Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010

Mr. President, today I am introducing the Department of Justice Global Advisory Committee Authorization Act of 2010. This legislation will make it easier and less costly for local, state, tribal and federal agencies to share public safety and criminal justice information and to better protect our communities. I am pleased to be joined by Senator Arlen Specter, the chairman of the Crime and Drugs Subcommittee, and Senator Patty Murray in introducing this legislation. I look forward to working with all my colleagues to see it enacted into law.

Ensuring the public's safety often depends on effective information sharing. In recent years, criminal gangs, fugitives, illegal trafficking networks, cybercriminals and terrorist organizations have increased their ability to operate across jurisdictional boundaries. However, too often the public safety agencies charged with combating these threats have operated without all the information that should be available to them. Inconsistent information-sharing protocols and databases that are not interoperable with one another are barriers the law enforcement and public safety communities have identified. Quite simply, if we want to combat the threats of the 21st century, we need a 21st century information-sharing framework.

The U.S. Department of Justice has long recognized the need to bring law enforcement and public safety stakeholders together to take on this challenge of improving information sharing. In 1998, the Justice Department established the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative Advisory Committee, also known as the ``Global Advisory Committee''. Chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Global Advisory Committee brings together key representatives from law enforcement, judicial, correctional, and public safety agencies to advise the Attorney General on information-sharing policies, practices and technical solutions.

Over the years, the Global Advisory Committee has developed a strong track record of consolidating stakeholder views and developing consensus information-sharing solutions that local, state, tribal and federal agencies all agree upon. The Committee has recruited experts on a pro bono basis to develop new interoperable technological standards, and they have already developed a criminal justice information sharing standard--the Global Justice XML Data Model--and a broader justice and homeland security information exchange--the National Information Exchange Model--that enable agencies to convert their own database information into a common format which can be shared.

The Global Advisory Committee also created the ``National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan,'' a blueprint for agency intelligence- sharing procedures that has been endorsed by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. And the Committee has drafted ``Fusion Center Guidelines'' which have helped communities throughout the country establish information-sharing ``fusion centers'' for responding to security threats. The Justice Department plans to involve the Committee in crafting new information-sharing strategies and protocols for combating gang violence, improving correctional information, and sharing fugitive information.

In addition to its work developing information-sharing standards, the charter and bylaws of the Global Advisory Committee prioritize civil liberties and privacy protection and promote database security and shared information accuracy. The Committee has established a working group specifically dedicated to protecting privacy and information quality, and has also created resources to help jurisdictions develop privacy and civil liberties programs.

The Global Advisory Committee's work has already led to cost savings in the design and procurement of interoperable information systems. These cost-saving benefits are likely to grow if the Committee's information-sharing standards become increasingly adopted and if interoperability among local, state, tribal and federal databases increases. With Congress's help, the Committee can revolutionize efficient information-sharing among public safety and law enforcement agencies, which will both lower information technology costs and help prevent and fight crime.

While the Global Advisory Committee's value has been recognized throughout the law enforcement and public safety communities, it has not yet been recognized by Congress. The legislation I am introducing today will give Congress's blessing to the Committee by authorizing the Justice Department to provide it with technical and financial support and dedicated funding.

Currently, under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Global Advisory Committee must terminate and reestablish itself every two years, but my legislation will keep the Committee in continuous operation. The bill also directs the Committee to make recommendations to the Attorney General on interoperability and information-sharing practices and technologies, and to report to Congress at least annually on its recommendations. My legislation also expresses the sense of Congress that agencies across the country should adopt the Global Advisory Committee's recommendations in order to improve their information sharing. The bill further directs the Attorney General to submit a report to Congress regarding the state of information sharing between corrections and law enforcement agencies through the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, including suggestions for improvement.

This legislation has been endorsed by the National District Attorneys Association, the National Sheriffs Association, the National Narcotics Officers' Associations' Coalition, the National Criminal Justice Association, the National Association of Counties, the American Probation and Parole Association, the American Correctional Association, the Association of State Correctional Administrators, and the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, SEARCH.

The Global Advisory Committee has already achieved great success in bringing together local, state, tribal and federal agencies to develop consensus information-sharing solutions. With Congressional authorization and a consistent funding stream, the Committee can build upon that success in a way that will benefit justice and public safety agencies across the nation. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

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

Mr. President, I rise today with my good friend Senator Ensign to introduce the Elko Motocross and Tribal Conveyance Act of 2010.

As you may know, the Federal Government manages more than 87 percent of the land in Nevada, which equates to more than 61 million acres. This fact makes it necessary for our communities to pursue Federal remedies for problems that can be handled in a much more expeditious manner in States that have more private land than we do. This bill, for instance, would transfer one small parcel of land to Elko County and another to the Elko Indian Colony. Both conveyances will provide important benefits to the residents of northeastern Nevada, and both conveyances require congressional action.

The first title of this Act would convey approximately 300 acres of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, BLM, Elko Field Office to Elko County. This proposal, which is strongly supported by the local community, would clear the way for the construction of a BMX, motocross, off-highway vehicle, and stock car racing area. It is worth noting that Elko County tried for many years to work

through the normal administrative process to get a recreation and public purposes lease on this land, but the local BLM field office has been unable to process the request due to a very high workload.

Off-road vehicles are an important part of life in rural Nevada. In response to this interest, Elko County has attempted to provide a variety of motorized recreational opportunities for both residents and visitors. This legislation will help the City of Elko develop a centralized, multipurpose recreational facility on the western edge of the city with easy access to Interstate-80. The new Elko Motocross Park will eliminate traffic and noise issues caused by the existing stock car racing track. The new park will also draw OHV enthusiasts from across northeastern Nevada, which will, in turn, provide an economic boost to local businesses.

Beyond the convenient location, economic benefits, and potential for diverse recreational opportunities at the Elko Motocross Park site, this new complex will provide a place for people to learn responsible use and enjoyment of recreational vehicles. I believe this facility will be a model for other communities in the West that are interested in creating safe, centralized recreation areas for motorsports. I would also like to commend Elko County, the State of Nevada, the Nevada Association of Counties and many others for working together on recent statewide initiatives that will encourage the sustainable use of off- highway vehicles on public lands.

Title II of this Act directs the Secretary of the Interior to make a reasonable expansion of the Elko Indian Colony by taking approximately 373 acres of land into trust for the Elko Band to address their need for additional land. The Elko Band is one of four constituent bands that make up the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada. Each band has a separate reservation or colony in northeastern Nevada. While the Elko Band's population has steadily grown, their land base has remained the same for over 75 years.

The histories of the City of Elko and the Elko Indian Colony have long been intertwined. Elko was established as a railroad town in 1868 with the construction of the Central Pacific, part of the first transcontinental railroad. Shoshone families lived nearby and worked on the railroad as well as in the nearby mines and on local ranches. Despite government efforts to relocate the Elko Band in the late nineteenth century, these families persevered and remained in the Elko area. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson created the Elko Indian Colony when he reserved 160 acres near Elko for the Shoshone Indians by executive order.

The Elko Indian Colony has always been a thriving part of the greater Elko community. Unfortunately, while more than half of the Elko Band's enrolled members live and work in Elko, the Elko Colony has one of the smallest land bases of the four constituent bands. Over 350 tribal members must live outside of the colony because it lacks land for additional housing and housing related community development. Our legislation would address this need by making land available for residential and commercial development, or for traditional uses, such as ceremonial gatherings, hunting and plant collecting.

I also want to highlight that this legislation is designed to protect the city's rights-of-way that cross the land in question. We have also received letters expressing strong support for this tribal conveyance from both the City of Elko and Elko County.

It is always encouraging when communities come together to support projects like these and we are grateful for their collective work on this effort. This bill is vital to the growing communities we serve. We look forward to working with Chairman Bingaman, Ranking Member Murkowski and the other distinguished committee members to move this bill through the process.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation in the Senate that has already been introduced in the House of Representatives by Alaska Congressman Don Young to clarify federal mining law and remedy a problem that has arisen with the extension process for ``small'' miner land claims.

Under revisions to the Federal Mining Law of 1872, 30 U.S.C. 28(f), holders of unpatented mineral claims must pay a claim maintenance fee originally set at $100 per claim by a deadline, set by regulation, of September 1st each year. Since 2004 that fee has risen to $125 per claim. But Congress also has provided a claim maintenance fee waiver for ``small'' miners, those who hold 10 or fewer claims, that they do not have to submit the fee, but that they must file to renew their claims and submit an affidavit of annual labor by Dec. 31st each year, certifying that they had performed more than $100 of work on the claim in the preceding year, 30 U.S.C. 28f(d)(1). The waiver provision further states: ``If a small miner waiver application is determined to be defective for any reason, the claimant shall have a period of 60 days after receipt of written notification of the defect or defects by the Bureau of Land Management to: cure such defect or defects or pay the $100 claim maintenance fee due for such a period.''

Since the last revision to the law last decade, there have been a series of incidents where miners argued that they submitted their applications and affidavits of annual labor in a timely manner, but due to clerical error by BLM staff or for unexplained reasons the applications or documents were not recorded as having been received in a timely fashion--and that BLM has then moved to terminate the claims, deeming them null and void. While mining claim holders have argued that the law provides them time to cure claim defects, BLM has argued that the cure only applies when applications or fees have been received in a timely manner. Thus, there is no administrative remedy for miners who believe that clerical errors by BLM resulted in loss or the late recording of claim applications.

There have been a number of cases where Congress has been asked to override BLM determinations and reinstate mining claims simply because of the disputes over whether the claims had been filed in a timely manner. Congress in 2003 reinstated such claims in a previous Alaska case, and claims in another incident were reinstated following a U.S. District Court case in the 10th Circuit in 2009 in the case of Miller v. United States.

This bill is intended to short circuit continued litigation and pleas for claim reinstatement by clarifying the intent of Congress that miners do have to be informed that their claims are in jeopardy of being voided and given 60 days notice to cure defects, including giving them time to submit their applications and to submit affidavits of annual labor, should they not be received and processed by BLM officials. If all defects are not cured within 60 days--the obvious intent of Congress in passing the original act--then claims still will be subject to voidance.

The transition rule included in this measure will solve two pending cases in Alaska, one where a holder of nine claims on the Kenai Peninsula, near Hope, Alaska, has lost title to claims that he had held from 1982 to 2004. In this case, John Trautner had a consistent record of having paid the annual labor assessment fee for the previous 22 years and the local BLM office did have a time-date-stamped record that the maintenance fee waiver certification form had been filed weeks before the deadline, not just a record that the affidavit of annual labor had arrived. In the second case Don and Judy Mullikin of Homer, Alaska, is in the process of losing title to nine claims on the Seward Peninsula outside of Nome in Alaska because the Anchorage BLM office has no record of them receiving the paperwork, even though the owners have computer time stamps of them having completed the paperwork five months before the deadline, but no other evidence of filing to meet BLM regulations in support of an appeal. These are claims that have been worked in Alaska yearly since 1937 and are the main livelihood for the Mullikins.

This legislation, supported by the Alaska Miners Association, clearly is intended to remedy a simple drafting error in congressional crafting of the small miner claim defect process. While only a few cases of potential clerical errors have occurred over the past decade, it still makes sense for Congress to clarify that claim holders

have a right to know that their applications have not been processed, in time for them to cure application-claim defects prior to being informed of the loss of the claim rights forever. Simple equity and due process requires no less.

Given the minute cost of this administrative change to the Department of the Interior, but its big impact on affected small mineral claim holders, I hope this bill can be considered and approved promptly this year.

Mr. President, as Chair of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I am pleased to join the Committee's Ranking Member, Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, and my distinguished colleague from Illinois, Senator Richard Durbin, in introducing the Small Business Community Partners Relief Act of 2010. This bi-partisan legislation will provide much-needed relief to Women's Business Centers, WBCs, and SBA Microloan intermediaries--two Small Business Administration, SBA, resource partners that provide critical assistance to our Nation's 29 million small businesses.

For my colleagues who may not be familiar with these programs, let me first explain the vital role of WBCs and Microloan intermediaries and the importance of aiding the small businesses these centers target.

Women's Business Centers provide quality counseling and training services to all entrepreneurs, primarily women, and especially those who are socially and economically disadvantaged. More than 110 centers across the country help more than 150,000 clients annually on a vast array of topics--from how to write a business plan to where to get financing. Many WBCs provide multilingual services and a number offer daycare services, allowing mothers with children to attend training classes.

Microloan intermediaries provide small, short-term loans to start-ups or small growing firms that cannot access credit through traditional loan programs. Like WBCs, the 160 Microloan

intermediaries throughout the nation also help entrepreneurs manage their start-up and expand while creating or saving thousands of jobs. Also like WBCs, the Microloan intermediaries tend to serve disadvantaged businesses in areas of the country that have been hit the hardest by the recession. About 48 percent of microloans go to small businesses owned by women, and about 53 percent to minority-owned small businesses.

Aiding women and minority small business owners is vital to the economic success of our nation because women-owned and minority-owned businesses are the fastest growing segments of the small business community--creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. Women-owned businesses contribute nearly $3 trillion to our economy and create or save 23 million jobs each year, according to the Center for Women's Business Research. Minority-owned firms contribute nearly $700 billion to the economy and create or save 4.7 million jobs, according to the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency.

While minority and women-owned firms do contribute greatly to the economy, they still need our help. Even though the number of minority- owned firms has grown by 35 percent, the average gross receipts for those firms dropped by 16 percent. Women-owned firms meanwhile have lower revenues and fewer employees than their male-owned counterparts-- although 6 percent of men-owned businesses have revenues of $1 million or more, only 3 percent of women-owned firms reach the $1 million marker.

In this economic downturn, minority and women-owned businesses are struggling even more than usual. When they go to their local WBC or Microloan intermediary they are finding these centers of aid and counseling struggling as well. That's because, in order to receive Federal money, the centers and intermediaries must also find matching local funds. This funding often comes from local governments, universities and private entities. But these partners have had to tighten their belts, cutting much of their funding to the WBCs and Microloan intermediaries.

Without matching funding from their local partners, some WBCs and Microloan intermediaries have had to reduce or refuse Federal money. Nine WBCs have closed or requested reduced funding in the last year and many intermediaries are struggling to keep their doors open, even in the face of record demand for their services.

The Small Business Community Partner Relief Act would enable the SBA Administrator to temporarily waive the non-Federal match funding requirement, allowing struggling WBCs and Microloan intermediaries to receive the full amount of Federal support available. This change will make it possible for the centers and intermediaries to continue serving those small businesses that need help the most in these difficult times.

I look forward to working with Ranking Member Snowe, Senator Durbin and my colleagues in the Senate to make this necessary change a reality for the hundreds of centers and intermediaries throughout the country, and the millions of small businesses that rely on these programs to help them survive, grow and create jobs.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation that will help grow the U.S. manufacturing base in alternative energy technologies, create jobs and help get our country running on clean energy.

We have known for decades that our Nation's dependence on foreign oil undermines our economic and national security.

According to the Department of Energy, New Hampshire households are some of the most petroleum dependent in the country due to our reliance on heating oil to provide heat. Almost 60 percent of homes in New Hampshire use oil for heating purposes. Many New Hampshire businesses-- large and small--are also dependent on heating oil.

In fact, thermal energy, or heat, accounts for roughly 30 percent of total U.S. energy consumption. Thermal energy is used every day by homes, businesses and industrial facilities across the country for a variety of needs--most commonly for space heating, heating water and industrial processes that require heat.

We need to move away from our dependence on fossil fuels and I am convinced that biomass, used effectively and sustainably, can help to do that by, in part, meeting our country's thermal energy needs.

Forests are one of our Nation's greatest assets. In my home State of New Hampshire, the second most forested State in the country, forestry is an important part of our economy. Forestland supports a thriving forest products industry and provides many outdoor recreational opportunities that play a key role in attracting tourists to the State. But I think greater potential exists for our forests in New Hampshire and across the country to help meet our energy challenges--using biomass to meet the heating needs of our homes, businesses and communities.

New Hampshire and a number of other States are already leading the way to address how high efficiency biomass systems can cut our energy dependence on foreign oil and support our forest industry. Communities and businesses across New Hampshire are putting our State's immense biomass resources--from forestry and agricultural residues--to use for creating electricity and thermal energy. These investments in clean, renewable biomass energy are supporting our forest industry and also creating new industries and jobs across New Hampshire.

There is so much untapped potential for biomass energy, and that is what my legislation is about.

The American Renewable Biomass Heating Act would provide an investment tax credit, ITC, of 30 percent of the cost of installing a high efficiency biomass system in commercial and industrial buildings. The tax credit would be available for biomass heating systems placed in service on or before December 31, 2013.

By incentivizing high efficiency biomass boilers and furnaces, we can help to replace our reliance on fossil fuel with clean, domestically produced renewable energy.

This bill would also put biomass on an even playing field with other alternative energy technologies and fuel sources, such as wind, solar, and geothermal. Thus far, Federal policies to promote the development and use of alternative energy have focused largely on transportation fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, and electricity from hydro, wind, and solar. My legislation puts high efficiency biomass on an even playing field with other alternative energy technologies.

Most importantly, my legislation will help jumpstart the domestic manufacturing base. For years, European countries have invested in and incentivized the development of these technologies. There is no reason why we cannot build this equipment right here in the U.S.

The bipartisan legislation I am introducing today with Senators Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich and Mike Crapo will provide the incentives businesses are looking for to invest in clean energy. Our legislation is about American power--clean energy technologies and equipment that are made right here in America and create jobs for American workers.

Mr. President, I want to thank my colleagues for joining me in introducing this important, job-creating legislation. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to pass the American Renewable Biomass Heating Act.

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