Tanning Accountability and Notification Act of 2007

Mr. President, today I am introducing two bills that will help drive the renewable energy revolution that is currently underway in our rural communities. The Rural Community Renewable Energy Bonds Act, which I am introducing with Senator Smith, and the Rural Wind Energy Development Act, which I am introducing with Senators Smith, Dorgan and Craig, will help spur much needed private investment in renewable energy infrastructure in rural areas.

I have spoken countless times about the great possibilities that rural America holds for our Nation's energy future. I have also expressed my alarm at how our rising dependence on foreign oil is undermining our security and our interests around the world.

How do we build a more energy secure economy--one that is less vulnerable to wild swings in oil prices, political instability, and supply disruptions? Unfortunately, we don't have the resources in this country to drill our way to energy independence. We do, however, have the most productive lands in the world, and the most productive farmers, ranchers, engineers and entrepreneurs in the world. If we give them the right tools, they can build a new, clean energy economy that will rely heavily on biofuels, wind power, solar energy, and alternative sources.

If you spend time in places like Prowers County or Alamosa County, you see that a clean energy revolution is already underway in our heartland. In these rural communities, like so many across the country, people are banding together to build small biofuels plants, solar farms, and wind turbines. These projects are already underway, and they are the seeds for a full-blown clean energy revolution in rural America.

The farmers, ranchers, and entrepreneurs who are behind these projects want to be a part of the solution to our Nation's energy challenges. They also understand that home-grown energy can revitalize the Main Streets that have been boarded up in the last few years.

The bills I am introducing today provide tools that rural communities can use to build a renewable energy economy.

The first bill, the Renewable Energy Bonds Act, provides incentives for investment in wind and other renewable energy projects by giving private developers access to tax-exempt bond markets.

Currently, the Federal tax code only allows municipal and public entities access to tax-exempt bond markets for wind and other renewable energy projects. Private developers, who are more likely to invest in smaller projects and who are currently responsible for nearly 75 percent of current renewable energy development, are not eligible to use these federally tax-exempt bonds.

This is unfortunate because these are the same small developers who don't benefit much from the production tax credit, as their Federal tax liabilities usually aren't big enough to reap the tax credit's benefits.

Renewable energy bonds make sense for these small developers and, because they cost the Federal Government less than the production tax credit, they also make sense from a fiscal perspective. This bill may actually save the Government money.

The second bill I am introducing, the Rural Wind Energy Development Act, would extend the production tax credit to include small wind systems. We have made great strides in wind development over the last few years, as evidenced by wind energy's growing availability to Colorado consumers.

The trouble is that the existing production tax credit only benefits larger producers that want to build wind farms with million-dollar turbines. Small businesses, towns, farms, and families aren't given the same incentive to produce their own renewable power from smaller, more affordable turbines.

This is unfortunate because the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado, and others are making great strides in the development of small wind systems that can be installed on homes and businesses. The system now available costs around $50,000 for 10kW of capacity.

That's a steep investment for any family or any business. But our bill, by providing a tax incentive for their purchase, would not only reduce the cost, but it would create more market certainty for manufacturers of small wind systems. With more systems in production, costs will fall further and small wind will be a real option for more people.

The bill is simple: it creates a five year tax credit of $1500 per half-kW. There is no cap for the purchase and installation of small wind systems, so long as they are smaller than 100kW. It will put more small wind systems on the market and it will give consumers more choices of how to power their homes and businesses.

I'm proud to introduce these bills with my colleagues because they represent two more building blocks for a new, clean energy economy and because they will help revitalize a rural America that has been forgotten for too long.

I hope we can move these straightforward, bipartisan solutions through as quickly as possible.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator Roberts, along with Senators Kennedy, Burr, Murray, Clinton, Brown, Bingaman, Collins, Isakson, and Biden in introducing the Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act.

Our Nation's emergency medical system is a system on the brink. We need to support and strengthen this essential component of our health care system. The Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act is an important building block to achieving an improved national network of care across the country.

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death among people between the ages of 1 to 44 and in 2002, injuries were responsible for 161,000 deaths. In 2004, about 29.6 million people were treated for an injury in U.S. hospital emergency departments, of which nearly 2 million injuries were severe enough to require hospitalization. Yet, between 20,000 and 25,000 trauma deaths are preventable each year.

A trauma system is an organized, coordinated effort in a specific area that delivers the full range of care to all injured patients. It provides resources, supporting equipment, and personnel along a continuum of care including pre-hospital, hospital, and rehabilitation services. Trauma systems have been proven to reduce mortality rates and provide efficient, cost-effective, and timely care. Since 1990, the Federal Government, through Title XII of the Public Health Service Act, has helped States and territories develop and implement regional and statewide trauma care systems.

The legislation I am introducing today along with my colleagues will reauthorize and reaffirm the Federal Government's commitment to trauma care systems. It will also authorize additional resources for systems planning and development, as well as improved data collection and analysis and the inclusion of an Institute of Medicine study on the state of trauma care and trauma research.

Trauma care is not only critical to providing timely access to lifesaving interventions for persons suffering from serious unintentional injuries, it is central to our national security and disaster preparedness. The tragic events of September 11, 2001 and Hurricanes Rita and Katrina serve as stark reminders of the potential intentional and natural disasters that threaten our Nation. Trauma care systems are an important element of our security and response efforts.

I look forward to working with my colleagues toward expeditious passage of this legislation. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today I join Senator Isakson in introducing the Tanning Accountability and Notification (TAN) Act.

Approximately 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime. While the decline in cancer deaths reported earlier this year is an indication that we are starting to turn the corner on our fight against cancer, approximately 1 million people will be diagnosed with skin cancer and 10,850 are expected to die in 2007 alone.

There are many factors that contribute to these startling figures. In recent years efforts have been undertaken by various organizations to better inform the public about the risk of sun exposure and ways to decrease the chance of developing skin cancer. One area, however, where better information is sorely needed is on the use of indoor tanning salons.

Every day approximately 1 million people visit a tanning salon. It is a practice particularly popular among teens, the group that seems most at risk from the effects of indoor tanning. The American Academy of Dermatology, the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, the National Institutes of Health, NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, and the World Health Organization, WHO, all discourage the use of indoor tanning equipment.

This message and the current information about the risks of indoor tanning I fear are not being adequately passed on to consumers. The FDA has not updated its warnings on tanning beds since 1979. Regular users of indoor tanning beds deserve to be fully informed.

The TAN Act calls upon the FDA to revisit the current label on indoor tanning beds and determine through a process of public hearings and consumer testing what kind of labeling requirements would convey important information on the risks of indoor tanning.

This legislation is not about introducing new regulations but ensuring that the current FDA regulations remain effective in communicating accurate, current, and clear information to consumers about indoor tanning salons.

I look forward to working with my colleagues toward passage of this bipartisan legislation. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation, the Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2007, on behalf of myself and my colleagues, Senators Grassley, Cochran, Dodd, Durbin, Kerry, Kohl, Murray, Rockefeller, Snowe and Stabenow.

The 1996 Telecom Act required that all television broadcasts were to be captioned by 2006 and all Spanish language programming was to be captioned by 2010. This was a much needed reform that has helped millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans to be able to take full advantage of television programming. And now the first deadline has passed. On January 1, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began fining stations for not captioning.

Unfortunately, the United States has fallen behind in training captioners. We must jump start training programs to supply captioning for the many broadcasters just realizing their obligation now. And looking forward, we need to get students in the pipeline now to begin to address the need for Spanish language broadcasting.

This is an issue that I feel very strongly about because my late brother, Frank, was deaf. I know personally that access to culture, news, and other media was important to him and to others in achieving a better quality of life. More than 30 million Americans are considered deaf or hard of hearing and many require captioning services to participate in mainstream activities. In 1990, I authored legislation that required all television sets to be equipped with a computer chip to decode closed captioning. This bill completes the promise of that technology, affording deaf and hard of hearing Americans the same equality and access that captioning provides.

With baby boomers aging, the percentage of the population with hearing loss is increasing dramatically and will continue to outpace population growth for the next decade. But let me emphasize that the deaf and hard of hearing population is only one of a number of groups that will benefit from the legislation. The audience for captioning also includes individuals seeking to acquire or improve literacy skills, including approximately functionally illiterate adults, immigrants learning English as a second language, and children learning to read. Empirical research studies have been conducted repeatedly since 1988 to demonstrate that captions improve the performance of individuals learning to read English.

I see people using closed captioning to stay informed everywhere-- from the gym to the airport. Here in the Senate, I would wager that many individuals on our staff have the captioning turned on right now to follow what is happening on the Senate floor while they go about conducting the meetings and phone calls that advance legislation. Captioning helps people educate themselves and helps all of us stay informed and entertained when audio isn't the most appropriate medium.

Although the 2006 deadline has passed, our nation is facing a serious shortage of captioners. The rate of job placement upon graduation nears 100 percent. In addition, the majority of closed captioners are independent contractors. They are the small businesses that run the American economy and we should do everything we can to promote the creation and support of those businesses.

That is why my colleagues and I are re-introducing this vital piece of legislation. The Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2007 would establish competitive grants to be used toward training real time captioners. This is necessary to ensure that we meet the promises we made in the 1996 Telecom Act.

The Senate Commerce Committee reported this bill unanimously in the last two sessions, the full Senate has passed this Act without objection three times now, and we stand here today, once again at the beginning of the process. I am hopeful that this will be the Congress moves our country forward on this accessibility issue. I ask my colleagues to join us once again in support of this legislation and join us in our effort to win its passage into law.

Mr. President, I rise today to co-sponsor the American National Red Cross Governance Modernization Act of 2007. This legislation, a product of close cooperation with my colleagues Senator Grassley and Senator Kennedy, seeks to create a more efficient governance structure of the American Red Cross, and to enhance the Board of Governors' ability to support the critical mission of the American Red Cross in the 21st Century.

Charitable organizations are an indispensable part of American society, but these organizations can only fulfill their important roles by maintaining the trust of the American public. This trust is fostered by effective governance and transparency, which are the principal goals of this legislation. The role of the American Red Cross is one of vital significance to the American people. The ability of the American Red Cross to meet its responsibilities requires a governance structure that reflects a need for clear mission and a culture of accountability.

This past October the American Red Cross Board of Governors announced its unanimous support for a series of important changes to its charter and business practice. The American National Red Cross Governance Modernization Act of 2007 enables a number of those changes, including clarifying the role of the Board of Governors as one of governance and strategic oversight. As this bill facilitates these governance reforms, the American Red Cross is expected to continue to implement amendments to its bylaws consistent with those described in the Governance Report to clarify further the role of the Board of Governors and to outline areas of its responsibility.

This bill ensures that the American Red Cross will remain a federally chartered instrumentality of the United States, and it has the rights and obligations consistent with that status. Consistent with that status Congress expects that the American Red Cross will maintain appropriate communications with State regulators of charitable organizations and to cooperate with them as appropriate in specific matters as they arise from time to time.

Finally, we believe the effectiveness of the American Red Cross will be promoted by the creation of a Red Cross ombudsman to be a dispute resolution practitioner to provide confidential and informal assistance to the many internal and external stakeholders of the American Red Cross. The American Red Cross ombudsman will report to Congress, the American Red Cross chief executive officer, and the audit committee of the Board of Governors. The Red Cross ombudsman will have access to anyone and any documents in the American Red Cross. This is an important tool for improving processes and protections for those inside the American Red Cross who wish to express concerns about the organizations practices and procedures, and an important tool for Congress in providing oversight of the activities of the American Red Cross.

I urge my colleagues to vote for the American National Red Cross Governance Modernization Act of 2007.

Mr. President, I am pleased to re-introduce the Kinship Caregiver Support Act today with my friend and colleague, Senator Olympia Snowe. The growth of kinship care is a phenomenon that is quietly changing the face of the American family and creating new challenges for our Nation's child welfare system. This bill would be a huge help to kinship caregivers in New York and across the country.

Nationwide, now more than ever children are living in households headed by grandparents and other relatives. In New York City alone, there are over 245,000 adolescents already living in grandparent households. Nationwide, an estimated 20,000 children living in foster care could leave the system if Congress made subsidized guardianship available to their families.

As caregivers who often become parents unexpectedly, these generous family members face unique challenges to

successfully raising children. These challenges are physical, emotional and of course, financial. Grandparents and other relatives raising children often encounter a variety of unnecessary barriers, including difficulties enrolling children in school, authorizing medical treatment, maintaining their public housing leases, obtaining affordable legal services, and accessing a variety of Federal benefits and services. Almost one-fifth of grandparents responsible for their grandchildren live in poverty.

The Kinship Caregiver Support Act attempts to address the full range of difficulties facing kinship caregivers, by allowing relatives to become formal guardians while receiving some financial assistance. This bill will provide relative caregivers with the information and assistance they need to thrive as non-traditional families.

First, the Act contains a ``subsidized guardianship provision'', which will give States the option to use their Title IV-E funds to provide payments to grandparents and other relatives who have assumed legal guardianship of children they have cared for as foster parents.

The Act also establishes the Kinship Navigator Program, which will provide families with the guidance they need to learn how to obtain health care coverage for the children in their care, apply for housing assistance, locate childcare, enroll children in school, and gain access to other services.

Finally, this legislation will require States to notify grandparents and other close relatives when children enter the foster care system. Unfortunately, grandparents and other relatives often do not know when their grandchildren or nieces and nephews come under the care of the State. Notifying grandparents and other relatives when children enter the foster care system will make it easier for families to stay together.

So many grandparents and other relatives are making great personal sacrifices to provide safe and loving homes for the children in their care. It is my hope that my colleagues will join Senator Snowe and me as we continue this fight for children and families.