Copper Valley Native Allotment Resolution Act of 2006

Mr. President, I am very pleased to join my distinguished colleagues, the Senator from Connecticut, Mr. Lieberman, the senior Senator from Maine, Ms. Snowe, and Senator Chafee in introducing this joint resolution, which would affirm the Senate's commitment to recognize the International Emergency Management Assistance Compact, IEMAC. The purpose of IEMAC is to provide mutual assistance among the States of the Northeastern United States and the Provinces of eastern Canada for responding to any type of disaster, whether arising from natural or manmade causes.

A number of recent disasters and emergencies have necessitated mutual aid and assistance among the Northeastern States and eastern Canadian Provinces. For example, both the January 1998 ice storm and the August 2003 blackout left millions of people without electrical power, knocked out public water supplies and other essential services, and caused billions of dollars in property damage or business losses. In the past quarter century alone, there have been more than 100 presidentially declared disasters and emergencies in the Northeast, or, on average, about four per year. Many of these events required State and Provincial emergency management organizations to request out-of- jurisdiction mutual assistance to deal with the emergency.

The importance of mutual assistance was made clear by Hurricane Katrina, in which 44 States and the District of

Columbia received presidential emergency declarations. This was the largest number of declarations ever made for a single disaster in FEMA history. Most of these declarations were not the result of States receiving direct damage from the storm but rather because they reached out to assist the devastated States through the nationwide Emergency Management Assistance Compact, EMAC, sending personnel, equipment and supplies into the stricken areas. In addition, numerous host States opened shelters to assist hurricane evacuees.

The genesis of IEMAC was the 1998 ice storm. The worst ice storm in our region's history demolished power lines from Quebec, through upstate New York, across Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. As many as 4 million people were without electricity, some 700,000 people for as long as 3 weeks, and damage topped $6 billion.

The following June, the New England Governors Conference and Eastern Canadian Premiers signed Resolution No. 23-5 to adopt an International Emergency Management Assistance Agreement. The resulting memorandum of understanding was adopted by the conference in July 2000. In October of 2004, the memorandum of understanding was the renamed International Emergency Management Assistance Compact. The Governors and Premiers established the International Emergency-Management Group, IEMG, to implement the compact and to work closely developing plans to train and exercise for disasters and emergencies that could affect the Northeastern States and Provinces. The Management Group meets regularly and has recently developed a draft operational manual to fully implement the compact, which is slated to be approved at the IEMG meeting in Quebec this month.

The members of the compact are the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and the Provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. Other States and Provinces may join the compact in the future.

IEMAC provides form and structure to international mutual aid between the Northeastern States and eastern Canadian Provinces. It addresses such issues as liability, payment, and credentialing before the emergency occurs, which allows for expedited deployment of resources and personnel in time of emergency. Working out the myriad legal and technical details in advance is especially important when resources and personnel must cross international boundaries.

The value of the compact already has been demonstrated. When Hurricane Juan slammed into Nova Scotia in late September of 2003, partners in the existing memorandum of understanding provided quick and substantial aid to the stricken province. When Nova Scotia, still recovering from the hurricane, was hit again just a few months later by ``White Juan,'' a powerful blizzard, effective mutual aid again alleviated the suffering.

The compact was formed in the aftermath of a powerful ice storm, but the terrorist attacks of 9/11 amplified its importance. The Northeastern United States and eastern Canada are home to major population centers, vast industrial facilities, major cargo ports, and nuclear power plants--all potential terrorist targets. In the event of an attack, tighter border security would be both inevitable and necessary, and the prearrangements made through the compact would be invaluable.

The role of the compact is ever expanding. There are a multitude of threats facing the Northeast States and eastern Canadian Provinces today, and the close working relationship of the member jurisdictions fosters a cooperative environment and creates a strong partnership. These strong bonds contribute to the goals of a more secure region and an effective response capability when a disaster or emergency does occur.

As has been seen numerous times in the past, disasters know no boundaries--municipal, State, provincial or international. I ask you to join me in adopting the International Emergency Management Assistance Compact so that in a time of disaster the boundaries that separate jurisdictions are not barriers to cooperation.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 27, 2006, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing on the nominations of Mr. Christopher A. Padilla, of the District of Columbia, to be Assistant Secretary of the Department of Commerce; and Mr. Bijan Rafiekian, of California, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to hold a committee markup on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 10 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on

Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Wednesday, September 27, 2006, at a time and location to be determined, following a vote on the Senate Floor, to consider favorably reporting the nominations of John K. Veroneau, to be Deputy United States Trade Representative, with the Rank of Ambassador, Executive Office of the President, and Robert K. Steel, to be Under Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 27, 2006, at 2:30 p.m. to hold a hearing on nominations.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, September 27, 2006, at 10 a.m. for a hearing titled, ``Development of an Artificial Pancreas: Will New Technologies Improve Care for People With Diabetes and Reduce the Burden on the Health Care System?''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, September 27, 2006, at 10 a.m. for a hearing titled, ``The Potential of an Artificial Pancreas: Improving Care for People With Diabetes.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 27, 2006, to hold a meeting to mark up the nomination of Robert T. Howard to be Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, Department of Veterans' Affairs.

The meeting will take place in the Reception Room off the Senate Floor in the Capitol following the first roll call vote of the day.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 27, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a closed briefing.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness, be authorized to hold a hearing during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. in SD-430.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on ``Oversight Hearing: U.S. Refugee Admissions and Policy'' on Wednesday, September 27, at 3 p.m. in SD-226.

Witness List

Panel I: The Honorable Ellen Sauerbray, Assistant Secretary of State, Population, Refugees and Migration, Department of State, Washington, DC; Jonathan ``Jock'' Scharfen, Deputy Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC.

Panel II: Michael Horowitz, Director, Project for Civil Justice Reform and Project for International Religious Liberty, Hudson Institute, Washington, DC; Father Kenneth Gavin, S.J., Vice-Chair, Refugee Council U.S.A. and National Director, Jesuit Refugee Service, U.S.A., Washington, DC.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 27 at 10 a.m.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills: S. 3000, a bill to grant rights-of-way for electric transmission lines over certain native allotments in the State of Alaska; S. 3599, to establish the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument in the State of New Mexico; S. 3794, to provide for the implementation of the Owyhee Initiative Agreement, and for other purposes; S. 3854, to designate certain land in the State of Oregon as wilderness, and for other purposes; H.R. 3603, to promote the economic development and recreational use of National Forest System lands and other public lands in Central Idaho, to designate the Boulder-White Cloud Management Area to ensure the continued management of certain National Forest System lands and Bureau of Land Management lands for recreational and grazing use and conservation and resource protection, to add certain National Forest System lands and Bureau of Land Management lands in Central Idaho to the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other purposes; and H.R. 5025, to protect for future generations the recreational opportunities, forest, timber, clean water, wilderness and scenic values, and diverse habitat of Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 27, 2006, at 10 a.m., to receive testimony on U.S. policy and practice with respect to the use of riot control agents by the U.S. Armed forces.

Today I join with my colleagues Senator Rockefeller and Senator Domenici to introduce the Safe and Timely Interstate Placement of Foster Children Act of 2006. I am proud to have had the opportunity to again work with my friend, Senator Rockefeller, on the important issues affecting the most vulnerable and at risk children--children in foster care. This is an important bill and I hope we will be able to pass swiftly.

In 1997, I worked on the Adoption and Safe Families Act, an important bill that worked to provide timelier placement of children in foster care. Since that time, it has been successful. Dramatically more children are being adopted. Children are spending less time languishing in foster care and have greater opportunities to find a permanent home or family. However, there are barriers that remain for children in foster care--particularly for children who are placed across state lines for various reasons--including trying to place them with family members or if a family in another state is looking to adopt that child. These children are shown to continue to remain in foster care for much longer periods of time. Through no fault of their own--they wait for placement and wait for a permanency in their lives that children long for and deserve.

I also want to thank the work that the States have done to alleviate the problems we currently find in interstate placement. This has been a problem for many years, but recently States have been active in creating and promulgating guidelines for dealing with complications that can arise related to interstate placement. I hope that we can see these guidelines soon implemented. The primary power to move these children to homes rests with the States, and we want to encourage their quick action.

This bill will require and support States in the expeditious study of homes for children in foster care who may be placed or adopted across State lines. This bill would allow a 60-day period for such study to occur--while 2 months is a long time in the life of a child, we feel that it is an appropriate balance between the needs of the State and child welfare agencies to conduct thorough assessments and the needs of the child to be in a more permanent home.

This bill also expresses the sense of the Congress that States should accept the home study evaluations done by another State. This would go a long way to reduce time waiting for placement and redundancy of effort in the child welfare system.

Importantly, this bill is not just another mandate on States. This bill would provide resources to enhance and speed up their systems for interstate placement--but States do have to earn it. If passed, it would provide $1,500 per child who was placed within a 30-day period. States can use this money to improve their systems for placement, hire more staff to conduct placement, or otherwise use it for improvement of services for foster children in their State.

This bill will also improve the rights of children and their foster, pre-adoptive parents, or family caregivers to be heard in court proceedings concerning their case within the child welfare system. It is important that a child's needs are appropriately represented and this bill will work to ensure that the parties most involved in the child's life are present when important matters are being considered. Courts will also be required to work more closely with their counterparts in other States when the situation warrants. The judges who work with the child welfare system hold so much power in so many children's lives. We must continue to encourage their cooperation with outside stakeholders, including child welfare systems and court systems in other States, to quickly move these children to permanent homes. There is no excuse for a child to languish in a system for months and sometimes years of their lives due to court inaction or delay.

Again, I want to thank my colleagues for their work and support of these efforts. I am confident that we can work together to quickly pass this legislation and put it to work for our Nation's children.

Mr. President, I rise today to offer legislation that helps to prevent children from living in poverty and ensures that noncustodial parents pay child support, instead of fleeing off to hide from their responsibilities. I commend my fellow Kansas colleagues, Congressman Jerry Moran and Congressman Dennis Moore, for introducing similar legislation in the House.

The problem is this: a noncustodial parent could potentially avoid paying their responsible share of child support by leaving the country. State child support enforcement agencies must certify cases to the State Department for passport denial if the child support debt is over $5,000. The $5,000 is slated to be reduced in October 2006 to $2,500 in accordance with Public Law 109-171. The loophole that emerges is for those deadbeat parents who already have a passport. Under current implementation of the law, the next opportunity point of enforcement is at the renewal of the passport, which could be several years down the road. The legislation I offer today closes that loophole, and simply instructs the State Department to revoke, in addition to denying, a noncustodial parent's passport once the individual's child support debt exceeds the amount set in law.

Studies show that the receipt of child support is a key factor that keeps a child and single parent family from living in or near poverty. Beyond that financial security that steady child support provides, there is a greater likelihood that the noncustodial parent is personally involved in their child's life. If a parent shows responsibility financially, there is a bigger chance that he or she is involved emotionally. The impact of a noncustodial parent's involvement in his child's life, in many cases, results in better grades and fewer behavioral problems.

In Kansas alone, there are currently 131,000 child support cases open, including those receiving public assistance, and those above that income bracket. Last year, the Kansas Child Support Enforcement program collected $156 million in child support. However, that number represents only 54 percent of all payments owed to children. Unfortunately, that missing 46 percent of child support overdue averages out to

just over $7,000 per child. That is quite a loss for a single-parent's household budget to absorb.

Now, you might ask: What percentage of the population will this help? I would concede that, although this may not impact a high percentage of those children and families receiving child support, the impact on an individual family is very significant. According to my State's limited records on this issue, approximately 50 passport applications and renewals are denied on a yearly basis. That figure does not include those passports that should be revoked. Coupled with the upcoming reduction in allowable debt, the Kansas Child Support Enforcement Program estimates that the number of deadbeat parents affected would increase to 250. The security afforded by the steady stream of child support could be the lone determinant of a family living in poverty or existing on adequate financial ground.

I encourage my colleagues to add their support to this important fix. We must ensure that the tools provided to the States have the teeth necessary to discourage deadbeat parents from running out on their financial responsibilities.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation which will resolve an ongoing dispute in our State concerning rights of way in the Copper River Valley region.

In 1906, Congress passed the Alaska Native Allotment Act, which allowed Alaska Natives to each claim up to 160 acres of land. Between 1906 and 1970, Alaska Natives filed allotment applications. The majority of these were filed

in the late 1960s. In 1971, Congress repealed the Alaska Native Allotment Act as part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Congress then resolved all outstanding land claims by approving pending applications in the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. This approval was subject to valid existing rights.

When it settled the outstanding land claims in our State, Congress unintentionally created an issue which is now the subject of several lawsuits. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Federal Government and the State of Alaska granted rights of way to the Copper Valley Electric Association to run power lines across areas in our State which were later claimed by Alaska Natives. These rights were conveyed before Alaska Native allotment claims had been filed and processed.

Since outstanding land claims were approved through ANILCA in 1980, several Native allottees have come forward and claimed the Copper Valley Electric Association is trespassing on their lands. In 1987, the Interior Board of Land Appeals affirmed this position, finding Native allotees have priority over other competing uses of land--in this case, those of the utility company--regardless of the fact that the rights of way were granted prior to the conveyance of the property in question to the allotees. This situation is still unresolved and has resulted in years of litigation.

We have been unable to settle these disputes through existing remedies. These conflicts now jeopardize existing transportation and utility corridors. This issue threatens future infrastructure development in the region.

At my request, the Government Accountability Office, GAO, reviewed this situation. The GAO issued its report and recommended solutions. This bill incorporates the GAO's recommendation. It compensates the owners of the Native allotments, while ensuring that the utility companies are able to provide residents with the infrastructure and services they need. I believe this is the most equitable solution available, and I urge the Senate to pass this bill.