Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act of 2005. This bill would increase funding for research on uterine fibroids as well as create an education awareness campaign to make sure women and their doctors have the facts they need about this painful, chronic condition. I want to thank Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones for introducing this legislation in the House of Representatives and Senators Clinton, Kennedy, Murray, Cantwell, Boxer, and Sarbanes for joining me as original cosponsors.

Uterine fibroids are a major health issue for American women. It is estimated that three in every four women have uterine fibroids. Although many women with fibroids have few or no symptoms, it is projected that one in every four women seeks medical care for the heavy bleeding, pain, infertility, or miscarriage that uterine fibroids cause.

Despite their prevalence, little is known about uterine fibroids, and few good treatment options are available to women who suffer from them. In fact, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality at the Department of Health and Human Services found ``a remarkable lack of high quality evidence supporting the effectiveness of most interventions for symptomatic fibroids. More than 200,000 women undergo a hysterectomy each year to treat their uterine fibroids. Women deserve better. That's why I am introducing the Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act--to find new and better ways to treat or even cure uterine fibroids.

This bill does three things. First, it expands research at the National Institutes of Health, NIH, by doubling funding for uterine fibroids from $15 million to $30 million. This funding will provide the investment needed to jumpstart basic research, and lay the groundwork to find a cure. This additional funding will help researchers find out why so many women get uterine fibroids, why African American women are disproportionately affected, what steps women can take to prevent uterine fibroids, and what the best ways to treat them are.

Second, this legislation coordinates research on uterine fibroids through

the Office of Research on Women's Health, ORWH. More than a decade ago, I fought to create this Office at NIH to give women a seat at the table when decisions were made about funding priorities. This bill directs this Office to lead the Federal Government's research effort on uterine fibroids. A coordinated research effort is needed to make the best use of limited resources and to give women a one-stop shop to find out what the federal government is doing to combat uterine fibroids.

Finally, this bill creates education campaigns for patients and health care providers. A recent survey conducted by the Society for Women's Health Research, cited as many as one-third of women who have hysterectomies do so without discussing potential alternatives with their doctors. This bill will make sure women can count on their doctors for information about the best possible treatment for uterine fibroids. It will also give women the facts they need to make good health care decisions and take control of their health.

Since my first days in Congress, I have been fighting to make sure women don't get left out or left behind when it comes to their health. From women's inclusion in clinical trials to quality standards for mammograms, I have led the way to make sure women's health needs are treated fairly and taken seriously. This legislation builds on these past successes to address this silent epidemic among American women.

The Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act is supported by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Society for Women's Health Research, and the Black Women's Health Imparitive. I look forward to working with these advocates and my colleagues to get this bill signed into law.

Mr. President, as United States Senators, we are well aware of the difficulty in making tough decisions. But, a tough decision for a thirteen-year-old foster care child shouldn't be choosing between being adopted and having a permanent loving, stable, and secure family, or attending college for a promising future. Today, I am proud to be joined by my friend, Senator Mary Landrieu from Louisiana in introducing the Fostering Adoption To Further Student Achievement Act because we believe all youth deserve both a loving family and a future of hope.

Our legislation promotes older adoptions of foster care youth by not later penalizing the adopting family when their student applies for student Federal financial aid.

We've heard from former foster teens across our Nation who have stated that they were better off ``aging'' out of the foster care system than being adopted by a family because of a fear of losing student Federal financial aid because as a foster student they don't have to report any parental income on their student financial aid application.

Our legislation provides a solution by amending the definition of ``independent student'' to include foster care youth who were adopted after the age of thirteen in the Higher Education Act of 1965. Thus, the family and student would not be penalized on their Federal financial aid as their classification would be determined by only the student's ability to pay. Most prospective adopting parents would not have financially planned for an older teen becoming part of their family. Our legislation offers an incentive to promote older adoptions rather than having the teen stay in foster families until they ``age out.''

The numbers are startling and its time we act. Currently, 20,000 youth ``age'' out of the foster care system each year with 30 percent of these youth incarcerated within 12 months of doing so. There are 523,000 children in foster care with nearly half the kids over the age of 10. Children in foster care are twice as likely as the rest of the population to drop out before finishing high school. Several foster care alumni studies indicate that within three years after leaving foster care: only 54 percent had earned their high school diploma, only 14 percent had graduated from a four-year college, and 25 to 44 percent had experienced homelessness.

Statistics show youth that are adopted out of the foster care system attend college, have stable lives, have a permanent family, and have a future of hope. One to two years of community college coursework significantly increases the likelihood of economic self-sufficiency. A college degree is the single greatest factor in determining access to better job opportunities and higher earnings.

The Fostering Adoption To Further Student Achievement Act ensures that children don't have to make a tough decision between choosing to have a family or an education.

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

Mr. President, as United States Senators, we are well aware of the difficulty in making tough decisions. But, a tough decision for a thirteen-year-old foster care child shouldn't be choosing between being adopted and having a permanent loving, stable, and secure family, or attending college for a promising future. Today, I am proud to be joined by my friend, Senator Mary Landrieu from Louisiana in introducing the Fostering Adoption To Further Student Achievement Act because we believe all youth deserve both a loving family and a future of hope.

Our legislation promotes older adoptions of foster care youth by not later penalizing the adopting family when their student applies for student Federal financial aid.

We've heard from former foster teens across our Nation who have stated that they were better off ``aging'' out of the foster care system than being adopted by a family because of a fear of losing student Federal financial aid because as a foster student they don't have to report any parental income on their student financial aid application.

Our legislation provides a solution by amending the definition of ``independent student'' to include foster care youth who were adopted after the age of thirteen in the Higher Education Act of 1965. Thus, the family and student would not be penalized on their Federal financial aid as their classification would be determined by only the student's ability to pay. Most prospective adopting parents would not have financially planned for an older teen becoming part of their family. Our legislation offers an incentive to promote older adoptions rather than having the teen stay in foster families until they ``age out.''

The numbers are startling and its time we act. Currently, 20,000 youth ``age'' out of the foster care system each year with 30 percent of these youth incarcerated within 12 months of doing so. There are 523,000 children in foster care with nearly half the kids over the age of 10. Children in foster care are twice as likely as the rest of the population to drop out before finishing high school. Several foster care alumni studies indicate that within three years after leaving foster care: only 54 percent had earned their high school diploma, only 14 percent had graduated from a four-year college, and 25 to 44 percent had experienced homelessness.

Statistics show youth that are adopted out of the foster care system attend college, have stable lives, have a permanent family, and have a future of hope. One to two years of community college coursework significantly increases the likelihood of economic self-sufficiency. A college degree is the single greatest factor in determining access to better job opportunities and higher earnings.

The Fostering Adoption To Further Student Achievement Act ensures that children don't have to make a tough decision between choosing to have a family or an education.

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

Mr. President, it's an honor to join Senator Corzine and Congressman Weiner to introduce the Health Care Accountability Act.

Americans believe that a fair day's work should bring a fair day's pay. That's the American dream. But that's not the case at Wal-Mart. Somehow, the biggest company in the world can't manage to pay its workers a living wage. Thousands of workers in Wal-Mart can't afford health insurance and have to rely on Medicaid to cover their families' health needs.

We are here today to say there is no place for that kind of corporate citizenship in America. It is time for Wal-Mart, the Nation's largest employer, to act responsibly. The company prides itself on selling products at rock-bottom prices. Last year, it raked in $10 billion in profits, up 13 percent from 2003. It is no mystery why Wal-Mart does so well--it buys its goods overseas and pays its 1.6 million employees next to nothing to sell them. Yet Wal-Mart just keeps getting bigger as its wages fall farther and farther behind.

We see the same effect throughout the economy. Companies are making huge profits on the backs of their employees. Since the end of the recession, profits are up more than 70 percent nationally, yet wages are stagnant. More and more of what the economy produces is going to business profits, and less to workers, than at any time since such records began in 1929. There is plenty for the Executive Suite, but it is time for a fair share for employees' pay and benefits, too.

We all end up footing the bill when employers refuse to pay a living wage. Many companies are making record-breaking profits, yet they shift millions of dollars in health costs to the public. In 15 States where data are available, Wal-Mart employees are receiving almost $200 million in Federal and State health benefits. Massachusetts spent almost $3 million last year to provide health Care to 3,000 Wal-Mart workers and their families.

The bill we announce today begins to hold these companies accountable. All it asks is that States disclose the number of employees in large companies who receive State medical assistance, and the cost to the States for providing that care.

Massachusetts was the first State to mandate such a study. The first report, released in February, found that the State was paying $53 million for health care for, employees at some of the largest, most profitable firms--including Dunkin Donuts, Stop & Shop, and Wal-Mart.

Medicaid and CHIP provide a critical safety net for low-income women and children, the disabled, and the elderly. They should not also have to underwrite the profits for large companies like Wal-Mart.

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

Mr. President, I am proud to join with Senator Stabenow in introducing legislation to name the Federal building located at 333 Mt. Elliott Street in Detroit, MI, in honor of Mrs. Rosa Parks, ``mother of the civil rights movement.'' I also want to commend Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick for her leadership in sponsoring this initiative last week in the House

Rosa Parks is an American heroine. When this gentle warrior decided that she would no longer tolerate the humiliation and demoralization of racial segregation on a bus in Montgomery, AL, her act of defiance launched the modern civil rights movement in America. By refusing to move to the back of that bus, she inspired a yearlong, citywide bus boycott by African Americans in Montgomery that led to a Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation on buses and introduced a young local leader named Martin Luther King to the Nation. It was a turning point in American history that challenged the conscience of the country and the world.

Rosa Parks' stand that day was not an isolated incident but part of a lifetime struggle for equality and justice. Twelve years earlier, for instance, she had been arrested for violating another segregation law, which required African Americans to pay their fares at the front of the bus and then re-board from the rear. In the years that followed her solitary protest, she was a prominent figure in the civil rights movement. In 1987, she co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development, which continues to offer young people hands-on opportunities to learn about civil rights in America.

Although Rosa Parks will be forever associated with one day in Montgomery, AL, she lived most of her life in my home State of Michigan. She came to Detroit under sad circumstances--harassment and threats on her life--but she built a new life there. We in Michigan are proud to call her one of our own, and we want to recognize her enormous contributions by renaming this federal building in her honor. Appropriately, the building is a historic one, built in 1855 and used as a hospital during the Civil War. This legislation will ensure that the proud legacy of Rosa Parks is properly recognized in Michigan, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.