LEAF Act

Mr. President, I come to the floor with my ranking member and leader on this issue, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, to speak for a few moments about a bill the two of us are going to introduce today, the Gulf Coast Open for Business Act of 2006, by Senators Landrieu, Kerry and others. Let me first commend my colleague and thank him for joining me here today. He will be giving more details about the act, which he has worked with my staff and others to craft, so let me add some personal perspective.

I stand here again, on behalf of the people of Louisiana, and the whole gulf coast, who have just been devastated by the two most powerful storms to ever hit the United States in recorded history, and as you yourself know, because you were down in the gulf and have been a frequent champion for our cause. It is still hard, though, to describe to our colleagues the current situation there. Not only were these two hurricanes quite powerful, at some point category 4 and 5, which are killer storms, but just as devastating was the flooding that ensued by the collapse of the Federal levee system--a collapse because of inadequate engineering. Both the hurricanes and the flooding have literally devastated a major metropolitan area which sits in the heart of America's only energy coast, the gulf coast, and has been devastating to large and small businesses alike. We are here today to talk about our small businesses and their struggle for survival. They are indeed the backbone of our economic recovery.

We have first focused on levees, appropriately, and gulf coast restoration efforts, without which no recovery will be possible. We have also tried to struggle keeping children in school, keeping families sheltered, literally from the elements in temporary housing, when we think 7 months on after Katrina and Rita, recovery is going to start with our small businesses.

As I mentioned, yesterday marked the seven month anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was the most destructive hurricane ever to hit the United States. The next month, in September, Hurricane Rita hit the Louisiana and Texas coast. It was the second most powerful hurricane ever to hit the United States, wreaking havoc on the southwestern part of my state and the east Texas coast. This one-two punch devastated Louisiana lives, communities and jobs, stretching from Cameron Parish in the west to Plaquemines Parish in the east.

We are now rebuilding our State and the wide variety of communities that were devastated by Rita and Katrina, areas representing a diverse mix of population, income and cultures. We hope to restore the region's uniqueness and its greatness. To do that, we need to rebuild our local economies for now and far into the future.

Before last year's storms, Louisiana had 86,000 small businesses, employing over 850,000 people. Their annual payroll was $21.9 billion.

My State estimates that there were 71,000 businesses in the Katrina and Rita disaster zones. A total of 18,752 of these businesses catastrophically destroyed. However, on a wider scale, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, over 125,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the gulf region were disrupted by Katrina and Rita. As of this month, local chambers of commerce report that as many as two- thirds of their members had not resumed business operations. We will never succeed without these small businesses. They will be the key to the revitalization. I am here with my colleague to say that the regular approach, the standard operation, the mousetrap that we created to handle past disasters is simply not sufficient.

Some of the people who work for the Small Business Administration and FEMA are terrific. You could not find better human beings on the face of the Earth. But it is not the individual human beings who are lacking here; it is the system that is insufficient and inadequate to the task.

Senator Kerry and I come to the floor today to speak about this bill that will create new models, create enhanced help from the Federal Government so that the businesses in Louisiana can at least be met halfway in their struggle to get their roofs back on, their inventories back in supply, and new markets opened up, since the markets around them have collapsed. The communities they served and hold to are in some cases destroyed, in others dispersed across the country. If we don't help them now, building a strong gulf coast will be all the more difficult without our small businesses.

After talking to the business leaders and small businesses in my State, there are three things that they need right now: technical assistance, contracting assistance, and assistance with SBA disaster loans. For example, many of our small businesses need help navigating the SBA assistance programs or, with much of their customer base in other States, others are now looking overseas for new markets. Our bill includes a provision to waive the $100,000 cap on portability grants to SBDCs and allows SBDCs to receive these grants for disaster relief. Our bill also contains funds for the SBA to create a gulf coast international finance specialist, based in the gulf, who would provide essential technical assistance for small businesses looking for export financing.

It is vital to the economic recovery in Louisiana that our small businesses are given the opportunity to take part in the reconstruction of their State. Our businesses want to help rebuild their communities, but continue to have trouble getting Federal recovery contracts and keep getting mixed signals from FEMA.

With these facts in mind, our bill sets a small business prime contracting goal of 30 percent for Federal emergency contracts to rebuild the affected areas. This is to ensure that small businesses, particularly those located in the disaster area and that employ individuals in the affected areas, should receive a fair share of Federal contracting dollars. Our bill also makes the disaster areas eligible for HUBZones status to promote business growth.

Our businesses are struggling to deal with the SBA bureaucracy. Too often, when they get action on their loan application, it is a letter of rejection rather than a check.

The SBA has repeatedly touted how it has staffed up and increased its loan

processing productivity in recent months. They even cite record loan approvals in the gulf. But recent numbers show it is still taking the SBA 104 days to process and close on a business application. That is time many struggling businesses that are holding on by their fingernails in a challenging environment simply do not have.

Many times, when businesses are approved for an SBA loan, they find the terms and conditions to be unduly burdensome. Some are put in the position of having to make payments while they take care of expenses they have incurred for the months they spent waiting for the loan.

Our bill provides substantive relief to small businesses in the disaster areas by allowing them to defer repayment of disaster loans for 1 year from the time they received the loan. This will give them time to resume operations and build back a customer base as displaced residents gradually return home. Our bill also increases the SBA's disaster mitigation loan amounts so that borrowers can more effectively invest in products such as sea walls or storm shutters, that mitigate against damage from future disasters.

It is important to not only address our current needs from past hurricanes but to also look ahead to the next hurricane season--which is only 63 days away. I am concerned that the SBA has not incorporated `lessons learned' from recent storms. I am concerned that they remain unprepared for what may be another active hurricane season--if not in my State then perhaps in other coastal States in 2007.

One provision included in our bill is a requirement that the SBA submit to Congress a detailed proactive disaster response plan by June 1, 2006, the start of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. I want to make sure the SBA is ready to respond should that become necessary.

As we reflect on the 7-month anniversary of the worst natural disaster to hit our Nation, now is the time for action--not words or empty promises. Today, right here in the Senate, is a time for fresh ideas and fiscally responsible plans to help our small businesses rebuild.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

With that, I turn the floor over to Senator Kerry who will go into additional detail about the Gulf Coast Open for Business Act. I thank him for his leadership, not only for this week but since the week of the storm. Our chairwoman, Senator Snowe along with Senator Kerry, have focused a great deal of their own efforts from outside of our region to help our small businesses. I commend them for their continued efforts and, along with my fellow Senator from Louisiana, Mr. Vitter, look forward to working with them in the coming months to give our small businesses the help they need so that they may rebuild and prosper once again.

Mr. President, first of all, I thank the Senator from Louisiana. She has been terrific to work with on this issue, but, more important, she is absolutely tenacious with respect to the recovery issues in her State. I think she has offered tremendous leadership in the Senate on a constant basis. On almost every bill that comes through, she has fought to find a way to assist with the recovery. It has been a pleasure to work with her. I know she has to go to another meeting. I am pleased to join with her in introducing this legislation today.

Senator Landrieu has tried to spread the word that New Orleans has plenty to offer, that people should not be scared away by negative press reports but instead be looking for opportunities to help rebuild one of our greatest cities.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, more than 125,000 small and medium sized businesses were disrupted or destroyed by the hurricanes. It's been seven months since the Gulf was hit by the hurricanes, and it is time to take a look at the long-term needs of businesses in the region if we are going to truly foster an economic recovery.

It is well known, the SBA's disaster loan program has done an abysmal job of getting out capital to businesses and homeowners over the past seven months, still with almost 80,000 applications to be processed out of 400,000 applications submitted. To help clear out the backlog, this bill enlists the agency's private-sector lending partners to help process loans. They are experienced SBA lenders, and in exchange for their expertise, SBA would pay them a fee to process loans. This is much faster than building a separate infrastructure of lenders, losing time to train them, when the experience and infrastructure already exists. Along with the American Bankers Associations, we urged the SBA back in November to enlist the agency's private-sector lending partners to help process loans. SBA refused, saying they had a better idea. That idea failed. With this bill, SBA can increase processing, get small businesses their loans faster, and local lenders can participate in the recovery of their communities.

We also identified a need for export assistance. There is an interesting phenomenon occurring right now as a result of Katrina. Companies from around the globe, having witnessed the tragedy of New Orleans, are trying to reach out to businesses along the Gulf Coast. For companies that had already established relationships overseas, this has meant big bucks. Many smaller businesses, however, don't have those relationships and are struggling to take advantage of these new international opportunities. The U.S. Export Assistance Centers, or USEACs, are ready and willing to help, and they are a tremendous resource for businesses looking to branch into foreign markets. But the problem is that the Small Business administration doesn't have an employee in the New Orleans USEAC to help direct businesses to the financing programs that they need. Senator Landrieu and I recognize that this is because the SBA's international trade resources are stretched too thinly, so we are authorizing extra funds for the SBA to use in hiring an employee for the New Orleans USEAC.

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit, Small Business Development Centers across the country decided to devote all the funds in the portability grant program, which is designed to help communities recover after suffering significant job losses, to helping the Gulf Coast SBDCs. Not only did the SBDC community sacrifice money to help their colleagues in the Gulf, they tried to volunteer employees and other resources. Unfortunately, the good intentions of the SBDC network were stopped by legal technicalities. Limitations on the amount of money a State could get for a portability grant and restrictions on SBDC employees working outside of their State hampered recovery efforts. Senator Landrieu and I were disturbed to hear of these problems, and with our legislation today we will correct these problems so that bureaucracy isn't preventing the Gulf Coast recovery.

This bill also focuses on contracting opportunities for small businesses. The full participation of this Nation's small businesses, particularly those in and around the affected region, in the rebuilding effort is essential to the long-term success of the region's economy. New Orleans, in particular, was a city built on a foundation of small business and they will be the driving force behind its rebuilding.

Unfortunately, not enough is being done to ensure this participation. Just last week, I sent a letter to FEMA about their failure to award approximately $1.5 billion in relief, recovery, and rebuilding contracts to small businesses. They told Senator Landrieu and me, and the other members of the Small Business Committee in November that they would award those contracts by February 1. We were disappointed that it would be another four months to get those funds to small businesses that desperately needed the work, but we were even more appalled when the deadline came and went, with no action from FEMA.

Thus, this legislation has a number of provisions to help small businesses in the disaster areas compete for Federal contracts in the short term and in any future disaster recovery effort.

This bill would make the declared disaster areas an Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone). This would give a preference to small businesses in the disaster zone when they bid on Federal contracts.

To help jumpstart the local economies affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and Wilma, the bill requires the Federal Government to award 30 percent of prime contracts and 40 percent of subcontract dollars spent on

disaster relief, recovery or reconstruction in the four affected States to be awarded to small businesses. Small businesses performing work in the area are more likely to turn over Federal dollars in the local economy, reinvigorating the local economy. The provision also includes a requirement of a weekly small business utilization report from the Gulf Coast region.

The bill includes a change to the Stafford Act, requiring that 10 percent of immediate disaster recovery contracts, such as debris removal, distribution of supplies, and reconstruction are awarded to firms located in or near an area designated as a federal disaster area by the President. This will put more local people back to work and help a region's economic recovery after a disaster.

This legislation will increase access for small businesses seeking contracting opportunities but limited by their ability to get bonded. Expanding access to bonding will increase small business participation, but will also protect the Federal Government from significant cost overruns and lack of performance in a contract.

Mr. President, 43 percent of businesses that close following a disaster never reopen, and an additional 29 percent of businesses close down permanently within two years of a natural disaster. It's been seven months, but we still have a chance to make a difference and mitigate bankruptcies and foster the startup and growth of new small businesses to rebuild the Gulf region. I hope that my colleagues and the administration will give this bill consideration and not repeat the past months of obstruction that have hurt local small businesses and homeowners. It is inexcusable that the bipartisan bill we put forward with Senators Snowe and Vitter in September has been stalled.

I thank my colleague Senator Landrieu for her leadership and look forward to traveling with her soon to Louisiana to visit with businesses and families that still need our help.

Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Lautenberg, who has been a leader on chemical plant security for more than 20 years. He first introduced chemical safety legislation in 1985 and is an expert on the issue. I am proud to join him in introducing this bill.

The dangers that chemical plants present to our homeland security have been well documented. Industrial chemicals, such as chlorine, ammonia, phosgene, methyl bromide, hydrochloric and various other acids are routinely stored near cities in multi-ton

quantities. These chemicals are extremely hazardous and identical to those used as weapons during the First World War.

Today, there are 111 facilities in the country where a catastrophic chemical release could threaten more than 1 million people. These plants represent some of the most attractive targets for terrorists looking to cause widespread death and destruction.

Despite this, security at our chemical plants is voluntary--left to the individual plant owners. While many chemical plant owners have taken steps to beef up security, too many have not. In Illinois, there have been recent reports by ABC-7 in Chicago of chemical plants with dilapidated fences, insufficient guard forces, and unprotected tanks of hazardous chemicals. These plants are basically stationary weapons of mass destruction. Their security is light, their facilities are easily entered, and their contents are deadly.

Nearly five years after September 11, the Federal Government has done virtually nothing to secure chemical plants. It is one of the great failures of this administration that needs to be addressed this year.

The Lautenberg-Obama bill is a huge step forward. It protects our communities in a responsible, but balanced way. There are features of this bill that should be a part of any chemical security legislation passed by this Congress.

Our legislation is risk-based. While all chemical facilities would have to take a number of concrete steps to improve security, only the highest-risk facilities would be subject to bill's strictest scrutiny and regulation by the Department of Homeland Security. These high- priority facilities would have to perform vulnerability assessments, develop prevention and response plans, submit to unscheduled inspections, and perform practice drills.

Our legislation is strict, but fair. Our bill replaces volunteer security standards with clearly defined Federal duties and regulations. While plant owners would not be able to substitute their own security standards, they would be able to come up with security plans that are tailored to each facility. And while the bill includes tough penalties for noncompliant facilities including strict fines and the threat of shutting down plants, it also minimizes duplicative requirements under other Federal laws.

The Lautenberg-Obama bill also protects state and local rights to establish security standards that match their local needs. States like New Jersey have been leaders in chemical security, and we do not want to cut these efforts off at the knees. The legislation also gives employees a seat at the table, by creating employee security committees, ensuring that employees are part of the security planning process, establishing security training requirements, and establishing tough whistleblower protections.

Our bill also includes all the methods to reduce risk. Our legislation requires security forces, perimeter defenses, hazard mitigation and emergency response. These are the ``guns, gates and guards'' that prevent terrorists from attacking plants and minimize the impact of an attack. But there are other ways to reduce risk that need to be part of the equation. Specifically, by employing safer technologies, we can reduce the attractiveness of chemical plants as a target.

This concept, known as Inherently Safer Technology, involves methods such as changing the flow of chemical processes to avoid dangerous chemical byproducts, reducing the pressures or temperatures of chemical reactions to minimize the risk of explosions, reducing inventories of dangerous chemicals and replacing dangerous chemicals with benign ones. Each one of these methods reduces the danger that chemical plants pose to our communities and makes them less appealing targets for terrorists.

The concept of IST was created thirty years ago by chemical industry insiders, and it has been embraced at different times by the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, foreign governments and states like New Jersey. Even the chemical industry itself has embraced IST, and many facilities across the country have already employed safer technologies.

Unfortunately, the chemical industry has been lobbying nonstop on this bill. They do not want IST, they do not want protection of state laws and they do not want strict regulations. So far, because the industry wields so much influence in Washington, it's been getting its way. For example, the Department of Homeland Security initially embraced the concept of Inherently Safer Technology in a 2004 draft chemical security plan, only to reverse itself after heavy industry lobbying in 2006. Secretary Chertoff's announcement last week, in front of an audience of chemical industry executives, very closely tracked the industry's talking points.

This is wrong. We cannot allow chemical industry lobbyists to dictate the terms of this debate. We cannot allow our security to be hijacked by corporate interests.

Senator Lautenberg and I will fight for strong legislation to pass the Senate. We believe that we can work with chemical plants so that new safety regulations are implemented in a way that is flexible enough for the industry yet stringent enough to protect the American people. I urge my colleagues to come together to pass meaningful security legislation this year.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Chemical Security and Safety Act, a bill to protect our communities and citizens from terrorism. This measure is cosponsored by Senators Obama, Kerry, Menendez, Durbin, and Biden.

All of our States have a significant number of industrial facilities that manufacture or use chemicals. And we are all concerned about the potential of terrorist attacks on these facilities, which could threaten millions of lives.

I have advocated stronger security measures for chemical facilities for years. We needed better security at our chemical facilities even before 9/11--and that need is even more urgent today. Richard Falkenrath, a former top presidential advisor on homeland security, has said, ``I am aware of no other category of potential terrorist targets that presents as great a danger'' as chemical facilities.

There are about 15,000 chemical manufacturers and storage facilities nationwide, including about 110 in heavily populated areas. The greatest area of vulnerability is in South Kearney, NJ, where 12 million people live in proximity to the Kuehne Chemical plant. A chemical catastrophe at this facility could endanger the life and health of people caught in the path of the prevailing winds.

The State of New Jersey has taken strong action to protect its citizens from this threat. Last year, New Jersey required that chemical facilities adopt a practice known as inherently safer technology. That means exactly what it says--if products can be manufactured using safer chemicals, then factories must do so.

But last week, the Bush administration sent a signal that it wants to override the right of States to require inherently safer technology. Basically, the administration wants to trust chemical facilities to protect the American people.

This approach is wrong, and it is a timid response to a dangerous threat. Trusting large corporations to do the right thing didn't work with Enron--and it won't protect the American people from a chemical catastrophe.

The Chemical Security and Safety Act offers real protection from a chemical catastrophe. It will require every chemical facility in the Nation to adopt inherently safer technology. It will protect the rights of States to enact tough chemical security standards to protect their citizens. It will improve physical security at chemical plants, with a requirement for stronger perimeter barriers. And it will establish whistleblower protections for employees who expose security risks at chemical facilities, and guarantee that workers have a role in securing the safety of facilities.

This is a strong, comprehensive approach. Some might say it goes too far. But as someone whose State lost 700 people on 9/11, I don't think we can ever go too far in protecting the American people from a terrorist attack on a chemical facility.

We have waited long enough. We need to take action now to protect the American people from a chemical catastrophe. I hope all of my colleagues will support the Chemical Security and Safety Act.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the Chemical Security and Safety Act be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, the hours immediately following a disaster are critical to rescue and recovery efforts. Local law enforcement is often overburdened and staff is spread thin. As we saw in New Orleans, a lack of police presence can result in chaos and disorder which can affect the ability of first responders to conduct rescue operations.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, volunteer first responders from throughout the country went to New Orleans and Biloxi to assist local law enforcement. Unfortunately, many of these volunteers encountered red tape that left them frustrated and idle rather than using their expertise to aid efforts.

Because there is a desire from retired police officers to offer their experience and expertise in times of crisis, today, along with my colleague Senator Vitter, I will be introducing the Law Enforcement Assistance Force Act to assist local law enforcement.

The Law Enforcement Assistance Force Act would allow a retired law enforcement officer, whose certifications are current, to apply to the Secretary of Homeland Security to serve in the force. These retired police officers would be detailed to Federal, State, or local government law enforcement agencies to assist in the event of a major disaster. They would work under the direct supervision of existing law enforcement agencies and would be deputized and certified to perform the duties of a law enforcement agent. The force would serve as temporary first responders to supplement local efforts in search and rescue efforts as well as in protecting public safety. These retired officers have the skills to save lives and we should empower them to do so.

At a time of emergency when we should be tapping into all available resources, we cannot ignore the expertise of retired law enforcement officers who still have the ability and willingness to help those in need. We should take advantage of the fact that retired officers possess a wealth of talent and experience in dealing with emergency situations. Their assistance can save lives and contribute greatly to our communities.