Free Internet Filing Act

Mr. President, as we approach May, the National Month to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, I rise to introduce the Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Responsibility and Opportunity Act. This legislation will establish a comprehensive program for reducing adolescent pregnancy through education and information programs, as well as positive activities and role models both in and out of school.

As parents, there is nothing more important than protecting our children and giving them a future filled with hope and opportunity. As leaders, we also have a responsibility to our young people--to provide resources for communities, parents, and children to help them achieve those goals. There are many ways we can provide parents with the tools they need to help kids make responsible decisions and avoid destructive behavior such as drug and alcohol abuse or sexual activity which can lead to unintended pregnancies.

The U.S. continues to have the highest teen pregnancy rate and teen birth rate in the Western industrialized world. In a fiscal context, it costs the U.S. at least $7 billion annually, and in a human context, this impacts one third of all teenage girls. It is time to do something about it.

Whi1e we have done a good job of progressively decreasing teen pregnancy, we can do much better.

With the sons of teen mothers more likely to end up in prison, and the daughters of teen mothers more likely to end up teen mothers themselves, we must act now to break this problematic cycle.

Our schools, community and faith-based organizations need access to funds to teach age-appropriate, factually and medically accurate, and scientifically-based family life education.

We need programs that encourage teens to delay sexual activity.

We need to provide services and interventions for sexually active teens.

We need to educate both young men and women about the responsibilities and pressures that come along with parenting.

We need to help parents communicate with teens about sexuality.

We need to teach young people responsible decision making.

And, we need to fund after school programs that will enrich their education, replace destructive behavior time with constructive activities, and offer character and counseling services.

We know that after-school programs reduce risky adolescent behavior by involving teens in positive activities that also provide positive life skills. Teenage girls who play sports, for instance, are more likely to wait to become sexually active, and to have fewer partners. They are consequently less likely to become pregnant.

Let us join together to recommit ourselves to continuing to decrease the incidence of teen pregnancy, and recommit ourselves to offering family life education and positive after school programs that will foster responsible young adults.

The time is now to invest in our teens. As all parents know, we place overwhelming pressure on ourselves to make sure we raise our children well. Decisions we make--and they make--will affect them for the rest of their lives. We cannot afford to let the doors close on them. Instead we must continue to open the door of opportunity. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record, as follows:

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation, along with my colleague, Senator Lautenberg, to preserve seniors' and all patients' access to local pharmacies, doctors and hospitals. Since these providers are on the front lines of our communities' health care systems and often find themselves squeezed by insurance copies on the one hand and their obligation to take care of patients on the other, this bill aims to relieve their burden by requiring prescription drug managers, managed care plans and other private health insurers to pay health care claims in a timely fashion.

The Prompt Payment of Health Benefits Claims Act bill seeks to address the financial strains being faced by hospitals and physicians in my State of New Jersey and across the country. In addition, this legislation would address the new financial crisis pharmacies are facing in light of the new Medicare Prescription Drug benefit. Specifically, the legislation requires prescription drug managers, private health plans and other private health insurers to pay manually filed claims within 30 days and electronically filed claims within 14 days. Insurers that fail to meet these timeframes would be required to pay interest for every day the claims goes unpaid. Insurers that knowingly violate these prompt payment requirements would be subject to monetary penalties.

A Federal prompt pay law is critical to ensuring that our pharmacies and health care providers maintain adequate cash flows and are able to continue functioning. Seniors and all patients depend on their local pharmacists and preferred physicians. They are the providers that know their patients best and ensure that they receive the important care they need and deserve. The threat of local pharmacies, physicians and hospitals going out of business has serious consequences with regards to the kind of care the community will receive.

The need for this legislation cannot be understated. In my State of New Jersey, local pharmacies have never had a more challenging financial situation. They are encountering lower reimbursement rates from the prescription drug managers and a 60-90 day lag time in reimbursements, which are putting many on the brink of going out of business. Almost half of all hospitals are operating in the red, and that number is growing. Physicians and hospitals are experiencing rising health care operating costs and tight Federal and State budgets. Untimely payment of claims has only compounded these problems.

The problem of late payments has reached such a crisis that the majority of States, including New Jersey, have enacted ``prompt pay'' laws to require insurers to pay their bills within a specific timeframe. Unfortunately, New Jersey's law, like most similar State laws, is largely ineffective because it

lacks strong enforcement provisions and offers no incentives for private insurers to comply. Furthermore, State prompt-pay laws apply only to State-regulated plans, which only cover approximately half of New Jerseyans that are insured.

The bottom line is that pharmacies, physicians, hospitals and other health care providers should not have to shoulder the burden of unpaid claims. These local providers have fulfilled their commitment to care for patients, and my legislation will ensure that private insurers assume the financial responsibilities for the health coverage they are being paid to provide.

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

Mr. President, today I am proud to introduce the Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act with my colleague, Senator Levin. I would like to thank him for all of his hard work on this legislation and the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes are a unique natural resource that need to be protected for future generations. The Great Lakes hold one-fifth of the world's surface freshwater, cover more than 94,000 square miles, and drain more than twice as much land. Over thirty of the basin's biological communities--and over 100 species--are globally rare or found only in the Great Lakes basin. The 637 State parks in the region accommodate more than 250 million visitors each year. The Great Lakes are significant to the eight States and two Canadian provinces that border them, as well as to the millions of other people around the country who fish, visit the surrounding parks, or use products that are affordably shipped to them via the lakes.

Unfortunately, the Great Lakes remain in a degraded state. A 2003 GAO

report said, ``Despite early success in improving conditions in the Great Lakes Basin, significant environmental challenges remain, including increased threats from invasive species and cleanup of areas contaminated with toxic substances that pose human health threats.'' Many scientists affirm that the Great Lakes are exhibiting signs of stress due to a combination of sources, including toxic contaminants, invasive species, nutrient loading, shoreline and upland land use changes, and hydrologic modifications. A 2005 report from a group of Great Lakes scientific experts states that ``historical sources of stress have combined with new ones to reach a tipping point, the point at which ecosystem-level changes occur rapidly and unexpectedly, confounding the traditional relationships between sources of stress and the expected ecosystem response.''

One cannot see the many threats to the Lakes simply by looking at them. The zebra mussel, an aquatic invasive species, causes $500 million per year in economic and environmental damage to the Great Lakes. One study found that since 1990--the year that zebra mussels really began to make an impact--Lake Michigan's yellow perch population has decreased by about 80 percent. In 2000, seven people died after pathogens entered the Walkerton, Ontario drinking water supply from the lakes. In May of 2004, more than ten billion gallons of raw sewage and storm water were dumped into the Great Lakes. In that same year, over 1,850 beaches in the Great Lakes were closed. Each summer, Lake Erie develops a 6,300 square mile dead zone. There is no appreciable natural reproduction of lake trout in the lower four lakes. More than half of the Great Lakes region's original wetlands have been lost, along with 60 percent of the forests. Wildlife habitat has been destroyed, thus diminishing opportunities necessary for fishing, hunting and other forms of outdoor recreation.

For several years, I have been calling for a plan to restore the Lakes and have been urging governors, mayors, environmental community and other regional interests to agree on a vision for the Great Lakes-- not just immediately, but for the long-term future.

Last year, over 1,500 people worked to draft a plan through a process called Great Lakes Regional Collaboration. The Collaboration strategy includes dozens of recommendations for action at the federal, state, local, and tribal actions that will help restore the Great Lakes. Senator Carl Levin and I--as well as our colleagues in the House--have crafted a bill to implement these recommendations.

This bill would reduce the threat of non-native species invading the Great Lakes through ballast water and other pathways. The bill targets the Asian carp by authorizing the Corps of Engineers to improve the dispersal barrier project and prohibiting the importation or interstate commerce of live Asian carp.

The bill addresses threats to fish and wildlife habitat by reauthorizing the Great Lakes Fish & Wildlife Restoration Act, a current program that provides grants to states and tribes.

The bill reauthorizes the State Revolving Loan Fund and provides $20 billion over five years to assist communities with the critical task of upgrading and improving their wastewater infrastructure.

The bill authorizes $150 million per year for contaminated sediment cleanup at Areas of Concern under the Great Lakes Legacy program. It also provides the EPA with greater flexibility in implementing the program by allowing the Great Lakes National Program Office to disburse funds to the non-federal sponsor of a Legacy Act project.

The bill establishes a new grant program within EPA, called the Great Lakes Mercury Product Stewardship Strategy Grant Program, to phase out mercury in products.

The bill improves existing research programs and fills the gap where work is needed. We need baseline data to understand how the lakes are changing and where improvements are succeeding.

The bill authorizes NOAA to restore and remediate waterfront areas. Projects will require a non-federal partner who will provide at least a 35% cost-share. Individual projects may not cost more than $5 million.

Lastly, the bill establishes the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force and the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration process in order to coordinate and improve Great Lakes programs.

Restoring the Great Lakes to a healthy ecosystem is not something that will happen overnight. This is a long-term process, but Congress needs to act now. Our bill is a major step in the right direction. We need to continue to refocus and improve our efforts in order to reverse the trend of degradation of the Great Lakes. They are a unique natural resource for Ohio, the entire region, and the country--a resource that must be protected for future generations. I ask my colleagues to join me in support of this bill and in our efforts to help preserve and protect the long-term viability of our Great Lakes.

Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleagues, Senator Levin an Senator DeWine, in offering the Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act of 2006. I am a cosponsor of this bipartisan bill, introduced on behalf of the Great Lakes Senators by the co-chairs of our Great Lakes Task Force. Our bill is also cosponsored by Senator Clinton, Senator Voinovich, and Senator Schumer.

The health and sustainability of the Great Lakes are something I feel passionately about. There is no more important issue to Michigan and our region of the country than the Great Lakes.

I want to take just a moment to recognize someone else who is equally passionate about Great Lakes protection and restoration. No single person has devoted more time, energy, and personal resources to the Great Lakes than Peter Wege of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Peter Wege has been a leader and visionary for Great Lakes restoration for decades. Through the Wege Foundation, which he founded in 1967, he has made generous gifts to the people of Grand Rapids and communities all over Western Michigan for community development. I believe that part of the reason we are standing here today with a comprehensive bill to restore the Lakes is due to the work of Peter Wege. In 2005, a gift from the Wege Foundation created the Healing Our Waters Coalition, a coalition of grassroots groups dedicated to securing a sustainable restoration plan and Federal and State funding to carry it out. The Healing Our Waters Coalition and Peter Wege have been instrumental in bringing Great Lakes restoration to the forefront of national policy.

For the people of Michigan the Great Lakes are more than just one- fifth of the world's fresh water and a unique ecosystem--they are part of our identity. The Lakes are where we spend summers with our families, where we boat and swim, and where we fish and hunt. The Lakes also sustain our State and local economies by providing a

major route for intrastate and international commerce. The health and future of Michigan is directly linked to the health and future of the Great Lakes.

We in Michigan are blessed with a beautiful State full of lakes, rivers, forests, and streams. We have more public access to waterways than all of the other 49 States combined. We are surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes and more than 40,000 interior lakes, streams, and trails. This rich abundance of natural resources has made the outdoors a critical part of Michigan's economy and our way-of-life. The Great Lakes are key in this. Consider that the total revenue from Michigan's fishing, hunting and wildlife watching is nearly $5 billion every year. Fishing brings $2 billion annually to our State economy. Michigan has the most registered boaters of any State, nearly one million, and recreational boating brings $2 billion annually to the state. It's easy to see what restoring the Great Lakes is so important to us.

There are currently between 140 and 200 separate Great Lakes environmental programs administered by 10 Federal agencies. Each of these is important and has helped us significantly improve the health of the Great Lakes over the past 35 years. That said true restoration will take local, regional, and national coordination on projects that address all of the critical challenges facing the health of the Great Lakes.

In May 2004, President Bush signed a Presidential Executive Order creating the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, also called the GLRC. The group is composed of Federal agencies, Great Lakes governors and mayors, local communities, Native American Tribes, and other stakeholders from the Great Lakes Basin. In December of last year the GLRC released a report outlining comprehensive and collaborative restoration of the Great Lakes ecosystem--the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy. The report calls for $20 billion in Federal, State, and local funding to clean up toxic hot-spots, restore wetlands, prevent the introduction of new invasive species, and modernizing water treatment systems.

The GLRC Strategy has been endorsed through the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Resolution by Great Lakes mayors, governors, tribes, the Congressional delegation, and the Interagency Task Force.

The bill that I am introducing today with my colleagues takes the next critical step and turns the strategy document into an on-the- ground reality.

Our commitment is strong. We have the will and the way, all we need now is the support of Congress to ensure the future of the Great Lakes--a magnificent natural resource that has been entrusted to our care.

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

Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce legislation to designate the U.S. Post Office at 2633 11th Street in Rock Island, Illinois, as the ``Lane Evans Post Office Building.''

This legislation honors my friend and fellow Illinoisan Lane Evans who has decided to retire instead of seeking re-election to the House of Representatives in November. Congressman Lane Evans, born and raised in Rock Island, represents Illinois' 17th Congressional District. He was first elected in 1982 and is serving his eleventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives. From the Quad Cities to Quincy, from Springfield to Decatur and Carlinville, in cities and towns throughout his district, Lane Evans is deeply respected. His service will be greatly missed.

Congressman Evans was a Vietnam-era veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and rose to the position of Ranking Democratic Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. He is recognized as a leading advocate of veterans in Congress. He successfully led legislative efforts to pass Agent Orange compensation and health and compensation benefits for children of veterans exposed to Agent Orange who were born with spina bifida, a crippling birth defect. Congressman Evans also led the effort to secure benefits for Persian Gulf veterans and to provide full disclosure about their possible exposure to toxins during their service. He has also worked to expand services to women veterans, pushed for increased help for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and established important new programs to assist in the rehabilitation and health care treatment of thousands of homeless veterans.

Congressman Evans is also a member of the House Armed Services Committee and is Chairman of the Vietnam Veterans in Congress Caucus. He is also Co-Chairman of the Alcohol Fuels Caucus, the Congressional Working Group on Parkinson's Disease, and the International Workers Rights Caucus. Congressman Evans has been named an ``Environmental Hero'' for his pro-environment voting record by the League of Conservation Voters and awarded the Conservationist of the Year Award for 1995 by the Heart of Illinois Sierra Club, the first time the organization gave the honor to a non-volunteer.

Congressman Evans was born in Rock Island on August 4, 1951. He attended grade school and high school in Rock Island. Following graduation from high school, he joined the Marine Corps and was stationed in Okinawa. He received an honorable discharge in 1971. Congressman Evans received a B.A. (magna cum laude) in 1974 from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. He also attended Black Hawk College in Moline, Illinois. He is a 1978 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. Following his graduation from law school, he practiced law in Rock Island where he served children, the poor and working families.

For over 20 years, Lane Evans has been my closest friend in the Illinois Congressional Delegation. We came to the House of Representatives together and he proved to be an indomitable force. Time and again, Lane Evans has shown extraordinary political courage fighting for the values that brought him to public service. But his greatest show of courage has been over the last 10 years as he battled Parkinson's disease and those who tried to exploit his physical weakness. His determination to serve the 17th Congressional District he loves pushed him to work harder as Parkinson's became a heavier burden each day. His dignity and perseverance in the face of this relentless and cruel disease is an inspiration to everyone who knows Lane Evans.

I am pleased to offer this legislation to permanently and publicly recognize Lane Evans and his service to his Congressional District, our State of Illinois, and the entire United States by naming the Rock Island Post Office in his honor. It would be a most appropriate way for us to express our appreciation to Congressman Evans and to commemorate his public life and work.

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

Mr. President. As the tax filing deadline approaches, I am delighted to introduce the Free Internet Filing Act. The bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide universal access to individual taxpayers filing their tax returns directly through the IRS Web site. I thank Senator Bingaman for cosponsoring this bill and working with me on so many issues that are important to taxpayers.

It is frustrating that individual taxpayers completing their own returns are not able to file directly with the IRS. Taxpayers are dependent on commercial preparers to electronically file their taxes. If a taxpayer takes the time necessary to prepare their returns by themselves, they must be provided with the option of electronically filing directly with the IRS. My legislation would make this direct filing possible.

The current system that provides a select group of taxpayers with the ability to file electronically for free using third party intermediaries, called the Free File Alliance, is a failure. In testimony before the Finance Committee yesterday, The National Taxpayer Advocate, Ms. Nina Olson, testified that ``As currently structured, Free File amounts to a Wild, Wild West of differing eligibility requirements, differing capabilities, differing availability of and fees for add-on products, and many sites that are difficult to use.'' Ms. Olson also stated that the ``IRS should place a basic, fill-in template on its website to allow any taxpayer who wants to self-prepare his or her return to do so and file directly with the IRS for free.'' I completely agree.

The current Free File Alliance agreement leaves out too many taxpayers. Taxpayers that make more than $50,000 are not eligible. In addition, tax preparation companies try to sell additional products and services, such as refund anticipation loans, to consumers that utilize their free file services that are accessed via the IRS Web site. Taxpayers should not be forced to access online filing through companies that peddle services and products to them. Taxpayers are directed to these companies via the IRS Web site. This should not happen. While paying their taxes

and fulfilling their obligations, taxpayers should be allowed to file directly without being subjected to sales pitches or ads. Taxpayers should not have the additional worry associated with sharing their private financial information with a tax preparation company. In the current environment where there have been so many electronic breeches of financial information, taxpayers should not be forced to hand over their private information if they want to electronically file their return with the IRS. Taxpayers should not lose out on the benefits of electronic filing simply because they are worried about sending their data to third parties.

My legislation will help increase the number of electronically filed returns. As Ms. Olson pointed out, nearly 45 million returns prepared using software are mailed in rather than electronically filed. With universal access to free e-file, this number could be substantially reduced. Electronic returns help taxpayers receive their refunds faster than mailing them in. This would also save the IRS resources and reduce possible errors that can occur when the mailed in returns are transcribed.

I want to take a moment to express my appreciation for all of the tremendous work that Ms. Olson has done in an attempt to improve the lives of taxpayers. It is a pleasure to work with Ms. Olson and her staff both in Washington and Hawaii. I look forward to continuing to work with the National Taxpayer Advocate, other Treasury officials, and my colleagues to expand access to Internet filing.

I ask unanimous consent that the full text of the bill be printed in the Record. I also ask unanimous consent that a letter of support from the Hawaii Alliance for Community-Based Economic Development be printed in the Record.