San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Coin Act

Mr. President: I rise today to introduce S. 1883, the Empowering More Property Owners with Enhanced Rights Act of 2005, or the EMPOWER Act, a bill that amends the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (the Uniform Act). The EMPOWER Act will assist property owners and Federal agencies in resolving disputes relating to private property outside of the courts. I am joined by my colleague Senator Baucus as lead cosponsor of this bill.

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision Kelo v. New London, citizens around the country are calling members of Congress asking if their homes, small businesses, and family farms are safe from the power of the government. While this legislation doesn't address Kelo directly, the EMPOWER Act will enhance the rights of private property owners, when their property becomes a target of the federal government.

The Uniform Act applies to all Federal agencies, and was passed by Congress to ``provide for uniform and equitable treatment of persons displaced from their homes, businesses or farms by Federal and federally assisted programs. . . .'' The Act was amended in 1987 to designate the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) as the Lead Agency, requiring it to coordinate with other Federal agencies to issue government-wide standards for eminent domain actions.

The EMPOWER Act would super-size the Uniform Act by assigning the DOT stronger responsibilities in protecting the rights of property owners. It accomplishes this goal in two significant ways. First, it establishes a Property Owners' Bill of Rights, adding new powers to property owners. Second, it establishes a Private Property Ombudsperson to act as a neutral party to assist property owners, small businesses, and family farms when they are subject to Federal or federally assisted actions that affect their property.

The property owners' ``Bill of Rights'' includes those rights already enumerated in the Uniform Act, such as the right to just compensation, replacement housing, and relocation assistance. However, the bill would add several new rights that would significantly enhance the power of the Uniform Act. These are: the right to full

disclosure of the government's appraised value of the property in question; the right to an independent second appraisal; the right to participate in mediation or, if necessary, arbitration as an alternative to costly and time-consuming litigation; the right to be informed about their rights and access to assistance; and the right to assistance from a Property Rights Ombudsperson.

The Property Rights Ombudsperson established by the EMPOWER Act would assist property owners in negotiating the Federal bureaucracy and to act as a third-party neutral in resolving disputes. The Ombudsperson would inform the public of their rights and actively work to help property owners take full advantage of those rights. The Ombudsperson would call for mediated disputes; force arbitration if necessary; work with Federal agencies to advise them about their actions which affect private property; ensure that agencies inform affected property owners of their rights; and provide information to private citizens, citizen groups, and other interested parties regarding rights and responsibilities relating to property rights.

The EMPOWER Act is modeled after a highly successful program in Utah, which has led the Nation in the area of property rights. After 8 years in effect in Utah, this program has taken a great deal of the acrimony and pain out of the process of eminent domain. It has saved the state millions of dollars in litigation fees and reduced the condemnation rate by half. Most important, it has considerably improved government to citizen relations. The vast majority of those using this program in Utah are homeowners and the program has provided them with considerable relief.

The EMPOWER Act adapts the Utah model to the Federal Government. The Act does not change the rules of Federal acquisition of private property, but it does provide significant assistance to private property owners, small businesses, and family farmers when they are faced with a daunting Federal bureaucracy and the possibility of private property loss.

The EMPOWER Act goes a long way toward protecting our citizens from overbearing federal action with regard to private property rights. It takes nothing away from government but does empower citizens, and requires agencies to ensure that property owners are treated fairly. I urge my colleagues to support this Act.

Mr. President. I rise today to join my colleagues Senators Boxer and Ensign to introduce legislation to authorize the United States Mint to issue a commemorative coin that will honor the San Francisco Old Mint and help restore this historic building in downtown San Francisco.

The San Francisco Old Mint Building is an important historical landmark for San Francisco, the State of California, and the United States.

Beginning its operations in 1854, the Old Mint Building was established to take advantage of the plentiful gold and silver mined in the West during the California Gold Rush. At one point, more than half of the money minted in the United States came from the San Francisco Mint, and it once held a third of the Nation's gold supply.

The Old Mint Building, located in the heart of the city, has been standing for more than 125 years as the oldest stone building in San Francisco.

The Greek-revivalist design of the Old Mint Building was created by architect Alfred B. Mullet, who also designed the U.S. Treasury Building and the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, DC. The San Francisco Old Mint building is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Aided by its magnificent stone structure, the Old Mint Building was able to survive the terrible San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. In fact, the Mint was the only financial institution that remained operable after the earthquake and the building was used as the treasury for the city's disaster relief funds.

The San Francisco Old Mint Building minted coins until 1937 when the building became too small and its operations moved to a larger space elsewhere in San Francisco. In the years since then, the building has deteriorated.

In 1994, the Bureau of the Mint closed the Old Mint because it could not afford the then-estimated $20 million seismic retrofit to bring the building up to code. Since 2003, the General Services Administration transferred ownership of the building to the City of San Francisco.

The San Francisco Museum and Historical Society has proposed an exciting project to restore and rejuvenate the Old Mint Building in downtown San Francisco. A fine history museum supported by shops and a visitor's center will combine to make the building a striking and viable destination.

The bill authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue 100,000 $5 gold coins and 500,000 $1 silver coins emblematic of the San Francisco Old Mint Building and its importance to California and the United States.

Proceeds generated from the sale of these commemorative coins will be paid to the San Francisco Museum and

Historical Society for the restoration of the Old Mint Building.

The San Francisco Old Mint is venerated by coin collectors, Californians, and millions of Americans as a national treasure and I believe it is worthy of a commemorative coin.

I believe honoring and restoring the San Francisco Old Mint building is an important historic preservation project.

Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the building's survival of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

No other mint has been commemorated and because issuance of these coins would make a vital contribution to preserving this national treasure, the San Francisco Old Mint merits commemoration at this time.

I hope my colleagues will join me to support this legislation to help preserve and restore this majestic building and honor the important role it played in rebuilding the great ``City by the Bay''.

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

Mr. President. I rise today to join my colleagues Senators Boxer and Ensign to introduce legislation to authorize the United States Mint to issue a commemorative coin that will honor the San Francisco Old Mint and help restore this historic building in downtown San Francisco.

The San Francisco Old Mint Building is an important historical landmark for San Francisco, the State of California, and the United States.

Beginning its operations in 1854, the Old Mint Building was established to take advantage of the plentiful gold and silver mined in the West during the California Gold Rush. At one point, more than half of the money minted in the United States came from the San Francisco Mint, and it once held a third of the Nation's gold supply.

The Old Mint Building, located in the heart of the city, has been standing for more than 125 years as the oldest stone building in San Francisco.

The Greek-revivalist design of the Old Mint Building was created by architect Alfred B. Mullet, who also designed the U.S. Treasury Building and the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, DC. The San Francisco Old Mint building is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Aided by its magnificent stone structure, the Old Mint Building was able to survive the terrible San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. In fact, the Mint was the only financial institution that remained operable after the earthquake and the building was used as the treasury for the city's disaster relief funds.

The San Francisco Old Mint Building minted coins until 1937 when the building became too small and its operations moved to a larger space elsewhere in San Francisco. In the years since then, the building has deteriorated.

In 1994, the Bureau of the Mint closed the Old Mint because it could not afford the then-estimated $20 million seismic retrofit to bring the building up to code. Since 2003, the General Services Administration transferred ownership of the building to the City of San Francisco.

The San Francisco Museum and Historical Society has proposed an exciting project to restore and rejuvenate the Old Mint Building in downtown San Francisco. A fine history museum supported by shops and a visitor's center will combine to make the building a striking and viable destination.

The bill authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue 100,000 $5 gold coins and 500,000 $1 silver coins emblematic of the San Francisco Old Mint Building and its importance to California and the United States.

Proceeds generated from the sale of these commemorative coins will be paid to the San Francisco Museum and

Historical Society for the restoration of the Old Mint Building.

The San Francisco Old Mint is venerated by coin collectors, Californians, and millions of Americans as a national treasure and I believe it is worthy of a commemorative coin.

I believe honoring and restoring the San Francisco Old Mint building is an important historic preservation project.

Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the building's survival of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

No other mint has been commemorated and because issuance of these coins would make a vital contribution to preserving this national treasure, the San Francisco Old Mint merits commemoration at this time.

I hope my colleagues will join me to support this legislation to help preserve and restore this majestic building and honor the important role it played in rebuilding the great ``City by the Bay''.

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

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Food Employment Empowerment and Development Act or FEED Act along with my colleagues Senators Dole and Lincoln. This important, bipartisan legislation will award grants to qualified programs that effectively combat hunger while creating opportunity through food rescue programs and job training.

This legislation is inspired by some of the great work that food rescue programs in my State of New Jersey, such as Table to Table in Englewood Cliffs, Elijah's Promise in New Brunswick; the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, in Spring Lake; and the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillside are doing.

It is a tragedy that in the United States, a country where food is plentiful, more than 34 million people are either going hungry or living on the edge of hunger. Thirteen million of those are children.

While on average New Jersey is one of the wealthiest States in the Nation, nearly 12 percent of all New Jersey households experience either hunger, food insecurity or both. Low wages, unstable employment and the high cost of living in the State leave many people in need. Senior adults in particular, faced with high housing costs, rising taxes and significant medical expenses miss meals to help make ends meet.

That is why we believe the FEED Act is so important. The FEED Act would provide eligible entities with a maximum grant of $200,000 per year to carry out food rescue and job training activities.

Food rescue programs collect food from restaurants and businesses and turn it into nutritional meals for seniors, children, and low-income families. In turn, these meals can be distributed and served to hungry people at homeless shelters, community and youth centers, children's after-school programs, and senior citizen programs.

Such programs have proven to be very successful, encouraging partnerships between existing social service programs like welfare-to- work, meals-on-wheels, the school lunch program, and after school programs with the preparation of nutritious meals for people in need. Food rescue programs often maximize use of existing school, community, or private food service facilities and resources to run programs.

But just addressing the immediate problem of hunger by providing food is half the battle. Hunger and poverty are closely related. With hunger on the rise in America, we need to go further and address the root causes of hunger by encouraging self sufficiency and responsibility. We need to focus on opportunities that will provide for a living wage through job training and education.

Programs supported by FEED are designed to provide long-term hunger relief by helping participants find employment in the food service industry. In the food service industry, the average wage for starting jobs is $8.81--over three dollars higher than the Federal minimum wage.

I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation. Together we can make progress by finding innovative, cost-effective ways to use food to feed the hungry while working to break the cycle of poverty by training the homeless and unemployed in food service preparation and delivery.

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

Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Food Employment Empowerment and Development (FEED) Act. I am proud to join my good friends and colleagues, Senators Lautenberg and Dole in introducing this legislation that aims to help feed hungry Americans and provide job training to low-income Americans in search of self- sufficiency.

The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that Americans throw away 96 billion pounds of food each year. This number includes the food we throw away after meals, food that loses its shelf life and food that never makes it to store shelves. Meanwhile, 36 million Americans, including 13 million children, don't know where their next meal is coming from. Many of these children will go to bed tonight on an empty stomach. This is a paradox in a land of plenty.

Several blocks from this magnificent and historic Capitol building, there is a kitchen located in the basement of a building that houses social services. In that kitchen, every day, over 4,000 meals are prepared by low-income, recovering drug addicts or unemployed persons who are training to be chefs. The dozen men and women are in a 12-week culinary arts training program and once completed, they will earn their culinary arts certification which will empower them to find a job in the culinary industry. The over 4,000 meals produced at the DC Central Kitchen each day come from a combination of donated, rescued or purchased food and are delivered to hundreds of agencies in the Washington metro area that in turn feed hungry adults and children.

America's Second Harvest has a national network of foodbanks which conduct similar programs called ``Community Kitchens'' that achieve the same goals.

These types of programs are smart and responsible uses of resources and Senators Lautenberg and Dole and I recognize a great model when we see one. We believe that by infusing some Federal support with private business, foundations, and faith-based and local non-profit resources, we can grow similar programs all across the Nation.

Again, we are taking rescued food, food that would otherwise be wasted, turning it into meals that are being prepared by people who are training to get a job to help support themselves and their family, and using the meals to feed hungry American adults and children.

I believe that all of us that are committed to helping end hunger in America agree with the old adage: ``Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.'' And it is this simple concept that is the impetus for the FEED Act.

I am hopeful that this legislation will help local anti-hunger organizations in Arkansas and across the Nation who want to use this multi-pronged approach to feed the hungry, empower the unemployed and maximize food resources.

I am proud to join my colleagues in introducing this bi-partisan bill today

and I appreciate those Senators who have joined us in sponsoring this commonsense legislation. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues to ensure its speedy consideration and passage.