[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11530-11535]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. SESSIONS (for himself and Mr. Cardin):
  S. 3396. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 
a national campaign to increase public awareness and knowledge of 
Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation, 
along with my friend and able colleague, Senator Ben Cardin of 
Maryland, that would create a national campaign at the Department of 
Health and Human Services to bring attention to congenital 
diaphragmatic hernia.
  What is CDH? It is a birth defect that occurs when the fetal 
diaphragm fails to fully develop, allowing abdominal organs to migrate 
up into the chest.
  This invasion of organs--including the bowel, stomach, spleen, and 
liver--may severely limit the growth of a baby's lungs.
  Regrettably, some have recommended terminating the pregnancy when a 
woman learns that her unborn child has CDH.
  This is an important issue, and makes promoting awareness of this 
birth defect and the positive outcomes of good treatment especially 
important.
  CDH will normally be diagnosed by prenatal ultrasound as early as the 
16th week of pregnancy. That is important. If undiagnosed before birth, 
the baby may be born in a facility that is not equipped to treat its 
compromised respiratory system because many CDH babies need to be 
placed on a heart-lung bypass machine, which is not available in many 
hospitals.
  The lungs of a baby with CDH are often too small, biochemically 
immature, structurally immature, and the flow in the blood vessels may 
be constricted, resulting in pulmonary hypertension.
  As a result, the babies are intubated as soon as they are born, and 
parents are often unable to hold their babies for weeks or even months 
at a time.
  Most babies are repaired with surgery 1 to 5 days after birth, 
usually with a GORE-TEX patch. The abdominal organs that have migrated 
into the chest are put back where they are supposed to be and the hole 
in the diaphragm is closed, hopefully allowing the affected lungs to 
expand. However, hospitalization often ranges from 3 to 10 weeks, 
depending on the severity of the condition.
  Survivors often have difficulty feeding, some require a second 
surgery to control reflux, others require a feeding tube, and a few 
will reherniate and require additional repair.
  Congenital diaphragmatic hernia is a birth defect that occurs in 1 
out of every 2,500 babies. Every 10 minutes a baby is born with CDH, 
adding up to more than 600,000 babies with CDH since just 2000. CDH is 
a severe, sometimes fatal defect that occurs as often as cystic 
fibrosis and spina bifida. Yet most people have never heard of CDH.
  In my opinion, awareness and early diagnosis and skilled treatment 
are the keys to a greater survival rate in these babies. Fifty percent 
of the babies born with CDH do not to survive.
  In 2009, my grandson, Jim Beau, now 2\1/2\ years old, was diagnosed 
with CDH during my daughter Mary Abigail's 34th week of pregnancy. 
Although she had both a 20-week and a 30-week ultrasound, the nurses 
and doctors did not catch the disease on the baby's heartbeat monitor. 
Thankfully, when Mary Abigail and her Navy officer husband Paul and 
daughter Jane Ritchie moved to southeast Georgia, the baby's irregular 
heartbeat was heard at her first appointment with her new OB.
  She was sent to Jacksonville, FL, for a fetal echo. The technician 
there told her she wasn't going to do the echo because there was 
something else wrong with the baby. She asked my daughter if she had 
ever heard of congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Of course, Mary

[[Page 11531]]

Abigail had not, and at that time our family did not know of this 
problem or the extent of our grandson's birth defect.
  The Navy temporarily allowed my daughter and her family to move to 
Gainesville, FL on November 16, and Jim Beau was born 2 weeks later on 
November 30. They heard their son cry out twice after he was born, 
right before they intubated him, but they were not allowed to hold him.
  The doctors let his little lungs get strong before they did the 
surgery to correct the hernia, when he was 4 days old. As it turned 
out, the hole in his diaphragm was large, and his intestines, spleen, 
and one kidney had moved up into his chest cavity. Thankfully, Jim Beau 
did not have to go on a heart-lung bypass machine, but he was on a 
ventilator for 12 days and on oxygen for 36. In total, he was in the 
NICU--the neonatal intensive care unit--for 43 days before he was able 
to go home, all under the constant watch of his angel mother. I could 
not have been prouder of her. She and Paul were wonderful during this 
time.
  This country has superb health care--the world's best. Without even 
our knowledge, this young Navy family had their unborn child diagnosed 
and sent to a university hospital three hours away the University of 
Florida's Shands Hospital.
  Fortunately for my family, and for thousands of other similar 
families across the United States, there are a number of physicians 
doing incredible work to combat CDH. By chance, the University of 
Florida's Shands Children's Hospital is surely one of the world's 
best--maybe the best. The CDH survival rate at Shands in Gainesville is 
unprecedented. The survival rate of CDH babies born at Shands is being 
reported at 80 to 90 percent, while the nationwide average is 50 
percent.
  Dr. David Kays, who directs the CDH program and who was the physician 
for my grandson's surgery, is a magnificent surgeon and physician. He 
uses gentle ventilation therapy as opposed to hyperventilation. Gentle 
ventilation therapy, he has discovered over the years, is less 
aggressive and therefore protects the underdeveloped lungs. Jim Beau, I 
have to say, is a wonderful little boy, full of energy and enthusiasm. 
He is active and happy--one of the most happy young children I have 
ever seen--and so quick to smile.
  This weekend, he attended his big sister Jane Ritchie's 5 year 
birthday party and he was totally happy and running around, climbing 
over all the playground equipment, with the older children just as 
though he was one of them. He thought he was in high cotton to be 
playing with these big boys and girls.
  While the challenges are many, so are the successes with this 
condition. Every year more is learned and there are more successes. My 
family has been very lucky that Jim Beau's defect was caught before he 
was born and that he was able to go to the right place--a first-rate 
place--to seek excellent care for his CDH.
  The bill Senator Cardin and I are introducing today is important 
because a national campaign for CDH will help bring awareness to this 
birth defect and save lives, I am convinced of it. Although hundreds of 
thousands of babies have been diagnosed with this defect, the causes 
are unknown and more research is needed. The thousands of happy, 
growing children who have overcome this condition validates what has 
been accomplished to date and encourages us to do even more.
  I hope my colleagues will join me and my friend and colleague Senator 
Cardin in supporting this bill to bring awareness of CDH to the world. 
I think it will create many more happy and healthy young people in the 
years to come.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Grassley, 
        Mr. Enzi, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Thune, Mr. Burr, Mr. Kyl, 
        and Mr. McConnell):
  S. 3397. A bill to prohibit waivers relating to compliance with the 
work requirements for the program of block grants to States for 
temporary assistance for needy families, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, today I introduce the Preserving Work 
Requirements Act of 2012. Chairman Camp of the House Committee on Ways 
and Means will introduce a companion measure in the House. This bill 
halts last week's unprecedented power grab from the Obama 
administration, whereby unelected bureaucrats unilaterally granted 
themselves the authority to waive Federal welfare work requirements.
  To put this another way, unelected bureaucrats ignored the law passed 
by Congress, the elected representatives of the American people. They 
ignored the work requirements intended by Congress and by the 
Presidents of both parties who signed welfare reform and its subsequent 
reauthorizations.
  Ultimately, they decided they knew better than the American people. 
The American people, through their representatives, enacted work 
requirements in welfare reform. These unelected administrators decided 
they did not like these work requirements, so with the stroke of a pen, 
they have attempted to eliminate them. Not to put too fine a point on 
it, but this action is fundamentally illegitimate in a Democratic 
Republic and is just the latest example of President Obama's 
administration acting without legal warrant when the law stands in 
their way.
  The Camp-Hatch bill, introduced today, is cosponsored in the Senate 
by my friends and colleagues, Leader McConnell and Senators Grassley, 
Kyl, Crapo, Roberts, Enzi, Cornyn, Coburn, Thune, and Burr--valuable 
and distinguished members of the Senate Finance Committee.
  This bill includes dispositive findings clearly demonstrating that 
the Obama administration acted outside the scope of the law and the 
clear intent of Congress. I would like to stress the fact that I am 
introducing this legislation because I believe the Obama administration 
grossly undermined the constitutional authority of the legislative 
branch to effect changes and settle the law.
  It does not mean I believe the 1996 law is perfect in every way and 
cannot be improved upon. That could not be further from the truth. A 
case could be made that due to prolonged inaction the TANF Programs, 
the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Programs, have withered on 
the vine, and now many States see TANF as a funding stream rather than 
a welfare program.
  An exception to this is my State of Utah. Utah runs a gold standard 
welfare program which focuses, like a laser, on work. By work, I mean 
real work, as in a paying job; work as most Americans define work, not 
work as defined in the ``Alice in Wonderland'' world of TANF, where 
running errands, smoking cessation, and bed rest count as work. Utah 
would like some relief--I think a lot of other States, in addition to 
Utah, would like some relief--from a number of administrative 
procedures in order to focus even more vigorously to moving welfare 
clients to jobs. This is a very reasonable proposition, especially if 
combined with a robust evaluation of the success of moving clients into 
work.
  I do not want the introduction of this legislation to prevent the 
Obama administration from bypassing Congress to imply that when 
Congress does take up the reauthorization of the TANF Programs, that I 
will not be open to giving States flexibility in exchange for results. 
The fact remains that this administration and the Democratically 
controlled Senate could have made welfare reform a priority for several 
years. They did not. For the administration to be arguing now that they 
need to give States flexibility under TANF rules is so urgent the need 
to bypass Congress right this very minute does not pass the laugh test.
  I am going to do everything I can to stop the administration from 
going forward with its waiver scheme. Then we should roll up our 
sleeves and take a good, honest look at how welfare reform has been 
working for the past 16 years.
  Domestic social policy is rarely permanently settled. Things change; 
people change. A law that is more than

[[Page 11532]]

halfway through its second decade can most assuredly be updated and 
improved. That is why we have reauthorizations. I do not view the 
Preserving Work Requirements for Welfare Programs Act of 2012 as the 
end of the debate on how best to get families out of poverty. In fact, 
I see it as the beginning of what I hope will be a thoughtful and 
deliberative discussion of these critical issues.
  Finally, some in the press have attempted to characterize this 
debate, which at its heart is one of Executive overreach as a standoff 
between me and my own home State of Utah. As they say in the country, 
that dog just won't hunt. I have consistently supported State 
flexibility in exchange for measurable outcomes. One of the few pieces 
of domestic social policy legislation that has actually been enacted 
during this session of Congress, Public Law 112-34, was authored by 
Chairman Baucus and me to provide States with waivers to improve 
outcomes in their child welfare systems. Utah has applied for one of 
these child welfare waivers. As Casey Stengel said: You can look it up.
  I worked very hard back in the middle 1990s to get welfare reform 
passed. We required a work part of that. We said: We are going to help 
you folks. We are going to subsidize you, we are going to give you help 
financially, but at the end of a certain period of time, you better 
have a job. The work clauses of that bill have helped millions of 
people to get jobs and get the self-esteem that comes from working and 
supporting themselves. To have this administration unilaterally, and 
without any congressional authorization, modify that work requirement 
is just plain wrong.
  Frankly, I will be for flexibility in the work requirement, but I 
don't consider bed rest work. We can list 10 or 15 other things that 
the administration has been talking about that don't qualify for work 
either.
  This is an important issue. I hope the Congress will stand up for 
itself and let this administration know there is a limit to what we are 
going tolerate from an Executive order standpoint.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. BINGAMAN (by request):
  S. 3398. A bill to provide for several critical National Park Service 
authorities, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, last month the Department of the 
Interior transmitted two draft legislative proposals relating to the 
National Park Service. Both executive communications were referred to 
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  The first legislative proposal, the National Park Service Critical 
Authorities Act of 2012, would address three National Park Service 
management concerns. The second proposal, the National Park Service 
Study Act of 2012, would authorize the Park Service to undertake or 
update fifteen special resource studies to determine the 
appropriateness of adding the study areas to the National Park System.
  I am pleased to introduce these bills, S. 3398 and S. 3399, by 
request as a courtesy to the Administration. Mr. President, I ask 
unanimous consent that the transmittal letters from the Secretary of 
the Interior, including a section-by-section analysis of each bill, be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                       Department of the Interior,


                                      Office of the Secretary,

                                     Washington, DC, June 5, 2012.
     Hon. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.,
     President of the Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: Enclosed is a draft of a bill entitled, 
     ``National Park System Critical Authorities Act of 2012.'' 
     Also enclosed is a section-by-section analysis of the bill.
       We recommend that the bill be introduced, referred to the 
     appropriate committee for consideration, and enacted.
       This proposal is needed to resolve three specific National 
     Park Service issues that are of critical concern. Enactment 
     of this legislation would promote more effective and 
     efficient government operations. None of the three measures 
     would result in costs to the federal government, other than 
     very nominal costs.
       These new authorities address:
       District of Columbia Snow Removal: The proposal amends a 
     1922 law by requiring federal agencies in the District to be 
     responsible for the removal of snow and ice in the public 
     areas associated with their buildings. Although federal 
     agencies have assumed responsibility for snow removal at 
     their respective sites, the language in the 1922 law 
     specifies that the National Park Service is responsible. 
     Enactment of this provision would eliminate a longstanding 
     legal liability burden for the National Park Service.
       George Washington Memorial Parkway: The proposal authorizes 
     the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) and the National 
     Park Service to exchange lands along the George Washington 
     Memorial Parkway. Currently, the Service has a written 
     agreement with the FHA permitting public access to the Claude 
     Moore Historical Farm. Land exchange authority would allow 
     for a permanent guarantee of visitor access to the site as 
     well as the ability to increase security at the FHA's Turner-
     Fairbank Highway Research Center and the Central Intelligence 
     Agency complex adjacent to the farm.
       Uniform Penalties for Violations on Park Service Lands: The 
     inclusion of a number of military and historic sites into the 
     National Park System during the 1930's created 
     inconsistencies in the penalties used for violations at 
     various parks. This disparity in penalties undermines fair 
     and effective law enforcement and criminal prosecution. This 
     proposal would eliminate these inconsistencies in federal 
     penalties for crimes committed in certain park units.
       The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 provides that 
     revenue and direct spending legislation cannot, in the 
     aggregate, increase the on-budget deficit. If such 
     legislation increases the on-budget deficit and that increase 
     is not offset by the end of the Congressional session, a 
     sequestration must be ordered. This proposal would affect 
     revenues, but the effects of this proposal would net to zero; 
     therefore, it is in compliance with the Statutory PAYGO Act.
       The Office of Management and Budget has advised that there 
     is no objection to the enactment of the attached draft 
     legislation from the standpoint of the Administration's 
     program.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Ken Salazar.
       Enclosures.

   National Park System Critical Authorities Act of 2012 Section-by-
                            Section Analysis

       Section 1: Provides a short title, ``National Park System 
     Critical Authorities Act of 2012''.
       Section 2: Amends ``An Act providing for the removal of 
     snow and ice from the paved sidewalks of the District of 
     Columbia'' by directing federal agencies in the District to 
     be responsible for snow and ice removal in public areas in 
     front of or adjacent to their managed properties.
       Section 3: Authorizes an exchange of land between the 
     National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration. 
     The exchange would allow for permanent access to the Claude 
     Moore Colonial Farm, part of the George Washington Memorial 
     Parkway, and for improved security at the Turner-Fairbank 
     Highway Research Center and the Central Intelligence Agency's 
     Langley Headquarters.
       Section 4: Amends the Act of March 2, 1933, to make 
     violations occurring in various park sites consistent with 
     the penalties set out in 16 U.S.C. 3 and 18 U.S.C. 3571.
       Section 5: Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
                                  ____



                                The Secretary of the Interior,

                                    Washington, DC, June 22, 2012.
     Hon. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.,
     President of the Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: Enclosed is a draft of a bill entitled. 
     the ``National Park Service Study Act of 2012.'' Also 
     enclosed is a section-by-section analysis of the bill.
       We recommend that the bill be introduced, referred to the 
     appropriate committee for consideration, and enacted.
       This proposed legislation would authorize the National Park 
     Service to conduct several studies of areas and themes that 
     merit consideration. The studies would include:
       Kau Coast--Adjacent to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the 
     area includes more than 20,000 acres along 27 miles of the 
     spectacular Kau Coast on the south side of the island of 
     Hawaii. A reconnaissance survey completed in 2006 found the 
     area contains significant natural, geological, and 
     archeological features including both black and green sand 
     beaches as well as a significant number of endangered and 
     threatened species, most notably the endangered hawksbill 
     turtle. It also exhibits some of the best remaining examples 
     of native coastal vegetation in Hawaii.
       Rota, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands--Rota 
     was the only major island in the Mariana Archipelago to be 
     spared the destruction and large-scale land use changes 
     brought about by World War II and its aftermath. The best 
     remaining examples of this island chain's native limestone 
     forest are found on Rota. Rota is also regarded as the 
     cultural home of the indigenous Chamorro people and contains 
     the most striking and

[[Page 11533]]

     well-preserved examples of their three thousand-year old 
     culture.
       Aleut Relocation and Confinement--Nine sites in the State 
     of Alaska are associated with the forced relocation of the 
     Aleut people by the United States during World War II. Unlike 
     the internment of Japanese-Americans during the war, the 
     forced evacuation and confinement of Alaska natives is little 
     known but equally poignant and historically significant. Four 
     Unangan villages were left behind in the evacuations and 
     never permanently resettled. Residents of the villages of 
     Biorka, Kashega, and Makushin, all in the Unalaska Island 
     area, were removed and taken to southeast Alaska. Residents 
     of Attu were taken by Japanese soldiers to an internment camp 
     on Hokkaido, Japan for the duration of the war.
       Japanese American Relocation Camps--Japanese Americans were 
     forced into 10 internment and relocation camps in the 
     contiguous United States by the U.S. Government during World 
     War II. The special resource study proposed by this 
     legislation would look at seven camps where the extant 
     resources remain without National Park Service protection: 
     Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming; Gila River and 
     Poston in Arizona; Grenada in Colorado; Jerome and Rohwer in 
     Arkansas; and Topaz in Utah.
       American Latino Heritage in the San Luis Valley and Central 
     Sangre de Cristo Mountains--The San Luis Valley represents 
     the northernmost expansion of the Spanish Colonial and 
     Mexican frontiers into North America. Here at the edge of the 
     southern Rocky Mountains, the legacy of this Latino 
     settlement is still clearly evident. A reconnaissance survey 
     conducted in 2011 identified a distinctive and exceptional 
     concentration of historic resources associated with Latino 
     settlement, including Colorado's oldest documented town, only 
     communal pasture, first water right, and oldest church, and 
     called for further study.
       Goldfield--Goldfield is a historic mining community in 
     southwestern Nevada. A reconnaissance survey completed in 
     2009 found the site contained nationally significant 
     resources, and recommended that a special resource study be 
     completed. The study would include extensive public 
     involvement with local landowners, government agencies, area 
     businesses and non-profit organizations. It would examine a 
     wide range of public and private options for the future 
     protection and interpretation of the Goldfield site in 
     relation to the mining history of the United States and the 
     State of Nevada.
       Hudson River Valley--The Hudson River Valley in New York is 
     known for its unique natural resources, its archeological 
     remains documenting 6,000 years of human occupation, and its 
     history as the river that revolutionized a new method of 
     waterborne transportation--the steamboat. It also provides 
     recreational opportunities to millions of residents. The area 
     may provide an opportunity to explore a new prototype of 
     landscape scale protection in an urban, suburban and rural 
     setting through the combination of potential unit designation 
     and a Federal, state and local cooperative effort to protect 
     non-federally owned natural and historic resources.
       Norman Studios--Norman Studios was a silent movie 
     production house in Jacksonville, Florida during the 1920s 
     specializing in what were then known as ``race films.'' These 
     films used African American writers and actors to create 
     entertainment for an African American audience, portraying 
     African Americans in realistic terms rather than the 
     caricatures and stereotypes commonly found in Hollywood films 
     of that era. On the basis of a reconnaissance survey 
     completed in 2010, the National Park Service concluded that a 
     special resource study of the Norman Studios site is 
     warranted.
       Mobile-Tensaw River Delta--This delta, in southern Alabama, 
     is the second largest delta in the United States, after the 
     Mississippi River Delta, and is considered the best remaining 
     delta ecosystem of its kind in the country. At 40 miles long 
     and 6 to 16 miles wide, it contains 300 square miles of flood 
     plains, cypress-gum swamps, tidal marshes, and bottomland 
     forests. The Delta is ecologically rich, supporting 126 
     species of fish, 46 species of mammals, 99 species of 
     reptiles and amphibians, and over 300 species of birds. It 
     was designated as a national natural landmark in 1974 and has 
     more than 100,000 contiguous acres of Federal and state 
     property.
       Galveston Bay--Galveston Bay is the largest, most 
     biologically productive estuary along the Texas Gulf coast. 
     The shallow bay's 600 square miles (384,000 acres) of open 
     water, freshwater and tidal marshes, seagrass meadows, and 
     oyster reefs are surrounded by bottomland forest and prairie 
     wetland and are home to over 1,800 pairs of endangered brown 
     pelicans. The bay produces more oysters than any other body 
     of water in the United States, and yields about one third of 
     Texas' commercial fishing harvest. Dredged shipping channels 
     cross the bay to the busy port of Houston. The east and west 
     lobes of the bay adjoin the Anahuac and Brazaria National 
     Wildlife Refuges, which together protect over 77,000 acres of 
     habitat.
       Peleliu--A special resource study of the World War II 
     Peleliu battlefield was completed in 2003. The study found 
     that the Peleliu battlefield met significance and suitability 
     criteria but the village clans who claim ownership of the 
     lands would consider setting aside only a small portion as a 
     battlefield site. The area was considerably smaller than that 
     identified by the NPS as the minimum area for which a 
     determination of feasibility could be made. There has been a 
     substantial shift in support by the local people for the site 
     becoming a unit of the National Park System and an updated 
     study would allow a reexamination of the feasibility issue.
       Vermejo Park Ranch--A special resource study of the Vermejo 
     Park Ranch in New Mexico and Colorado was completed in 1979, 
     and concluded that the ranch possessed nationally significant 
     cultural and natural resources that merited inclusion in the 
     National Park System. Thirty-two years have elapsed since the 
     special resource study and several significant changes to the 
     ranch have occurred during the interim. A recent 
     reconnaissance survey recommended an update of the 1979 study 
     to determine whether this area still meets the criteria for 
     addition to the National Park System.
       Buffalo Soldiers in the National Parks--In the early years 
     of the National Parks, the Buffalo Soldiers were the 
     forerunners of today's park rangers, patrolling the 
     backcountry, building trails, and stopping poaching. The 
     study would evaluate the suitability and feasibility of 
     establishing a national historic trail commemorating the 
     route traveled by the Buffalo Soldiers from their post in the 
     Presidio of San Francisco to Sequoia and Yosemite National 
     Parks. It would also identify sites that could be further 
     evaluated for listing on the National Register of Historic 
     Places and for designation as National Historic Landmarks.
       Reconstruction Era in the South--A National Historic 
     Landmark theme study would identify sites that are 
     significant to the Reconstruction era in the south. It was a 
     controversial and difficult period in American history 
     characterized by the adoption of new constitutional 
     amendments and laws, the establishment of new institutions, 
     and the occurrence of significant political events all 
     surrounding the efforts to reincorporate the South into the 
     Union and to provide newly freed slaves with political rights 
     and opportunities to improve their lives. The theme study 
     would include recommendations for the nomination of any new 
     National Historic Landmarks, and sites which merit further 
     study for potential inclusion in the National Park System.
       Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area--A study of a 
     boundary expansion for the Chattahoochee River National 
     Recreation Area is proposed for an area extending 
     approximately 45 miles from the southern boundary of the 
     existing National Recreation Area south to the junction of 
     Coweta, Heard, and Carroll Counties. These areas along the 
     Chattahoochee River corridor include several state and county 
     parks.
       The Office of Management and Budget has advised that there 
     is no objection to the enactment of the attached draft 
     legislation from the standpoint of the Administration's 
     program.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Ken Salazar.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. BENNET (for himself and Mr. Udall of Colorado):
  S. 3400. A bill to designate certain Federal land in the San Juan 
National Forest in the State of Colorado as wilderness, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I have come to the floor to talk about 
Colorado. This summer, most people have been thinking about the 
wildfires we have had up there. These fires were widespread throughout 
the State, and it is still just the beginning of fire season. We have 
already seen a lot of damage, including the destruction of hundreds of 
homes, and, most sadly, the loss of life.
  I wish to say in this Chamber, to all my colleagues, how much I 
appreciate their kindness. The knowledge that all of you have been 
thinking about people at home has been very comforting to the people I 
represent. Thanks to the heroic work of the firefighters, and with a 
lot of help also from Mother Nature, the fires are under control. So I 
wish to remind people, as I have been doing now for months, that 
Colorado is the best place to visit during the summer. It is the best 
place to bring your family.
  In fact, last week--or during the recess--Susan and I loaded up the 
minivan and drove across the State with our kids. It takes all the fun 
out of playing the license plate game when you are driving in Colorado 
because in about 2 hours the kids saw half the license plates 
representing half the

[[Page 11534]]

States in the United States--just 2 hours from Denver, CO. So I would 
say, as I have said time and time again, over the coming months, if you 
have plans to come to our State, please do.
  Today, I wish to focus on one area that illustrates how special our 
State of Colorado is.
  The Hermosa Creek watershed is a beautiful parcel of land just up the 
road from Durango in the southwest corner of our State.
  Over 4 years ago, an incredibly diverse group of local citizens, 
mountain bikers, fishermen, outfitters, local elected officials, and 
others got together to talk about the future of this striking land. 
Everybody involved likes to visit the area for recreation or to do 
business there. Their discussion was about how to put together a plan 
from the local level up to manage the area so everyone could enjoy it 
and benefit, and so that we could protect it for the next generations 
of Coloradans and the next generations of Americans.
  A little over a year ago, the group invited my family and me to take 
a hike through the watershed and join the discussion. During a tour 
over the last Memorial Day weekend, we unloaded at the Hermosa Creek 
trailhead, we tied up our boots, and my youngest daughter Anne made a 
hiking stick out of a nearby fallen branch. We started up the trail 
with 40 or so others from the local community.
  As we climbed higher and higher, we were all overcome by the beauty. 
People stopped talking. I stopped talking largely because I was out of 
breath. But the people I was with were as awestruck as I was by the 
beauty of this place. It was a particularly settling walk after being 
cooped up with my children.
  There are forested valleys, crystal-clear streams, and unspoiled 
views. After about an hour, the group pulled off the Forest Service 
trail into a meadow. And as Anne, Helena, and Caroline Bennet made 
themselves and their father and mother dandelion necklaces, we started 
a discussion about what this area means to the people who live there 
and the people who visit. The sportsmen come to fish for native 
Colorado cutthroat trout and for back-country elk hunting. The mountain 
bikers come to enjoy single-track riding on trails known throughout the 
United States of America, and actually in other countries as well. The 
local water districts love Hermosa because it provides drinking water 
for the great city of Durango. Workers in the timber and mining 
industries stress that some of the watershed could contribute to 
extractive development in the future. Some might not know that mining 
has long been an economic driver in that region of our State.
  This is a photograph of the group that hiked that day. The upshot of 
the discussion we had in that meadow was an agreement to work together 
on a bill, a balanced bill that managed the watershed so it would 
contribute to the local economy long into the future. After nearly 14 
months of discussions and negotiations since that hike, I introduced 
that bill earlier today.
  The Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act governs the entire 
108,000-acre watershed. It includes provisions to allow for multiple 
uses, such as timber harvesting for forest health; access and trails 
for off-road vehicle enthusiasts, and for mountain bikers.
  It keeps getting better. The bill also adds nearly 40,000 acres to 
the National Wilderness Preservation System, lands that provide unique 
and important opportunities for solitude and reflection, lands that 
will remain undeveloped forever, so they will always have clear streams 
of fish and lush forests for a local outfitter to take clients into the 
wilderness on horseback.
  I am proud to report the bill has the unanimous bipartisan backing of 
the two county commissions involved, the San Juan County Commission and 
the La Plata County Commission. I ask unanimous consent to have printed 
in the Record a copy of letters of support from both counties.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                              San Juan County,

                                     Silverton, CO, June 27, 2012.
     Sen. Michael F. Bennet,
     Russell Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Bennet: San Juan County is supportive of the 
     collaborative community process conducted by the Hermosa 
     Creek Workgroup. This was an open, inclusive process that has 
     brought together local citizens and organizations that are 
     concerned with protecting the special values of the Hermosa 
     Creek Watershed in San Juan and La Plata Counties in 
     southwest Colorado.
       For more than two years the Hermosa Creek Workgroup worked 
     within the framework developed by the River Protection 
     Workgroup whose goal is ``Involving the public in protecting 
     the natural values of selected streams while allowing water 
     development to continue.''
       As a result of this process, the Hermosa Creek Workgroup 
     determined that ``The Hermosa Creek Area is exceptional 
     because it is a large intact (unfragmented) natural watershed 
     containing diverse ecosystems, including fish, plants and 
     wildlife, over a road elevation range, and supports a variety 
     of multiple uses, including recreation and grazing, in the 
     vicinity of a large town.''
       San Juan County supports the proposed Federal Legislation 
     for the Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act of 2012 and 
     respectfully requests that your office initiate a legislative 
     process to achieve the goals set forth by the Hermosa Work 
     Group.
           Sincerely,

                                            Ernest F. Kuhlman,

                                                         Chairman,
     San Juan County Commissioners.
                                  ____



                                              La Plata County,

                                    Durango, CO, November 3, 2011.
     Hon. Michael Bennet,
     Hart Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Bennet: You recently released draft 
     legislation to protect the Hermosa Creek area just north of 
     Durango, and we wish to express our strong support for that 
     component of the legislation. We have previously supported 
     the work and recommendations of the Hermosa Creek Workgroup, 
     and believe that this draft accurately reflects those 
     recommendations.
       The Board of Commissioners has followed the public process 
     conducted by the Hermosa Creek Workgroup since its beginning 
     over two years ago, and we believe that the process has been 
     open, transparent, and effective. Virtually every group with 
     an interest in the Hermosa watershed participated in the 
     discussions, which were constructive and well-facilitated.
       The Hermosa Creek watershed is an invaluable resource for 
     La Plata County for a number of reasons. The recreational 
     opportunities the area offers, from hunting and fishing to 
     hiking, mountain biking, and skiing, are world class, and 
     contribute significantly to the County's recreation and 
     tourism economic base. Local outfitting businesses, hotels, 
     restaurants, gas stations, and gear shops all benefit from a 
     protected Hermosa Creek region.
       With its Outstanding Waters designation by the State of 
     Colorado, Hermosa Creek provides a major clean water 
     contribution to the Animas River, which is the water source 
     for many of La Plata County's residents. As a source of clean 
     air and spectacular scenery, Hermosa Creek also plays a key 
     role in maintaining the natural amenities that make La Plata 
     County attractive to new residents and businesses.
       The proposal to protect the Hermosa Creek watershed through 
     a special management designation, containing wilderness and 
     un-roaded designations for portions of the area, is truly a 
     community-based approach to local land management. We commend 
     you for respecting the hard work of the Hermosa Creek 
     Workgroup by including the group's recommendations in your 
     draft legislation. We support the legislation, and stand 
     ready to help in whatever way to see it enacted into law.
           Sincerely,
     Kellie C. Hotter,
       Chair.
     Robert A. Lieb, Jr.,
       Vice-Chair.
     Wallace ``Wally'' White,
       Commissioner.

  Mr. BENNET. It has the support of the Hermosa Creek Workgroup, 
ranging from hard-rock miners to wilderness advocates. I am pleased to 
carry this bill on behalf of the people of Colorado. I am especially 
proud because this was a community-driven process at its very finest, 
through and through, from beginning to end. Colorado wrote this bill. 
This bill wasn't written in Washington, DC. The bill has grown from the 
grassroots up, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents working 
together to cement a long-term plan for the community's future.
  I also want to thank my senior Senator, Senator Udall of Colorado, 
for joining me as a cosponsor of the bill, and to thank Senators 
Bingaman and

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Murkowski for their past help moving Colorado land bills through their 
committee. I am confident that as we work on this bill together we will 
find similar consensus.
  To bring this back to the beginning, I don't have to convince most 
people that Colorado is a special place. Many have visited our State 
over their lifetimes to ski our mountains, run our rivers, or climb a 
``14er.'' The Hermosa Creek watershed represents some of the best 
Colorado has to offer. It deserves to be protected for our outdoor 
recreation economy, and for future generations.
  I want to thank all of the people who have spent countless hours 
working together to make sure they could overcome their differences and 
reach a consensus on this bill. As I have told all of them, it makes my 
work so much easier when people work in such a constructive way 
together, and for that, they have my deep appreciation.

                          ____________________