Energy and Technology Advancement Act of 2008

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Semester of Service Act--a bill which would offer young people the opportunity to spend a semester serving their communities during their junior or senior year of high school. I want to thank Senators Cochran and Kennedy for joining me in introducing this legislation.

Throughout the U.S., there are mounting problems and unmet needs.

We have millions of families losing their homes. We have 14 million children that have no supervised place to go after school. We have a health care system that is barely able to hold itself together. And we have veterans and seniors who have given so much to our country unable to get the treatment they were promised and retire with the dignity they have earned.

We can debate how best to solve these problems and others. Some suggest the market can do the job. Others believe the government has an appropriate role to play.

But one thing upon which we can all agree is that when we provide service to our communities, we can tackle so many of our toughest challenges. Service that draws upon our collective imaginations, ideas, and resolve. No one is better equipped to take part in that effort, Mr. President, than our Nation's young people.

As the father of two young daughters, every day I bear witness to the energy, enthusiasm and imagination children bring to every single thing they do. And if the online communities of today teach us anything, it is that young people yearn for shared experiences--for experiences that take them out of their comfort zones to introduce them to new people, put them in new situations and teach them things they might never otherwise learn.

As a young man serving in the Peace Corps, I learned for myself how much we can grow and learn and, more importantly, the difference we can make when we serve. Today, what children need from us is the impetus and leadership to redirect that boundless energy of theirs toward the betterment of our communities. Unlocking the remarkable potential in our young people is what this legislation is all about.

With a semester of service, they can help tutor elementary-school students. They can assist those living in our veterans' hospitals or in hospice. Or they can help clean up neighborhoods and the environment. Those are just a few of the opportunities the Semester of Service Act offers. The difference service makes to our younger generation is as clear as the need for it.

We talk so much about ways to improve academic performance in our schools. Well, when community service is integrated into our students' curricula at school, we know that young people make gains on achievement tests. Service-learning results in grade point averages going up and more positive feelings about high school.

The benefits of service-learning go well beyond the classroom. When young people participate in community service activities they feel better able to control their own lives in a positive way. They are less prone to engage in risky behavior, more likely to engage in their own education, and far more aware of the career opportunities before them.

Indeed, research shows that for every dollar we spend on a service- learning project, $4 worth of service is provided to the community involved. That means by authorizing $200 million for fiscal year 2009, as this legislation does, our country will save more than half a billion dollars in service performed.

This legislation works by creating a competitive grant program that provides school districts, or nonprofits working in partnership with local school districts, the opportunity to have students participate in a semester of service in their junior or senior year for academic credit. These students are required to perform a minimum of 70 hours of service learning activities over 12 weeks, with at least 24 of those hours spent participating in field-based activities--outside of the classroom.

By engaging both the public and private sector, Semester of Service teaches civic participation skills and helps young people see themselves not merely as residents in their communities--but resources to them.

Ultimately, that is what this legislation is about. As with our legislation to strengthen and expand AmeriCorps and increase senior involvement in national service, this bill is about maximizing our resources. It's about increasing participation, engaging our young people, and lifting up our communities. That is why communities from all across this Nation have endorsed this Semester of Service legislation.

If we ask all Americans to take responsibility for the future of our country as we do with this legislation, I believe our best days can be ahead of us--not in the memories of the past, but in the world of our children. We can move forward as a Nation, lead the world and create a better, brighter tomorrow for all of us.

Let us start that journey today.

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Encore Service Act of 2008--legislation which would offer Americans 55 years of age and older the chance to serve their communities and use their expertise and life lessons to give back to the country that has given them so much. I want to thank Senators Cochran and Kennedy for joining me in introducing this legislation.

As we have discussed time and time again, the challenges facing America are mounting--from an aging population to a broken health care system to challenges in our schools that put our children's futures at risk.

These are problems that countless Americans have lived and struggled with--that we here in this institution have debated for years, decades even. We can disagree amongst ourselves about how to solve them--and we certainly have. But what we can all agree on is the impact citizens can make when it comes to facing some of our biggest challenges.

We know the extraordinary things ordinary citizens can accomplish for our communities when given the opportunity--the difference they can make in our schools and nursing homes, in veterans' hospitals and in helping those living on fixed incomes.

We know the character of our people in our darkest moments. Indeed, while September 11 may have showed us that our world had changed--it was September 12 that reminded us: Americans had not. The community blood drives, the heroic work of our Nation's firefighters, the floods of donations--all were a powerful reminder that Americans are always ready to give back when their country calls.

I will never forget the Mayor of Pass Christian Mississippi telling me about an elderly Connecticut couple who drove all the way to the Gulf Coast in the wake of Katrina for no other reason than to help their fellow countrymen and women. Contrary to what some suggest, I believe the American people are starved for opportunities to serve--and stand at the ready not just in times of crisis, but every day. Americans are simply waiting to be asked. I am introducing this legislation today because, it is time they were.

The truth is, no one is more ready or more poised to make a difference--in our communities and throughout our country--than older Americans.

We have all heard about the aging Baby Boomer generation--in the next decade alone, the number of Americans 55 years and older is expected to grow by another 22 percent. But for all the well-publicized challenges that growth presents, it's time we also recognize something else: The opportunities it offers--if we seize them.

Studies tell us that more than half of those considered a part of the Baby Boomer generation are interested in providing meaningful service to their communities. Countless older men and women who have given so much to their country throughout their lives want to continue to serve their communities as they enter their later years.

Why wouldn't they? After a lifetime of hard work, raising a family, and paying taxes, Americans look forward to retirement--to enjoying their golden years with the security and dignity they have earned. They are living longer, healthier lives than any generation in history. And they recognize something elemental:

Life doesn't end at retirement. For many, it is only beginning-- leading perhaps to a second career in the public or nonprofit sector. There can be no greater gift passed on to future generations than the lessons of the past. But the truth is, we too often fail to draw upon the experience, knowledge and ideas of previous generations. What is missing is the opportunity.

Providing older Americans those opportunities is what the Encore Service Act is all about. It creates an Encore Service Program that provides Americans 55 years and older with opportunities to serve communities with the greatest need--to volunteer in our Nation's schools, to help keep our neighborhoods clean, safe and vibrant, and so much more. In return for their service, which may include extensive training and a significant commitment of time, they can receive a stipend and education award, much like AmeriCorps does for younger generations.

Best of all, that stipend can be transferred to children or grandchildren. Imagine what that means for a grandmother or a grandfather who could literally put thousands of dollars into their newborn grandchild's college savings fund as a result of this program-- funds that can only be used after the

child turns 18 and can be kept for up to 20 years. Of all the new ideas in this legislation, perhaps this one is the most exciting.

This legislation also creates an Encore Fellows program that places older Americans in one-year management or leadership positions in public or private not-for-profits. These year-long fellowships not only increase the capacity of public service organizations already doing tremendous work in our communities, they also promote those who have already had full, successful careers, perhaps in the private sector, to lend their expertise and experience to the cause of community or public service.

The Encore Service Act also creates a Silver Scholars program that awards older Americans with an education scholarship of up to $1,000 in exchange for volunteering with public agencies or private nonprofits between 250 and 500 hours a year. As with the Encore Service Program, they can use these awards for themselves or transfer them to children, grandchildren or other qualified designees.

Lastly, this legislation expands the capacity and builds on the success of current Senior Programs by raising the authorization funding levels for the Foster Grandparent, Senior Corps and RSVP programs. We all know that seniors and these programs have already made a remarkable difference in our communities. That is why our legislation raises program eligibility levels from 125 to 200 percent above poverty and ensures that all programs will be open to any individual 55 years and older.

The Encore Service Act authorizes $326.7 million in new funding for fiscal year 2009, and such sums as necessary for subsequent years. Ultimately, this bill is about unlocking the remarkable potential in older Americans. It is about creating ample opportunities for them to use their skills and talents to give back to their communities--to elementary schools, retirement homes, soup kitchens operating out of local churches, libraries, and other centers of our communities.

It is about harnessing the power of experience. We all know that when called upon, every generation of Americans has risen to the challenge, often beating great odds to pass on a stronger, safer, more prosperous world to its children and grandchildren.

Americans are ready once again for leadership that marshals the same unity, purpose and generosity that so defined our country in the wake of 9/11, and has so defined our Nation so many times before. That is what the Encore Service Act of 2008 is about. I am honored to introduce it today.

Mr. President, today, I join with my colleague Chuck Grassley, the Finance Committee's ranking Republican member, to introduce the Energy Independence and Innovation Act of 2008.

This bill will create jobs. It will help consumers with high energy costs. It will contribute to energy security. It will help secure America's place as a world leader in clean energy technology. It will help to prepare this country to address global warming.

For more than a year, we have been trying to pass meaningful energy tax legislation.

In June of last year, the Finance Committee passed a roughly $30 billion energy-tax package. It received a resounding bipartisan committee vote. The bill proposed the largest-ever series of clean energy tax incentives. It was largely offset with reductions in tax breaks for oil and gas companies.

That package's clean energy incentives included a long-term extension of tax credits for wind and solar power, long-term extensions of credits for building efficiency, and extensions and modifications of credits for clean coal technology.

The June 2007 bill also included innovative new items. It included a credit for consumers for plug-in hybrids. It included a new credit to promote capture and storage of carbon dioxide. And it included incentives to transform our electricity grid, so that far-flung sources of renewable power--like wind and solar--can be brought to market.

But many on the other side objected to the bill, because it included reductions in oil and gas tax breaks. We needed 60 votes to pass the Senate. But our bill got 57, and died on the floor.

We tried again in December of last year. We scaled back our oil and gas offsets. And we wrote a smaller, roughly $20 billion package of clean-energy incentives.

But Senators--again, generally from the other side of the aisle-- continued to object to provisions cutting tax breaks for oil and gas companies. That bill failed as well, by just one vote.

In response to those concerns, this year, I wrote an energy tax package without oil and gas offsets. That bill, S. 3335, was paid for by closing tax loopholes and by delaying a tax benefit for multinational corporations that has yet to take effect.

That bill included about $18 billion in energy-tax provisions, including scaled-down versions of the original Finance Committee bill. This ``extenders'' bill also included billions in non-energy extenders. These tax incentives are vital to supporting a range of activities, from research and development to higher education.

Unfortunately, S. 3335 has been objected to, as well. It has not cleared the Senate.

But now energy prices are sky-high. And we have learned that many Senators from the other side of the aisle have come to agree that it makes sense to scale back oil and gas tax breaks.

Accordingly, Senator Grassley and I have worked together to rewrite our original Finance Committee product. And that is largely what is represented in the bill that we are introducing today.

Our bill invests about $26 billion in renewable energy. It pays for it largely by repealing tax breaks for oil and gas firms. These are largely the same tax offsets that we included in our original bill. For example, the bill would deny a tax benefit that was enacted in 2004, when oil traded at about $50 per barrel.

Oil trades at more than $100 per barrel now. Recently it reached nearly $150 per barrel. I am pleased that my colleagues have come to agree that with energy prices this high, these oil and gas tax incentives are not needed.

What do we get for repealing those oil and gas tax breaks? We get long-term extensions of vital clean energy incentives, like the credit for wind and solar electricity. With passage of tax credits for wind power in 2005 and 2006, the American wind energy industry has installed capacity in the last 2 years that equals the capacity it installed in the last 2\1/2\ decades.

The solar industry is also booming. It accounts for a growing number of high-paying jobs in America's clean tech sector. This bill includes an 8-year extension of the credit for solar power. And that extension will fuel this already impressive job growth.

Let's consider what happens if we do not extend these credits. According to a February 2008 study, failure to extend the wind and solar credits would result in the loss of 114,000 jobs. Renewable energy is simply not yet cost-competitive with fossil-based power. It needs the incentives in this bill.

Absent broader mandates on renewable power, we need to continue tax support for renewable electricity production. With those tax incentives, the private sector will continue to invest in this worthy cause.

This bill also contains many other important provisions. It contains extensions of efficiency incentives for buildings, which account for about 40 percent of American energy use. It contains the new plug-in hybrid credit for consumers, at a higher level than last year's bill-- up to $7,500. As did last year's package, the bill we introduce today includes a provision to promote what folks call ``smart meters,'' which provide real-time feedback on electricity usage. These smart meters have been shown to cut consumer energy costs and carbon emissions, as well.

Finally, the bill includes a new production credit for carbon dioxide, providing an incentive for capturing and storing harmful carbon dioxide. This provision was also part of last year's Finance Committee bill. I am pleased that it is part of this bill as well.

This bill does not do everything that I want. If I had my druthers, we would extend and possibly modify--many of these credits for a longer period. And the bill includes some items that I am not overly thrilled about. But those compromises are part of the legislative process. That process will continue after today's introduction.

Meanwhile, I am again pleased that consensus may well be building to redirect tax incentives and invest in the clean technology this country desperately needs.

For the sake of American jobs, for the sake of our Nation's security, and for the sake of our planet's environment, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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

Mr. President, I rise today with my colleague Senator Lieberman to introduce the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2008.

Although the name of the bill may not sound very exciting, let me assure you that this piece of legislation could be one of the most important pieces of legislation Congress passes this session.

Every day, massive amounts of information is transmitted across the global information infrastructure. Some of this information is routine e-mail between co-workers making lunch plans or a couple making plans for who will pick up the kids at school. Much of it, however consists of highly sensitive military and commercial secrets. As everyone can attest to, increasing global interconnectivity has greatly increased our productivity and ability to communicate. However, it has also increased our responsibility to make sure this information is protected.

The Federal Government stores within its databases some of our Nation's most critical military, economic, and commercial secrets. Great harm could be caused if it were to fall into the wrong hands. Knowing this, nation-states and criminal groups are spending a good deal of money and time trying to access it.

According to a report released back in March by the Department of Defense, the U.S. Government and our allies around the world have come under attack in the past year on a number of occasions by hackers from addresses that appear to originate from within the Chinese government. These hackers were able to compromise information systems at government agencies, defense-related think tanks, contractors, and financial institutions. Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution, has accused China of sponsoring these attacks ``almost daily'' in an attempt to ``intensively gather political, military, corporate-strategic and scientific information in order to bridge their technological gaps as quickly as possible.''

The threat of a nation-state cyber attack is very real. Last year in Estonia, an attack by Russian hackers was coordinated through online chat rooms and Web sites. This ``Cyber War,'' as the media called it, shut down Web sites of a number of Estonian organizations, including the Estonian parliament, banks, ministries, newspapers, and broadcasters.

But we don't have to look overseas to find threats to our information security. Sometimes, we only have to look in our own backyards. Just last year, the Veterans Affairs Department had an external hard drive stolen, exposing sensitive personal information on nearly 2 million individuals. But this isn't the only example. Not by a long shot. The Departments of Defense, Transportation, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Education, Agriculture, and State have all had sensitive information compromised by current or former employees. These incidents are simply unacceptable.

The original Federal Information Security Management Act, or FISMA, came out of a recognition a few years ago of the critical importance of protecting our information systems. Since then, agencies have made extraordinary progress in implementing crucial information security measures. They should be acknowledged and congratulated for their efforts. However, I am concerned that, 5 years after the passage of FISMA, agencies may have fallen into the trap of complacency and are just checking boxes to show compliance with requirements written into a bill.

The bill Senator Lieberman and I have put forward today will help address this issue. Our bill empowers Chief Information Security Officers to deny access to the agency network if proper security policies are not being

followed. If we are going to hold these hardworking individuals accountable in Congress for information security, then we should give them the authority to do so.

Our bill requires that individuals hired to be Chief Information Security Officers be qualified to monitor, detect, and respond to cyber intrusions rather than someone who spends much of their time checking boxes and filling out paperwork.

Our bill will increase collaboration and teamwork and ensure that Chief Information Security Officers continue to keep up to date on the latest technologies and security threats by establishing a Chief Information Security Officers Council. The council will be an open forum where senior officials can be open and honest about security breaches and work together to solve them. This council will be chaired by the National Cyber Security Center Director and will break down the artificial boundaries that have previously existed in cyberspace.

Our bill will also require the Department of Homeland Security to conduct an annual operational evaluation of agency networks. This evaluation will test whether those who want to cause mischief or do us harm can access our sensitive information, much like we test whether terrorists can enter our nuclear facilities or military bases. This evaluation will provide agency leadership and Congress with a better picture of where our weaknesses are and where we need to focus our attention and resources.

Most importantly, our bill will strengthen information security requirements in contracts when agencies purchase services or products from private vendors. No longer should agencies and Congress have to clean up a security mess after an incident has already happened. Instead, we need to start focusing on purchasing more secure services and products that will help prevent these intrusions from happening in the first place.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to get these important and necessary reforms enacted before it is too late. I think everyone can agree that computers, the Internet, and cutting-edge technology have greatly benefited our government and our society. But we also need to recognize that it has greatly increased the threats we face on a daily basis.

In times like these we need to accept our responsibility to protect sensitive information and be held accountable when we fail.

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

Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to designate a portion of the Rappahannock River in Virginia as the ``John W. Warner Rapids''.

These man-made rapids are a testament to Senator Warner's long- standing commitment to protect and preserve the environment, as they are the remains of the Embrey Dam, whose removal he championed.

The Rappahannock River in Virginia flows over 180 miles from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay. At historic Fredericksburg, founded in 1728 along the river's fall line, the Rappahannock was blocked by a wooden crib dam built in 1853 and a 22-foot high concrete dam built in 1910.

Until the 1960s, the dam was used to generate hydroelectric power, and until 2000 it was used to divert water into a canal as a raw water source for the city. In the 1990s, the city began to develop a new regional water supply; and it was determined that the water facility connected to the dam could be closed.

Funding to remove the dam was a significant hurdle. The City sought support from the Federal government and found a strong advocate in Senator John W. Warner. In the mid 1990s, the local river conservation group, Friends of the Rappahannock, invited Senator Warner to a discussion about the removal of the dam. After discussion and a paddle to the site, Senator Warner pledged that if the group could demonstrate community consensus regarding the dam's removal, he would personally support the effort.

On February 23, 2004, on Senator Warner's signal, 600 pounds of explosives set by the Army and Air Force Reserves opened a 130-foot breach in Embrey Dam, setting the Rappahannock River to flow free for the first time since 1853. By reopening the Rappahannock River, more than 1,300 river and stream miles immediately became available to migratory fish in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

On July 30, 2005, the Friends of the Rappahannock and the City of Fredericksburg honored Senator Warner in a ``Rappahannock River Running Free'' celebration. The American Canoe Association, established in 1880 and the nation's oldest and largest canoe, kayak, and rafting organization, stated: ``For over 150 years the Rappahannock River has been holding its breath behind a wall of iron, concrete, and wood. U.S. Senator John W. Warner's efforts have allowed the Rappahannock River to breathe free once again. In appreciation of his efforts, the community of paddlers and river users has bestowed upon him their highest honor. So, let it be known, on behalf of the City of Fredericksburg, the Friends of the Rappahannock, the American Canoe Association, and the community of paddlers, that the new rapids formed at the removal of the dam be known, now and forever, and recorded on all maps, as `John W. Warner Rapids' and may all your travels through be smooth.''

On 1 November 2008, Senator Warner will be presented with a bronze plaque that will be affixed to a permanent monument along the banks of the Rappahannock River at the rapids formed by the remnants of the dam.

The actions that I have described are a shining example of the commitment Senator Warner has shown to the environment during his 30 years in this body. He recognizes the importance of protecting and preserving natural treasures for the enjoyment of this and future generations.

It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be able to work so closely with him in this regard. For many years, Senator Warner and I have served together on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. At the start of this Congress, I became the chairman of that committee's global warming subcommittee. I was honored and delighted when Senator Warner became, at his request, the ranking minority member of that subcommittee. In February of last year, the two of us held a subcommittee hearing on the impacts of global warming on wildlife. Senator Warner spoke with conviction and eloquence about his commitment to wildlife conservation, and about his particular love for rivers and streams.

In an example of the courage and statesmanship for which he is rightly known, Senator Warner joined with me to write a bill to reduce the man-made greenhouse-gas emissions that are disrupting wildlife, threatening our national security, and imperiling our economy. Last October, we introduced our Climate Security Act, and the next month both our subcommittee and the full Environment and Public Works Committee reported the bill favorably. That had never happened before with a climate bill in the U.S. Congress, and it would not have happened without the leadership, credibility, patience, and wisdom of Senator Warner. I join many, many others in looking up to him, and I am privileged to call him my friend.

The bill that I introduce today is a fitting tribute to the legacy that Senator Warner leaves behind as he retires. I encourage my colleagues to honor him by passing this legislation.

Mr. President, today I am introducing the Energy and Technology Advancement, ETA, Act of 2008. At its heart, this bill will increase partnerships between the Federal Government and businesses to help spur the commercialization of energy, forestry, and other technologies--in other words, to increase the ETA, or estimated time of arrival, for bringing new technologies to market.

This bill is among the bills I have introduced this week as part of my E4 Initiative, dubbed E4 because of its focus on Economy, Employment, Education, and Energy.

Particularly in the area of energy, we must do more to make new energy solutions, like next generation biofuels, a reality. My bill will help make the Federal Government a better business partner for the many businesses that are researching and developing innovative technology solutions our country needs. We are squandering the Federal investment of billions into research and development by not doing enough to prevent new technologies from sitting on the shelf or being shipped to another country. Helping these new energy technologies get off the ground is not only a promising way to develop the next generation of energy technology that will help break our addiction to oil, it will also help to spur job creation and enhance rural development.

One obstacle identified by the Forest Service's Wisconsin-based Forest Products Lab which conducts forestry and energy technology research with businesses and others, is lack of Federal support for moving technologies from the research and development phase to commercialization. My bill will bridge this gap by authorizing the U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA, which includes the Forest Service, to work with businesses and provide access to resources to assist with getting technologies to market.

By encouraging the USDA to act as a ``business incubator,'' we can increase the rate of success and reduce the length of time for bringing technologies to the market. By providing a bridge to move new technologies beyond the research and development phase to commercialization, the Federal Government will accelerate the development of new technologies and create increased opportunities for small businesses, local and State government, and others.

All energy, forestry, and other technologies will benefit from my ETA Act because it will help new technologies come to the market. It does so by promoting the Federal Government as a better business incubator, encouraging the USDA to provide business support services, and authorizing USDA employees and private-sector employees to work together in Federal or private experimental or product facilities. My bill will also increase cooperation between the Federal Government and innovative businesses by encouraging the USDA to allow rental of Federal equipment and property for the development-of new technology. The cost of the legislation is fully offset so as to not increase the Federal deficit.

Lastly, a specific partnership encouraged by my Energy and Technology Advancement Act will spur the commercialization of biofuels. My bill requires the USDA to pursue a biorefinery pilot plant that will allow businesses to partner with the Federal Government to test various biofuels technologies derived from a variety of feedstocks, including woody and agriculture waste.

Certainly one of today's greatest challenges--energy--is also one of tomorrow's greatest opportunities. Today, the transportation sector accounts for 70 percent of our oil consumption. However, there are promising efforts to significantly lessen our dependence on oil by reducing fuel consumption through increased efficiency and by aggressively pursuing renewable fuels, or biofuels. The commercialization of biofuels will also create job opportunities, support rural development and industries such as forestry, and develop the next generation of fuels that are sustainable and from diverse sources.

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