[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Pages 22643-22648]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. KYL (for himself and Mr. Leahy):
  S. 3641. A bill to authorize funding for the National Crime Victim 
Law Institute to provide support for victims of crime under Crime 
Victims Legal Assistance Programs as a part of the Victims of Crime Act 
of 1984; considered and passed.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the 
bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3641

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

     SECTION 1. REAUTHORIZATION.

       Section 103(b) of the Justice for All Act of 2004 (Public 
     Law 108-405; 118 Stat. 2264) is amended in paragraphs (1) 
     through (5) by striking ``2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009'' each 
     place it appears and inserting ``2010, 2011, 2012, and 
     2013''.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Corker, Mr. Kerry, and Mrs. 
        Murray):
  S. 3642. A bill to enhance the capacity of the United States 
Government to fully implement the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor 
Act of 2005 and to improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation 
throughout the world; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. DURBIN. My predecessor and friend, the late Senator Paul Simon, 
championed the cause of water for the poor. Ten years ago he wrote an 
important and foretelling book, Tapped Out, in which he described the 
world's looming clean water crisis.
  Senator Simon was ahead of the curve. He identified this challenge 
long before many others, and urged the U.S. to lead on it. It is my 
privilege to carry forward his vision in the United States Senate 
today.
  I take this responsibility seriously--not only to honor my friend and 
mentor from Illinois--but more importantly to further this country's 
leadership in making access to clean water and sanitation possible for 
people in every part of the world.
  In 2005, Congress passed the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor 
Act to elevate the position of safe water and sanitation efforts in 
U.S. foreign assistance.
  We have made progress since then. Last year alone, the U.S. helped 
provide nearly 2 million people with access to a better source of 
drinking water for the first time. And we helped more than 1.5 million 
people access better sanitation.
  These are encouraging results, but our impact could be much greater. 
Our current efforts are hindered by limited resources and lack of 
overall strategy and coordination.
  To strengthen U.S. leadership in this area, I am pleased to join with 
Senators Corker, Kerry and Murray, and Representatives Blumenauer and 
Payne to introduce new legislation that builds and improves upon the 
2005 act.
  The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Enhancement Act of 2008 
will increase capacity at USAID and the State Department to implement 
clean water and sanitation efforts.
  It will strengthen local capacity by adding a corps of water experts 
to USAID missions and by training local water and sanitation managers.
  It will foster development of low-cost and sustainable clean water 
and sanitation technologies for use in priority countries.
  In short, it will put the U.S. again at the forefront of assuring 
access to these most basic needs for millions around the world.
  We will not be able to make a sustained difference on the ground with 
good intentions alone. We need to back up the lofty goals in this bill 
with resources--money and personnel.
  We need to give our development experts the tools and support they 
need to get the job done well. That is why

[[Page 22644]]

I've also led an effort in the Senate to increase the number of Foreign 
Service Officers and to urge the placement of water experts in USAID 
missions around the world.
  This kind of development assistance, helping to build infrastructure 
and alleviate poverty, is a crucial to our ability to lead and 
influence other countries.
  America's strength resonates not only from its military power but 
from the power of American ideas and values, from our generosity and 
diplomacy.
  I fear we have lost a measure of that influence in recent years. Our 
smart power has waned as we've focused our resources and attention 
elsewhere.
  Real leadership from the United States on water and sanitation will 
help stave off one of the world's looming crises. It will reassert our 
standing as a leader in the fight against global poverty.
  And, once again, Paul Simon was ahead of his time. What element of 
international development assistance could be more fundamental than 
ensuring access to clean water and basic sanitation?
  We often take water for granted in this country. Turn on the tap, and 
out it comes--clean, inexpensive and plentiful. Occasionally we hear of 
water shortages in a handful of states during times of drought. But for 
the most part, we think little about this crucial resource.
  Yet for many people in the world, access to clean water and 
sanitation are out of reach--and the problem may only get worse.
  In the past 20 years, 2 billion people have gained access to safe 
drinking water and 600 million have gained access to basic sanitation 
services. This is encouraging progress.
  Yet nearly 900 million people still live without clean water, and 
nearly 2 in 5 do not have access to proper sanitation.
  In the past century, global demand for water has tripled, and is now 
doubling every two decades. Rapid population growth, urbanization, 
pollution and climate change will add even greater pressures to an 
already strained system.
  This scenario is troubling for a lot of reasons.
  First, unsafe water is a serious threat to global health. The World 
Health Organization estimates that water-related diseases account for 
about one-tenth of the global disease burden. We lose nearly 5,000 
children each day to these diseases, and over 2 million people each 
year.
  We recently expanded our efforts to fight global AIDS--an effort I 
support--but antiretroviral therapy taken with unsafe water may do more 
harm than good.
  Lack of safe water threatens economic development and political 
stability. A developing economy cannot grow if its population is too 
sick to work or if its members are engaged in conflict over water 
resources, as in Darfur, for example, or in parts of the Middle East.
  Nor can an economy grow if its women and girls have to spend many 
hours each day gathering water rather than engaging in more productive 
pursuits. The UN estimates that women lose 40 billion working hours 
each year to carrying water. The economic repercussions are clear.
  Water scarcity has a serious impact on the environment, as well. The 
strain on natural resources will continue as global warming causes 
glaciers to melt and climate patterns to shift. We can expect key 
sources of clean water to be altered or eliminated in the process.
  So, this is a big problem. But the U.S. is in a position to make a 
big difference in the lives of the world's poor with strong leadership 
and investment in global safe water.
  U.S. leadership can and will make a difference in this most 
fundamental development challenge. I urge my colleagues to join with me 
in supporting this effort to refocus our global clean water activities.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3642

       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 ``Senator Paul Simon Water for 
     the Poor Enhancement Act of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 
     (Public Law 109-121)--
       (A) makes access to safe water and sanitation for 
     developing countries a specific policy objective of United 
     States foreign assistance programs;
       (B) requires the Secretary of State to--
       (i) develop a strategy to elevate the role of water and 
     sanitation policy; and
       (ii) improve the effectiveness of United States assistance 
     programs undertaken in support of that strategy;
       (C) codifies Target 10 of the United Nations Millennium 
     Development Goals; and
       (D) seeks to reduce the proportion of people who are unable 
     to reach or afford safe drinking water and basic sanitation 
     by 50 percent by 2015.
       (2) On December 20, 2006, the United Nations General 
     Assembly, in GA Resolution 61/192, declared 2008 as the 
     International Year of Sanitation, in recognition of the 
     impact of sanitation on public health, poverty reduction, 
     economic and social development, and the environment.
       (3) On August 1, 2008, Congress passed H. Con. Res. 318, 
     which--
       (A) supports the goals and ideals of the International Year 
     of Sanitation; and
       (B) recognizes the importance of sanitation on public 
     health, poverty reduction, economic and social development, 
     and the environment.
       (4) While progress is being made on safe water and 
     sanitation efforts--
       (A) more than 884,000,000 people throughout the world lack 
     access to safe drinking water; and
       (B) 2 of every 5 people in the world do not have access to 
     basic sanitation services.
       (5) The health consequences of unsafe drinking water and 
     poor sanitation are staggering, accounting for--
       (A) nearly 10 percent of the global burden of disease; and
       (B) more than 2,000,000 deaths each year.
       (6) The effects of climate change are expected to produce 
     severe consequences for water availability and resource 
     management in the future, with 2,800,000,000 people in more 
     than 48 countries expected to face severe and chronic water 
     shortages by 2025.
       (7) The impact of water scarcity on conflict and 
     instability is evident in many parts of the world, including 
     the Darfur region of Sudan, where demand for water resources 
     has contributed to armed conflict between nomadic ethnic 
     groups and local farming communities.
       (8) In order to further the United States contribution to 
     safe water and sanitation efforts, it is necessary to--
       (A) expand foreign assistance capacity to address the 
     challenges described in this section; and
       (B) represent issues related to water and sanitation at the 
     highest levels of United States foreign assistance 
     deliberations, including deliberations related to issues of 
     global health, food security, the environment, global 
     warming, and maternal and child mortality.

     SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

       The purpose of this Act is to enhance the capacity of the 
     United States Government to fully implement the Senator Paul 
     Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-121).

     SEC. 4. DEVELOPING UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT CAPACITY.

       Section 135 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
     U.S.C. 2151h) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(e) Office of Water.--
       ``(1) Establishment.--To carry out the purposes of 
     subsection (a), the Administrator of the United States Agency 
     for International Development shall establish the Office of 
     Water.
       ``(2) Leadership.--The Office of Water shall be headed by 
     an Assistant Administrator for Safe Water and Sanitation, who 
     shall report directly to the Administrator.
       ``(3) Duties.--The Assistant Administrator shall--
       ``(A) implement this section and the Senator Paul Simon 
     Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-121); and
       ``(B) place primary emphasis on providing safe, affordable, 
     and sustainable drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene.
       ``(f) Bureau of International Water.--
       ``(1) Establishment.--To increase the capacity of the 
     Department of State to address international issues regarding 
     safe water, sanitation, and other international water 
     programs, the Secretary of State shall establish the Bureau 
     for International Water within the Office of the Under 
     Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs (referred to in 
     this subsection as the `Bureau').
       ``(2) Duties.--The Bureau shall--
       ``(A) oversee and coordinate the diplomatic policy of the 
     United States Government with respect to global freshwater 
     issues, including--

[[Page 22645]]

       ``(i) access to safe drinking water and sanitation;
       ``(ii) river basin and watershed management;
       ``(iii) transboundary conflict;
       ``(iv) agricultural and urban productivity of water 
     resources;
       ``(v) pollution mitigation; and
       ``(vi) adaptation to hydrologic change due to climate 
     variability; and
       ``(B) ensure that international freshwater issues are 
     represented--
       ``(i) within the United States Government; and
       ``(ii) in key diplomatic, development, and scientific 
     efforts with other nations and multilateral organizations.''.

     SEC. 5. SAFE WATER AND SANITATION STRATEGY.

       Section 6(e) of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor 
     Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-121) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting a semicolon; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(7) an assessment of the extent to which the United 
     States Government's efforts are reaching the goal described 
     in section 135(a)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
     (22 U.S.C. 2152h(a)(2)); and
       ``(8) recommendations on what the United States Government 
     would need to do to help achieve the goal referred to in 
     paragraph (7) if the United States Government's efforts were 
     proportional to its share of the world's economy.''.

     SEC. 6. DEVELOPING LOCAL CAPACITY.

       The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 
     (Public Law 109-121) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating sections 9, 10, and 11 as sections 10, 
     11, and 12, respectively; and
       (2) by inserting after section 8 the following:

     ``SEC. 9. WATER AND SANITATION MANAGERS TRAINING PROGRAM.

       ``(a) Establishment.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of State and the 
     Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
     Development shall establish, in every priority country, a 
     program to train local, in-country water and sanitation 
     managers, and other officials of countries that receive 
     assistance under section 135 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
     1961 to promote the capacity of recipient governments to 
     provide affordable, equitable, and sustainable access to safe 
     drinking water and sanitation.
       ``(2) Coordination.--The program established under 
     subsection (a) shall be coordinated by the lead country water 
     manager designated in subsection (c)(2).
       ``(3) Expansion.--The Secretary and Administrator may 
     establish the program described in this section in additional 
     countries if the receipt of such training would be most 
     beneficial, with due consideration given to good governance.
       ``(b) Designation.--The United States Chief of Mission 
     within each country receiving a `high priority' designation 
     under section 6(f) shall--
       ``(1) designate safe drinking water and sanitation as a 
     strategic objective;
       ``(2) appoint an in-country water and sanitation manager 
     within the Mission to coordinate the in-country 
     implementation of this Act and section 135 of the Foreign 
     Assistance Act of 1961 with local water managers, local 
     government officials, the Department of State, and the Office 
     of Water of the United States Agency for International 
     Development; and
       ``(3) coordinate with the Development Credit Authority and 
     the Global Development Alliance to further the purposes of 
     this Act.''.

     SEC. 7. GRANTS FOR LOW COST CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION 
                   TECHNOLOGIES.

       Section 135(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act (22 U.S.C. 
     2152h(c)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end; 
     and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(5) provide grants through the United States Agency for 
     International Development to foster the development of low 
     cost and sustainable technologies for providing clean water 
     and sanitation that are suitable for use in high priority 
     countries, particularly in places with limited resources and 
     infrastructure.''.

     SEC. 8. UPDATED REPORT REGARDING WATER FOR PEACE AND 
                   SECURITY.

       Section 11(b) of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor 
     Act of 2005, as redesignated by section 6, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following: ``The report submitted under 
     this subsection shall include an assessment of current and 
     likely future political tensions over water sources and an 
     assessment of the expected impacts of global climate change 
     on water supplies in 10, 25, and 50 years.''.

     SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 
     2009 and each subsequent fiscal year such sums as may be 
     necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments made by 
     this Act.

     [SEC. 10. CONSTRUCTION.

       This Act shall be implemented in a manner consistent with 
     the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (Public 
     Law 109-121). Nothing in this Act shall be construed in such 
     a way as to override or take precedence over the 
     implementation of that Act.]
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Kerry, and Mrs. Murray):
  S. 3643. A bill to enhance the capacity of the United States to 
undertake global development activities, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. DURBIN. Events of the last decade are stark reminders that 
security in the U.S. is closely linked to the stability of far-flung 
places beyond our borders. From food riots to failed states, we have 
become more aware of how important it is to help the poorest around the 
world live healthier, more productive, and stable lives.
  Foreign assistance for development is not only the right thing to do; 
it's in our national interest. In the U.S., the responsibility for such 
development falls largely to the U.S. Agency for International 
Development, or USAID.
  USAID was founded by the Kennedy administration in 1961. It became 
the first U.S. foreign assistance organization whose primary emphasis 
was on long term economic and social development efforts overseas.
  During its first decade, it had more than 5,000 dedicated Foreign 
Service Officers serving all over the world, often in the most 
difficult of conditions. They helped build clinics in Nepal, provide 
clean water in Honduras, and boost the agricultural and industrial 
sectors of Pakistan.
  Today, when the U.S. needs to show its leadership overseas more than 
ever, USAID operates with just 1,000 Foreign Service Officers.
  Many people on both sides of the aisle agree that USAID is no longer 
equipped to do its job effectively. We simply are not meeting the 
international development goals of the United States.
  USAID has not received adequate funding, staffing, or political 
support--and America's efforts abroad have suffered as a result.
  It is time to make a change.
  We should be sending bright, talented public servants to help improve 
child and maternal health, treat those with AIDS, TB and malaria, 
provide clean water and sanitation for the world's poor, help farmers 
and women start or improve their business, and assist reformers and 
civic leaders to build stronger democratic institutions.
  Today, along with Senator Kerry and Senator Murray, I am introducing 
the Increasing America's Global Development Capacity Act of 2008 to 
take the first step toward putting the Agency for International 
Development on firmer footing.
  The bill would authorize USAID to hire an additional 700 Foreign 
Service Officers. This would basically double the current number of 
development officers available to work in targeted countries. This is 
fundamental to rebuilding the agency's capacity.
  Senator Leahy, Chair of the Foreign Operations Appropriations 
Subcommittee, shares a commitment to rebuilding USAID. I am heartened 
by the Subcommittee's recommended increase in funding for USAID's 
operating expenses for fiscal year 2009. This was a priority for me in 
the bill, and Chairman Leahy has been very supportive.
  My bill also would establish a goal of hiring an additional 1,300 
Foreign Service Officers by 2011.
  After three years, USAID would have more than 3,000 of talented, 
committed Americans serving in the world's most difficult locations 
helping to improve the lives of others. It won't be the 5,000 experts 
of the 1960s, but it will be a big improvement from today.
  Foreign development assistance is as important a foreign policy tool 
as diplomacy and defense. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is perhaps 
the most persuasive advocate for rebuilding our civilian development 
capacity. He argues that we need to engage in nonmilitary ways to 
pursue global development goals.
  The civilian instruments of national security--diplomacy, development 
assistance, sharing expertise on civil society--are becoming more and 
more

[[Page 22646]]

important. Secretary Gates argues that these tools are good for the 
world's poor, our national security, and our country.
  I agree.
  Let us take one concrete step to rebuild that important civilian 
capacity, which would help improve our ability to help the world's 
poorest countries and people.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3643

       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 ``Increasing America's Global 
     Development Capacity Act of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) foreign development assistance is an important foreign 
     policy tool in addition to diplomacy and defense;
       (2) development assistance is part of any comprehensive 
     United States response to regional conflicts, terrorist 
     threats, weapons proliferation, disease pandemics, and 
     persistent widespread poverty;
       (3) in 2002 and 2006, the United States National Security 
     Strategy includes global development, along with defense and 
     diplomacy, as the 3 pillars of national security;
       (4) in its early years, the United States Agency for 
     International Development (USAID) had more than 5,000 full-
     time Foreign Service Officers;
       (5) as of 2008, USAID has slightly more than 1,000 full-
     time Foreign Service Officers;
       (6) the budget at USAID, calculated in real dollars, has 
     dropped 27 percent since 1985;
       (7) this decline in personnel and operating budgets has 
     diminished the capacity of USAID to provide development 
     assistance and implement foreign assistance programs; and
       (8) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate 
     recommended increasing the amount to be appropriated for 
     USAID operating expenses for fiscal year 2009 by $171,000,000 
     compared to the amount appropriated for such expenses for 
     fiscal year 2008.

     SEC. 3. HIRING OF ADDITIONAL FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS AS 
                   USAID EMPLOYEES.

       (a) Initial Hirings.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of USAID 
     shall use additional amounts appropriated to USAID for fiscal 
     year 2009 compared to fiscal year 2008 to increase by not 
     less than 700 the total number of full-time Foreign Service 
     Officers employed by USAID compared to the number of such 
     officers employed by USAID on the date of the enactment of 
     this Act. These officers shall be used to enhance the ability 
     of USAID to--
       (1) carry out development activities around the world by 
     providing USAID with additional human resources and expertise 
     needed to meet important development and humanitarian needs 
     around the world;
       (2) strengthen its institutional capacity as the lead 
     development agency of the United States; and
       (3) more effectively help developing nations to become more 
     stable, healthy, democratic, prosperous, and self-sufficient.
       (b) Subsequent Hirings.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided under paragraph (2), 
     during the 2-year period beginning 1 year after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of USAID shall 
     increase by not less than 1,300 the total number of full-time 
     Foreign Service Officers over the number of such Officers at 
     the beginning of such 2-year period to carry out the 
     activities described in subsection (a), contingent upon 
     sufficient appropriations.
       (2) Reprogramming.--If the Administrator of USAID 
     determines that USAID has competing needs that are more 
     urgent than the hirings described in paragraph (1), the 
     Administrator may use amounts available for such hirings for 
     such competing needs if the Administrator submits to the 
     Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations 
     and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
     Representatives a report describing such competing needs.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. HATCH:
  S. 3645. A bill to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater 
Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
participate in the Magna Water District water reuse and groundwater 
recharge project, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise to introduce legislation that would 
assist the Magna Water District of Utah to implement a water reuse and 
groundwater recharge project. The district faces perchlorate-
contaminated wells due to decades of rocket motor production at a 
Department of Defense site operated by Hercules, ATK launch Systems. To 
address this, the water district has developed a bio-destruction 
process which combines wastewater and desalination brine stream to 
destroy perchlorate. This technology gives DOD what it needs to broadly 
address perchlorate issues at multiple sites in a way that is quicker 
and cheaper than existing technologies and processes.
  This bill, would authorize a 25 percent Federal match for the total 
cost of this project. In truth, the district has already invested a 
significant amount of its own funds and is now seeking funds from the 
federal government on a matching basis. It is critically important for 
Magna to maintain high quality drinking water for irrigation and 
preserve the community's valuable water resources while finding a 
beneficial use of treated domestic and industrial wastewater to destroy 
a harmful plume of the contaminate perchlorate, that threatens the 
water resources of this community.
  We have but a few days left in this session of the 110th Congress but 
I feel it important to introduce this bill and ask my colleagues to 
please review it. I plan on reintroducing this bill early in the 111th 
Congress and will work on ensuring its passage next year.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Ms. LANDRIEU:
  S. 3647. A bill to assist the State of Louisiana in flood protection 
and coastal restoration projects, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Appropriations.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I hope I am not wearing out my welcome. 
I know that I have spoken more today than the other Members. I was 
proud this morning to have achieved a small--but I think significant--
victory, as I pressed for a rollcall vote which would have required the 
Senate to come back tomorrow, but in acquiescing on that, I was able to 
introduce a bipartisan piece of legislation with key Members, including 
Senator Cochran, Senator Hutchison, Senator Conrad, Senator Lincoln, 
and Senator Pryor on a piece of very important legislation for farmers 
and for the agricultural community and rural communities throughout the 
Nation.
  Hopefully, by this piece of legislation being filed today and the 
work that can go on over the next few days before the lights go out in 
this Chamber and we all leave to go home for the election, something 
could be done to help rural America because the big bailout package, no 
matter how it is structured, will not really reach to the problem 
quickly enough and the regulations have not been written for the bill 
that is in place to help them. So between the bill that doesn't have 
regulations written and the bailout package, which has nothing at this 
moment for them, we are trying to stand in the gap and provide some 
sort of bridge assistance for the farmland of America and the rural 
areas and to give our farmers some hope until we can come back and 
address their needs. I am pleased to have at least accomplished that 
today. While I am speaking, Members of the House--both Republicans and 
Democrats--are putting a bill together and circulating letters so that, 
hopefully, we can accomplish something before we leave.
  I did have an option to hold up the Defense authorization bill, as 
the Presiding Officer knows. It was a bill that the Presiding Officer 
and Senator Warner spoke about. It passed in record time--in less than 
a minute, as I recall--because I was standing right here when it did. I 
could have exerted my ability as a Senator to object but, not only out 
of respect for the Presiding Officer as well as the Senator from 
Virginia but also out of respect for the men and women who wear a 
uniform, I did not think that it was an appropriate vehicle to use to 
make my point. I am certain the people of my State would agree with 
that, and so I did not. That does not mean I won't continue over the 
course of the next several days to use other vehicles, other 
opportunities to press this case.
  Leaving that subject for a moment, I wish to spend a moment to again 
talk about the need for coastal protection

[[Page 22647]]

and restoration in Louisiana. I have spoken about this topic hundreds 
of times and will for the next 15 minutes do it once again.
  Louisiana's coast is literally washing away. Even if we didn't have 
Katrina or Rita--the major storms that affected us in 2005--and even if 
Gustav and Ike had never happened, the devastation along Louisiana's 
coast is substantial. It affects a little bit of the Mississippi coast 
as well and a small portion of east Texas. I am sorry I do not have 
Texas on this map. Southeast Texas is very much like southwest 
Louisiana in topography. So what I am saying affects them as well. Of 
course, southwest Mississippi, our neighbor to the east, the 
southwestern part of Mississippi is protected by this great wetlands, 
but it is basically the Mississippi delta area.
  One hundred years ago, the Mississippi River delta consisted of 7,000 
square miles of coastal marshes and swamps, making it one of the sixth 
or seventh largest delta complexes in the world. The delta's growth 
depended on periodic flooding of the Mississippi River that drains 41 
percent of the continental United States, with the river sediments 
gradually settling in the surrounding wetlands. So as the sediment came 
down the Mississippi River, this is how this area was built. Of course, 
it took thousands and thousands of years, but that process still exists 
to this day. The Mississippi River and the sediment come down and 
overflow this great delta.
  Portions of the State I represent have grown up on this delta. This 
is New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Lake Charles right here, 
the four major cities in Louisiana. I don't have to explain to people--
even people who have never been to New Orleans or to the cities I 
mentioned--how important and rich this land is, not just for 
agriculture and forestry but also for fisheries, both commercial and 
sports fishermen, as well as the great cities that call this area home.
  We have been trying to stay high and dry and out of the water for 
over 300 years. If we don't act more urgently in this Congress, it will 
be a losing battle.
  Since the early 1900s, this national ecological jewel has lost 2,000 
square miles of coastal wetlands, with the expectation of another 500 
square miles by 2050. Again, these hurricanes seem to be happening more 
frequently and with more ferocity in the way they rush to our shore. 
Their increased velocity and frequency are wreaking havoc on many parts 
of the coast from Florida to the east coast, but particularly the State 
I represent.
  The construction of flood control and navigation levees along the 
Mississippi River, which we had to do for the commercial activities of 
our Nation, had the side effect--the unfortunate side effect--of 
blocking deposits of the Mississippi River sediment into the 
surrounding wetlands. Without these sediments, the coastal system has 
slowly subsided, turning these wetlands into open waters.
  I read a letter an hour ago about a farmer, Wallace Ellender, whose 
father was a Senator. As a young girl, I remember Senator Ellender. He 
testified in committee that his farm that used to sit close to the 
shore, they now had to swim 30 miles in open water to the island on 
which he used to picnic as a child. This is the largest loss of lands. 
If the enemy was taking this much land, we would literally declare war 
and attack them. That is how great is the land loss. The enemy is 
water, rising tides, more frequent storms, and climate change.
  I am not here only to complain. I am here to offer a solution, the 
solution we have passed by this Congress--which I commended Senator 
Domenici for this morning because without him, it never, ever would 
have happened--that we have decided as a State to take President Truman 
up on his offer that he made to us in 1949 to use a portion of our 
offshore oil and gas revenues that come to the Treasury, $10 billion a 
year. The people of Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi, from the 
offshore oil and gas off our coasts, contribute to the Federal Treasury 
billions and billions of dollars. Since the year I was born, 50-plus 
years ago, we have sent over $117 billion to the Federal Treasury to 
fund all sorts of programs--domestic and international, including 
supporting the wars that have been waged on behalf of this country. We 
have contributed the second largest portion outside individual income 
tax.
  With Senator Domenici's help and with my leadership, we led an effort 
to take President Truman up on an offer that we were too foolish to 
accept at the time and passed the Domenici-Landrieu Gulf of Mexico 
Energy Security Act. I am proud to add my name on that bill which will 
redirect 37.5 percent of these revenues to the coast to secure these 
wetlands, to build these levees, to protect not just New Orleans but 
Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Lake Charles, to protect the Ellender farm, 
to restore the culture and protect the great Cajun culture of south 
Louisiana--many of the people still speak French, as the original 
settlers to this area--and to preserve the culture of our fishermen and 
oystermen.
  Mr. President, you can appreciate that because being from Michigan, 
you have quite a diversity of constituents you represent. I don't know 
Michigan, of course, as well as I know Louisiana. I am certain you have 
pockets of immigrants who have come to Michigan who have proven 
themselves to be outstanding citizens.
  I met with a very strong, strapping man who came to Louisiana 
probably when he was a child, I imagine as a young teenager. He is now 
pushing 50 to 60. He met with me not too long ago over a small table in 
Plaquemine, LA. He had his sleeves rolled up. His arms were quite 
large. He is an oyster fisherman. He came from Croatia. He had no money 
in his pocket when he arrived, but he and his sons have been oyster 
fishermen down in this area for decades.
  He looked at me and he said: Senator, I could not love a country more 
than I love America. I came here as a penniless child, he said, and I 
have been trying to make a living fishing in the oyster beds in 
Louisiana. His son was sitting right next to him. He said: But Senator, 
if we don't do something, all that we have done for these decades will 
be lost.
  I share that story. I am sure Senator Mikulski could tell a story 
about her fishermen from Maryland, and I am certain Senator Carper 
could relay a similar story from Delaware, and I am certain, Mr. 
President, that you have similar stories from people who came here, not 
born in America, but came here looking for a chance and in their quest 
to find that chance have provided so much wealth, more than you can 
imagine, for themselves and their families and for all of us, as well 
as people who were born in south Louisiana, who were born here, or 
working side by side with those who came, looking for a new life 
decades ago to preserve this great place. If we do not step it up, if 
we do not expedite this effort, their work will have been for nought.
  A couple of years ago, we passed a bill that will give us revenue 
sharing to try to build the levees. We went actually after the storm--I 
was so devastated after Katrina thinking where could we find help, 
where could we find a plan. I traveled to the Netherlands, to Europe, 
to look at the systems they have. I brought 40 elected officials, both 
Republicans and Democrats, with me, laymen and engineers, to say: If 
the Netherlands, which is a small country that can fit inside the State 
of Louisiana--this is our State. The Netherlands is so small it could 
fit inside Louisiana. It is a powerful nation but a small one. It has 
the same problems as we do. If their levees break, they will lose their 
entire country. So they don't fool around with it as we do in America. 
They actually build levees that hold. They have great engineering. We 
have great engineers here, but we are not giving the support or tools 
they need to do this job. So our land continues to wash away while the 
Netherlands has managed to save itself.
  I learned a very interesting thing over in the Netherlands when I 
went, and it was shocking to me. Netherlands has no system of insurance 
such as we do. We have flood insurance here. It is a bill we actually 
could not pass in the last few years, but we technically have flood 
insurance. We have commercial

[[Page 22648]]

insurance. In the Netherlands, they don't have insurance because their 
levees are built to withstand a storm once every 10,000 years.
  I hate to be the one to be the bearer of bad news, but our levees are 
not even built to withstand storms once in 100 years. The levees the 
Netherlands build protect their people once every 10,000 years, so they 
virtually never break. That little picture everybody might remember, at 
least those of my age and older, of that little boy with the finger in 
the dike, that is not how it is. They have the most extraordinary 
investments and infrastructure you can imagine. They have gates that 
open and close. They have diversion systems. I literally have people in 
their living rooms with buckets trying to keep the water out.
  I had elected officials come to my office this week with pictures of 
everything that their town owned dumped out on the street because the 
water comes in. And somehow in America we have lost either the 
interest, the will, or the ability to use the resources we have and the 
brains that God gave us to figure this out.
  Although countries have done it--and I am sure the Netherlands is not 
the only country that has done it--I am here to tell you America is a 
long way from getting this right.
  I came to the floor to introduce a bill--it is not going to 
completely solve this problem, but I will send it to the desk because 
it is going to take more than one bill to do it. In the supplemental 
bill we passed, the emergency disaster bill, there is a portion in that 
bill--it is a $1.5 billion portion--that is directed to only one 
project in south Louisiana. This bill I am going to lay down will 
suggest that the $1.5 billion that is directed to one project be given 
to the State in a way that our Governor, who is not a Democrat but a 
Republican--so I am not doing this with party. He is Republican and I 
am working with him--to give him and his team an opportunity to use 
those funds to cover the billions of dollars of projects we have 
underway.
  We have billions of dollars of projects underway. We have $1.5 
billion in the bill. So instead of directing it to one particular 
project, I thought it might be worth discussing the wisdom and the 
benefit of trying to give it to our State, allowing them to use it in a 
way that will most quickly benefit the most people.
  I want to show the levee structure. We have passed since 1986 eight 
WRDA bills, water resources development bills. This is the way Congress 
builds levees all over the country. The red represents Federal levees 
in Louisiana, the green represents local levees, and then the yellow is 
boundaries separating our parishes. We don't have counties, we have 
parishes. Here is St. Bernard Parish. This parish, by the way, with 
67,000 people, was completely obliterated in Katrina--completely. Out 
of 67,000 people, there were 5--5--homes that were not completely 
inundated up to the roof with water. That is St. Bernard Parish.
  Then we have Orleans, and we saw what happened when the levees broke: 
70 percent of the city went underwater. What you didn't see was 
Plaquemine Parish went underwater. This levee helped. This is the only 
levee in our entire State, Golden Meadow, even though it held in 
Katrina--you are going to have a hard time believing this, but this 
little levee held down here in Golden Meadow. But since Katrina, I 
can't seem to get a dollar to lift it a little higher because the Corps 
of Engineers, for some reason, doesn't think this is a big priority. It 
held again in Ike, and it held again in Gustav. They keep telling me 
there is something wrong, we can't build a levee this way. I said: 
Since this levee held and yours broke, maybe Golden Meadow knows 
something about building levees. Nevertheless, we don't have money to 
help them strengthen that levee, although it has been through four 
hurricanes now.
  In the last WRDA bill, we authorized $6.9 billion of projects, which 
is the good news, and some of that money will be spent here. By the 
way, there will be billions of dollars spent around the country on 
levees such as this. We are only one of 50 States. I most certainly 
don't think we should get all the money in Louisiana, although we have 
a lot of the water. The Mississippi River probably deserves a little 
extra because of that, and we do because it is a water bill, it is not 
a desert bill. If it were a desert bill, New Mexico would get a good 
portion of that money. It is a water bill. We have a lot of water, so 
we get a lot of money.
  We have $6 billion. However, in the actual appropriations bill, we 
only have $1.5 billion. So the best way I can think to take that $1.5 
billion, instead of dedicating it to one project, is give it to the 
Governor and let him, with his team and the legislature, Democrats and 
Republicans, figure out how to lay that money down on south Louisiana 
to save as much as we can while we wait and work for the revenue-
sharing piece I talked about earlier, the portion of the offshore oil 
and gas revenues. We are now going to get 37 percent of those revenues, 
which are moneys that come to the Federal Treasury that if Louisiana 
weren't willing to produce oil and gas, the country would not have. 
They might own the resources off our coast, off our 9-mile boundary, 
but they couldn't access those revenues without the people of Louisiana 
agreeing.
  Remember, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama are the only 
States that allow drilling off their coasts, and Alaska, which is not 
in the lower 48, of course. So because we allow drilling, because we 
generate $10 billion, we thought instead of coming here hat in hand 
every year, let us direct some of that money to help us build these 
levees and then in the meantime, we can get occasionally some money in 
the water resources bill or in an appropriations bill to add to that so 
we can start protecting our people. We may not get to 1 in every 10,000 
years' storm, but we most certainly need to get past 1 out of every 100 
years. We have to move not from a category 3 protection but to a 
category 5 protection, and we have to do it quickly. So I send this 
bill to the desk and hope we can consider it at the earliest 
convenience.
  I wish to also send to the desk some more detailed information about 
what I have spoken about, and I will conclude this portion by saying 
that this is an urgent matter. I don't know how many storms we have to 
endure on the gulf coast, America's energy coast, before this Congress 
realizes this is an economic disaster, it is an emotional drain on 
people who continue to watch everything they own flood time and time 
again.
  If I thought I could relocate 2 million people to another part--even 
if I could get them to go, which I couldn't because this is their 
home--it would be too expensive. Who would stay and run the river? Who 
would keep these channels open? Who would drill for the oil and gas? We 
haven't figured out how to do this from unmanned aerial platforms yet. 
People actually have to go out into this coastline and work hard every 
day in agriculture, in oil and gas and in fisheries. This operation 
cannot be run from Kansas City or from Little Rock, AR. It has to be 
run on the coast. And everybody who lives on a coast, whether you live 
in Florida or Texas or South Carolina or North Carolina or Georgia 
understands what I am talking about. We can't relocate everyone to 
Denver. We have to protect our coasts, and we are doing a terrible job 
of it in this country. I am one of the Senators who represents the most 
challenged area in the Nation. Louisiana is not the only . . . .

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