayers 
to make sure that they do receive such advice and assistance. This bill 
goes a long way toward that goal.
  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. 1219

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Taxpayer 
     Protection and Assistance Act of 2007''.
       (b) Amendment of 1986 Code.--Except as otherwise expressly 
     provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is 
     expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a 
     section or other provision, the reference shall be considered 
     to be made to a section or other provision of the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986.

     SEC. 2. LOW-INCOME TAXPAYER CLINICS.

       (a) Grants for Return Preparation Clinics.--
       (1) In general.--Chapter 77 (relating to miscellaneous 
     provisions) is amended by inserting after section 7526 the 
     following new section:

     ``SEC. 7526A. RETURN PREPARATION CLINICS FOR LOW-INCOME 
                   TAXPAYERS.

       ``(a) In General.--The Secretary may, subject to the 
     availability of appropriated funds, make grants to provide 
     matching funds for the development, expansion, or 
     continuation of qualified return preparation clinics.
       ``(b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
       ``(1) Qualified return preparation clinic.--
       ``(A) In general.--The term `qualified return preparation 
     clinic' means a clinic which--
       ``(i) does not charge more than a nominal fee for its 
     services (except for reimbursement of actual costs incurred), 
     and
       ``(ii) operates programs which assist low-income taxpayers, 
     including individuals for whom English is a second language, 
     in preparing and filing their Federal income tax returns, 
     including schedules reporting sole proprietorship or farm 
     income.
       ``(B) Assistance to low-income taxpayers.--A clinic is 
     treated as assisting low-income taxpayers under subparagraph 
     (A)(ii) if at least 90 percent of the taxpayers assisted by 
     the clinic have incomes which do not exceed 250 percent of 
     the poverty level, as determined in accordance with criteria 
     established by the Director of the Office of Management and 
     Budget.
       ``(2) Clinic.--The term `clinic' includes--
       ``(A) a clinical program at an eligible educational 
     institution (as defined in section 529(e)(5)) which satisfies 
     the requirements of paragraph (1) through student assistance 
     of taxpayers in return preparation and filing, and
       ``(B) an organization described in section 501(c) and 
     exempt from tax under section 501(a) which satisfies the 
     requirements of paragraph (1).
       ``(c) Special Rules and Limitations.--
       ``(1) Aggregate limitation.--Unless otherwise provided by 
     specific appropriation, the Secretary shall not allocate more 
     than $10,000,000 per year (exclusive of costs of 
     administering the program) to grants under this section.
       ``(2) Other applicable rules.--Rules similar to the rules 
     under paragraphs (2) through (7) of section 7526(c) shall 
     apply with respect to the awarding of grants to qualified 
     return preparation clinics.''.
       (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 
     77 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
     7526 the following new item:

``Sec. 7526A. Return preparation clinics for low-income taxpayers.''.

       (b) Grants for Taxpayer Representation and Assistance 
     Clinics.--
       (1) Increase in authorized grants.--Section 7526(c)(1) 
     (relating to aggregate limitation) is amended by striking 
     ``$6,000,000'' and inserting ``$10,000,000''.
       (2) Use of grants for overhead expenses prohibited.--
       (A) In general.--Section 7526(c) (relating to special rules 
     and limitations) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new paragraph:
       ``(6) Use of grants for overhead expenses prohibited.--No 
     grant made under this section may be used for the overhead 
     expenses of any clinic or of any institution sponsoring such 
     clinic.''.
       (B) Conforming amendments.--Section 7526(c)(5) is amended--
       (i) by inserting ``qualified'' before ``low-income'', and
       (ii) by striking the last sentence.
       (3) Promotion of clinics.--Section 7526(c), as amended by 
     paragraph (2), is amended by adding at the end the following 
     new paragraph:
       ``(7) Promotion of clinics.--The Secretary is authorized to 
     promote the benefits of and encourage the use of low-income 
     taxpayer clinics through the use of mass communications, 
     referrals, and other means.''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply to grants made after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act.

     SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF ENROLLED AGENT CREDENTIALS.

       Section 330 of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections 
     (c) and (d), respectively, and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(b) Any enrolled agents properly licensed to practice as 
     required under rules promulgated under subsection (a) shall 
     be allowed to use the credentials or designation as `enrolled 
     agent', `EA', or `E.A.'.''.

     SEC. 4. REGULATION OF FEDERAL TAX RETURN PREPARERS.

       (a) Authorization.--Section 330(a)(1) of title 31, United 
     States Code, is amended by inserting ``(including compensated 
     preparers of Federal tax returns, documents, and other 
     submissions)'' after ``representatives''.
       (b) Requirement.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 
     shall prescribe regulations under section 330 of title 31, 
     United States Code--
       (A) to regulate those compensated preparers not otherwise 
     regulated under regulations promulgated under such section on 
     the date of the enactment of this Act, and
       (B) to carry out the provisions of, and amendments made by, 
     this section.
       (2) Examination.--
       (A) In general.--In promulgating the regulations under 
     paragraph (1), the Secretary shall develop (or approve) and 
     administer an eligibility examination designed to test--
       (i) the technical knowledge and competency of each preparer 
     described in paragraph (1)(A)--

       (I) to prepare Federal tax returns, including individual 
     and business income tax returns, and
       (II) to properly claim the earned income tax credit under 
     section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect 
     to such individual returns, and

       (ii) the knowledge of each such preparer regarding such 
     ethical standards for the preparation of such returns as 
     determined appropriate by the Secretary.

[[Page 10259]]

       (B) State licensing or registration programs.--The 
     Secretary is authorized to accept an individual as meeting 
     the eligibility examination requirement of this section if, 
     in lieu of the eligibility examination under this section, 
     the individual passed--
       (i) a State licensing or State registration program 
     eligibility examination that is comparable to the eligibility 
     examination established by the Secretary, or
       (ii) an eligibility examination administered by an existing 
     organization for tax return preparers that is comparable to 
     the eligibility examination established by the Secretary if 
     such test was administered prior to the issuance of the 
     regulations under this section.
       (3) Continuing eligibility.--
       (A) In general.--The regulations under paragraph (1) shall 
     require a renewal of eligibility every 3 years and shall set 
     forth the manner in which a preparer described in paragraph 
     (1)(A) must renew such eligibility.
       (B) Continuing education requirements.--As part of the 
     renewal of eligibility, such regulations shall require that 
     each such preparer show evidence of completion of such 
     continuing education requirements as specified by the 
     Secretary.
       (C) Nonmonetary sanctions.--The regulations under paragraph 
     (1) shall provide for the suspension or termination of such 
     eligibility in the event of any failure to comply with the 
     requirements for such eligibility.
       (4) Penalty for unauthorized preparation of returns, etc.--
     In promulgating the regulations under paragraph (1), the 
     Secretary shall impose a penalty of $1,000 for each Federal 
     tax return, document, or other submission prepared by a 
     preparer described in paragraph (1)(A) who is not in 
     compliance with the requirements of paragraph (2) or (3) or 
     who is suspended or disbarred from practice before the 
     Department of the Treasury under such regulations. Such 
     penalty shall be in addition to any other penalty which may 
     be imposed.
       (c) Office of Professional Responsibility.--Section 330 of 
     title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
     the following new subsection:
       ``(e) Office of Professional Responsibility.--
       ``(1) In general.--There shall be in the Internal Revenue 
     Service an Office of Professional Responsibility the 
     functions of which shall be as prescribed by the Secretary of 
     the Treasury, including the carrying out of the purposes of 
     this section.
       ``(2) Director.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Office of Professional 
     Responsibility shall be under the supervision and direction 
     of an official known as the `Director, Office of Professional 
     Responsibility'. The Director, Office of Professional 
     Responsibility, shall report directly to the Commissioner of 
     Internal Revenue and shall be entitled to compensation at the 
     same rate as the highest rate of basic pay established for 
     the Senior Executive Service under section 5382 of title 5, 
     or, if the Secretary of the Treasury so determines, at a rate 
     fixed under section 9503 of such title.
       ``(B) Appointment.--The Director, Office of Professional 
     Responsibility, shall be appointed by the Secretary of the 
     Treasury without regard to the provisions of title 5 relating 
     to appointments in the competitive service or the Senior 
     Executive Service.
       ``(3) Hearing.--Any hearing on an action initiated by the 
     Director, Office of Professional Responsibility, to impose a 
     sanction under regulations promulgated under this section 
     shall be conducted in accordance with sections 556 and 557 of 
     title 5 by 1 or more administrative law judges appointed by 
     the Secretary of the Treasury under section 3105 of title 5.
       ``(4) Coordination with state sanction programs.--In 
     carrying out the purposes of this section, the Director, 
     Office of Professional Responsibility shall coordinate with 
     appropriate State officials in order to collect information 
     regarding representatives, employers, firms and other 
     entities which have been disciplined or suspended under State 
     or local rules.
       ``(5) Information on sanctions to be available to the 
     public.--
       ``(A) Sanctions initiated by action.--When an action is 
     initiated by the Director, Office of Professional 
     Responsibility, to impose a sanction under regulations 
     promulgated under this section, the pleadings, and the record 
     of the proceeding and hearing shall be open to the public 
     (subject to restrictions imposed under subparagraph (C)).
       ``(B) Sanction not initiated by action.--When a sanction 
     under regulations promulgated under this section (other than 
     a private reprimand) is imposed without initiation of an 
     action, the Director, Office of Professional Responsibility, 
     shall make available to the public information identifying 
     the representative, employer, firm, or other entity 
     sanctioned, as well as information about the conduct which 
     gave rise to the sanction (subject to restrictions imposed 
     under subparagraph (C)).
       ``(C) Restrictions on release of information.--Information 
     about clients of the representative, employer, firm, or other 
     entity and medical information with respect to the 
     representative shall not be released to the public or 
     discussed in an open hearing, except to the extent necessary 
     to understand the nature, scope, and impact of the conduct 
     giving rise to the sanction or proposed sanction. 
     Disagreements regarding the application of this subparagraph 
     shall be resolved by the administrative law judge or, when a 
     sanction is imposed without initiation of an action, by the 
     Director, Office of Professional Responsibility.
       ``(6) Fees.--Any fees imposed under regulations promulgated 
     under this section shall be available without fiscal year 
     limitation to the Office of Professional Responsibility for 
     the purpose of reimbursement of the costs of administering 
     and enforcing the requirements of such regulations.''.
       (d) Ban on Audit Insurance.--Section 330 of title 31, 
     United States Code, as amended by subsection (c), is amended 
     by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(f) Ban on Audit Insurance.--No person admitted to 
     practice before the Department of the Treasury may directly 
     or indirectly offer or provide insurance to cover 
     professional fees and other expenses incurred in responding 
     to or defending an audit by the Internal Revenue Service.''.
       (e) Penalties.--
       (1) Increase in certain penalties.--Subsections (a), (b), 
     and (c) of section 6695 (relating to other assessable 
     penalties with respect to the preparation of income tax 
     returns for other persons) are each amended by striking ``a 
     penalty of $50'' and all that follows and inserting ``a 
     penalty equal to--
       ``(1) $1,000, or
       ``(2) in the case of 3 or more such failures in a calendar 
     year, $500 for each such failure.

     The preceding sentence shall not apply with respect to any 
     failure if such failure is due to reasonable cause and not 
     due to willful neglect.''.
       (2) Use of penalties.--Unless specifically appropriated 
     otherwise, there is authorized to be appropriated and is 
     appropriated to the Office of Professional Responsibility for 
     each fiscal year for the administration of the public 
     awareness campaign described in subsection (g) an amount 
     equal to the penalties collected during the preceding fiscal 
     year under sections 6694 and 6695 of the Internal Revenue 
     Code of 1986 and under the regulations promulgated under 
     section 330 of title 31, United States Code (by reason of 
     subsection (b)(1)).
       (3) Review by the treasury inspector general for tax 
     administration.--Section 7803(d)(2)(A) is amended--
       (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (iii),
       (B) by striking the period at the end of clause (iv) and 
     inserting ``, and'', and
       (C) by adding at the end the following new clause:
       ``(v) a summary of the penalties assessed and collected 
     during the reporting period under sections 6694 and 6695 and 
     under the regulations promulgated under section 330 of title 
     31, United States Code, and a review of the procedures by 
     which violations are identified and penalties are assessed 
     under those sections,''.
       (f) Coordination With Section 6060(a).--The Secretary of 
     the Treasury shall coordinate the requirements under the 
     regulations promulgated under section 330 of title 31, United 
     States Code, with the return requirements of section 6060 of 
     the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
       (g) Public Awareness Campaign.--The Secretary of the 
     Treasury or the Secretary's delegate shall conduct a public 
     information and consumer education campaign, utilizing paid 
     advertising--
       (1) to encourage taxpayers to use for Federal tax matters 
     only professionals who establish their competency under the 
     regulations promulgated under section 330 of title 31, United 
     States Code, and
       (2) to inform the public of the requirements that any 
     compensated preparer of tax returns, documents, and 
     submissions subject to the requirements under the regulations 
     promulgated under such section must sign the return, 
     document, or submission prepared for a fee and display notice 
     of such preparer's compliance under such regulations.
       (h) Additional Funds Available for Compliance Activities.--
     The Secretary of the Treasury may use any specifically 
     appropriated funds for earned income tax credit compliance to 
     improve and expand enforcement of the regulations promulgated 
     under section 330 of title 31, United States Code.
       (i) Additional Certification on Documents Other Than 
     Returns.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall require that 
     each document or other submission filed with the Internal 
     Revenue Service (other than a return signed by the taxpayer) 
     shall be signed under penalty of perjury and the identifying 
     number of any paid preparer who prepared such document (if 
     any) under rules similar to the rules under section 
     6109(a)(4).

     SEC. 5. CONTRACT AUTHORITY FOR EXAMINATIONS OF PREPARERS.

       The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to contract for 
     the development or administration, or both, of any 
     examinations under the regulations promulgated under section 
     330 of title 31, United States Code.

     SEC. 6. REGULATION OF REFUND ANTICIPATION LOAN FACILITATORS.

       (a) Regulation of Refund Anticipation Loan Facilitators.--
       (1) In general.--Chapter 77 (relating to miscellaneous 
     provisions) is amended by inserting at the end the following 
     new section:

[[Page 10260]]



     ``SEC. 7529. REFUND ANTICIPATION LOAN FACILITATORS.

       ``(a) Registration.--Each refund loan facilitator shall 
     register with the Secretary on an annual basis. As a part of 
     such registration, each refund loan facilitator shall provide 
     the Secretary with the name, address, and taxpayer 
     identification number of such facilitator, and the fee 
     schedule of such facilitator for the year of such 
     registration.
       ``(b) Disclosure.--Each refund loan facilitator shall 
     disclose to a taxpayer both orally and on a separate written 
     form at the time such taxpayer applies for a refund 
     anticipation loan the following information:
       ``(1) Nature of the transaction.--The refund loan 
     facilitator shall disclose--
       ``(A) that the taxpayer is applying for a loan that is 
     based upon the taxpayer's anticipated income tax refund,
       ``(B) the expected time within which the loan will be paid 
     to the taxpayer if such loan is approved,
       ``(C) the time frame in which income tax refunds are 
     typically paid based upon the different filing options 
     available to the taxpayer,
       ``(D) that there is no guarantee that a refund will be paid 
     in full or received within a specified time period and that 
     the taxpayer is responsible for the repayment of the loan 
     even if the refund is not paid in full or has been delayed,
       ``(E) if the refund loan facilitator has an agreement with 
     another refund loan facilitator (or any lender working in 
     conjunction with another refund loan facilitator) to offset 
     outstanding liabilities for previous refund anticipation 
     loans provided by such other refund loan facilitator, that 
     any refund paid to the taxpayer may be so offset and the 
     implication of any such offset,
       ``(F) that the taxpayer may file an electronic return 
     without applying for a refund anticipation loan and the fee 
     for filing such an electronic return, and
       ``(G) that the loan may have substantial fees and interest 
     charges that may exceed those of other sources of credit and 
     the taxpayer should carefully consider--
       ``(i) whether such a loan is appropriate for the taxpayer, 
     and
       ``(ii) other sources of credit.
       ``(2) Fees and interest.--The refund loan facilitator shall 
     disclose all refund anticipation loan fees with respect to 
     the refund anticipation loan. Such disclosure shall include--
       ``(A) a copy of the fee schedule of the refund loan 
     facilitator,
       ``(B) the typical fees and interest rates (using annual 
     percentage rates as defined by section 107 of the Truth in 
     Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1606)) for several typical amounts of 
     such loans and of other types of consumer credit,
       ``(C) typical fees and interest charges if a refund is not 
     paid or delayed, and
       ``(D) the amount of a fee (if any) that will be charged if 
     the loan is not approved.
       ``(3) Other information.--The refund loan facilitator shall 
     disclose any other information required to be disclosed by 
     the Secretary.
       ``(c) Fines and Sanctions.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may impose a monetary 
     penalty on any refund loan facilitator who--
       ``(A) fails to register under subsection (a), or
       ``(B) fails to disclose any information required under 
     subsection (b).
       ``(2) Maximum monetary penalty.--Any monetary penalty 
     imposed under paragraph (1) shall not exceed--
       ``(A) in the case of a failure to register, the gross 
     income derived from all refund anticipation loans made during 
     the period the refund loan facilitator was not registered, 
     and
       ``(B) in the case of a failure to disclose information, the 
     gross income derived from all refund anticipation loans with 
     respect to which such failure applied.
       ``(3) Reasonable cause exceptions.--No penalty may be 
     imposed under this subsection with respect to any failure if 
     it is shown that such failure is due to reasonable cause.
       ``(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
       ``(1) Refund loan facilitator.--
       ``(A) In general.--The term `refund loan facilitator' means 
     any electronic return originator who--
       ``(i) solicits for, processes, receives, or accepts 
     delivery of an application for a refund anticipation loan, or
       ``(ii) facilitates the making of a refund anticipation loan 
     in any other manner.
       ``(B) Electronic return originator.--For purposes of 
     subparagraph (A), the term `electronic return originator' 
     means a person who originates the electronic submission of 
     income tax returns for another person.
       ``(2) Refund anticipation loan.--The term `refund 
     anticipation loan' means any loan of money or any other thing 
     of value to a taxpayer in connection with the taxpayer's 
     anticipated receipt of a Federal tax refund. Such term 
     includes a loan secured by the tax refund or an arrangement 
     to repay a loan from the tax refund.
       ``(3) Refund anticipation loan fees.--The term `refund 
     anticipation loan fees' means the fees, charges, interest, 
     and other consideration charged or imposed by the lender or 
     facilitator for the making of a refund anticipation loan.
       ``(e) Regulations.--The Secretary may prescribe such 
     regulations as necessary to implement the requirements of 
     this section.''.
       (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 
     77, as amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the end 
     the following new item:

``Sec. 7529. Refund anticipation loan facilitators.''.

       (b) Disclosure of Penalty.--Section 6103(k) (relating to 
     disclosure of certain returns and return information for tax 
     administration purposes) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new paragraph:
       ``(10) Disclosure of penalties on refund anticipation loan 
     facilitators.--The Secretary may disclose the name and 
     employer (including the employer's address) of any person 
     with respect to whom a penalty has been imposed under section 
     7529 and the amount of any such penalty.''.
       (c) Use of Penalties.--Unless specifically appropriated 
     otherwise, there is authorized to be appropriated and is 
     appropriated to the Internal Revenue Service for each fiscal 
     year for the administration of the public awareness campaign 
     described in subsection (d) an amount equal to the penalties 
     collected during the preceding fiscal year under section 7529 
     of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
       (d) Public Awareness Campaign.--The Secretary of the 
     Treasury or the Secretary's delegate shall conduct a public 
     information and consumer education campaign, utilizing paid 
     advertising, to educate the public on making sound financial 
     decisions with respect to refund anticipation loans (as 
     defined under section 7529 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986), including the need to compare--
       (1) the rates and fees of such loans with the rates and 
     fees of conventional loans; and
       (2) the amount of money received under the loan after 
     taking into consideration such costs and fees with the total 
     amount of the refund.
       (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act.
       (f) Termination of Debt Indicator Program.--The Secretary 
     of the Treasury shall terminate the Debt Indicator program 
     announced in Internal Revenue Service Notice 9958 and may not 
     implement any similar program.

     SEC. 7. TAXPAYER ACCESS TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

       (a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary of the 
     Treasury is authorized to award demonstration project grants 
     (including multi-year grants) to eligible entities which 
     partner with volunteer and low-income preparation 
     organizations to provide tax preparation services and 
     assistance in connection with establishing an account in a 
     federally insured depository institution for individuals that 
     currently do not have such an account.
       (b) Eligible Entities.--
       (1) In general.--An entity is eligible to receive a grant 
     under this section if such an entity is--
       (A) an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under 
     section 501(a) of such Code,
       (B) a federally insured depository institution,
       (C) an agency of a State or local government,
       (D) a community development financial institution,
       (E) an Indian tribal organization,
       (F) an Alaska Native Corporation,
       (G) a Native Hawaiian organization,
       (H) a labor organization, or
       (I) a partnership comprised of 1 or more of the entities 
     described in the preceding subparagraphs.
       (2) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
       (A) Federally insured depository institution.--The term 
     ``federally insured depository institution'' means any 
     insured depository institution (as defined in section 3 of 
     the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)) and any 
     insured credit union (as defined in section 101 of the 
     Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752)).
       (B) Community development financial institution.--The term 
     ``community development financial institution'' means any 
     organization that has been certified as such pursuant to 
     section 1805.201 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations.
       (C) Alaska native corporation.--The term ``Alaska Native 
     Corporation'' has the same meaning as the term ``Native 
     Corporation'' under section 3(m) of the Alaska Native Claims 
     Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602(m)).
       (D) Native hawaiian organization.--The term ``Native 
     Hawaiian organization'' means any organization that--
       (i) serves and represents the interests of Native 
     Hawaiians, and
       (ii) has as a primary and stated purpose the provision of 
     services to Native Hawaiians.
       (E) Labor organization.--The term ``labor organization'' 
     means an organization--

[[Page 10261]]

       (i) in which employees participate,
       (ii) which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of 
     dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, 
     wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of 
     work, and
       (iii) which is described in section 501(c)(5) of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
       (c) Application.--An eligible entity desiring a grant under 
     this section shall submit an application to the Secretary of 
     the Treasury in such form and containing such information as 
     the Secretary may require.
       (d) Limitation on Administrative Costs.--A recipient of a 
     grant under this section may not use more than 6 percent of 
     the total amount of such grant in any fiscal year for the 
     administrative costs of carrying out the programs funded by 
     such grant in such fiscal year.
       (e) Evaluation and Report.--For each fiscal year in which a 
     grant is awarded under this section, the Secretary of the 
     Treasury shall submit a report to Congress containing a 
     description of the activities funded, amounts distributed, 
     and measurable results, as appropriate and available.
       (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Treasury, for the 
     grant program described in this section, $10,000,000, or such 
     additional amounts as deemed necessary, to remain available 
     until expended.
       (g) Regulations.--The Secretary of the Treasury is 
     authorized to promulgate regulations to implement and 
     administer the grant program under this section.
       (h) Study on Delivery of Tax Refunds.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury, in 
     consultation with the National Taxpayer Advocate, shall 
     conduct a study on the payment of tax refunds through 
     Treasury debit cards or other electronic means to assist 
     individuals that do not have access to financial accounts or 
     institutions.
       (2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
     submit a report to Congress containing the result of the 
     study conducted under subsection (a).

     SEC. 8. CLARIFICATION OF TAXPAYER ASSISTANCE ORDER AUTHORITY.

       (a) In General.--Section 7811(b)(2) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as 
     subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively, and
       (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following new 
     subparagraph:
       ``(C) chapter 74 (relating to closing agreements and 
     compromises),''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply to orders issued after the date of the enactment 
     of this Act.

     SEC. 9. CLARIFICATION OF STANDARDS FOR EVALUATION OF 
                   COMPROMISE OFFERS.

       Section 7122(d)(1) is amended--
       (1) by inserting ``based on doubt as to liability, doubt as 
     to collectibility, or equitable consideration'' after 
     ``dispute'', and
       (2) by inserting at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(4) Equitable consideration.--In prescribing guidelines 
     under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall compromise a 
     liability to promote effective tax administration when it is 
     inequitable to collect any unpaid tax (or any portion 
     thereof, including penalties and interest) based on all of 
     the facts and circumstances, including--
       ``(A) whether the taxpayer acted reasonably, responsibly, 
     and in good faith under the circumstances, such as, by taking 
     reasonable actions to avoid or mitigate the tax liability or 
     delayed resolution of such liability,
       ``(B) whether the taxpayer is a victim of a bad act by a 
     third party or any other unexpected event that significantly 
     contributed to the tax liability or delayed resolution of 
     such liability,
       ``(C) whether the taxpayer has a recent history of 
     compliance with tax filing and payment obligations (before 
     and after the situation that led to the current tax 
     liability) or has a reasonable explanation for previous 
     noncompliance,
       ``(D) whether any Internal Revenue Service processing 
     errors, systemic or employee-related, led to or significantly 
     contributed to the tax liability,
       ``(E) whether the Internal Revenue Service action or 
     inaction has unreasonably delayed resolution of the tax 
     liability, and
       ``(F) any other fact or circumstance that would lead a 
     reasonable person to conclude that a compromise would be 
     fair, equitable, and in the best interest of tax 
     administration.''.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. KERRY:
  S. 1221. A bill to provide for the enactment of comprehensive health 
care reform; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, this week thousands of business owners, 
union members, faith leaders, physicians, nurses, and patients will 
come together in Washington and in each of the 50 States to demand 
immediate action to fix our Nation's growing health insurance crisis. 
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's fifth annual Cover the Uninsured 
Week will once again call attention to the 45 million of our neighbors, 
co-workers and friends--including 11 million children under age 21--who 
live without any health care coverage. Unable to afford doctor's visits 
and prescription drugs, they live day to day in fear that a child will 
get sick or suffer an accident. No family in this  great Nation should 
have to live in such fear.
  Understandably, the focus of Cover the Uninsured Week this year is on 
the great opportunity presenting this Congress to expand coverage to 
millions of America's uninsured children through the reauthorization 
and expansion of the successful, bipartisan State Children's Health 
Insurance Program. This is the number one domestic budget priority for 
me and for the new Democratic Congress.
  In a given year, uninsured kids are only half as likely to receive 
any medical care. That neglect leads to chronic disease. Uninsured kids 
also cost us productivity when parents must choose between working and 
caring for a sick child without the help of a doctor. Kids in public 
insurance programs perform 68 percent better in school, and insuring 
all of them would reduce avoidable hospitalizations by 22 percent.
  But while kids are undoubtedly our first priority, we must take care 
not to lose sight of our ultimate objective: Ensuring that every single 
man, woman, and child in America has affordable and meaningful health 
insurance coverage. The fact is that denying health insurance is not 
just immoral, it's ultimately more costly than insuring them. In the 
long run, this is an obvious choice.
  But we do not have time to wait for the long run. Our businesses, 
families, and health care providers need relief immediately from the 
insecurity, inefficiency, and inequity bred by a system which insures 
too few at too high a cost.
  Therefore, I am introducing today the ``Countdown to Coverage Act of 
2007.'' It's simple: The Countdown to Coverage Act requires Congress to 
pass legislation by the end of the 111th session that will ensure all 
Americans have quality, affordable health care coverage. If Congress 
fails to act, members will become responsible for 100 percent of the 
cost of their own plan through FEHBP.
  Senators and Congressmen give ourselves the very best health care 
coverage, and it's American taxpayers who foot the bill. Now, Congress 
needs to step up and pass universal health care coverage by 2011--or 
pay the price and pick up the cost of our own health care ourselves. 45 
million people--11 million kids--without health insurance is 
unacceptable in the richest country in the world. Every American 
deserves the kind of quality care that Senators and Congressmen give 
themselves, and this bill sets a deadline for members of Congress to 
take real action.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the legislation be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1221

       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 ``Countdown to Coverage Act of 
     2007''.

     SEC. 2. COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH CARE REFORM.

       (a) In General.--If a provision of law that ensures 
     accessible, affordable, and meaningful health insurance for 
     all Americans is not enacted before the adjournment, sine 
     die, of the 111th Congress, as determined by Institute of 
     Medicine, there shall be no Government contribution under 
     section 8906 of title 5, United States Code, for any Member 
     of Congress and any Member of Congress shall pay 100 percent 
     of all premiums for any health benefits plan under chapter 89 
     of that title.
       (b) Notification.--The Institute of Medicine shall submit 
     timely notice to the Office of Personnel Management, the 
     Secretary of the Senate, and the Chief Administrative Officer 
     of the House of Representatives of--
       (1) the determination that a provision of law has not been 
     enacted before the adjournment, sine die, of the 111th 
     Congress, as described under subsection (a); and
       (2) the dates and adjustments that are required to take 
     effect under this Act.

[[Page 10262]]

       (c) Adjustments.--After receiving notice under subsection 
     (b), the Office of Personnel Management, the Secretary of the 
     Senate, and the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of 
     Representatives shall make such adjustments as may be 
     necessary on the first day of the first applicable pay period 
     beginning on or after the date of that notice.
       (d) Regulations.--The Office of Personnel Management may 
     prescribe regulations to carry out this section.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. OBAMA (for himself and Mr. Durbin):
  S. 1222. A bill to stop mortgage transactions which operate to 
promote fraud, risk, abuse, and under-development, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I rise today to reintroduce legislation to 
protect American consumers and homeowners from fraudulent and abusive 
mortgage lending practices. Mortgage fraud and abuse are growing 
problems in this country, problems that are depriving thousands of 
Americans of their dream of homeownership and often their hard-earned 
life savings. These problems are also costing the mortgage industry 
hundreds of millions of dollars each year and making the housing 
market, which is critical to our economy and the stability of our 
neighborhoods, more vulnerable.
  Although the data in this area is limited, mortgage fraud, which 
takes a variety of forms from inflated appraisals to the use of straw 
buyers, is a growing problem. In September of 2002, the FBI had 436 
mortgage fraud investigations. Currently, they have more than 1,036--an 
increase of 137 percent in less than 5 years. And of the 1,036 current 
cases, more than half have expected losses of more than $1 million. 
This is due largely to the housing boom which has driven up housing 
prices across the country. Nearly $2.37 trillion in mortgage loans were 
made during 2006, and the number may be even higher this year.
  But mortgage fraud is not just about dollars and statistics; it's 
about real people, real homes, and real lives. I first introduced this 
legislation last year after my hometown Chicago Tribune featured a 
series of articles about mortgage fraud in Illinois, which, along with 
Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Michigan, California, 
Nevada, Colorado and Utah, is among the FBI's top-ten mortgage fraud 
``hot spots.''
  The Tribune stories highlighted the plight of the good folks on May 
Street in Chicago, who saw a block's worth of homes go boarded up in 
the span of a just few years, as swindlers racked up hundreds of 
thousands of dollars in bad loans. The shells of houses were left 
behind as sad reminders of broken dreams. The Tribune highlighted the 
plight of 75-year-old Ruth Williams, who had to spend her personal 
funds to clear the title to her home after fraudsters secured $400,000 
in loans on three buildings they didn't own. A recent Tribune 
investigation turned up a 91-year-old woman defrauded into signing away 
her brick Chicago home, her sole asset, leaving her with nothing.
  Law enforcement, consumer groups and many in the mortgage industry 
are working extremely hard to combat fraud and abusive lending 
practices. I applaud their good work. Now, Congress should come to the 
table and do its part, and I'm pleased to introduce legislation today 
with my good friend Senator Durbin to address this important issue.
  The STOP FRAUD Act, which was first introduced in February 2006, is 
aimed at stopping mortgage transactions which operate to promote fraud, 
risk, abuse and underdevelopment. This year, the bill includes new 
provisions to protect the legal rights of borrowers with particularly 
risky subprime loans. The Act provides the first Federal definition of 
mortgage fraud and authorizes stiff criminal penalties against 
fraudulent actors. STOP FRAUD requires a wide range of mortgage 
professionals to report suspected fraudulent activity, and gives these 
same professionals safe harbor from liability when they report 
suspicious incidents. It also authorizes several grant programs to help 
State and local law enforcement fight fraud, provide the mortgage 
industry with updates on fraud trends, and further support the 
Departments of Treasury, Justice and Housing and Urban Development's 
fraud-fighting efforts.
  At a time when many homeowners are concerned about losing their home 
to foreclosure, and policymakers are worried about fraudulent, 
deceptive, and even just plain confusing lending practices that are 
roiling communities across the country, STOP FRAUD provides $25 million 
for housing counseling. The Department of Housing and Urban Development 
will contract with public or private organization to provide 
information, advice, counseling, and technical assistance to tenants, 
homeowners, and other consumers with respect to mortgage fraud and 
other activities that are likely to increase the risk of foreclosure.
  The Act also protects the legal rights of borrowers with risky, 
subprime loans. The greatest growth in the mortgage lending market is 
in subprime loans and some have estimated that more than 2 million 
homeowners with subprime mortgages are at risk of losing their homes. 
If a borrower receives a subprime mortgage with any one of several 
high-risk characteristics, the Act protects the rights of borrowers to 
challenge lending practices in foreclosure proceedings. The high-risk 
characteristics targeted by this Act include loans for which the 
borrower does not have the ability to repay at the maximum rate of 
interest, loans whose true long-term costs are not clearly disclosed to 
the borrower, stated-income and no-documentation loans, and loans with 
unreasonable prepayment penalties.
  Many States are actively trying to prevent a wave of expected 
foreclosures as housing prices stop rising while adjustable rates on 
many risk loans start rising. STOP FRAUD instructs the Government 
Accountability Office to evaluate the various State initiatives and 
report to Congress on lending practices and regulations related to 
mortgage fraud and deception, predatory lending, and homeownership 
preservation efforts.
  We cannot sit on the sidelines while increasing numbers of American 
families face the risk of losing their homes. There is excellent work 
being done by the Banking Committees in the House and Senate to tackle 
some of the thorniest and most challenging problems affecting the 
mortgage industry today. I look forward to working with my colleagues 
on comprehensive legislation to protect consumers and strengthen the 
housing market. The STOP FRAUD Act is just the beginning of an 
important Federal response. It is a tough, cost-effective, and balanced 
way to address the serious problem of mortgage fraud in our country and 
to provide additional protections for vulnerable borrowers. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in this important effort.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Carper, and Mr. 
        Pryor):
  S. 1223. A bill to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act to support efforts by local or regional 
television or radio broadcasters to provide essential public 
information programming in the event of a major disaster, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I come to the floor to speak about the 
First Response Broadcasters Act, legislation I am introducing today 
along with Senators Stevens, Carper and Pryor.
  As my State suffered the devastating impact of Hurricanes Katrina and 
Rita and the levee breaks that followed, we learned that one of the 
most vital relief supplies is information. In providing it, all of our 
local media--newspapers, broadcasters and web sites included--did 
amazing work to keep the people of my State informed, even when 
displaced thousands of miles away. But with phone lines down and 
streets too flooded to move around, the sound of a local radio or 
television station was for many of my constituents the only voice in 
those first few dark nights after the hurricanes. Our local 
broadcasters provided life-saving information and comfort when both 
were

[[Page 10263]]

needed the most. Many of them worked through unimaginable technical and 
emotional obstacles, staying on the air as their facilities and staff 
homes were destroyed, and loved ones remained missing.
  With the entire industry dependent on public airwaves, broadcasters 
have a duty to serve the public in times of crisis. As local radio and 
television stations stand up, as so many did, to put commercial 
interests aside to serve the public interest, the federal government 
should be ready to stand with them. This is not a new partnership.
  Under laws going back to 1951, radio and television stations are 
today required to participate in the national Emergency Alert System 
(EAS), and many stations have protected, government-funded circuits 
connecting them to emergency command centers. This legislation would 
directly connect more stations nationwide to this network by 
authorizing $6.5 million to FEMA to set up Primary Entry Point radio 
stations in another twenty five states and U.S. territories. Currently 
there are thirty-two stations and two under development in Alabama and 
Mississippi.
  A Primary Entry Point (PEP) station is a radio broadcast station 
designated to provide public information following national and local 
emergencies where there is no commercial power. For example, WWL Radio 
in New Orleans was the only PEP station in the Gulf Coast after Katrina 
and it provided radio broadcasts for two weeks after the storm until 
commercial power was restored. FEMA commissioned recommendations from 
the Primary Entry Point Advisory Committee, a non-profit group they set 
up to oversee the stations, and just needs the additional funds to 
build the additional facilities. Included in the findings of the 
legislation is a comprehensive list of the states that are currently 
without PEP stations and which would benefit from this provision. There 
are also States which have PEP stations, but because of geographic 
limitations, require an additional station to fully cover the State. 
This bill would provide those two additional stations in Kansas and 
Florida.
  But what good is this successful emergency information chain if the 
last link fails? By technical necessity, this last link is right in the 
disaster's path. Simply put, the transmitter needs to be in the same 
area as the people in need of warning. Despite our Federal investments 
in the emergency system and entry point stations, there were several 
Gulf Coast broadcasters after the hurricanes that could not stay on the 
air simply because the government took their fuel away. They were told 
they weren't on the list.''
  This legislation puts these broadcasters on the list, where they 
belong. To protect vital broadcast infrastructure and encourage more 
broadcasters to deploy disaster-resistant telecommunications equipment, 
this bill would also create a 3-year pilot program managed by the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide annual matching grants 
to qualified First Response Broadcasters for the protection and 
reinforcement of critical-to-air facilities and infrastructure. The 
program would receive $10 million per year to fund matching program 
grants, and grants could also be used for projects to enhance essential 
disaster-related public information services.
  As the program encourages both disaster preparedness and community 
coordination, increased scoring would be granted to applications from 
broadcasters who form cooperative proposals with other broadcasters in 
the area or those who submit plans in conjunction with local or State 
governments. Priority scoring would also be given to applicants in 
disaster-prone areas and also based on the public service merits of the 
broadcasters disaster programming plan.
  No disaster warning, evacuation plan or emergency instruction matters 
if it can't get to the people who need it. This is why the Federal 
Communications Commission and a presidential advisory panel have each 
recommended we take steps to keep these lifesaving broadcasts on the 
air.
  In particular, this bill would require that the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency and other Federal response agencies, in coordination 
with State and local authorities and the National Guard, honor press 
access guidelines and credentials set by the local governing authority 
in the declared disaster area. For example, if the City of New Orleans 
issued press credentials before the disaster and the city decided to 
continue honoring them post-disaster, FEMA officials operating in the 
area would be required to honor those credentials as well. The local 
entity, at its own discretion, would be able to request that this 
credentialing authority be passed instead to federal or state 
officials.
  Along these same lines, the bill would also direct the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency to coordinate with local and State agencies 
to allow access, where practicable and not impeding recovery or 
endangering public safety, into the disaster area for personnel and 
equipment essential to restoring or maintaining critical-to-air 
broadcast infrastructure. The priority policies and procedures for this 
coordination would be similar to those practiced for restoring public 
utilities, and would include access for refueling generators and re-
supplying critical facilities.
  For all journalists working to tell the story-newspapers and web 
sites included-the First Response Broadcasters Act makes sure that the 
local officials, who know local reporters best, decide where the 
journalists can go, not some Washington bureaucrat who just stepped off 
the plane.
  In closing, I would like to submit for the record the stories of a 
few incredible broadcasters who through recent disasters have 
demonstrated exactly the type of response this bill is intended to 
encourage. I would also like to submit for the record a list of 
organizations which have already endorsed this legislation-including 
the state broadcasting associations from every one of the 50 states and 
the District of Columbia.
  Broadcasters have a duty to the American people to spread the word in 
times of crisis. No one else can do it. They are already a key part of 
our national emergency response plan, and have been for more than 50 
years. This bill merely reinforces this fact and secures the logical 
extension of commitments already made by Federal government. We have a 
responsibility to make sure the tools are protected to make the system 
work.
  Broadcasters are first responders--and with this bill today, we will 
strengthen our essential partnership with them for the benefit of all 
Americans. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation 
and ask unanimous consent that the text of the legislation, the 
broadcaster stories, and a list of the organizations already supporting 
this bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1223

       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 ``First Response Broadcasters 
     Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) in the periods before, during, and after major 
     disasters that occurred not long before the date of enactment 
     of this Act (including Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and 
     the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001), local media 
     organizations (including newspapers, public and private 
     broadcasters, and online publications) provided a valuable 
     public service by transmitting and publishing disaster-
     related information, guidance, and assistance;
       (2) local broadcasters, public and private, provided a 
     particularly valuable public service by transmitting 
     evacuation instructions, warnings of impending threats, 
     timely response status updates, and other essential 
     information related to such major disasters to listeners and 
     viewers to whom other forms of media were often unavailable 
     or inaccessible;
       (3) an inability to access a disaster area may impede the 
     ability of local media organizations to provide such public 
     services;
       (4) according to the report by the Committee on Homeland 
     Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, titled 
     ``Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared'',

[[Page 10264]]

     dated May 2006, ``It is essential that the news media receive 
     accurate disaster information to circulate to the public. 
     News media can also help inform the public by reporting on 
     rumors and soliciting evidence and comment on their 
     plausibility, if any'';
       (5) according to testimony provided on September 22, 2005, 
     to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
     the Senate, an estimated 100 Gulf Coast broadcast stations 
     were unable to broadcast as a result of Hurricane Katrina, 
     with approximately 28 percent of television stations and 
     approximately 35 percent of radio stations unable to 
     broadcast in the area affected by Hurricane Katrina;
       (6) according to testimony provided on September 7, 2005, 
     to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
     Representatives, following Hurricane Katrina only 4 of the 41 
     radio broadcast stations in the New Orleans metropolitan area 
     remained on the air in the immediate aftermath of that 
     hurricane;
       (7) the only television station in New Orleans to continue 
     transmitting its over-the-air signal uninterrupted during and 
     after Hurricane Katrina was able to do so only as a direct 
     result of steps taken to better protect its transmitter and 
     provide redundant production facilities in the region;
       (8) fuel and other supply shortages inhibit the ability of 
     a broadcaster to stay on the air and provide essential public 
     information following a major disaster;
       (9) according to the report by the Committee on Homeland 
     Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, titled 
     ``Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared'', dated May 
     2006, there were instances of Federal authorities 
     confiscating privately-purchased fuel supplies in the area 
     affected by Hurricane Katrina;
       (10) the ability of several broadcasters in Mississippi to 
     remain on the air was unduly compromised by the confiscation 
     of their privately-purchased fuel supplies;
       (11) practices put in place following Hurricane Andrew to 
     involve broadcasters in disaster response and expedite access 
     by broadcast engineers to disaster areas for the purpose of 
     repairing critical-to-air facilities and infrastructure has 
     significantly increased the ability of broadcasters in 
     Florida to continue transmitting essential public information 
     during subsequent major disasters;
       (12) a June 12, 2006, report to the Federal Communications 
     Commission from the Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of 
     Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks recommends that 
     cable and broadcasting infrastructure providers, and their 
     contracted workers, be afforded emergency responder status 
     under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
     Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) and that this 
     designation would remedy many of the access and fuel sharing 
     issues that hampered industry efforts to quickly repair 
     infrastructure following Hurricane Katrina;
       (13) the partnership of competing radio broadcasters in the 
     wake of Hurricane Katrina, casting aside commercial interests 
     to provide uninterrupted, redundant public information 
     programming from multiple transmission facilities, served the 
     public well and for many hurricane victims was the only 
     source of disaster-related information for many days;
       (14) other similar models for regional broadcaster 
     cooperation nationwide, such as the initiative by 3 public 
     and private radio groups to cooperatively produce essential 
     disaster-related programming in eastern and central Maine, 
     will further prepare the industry to effectively respond to 
     major disasters;
       (15) following Hurricane Katrina, a Primary Entry Point 
     station in Louisiana, operating only on generator power until 
     commercial power was restored 2 weeks after the disaster, was 
     instrumental in providing life-saving information to the 
     general public throughout the area as battery-operated radios 
     were the only source of official news and information;
       (16) as of April 18, 2007, there were 24 States with 1 
     Primary Entry Point station, 4 States with 2 Primary Entry 
     point stations, 2 Primary Entry Point stations located in 
     territories of the United States, and 2 Primary Entry Point 
     stations under development in Alabama and Mississippi;
       (17) in the event of a man-made or natural disaster, it is 
     essential to provide for Primary Entry Point stations in any 
     State or territory where there is not a facility, meaning an 
     additional 23 stations are required, located in--
       (A) Arkansas;
       (B) Connecticut;
       (C) Delaware;
       (D) the District of Columbia;
       (E) Indiana;
       (F) Iowa;
       (G) Kentucky;
       (H) Maine;
       (I) Michigan;
       (J) Nebraska;
       (K) New Hampshire;
       (L) New Jersey;
       (M) Oklahoma;
       (N) Oregon;
       (O) Pennsylvania;
       (P) Rhode Island;
       (Q) South Dakota;
       (R) Vermont;
       (S) West Virginia;
       (T) Wisconsin;
       (U) American Samoa;
       (V) the Northern Mariana Islands; and
       (W) Guam; and
       (18) in the event of a man-made or natural disaster, it is 
     essential to provide for the Primary Entry Point stations in 
     larger States where there is currently a facility, but an 
     additional station is required to ensure full sufficient 
     geographic coverage, meaning 2 stations are required, located 
     in--
       (A) Kansas; and
       (B) Florida.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act--
       (1) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
     the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
       (2) the term ``disaster area'' means an area in which the 
     President has declared a major disaster, during the period of 
     that declaration;
       (3) the term ``first response broadcaster'' means a local 
     or regional television or radio broadcaster that provides 
     essential disaster-related public information programming 
     before, during, and after the occurrence of a major disaster;
       (4) the term ``major disaster'' has the meaning given the 
     term in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
     and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122); and
       (5) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security.

     SEC. 4. PRIMARY ENTRY POINT STATIONS.

       (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
     $6,500,000 to the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency for facility and equipment expenses to 
     construct an additional 25 Primary Entry Point stations in 
     the continental United States and territories.
       (b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``Primary Entry 
     Point station'' means a radio broadcast station designated to 
     provide public information following national and local 
     emergencies where there is no commercial power.

     SEC. 5. BROADCAST DISASTER PREPAREDNESS GRANT PROGRAM.

       (a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``pilot 
     program'' means the Broadcast Disaster Preparedness Grant 
     Program established under subsection (b).
       (b) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a 
     pilot program under which the Administrator may make grants 
     to first response broadcasters, to be known as the 
     ``Broadcast Disaster Preparedness Grant Program''.
       (c) Priority.--The Administrator may give priority to an 
     application for a grant under the pilot program that--
       (1) is submitted--
       (A) on behalf of more than 1 first response broadcaster 
     operating in an area;
       (B) in cooperation with State or local authorities;
       (C) on behalf of a first response broadcaster with 50 
     employees or less;
       (D) on behalf of a first response broadcaster that is 
     principally owned and operated by individuals residing within 
     the State, county, parish, or municipality in which the 
     broadcaster is located; or
       (2) provides, in writing, a statement of the intention of 
     the applicant to provide disaster-related programming 
     dedicated to essential public information purposes before, 
     during, and after a major disaster.
       (d) Use of Funds.--A grant under the pilot program shall be 
     used by a first response broadcaster to--
       (1) protect or provide redundancy for facilities and 
     infrastructure, including transmitters and other at-risk 
     equipment (as determined by the Administrator), critical to 
     the ability of that first response broadcaster to continue to 
     produce and transmit essential disaster-related public 
     information programming; or
       (2) upgrade or add facilities or equipment that will 
     enhance or expand the ability of the first responder 
     broadcaster to acquire, produce, or transmit essential 
     disaster-related public information programming.
       (e) Federal Share.--The Federal share of an activity 
     carried out with a grant under this section shall be not more 
     than 50 percent.
       (f) Termination.--The authority to make grants under the 
     pilot program shall terminate at the end of the third full 
     fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the pilot 
     program $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 
     2010.

     SEC. 6. FIRST RESPONSE BROADCASTER ACCESS FOLLOWING A MAJOR 
                   DISASTER.

       (a) Access.--Section 403 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
     Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170b) is 
     amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by inserting ``(including 
     providing fuel, food, water, and other supplies to first 
     response broadcasters, after providing essential emergency 
     services, health care, and utility restoration services)'' 
     before the semicolon at the end; and
       (2) in subsection (c)(6)--
       (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as 
     subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively; and

[[Page 10265]]

       (B) by inserting before subparagraph (B), as so 
     redesignated, the following:
       ``(A) First response broadcaster.--The term `first response 
     broadcaster' has the meaning given that term in section 
     707.''.
       (b) Confiscation.--Title VII of the Robert T. Stafford 
     Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5201 
     et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``SEC. 707. CONFISCATION FROM FIRST RESPONSE BROADCASTERS.

       ``(a) Definition.--In this section, the term `first 
     response broadcaster' means a local or regional television or 
     radio broadcaster that provides essential disaster-related 
     public information programming before, during, and after a 
     major disaster.
       ``(b) In General.--In the event of a major disaster, and to 
     the extent practicable and consistent with not endangering 
     public safety, a Federal officer or employee may not 
     confiscate fuel, water, or food from a first response 
     broadcaster if that first response broadcaster adequately 
     documents that such supplies will be used to enable that 
     broadcast first responder to broadcast essential disaster-
     related public information programming in the area affected 
     by that major disaster.''.
       (c) Restoration of Services.--The Robert T. Stafford 
     Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 
     et seq.) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating section 425 (42 U.S.C. 5189e) 
     (relating to essential service providers) as section 427; and
       (2) in section 427, as so redesignated, by adding at the 
     end the following:
       ``(d) First Response Broadcasters.--
       ``(1) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `first 
     response broadcaster' has the meaning given that term in 
     section 707.
       ``(2) In general.--In the event of a major disaster, the 
     head of a Federal agency, in consultation with appropriate 
     State and local government authorities, and to the greatest 
     extent practicable and consistent with not endangering public 
     safety or inhibiting recovery efforts, shall allow access to 
     the area affected by that major disaster for technical 
     personnel, broadcast engineers, and equipment needed to 
     restore, repair, or resupply any facility or equipment 
     critical to the ability of a first response broadcaster to 
     continue to acquire, produce, and transmit essential 
     disaster-related public information programming, including 
     the repair and maintenance of transmitters and other facility 
     equipment and transporting fuel for generators.
       ``(3) News gathering employees.--This subsection shall not 
     apply to news gathering employees or agents of a first 
     response broadcaster.''.
       (d) Guidelines for Press.--
       (1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
       (A) the term ``credentialing authority'' means a Federal, 
     State, or local government agency that--
       (i) issues press credentials; and
       (ii) permits and coordinates access to a designated 
     location or area on the basis of possessing such press 
     credentials;
       (B) the term ``press credential'' means the identification 
     provided to news personnel to identify such personnel as 
     members of the press; and
       (C) the term ``news personnel'' includes a broadcast 
     journalist or technician, newspaper or periodical reporter, 
     photojournalist, and member of a similar professional field 
     whose primary interest in entering the disaster area is to 
     gather information related to the disaster for wider 
     publication or broadcast.
       (2) Access to disaster area.--For purposes of permitting 
     and coordinating access by news personnel to a disaster 
     area--
       (A) any State or local government agency that serves as the 
     primary credentialing authority for that disaster area before 
     the date of the applicable major disaster shall remain the 
     primary credentialing authority during and after that major 
     disaster, unless--
       (i) the State or local government agency voluntarily 
     relinquishes the ability to serve as primary credentialing 
     authority to another agency; or
       (ii) the State or local government agency, in consultation 
     with appropriate Federal disaster response agencies, assigns 
     certain duties, including primary credentialing authority, to 
     the Federal Emergency Management Agency or another 
     appropriate Federal, State, or local government agency; and
       (B) the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other 
     appropriate Federal disaster response agencies operating in a 
     disaster area shall permit and coordinate news personnel 
     access to the disaster area consistent with the access 
     guidelines determined by the primary credentialing authority 
     for that disaster area.
       (3) Catastrophic incident access.--In the event of a 
     catastrophic incident (as that term is defined in section 501 
     of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 311)) that 
     leaves a State or local primary credentialing authority 
     unable to execute the duties of that credentialing authority 
     described under paragraph (2) or to effectively communicate 
     to Federal officials a determination regarding the intent of 
     that credentialing authority to retain, relinquish, or assign 
     its status as the primary credentialing authority, the 
     Secretary may designate the Federal Emergency Management 
     Agency or another Federal agency as the interim primary 
     credentialing authority, until such a time as the State or 
     local credentialing authority notifies the Secretary of 
     whether that authority intends to retain, relinquish, or 
     assign its status.
                                  ____


                       Organization Endorsements

     1. The National Association of Broadcasters
     2. The Radio-Television News Directors Association
     3. The Alabama Broadcasters Association
     4. The Alaska Broadcasters Association
     5. The Arizona Broadcasters Association
     6. The Arkansas Broadcasters Association
     7. The California Broadcasters Association
     8. The Colorado Broadcasters Association
     9. The Connecticut Broadcasters Association
     10. The Florida Association of Broadcasters
     11. The Georgia Association of Broadcasters
     12. The Hawaii Association of Broadcasters
     13. The Idaho State Broadcasters Association
     14. The Illinois Broadcasters Association
     15. The Indiana Broadcasters Association
     16. The Iowa Broadcasters Association
     17. The Kansas Association of Broadcasters
     18. The Kentucky Broadcasters Association
     19. The Louisiana Association of Broadcasters
     20. The Maine Association of Broadcasters
     21. The Maryland/DC/Delaware Broadcasters Association
     22. The Massachusetts Broadcasters Association
     23. The Michigan Association of Broadcasters
     24. The Minnesota Broadcasters Association
     25. The Mississippi Association of Broadcasters
     26. The Missouri Broadcasters Association
     27. The Montana Broadcasters Association
     28. The Nebraska Broadcasters Association
     29. The Nevada Broadcasters Association
     30. The New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters
     31. The New Jersey Broadcasters Association
     32. The New Mexico Broadcasters Association
     33. The New York State Broadcasters Association
     34. The North Carolina Association of Broadcasters
     35. The North Dakota Broadcasters Association
     36. The Ohio Association of Broadcasters
     37. The Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters
     38. The Oregon Association of Broadcasters
     39. The Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters
     40. The Rhode Island Broadcasters Association
     41. The South Carolina Broadcasters Association
     42. The South Dakota Broadcasters Association
     43. The Tennessee Association of Broadcasters
     44. The Texas Association of Broadcasters
     45. The Utah Broadcasters Association
     46. The Vermont Association of Broadcasters
     47. The Virginia Association of Broadcasters
     48. The Washington State Association of Broadcasters
     49. The West Virginia Broadcasters Association
     50. The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association
     51. The Wyoming Association of Broadcasters
     52. Calcasieu Parish (La.) Sherriff Tony Mancuso
                                  ____


              Real Stories of First Response Broadcasters

                     [From WWL-TV--New Orleans, LA]

                   (By News Director Chris Slaughter)

       Our 150 employees developed a plan that would enable WWL-TV 
     to be the only television station to stay on the air and keep 
     information flowing in our community's darkest hour. 95 
     percent of the station's news, engineering, production and 
     administrative personnel made sure their families were safe, 
     then devoted 14 straight days and nights using their most 
     valuable tool--information--to help their metropolitan New 
     Orleans neighbors survive. Many did this while knowing they 
     had lost everything they owned (40 percent of station 
     personnel lost homes in the storm). Many worked with the 
     stress of knowing that spouses, relatives and friends were 
     missing or working in dangerous situations.
       During the course of the storm and initial aftermath, WWL-
     TV broadcast from four different studios. When the storm 
     forced the evacuation of our French Quarter studio, the 
     broadcast seamlessly shifted to the Louisiana State 
     University Manship School of Mass Communications in Baton 
     Rouge, which WWL-TV had chosen as an alternative broadcast 
     site in early 2004. Half of the newsroom worked from that 
     location while the other half stayed in New Orleans and 
     worked from the station transmitter site. When it became 
     apparent that lack of city services would keep us out of our 
     undamaged station for an extended time, we rented the 
     Louisiana Public Broadcasting studios in Baton Rouge. Our 
     signal was carried by satellite to our New Orleans 
     transmitter.
       WWL-TV informed viewers wherever they were. The commercial-
     free programming was broadcast from our transmitter, 
     simulcast on radio, streamed on our website and seen 
     statewide on Louisiana's public broadcasting channel. 
     Satellite feeds of our coverage were

[[Page 10266]]

     rebroadcast by stations from Texas to New England, and other 
     areas housing evacuees.
       Our parent company, Belo Corp., and its affiliated stations 
     provided major support. Corporate staff worked to provide 
     communications, housing, fuel, food and clothing for 
     displaced WWL-TV employees. Satellite News Gathering trucks 
     from Belo stations began moving in shortly after the storm 
     first entered the Gulf of Mexico. The stations also sent 
     news, production and technical staff to help as WWL covered 
     the storm of the century.
                                  ____


                    [From KPLC-TV--Lake Charles, LA]

                     (By General Manager Jim Serra)

       KPLC's non-stop coverage of the approach, passage, and 
     aftermath of Hurricane Rita began several days before the 
     storm came ashore just south of Lake Charles and extended for 
     two weeks until the region was reopened to evacuees.
       Throughout the storm, KPLC never lost its broadcast signal, 
     and maintained full coverage including live streaming video 
     on its website. Evacuated citizens of Southwest Louisiana, 
     even those who fled far from the station's broadcast signal, 
     never lost touch with local emergency information from their 
     community
       Upon its approach, Rita was the strongest hurricane ever 
     recorded in the Gulf. Based on the anticipated threat of wind 
     damage and flooding, 25 KPLC employees rode out the hurricane 
     in a makeshift studio in the more secure confines of nearby 
     CHRISTUS-St. Patrick Hospital. Hospital employees became our 
     partners in the storm coverage.
       After the hurricane, KPLC produced a DVD documentary on 
     Rita, donating nearly $50,000 in proceeds to the St. Patrick 
     Foundation. As a result of this partnership, CMN (Children's 
     Miracle Network) awarded KPLC and St. Patrick Hospital their 
     national community service award.
       KPLC's coverage was simulcast on multiple local radio 
     stations. It was also augmented by the efforts of several 
     television stations within Louisiana and beyond.
                                  ____


                       [From WLOX-TV--Biloxi, MS]

                    (By News Director Dave Vincent)

       For more than 12 days, WLOX employees banded together & 
     provided exceptional coverage of Hurricane Katrina despite 
     personal danger & ultimately great personal loss. WLOX News 
     broadcast 24/7 for 12 days delivering life saving information 
     to the people of South Mississippi. Our news coverage went 
     wall to wall when it became apparent that Hurricane Katrina 
     would gravely impact South Mississippi. Katrina's winds & 
     deadly 30 foot plus tidal surge did not stop our coverage. 
     Neither did her massive path of destruction nor her impact on 
     our TV station. We continued to broadcast even when Katrina 
     ripped off our newsroom roof, destroyed another wing of our 
     station, toppled one of our TV towers, wiped out our Jackson 
     & Hancock County news bureaus & forced us in the main station 
     to evacuate to a safer section of our building.
       There is no doubt that without the courageous action of 
     WLOX employees many more lives would have been lost in this, 
     the worst natural disaster to hit our county. In addition, we 
     have been told by many viewers that we were their only life 
     line during the height of the storm & in those first days 
     after Katrina, when our community was devastated & very much 
     like a third world country.
       Here is an excerpt from one letter: ``During the storm we 
     ran our small generator a few hours a day. Your station was 
     the only one we could count on to have news when we could see 
     it. God Bless all of you for being there for all of us.'' 
     Scott and Lori Lasher of Carnes, Mississippi Sept 16, 2005.
       Here is one other letter: ``First of all, I would like to 
     commend you on an AWESOME JOB!! Your coverage of Hurricane 
     Katrina and her aftermath was and continues to be superb! 
     Thanks for giving us here in South Mississippi some semblance 
     of normalcy during such a teffifying time.'' Doyla Ashe, 
     Poplarville, MS Sept., 16 2005.
       During our coverage, we were the source of information for 
     our community. We told people where to find shelter, where to 
     find food & medicine & other needed supplies. To insure that 
     life saving information reached our community we reached out 
     to all the radio groups on the coast & they carried our 
     signal. Also the local newspaper contacted us & we put many 
     of their reporters on the air. The local FOX affiliate even 
     carried our signal for a few days. After Katrina knocked out 
     our ability to stream our continual coverage on our web site, 
     our sister stations in the Liberty chain took over the 
     postings & helped us keep thousands of evacuees informed 
     through wlox.com.
       Hurricane Katrina left thousands of people homeless & 
     forever changed the face of our community. Our station is a 
     reflection of the community in which we live & work. At least 
     12 of our employees lost everything. Another 60 had 
     significant damage to their homes. Everyone suffered some 
     loss. Yet our employees continued to work putting the safety 
     & welfare of their community above their personal situation.
                                  ____


                     [From WRC-TV--Washington, DC]

                     (By News Director Vicki Burns)

       September 11th 2001 presented broadcast journalists with 
     unforeseen and unprecedented challenges. In Washington DC and 
     New York City, those challenges were especially difficult. 
     The nation had never been attacked on this scale at home. 
     Modern television journalists had a critical role in 
     communicating what had happened and what it meant.
       As journalists in the nation's capital, our 
     responsibilities were two-fold: to report rapidly changing 
     developments amidst an uncertain and frightening environment, 
     and to keep the community and ourselves safe and informed.
       The day of the initial attack was chaotic. Our ability to 
     provide crucial public safety information to the community 
     depended upon our access to key officials, locations and 
     events, along with the ability to be mobile when necessary.
       Our efforts were severely hampered when our portable Nextel 
     radios, our cell phones, and our landline phones went down. 
     Newsroom decision makers were unable to communicate with 
     reporters and photographers for some time.
       Our field teams were on site and on air for hours, 
     sometimes days at a time. In order to sustain that coverage, 
     we used couriers to shuttle food, water and supplies. Due to 
     road closures and other limitations, that task became 
     extremely difficult.
       At every location, we were forced to provide several pieces 
     of identification, and at times were turned away from 
     critical places.
       It is important to note that in a time of great chaos and 
     danger, our role as journalists contributes to the solution. 
     We cannot provide a service to the community without the 
     cooperation and support of governing jurisdictions.
                                  ____


     With Power Out, Local Radio Station Becomes Voice in the Dark

        (By John Curran, Associated Press Writer, Apr. 21, 2007)

       Rutland, VT.--Some of them needed generators, others 
     kerosene. Some wanted to know how many others were in the 
     dark, or which streets were passable. Some just needed to 
     hear a voice.
       ``This is Glendora,'' one caller said. ``I'm a little 
     nervous. The laundromat across my window here, the whole sign 
     just completely came out of its case off and is flying over 
     the street right now.''
       The power was out, she told Terry Jaye, who was taking 
     calls on WJJR. Her house was shaking from the high winds and 
     it had no heat. She didn't know who else to call.
       ``Only thing I have is my CD disc radio, listening to you 
     guys, and a cell phone,'' she said.
       When a ferocious nor'easter blew chaos into Rutland last 
     Monday, she and others turned to WJJR. With the lights out, 
     televisions silenced and personal computers powerless, the 
     50,000-watt local radio station shucked its adult 
     contemporary music format and turned over its airwaves to 
     listeners, giving and getting information about problems big 
     and small.
       It wasn't the first time local radio proved itself the go-
     to medium in time of crisis.
       It happened when ice storms ravaged northern New England in 
     1998, it happened when Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 
     2005, it happened Monday after 70 mph winds from a nor'easter 
     blew chaos into this small Vermont city.
       When the lights go out and Google is unavailable, radio is.
       ``Part of it goes back to the technology,'' said former 
     radio news director Suzanne Goucher, president of the Maine 
     Association of Broadcasters. ``People aren't likely to have 
     battery-powered TVs in their home, but everybody's got a car 
     radio. What you're left with is the old reliable standby of 
     radio. It's always on and it's always on when you need it.''
       It was on at 7:30 a.m. Monday, when the winds ripped into 
     town, snapping utility poles, blowing trees into houses and 
     collapsing power lines in the streets. Soon, the switchboard 
     at WJJR's studios in a downtown office building began 
     lighting up.
       The calls came from New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.
       Don called to say a front window in his Victorian home had 
     ``imploded.'' Michelle from West Rutland called to say she 
     had no power and no telephone service. Millie's power was 
     out, and her back yard was full of fallen trees.
       ``It's horrible. It hit my ex-husband's car,'' she said.
       ``A lot of women would be happy if it hit their ex-
     husband's car,'' Jaye replied.
       Some people called to pass on information about impassable 
     streets. One was looking for a pet hotel. Another warned 
     about the hazards of operating a generator indoors.
       Jaye, 52, a veteran radio personality with a soothing voice 
     and the patience of a traffic cop, was in his element.
       ``I had a lady call about a generator, which she needed for 
     her husband's oxygen tank,'' he said Tuesday, taking a break 
     from the microphone. ``A friend of hers called the next 
     morning to tell us that within 40 minutes of that call, a man 
     from Springfield was on his way to her house with a 
     generator. You hear stuff like that and go `How cool is 
     that?'''
       ``That's as important as it gets,'' he said.
       The only breaks came when there were studio guests. Mayor 
     Christopher Louras, Fire

[[Page 10267]]

     Chief Robert Schlachter, police Officer Tim Tuttle and 
     utility company spokesman Steve Costello all made 
     appearances, eager to get word out about the condition of the 
     city and the severity of the outages.
       ``We have 1,000 trees down,'' said Schlachter, asking 
     callers not to bother reporting downed trees that posed no 
     hazard. ``If it's against a car, or you see arcing and 
     sparking or someone in a car, let us know.''
       All that day and into Tuesday, as utility crews raced to 
     address downed power lines and crippled substations, lines 
     remained open.
       Sometimes, the information they got was erroneous, and 
     later corrected. Rutland Regional Medical Center was said to 
     be open only for emergencies; soon after, Jaye corrected 
     himself, saying anyone with an appointment there should go to 
     it,
       And there were callers like the one from Forest Dale, who 
     lost power and reported winds howling ``like a train'' 
     outside his home but appreciated having someone on the air.
       ``Boy, this is a real case for having radio stations that 
     are staffed by actual live people. Thanks to you guys for 
     getting into work and getting on the air,'' he told Jaye.
       On Tuesday afternoon, WJJR started easing back into its 
     normal format, as power began returning to many of the 50,000 
     homes and businesses in Rutland and elsewhere that had lost 
     it.
       Brian Collamore, 56, of sister station WSYB, also worked 
     the impromptu storm-a-thon with Jaye and studio sidekick 
     Nanci Gordon. He called situations like it the reason he got 
     into radio in the first place.
       ``Satellite radio can't do this. TV can't do this. The 
     Internet can't do this. When push comes to shove, and you're 
     in a situation like this, this is the only medium that can do 
     this,'' he said.
                                  ____


            [From the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Oct. 16, 2006]

2 Stations Take Real-Time Lead--KSSK Radio and KITV Become the Primary 
              Sources for the Latest News After the Quakes

                          (By Gary C.W. Chun)

       Soon after the earthquakes hit yesterday morning, ``the 
     coconut wireless'' kicked into high gear at KSSK radio, 
     getting out the news as quickly as possible to anxious local 
     listeners.
       At another building, KITV was using the Internet to stream 
     its newscast on its Web site to a worldwide audience.
       The key for such rapid response: backup generators.
       Also, KSSK is the state's designated emergency action 
     system radio station, connected to the state Civil Defense, 
     and is expected to stay on the air.
       Popular morning personalities Michael W. Perry and Larry 
     Price took over the microphones around 9 a.m., relieving on-
     air personality Kathy Nakagawa and director of programming 
     Paul Wilson, who broke into recorded public-service 
     programming an hour earlier.
       ``When it's something of this magnitude, it's Perry-and-
     Price time,'' Nakagawa said.
       With the help of their listener ``posse,'' the familiar duo 
     were the voices for the constantly flowing information, 
     staying on the air for most of the day. Nakagawa and Wilson 
     hung around to help. ``It feels great to be here,'' Nakagawa 
     said. ``Those two are such a reassuring presence, just 
     passing on the info to the public as we get it.''
       ``Everyone's working well in crisis mode,'' Wilson said.
       ``And everyone on staff that was needed came in on their 
     own,'' Nakagawa said.
       ``I'm planning to stay put till the power is restored,'' 
     said Hawaii National Guard public relations officer Maj. 
     Chuck Anthony, who was at the KSSK studios. ``Coincidentally, 
     the Guard is on drill weekend, with about 5,000 at the ready 
     at duty stations and armories. We're just waiting to get 
     damage assessment teams assembled.''
       Simulcasting on most of the other Clear Channel-owned 
     stations, chief engineer Dale Machado, looking at all the 
     activity around him, said ``when something like this happens, 
     it's back to basics. You dig out your transistor radio and 
     turn it on for the news.''
       Regular morning newscaster Julia Norton-Dennis and 
     assistant Gina Garcia were busily screening phone calls in 
     the adjoining room to the on-air studio, occasionally typing 
     up messages to send to Perry and Price for their immediate 
     attention. Announcements about the cancellation and 
     postponement of scheduled events and airline flights, the 
     occasional emergency tip and the inevitable ``will there be 
     school tomorrow?'' were all taken care of on air.
       Gov. Linda Lingle called the station around 1 p.m. for her 
     latest assessment of the disaster that struck especially 
     close to her, having stayed at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel in 
     Kohala the previous night.
       Just as KSSK was able to stream its audio on its Web site, 
     KITV was doing the same thing, albeit with the additional 
     help of its news staff and technicians.
       KHON and KGMB were unable to stream their newscasts, 
     although they did broadcast newscasts and updates when power 
     was available.
       KHNL/KFVE Internet coordinator Mike Strong said that with 
     the help of a fellow Raycom station in Tyler, Texas, they 
     were able to update information on its Web site and had set 
     up a Yahoo! address to have people send digital photos of 
     quake damage and information.
       Photos were also sent to KITV, which inserted some of them 
     into the streaming newscast.
       KITV General Manager Mike Rosenberg said that anchor Pamela 
     Young started it off around 8:15 a.m. from the update desk, 
     with Paula Akana and Shawn Ching joining later.
       ``Coincidentally, we were in the process of doing emergency 
     continuity planning, in light of what happened to our sister 
     Hearst-Argyle-owned station in New Orleans after Hurricane 
     Katrina,'' said Rosenberg. ``We realized that even though 
     we're not on the air, we could start streaming our newscast 
     on the Internet.''
       CNN's pipeline premium subscriber service even picked up 
     the KITV Webcast for further distribution on the Net.
       Managing Editor Brent Suyama said that the station's site 
     would easily approach 1 million hits yesterday. ``I've 
     already received dozens of e-mails from people everywhere 
     thanking us for doing this. I even received one as far as 
     South Africa from a man who wanted to check on his mom.''
                                  ____


                 [From the Dotham Eagle, Mar. 14, 2007]

                      TV Weather Report Saves Life

                           (By Lance Griffin)

       Enterprise.--The sound of a backhoe moving debris next door 
     rumbled as Gwen Black stood outside what is left of her 
     Henderson Street home.
       A blue Enterprise High School stadium cushion rests in a 
     tree in her yard. It is one of the few trees left standing in 
     this neighborhood. An American flag flies from one of its 
     branches.
       She still has moments when the tears come. This is one of 
     them. It is almost two weeks after the March 1 tornado, but 
     everything around her is a reminder of that terrible 
     afternoon.
       ``I'll be glad when they knock this house down so I don't 
     have to see it anymore,'' she said.
       But Black is alive. She doesn't know how long she spent in 
     the hall of her modest brick house. Sometimes, it feels like 
     seconds, sometimes, hours. What she does know is a television 
     weather alert saved her life along with the lives of most of 
     her family.
       Black, her three grandchildren, younger sister and her son 
     were home watching television that afternoon when Dothan 
     television station WDHN interrupted programming for a special 
     weather bulletin. A tornado had been spotted on the ground in 
     Enterprise. Meteorologist Greg Dee warned residents.
       ``I just remember him saying `Enterprise, take cover 
     now,''' Black recalled.
       Black and the others were in the living room at the front 
     of the house. She ordered everyone to the home's interior 
     hallway. She held the remote control in her hand and turned 
     up the volume as she backed into the hall.
       At the same time, the twister was ravaging Enterprise High 
     School. Black's home sits across the street from the football 
     stadium. She and her husband bought the house last July, the 
     first house they ever bought together.
       ``That's when the power went out and the roof blew off,'' 
     she said.
       Black said she remembers reaching her arms around her 
     grandchildren, trying to protect them from flying glass and 
     other debris tossed into their home.
       ``We were screaming, yelling and crying,'' Black said.
       When the storm passed, much of the home was gone. The 
     interior hall, however, remained. Black said a fireman 
     responded almost immediately and took them to safety. 
     Everyone was fine, other than a few scrapes and minor cuts 
     from the glass. When she walked outside, something was 
     missing.
       ``Where is our car-'' she asked.
       The wind snatched the Black's 2005 Mazda Tribute and tossed 
     it into a back room of the house.
       A few days later, a relative sent an e-mail to WDHN, 
     letting management know Dee's report spurred the family to 
     act.
       Black and Dee met for the first time Tuesday at the 
     Henderson Street home. Black cried and her hands trembled as 
     she embraced Dee.
       ``If it hadn't been for you, we would have been dead. I 
     know it,'' she said.
       Dee walked through the destroyed home as Black showed him 
     where the family huddled to avoid the storm.
       ``You talk about it on television, but when you see it 
     first-hand, it brings it home,'' Dee said. ``Just the fact we 
     were able to make a difference means something. When I got 
     that e-mail on my desk and read it, I just welled up.''
       Workers will tear down what is left of Black's home soon, 
     but she plans to rebuild there.
       ``No tornado is going to move us away,'' she said.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mr. Smith and Ms. Collins):
  S.J. Res. 12. A joint resolution providing for the recognition of 
Jerusalem

[[Page 10268]]

as the undivided capital of Israel before the United States recognizes 
a Palestinian state, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text 
of the joint resolution be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the joint resolution was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                              S.J. Res. 12

       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This joint resolution may be cited as the ``Jerusalem 
     Resolution''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 
     3,000 years.
       (2) Jerusalem has never been the capital for any other 
     state other than for the Jewish people.
       (3) Jerusalem is central to Judaism and is cited in the 
     Tanach, the Hebrew Bible, 766 times.
       (4) Jerusalem is not mentioned by name in the Koran.
       (5) Every sovereign nation has the right to designate its 
     own capital.
       (6) Jerusalem is the seat of the Government of Israel, 
     including the President, the parliament, and the Supreme 
     Court.
       (7) United States law states as a matter of United States 
     policy that Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of 
     Israel.
       (8) Israel is the only country in which the United States 
     neither maintains an embassy in the city designated as the 
     capital by the host country nor recognizes such city as the 
     capital.
       (9) The citizens of Israel should be allowed to worship 
     freely and according to their traditions.
       (10) Israel supports religious freedom for all faiths.
       (11) Relocating the United States Embassy in Israel from 
     Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would express the continued support of 
     the United States for Israel and for an undivided Jerusalem.
       (12) The year 2007 marks the 40th anniversary of the 
     reunification of Jerusalem.

     SEC. 3. LOCATION OF UNITED STATES EMBASSY IN ISRAEL.

       Not later than 180 days before recognizing a Palestinian 
     state, the United States shall move the United States Embassy 
     in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

     SEC. 4. RECOGNITION OF ISRAEL AS UNDIVIDED CAPITAL OF ISRAEL.

       The United States shall not recognize a Palestinian state 
     until the international community resolves the status of 
     Jerusalem by recognizing the city as the undivided capital of 
     Israel.

     SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING FREEDOM OF WORSHIP.

       It is the sense of Congress that the citizens of Israel 
     should be allowed, as a fundamental human right recognized by 
     the United States and United Nations General Assembly 
     resolution 181 of November 29, 1947, to worship freely and 
     according to their traditions.

                          ____________________