[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 7772-7773]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             ENERGY SAVINGS

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I am disappointed today that we were unable 
to move forward on the Energy Savings and Industrial Competiveness Act 
of 2014, S. 2262. This legislation, also referred to as the energy 
efficiency bill, had substantial public support and included several 
strong bipartisan compromises. It is a pretty sad state of affairs that 
we were unable to garner the 60 votes necessary to overcome a 
filibuster of S. 2262. Not moving forward on this bill is irresponsible 
and inhibits our economy's growth.
  Through a deficit neutral framework, the energy efficiency bill would 
have provided several low-cost tools to promote the adoption of energy 
efficient technologies. It supported the use of such technologies in 
residential and commercial buildings, encouraged stronger coordination 
between the private sector and the Federal Government through the 
research, development and commercialization of energy efficient 
technologies, and required that the nation's largest consumer of 
energy, the Federal Government, implement energy-saving techniques.
  This legislation would have been good for Michigan and the Nation. 
Michigan is the epicenter of America's manufacturing sector and has the 
potential to help spearhead the development of energy efficient 
technologies. With a highly skilled workforce and a robust base of 
manufacturers specializing in energy efficient products, Michigan is 
well-positioned to meet the demands of an evolving energy efficient 
economy. This bill could have provided job creation opportunities for 
energy efficiency contractors, manufacturers, and service companies.
  A comprehensive energy policy must balance the demands of providing 
affordable and reliable energy with environmental protection. Energy 
efficiency is one of the most successful tools that will allow us to 
achieve that balance. Using less energy not only reduces harmful 
emissions, but also helps us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, 
and enhance our energy security. This bill had the potential to create 
jobs, increase our country's productivity, and incentivize industry to 
innovate and develop competitive technologies that strengthen our 
economy.
  The Senate has not voted on energy legislation since 2007 and it is 
unfortunate that we have squandered another opportunity to help advance 
our nation's economy and increase our energy security. This was 
commonsense legislation that not only made economic sense for the 
American public, but strong environmental sense.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. I ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning 
business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection.


                      Tribute to Billy Frank, Jr.

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor this evening, along 
with my colleague Senator Cantwell, to talk about a truly remarkable 
man from our own State of Washington whom we just lost last week.
  Billy Frank, Jr., was many things to many different people. To his 
family he was a loving husband and father, to the dozens of Native 
American tribes in Washington State he was a hero and a champion for 
hard-fought treaty rights, and to millions across our State, Billy 
Frank, Jr., was a marine who represented what the best of America is 
all about, fighting for what you believe in and never, ever giving up.
  I was back in Washington State yesterday for Billy's memorial 
service, and looking around at all the people there whose lives he had 
touched, I was reminded of what made Billy so special. Billy was the 
type of person who defined the term ``larger than life.'' He was the 
type of person who had so much personality and so much ability and so 
much passion and love in his heart that it was very hard to believe it 
could all be contained in just one person.
  When Billy believed in something, he didn't just make his argument, 
he held a fish-in. He built a movement. He did raise his voice just to 
be heard, he banged down the doors in Olympia and here in Washington, 
DC, until he got what he needed. Most of all, he never flinched in the 
face of opposition, and he faced plenty of it, from hate and 
discrimination to being arrested and abused. Over a lifetime that took 
him from the banks of the Nisqually River to the steps of the U.S. 
Supreme Court, Billy made sure the rights of Native Americans were 
protected and honored by the United States of America. He led the fight 
to ensure tribal rights to Native lands and salmon harvest could never 
be stolen away and over time he became much more than an advocate. He 
became in many ways a face of so many Native American communities 
across this country.
  Now as we grieve and try to think about how to move forward without 
this larger-than-life man, I am reminded that while we have lost Billy, 
so much of his life's work truly remains with us because all he 
accomplished and all he achieved, whether it was power and influence or 
court decisions and new laws, it was never about him. It was always 
about his community, his tribe, and protecting treaty rights for all 
Native Americans. Billy was someone who did so much and worked so hard 
not so he could gain power or wealth but so the people, the land, and 
the fish he cared so much for would never be brushed aside or 
forgotten. That is a rare thing.
  Billy's life wasn't a job for one man or one woman, but somehow he 
pulled it off by himself. So now it is going to take everyone who knew 
him to fill his shoes together and fight with the tribes that call 
Washington State home.
  I wish to conclude by quoting something Billy once said:

       I don't believe in magic. I believe in the sun and the 
     stars, the water, the tides, the floods, the owls, the hawks 
     flying, the river running, the wind talking. They are 
     measurements. They tell us how healthy things are. They tell 
     us because we and they are the same, and that is what I 
     believe in. Those who listen to the world that sustains them 
     can hear the message brought forth by the salmon.

  That is Billy and we will miss him.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I am glad to join my colleague, the 
senior Senator, to commemorate a great Washingtonian whom we lost last 
week, Billy Frank, Jr.
  Senator Murray and I were able to attend his memorial service 
yesterday in the South Puget Sound area with 6,000 other 
Washingtonians. That is what happens when a great leader is lost; a 
community shows up to commemorate him and his spirit. Everybody who 
knew Billy Frank across the United States of America--and there are 
many people from all over Indian Country who do know or knew of Billy

[[Page 7773]]

Frank--will want us to remember he was a legend who walked among us 
because what he did was champion environmental rights and the rights of 
Native American people to fish and in some ways championed the salmon 
to make sure we had good habitat.
  Sometimes I wonder how a boy from the Nisqually River turned into 
being such a big Northwest Pacific hero, but for him, he started when 
he was a very young man listening to fishing stories of his father and 
many members of the Nisqually tribe. In a book about his life, his 
father Willie Frank, Sr., recalled a warden telling him, ``Your treaty 
isn't worth the paper it's printed on.''
  So while Billy's family faced beatings and incarcerations and 
explicit and inexplicit racism, he decided he was going to defend those 
rights all the way to the Supreme Court. As he grew into an adolescent, 
his father said to him: Keep fishing even if they arrest you. Keep 
fishing even if they beat you. Keep fishing even if they say the 
fishing claims aren't yours and they challenge them. Keep fishing. 
Because he knew those fishing claims were promised in the Medicine 
Creek Treaty.
  So Billy was arrested more than 50 times in this struggle to secure 
the rights that were guaranteed to him by this government in a treaty. 
In fact, also in that book, he once was jailed and was asked by some of 
the people in jail--he called them bank robbers--what was he in for, 
and Billy just said, ``Fishing.''
  So he took the beatings, and instead of turning all that into anger, 
he urged people to work in a nonviolent way, to stand for what they 
thought were important issues.
  He had a great sense of humor. He once said:

       If a salmon gets away from you, don't cuss. Don't say 
     anything. That salmon, he's going upriver. He's producing 
     more salmon for you and for all of us. The salmon--he's 
     coming home. And we have to take care of his home.

  That is the vision that helped Billy win one of the greatest 
victories the tribes in the United States of America has ever seen. In 
a landmark decision, they abolished the regulations of discrimination 
against the Indian fishermen and allowed the tribe to self-regulate, 
comanage, and have the opportunity to catch up to half the harvestable 
catch.
  We just celebrated the 40th anniversary of that historic Boldt 
decision, and yesterday we had a chance to pay tribute to a man who 
played a critical role in that decision. But as my colleague Senator 
Murray said, Billy Frank did more than just fight for that decision. He 
continued to focus on restoration of Puget Sound, including the 
Nisqually Delta Restoration, one of the largest tidal marsh 
restorations in the Pacific Northwest. This project has increased the 
potential for salt marsh habitat in the southern reach of Puget Sound 
by over 50 percent.
  Because of his advocacy we have a program now called the Puget Sound 
Partnership, which is a public-private tribal partnership trying to 
improve the health of Puget Sound, and he is the reason we have an 
agreement called the Timber, Fish, and Wildlife Agreement, which is a 
model for how people around the United States of America should try to 
resolve some of their differences on environmental issues instead of 
suing and going to court forever and ever and never having any kind of 
resolution. This kind of collaboration helped people address the 
environmental issues at hand.
  So all of these things are things Billy Frank accomplished. As my 
colleague Senator Murray said, it was almost as though he was larger 
than life and did a job that could have, should have been for many 
people, but instead he just did it in his own way.
  We will miss him, but we are thankful for all he did and for the 
people in the Northwest Fishing Commission for all they have done to 
help us in the Northwest set the right course. While he will not be 
there in person, we know Billy Frank will always be with us and with 
the salmon of the Pacific Northwest. We will miss him.
  I thank the Chair and I yield the floor.

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