[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9081-9083]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-33. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Louisiana memorializing Congress to enact 
     laws to establish, implement, and ensure that universal 
     communication is at all times and at all places available to 
     warn the American people of imminent and impending dangers; 
     to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

[[Page 9082]]



                   Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 3

       Whereas, the Congress of the United States should enact 
     laws to establish and implement an effective, reliable, 
     integrated, flexible, and comprehensive system that will 
     alert and warn the American people in situations of war, 
     terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other hazards to 
     public health, safety and well-being, taking appropriate 
     account of the functions, capabilities, needs of all people, 
     the private sector and of all governments, so as to ensure 
     that, under all conditions, universal communication is at all 
     times and at all places available to warn the American people 
     of imminent and impending dangers; and
       Whereas, Congress should investigate and conduct hearings 
     to inventory, evaluate, and assess capabilities and 
     integration with the public alert and warning system of 
     federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local public alert 
     and warning resources; and
       Whereas, Congress should establish or adopt common alerting 
     and warning protocols, standards, technology, and operating 
     procedures that are effective without the necessity of 
     maintaining a database of contact information (while 
     protecting privacy of all Americans) and for the public alert 
     and warning system to enable interoperability and the secure 
     delivery of coordinated messages to the American people 
     through as many communication pathways as practicable, 
     utilizing today's technology so as to guarantee the delivery 
     of warnings and alerts in a timely manner to the entire 
     population when surface infrastructure does not exist, has 
     been compromised, or otherwise rendered ineffective; and
       Whereas, Congress should ensure the capability to adapt the 
     distribution and content of communications on the basis of 
     clearly defined geographic locations, risks, or personal user 
     preferences, as appropriate; and
       Whereas, Congress should provide that any public alert and 
     warning system is capable of alerting and warning all 
     Americans, including those with disabilities and those who 
     lack an understanding of the English language, in the most 
     remote geographic areas of America and its territories; and
       Whereas, Congress should, through cooperation with the 
     owners and operators of communication facilities, maintain, 
     protect, and, if necessary, restore communications facilities 
     and capabilities necessary for the public alert and warning 
     system; and
       Whereas, Congress should establish training, annual tests, 
     and exercises for the public alert and warning system, and 
     provide for direct access thereto by appropriate federal, 
     state, local, tribal, and territorial emergency personnel; 
     and
       Whereas, Congress should ensure the conduct of public 
     education efforts so that federal, state, territorial, 
     tribal, local governments, the private sector, and the 
     American people understand the functions of the public alert 
     and warning system and how to access, use, and respond to 
     information issued through all public alert and warning 
     systems and devices; and
       Whereas, Congress should require all governments, federal, 
     state, local, territorial, and media communication 
     organizations to consult, coordinate, and cooperate with the 
     private sector, including emergency response providers and 
     users, as appropriate for the full implementation of a state 
     of the art early warning and alert system; and
       Whereas, Congress should, in performing the functions set 
     forth above, coordinate with all appropriate departments and 
     agencies of all governments referenced in this Resolution. 
     Therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Legislature of Louisiana, in session 
     duly assembled, memorializes the Congress of the United 
     States of America, and the Louisiana delegation to the United 
     States Congress in particular, to expedite a solution that 
     will provide public alert and warning in situations of war, 
     terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other hazards to 
     public safety and well-being to all people of the United 
     States of America. Be it further
       Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the 
     Speaker and the Minority Leader of the United States House of 
     Representatives, the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader 
     of the United States Senate, and to all sitting members of 
     Louisiana's delegation to the Congress of the United States 
     of America.
                                  ____

       POM-34. A resolution adopted by the House of 
     Representatives of the Legislature of the State of Iowa 
     relative to recognizing the positive impact of the Community 
     Services Block Grant program; to the Committee on Health, 
     Education, Labor, and Pensions.

                        House Resolution No. 44

       Whereas, in state fiscal year 2010, 365,752 Iowans in 
     140,333 households were helped in their fight against poverty 
     through services funded by the federal Community Services 
     Block Grant (CSBG) program; and
       Whereas, more than 96 percent of the families receiving 
     services were at or below 175 percent of the federal level or 
     $35,427 annual family income; and
       Whereas, more than 76 percent of the individuals served by 
     the 18 community action agencies were working or received 
     social security as their source of income; and
       Whereas, those 18 community action agencies have 127 
     service centers throughout all 99 Iowa counties; and
       Whereas, each community action agency is governed by a 
     community-based volunteer board of directors consisting of 
     elected officials, private sector representatives, and low-
     income Iowans; and
       Whereas, Iowa's 18 community action agencies employ 3,350 
     Iowans; and
       Whereas, CSBG funding for the 18 community action agencies 
     brought in $2.3 million in local funding, $13.6 million in 
     private funding, $13.9 million in state funding, and $222.9 
     million in federal funding to Iowa's local communities; and
       Whereas, CSBG funding for Iowa's 18 community action 
     agencies helped generate $17.7 million in in-kind goods and 
     services and donated items; and
       Whereas, the 18 community action agencies received 
     $7,154,281 in CSBG funding enabling the community action 
     agencies to operate their service centers and to administer 
     state and federally funded programs; and
       Whereas, President Obama has proposed a 50 percent 
     reduction in CSBG funding and making the allocation of the 
     remaining funds competitive instead of continuing the current 
     allocation formula that brings stability to Iowa's community 
     and economic development initiatives; and
       Whereas, the Iowa House of Representatives supports efforts 
     of the United States Congress to effectively reduce the 
     federal deficit while promoting the current and future 
     economic security of all Iowans; Now therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the House of 
     Representatives supports the positive impact of the CSBG 
     program in Iowa and opposes federal action to reduce CSBG 
     funding disproportionately compared to the rest of the 
     federal domestic discretionary budget; and be it further
       Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the 
     President of the United States, the President and Secretary 
     of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Clerk of the 
     United States House of Representatives, and each member of 
     the Iowa congressional delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-35. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Louisiana memorializing Congress to enact 
     legislation to provide additional funding for research in 
     order to find a treatment and a cure for amyotrophic lateral 
     sclerosis; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

                  Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 26

       Whereas, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS is better 
     known as Lou Gehrig's disease; and
       Whereas, ALS is a fatal neurodegenerative disease 
     characterized by degeneration of cell bodies of the lower 
     motor neurons in the gray matter of the anterior horns of the 
     spinal cord; and
       Whereas, the initial symptom of ALS is weakness of the 
     skeletal muscles, especially those of the extremities; and
       Whereas, as ALS progresses the patient experiences 
     difficulty in swallowing, talking, and breathing; and
       Whereas, ALS eventually causes muscles to atrophy and the 
     patient becomes a functional quadriplegic; and
       Whereas, ALS does not affect a patient's mental capacity, 
     so that the patient remains alert and aware of his or her 
     loss of motor functions and the inevitable outcome of 
     continued deterioration and death; and
       Whereas, on average, patients diagnosed with ALS only 
     survive two to five years from the time of diagnosis; and
       Whereas, ALS has no known cause, means of prevention, or 
     cure; and
       Whereas, research indicates that military veterans are at a 
     60% or greater risk of developing ALS than those who have not 
     served in the military; and
       Whereas, the Department of Veterans Affairs implemented 
     regulations to establish a presumption of service connection 
     for ALS thereby presuming that the development of ALS was 
     incurred or aggravated by a veteran's service in the 
     military; and
       Whereas, a national ALS patient registry, administered by 
     the Centers for Disease Control, is currently identifying 
     cases of ALS in the United States and may become the single 
     largest ALS research project ever created; and
       Whereas, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month 
     increases the public's awareness of ALS patients' 
     circumstances and acknowledges the terrible impact this 
     disease has not only on the patient but on his or her family 
     and the community and recognizes the research being done to 
     eradicate this horrible disease. Therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Legislature of Louisiana hereby 
     recognizes May 2011 as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis 
     Awareness Month. Be it further
       Resolved, That the Congress of the United States is hereby 
     memorialized to enact legislation to provide additional 
     funding for research in order to find a treatment and a cure 
     for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Be it further
       Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution shall be 
     transmitted to the secretary of the United States Senate and 
     the clerk of the United States House of Representatives and 
     to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United 
     States Congress.
                                  ____

       POM-36. A petition transmitted by a private citizen 
     relative to the examination of

[[Page 9083]]

     the record and conduct of a judicial nomination; to the 
     Committee on the Judiciary.

                          ____________________