A bill to provide for the reinstatement of a license for a certain Federal Energy Regulatory Commission project.

Mr. President, I rise today to with Senators Kerry, Akaka, Salazar and Whitehouse to introduce the Drug Rebate Equalization Act of 2007.

As you know, the Medicaid drug rebate ensures that State Medicaid programs receive the best price for prescription drugs for their beneficiaries. Unfortunately, health plans that serve over 10 million Medicaid beneficiaries cannot access the same discounts

through the Federal drug rebate program. Plans typically get no rebate on generic drugs and about a third of the rebate on brand drugs as States receive. Therefore, States are paying more for the acquisition of prescription drugs for these health plan enrollees than for beneficiaries in fee-for-service Medicaid, raising costs for Federal and State governments.

Even with this price disadvantage, the total cost of prescription drugs for health plans is less on a per member per month basis because of health plans' greater use of generics and case management. Unfortunately, many States are considering carving prescription drugs out from health plans for the sole purpose of obtaining the rebate, thereby undermining plans' ability to maintain a comprehensive care and disease management program that includes prescription drugs. Not only will this legislation save money, it will eliminate this incentive and ensure that health plans can maintain a comprehensive care coordination system for their patients.

This policy change was passed by the Senate during last year's debate over the Deficit Reduction Act. This year's version of the bill improves on last year's bill in several important ways. First, the bill ensures that health plans can continue their good work by using their own integrated care coordination and disease management protocols. Second, the bill will maintain the fee-for-service prohibition against health plans ``double dipping'' into the Medicaid drug rebate and the 340b discount drug pricing program. Finally, it will ensure that plans can use so-called positive formularies while simultaneously ensuring that enrollees will have access to off-formulary drugs through the regulated prior authorization process. These changes significantly improve the bill and will help improve its chances of passage.

This policy enjoys widespread support. Extending the Medicaid drug rebate to enrollees in health plans is supported by the National Governors Association, the National Association of State Medicaid Directors, the National Medicaid Commission, the National Association of Community Health Centers, the Partnership for Medicaid, the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, and the Medicaid Health Plans of America. I am entering into the record copies of letters provided by these organizations over the last few years memorializing their support for this concept.

Last year, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Bingaman amendment would have saved Federal taxpayers $1.7 billion over 5 years. Likewise, the CMS Office of the Actuary estimated that extending the drug rebate to health plans would save Federal taxpayers $2.2 billion over 5 years. I think that we can say that this policy will provide significant savings to Americans, whatever the number.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.

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

Mr. President, my colleague from West Virginia, Senator Rockefeller, and I have joined together today to introduce legislation that would allow for the construction of a hydroelectric facility near the the City of Grafton, located in north central West Virginia. A companion measure is being introduced in the U.S.I House of Representatives by Congressman Alan Mollohan. The proposed hydro facility, to be constructed on an existing dam, would supply power to Grafton and surrounding area while also providing a significant economic benefit to the city.

Our legislation, which was passed by the Senate late last year but did not clear the House of Representatives before the end of the session, would reinstate a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, for a new hydroelectric facility on the Tygart Valley River. The City of Grafton has been considering the hydroelectric facility for many years, and first received a license for the project in 1989. However, that license lapsed in 1999 without the city making progress on the effort. The Byrd-Rockefeller-Mollohan measure would reinstate the license and allow Grafton to move ahead with the 20- megawatt hydroelectric facility.

The City of Grafton is working with a private contractor to develop the hydro project. With a new FERC license, the contractor believes that the project could be in operation as early as 2008. It is expected that the new hydroelectric facility would generate about $300,000 in annual revenues for Grafton, while creating 200 construction jobs in the process.

In 1938, the Tygart dam became the first flood control project to be completed in the Pittsburgh District of the Army Corps of Engineers under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1935. It remains one of the most expensive and extensive construction projects in the history of West Virginia. I recognize that the hydroelectric project has been delayed numerous times, but the Congressional Budget Office found that implementing the project will pose zero negative impact to the Federal budget. In fact, it will generate roughly $200,000 in annual licensing fees for the U.S. Treasury. Approval of our legislation will yield a return on this previous significant investment by the American taxpayer by leveraging new value out of old infrastructure.

Clean, hydroelectric power generation from an expensive dam previously used only for flood control, at no cost to the Federal Government, is the type of cost-effective, progressive action that we should facilitate and applaud at every chance. It is the right thing to do for the communities and public utilities in the rural Appalachian counties where the existing dam and lake are located. It is the right thing to do for the West Virginians all along the Tygart and Monongahela Rivers. And it is the right thing to do for the taxpaying citizens of this Nation. I respectfully request that my colleagues support our

legislation, the bill that makes these positive results possible.

Mr. President, my colleague from West Virginia, Senator Rockefeller, and I have joined together today to introduce legislation that would allow for the construction of a hydroelectric facility near the the City of Grafton, located in north central West Virginia. A companion measure is being introduced in the U.S.I House of Representatives by Congressman Alan Mollohan. The proposed hydro facility, to be constructed on an existing dam, would supply power to Grafton and surrounding area while also providing a significant economic benefit to the city.

Our legislation, which was passed by the Senate late last year but did not clear the House of Representatives before the end of the session, would reinstate a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, for a new hydroelectric facility on the Tygart Valley River. The City of Grafton has been considering the hydroelectric facility for many years, and first received a license for the project in 1989. However, that license lapsed in 1999 without the city making progress on the effort. The Byrd-Rockefeller-Mollohan measure would reinstate the license and allow Grafton to move ahead with the 20- megawatt hydroelectric facility.

The City of Grafton is working with a private contractor to develop the hydro project. With a new FERC license, the contractor believes that the project could be in operation as early as 2008. It is expected that the new hydroelectric facility would generate about $300,000 in annual revenues for Grafton, while creating 200 construction jobs in the process.

In 1938, the Tygart dam became the first flood control project to be completed in the Pittsburgh District of the Army Corps of Engineers under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1935. It remains one of the most expensive and extensive construction projects in the history of West Virginia. I recognize that the hydroelectric project has been delayed numerous times, but the Congressional Budget Office found that implementing the project will pose zero negative impact to the Federal budget. In fact, it will generate roughly $200,000 in annual licensing fees for the U.S. Treasury. Approval of our legislation will yield a return on this previous significant investment by the American taxpayer by leveraging new value out of old infrastructure.

Clean, hydroelectric power generation from an expensive dam previously used only for flood control, at no cost to the Federal Government, is the type of cost-effective, progressive action that we should facilitate and applaud at every chance. It is the right thing to do for the communities and public utilities in the rural Appalachian counties where the existing dam and lake are located. It is the right thing to do for the West Virginians all along the Tygart and Monongahela Rivers. And it is the right thing to do for the taxpaying citizens of this Nation. I respectfully request that my colleagues support our

legislation, the bill that makes these positive results possible.

Mr. President, I rise today for myself and on the behalf of my colleague, Dr. Coburn, to reintroduce a bill to honor the memory of an American hero and proud son from our great State of Oklahoma. Ernest Childers was the first Native American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. This is our Nation's highest military award and it was awarded to him by Congress ``for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action.''

Ernest Childers was born in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, on February 1, 1918 as the third of five children. His father died when he was young and he grew up mostly on a farm. His hunting skills in his youth provided much of the food for his family and formed the basis of a great military career.

Ernest Childers enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard in 1937 while attending the Chilocco Indian School in north-central Oklahoma. He then went to Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma, for basic training before being deployed to Africa in World War II. On September 22, 1943, despite a broken instep that forced him to crawl, Second Lieutenant Childers advanced against enemy machine gun nests in Oliveto, Italy, killing two snipers and capturing an enemy mortar observer in the process. His actions were instrumental in helping the Americans win the Battle of Oliveto and won him the Congressional Medal of Honor. He continued his career in the Army earning several other military awards including the Combat Infantry Badge, Europe and Africa Campaign Medals, The Purple Heart, The Bronze Star, and the Oklahoma Distinguished Service Cross. He retired from the Army in August of 1965 as a lieutenant colonel in Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Division.

Ernest Childers passed away on March 17, 2005, and was Oklahoma's last Congressional Medal of Honor winner still living in the State. He was an honored guest of many Presidential inaugurations and as a Creek Indian, was named Oklahoma's Most Outstanding Indian by the Tulsa Chapter of the Council of American Indians in 1966. He once said ``The American Indian has only one country to defend, and when you're picked on, the American Indian never turns his back.'' I am proud and believe it is only appropriate to introduce once again this year a bill to rename the Department of Veterans Affairs' Outpatient Clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Ernest Childers Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic to honor the enduring legacy of a true hero and fine soldier. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.