Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008

Mr. President, I rise again this evening to speak about a growing crisis in rural America. This crisis is found in rural New England, throughout Appalachia, spans the Great Plains, crosses the Western deserts, and reaches the mountains of the great Northwest. It impacts the seniors, children, the women, and the men of rural America. What I am speaking about today is a lack of access to quality health care.

In rural America, patients have long gone without care. Despite the fact that one-fifth of the U.S. population lives in rural America, only 9 percent of the Nation's physicians are practicing in these areas. Over 50 million of these rural Americans live in areas that have a shortage of physicians to meet their basic needs.

Now, physician recruitment to rural America is a big problem. Part of this problem comes about through high student debt, which often forces many students away from a rural practice and

into urban specialty medicine where they can probably command higher salaries.

I recently held a Senate HELP Committee field hearing in Alaska. This was during the February recess. I held this field committee hearing on the physician shortage crisis in rural America. At that hearing, I had a young woman come up and speak. She is a medical student who is currently part of the WAMI Program, the Western States medical program. This young woman, Melissa Howell, is 26 years old. She stated the student debt she has accumulated is a huge concern that hangs over the decisions she makes as she decides where she is going to practice. Simply put, she said that the $100,000 student debt she faces is ``kind of scary.'' I have to admit, that is kind of scary.

A dozen States already report severe physician shortages. These shortages exist in the areas of cardiology, radiology, neurology, to name a few. But the greatest shortages persistently have been in primary care. In fact, the shortage of primary care physicians in rural areas of the United States represents one of the most intractable health policy problems of the past century.

It will only worsen. In 20 years, 20 percent of the U.S. population will be 65 or older, and this is a percentage larger than at any other time in our Nation's history. Just as this aging population places the highest demand on our health care system, we have some experts who predict a national shortage of close to 200,000 physicians. If that becomes a reality, 84 million patients could be potentially left without a doctor's care.

So the question has to be asked, where are the doctors going? We are losing some of our doctors through attrition. One-third of physicians are 55 years old and older and are likely to retire as this baby boom generation moves into its time of greatest medical need. Additionally, for the last quarter of a century, medical schools have kept their student enrollments virtually flat.

We are also losing a lot of our doctors, quite simply, through frustration. Low Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates, coupled with complex regulations and paperwork, leave physicians aggravated, leave them disappointed with the practice of medicine.

In Alaska, we have lived with provider shortages since statehood. I grew up in a part of the State down in the southeastern area where you did not have doctors who were available to deliver babies except on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You hoped you could give birth on a Tuesday or a Thursday. Still, in many parts of our State, we do not have providers who can deliver. If you are out in the Aleutian chain, you are told by your physician's attendant to come to Anchorage, some 600 miles away, to wait out the remaining month of your pregnancy because they do not have the facilities, do not have the doctors available to take care of you in the event of an emergency.

So we have lived with provider shortages for a long time. Because our State is larger than Texas and California and Montana combined, ``rural'' brings on a new meaning and the physician shortage crisis is even more amplified, as I have given in my two examples. But we have had some recent events in the State that have created a situation far worse than Alaska has known in the past. Currently, in the State, we have the sixth lowest ratio of physicians to population in the United States. That is when you take into account Anchorage, which is our largest population center. In rural Alaska, it is the worst physician- to-population situation in the Nation. Alaska needs nearly 400 more doctors to provide the same level of care as elsewhere in the country.

One of our problems is we do not have a medical school, and we are not likely to be getting a medical school in the near future. We also have the lowest per capita number of medical school slots in the country and the lowest number of residency slots. We have two small but very successful programs; this is the University of Washington Medical School Partnership and the Alaska Family Residency Program. These two programs help train Alaskans as physicians and also help us bring doctors to Alaska. But despite the success of these programs, each is far too small to meet our population's needs.

Each week, without fail, I receive faxes, phone calls, letters, and e-mails from Alaskan seniors who simply cannot find a doctor to treat them. I wish to read a few excerpts from recent e-mails we have received. The first one is from a gentleman in Anchorage. Keep in mind, Anchorage is our largest population center; about half the population of the State is here.

He writes:

My mother . . . has had difficulty in the extreme in

getting a doctor who will take her on as she is a medicare

patient . . . doctors are telling potential patients that

they are no longer taking medicaid. My mother has made in

excess of 100 calls to physicians in Anchorage.

Another constituent writes--and this is also from Anchorage:

During the past year, I've tried to find a doctor that

accepts Medicare. I used the Anchorage Yellow pages and

called over 100 doctors, only to be told that they won't

accept any more Medicare patients.

She then writes to say:

I'll tell you ahead of time, we'll be going to the hospital

emergency rooms, to receive, even the basic medical care,

i.e.: colds, flu, and other basic medical care, that could

have been treated through seeing a doctor, at their

established practice. This doesn't sound like good fiscal

management.

Another constituent--and this was actually in a letter to the editor in the Anchorage Daily News--says:

My friends telephoned more than 80 doctors recently, and

not one was accepting new Medicare patients.

A third gentleman from Kenai, AK, writes:

My mom has Medicare and she had to wait 5 months to be seen

by a Neurologist because she had been put on a waiting list

to be seen due to the fact she was a Medicare patient.

Another woman from Anchorage says:

I just got through trying to find a physician for an

elderly Medicare-dependent friend. At this time I have found

no one who will take her. Most physicians take no Medicare

patients or have a quota which is full. The Providence health

care provider list has no one who takes Medicare.

The last e-mail was from Anchorage stating:

Almost no family practice office in Anchorage is accepting

new Medicare patients.

This is just a sample of what we get from constituents around the State of Alaska saying: I don't have anyone who can see my mother. I can't get in to see anyone myself.

I mentioned in my comments this is a crisis that is growing. In Alaska, we don't often think of it as being a State where we have a large senior population. We think of some of the Southern States as being the ones that attract our seniors. But the fact is Alaska has the second fastest-growing senior population in the Nation, second only to Nevada.

So again we ask the question: Why aren't Alaska's doctors able to provide care to our seniors? Why are they saying: No, we are not accepting any new Medicare patients? Well, a lot of it has to do with the reimbursement rates. Recent Federal reductions in Alaska Medicare reimbursement rates have been so severe that primary care physicians report that Medicare pays them only 37 cents--it is actually between 37 cents to 40 cents--for every dollar that it costs to treat a patient. So the doctor is spending a dollar in the care provided but is getting reimbursed about 40 cents to every dollar. We had one physician testify at the field hearing, and he said that in order for him to basically break even with his medical practice, he would have to see one Medicare patient every 7 minutes in order for him not to lose money. For those of us who go into our doctor's office, if we only had 7 minutes in there with our medical provider, I don't think we would feel we were getting the care and the attention our medical issues deserve.

Losing money by seeing Medicare patients has meant that many of our physicians have stopped accepting Medicare patients entirely. They are making a decision not to accept any new Medicare patients. Or if you have been a patient of a particular physician and you turn 65, you may have had a good relationship with that physician, but if he tells you: I am sorry, I am not accepting any new Medicare patients, that date of your birthday comes and all of a sudden you don't have the care that you had relied on for some period of time.

During this committee field hearing, we had testimony that revealed that

only one neighborhood health clinic in the entire city of Anchorage-- and again, this is a city that has half the State's population--only one neighborhood health clinic is still accepting new Medicare patients.

So if you are lucky enough to find a physician, it often takes weeks or months for an appointment. So when you are faced with this kind of a delay, you have one of two options. You either go to the emergency room if the conditions are severe enough or you go without care entirely, putting it off until perhaps it becomes even more complicated down the road.

We had testify at the field hearing one gentleman who is from the city of Bethel. Bethel is in the western part of the State. He said he was willing to fly the 500-some-odd miles from Bethel to Anchorage if only he could find a primary care doctor who would accept him. He kind of joked because he said he counted himself lucky because he had a heart condition, and he was at least able to get in to see a specialist once in awhile.

The chairman of the Alaska Commission on Aging, Mr. Frank Appel, called the lack of access to health care for seniors ``the most critical problem facing Alaska's seniors.''

I know Alaska is not alone. The crisis is not just Alaska. It is nationwide. We as a body, as a Congress, should find this situation intolerable.

I haven't been in the Senate for as long as many of my other colleagues, but I have been here long enough to know that we fight a lot about health care. We debate the solvency issues, the funding issues, the insurance, the benefit coverage, universal coverage, health savings accounts, the prescription drug benefit. We debate and argue about a lot of these issues as they relate to health care, and each and every one of these issues is certainly worthy of great debate. But I would submit that not one of those very worthy debates matters in the least to one of the seniors I have mentioned in these letters who can't find a primary care doctor after making 100 phone calls.

So instead of this body debating how health care is delivered, it is time we focus on the fact that it is not delivered in much of America. We have a crisis that, simply put, cannot wait. We have to do two things. We have to help current physicians stay in the practice of medicine, and we must vastly increase our health care work force.

Earlier this year, Senator Stevens and I introduced the Rural Physician Relief Act, and this is a bill that provides tax incentives for physicians to practice in our most rural and frontier locations in the country. Today, along with my colleagues, Senator Schumer, Senator Stevens, and Senator Sanders, we are introducing legislation entitled the ``Physician Shortage Elimination Act.'' This legislation will double the funding for the National Health Service Corps, a program that is dedicated to meeting the needs of the underserved. Despite its success over the years, it has been vastly underfunded. We understand that 85 percent of the applicants to this worthy program have to be turned away each year because we don't fund it.

This legislation will also allow rural and underserved physician residency programs to expand by removing barriers that prevent programs from developing rural training programs.

We will also double certain title VII funding to create programs that target disadvantaged youth in rural and underserved areas and nurture them to create a pipeline to careers in health care. We need to get more people interested in the field.

Finally, we must bolster the cornerstone of rural health care, which is the community health center, through additional grants and by allowing them to expand their residency programs.

I would suggest that the prognosis for the quality of health care in America is poor. Fifteen million Americans in underserved areas across the Nation already do without care. Soon, with even greater physician shortages, it could mean that potentially another 84 million patients will be left without a physician's care.

The time for Congress to act is now. In fact, it is past time. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this issue that again is not just Alaska-specific. I think the facts on the ground up North perhaps make the arguments more accentuated, but I think it points to a situation in this Nation that we must deal with now before the crisis is felt throughout the country.

I appreciate the attention of the Chair.

Mr. President, I rise today, along with my colleague, Tom Coburn, to proudly reintroduce the Child Medication Safety Act, a bill to protect children and their parents from being coerced into administering a controlled substance or psychotropic drug in order to attend a school.

Parents today face many challenges when raising their children, one of which is ensuring that their children receive the best education possible. My views on education come from a somewhat unique perspective in that my wife, Kay, was a teacher at Edison High School in Tulsa for many years and now both of our daughters are teachers. I can assure you that I am one of the strongest supporters of quality education. However, it has come to my attention that schools have been acting as physicians or psychologists by strongly suggesting that children with behavioral problems be put immediately on some form of psychotropic drugs. Schools and teachers are not equipped to make this diagnosis and should not make it mandatory for the student to continue attending the school. This is clearly beyond their area of expertise. Therefore, I am introducing this legislation to ensure that parents are not required by school personnel to medicate their children.

The Child Medication Safety Act requires, as a condition of receiving funds from the Department of Education, that States develop and implement polices and procedures prohibiting school personnel from requiring a child to obtain a prescription as a condition of attending the school. It should be noted that this bill does not prevent teachers or other school personnel from sharing with parents or guardians classroom-based observations regarding a student's academic performance or regarding the need for evaluation for special education. Additionally, this bill calls for a study by the Comptroller General of the United States reviewing: (1) the variation among States in the definition of psychotropic medication as used in public education, (2) the prescription rates of medication used in public schools to treat children with attention deficit disorder and other such disorders, 3) which medications listed under the Controlled Substances Act are being prescribed to such children, and 4) which medications not listed under the Controlled Substances Act are being used to treat these children and their properties and effects. This GAO report is due no later than one year after the enactment of this Act.

I believe this is an extremely important bill that protects the rights of our children against improper intrusion regarding health issues by those not qualified. If a parent or guardian believes their child is in need of medication, then they have the right to make that decision and consult with a licensed medical practitioner who is qualified to prescribe an appropriate drug. Please join us in support of this legislation that protects the freedoms of our children.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Capital Gains Inflation Relief Act of 2007. The taxation of inflation is one of the most unjust practices of the tax code. This simple improvement will not only enhance the basic fairness and efficiency of the tax code, but will also immediately increase the net return on capital investment.

Under current law, a taxable capital gain occurs whenever a capital asset is sold at a price higher than the original purchase price. However, the timing of capital gains taxation sets it apart from other types of income. While wages are generally taxed on a yearly basis, the taxation on capital assets occurs at the time the capital asset holder chooses to sell his asset and realize

his gains. The gains on capital assets accrue over the course of the asset's life, which is usually many years. This is generally favorable to the capital asset holder, because he can defer taxation on his gains to a future year. This tax deferral is often cited as the primary reason for holding assets long term.

However, the value of tax deferral is often times overstated because current tax policy taxes the capital asset holder not only on real gains, but also on gains due to inflation. This creates a situation that is patently unfair to the American taxpayer. For example, an American who purchased a share of stock for $10 in 1950 and sold it for twice that amount today would be subject to capital gains taxes on the nominal gain of $10, though the transaction was a clear loss when one accounts for inflation. Why should an American taxpayer, who invested in a capital asset in his youth, be forced to pay capital gains taxes, on what can only be viewed as a loss, in his later years? In spite of all our efforts to curb inflation, it will remain a fact of life. This does not mean we should tax hard-working Americans with long-term goals on gains that are due to inflation, gains that they will never actually realize.

Without an inflation index, the tax code incentivizes short-term speculation and discourages long-term capital investment. The current turmoil in the subprime lending market is an example that demonstrates the perils of emphasizing short-term speculation over long-term capital investment. Though inflation has remained relatively modest recently, there is no guarantee of future stability. Inflation indexing would instantly increase the net return on capital investment and consequently encourage more of it. Inflation indexing would also restore core principles of sound tax policy such as ``horizontal equity,'' wherein two taxpayers in identical situations are treated identically by the tax system. Indexing capital gains would improve the basic fairness of the tax code with only a minor increase in administrative costs and a single step of simple multiplication for taxpayer compliance.

The need for indexing is clear. It would help average Americans and improve tax policy by enhancing both the basic fairness and the pro- growth incentive of the tax code. The merits of the capital gains tax are themselves debatable, but if we are to tax capital gains let us make sure they are taxed fairly. Please join with me in supporting this legislation to free the American taxpayer from the unfairness of the current tax policy.

Mr. President, the independent producers of oil and gas are the backbone of our domestic supply of energy. They have played and continue to play a critical role in meeting our domestic needs, especially as the big oil companies' focus mainly offshore. In fact, independents develop 90 percent of our Nation's wells. According to the Department of Energy, independent producers supply 68 percent of American oil production and 82 percent of overall American natural gas.

Therefore, I rise today to introduce legislation that eliminates the taxable income limit on percentage depletion for oil and natural gas produced from marginal wells; wells producing 15 barrels of day and less than 90 thousand cubic feet of natural gas.

Under current law, the percentage depletion method is limited to only independent producers and royalty owners. It is a form of cost recovery for capital initially invested toward production of oil and gas wells. Generally, the percentage depletion rate is 15 percent of the taxpayer's gross income from an oil and gas producing property and is limited to a daily average of 1,000 barrels of oil or 6,000 thousand cubic feet of natural gas. However, under the net income limitation, percentage depletion is limited to 100 percent of the net income from an individual property. In the case of marginal wells, where total deductions often do exceed this net-income, this limitation discourages producers from investing in the continued production from marginal wells.

As a result Congress has suspended the net-income limitation for 1998 through 2005; and again for 2006 and 2007, with the passage of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, H.R. 6111.

My bill would simply clarify the policy by doing away with the taxable net income limitation altogether.

In my own State of Oklahoma, it is the small independents, basically mom-and-pop operations, producing the majority of oil and natural gas, with 85 percent of Oklahoma's oil coming from marginal wells.

Because marginal wells supply such a significant amount of our oil and gas, it is vital we keep them in operation. According to the Energy Department, between 1994 and 2003, we lost 110 million barrels of crude oil due to plugged marginal wells. Thus, when we lose marginal wells, we become more dependent upon foreign sources of energy, at a time when virtually all agree that U.S. policies should encourage reliance upon domestic sources. Furthermore, we lose domestic jobs to foreign nations.

My bill would allow independents the necessary capital to continue to produce from these existing marginal wells--which is critical to the Nation's overall energy security. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, it's an honor to join Senator Hatch and my

HELP Committee colleagues today in introducing this bill to reauthorize the community health centers program. The Health Centers Renewal Act extends the program through 2012, it authorizes the funds needed to stabilize existing centers and enable them to increase their capacity and funds for new centers in underserved areas that have no existing center.

The community health centers program has been a success story by any measure over the past 40 years. It began as a two-site demonstration project for ``neighborhood health centers'' in 1965, with funds for Columbia Point in Massachusetts and Mound Bayou in Mississippi. The health center model was the brainchild of two young physicians and civil rights activists, Dr. H. Jack Geiger and Dr. Count Gibson. Their model was intended to address both health care and the roots of poverty, by giving communities a voice in their health care through a patient-majority community board, by creating jobs and investments in local communities, and by focusing on primary care and reducing health disparities among income groups.

Today, more than 1,000 health centers provide good health care to 16 million patients each year. They provide safety nets in their communities for the most vulnerable Americans, and bring care to 1 of every 4 Americans living in poverty. Nearly 70 percent of health center patients have incomes below the poverty line, and two-thirds are members of racial and ethnic minorities. Health centers give those who are so often disenfranchised in our society a voice in their own health care and in the care available in their community. Health centers are also an incentive for economic growth, providing 50,000 jobs across the country for residents in their communities.

As the number of uninsured and underinsured persons grows each year, the need for health center services increases. More than 40 percent of health center patients have no health insurance and their number is increasing. Another 36 percent of patients have coverage through Medicaid or CHIP, and cuts in these programs affect health centers as well. As the number of patients who rely on health centers continues to grow, we must provide the funds needed to open new centers in areas that are underserved and to provide additional funds to enable existing centers to meet the growing demand for care.

The funding authorized in this bill will provide stability and expanded services in existing centers, and enable new centers to open in areas that have no centers today. The legislation will keep health centers on track to serve 20 million patients by 2010 and more than 23 million patients by 2012. It also provides the funds needed to expand existing health centers to reach more uninsured and underinsured patients, open new centers in underserved areas with no current centers, expand coverage of mental health, dental, and pharmacy services to all centers, invest in information technology, and take other steps to improve health outcomes. Our goal in the bill is to make sure that health centers can provide high-quality care to their patients for years to come, and I look forward to its enactment into law.

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

Mr. President day in and day out across America, millions of men and women go to work in jobs that are the backbone of our economy. They make our country great and prosperous. They work hard to provide for their families and care for them.

Often, however, they have to miss days of work because of illness. Every parent knows what it's like to care for a sick child, and every child knows the importance of a parent taking care of them when they are ill. Yet, every day, countless Americans find their paychecks or even their jobs at risk when illness strikes.

As Members of Congress, we don't lose our pay or risk our jobs if we stay home because of illness. But millions of our fellow citizens are not so fortunate.

Mr. President, 57 million Americans--nearly half of all private- sector workers in the United States--do not have paid sick days. Seventy percent don't have paid sick days they can use to care for family members. They can't take a day off to recover from the flu. They can't leave work to care for a child who is running a fever.

Among workers in the lowest income quarter, the numbers are even worse--percent do not have the right to take time off for illness without losing their payor even their jobs.

This lack of protection is especially difficult for working women with children. Women have moved into the workforce in record numbers, but they continue to have primary responsibility for their children's health. Nearly 80 percent of mothers say they are solely responsible for their children's medical care. Yet they can't take a day off to care for a sick child.

If we truly care about families, we have to change those facts. Americans want to be responsible employees and responsible parents. We need workplace laws that allow workers the time needed to care for themselves or family members when they are sick without losing payor risking their jobs.

That is why today I am introducing the Healthy Families Act, to give American workers up to seven paid days of sick leave a year. Now Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro is introducing the legislation in the House of Representatives.

Earlier this week, she and I met with hundreds of workers and parents from around the country, representing tens of thousands of parents asking Congress to take action.

I am talking about hard-working people such as Bertha Brown, who spoke to hundreds of us in front of the Capitol. Bertha is a home healthcare aide. She has spent her life caring for America's sick and elderly, yet she herself has no paid sick days to care for herself or her children. She told us how she had to leave her sick daughter at home when she went to work.

Paid sick days aren't just a family issue--they are also a public health issue. When sick people go to work, they are likely to infect their coworkers and the public. Every day, we hear reports of stomach illnesses breaking out in restaurants or on cruise ships. We learn of flu outbreaks leading to hospitalization of the elderly. Such illnesses are contagious, but their spread can be minimized if sick people stay at home.

However, a high proportion of workers who have constant contact with the public have no paid sick days--85 percent of food service workers and 55 percent of workers in the retail industry are denied that benefit; 30 percent of health care workers can't take paid time off when they are ill.

That is why nurses and doctors support paid sick days. When our Health Committee held a hearing on this issue last month, we heard from pediatricians at Boston Children's Hospital and a public health expert in San Francisco about the significant health benefits and reduction of medical costs that result from paid sick days. We all know that preventive care helps reduce medical costs. Giving people the opportunity to obtain medical treatment for illnesses or chronic medical conditions before their conditions worsen is common sense.

Paid sick days also are important to help children stay healthy and in school so that they can learn. When sick children go to school, they don't learn well, and they are likely to infect their fellow students.

We also heard this week from Carolyn Duff, a nurse in an elementary school in South Carolina. She treated a fifth grader she suspected had strep throat. His parents did not have paid sick days and could not take him to the doctor. After 4 days, his condition worsened. He developed scarlet fever and a rash covered his entire body--all because his parents, for fear of losing their jobs, weren't able to take time off to care for him. As Carolyn Duff said, the child not only suffered without the care of his parents, he also lost 10 precious days of his studies at school.

Paid sick days will result in significant savings to our economy and our health care system. That is why employers support paid sick days too. Dancing Deer Bakery--a small business Boston--sent me a letter making this important point:

A national paid sick days law creates a level playing field

for all businesses. . . . We hope that a bill will move

through both Chambers and be on the President's desk. Paid

sick days should be a non-partisan issue. A healthy nation is

a productive nation.

Paid sick days are good for families, good for our public health, and good for our economy. Our people have waited long enough for this need to be met. It is time to pass the Healthy Families Act.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Veterans Small Business Opportunity Act of 2007. Senators Pryor, Craig, and I are introducing this legislation to assist veterans and small businesses that employ Guard and reservists. Our bill improves the Small Business Administration's, SBA's, Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan, MREIDL, program. Additionally, this bill increases procurement opportunities, capital access, and other types of business development assistance for veterans and service-disabled veterans.

We all know today's small business men and women play a vital role in the economic stability and prosperity of our Nation. Quite often, these same entrepreneurs are the veterans who have protected our Nation in years past, or who serve in the Armed Forces today. When our Nation's patriotic men and women are called to duty, they often leave behind thriving small businesses, and as a result, many of these businesses experience production slowdowns and lost sales, or incur additional expenses to compensate for an employee's absence.

In recent years, the Department of Defense has placed a greater reliance on our country's Guard and Reserve Forces. In fact, since September 2001, nearly 600,000 Guard and Reserve members have been called up in support of current operations, comprising nearly one-third of deployed service members in Iraq and Afghanistan. Furthermore, Guard and Reserve members were charged with assisting recovery efforts in the gulf coast region in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

In my 4 years as chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and now as ranking member, I have fought to support our patriotic small businesses affected by the Guard and Reserve call- ups. My home State of Maine has one of the highest Guard and Reserve deployment levels in the country--over 50 percent have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. In response to this I commissioned a Congressional Budget Office, CBO, study which found that 35 percent of Guard and reservists work for small busineses or are self-employed. In addition, the small businesses that employ them may be ``paying'' a disproportionate and unfair share of the burden of increased Guard and Reserve member call-ups. The burden is further magnified when it is the small business owner or a key employee who is deployed.

Our legislation will raise the maximum MREIDL amount from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. A maximum military reservist loan amount of $2,000,000 is the same level as many of the SBA's other loan programs, including: 7(a) loans, international trade loans, and 504 Certified Development Corporation loans that serve a public policy goal.

Currently, some of the SBA's contracting and business development programs have defined time limits for participation. If the firm's time for participation expires prematurely, then competitive opportunities, investments, and jobs become lost. Today, small business owners who get called-up to active duty in the National Guard or Reserve are effectively penalized because their active duty time is counted against the time limitation participation in the SBA's programs. The Veterans Small Business Opportunity Act amends the Small Business Act by allowing small businesses owned by veterans and service-disabled veterans to extend their SBA program participation time limitations by the duration of their owners' active duty service after September 11, 2001.

Additionally, this bill will allow the SBA Administrator, either directly or through banks, to offer loans up to $25,000 without requiring collateral from a loan applicant. Currently, the SBA offers military reservist loans up to $5,000 without collateral. This provision would increase that level to eligible small businesses.

The bill will also require the Administrator to give military reservist loan applications priority for processing and ensure that Guard and Reserve members are adequately assisted with their loan application by incorporating the support and expertise of SBA entrepreneurial development partners, such as Small Business Development Centers and Veterans Business Outreach Centers.

This legislation increases the authorization of appropriations for the SBA's Office of Veteran Business Development to $2 million for fiscal year 2008, $2.1 million for fiscal year 2009 and $2.2 million for fiscal year 2010. Increased funding for SBA's Office of Veterans Business Development help them better assist our Nation's veterans and provide the business services they need.

This legislation will also strengthen the access of veterans and service-disabled veterans to Federal contracts and subcontracts. Under the Small Business Act and the President's Executive Order 13360, Providing Opportunities for Service-Disabled Veteran Businesses To Increase Their Federal Contracting and Subcontracting, Federal agencies must award at least 3 percent of prime contracts and subcontracts to small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans. The order states that, to achieve these goals, Federal agencies ``shall more effectively'' use the authorities in the Small Business Act to reserve and award contracts to service-disabled veterans. During the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee hearing held in January, it became very clear that Federal agencies have been short-changing service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses to the tune of over $7.5 billion a year in government contracts during fiscal year 2003 through fiscal year 2005. To remedy this unacceptable situation, our legislation puts the force of a congressional statute behind the requirements of the President's Executive order.

In addition, our legislation ensures that veterans and service- disabled veterans do not face confusing and duplicative red tape before they can be eligible to access the Federal procurement market. Currently, the Department of

Veterans Affairs and the SBA both operate registration databases for small businesses owned by veterans and service-disabled veterans. A veteran must often register in both databases to be properly considered for bidding. Surely, in this information age, we can have a better process. Registration data can easily be made to migrate from one database to the other. Our legislation requires that a single registration point for both of these databases be established within a year. Such one-stop registration must be reliable and compliant with statutory provisions concerning veteran and service-disabled veteran status certifications for small businesses.

To increase the capacity of service-disabled veteran-owned firms, my legislation permits the SBA, in cooperation with the Department of Veterans Affairs, to develop a business development assistance program, including mentor-protege assistance, to be administered by the SBA. Our legislation contains a strict fairness requirement that any such program must be developed in such a way as to ensure success of other small business contracting programs. Within a year, the SBA is required to submit a report to Congress on its proposals for this program. In 2004, I succeeded in amending the Department of Defense Mentor-Protege Program statute by expanding it to service-disabled veterans. Since then, over $204 million in contracts and subcontracts have been awarded to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses as a result of the $17 million in mentor-Protege assistance. This represents a stunning $12 return for every $1 in assistance investment. I believe the success of this initiative should be replicated. The SBA is already administering a Mentor-Protege Program as part of the 8(a) business development program for small disadvantaged businesses, and both the SBA and the DOD programs would provide useful examples for helping our disabled veterans succeed.

Finally, our legislation creates an interagency task force among Federal agencies charged with improving procurement opportunities for service-disabled veterans. The scope of this task force will, in addition to procurement, include franchising, capital access, and other types of business development assistance. In examining the implementation of Executive Order 13360 and other veterans business development initiatives, our committee found that the responsible agencies were not talking to each other on a regular basis, and that no overall ``game plan'' was in place to coordinate various Federal efforts.

I would like to thank Senators Pryor and Craig for working with me on this critical issue and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. President, I was proud to help create the State Children's Health Insurance Program during the Clinton Administration. It has provided health insurance for 6 million children, including more than 425,000 in New York. SCHIP was the biggest expansion in providing health insurance coverage in more than 30 years--a big first step to providing quality health care coverage for all children.

And now it is time to take the next step. Today, I am introducing new legislation with my colleague from the House of Representatives, Chairman Dingell: a plan to make quality affordable health care available to every child in America.

The Children's Health First Act will make quality, affordable health care available to all children, and will pave the way to cover the more than nine million children in our country without health coverage.

Our bill cuts red tape to allow States to provide affordable healthcare options for all families to cover their children. It gives States the financial incentives and resources to expand--existing State coverage and find and enroll the 6 million children who are currently eligible for health coverage but are not enrolled. And it provides incentives to expand employer sponsored coverage for children.

As individuals and as a Nation, an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure. Health care accessible and affordable for all children will keep kids healthy, save lives, control costs, and end heartache and worry for so many parents. This plan is practical and fiscally responsible--it will honor our values and prevent kids from needing more costly healthcare in the future.

Our bill will provide incentives for States to expand SCHIP to more children and provide health coverage for children up to 400 percent of poverty, about $70,000 for a family of three.

Parents whose incomes are above their State's SCHIP eligibility levels and employers who want to provide coverage to dependents will also have the option to buy-in to the SCHIP program. This will ensure that all families have access to affordable coverage and aren't forced into the private insurance market where affordable options for their children are often out of reach.

And while expanding coverage is critical, enrolling children who are already eligible must also be part of our efforts to ensure every child has health insurance.

Currently, there are 6 million uninsured children who are eligible for public programs but not enrolled. In order to receive expanded Federal funding under our bill, States must undertake strategies designed to enhance outreach and enrollment of currently eligible children.

In addition, the Children's Health First Act would prevent funding shortfalls like those that 14 States are currently facing. Unlike the original SCHIP bill our legislation would determine funding based on State spending and indexed to medical inflation and child population growth so that states will get the funds they need.

Every child deserves a healthy start in life. This goes to the heart of our values, our responsibility to one another, the promise of our country. Far too many children in our Nation--more than 9 million--do not have health care. And, for the first time in nearly a decade, between 2004 and 2005, the number of uninsured children in New York increased by 61,000--part of a trend nationally.

It's simply wrong that there are working parents who worry about their children playing sports because they can't afford a doctor if their child gets hurt. I've met parents who when their children get sick fret and worry about their children's illness--but have the added anxiety of wondering how they are going to pay for the doctor visit. That just shouldn't happen.

No child in America, the greatest, richest Nation on Earth home to so much promise, should lack for the care he or she needs to grow up to be a healthy, happy adult.

We can tackle this challenge--and provide access to quality, affordable health care for all children in America. It's the right thing to do, and it's the smart thing to do.

I am proud to introduce this legislation. It will help us honor our values, protect our children. We can meet this challenge and that's what I'll be working with Chairman Dingell and my Senate colleagues to achieve this year.

Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the Gestational Diabetes Act of 2007 with my colleague Senator Collins, to bring attention to an important health issue facing women and children.

I don't need to tell anyone that we have an obesity epidemic in the United States. Many of us realize that as parents, it is our responsibility to pass on good nutritional habits to our children. But many women may not realize that watching what you eat, exercising regularly, and having control of your blood sugar levels are serious health considerations during pregnancy. In fact, these factors are serious enough that they can affect both the health of the mother and the life of the child into adulthood.

More women than ever are entering their pregnancies overweight but without an understanding of how their own weight and nutritional habits can trigger gestational diabetes--a type of diabetes that only occurs during pregnancy. Women who are overweight before pregnancy are not only at greater risk of having gestational diabetes but are also more likely to have a c-section and are at an increased risk for other serious pregnancy complications.

In New York, gestational diabetes is on the rise. In New York City alone, gestational diabetes has risen by nearly 50 percent in about 10 years. This means that gestational diabetes affects 1 in 25 women, about 400 women per month. But across the Nation, between 4 and 8 percent of pregnant women in the United States are affected by gestational diabetes. Infants of women who have gestational diabetes are at increased risk for obesity and developing type 2 diabetes as adolescents or adults.

As women, we need to pay attention to our health. We are always worrying about the health of our children, our husbands, and our parents, but we often forget to take care of ourselves.

Today, I am introducing the Gestational Diabetes Act, also known as the GEDI Act. This legislation will increase our understanding of gestational diabetes by determining the factors that contribute to this condition and help mothers who had gestational diabetes reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes post-pregnancy.

The GEDI Act will provide funding for projects to assist health care providers, as well as for communities to find ways to reach out to women so that they understand how their own good health during pregnancy can decrease serious health risks for their children.

The GEDI Act would expand research to determine and develop interventions to lower the incidence of gestational diabetes. We need to alert women to the risk before this condition becomes an epidemic and, as we have seen so many times before, education is critical.

We should be doing everything we can to address the impact of obesity during pregnancy and to reduce the prevalence of gestational diabetes in pregnant women. The GEDI Act is an important step in assuring that women understand this critical issue and that we fully understand how to equip pregnant women to make the best choices for their health.

The GEDI Act is supported by the American Diabetes Association, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, National Research Center for Women & Families, International Community Health Services, American Association of Diabetes Educators, and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.