[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9688-9692]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. BEGICH:
  S. 3325. A bill to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, acting through the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and 
Mental Health Services Administration, in coordination with the 
Secretary of Education, to carry out a 5-year demonstration program to 
fund mental health first aid training programs at 10 institutions of 
higher education to improve student mental health; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce a very important 
piece of legislation--the Mental Health First Aid Higher Education Act. 
The bill authorizes a nationwide demonstration program that treats 
Mental Health First Aid like the first aid training offered by Red 
Cross chapters across the United States.
  Mental Health First Aid teaches the warning signs and risk factors 
for schizophrenia, major clinical depression, panic attacks, anxiety 
disorders, trauma, and other common mental disorders, crisis de-
escalation techniques, and equips college and university staff with a 
5-step action plan to help individuals in psychiatric crisis connect to 
professional mental health care.
  One in four adults and 10 percent of children in the United States 
will suffer from a mental illness this year. We know what to do if 
someone has a heart attack, but how do we react to someone having a 
panic attack? Why do we wait for a tragic event to take notice and then 
bring out emergency measures?
  When I was Mayor of Anchorage, we worked with the local NAMI 
organization to train our police in Crisis Intervention Teams, great 
when responding to a crisis by police officers, but now we need to go 
further. Mental Health First Aid is for the financial aid workers, the 
dormitory resident advisers, coaches, and faculty members, to name a 
few. These are the front-line folks who will learn the warning signs 
and risk factors before tragedy strikes.
  You have heard me say this before, an it is not something to be proud 
of in Alaska: we have one of the highest suicide prevalence rates in 
the country. Further, we are a very rural State, where access to mental 
health care and medical services is often very difficult.

[[Page 9689]]

  Even today, it is not widely known that fully \2/3\ of Alaska can 
only be accessed by airplane. By educating the general public about the 
warning signs of common mental disorders, we can intervene early, 
facilitate access to care, improve clinical outcomes, reduce costs, and 
maybe save lives.
  My bill focuses on higher education because many mental illnesses are 
``adult onset conditions,'' meaning onset of full symptoms generally 
occurs in late adolescence or young adulthood--just as young people are 
headed off to college. Therefore, the audiences for this vital training 
will encompass on-campus counseling center staff, dormitory resident 
advisers, university threat assessment teams, members of disciplinary 
committees, coaches and faculty members. The instruction will highlight 
available mental health resources in local communities including 
Community Mental Health Centers, emergency psychiatric facilities, 
hospital emergency rooms and other programs offering psychiatric crisis 
beds.
  The program may also help to avert violence incidents; Mental Health 
First Aid gained wide public recognition in the aftermath of the tragic 
shootings in Tucson, AZ, involving our former colleague Rep. Gabrielle 
Giffords.
  Mental disorders are more common than heart disease and cancer 
combined and a recent Governing magazine article reports that many 
states and localities are moving ahead--teaching their employees how to 
recognize the signs of mental health problems and how to help.
  In this time of austerity, the training is not only important, 
because it will save lives, it is also inexpensive. Courses costs about 
$180, a small price to pay to potentially save lives.
  In closing, yes, we are in a presidential election year and the 
political season often highlights the issues that divide us as 
Americans. But the Mental Health First Aid Higher Education Act is not 
one of them.
  In the Alaska tradition, I seek to work across the aisle, and I 
strongly believe this legislation merits bipartisan support. Please 
join me in supporting this vital education program that helps to avert 
suffering, prevent violence and ultimately will save lives.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. Begich):
  S. 3330. A bill to authorize the establishment of a Niblack mining 
area road corridor in the State of Alaska, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
that would potentially help in solving a significant unemployment 
problem in my home state of Alaska. Today, joined by my colleague, 
Senator Mark Begich, I introduce the Niblack Mining Area Road 
Authorization Act to permit road access to proposed multi-mineral mines 
on southeast Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska.
  Prince of Wales Island, formerly the main area for timber activity in 
Southeast Alaska, has fallen on hard times during the past decade. In 
1990, when Alaska's timber industry in total harvested more than 1.1 
billion board feet of timber, Prince of Wales was the center of 
activity. In 1994, for example, timber jobs accounted for 32.8 percent 
of all wages on the island. Six years later, with total regional 
harvests having fallen to about 350 million board feet, timber 
accounted for less than 19.8 percent of wages on the island, according 
to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Today, 
with total harvests of timber being just above 100 million board feet a 
year in the region--just 35 million board feet being harvested from 
federal lands in 2011--and timber jobs statewide having fallen from 
about 4,000 to just over 400, Prince of Wales has been particularly 
hard hit. According to the State, timber jobs have fallen by more than 
1,700 positions on the island.
  As of April, the unemployment rate on the island was ``down'' to 15 
percent, compared to 18.1 percent in March. The rate in the Hoonah-
Angoon census area, which covers the other potentially significant 
timber area in Southeast, stood at 20 percent in April, compared to 
25.6 percent in March, 2012. Those rates are nearly 8 percent to 12 
percent higher than the national average and higher than traditional 
rates, even after out migration from the island over the past decade.
  While the Viking Lumber Co. of Klawock remains the largest private-
sector timber employer on the island, the island, the third largest in 
the United States, is badly in need of new employment opportunities. 
Fortunately today's high metal prices are encouraging a resurgence of 
mineral development on the 2,231 square-mile island.
  Currently, Heatherdale Minerals of Canada is considering reopening 
the Niblack Mine, a gold, copper, zinc and silver deposit. The company 
is in advanced exploration and development study of the estimated 9 
million-ton mine, forecast to cost $150 million to $200 million to 
reopen. The mine, likely to last at least 12 years, is forecast to 
produce 1,500 tons of ore per day and require 130 workers at the mine 
site, and another 60 at a processing mill, which could be located near 
the site, or in Ketchikan, AK, 40 vessel miles away.
  The Niblack property is also close to another mineral deposit that is 
in the advanced stages of economic feasibility review, the Bokan 
Mountain Rare Earth Elements, REE, mine. Bokan Mountain, being 
considered for opening by Ucore Inc. of Canada, likely will employ 200 
workers. It, too, will involve an investment of between $150 million to 
$200 million for the mine and a preliminary tailings processing plant 
to process the heavy rare earths, REEs, located at the site of a former 
uranium mine. Both mines currently estimate they could be open within 
three to four years, depending on final economic reviews and current 
permit approval timeframes. Bokan Mountain is located about 28 miles 
south of Niblack and can be accessed by boat by traveling down the 
relatively protected Moira Sound to the end of South Arm.
  The two mines could produce substantial numbers of high-paying jobs 
for the residents of southern Southeast Alaska. Niblack, for example, 
predicts the average salary for mine workers at its facility will be 
$80,000 a year. The problem of getting those jobs to people who need 
them is one of logistics.
  There currently is no road access to reach either mine site, both 
likely to be supplied by boat from Ketchikan, Alaska. That means that 
potential workers on Prince of Wales will need to travel by boat or 
more likely by plane to Ketchikan, in order to turn around and take a 
mine boat back to the island to report for work--a costly, time-
consuming, often unpleasant and, sometimes, dangerous process given sea 
conditions in Southeast Alaska. Or they will need to pilot their own 
small boats to the mine site, a hazardous process given that reaching 
Niblack from the community of Thorne Bay to the north--a site that is 
located on the island's road system--will require a daily 60-mile one-
way boat trip down perilous Clarence Strait, a difficult water body 
during fall, winter, and spring storms when seas can easily top 20 feet 
waves.
  But the problem could be solved, if a road could be extended the 
roughly 26.3 miles to connect the Niblack mine, by means of existing 
logging roads, to the State highway system on the island. Such a road 
will involve at least 2.5 miles of logging road reconstruction and the 
construction of 26.3 miles of new road. Those roads, if built to 
existing logging road standards, are estimated to cost $7.075 million--
the cost certainly rising if the roads are built to Federal Aid Urban 
Highway standards. The issue is that 18.3 miles of that new 
construction is across federal lands in the Tongass National Forest 
and, more importantly, across areas classified as inventoried roadless 
under the 2001 U.S. Forest Service roadless rule, as it was reimposed 
on the Tongass in 2009.
  Looking at the topography of the area, located inside the Eudora 
inventoried roadless area, the road would begin at the Haida, Hydaburg, 
Native village corporation's West, Cholmondeley, Arm sort yard and head 
Southeast through the Big Creek Valley and climb to a mountain pass at 
the roughly 1,400-foot elevation. From there it will drop onto land 
owned by

[[Page 9690]]

the Kootznoowoo Native village corporation of Angoon and follow 
existing logging roads that lie on the western side of the South Arm. 
The route then runs south and parallels South Arm on the west side 
until the southern end of the bay is reached. Then the route follows 
the shoreline of the south end of the South Arm until the far southeast 
corner of the bay is reached--the location of existing cabins and a 
State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game fish weir. From this point, 
there are two potential route alternatives: the 1A route continues to 
run in a southerly direction through a mountain pass of slightly more 
than 500-feet elevation passing two unnamed lakes. Once it reaches the 
shoreline of Dickman Bay, the road turns in a more easterly direction 
and runs across the south end of Kugel Lake and Luelia Lake, and the 
north end of Kegan Lake. From the 900-foot elevation pass on the west 
side of Luelia Lake, the route continues to run in an easterly fashion 
and must cross 1,200- and 1,400-foot passes before the route turns 
north to reach the Niblack mine at tidewater. That total route is 26.3 
miles of new construction and a total distance of 28.8 miles. There is 
an alternative, Route 1B, early in the route corridor to reduce the 
elevation and add switchbacks required to reach the first pass--an 
alternative that would add 1.9 miles to the road.
  There is another alternative route, Route 2A, that leaves from the 
same location and runs on the same route until the south end of South 
Arm. The second route then turns in a northerly direction and continues 
to follow the eastern shoreline of South Arm, Cholmondeley, for roughly 
1.5 miles. The route then turns in an eastern direction and climbs 
through a mountain pass of about 900-feet elevation. From this pass, 
the route descends into the existing road system on Kootznoowoo lands 
near the south shores of Miller Lake. At the eastern terminus of these 
existing roads, the new route picks up again and continues in a 
southeast direction along the south end of Clarno Cove and Cannery Cove 
until Cannery Point is reached. From there the route turns into a 
southerly direction and climbs to another mountain pass of roughly 
1,000-feet elevation. The route then follows the hillside to the west 
of Niblack Lake and meets another mountain pass of the same elevation 
and then descends in a southerly direction along the west side of 
Myrtle Lake to reach the Niblack Mine and tidewater. That route 
involves 24.6 miles of new construction, 6.1 miles of road 
reconstruction and involves a total length of 30.7 miles, thus costing 
more. It involves, however, constructing only one pass higher than 
1,200 feet, compared to 3 on the first route, but may have more 
environmental impacts given its route along Cannery Cove and Niblack 
Lake.
  I mention the two detailed routes only to indicate that substantial 
work has been done to select a potential road corridor to the Niblack 
mine and to make clear that I am not prejudging the route with the 
fewest environmental impacts. I am leaving that to the Forest Service 
to decide after an environmental assessment or impact statement is 
undertaken. The legislation I am introducing simply says that the 
Forest Service should permit development of a road along one of the two 
routes, picking the route that both minimizes the costs, while also 
minimizing the effects on surface resources, prevents unnecessary 
surface disturbances and that complies with all environmental laws and 
regulations.
  This road, I need to point out, will not set a precedent in any way 
weakening the inventoried roadless rule's implementation in Alaska, 
regardless of how I feel about that rule. Under the original 
regulations governing roadless areas in Alaska issued by the Clinton 
Administration in January 2001, Section 294.12(b)(7) permits roads to 
be built across inventoried roadless areas if needed ``in conjunction 
with the continuation, extension or renewal of a mineral lease on lands 
that are under lease by the Secretary of the Interior. . . . Such road 
construction or reconstruction must be conducted in a manner that 
minimizes effects on surface resources, prevents unnecessary or 
unreasonable surface disturbance, and complies with all applicable 
lease requirements.''
  The patents on the Niblack property certainly predate the creation of 
the roadless rule. The mine was discovered in the late 19th century, 
according to the U.S. Forest Service. Modest copper production occurred 
between 1902 and 1908 and modern exploration on the 2,000-acre site 
began in 1974, some 150 patented claims being in place at the mine.
  The point is that Niblack is certainly a real prospect that offers 
the likelihood of real employment for many who are unemployed on Prince 
of Wales Island, if they simply can access the site from their homes in 
Craig, Klawock, Hydaburg, Thorne Bay, Kasaan, Whale Pass and even 
Coffman Cove, located on the northeast end of the island. The need for 
these jobs has prompted the City Council of Craig to formally request 
Congress to accelerate the approval of a road corridor to the mine 
site. Such a road could be built by the mine, but more likely funded 
and built by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public 
Facilities at state expense. Workers could then access jobs at the 
Bokan Mountain facility by workboat, should a route to that mine never 
be approved.
  It makes no sense in a state that already contains 58 million acres 
of formal wilderness, and in the Tongass National Forest, that already 
contains nearly 6.4 million acres of parks and wilderness areas, to bar 
construction of a road that does not cross any wilderness areas, but 
could provide a good income to a third of all of the people, 363 
people, unemployed on the island as of April 2012, according to the 
Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
  I would hope that this Congress would look favorably on allowing a 
road to this mining area, so that residents on the island can get the 
jobs they so desperately need in the years ahead.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. LEAHY:
  S. 3335. A bill to ensure the effective administration of criminal 
justice; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, I am proud to introduce the 
Effective Administration of Criminal Justice Act of 2012. This 
legislation takes important new steps to ensure the fairness of our 
criminal justice system for all participants.
  First, this bill seeks to encourage States to adopt a comprehensive 
approach in using the Federal funds received through the Edward Byrne 
Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, JAG, Program. This will help to 
ensure that their criminal justice systems operate effectively as a 
whole and that all parts of the system work together and receive the 
resources they need. Specifically, the bill reinstates a previous 
requirement of the Byrne JAG Program that States develop, and update 
annually, a strategic plan detailing how grants received under the 
program will be used to improve the administration of the criminal 
justice system. The requirement was removed from the Byrne JAG grant 
application several years ago, but groups representing States and 
victims have requested that it be reinstated in order to improve the 
efficient and effective use of criminal justice resources. The plan 
must be formulated in consultation with local governments and all 
segments of the criminal justice system. The Attorney General will also 
be required to make technical assistance available to help States 
formulate their strategic plans.
  This legislation also takes important new steps to ensure that all 
criminal defendants, including those who cannot afford a lawyer, 
receive constitutionally adequate representation. It requires the 
Department of Justice to assist States that want help developing an 
effective and efficient system of indigent defense, and it establishes 
a cause of action for the Federal government to step in when States are 
systematically failing to provide the representation called for in the 
Constitution.
  This is a reasonable measure that gives the States assistance and 
time needed to make necessary changes and seeks to provide an incentive 
for States to do so. As a former prosecutor, I have great faith in the 
men and women of

[[Page 9691]]

law enforcement, and I know that the vast majority of the time our 
criminal justice system does work fairly and effectively. I also know 
though that the system only works as it should when each side is well 
represented by competent and well-trained counsel. It was persuasive to 
me when Houston District Attorney Patricia Lykos testified before the 
Judiciary Committee several years ago when this provision was first 
considered that competent defense attorneys are critical to a 
prosecutor's job. Our system requires good lawyers on both sides, and 
incompetent counsel can result not only in needless and time consuming 
appeals, but far more importantly, it can lead to wrongful convictions 
and overall distrust in the criminal process. In working on this 
legislation, I have also learned that the most effective systems of 
indigent defense are not always the most expensive. In some cases, 
making the necessary changes may also save States money.
  I remain committed to ensuring that our criminal justice system 
operates as effectively and fairly as possible. Unfortunately, we are 
not there yet. Too often the quality of justice a defendant receives in 
our system depends on whether he or she can pay for an attorney. That 
is repugnant to the American sense of justice and we must do better. 
Americans need and deserve a criminal justice system which keeps us 
safe, ensures fairness and accuracy, and fulfills the promise of our 
constitution for all people. This bill will take important steps to 
bring us closer to that goal and I urge all Senators to support this 
legislation.
  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. 3335

       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 ``Effective Administration of 
     Criminal Justice Act of 2012''.

     SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE.

       (a) Strategic Planning.--Section 502 of title I of the 
     Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
     3752) is amended--
       (1) by inserting ``(a) In General.--'' before ``To request 
     a grant''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(6) A comprehensive State-wide plan detailing how grants 
     received under this section will be used to improve the 
     administration of the criminal justice system, which shall--
       ``(A) be designed in consultation with local governments, 
     and all segments of the criminal justice system, including 
     judges, prosecutors, law enforcement personnel, corrections 
     personnel, and providers of indigent defense services, victim 
     services, juvenile justice delinquency prevention programs, 
     community corrections, and reentry services;
       ``(B) include a description of how the State will allocate 
     funding within and among each of the uses described in 
     subparagraphs (A) through (G) of section 501(a)(1);
       ``(C) describe the process used by the State for gathering 
     evidence-based data and developing and using evidence-based 
     and evidence-gathering approaches in support of funding 
     decisions; and
       ``(D) be updated every 5 years, with annual progress 
     reports that--
       ``(i) address changing circumstances in the State, if any;
       ``(ii) describe how the State plans to adjust funding 
     within and among each of the uses described in subparagraphs 
     (A) through (G) of section 501(a)(1);
       ``(iii) provide an ongoing assessment of need;
       ``(iv) discuss the accomplishment of goals identified in 
     any plan previously prepared under this paragraph; and
       ``(v) reflect how the plan influenced funding decisions in 
     the previous year.
       ``(b) Technical Assistance.--
       ``(1) Strategic planning.--Not later than 90 days after the 
     date of enactment of this subsection, the Attorney General 
     shall begin to provide technical assistance to States and 
     local governments requesting support to develop and implement 
     the strategic plan required under subsection (a)(6).
       ``(2) Protection of constitutional rights.--Not later than 
     90 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
     Attorney General shall begin to provide technical assistance 
     to States and local governments, including any agent thereof 
     with responsibility for administration of justice, requesting 
     support to meet the obligations established by the Sixth 
     Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which 
     shall include--
       ``(A) public dissemination of practices, structures, or 
     models for the administration of justice consistent with the 
     requirements of the Sixth Amendment; and
       ``(B) assistance with adopting and implementing a system 
     for the administration of justice consistent with the 
     requirements of the Sixth Amendment.
       ``(3) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 
     through 2017 to carry out this subsection.''.
       (b) Protection of Constitutional Rights.--
       (1) Unlawful conduct.--It shall be unlawful for any 
     governmental authority, or any agent thereof, or any person 
     acting on behalf of a governmental authority, to engage in a 
     pattern or practice of conduct by officials or employees of 
     any governmental agency with responsibility for the 
     administration of justice, including the administration of 
     programs or services that provide appointed counsel to 
     indigent defendants, that deprives persons of their rights to 
     assistance of counsel as protected under the Sixth Amendment 
     and Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
     States.
       (2) Civil action by attorney general.--Whenever the 
     Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that a 
     violation of paragraph (1) has occurred, the Attorney 
     General, for or in the name of the United States, may, in a 
     civil action, obtain appropriate equitable and declaratory 
     relief to eliminate the pattern or practice.
       (3) Effective date.--Paragraph (2) shall take effect 2 
     years after the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. INOUYE (for himself and Mrs. Murray):
  S. 3336. A bill to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
carry out a major medical facility project lease for a Department of 
Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic at Ewa Plain, Oahu, Hawaii, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce an authorization 
measure for the Department of Veterans Affairs to Advance Leeward 
Outpatient Healthcare Access, ALOHA, lease in Ewa, HI, and to request 
the facility be named after my dear friend and colleague Senator Daniel 
K. Akaka.
  The new facility will provide support to our proud veterans in the 
State of Hawaii who live in West Oahu. In addition to serving the needs 
of our veterans, the facility will include a collocated clinic which 
will serve our military servicemen and women, and their families. Both 
the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, VA, will also be able 
to share ancillary and support services.
  I believe naming this joint facility after Senator Akaka is an 
appropriate and fitting way to honor his commitment to our military 
personnel and veterans throughout his years in Congress. As a Member of 
the Armed Services Committee and the Chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Readiness, he worked to ensure the Armed Services met their obligation 
to ``man, train, and equip.'' As the Chairman of the Veterans Affairs 
Committee, Senator Akaka also kept watch over and labored to improve 
the quality of care received by our brave men and women who completed 
their military service and entered into the VA system.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in saluting Senator Akaka who 
worked on behalf of the people of the State of Hawaii and this Nation 
to improve the quality of life and care of our military personnel and 
our veterans.
  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. 3336

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

     SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION OF DANIEL KAHIKINA AKAKA DEPARTMENT 
                   OF VETERANS AFFAIRS CLINIC.

       (a) Authorization of Fiscal Year 2013 Major Medical 
     Facility Lease.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may carry 
     out a major medical facility lease for a Department of 
     Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic at Ewa Plain, Oahu, 
     Hawaii, in an amount not to exceed $16,453,300.
       (b) Designation.--The outpatient clinic described in 
     subsection (a) shall after the date of the enactment of this 
     Act be known and designated as the ``Daniel Kahikina Akaka 
     Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic''.

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