Federal Land Recreational Visitor Protection Act of 2004

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 9:30 a.m. on Home Products Fire Safety.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 2:30 p.m. on Adult Stem Cell Research.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on Wednesday, July 14, at 11:30 a.m. to consider pending calendar business.

Agenda Item 1: S. 203--A bill to open certain withdrawn land in Big Horn County, Wyoming, to locatable mineral development for bentonite mining.

Agenda Item 4: S. 931--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to undertake a program to reduce the risks from and mitigate the effects of avalanches on visitors to units of the National Park System and on other recreational users of public land.

Agenda Item 7: S. 1211--A bill to further the purposes of title XVI of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992, the ``Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act'', by directing the Secretary of the Interior to undertake a demonstration program for water reclamation in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 14: S. 2052--A bill to amend the National Trails System Act to designate El Camino Real de los Tejas as a National Historic Trail.

Agenda Item 16: S. 2140--A bill to expand the boundary of the Mount Rainier National Park.

Agenda Item 17: S. 2167--A bill to establish the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in the States of Washington and Oregon, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 18: S. 2173--A bill to further the purposes of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2000.

Agenda Item 19: S. 2285--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey a parcel of real property to Beaver County, Utah.

Agenda Item 20: S. 2287--A bill to adjust the boundary of the Barataria Preserve Unit of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in the State of Louisiana, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 21: S. 2460--A bill to provide assistance to the State of New Mexico for the development of comprehensive State water plans, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 22: S. 2508--A bill to redesignate the Ridges Basin Reservoir, Colorado, as Lake Nighthorse.

Agenda Item 23: S. 2511--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study of a Chimayo water supply system, to provide for the planning, design, and construction of a water supply, reclamation, and filtration facility for Espanola, New Mexico, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 24: S. 2543--A bill to establish a program and criteria for National Heritage Areas in the United States, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 27: H.R. 1284--To amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 to increase the Federal share of the costs of the San Gabriel Basin demonstration project.

Agenda Item 29: H.R. 1616--To authorize the exchange of certain lands within the Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site for lands owned by the City of Atlanta, Georgia, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 30: H.R. 3768--To expand the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, Florida.

In addition, the Committee may turn to any other measures that are ready for consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet in open Executive Session during the session on July 14, 2004, at 10 a.m., in a mock markup to consider proposed legislation implementing the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement; and to consider favorably reporting S. 2610, the U.S.- Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act; and the nominations of Joey Russell George, to be Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, U.S. Department of Treasury; Patrick P. O'Carroll, Jr., to be Inspector General, Social Security Administration; Timothy S. Bitsberger, to be Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets, U.S. Department of Treasury; Paul B. Jones, to be Member, IRS Oversight Board; and, Charles L. Kolbe, to be Member, IRA Oversight Board.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., to hold a hearing on Pakistan: Balancing Reform and Counterterrorism.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 2:30 p.m., to hold a hearing on U.S. Policy Toward Southeast Europe: Unfinished Business in the Balkans.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 10 a.m., in room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building, to conduct an oversight hearing on the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 10 a.m. on ``Examining the Implications of Drug Importation'' in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226. The witness list will be delivered later today.

Witness List

Panel I: Hon. John Breaux, U.S. Senator; and Hon. Bryon Dorgan, U.S. Senator.

Panel II: William K. Hubbard, Associate Commissioner for Policy and Planning, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; John Taylor, III, Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and Elizabeth G. Durant, Director of Trade Programs, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.

Panel III: Hon. Rudolph Giuliani; Carmen Catizone, M.S., RPh, DPh, Executive Director/Secretary, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Boards; Kathleen Jaeger, President and CEO, GPhA; Ms. Joanna Disch, Board Member, AARP; and Ms. Elizabeth A. Wennar, M.P.H, D.H.A., President and CEO, United Health Alliance of Bennington, VT and Principle, HealthInova of Manchester, VT, United Health Alliance, Health Care Economist.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Rules and Administration be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct an oversight hearing on the Federal Election Commission.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, at 2:30 p.m.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on S. 2317, to limit the royalty on soda ash; S. 2353, to reauthorize and amend the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992; H.R. 1189, to increase the waiver requirement for certain local matching requirements for grants provided to American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and for other purposes; and H.R. 2010, to protect the voting rights of members of the armed services in elections for the delegate representing American Samoa in the United States House of Representatives, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce, along with Senators Durbin, Reid, and Kerry, the ``Renewable Energy Investment Act of 2003.''

This legislation will guarantee that by the year 2020, twenty percent of our electricity will be produced from renewable energy resources. These resources include wind, biomass, solar, ocean, geothermal and landfill gas.

Again and again, I have heard members come to this floor and say how important renewable energy is to our environment, to our national security, and to our domestic economic stability. I agree. But if we want to achieve these great benefits, we must, as they say, ``put our money where our mouth is.'' It is time to pass realistic, achievable standards to guarantee that renewable energy is produced.

The Renewable Energy Investment Act of 2003 is a very important step in that direction. It will create a renewable portfolio standard or ``RPS'' under which utilities and others who supply electricity to retail consumers will be required to ensure that by the year 2020, twenty percent of our domestic electricity is generated from renewable energy sources. The RPS in this legislation provides a flexible, market-driven system of tradeable credits by which utilities can readily achieve these renewable energy requirements.

Why twenty percent by 2020? Because the U.S. Department of Energy, through its Energy Information Administration, has repeatedly indicated that requiring that twenty percent of our electricity come from renewable energy by the year 2020 will actually lower overall consumer energy costs, while at the same time achieving tremendous environmental benefits.

According to the most recent estimates derived from the Department of Energy, consumer electricity prices under a twenty percent renewable portfolio standard would be largely the same as without one. According to the Department of Energy, retail electricity costs by the year 2020 without an RPS would be 6.5 cents per kilowatt hour. If a 20 percent RPS is in effect, retail electricity costs would be approximately 6.7 cents per kilowatt hour.

However, the Department of Energy studies also indicate that because an RPS creates a more diverse and competitive market for energy supply, overall domestic consumer energy costs will actually decrease by almost nine percent.

Equally important, shifting to greater renewable energy production will have dramatic impacts on human health and the environment. The Department of Energy has found that, as demand for energy grows, without changes to Federal law U.S. carbon emissions will increase forty seven percent above the 1990 level by 2020. However, with a twenty percent renewables standard, U.S. carbon dioxide emissions will decrease by more than eighteen percent by 2020.

Electricity production, primarily from burning coal, is the source of an estimated sixty six percent of sulfur oxide, SOx, emissions. These chemicals are the main cause of acid rain, which kills rivers and lakes, and damages crops and buildings. Burning fossil fuels to produce electricity also emits nitrogen oxides, NOx, which cause health-damaging smog. Ground-level ozone caused by nitrogen oxide contributes to asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory problems.

Electricity produced from nuclear power, while not responsible for the emissions associated with burning of fossil fuels, results in highly toxic, and essentially permanent wastes for which no complete disposal option currently exists.

Switching to renewable resources virtually eliminates these concerns. The Renewable Energy Investment Act of 2003 will help reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, mercury and particulate matter, without creation of toxic wastes.

The twenty percent RPS established in this legislation will also create thousands of new, high quality jobs and bring significant new investment to rural communities. It will create an estimated $80 million in new capitol investment, and result in more than $5 billion in new property tax revenues.

It will bring increased diversity to our energy sector, creating greater market stability and reducing the price spikes that so often plague our domestic natural gas markets.

Greater diversity also reduces the vulnerability of our energy infrastructure to terrorist threats.

In a letter to Congress shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, several national security experts endorsed congressional passage of an RPS. The letter, signed by former CIA director James Woolsey; former National Security Advisor to President Reagan, Robert McFarlane; and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Thomas Moorer, stated that a strong RPS is an important component of addressing the significant challenges to America's new energy security.

Rapidly increasing the production of renewable energy is vital to America's future. We must be willing to take the steps necessary to make that happen. The Renewable Energy Investment Act of 2003 is an essential part of that goal and I urge my colleagues to join with me in supporting this important legislation.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today, Senator Hagel and I, and others introduce ``The IDEA Full Funding Act of 2003.'' This bill will provide increased mandatory funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, and meet the Federal Government's commitment to pay 40 percent of the average per pupil expenditures. These additional funds will ensure that every child with a disability gets a free, appropriate public education.

In 1975, when the IDEA was passed in the House and Senate, there was an agreement made by negotiators based on the understanding that the Federal Government's goal would be to provide 40 percent of the average per pupil expenditures in each local education area. There was no time frame placed on this goal, but since that time it has been understood that ``full funding'' for IDEA means reaching that 40 percent goal.

For the past 28 years, we have put additional resources into IDEA but we have not come close to full funding. This bill will put our money where our mouth is and say that the federal government will be full partners with states and local governments in meeting the needs of children with disabilities.

This bill fully funds the IDEA. It appropriates funds for the next 10 years, gradually increasing the percentage of funds which are mandatory and increasing the amounts so that in year 8 we are at the level projected to equal 40 percent of the average per pupil expenditure. While we have seen welcome increases in IDEA spending over the past few years, past year increases do not guarantee future increases. This bill guarantees full funding, phased in over 8 years.

This bill does not create a new entitlement program. It provides advanced appropriations for the next 10 years, but it has a set amount for each year, not an open-ended figure.

This bill also provides incentive for compliance with the requirements of IDEA. If all of the IDEA-eligible children are getting the services that they are entitled to, then local property taxpayers get relief.

Last year, the Senate passed an amendment to the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which would have required full funding of IDEA. The full funding provision was not in the final conference report. Prior to that amendment, there have been 22 separate bills and resolutions in the House and Senate calling for full funding.

This year, the time has come for full funding to make it into law. It has been 28 years since the Federal Government agreed to pay a share of IDEA and it is time to meet that goal.

The IDEA has been remarkably successful. In 1975, only \1/5\ of children with disabilities received a formal education and several States had laws specifically excluding many children with disabilities, including those who were blind, deaf, or had mental health needs from receiving such an education. The most recent data on the number of children served under IDEA indicates that over 6 million children are currently benefiting from the law.

Although IDEA has been successful, there is more work to be done. Every time I speak to school districts in Iowa, they tell me that the costs of special education are very difficult for them to manage. Some parents of children with disabilities also complain that their children are not getting the education promised by IDEA.

This bill will provide significant additional resources. In 2003, we are funding $17.6 percent of the cost at 8.8 billion dollars. Under our bill, this number rises steeply to 22 percent of the cost and 10.8 billion dollars in 2004. The increases continue until 2011, when we reach 40 percent and an expenditure of 24.6 billion. Iowa sees its funding rise from 96 million in 2003 to 278.3 million in 2011. We are more than doubling the resources going to special education in Iowa and elsewhere.

I want to thank Senator Hagel for his ongoing leadership on this issue and for his work in achieving bipartisan support for this bill. I also want to thank Senators Kennedy, Jeffords and Dodd for their longstanding commitment to fully funding IDEA. In addition, I want to acknowledge all of the co-sponsors of this bill, who are joining me today in leading the way for Congress to finally pass full funding into law.

This is a win-win-win bill. With this advance appropriations, students with disabilities will get the public education they have a right to, school districts will be able to provide services without cutting into their general education budgets, and in cases where all IDEA-eligible children are getting the services they are entitled to, property taxpayers get relief.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, June 8 at 10 a.m. to consider the nomination of Suedeen G. Kelly, to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the term expiring June 30, 2009.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Tuesday, June 8, 2004, at 10 a.m. in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building, to hear testimony on Medicare Drug Card: Delivering Savings for Participating beneficiaries.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Tuesday, June 8, 2004, at 10 a.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing on S. 2436, a bill to reauthorize the Native American Programs Act.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Tuesday, June 8, 2004 at 10 a.m. on ``DOJ Oversight: Terrorism and Other Topics'' in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226. The Honorable John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General, will testify.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on June 8, 2004 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a closed hearing.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Subcommittee on Aging be authorized to meet for a hearing on Arthritis: A National Epidemic during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, June 8, 2004, at 10 a.m. in SD-430.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on ``Beyond the Pledge of Allegiance: Hostility to Religious Expression in the Public Square'' on Tuesday, June 8, 2004, at 2 p.m. in SD-226.

Panel I: The Honorable Chet Edwards, United States Representative, (D-TX); The Honorable Mary Landrieu, United States Senator, (D-LA); The Honorable Richard Shelby, United States Senator, (R-AL).

Panel II: William ``Barney'' Clark, Balch Springs, TX; Nashala Hearn, Muskogee, OK; The Honorable Roy Moore, Former Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Alabama, Birmingham, AL; Steven Rosenauer, Bradenton, FL; Kelly J. Shackelford, Chief Counsel, Liberty Legal Institute, Plano, TX; J. Brent Walker, Executive Director, Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, Washington, DC.

Panel III: Professor Richard W. Garnett, Associate Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School, South Bend, IN; Professor Vincent Phillip Munoz, Civitas Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, Assistant Professor of Political Science, North Carolina State University, Washington, DC; Professor Melissa Rogers, Wake Forest University Divinity School, Winston-Salem, NC.

Witnesses are listed in alphabetical order, not necessarily in order of testimony.

THE PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

subcommittee on national parks

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on National Parks of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, June 8, 2004 at 2:30 p.m.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills: S. 931, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to undertake a program to reduce the risks from and mitigate the effects of avalanches on visitors to units of the National Park System and on other recreational users of public land; S. 1678, to provide for the establishment of the Uintah Research and Curatorial Center for Dinosaur National Monument in the States of Colorado and Utah, and for other purposes; S. 2140, to expand the boundary of the Mount Rainier National Park; S. 2287, to adjust the boundary of the Barataria Preserve Unit of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in the State of Louisiana, and for other purposes; and S. 2469, to amend the National Historic Preservation Act to provide appropriation authorization and improve the operations of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

Mr. President, today, we are introducing the ``Government Settlement Transparency Act of 2003.'' Over the past several months, we have become increasingly concerned about the approval of various settlements that allow penalty payments made to the government in settlement of a violation or potential violation of the law to be tax deductible. This payment structure shifts the tax burden from the wrongdoer onto the backs of the American people. This is unacceptable.

The issue of tax deductibility is particularly relevant in the settlement of various SEC investigations into violations or potential violations of the securities laws. The corporate meltdown of the past two years has caused investors to lose confidence in the stock market. To address investors' loss of faith, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act last July. However, Sarbanes-Oxley begins to address only part of the corporate reform problem, as it applies solely to future corporate activity. To more fully restore confidence in the markets, America's State and Federal regulators are also working to hold accountable the corporate executives and others in corporate America responsible for damaging investor confidence. With these efforts to achieve greater accountability in the business community and ensure the integrity of our financial markets, it is important that the rules governing the appropriate tax treatment of settlements be clear and adhered to by taxpayers.

Section 162(f) of the Internal Revenue Code provides that no deduction is allowed as a trade or business expense under section 162(a) for the payment of a fine or penalty to a government for violation of any law. The enactment of section 162(f) in 1969 codified existing case law that denied the deductibility of fines and penalties as ordinary and necessary business expenses on the grounds that ``allowance of the deduction would frustrate sharply defined national or state policies proscribing the particular types of conduct evidenced by some governmental declaration thereof.'' Treasury regulations provide that fine or penalty includes an amount paid in settlement of the taxpayer's actual or potential liability for a fine or penalty.

The legislation introduced today modifies the rules regarding the determination of whether payments are nondeductible payments of fines of penalties under section 162(f). In particular, the bill generally provides that amounts paid or incurred, whether by suit, agreement, or otherwise to, or at the direction of, a government in relation to the violation of any law or the investigation or inquiry into the potential violation of any law are nondeductible. The bill applies to deny a deduction for any payment, including those where there is no admission of guilt or liability and those made for the purpose of avoiding further investigation or litigation.

An exception applies to payments that the taxpayer establishes are restitution. It is intended that a payment will be treated as restitution only if the payment is required to be paid to the specific persons, or in relation to the specific property, actually harmed by the conduct of the taxpayer that resulted in the payment. Thus, a payment to or with respect to a class broader than the specific persons or property that were actually harmed, for example, to class including similarly situated persons or property, does

not qualify as restitution. Restitution is limited to the amount that bears a substantial quantitative relationship to the harm caused by the past conduct or actions of the taxpayer that resulted in the payment in question. If the party harmed is a government, then restitution includes payment to such harmed government, provided the payment bears a substantial quantitative relationship to the harm. However, restitution does not include reimbursement of government investigative or litigation costs, or do payments to whistleblowers.

The bill would be effective for amounts paid or incurred on or after April 28th, 2003, except that it would not apply to amounts paid or incurred under any binding order or agreement entered into before such date.

We ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.