Laser Visa Extension Act of 2007

Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague Senator Boxer in introducing the Channel Islands National Park Management Act of 2007.

This legislation seeks to clarify the future use and management of the park, and specifically protects Santa Rosa Island for the use of the public.

The taxpayers paid approximately $30 million to acquire Santa Rosa Island in 1986 to restore its native ecology and provide public access.

Unfortunately, late last year during conference negotiations a provision was slipped into the fiscal year 2007 Defense Authorization bill seeking to overturn a court-approved settlement agreement which requires the phasing out of private hunting on Santa Rosa Island.

Under a binding court settlement in the late 1990s, non-native deer and elk must be removed from Santa Rosa Island over a phased, 4-year period beginning in 2008.

Today, from mid-August through mid-November, a large portion of the island is closed to the public so that the island's prior owners can run a trophy hunting operation targeting the deer and elk on the island.

Under the settlement, this hunting operation was to end in 2011 allowing the island to be completely open to the public year round.

Now, under last year's provision, the prior owners will seek to continue charging $16,000 or more for their privately operated hunting trips.

Even though the Government purchased the island from them for $30 million in taxpayer money, the prior owners would seek to keep essentially everything they had before--and that's simply not in the public interest.

Some may be interested in learning a little history and background on this gem of an island: Santa Rosa Island is approximately 53,000 acres and lies about 50 miles west of Ventura Harbor. It is the second largest of the five islands making up the Channel Islands National Park. It is extremely rugged and pristine, with terrain ranging from grassy hills to steep, wind-carved canyons to white sandy beaches. Craggy, steep cliffs overlook rocky tide pools along its coast. Wildflowers cover many parts of the island during the spring and summer. It is ecologically sensitive and includes several endemic plants and species. For example, it is the only place in the world to see the island fox and spotted skunk in their natural habitat. A variety of shore birds--like the snowy plover--and sea mammals--such as seals and sea lions--breed on its beaches. It is seen by many scientists as one of the nation's most unique places. In addition to being the home of rare flora and fauna, it is an archaeological and paleontological treasure, with some sites dating back 11,000 years or to the Pleistocene-era. In fact, in 1994, the world's most complete skeleton of a pygmy mammoth was excavated on the island. It offers incredible recreational opportunities for the public, including hiking, camping, kayaking, fishing, sea sports, and wildlife watching.

The limitation of public access to the island to accommodate privately run hunting trips would be a tragedy. This is the public's land. It's a national park, and the public should be able to visit it and enjoy its breath-taking beauty and remoteness.

I also want to address one issue the provision in last year's Defense Authorization bill purportedly seeks to address: enhancing hunting opportunities for disabled veterans.

While no one opposes providing hunting opportunities for our veterans, it is clear that it is neither a practical nor viable option to use Santa Rosa Island as a hunting reserve for injured and disabled veterans.

This view is now supported by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, PVA, an organization which previously expressed support for the provision overturning the settlement.

Notably, in July 2006, the PVA reached the conclusion following an investigative visit to Santa Rosa that the ``numerous obstacles inherent to the island, including ingress and egress, logistics, personal safety and cost, far outweigh the possible, limited benefit it could provide.''

Furthermore, it should be pointed out that in California today, there are already 9 military installations that permit hunting--five that can accommodate disabled servicemembers.

Two of these military installations, Camp Pendleton and Vandenberg Air Force Base, are relatively close to the Channel Islands National Park, and allow disabled veterans to hunt a variety of animals, including deer, waterfowl, quail, feral pigs, small game, and coyote.

Altogether there are over 100 U.S. military installations where hunting is permitted, over 70 of which are currently accessible to disabled servicemembers and veterans.

Naturally, the Park Service is firmly opposed to the provision seeking to overturn the settlement. But it is also important to note that neither the Department of Defense nor the Veterans Administration asked for the language.

Consequently, I strongly believe that the Park Service should continue managing this National Park for the benefit of the general public. To allow any less would be a waste of taxpayer dollars and wrongly limit the public's access to this national treasure.

I strongly believe that we must do everything to protect the island for the public and oppose any measures that could continue to restrict access to the island.

This legislation we are introducing today would safeguard the island in just this manner. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and I ask unanimous consent that the text of this proposed legislation be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today I am introducing with Senator Grassley, as well as Senators Kohl, Feingold and Durbin as original co- sponsors, the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007. This bill would take an important grant program for drug-endangered children that Congress authorized in the USA PATRIOT Reauthorization Act, and extend it for two additional years.

In particular, the USA PATRIOT Reauthorization Act authorized $20 million in Federal grants for fiscal years 2006 and 2007 to States to assist in the treatment of children who have been endangered by living at a home where methamphetamine has been manufactured or distributed. But unless we pass new legislation, that authorization will not continue beyond the current fiscal year.

A companion bill was introduced earlier this year by California Congressman Dennis A. Cordoza, with bipartisan support in the House.

The White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, or ONDCP, has documented that innocent children are sometimes found in homes and other environments, hotels, automobiles, apartments, etc., where methamphetamine and other illegal substances are produced.

According to the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) National Clandestine Laboratory Seizure System, there were 1,660 children affected by or injured or killed at methamphetamine labs during 2005.

These children who live at or visit drug-production sites or are present during drug production face a variety of health and safety risks, including: inhalation, absorption, or ingestion of toxic chemicals, drugs, or contaminated foods that may result in nausea, chest pain, eye and tissue irritation, chemical burns, and death; fires and explosions; abuse and neglect, and hazardous lifestyles, presence of booby traps, firearms, code violations, and poor ventilation.

Where children are involved, drug lab seizures must go beyond the normal response from law enforcement, fire and HAZMAT organizations. Additional agencies and officials often must be called in to assist, including emergency medical personnel, social services, and physicians.

Recognizing this need, the ONDCP several years ago announced a national Drug Endangered Children (DEC) initiative to assist with coordination between existing State programs and create a standardized training program to extend DEC to states where such a program does not yet exist.

As a result of this initiative, several states developed DEC programs, to coordinate the efforts of law enforcement, medical services, and child welfare workers, to ensure that children found in these environments receive appropriate attention and care.

These DEC programs began to develop interagency protocols to support drug-endangered children, addressing issues such as: staff training, including safety and cross training; roles and responsibilities of agencies involved; appropriate reporting, cross-reporting, and information sharing; safety procedures for children, families, and responding personnel; interviewing procedures; evidence collection and preservation procedures, and medical care procedures.

Protocols were designed to identify and provide guidance on the variety of issues that responding agencies needed to address in these situations, such as taking children into protective custody and arranging for child protective services, immediately testing the children for methamphetamine exposure, conducting medical and mental health assessments, and ensuring short- and long-term care.

Unfortunately, the ONDCP's initiative, which had been funded in part through a DOJ award of $2.124 million under the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Methamphetamine Initiative of 2003, was not continued thereafter.

The USA PATRIOT Reauthorization Act that we passed in 2005, establishing a specific grant program for this purpose, recognized the need to continue this initiative. Unfortunately, this grant program that we authorized was never funded. In fiscal year 2006, the program that we authorized was appropriated no funds at all.

In fiscal year 2007, the House of Representatives voted to include $5 million for this important program as part of its CJS Appropriations bill. But unfortunately, the 109th Congress adjourned without passing most of its FY2007 appropriations bills, and the Continuing Resolution we passed to keep the government running did not fund this provision either.

So the bill that I introduce today would give the Congress another chance to revive this important initiative. And it can't come too soon for places like Merced, California, where three-quarters of all foster care cases are reported to be methamphetamine-related.

I urge my colleagues to adopt this legislation and ask unanimous consent that the text of this bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today I join with Senator Grassley in introducing the Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act of 2007. This bill would increase the criminal penalties that apply when criminals market their illegal drugs to our children, using appalling techniques like the recently reported sales on our streets of candy-flavored methamphetamine.

In particular, the bill would: double the maximum penalties applicable to drug crimes if a criminal defendant manufactures, offers, distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute a controlled substance that is flavored, colored, packaged or otherwise altered in a way that is designed to make it more appealing to a person under the age of 21; if the violation is a repeat offense, the maximum sentence would be tripled; and a mandatory minimum prison sentence of at least a year would apply in every case involving illegal drugs that targets its marketing at minors.

The growing problem of marketing illegal drugs to minors was highlighted in a recent USA Today article, entitled ``Flavored Meth Use on the Rise,'' which stated, ``Reports of candy-flavored methamphetamine are emerging around the nation, stirring concern among police and abuse prevention experts that drug dealers are marketing the drug to younger people.''

Normally, methamphetamine--a highly addictive stimulant--is a brownish, bitter-tasting crystalline powder. But drug dealers, recognizing that this may not be appealing to children or teenagers, have reacted by reaching a new low: they are using candy and soda flavors to market their meth.

Soda flavors. Strawberry methamphetamine that they market as ``Strawberry Quick.'' Reddish methamphetamine marketed as an energy drink like ``Red Bull.'' Even ``chocolate quick.''

Scott Burns, Deputy Drug Czar at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, warns that this development may negatively affect the gains we have recently made in getting the word out to our young people about how horrible this drug is.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the number of people 12 and older who used methamphetamine for the first time in the previous year decreased from 318,000 people in 2004 to 192,000 people in 2005. That's the good news.

But Deputy Drug Czar Burns warns that with drug dealers having a tougher time selling their product, especially to young people, ``they have to come up with some sort of gimmick.'' And that gimmick, he warns, is the use of flavored methamphetamine.

In my own State of California, San Francisco police since late January have arrested teens with quantities of meth designed to taste like chocolate. The Haight-Asbury clinic also confirms chocolate- flavored methamphetamine being used on the streets.

Dr. Alex Stalcup, a nationally renowned drug counselor, reports seeing teenage patients at the New Leaf Treatment Center suffering the ill effects of flavored methamphetamine since the first of this year.

One of Dr. Stalcup's patients was unaware that the substance was meth at all, and said he was told that it was a solidified form of the energy drink Red Bull. Dr. Stalcup warns that this new form of the drug also may be more likely to lead to an overdose, by users who may not be aware of, or who may underestimate, a candy-flavored drug's impact.

Perhaps the first report of this problem emerged in late January, when a Carson City, Nevada police informant purchased 2 grams of a strawberry-flavored methamphetamine from an alleged member of the Lima Street gang. Officers later served a search warrant on his home and found more. Police bulletins warned this ``new type of meth will be more attractive to a younger crowd and may surface in schools.''

Additional reports also came in. On February 13, a police officer in Greene County, MO, seized a bag of ``strawberry meth'' from a female passenger in a car stopped in a rural area of Greene County, MO. And in Idaho, the Administrator of the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy warned of how drug dealers were producing ``strawberry quick'' and ``chocolate quick'' forms of meth, to attract young buyers and spawn a new generation of drug buyers.

The Idaho Press-Tribune even reported that at Valentine's Day, drug dealers compressed the flavored form of the drug into heart-shapes, colored it bright pink, and wrapped it in shiny paper.

Based on intelligence gathered by Drug Enforcement Administration agents from informants, users, police and drug counselors, flavored crystals are now available in California, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Texas, New Mexico, Missouri and Minnesota.

The bill I offer today would address this problem, by enacting penalties to discourage colored and flavored drugs and the marketing of drugs to minors.

Under current law, there is already an enhanced penalty if someone distributes illegal drugs to a minor. The maximum sentence is doubled, and tripled for a repeat offense, and there is a minimum of at least a year in prison. But the enhancement applies only if there is an actual distribution to a minor. Even possession with intent to distribute doesn't qualify. And current law doesn't address flavored drugs or marketing illegal drugs in ways appealing to kids.

The bill I introduce would fix that. If someone manufactures, creates, distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute an illegal drug that is flavored, colored, packaged or altered in a way designed to make it more appealing to someone under age 21, they would face this same enhanced penalty.

This bill will send a strong and clear message to the drug dealers-- if you flavor up your drugs or alter them in a way that makes it more appealing to our children, there will be a very heavy price to pay.

Flavored meth is designed to get people to try it a few times. It's all about hooking young people. And that is truly tragic. Listen to what one former addict wrote after hearing about this new development:

They do need to worry about our children because I happen

to know quite a few 10 and 12 year olds on up that are

already using it and selling it out there. So whoever thinks

it's not a threat to our children--WRONG WRONG WRONG! It's

more and more dangerous out there when people cannot handle

it and they develop a chemical imbalance and lose their mind

to where they don't even know who they are anymore. I happen

to know a very, very young pretty girl I've met, and she will

never come back to who she was. She's gone. She is crazy and

is gonna end up hurt then dead one of these days. I pray for

this girl all the time . . .

Estimates now place the number of habitual meth users worldwide at 26 million worldwide--more than the combined total for heroin and cocaine. It is extraordinarily addictive. We must act to preserve the gains we have made, and keep kids from getting cruelly tricked into an addiction they may never break.

These new penalties will make dealers think twice before flavoring up their drugs, and punish them appropriately if they don't. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation entitled Giving Reductions to Energy Efficient New Buildings, the GREEN Buildings Act. This bill will extend the energy efficient building tax deduction from December 31, 2008 until December 31, 2013. This bill will also increase the tax deduction from $1.80 to $2.25 per square foot.

Our Nation is diligently searching to find the long-term solutions to global warming and, how to reduce our carbon foot print. As Congress continues to search for these solutions, we must continue to provide incentives to those who have the knowledge and resources to make an impact now. Congress understands the impact `green buildings' have on reducing our Nation's energy consumption and carbon emissions. That is why in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 we created a tax deduction for energy efficient buildings. Unfortunately, that deduction will expire on December 31, 2008. Congress must not allow this deduction to expire. Building energy efficient buildings is one of the key things being done right now to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as well as reduce our Nation's energy consumption.

Commercial buildings are a substantial part of our Nation's energy consumption and can be a key to reducing demand for electricity. These buildings are responsible for 40 percent of total U.S. energy consumption, they use 70 percent of the nation's electricity and they are accountable for 40 percent of the U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. They are a major piece to enabling our Nation's energy independence and to solving the global warming puzzle and Congress must not overlook them or leave them out.

The average life-span of a commercial building is 75 years. We must use our resources, to build energy-efficient buildings today and make these buildings truly ready for the future. One way to do so is to provide incentives to those who are willing to step up to the plate and accept the challenge.

Another benefit from building energy efficient or green buildings is that they also improve our health. Americans spend about 90 percent of their time indoors. The concentration of indoor pollutants is sometimes 10 to 100 times more than outdoor pollutants increasing the frequency of illnesses and ailments.

Researchers have proven that employees who are exposed to more sunlight are more productive workers. They have proven that by changing the carpets on the floor and paint on the walls workers have less respiratory ailments. These are simple things that can be done to increase employees' health and their productivity and our nation's overall success.

Our Nation is doing a good job of researching and developing new technologies to reduce our dependence on foreign energy and to combat global warming, and Congress has helped move these technologies along by providing incentives in the way of tax deductions. Unfortunately, many of these incentives have an expiration date that expires too soon to provide the help it is intended to provide. Congress needs to keep these incentives intact and provide stability so companies and investors can be assured of their investment. In turn, maintaining these incentives will advance our Nation's energy independence and reduce our carbon dioxide emissions--two very important goals. I urge my fellow Senators to support this sensible and much needed tax incentive. We don't have another 75 years to wait.

Mr. President, I come to the floor to speak about the First Response Broadcasters Act, legislation I am introducing today along with Senators Stevens, Carper and Pryor.

As my State suffered the devastating impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the levee breaks that followed, we learned that one of the most vital relief supplies is information. In providing it, all of our local media--newspapers, broadcasters and web sites included--did amazing work to keep the people of my State informed, even when displaced thousands of miles away. But with phone lines down and streets too flooded to move around, the sound of a local radio or television station was for many of my constituents the only voice in those first few dark nights after the hurricanes. Our local broadcasters provided life-saving information and comfort when both were needed the most. Many of them worked through unimaginable technical and emotional obstacles, staying on the air as their facilities and staff homes were destroyed, and loved ones remained missing.

With the entire industry dependent on public airwaves, broadcasters have a duty to serve the public in times of crisis. As local radio and television stations stand up, as so many did, to put commercial interests aside to serve the public interest, the federal government

should be ready to stand with them. This is not a new partnership.

Under laws going back to 1951, radio and television stations are today required to participate in the national Emergency Alert System (EAS), and many stations have protected, government-funded circuits connecting them to emergency command centers. This legislation would directly connect more stations nationwide to this network by authorizing $6.5 million to FEMA to set up Primary Entry Point radio stations in another twenty five states and U.S. territories. Currently there are thirty-two stations and two under development in Alabama and Mississippi.

A Primary Entry Point (PEP) station is a radio broadcast station designated to provide public information following national and local emergencies where there is no commercial power. For example, WWL Radio in New Orleans was the only PEP station in the Gulf Coast after Katrina and it provided radio broadcasts for two weeks after the storm until commercial power was restored. FEMA commissioned recommendations from the Primary Entry Point Advisory Committee, a non-profit group they set up to oversee the stations, and just needs the additional funds to build the additional facilities. Included in the findings of the legislation is a comprehensive list of the states that are currently without PEP stations and which would benefit from this provision. There are also States which have PEP stations, but because of geographic limitations, require an additional station to fully cover the State. This bill would provide those two additional stations in Kansas and Florida.

But what good is this successful emergency information chain if the last link fails? By technical necessity, this last link is right in the disaster's path. Simply put, the transmitter needs to be in the same area as the people in need of warning. Despite our Federal investments in the emergency system and entry point stations, there were several Gulf Coast broadcasters after the hurricanes that could not stay on the air simply because the government took their fuel away. They were told they weren't on the list.''

This legislation puts these broadcasters on the list, where they belong. To protect vital broadcast infrastructure and encourage more broadcasters to deploy disaster-resistant telecommunications equipment, this bill would also create a 3-year pilot program managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide annual matching grants to qualified First Response Broadcasters for the protection and reinforcement of critical-to-air facilities and infrastructure. The program would receive $10 million per year to fund matching program grants, and grants could also be used for projects to enhance essential disaster-related public information services.

As the program encourages both disaster preparedness and community coordination, increased scoring would be granted to applications from broadcasters who form cooperative proposals with other broadcasters in the area or those who submit plans in conjunction with local or State governments. Priority scoring would also be given to applicants in disaster-prone areas and also based on the public service merits of the broadcasters disaster programming plan.

No disaster warning, evacuation plan or emergency instruction matters if it can't get to the people who need it. This is why the Federal Communications Commission and a presidential advisory panel have each recommended we take steps to keep these lifesaving broadcasts on the air.

In particular, this bill would require that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other Federal response agencies, in coordination with State and local authorities and the National Guard, honor press access guidelines and credentials set by the local governing authority in the declared disaster area. For example, if the City of New Orleans issued press credentials before the disaster and the city decided to continue honoring them post-disaster, FEMA officials operating in the area would be required to honor those credentials as well. The local entity, at its own discretion, would be able to request that this credentialing authority be passed instead to federal or state officials.

Along these same lines, the bill would also direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate with local and State agencies to allow access, where practicable and not impeding recovery or endangering public safety, into the disaster area for personnel and equipment essential to restoring or maintaining critical-to-air broadcast infrastructure. The priority policies and procedures for this coordination would be similar to those practiced for restoring public utilities, and would include access for refueling generators and re- supplying critical facilities.

For all journalists working to tell the story-newspapers and web sites included-the First Response Broadcasters Act makes sure that the local officials, who know local reporters best, decide where the journalists can go, not some Washington bureaucrat who just stepped off the plane.

In closing, I would like to submit for the record the stories of a few incredible broadcasters who through recent disasters have demonstrated exactly the type of response this bill is intended to encourage. I would also like to submit for the record a list of organizations which have already endorsed this legislation-including the state broadcasting associations from every one of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Broadcasters have a duty to the American people to spread the word in times of crisis. No one else can do it. They are already a key part of our national emergency response plan, and have been for more than 50 years. This bill merely reinforces this fact and secures the logical extension of commitments already made by Federal government. We have a responsibility to make sure the tools are protected to make the system work.

Broadcasters are first responders--and with this bill today, we will strengthen our essential partnership with them for the benefit of all Americans. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation and ask unanimous consent that the text of the legislation, the broadcaster stories, and a list of the organizations already supporting this bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the ``Taxpayer Protection and Assistance Act of 2007'' with Senators Smith, Akaka, Durbin, Kerry, and Lieberman. My colleagues may recall that similar legislation, S. 832, was introduced last Congress and ultimately reported out of the Finance Committee last year but unfortunately it never made it to the floor of the Senate. This Congress, the House has already passed taxpayer rights legislation which makes me optimistic that many of these long overdue reforms may finally become law.

This Act is a combination of a variety of well-vetted provisions that will ensure that our Nation's taxpayers are better able to prepare and file their tax returns each year in a fashion that is fair, reasonable and affordable. As long as we continue to require taxpayers to determine their own tax liability, Congress has a responsibility to ensure that we do not leave taxpayers vulnerable to abuses from those masquerading as tax professionals. The current environment is bad for everyone including the majority of tax return preparers who provide professional and much needed services to taxpayers in their communities. I encourage all of my colleagues to work with us to pass this legislation before the next filing season begins.

The first section of the Taxpayer Protection and Assistance Act would create a $10 million matching grant program for lower income tax preparation clinics much like the program we currently have in place for tax controversies. I have seen first hand the impact free tax preparation clinics can have on taxpayers and their communities, as we are fortunate to have one of the best State-wide programs in the Nation in New Mexico. Tax Help New Mexico, which has been in operation for many years, helped over 20,000 New Mexicans prepare and file their returns last year, resulting in over $20 million in refunds--all without refund anticipation loans. This program has turned into one of the best delivery mechanisms for public assistance I have seen in the State and has been fortunate enough to receive additional funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the McCune Foundation. In order to continue to grow, though, we need to do our part in Congress and give them matching funding so they can continue their outreach into new communities in need of assistance.

The second set of provisions contained in this legislation would ensure that when taxpayers hire someone to help them with their tax returns they can be sure that the person is competent and professional. The first part of the bill makes sure that an enrolled agent, a tax professional licensed to practice before the IRS, shall have the exclusive right to describe him or herself as an ``enrolled agent,'' ``EA,'' or ``E.A.'' In New Mexico, enrolled agents play an important role in helping taxpayers with problems with the IRS and with preparing their returns. Enrolled agents have earned the right to use their credentials. Furthermore, we should protect the credentials of those who have taken the rigorous exams and have experience in tax preparation rather than allow others to confuse the public into thinking they too have the same credentials.

The next part of the bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury to determine what standards need to be met in order for a person to prepare tax returns commercially. Like all other tax professionals, this will require people who make a living preparing tax returns to pass a minimum competency exam and take brush up courses each year to keep up to date with changes in tax law. The majority of tax return preparers already meet these standards, including many who have received credentials from the State or from a nationally recognized association of accountants or tax return preparers. We provide specific authority to the Secretary to determine whether people who have already taken a written proficiency exam as part of some other tax return credentialing will need to take the new exam. The Secretary will be

able to exercise these authorizations only after thorough review of the specific examination and only for those examinations subsequently determined to be comparable. In that light, we urge the Secretary to exercise his authority in this area in a manner consistent with the goal of protecting taxpayers through ensuring the competency of enrolled preparers. The Treasury Department will also be required to operate a public awareness campaign so that taxpayers will know that they need to check to be sure that someone preparing their tax returns for a fee is qualified.

The fourth set of provisions would directly address the problems with refund anticipation loans (RALs)--a problem throughout the country, but one that is particularly troublesome in New Mexico. First, this bill requires refund loan facilitators to register with the Treasury Department. Refund loan facilitators are those people who solicit, process, or otherwise facilitate the making of a refund anticipation loan in relation to a tax return being electronically filed. The legislation also requires these refund loan facilitators to properly disclose to taxpayers that they do not have to get a RAL in order to file their return electronically, as well as clearly disclose what all the costs involved with the loan. Finally, the refund loan facilitators must disclose to taxpayers when the loans would allow their refunds to be offset by the amount of the loan. Much like the public awareness campaign for advertising the credentials required for preparing Federal tax returns, the Act requires the Treasury Department to operate a program to educate the public on the real costs of RALs as compared to other forms of credit. This program will be funded, at least in part, by amounts collected from penalties imposed on refund loan facilitators who have broken the law.

The next section of the bill is an issue that my colleague from Hawaii, Senator Akaka, has been actively working on for the last several years. This provision would authorize the Treasury Department to award grants to financial institutions or charitable groups that help low income taxpayers set up accounts at a bank or credit union. Because many taxpayers do not have checking or savings accounts, their refunds from IRS cannot be electronically wired to them. The alternative is to have the check mailed to the taxpayer or to have the refund immediately loaned to the taxpayer in the form of a RAL. Of course, getting people to set up a checking or savings account for purposes of receiving their tax refund will also have the benefits of getting many of these people to start saving for the first time.

Finally, we have added two new provisions to clarify existing law. The first clarifies that the National Taxpayer Advocate has the authority to issue taxpayer assistance orders in cases involving closing agreements and compromises. The other clarifies that the Secretary of the Treasury has the authority to take into account a taxpayers specific facts and circumstances when evaluating an offer in compromise. Both of these provisions are the result of bipartisan negotiations and are an improvement to our tax system.

I hope my colleagues will join with me and the cosponsors of this bill to pass this important legislation. Our voluntary tax system is dependent on taxpayers being able to receive the best advice and assistance possible. We have a responsibility to our Nation's taxpayers to make sure that they do receive such advice and assistance. This bill goes a long way toward that goal.

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

Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague today, Senator Feinstein, in introducing the Drug Endangered Children Act (DEC) of 2007. As U.S. Senators representing States that have been among the hardest hit by the scourge of meth, we have witnessed first hand how this horrible drug has devastated individual lives and families. We have seen the havoc wreaked on the environment as well as the child welfare system and we have listened to the horror stories of those caught in the grips of addiction.

Last year we worked together in a bi-partisan effort to pass the Combat

Meth Act, which was eventually included in the USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization. The result has been a dramatic decrease in the number of clandestine meth lab seizures. While this is certainly welcome news, particularly for our first responders and local law enforcement community, last year there were over 6,400 clandestine meth lab incidents throughout the country. In my home State, we saw a 73 percent decrease in the number of meth lab incidents compared to the previous year yet there were still over 300 incidents last year alone. Clearly, the Combat Meth Act has made progress against locally produced meth, but further action is needed to fully combat this epidemic.

In spite of our success and ongoing efforts to reduce the dangers from ``mom and pop'' meth labs, new and more disturbing instances of meth production, trafficking, and abuse are becoming more prevalent throughout the country. In the State of Missouri, police recently made seven meth-related arrests in just as many hours in the tiny, quiet town of Ozark. The house where these arrests were made belonged to a 45-year-old grandmother, who was baby sitting her infant grandson while his mother was away at school. Upon her arrest she admitted to using meth, but denied she was a dealer. However, while police searched the house, six more individuals were picked up on meth-related charges. When it was all said and done, three children under the age of 3 watched as the police arrested their parent or grandparent for selling or possessing this dangerous drug.

Sadly, this was not an unusual incident. Since 2002, more than 12,000 children throughout the country have been affected, injured, or killed at meth lab sites and thousands more have been sent to foster homes or were victims of meth-related abuse in the home. In Iowa, the Department of Health reports that over 1,000 children over the past 4 years were classified as victims of abuse, and that nearly half of child abuse cases have been meth-related.

Due to the shocking number of children that were being victimized by meth in one form or another, I joined my colleagues in supporting the ``Drug Endangered Children Act of 2005.'' This bill which passed into law as part of the USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization, established a national grant program to support state Drug Endangered Children programs and to assist local law enforcement, medical services, and child welfare workers to ensure that victimized children would receive proper attention and treatment after living in these terrible environments. I'm pleased to report that since we implemented this grant program, a large number of communities throughout the nation have formed multi-disciplinary alliances for the benefit of drug-exposed children. There are 16 communities throughout Iowa that have taken advantage of these grants and more are in the process of planning and setting up programs.

The Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007 would re-authorize this important grant program for an additional 2 years and assist States in coordinating law enforcement, medical services, and child welfare efforts, to ensure that children found in such environments receive appropriate attention and care. I am pleased to join with my colleague again as we work together to renew this wonderful and worthwhile program. I ask that my colleagues join us in support of this important legislation and pass the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague today, Senator Feinstein, in introducing the Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act of 2007. I believe we have a moral obligation in this country to ensure our young people have every opportunity to grow up without being accosted by drug pushers at every turn, whether on TV, in the movies, or on the way to school.

This important legislation comes in response to the recent warnings issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Office of National Drug Control Policy of candy-flavored meth and other illegal drugs being colored, packaged, and flavored in ways that appear to be designed to attract use by children and minors. As co-chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, I can tell you that the most at-risk population for drug abuse is our young people. Research has shown time and again that if you can keep a child drug- free until they turn 20, chances are very slim that they will ever try or become addicted. Unfortunately, unscrupulous drug dealers are all too aware of statistics like these and have developed new techniques and marketing gimmicks to lure in younger users. As a parent and now grandparent, this is extremely worrisome.

Last year, we worked to pass the Combat Meth Act into law. Since that time, the number of clandestine meth lab seizures have dropped dramatically across the country. By placing the essential ingredient pseudoephedrine behind the counter, we have lifted a heavy burden from the shoulders of our local law enforcement and made our communities a safer place to live and raise a family. In my home State of Iowa alone, the number of seizures fell a remarkable 73 percent since the sale of pseudoephearine was restricted. But as anyone can tell you, we have a long way to go.

Despite our best efforts and recent success, meth continues to wreak havoc on families and communities across the country. While local ``mom and pop'' meth labs are being dismantled everywhere, drug dealers continue to look for new ways to market their poison. This legislation is intended to protect our young people by expanding existing penalties for those marketing their poison to kids.

Currently Federal law enhances Federal penalties for selling drugs to anyone under the age of 21. When a violation occurs, the Federal penalties are doubled--tripled for a repeat offense--and a mandatory minimum of at least 1 year also applies. However, only the dealer who directly sells drugs to someone under 21 is subject to a double sentence.

The Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act would expand the circumstances under which these enhanced penalties apply. Under our bill, the enhanced penalties that already exist would also apply to anyone who ``manufactures, creates, distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute a controlled substance that is flavored, colored, packaged or otherwise altered in a way that is designed to make it more appealing to a person under 21 years of age, or who attempts or conspires to do so.''

The fight against meth and other dangerous drugs is and will continue to be an ongoing struggle. We must adapt and change our tactics just as the dealers, distributors, and pushers have changed theirs. We must do all we can to protect the most vulnerable among us and send a clear message to those wishing to prey on our youth.

I ask that my colleagues join us in support of this important legislation and pass the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007.

Mr. President, this week we are celebrating National Small Business Week to recognize the contributions made by small businesses, which are the engine of our economic growth. During 2005, more than 25 billion small businesses in the United States contributed $918 billion to the economy.

Many of our most successful corporations started as small businesses, including AOL, Apple Computer, Compac Computer, Datastream, Evergreen Solar, Intel Corporations, and Sun Microsystems. As you can see from this partial list, many of these companies played an integral role in making the Internet a reality.

Today, Senator Snowe and I are introducing the Invest in Small Business Act of 2007, to encourage private investment in small businesses by making changes to the existing partial exclusion for gain from certain small business stock.

We are at an integral juncture in developing technology to address global climate change. I believe that small business will repeat the role it played at the vanguard of the computer revolution by leading the Nation in developing the technologies to substantially reduce carbon emissions. Small businesses already are at the forefront of these industries, and we need to do everything we can to encourage investment in small businesses.

Back in 1993, I worked with Senator Bumpers to provide a partial exclusion for gain from the sale of small business stock. This provision would provide a 50 percent exclusion for gain for individuals from the sale of certain small business stock that is held for five years. Since the enactment of this provision, the capital gains rate has been lowered twice without any changes to the exclusion. Due to the lower capital rates, this provision no longer provides a strong incentive for investment in small businesses.

The Invest in Small Business Act makes several changes to the existing provision. This legislation increases the exclusion amount from 50 percent

to 75 percent and decreases the holding period from five years to four years. This bill would allow corporations to benefit from the provision as long as they own less than 25 percent of the small business corporation stock.

Currently, the exclusion is treated as a preference item for calculating the alternative minimum tax (AMT). The Invest in Small Business Act of 2007 would repeal the exclusion as an AMT preference item. Under current law, the nonexcluded amount of gain is taxed at 28 percent. This legislation would tax the nonexcluded portion at the lower capital gains rate of 15 or 5 percent.

The Invest in Small Business Act of 2007 will provide an effective tax rate of 3.75 percent for the gain from the sale of certain small businesses. This lower capital gains rate will encourage investment in small businesses. In addition, the changes made by the Invest in Small Business Act of 2007 will make more taxpayers eligible for this provision.

As we celebrate the success of entrepreneurs this week, it is an appropriate time to encourage new investment. The Invest in Small Business Act of 2007 strengthens an existing tax incentive to provide an appropriate incentive to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill and a summary of the bill be printed in the Record

Mr. President, this week thousands of business owners, union members, faith leaders, physicians, nurses, and patients will come together in Washington and in each of the 50 States to demand immediate action to fix our Nation's growing health insurance crisis. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's fifth annual Cover the Uninsured Week will once again call attention to the 45 million of our neighbors, co-workers and friends--including 11 million children under age 21--who live without any health care coverage. Unable to afford doctor's visits and prescription drugs, they live day to day in fear that a child will get sick or suffer an accident. No family in this great Nation should have to live in such fear.

Understandably, the focus of Cover the Uninsured Week this year is on the great opportunity presenting this Congress to expand coverage to millions of America's uninsured children through the reauthorization and expansion of the successful, bipartisan State Children's Health Insurance Program. This is the number one domestic budget priority for me and for the new Democratic Congress.

In a given year, uninsured kids are only half as likely to receive any medical care. That neglect leads to chronic disease. Uninsured kids also cost us productivity when parents must choose between working and caring for a sick child without the help of a doctor. Kids in public insurance programs perform 68 percent better in school, and insuring all of them would reduce avoidable hospitalizations by 22 percent.

But while kids are undoubtedly our first priority, we must take care not to lose sight of our ultimate objective: Ensuring that every single man, woman, and child in America has affordable and meaningful health insurance coverage. The fact is that denying health insurance is not just immoral, it's ultimately more costly than insuring them. In the long run, this is an obvious choice.

But we do not have time to wait for the long run. Our businesses, families, and health care providers need relief immediately from the insecurity, inefficiency, and inequity bred by a system which insures too few at too high a cost.

Therefore, I am introducing today the ``Countdown to Coverage Act of 2007.'' It's simple: The Countdown to Coverage Act requires Congress to pass legislation by the end of the 111th session that will ensure all Americans have quality, affordable health care coverage. If Congress fails to act, members will become responsible for 100 percent of the cost of their own plan through FEHBP.

Senators and Congressmen give ourselves the very best health care coverage, and it's American taxpayers who foot the bill. Now, Congress needs to step up and pass universal health care coverage by 2011--or pay the price and pick up the cost of our own health care ourselves. 45 million people--11 million kids--without health insurance is unacceptable in the richest country in the world. Every American deserves the kind of quality care that Senators and Congressmen give themselves, and this bill sets a deadline for members of Congress to take real action.

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