[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 10480-10481]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Coons, Mr. Isakson, 
        and Mr. Kaine):
  S. 2502. A bill to establish in the United States Agency for 
International Development an entity to be known as the United States 
Global Development Lab, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the Global 
Development Lab and the legislation I am introducing along with 
Senators Boozman, Coons, and Isakson that codifies the Global 
Development Lab and provides the U.S. Agency for International 
Development, USAID, with the flexibility it needs to make the Lab the 
gold standard in global development innovation.
  This year, the Office of Science & Technology and the Office of 
Innovation & Development Alliances at USAID were abolished to pave the 
way for the Global Development Lab--a new approach to invest, test, and 
bring to scale more effective solutions to the world's biggest 
development challenges.
  The Global Development Lab partners with entrepreneurs, experts, 
nongovernmental organizations, NGOs, universities, and science and 
research institutions to solve development challenges in a faster, more 
cost-efficient, and more sustainable way. The lab utilizes a pay-for-
success model, which uses science, technology, and innovation-driven 
competitions to expand the number and diversity of solutions to 
development challenges. This means that instead of issuing grants or 
contacts, USAID can give a competitor an award only after the 
objectives of the competition have been achieved.
  The lab already has an impressive 32 cornerstone partners. These 
partners are businesses, NGOs, foundations, universities, and 
governments--all of whom are committed to sharing information and 
expertise and to bringing innovative development projects to scale. I 
am pleased that two Maryland-based organizations, Johns Hopkins 
University and Catholic Relief Services, are cornerstone partners of 
the Global Development Lab. Catholic Relief Services intends to work 
with the lab on food security, global health, climate change, energy, 
and information and communications technology, and it is already using 
geographic information systems in Haiti to map schools and education 
programs across the country to better improve education interventions. 
Johns Hopkins University plans to partner with the lab on improving 
health care and access to clean and affordable water and energy.
  The Global Development Lab makes sense: America has a proud history 
of achieving unprecedented gains for humanity through science and 
technology. Evidence has shown that when we harness American science, 
innovation and entrepreneurship, we achieve the greatest leaps in 
social and economic development.
  For example, ninety percent of new HIV infection in children is a 
result of mother-to-child transmission at birth. When newborns receive 
antiretroviral drugs at a clinic or hospital within 24 hours of birth, 
their chances of contracting HIV go from 45 percent to less than 5 
percent. In regions where pregnant mothers do not have adequate access 
to medical facilities, getting newborns antiretroviral treatment is 
challenging. In response to this challenge, Dr. Robert Malkin and his 
students at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering and Duke's Global Health 
Institute--also Cornerstone Partners--designed the Pratt Pouch, a low-
cost foil pouch that preserves a premeasured dose of antiretroviral 
medication for up to a year without requiring refrigeration. The pouch 
ensures accurate pediatric dosing and can be given to mothers to take 
home with them before birth. Mothers then simply tear open the pouch 
and squeeze the medication directly into their newborn's mouth, 
eliminating the need for a syringe and a health professional and 
ultimately reducing the likelihood of mother-to-child transmission of 
HIV at birth.
  This type of innovation is exciting and is exactly what we hope to 
see more of as we scale up the Global Development Lab and empower it to 
be the world's most innovative incubator of global development 
projects.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. FLAKE (for himself and Mr. McCain):
  S. 2503. A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to enter into 
the Big Sandy River-Planet Ranch Water Rights Settlement Agreement and 
the Hualapai Tribe Bill Williams River Water Rights Settlement 
Agreement, to provide for the lease of certain land located within 
Planet Ranch on the Bill Williams River in the State of Arizona to 
benefit the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, 
and to provide for the settlement of specific water rights claims in 
the Bill Williams River watershed in the State of Arizona; to the 
Committee on Indian Affairs.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator McCain and myself I am 
pleased to introduced S. 2503, the Bill Williams River Water Rights 
Settlement Act of 2014.
  This measure would confirm important water rights claims of the 
Hualapai Tribe to water in the Bill Williams River watershed; provide 
protections for the Tribe's culturally significant springs in that 
area; secure a non-federal contribution toward a future settlement of 
the Tribe's claims in other river basins; provide certainty

[[Page 10481]]

for continued water use by the Freeport Minerals Corporation, Freeport, 
at the Bagdad Mine complex and townsite; and facilitate the transfer of 
a portion of land known as Planet Ranch for use in the Lower Colorado 
River Multi-Species Conservation Program or MSCP. It would do all of 
this without any new spending authorizations.
  Water users in Arizona have a long history of pro-actively addressing 
complex water challenges. Among the State's many accomplishments is the 
resolution, in whole or in part, of water rights claims asserted by 13 
of the State's 22 federally recognized Indian tribes. This measure 
would carry forward that strong tradition by recognizing reserved water 
rights to a total of 694 acre-feet per year, afy, on three different 
parcels along the Big Sandy River as well as the Tribe's claims to the 
Cofer Hot Springs.
  For non-Indian communities, this legislation would confirm Freeport's 
right to withdraw 10,055 afy at the Wikieup Wellfield, which serves the 
Bagdad Mine and townsite. Achieving this level of certainty with regard 
to water supply would help to ensure continued economic benefits 
throughout the State.
  By enabling the transfer of a portion of Planet Ranch to the Lower 
Colorado River MSCP, the settlement would help Arizona, California, and 
Nevada meet their obligations to both water management and Endangered 
Species Act compliance. However, in order to properly effectuate the 
transfer, Congress must act before five-year window for abandonment and 
forfeiture of Planet Ranch's water rights expires.
  Finally, this bill would help to set the table for future 
negotiations regarding the Tribe's claims to water in the lower 
Colorado River and the Verde River by securing a non-federal 
contribution toward those settlement efforts. As those negotiations 
continue, I look forward to fully and fairly evaluating any subsequent 
settlement on its own merits.
  I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with the parties that 
have negotiated this settlement, and I am committed to bringing it to 
fruition through congressional enactment. The settlement resolves 
significant legal claims, provides certainty for water users, and 
enhances the MSCP without including any new spending. Therefore, I urge 
my colleagues to support this legislation.

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