New Philadelphia, Illinois, Study Act

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public, that a business meeting has been scheduled before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The business meeting will be held on Thursday, November 13, 2014, at 3 p.m. in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Building.

The purpose of the Business Meeting is to consider the following legislation:

1. S. 2638, a bill to amend the Natural Gas Act to provide

certainty with respect to the timing of Department of Energy

decisions to approve or deny applications to export natural

gas. (Mr. Hoeven)

2. S. 2379, a bill to approve and implement the Klamath

Basin agreements, to improve natural resource management,

support economic development, and sustain agricultural

production in the Klamath River Basin in the public interest

and the interest of the United States, and for other

purposes. (Mr. Wyden)

3. S. 1784, a bill to improve timber management on Oregon

and California Railroad and Coos Bay Wagon Road grant land,

and for other purposes. (Mr. Wyden)

4. S. 2602, a bill to establish the Mountains to Sound

Greenway National Heritage Area in the State of Washington.

(Ms. Cantwell)

5. S. 182, a bill to provide for the unencumbering of title

to non-Federal land owned by the city of Anchorage, Alaska,

for the purposes of economic development by conveyance of the

Federal reversion interest to the City. (Ms. Murkowski)

6. S. 776, a bill to establish the Columbine-Hondo

Wilderness in the State of New Mexico, to provide for the

conveyance of certain parcels of National Forest System land

in the State, and for other purposes. (Mr. Udall of New

Mexico)

7. S. 841, a bill to designate certain Federal land in the

San Juan National Forest in the State of Colorado as

wilderness, and for other purposes. (Mr. Bennet)

8. S. 1419, a bill to promote research, development, and

demonstration of marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy

technologies, and for other purposes. (Mr. Wyden)

9. S. 1971, a bill to establish an interagency coordination

committee or subcommittee with the leadership of the

Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior,

focused on the nexus between energy and water production,

use, and efficiency, and for other purposes. (Ms. Murkowski).

10. S. 398, a bill to establish the Commission to Study the

Potential Creation of a National Women's History Museum, and

for other purposes. (Ms. Collins)

11. S. 2031, a bill to amend the Act to provide for the

establishment of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in

the State of Wisconsin, and for other purposes, to adjust the

boundary to that National Lakeshore to include the lighthouse

known as Ashland Harbor Breakwater Light, and for other

purposes. (Ms. Baldwin)

12. S. 1750, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the

Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into

agreements with States and political subdivisions of States

providing for the continued operation, in whole or in part,

of public land, units of the National Park System, units of

the National Wildlife Refuge System, and units of the

National Forest System in the State during any period in

which the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of

Agriculture is unable to maintain normal level of operations

at the units due to a lapse in appropriations, and for other

purposes. (Mr. Flake)

13. S. 1966, a bill to provide for the restoration of the

economic and ecological health of National Forest System land

and rural communities, and for other purposes. (Mr. Barrasso)

14. S. 2104, a bill to require the Director of the National

Park Service to refund to States all State funds that were

used to reopen and temporarily operate a unit of the National

Park System during the October 2013 shutdown. (Mr. Flake)

15. H.R. 1526, an Act to restore employment and educational

opportunities in, and improve the economic stability of,

counties containing National Forest System land, while also

reducing Forest Service management costs, by ensuring that

such counties have a dependable source of revenue from

National Forest System land, to provide a temporary extension

of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination

Act of 2000, and for other purposes. (Rep. Hastings)

16. H.R. 885, an Act to expand the boundary of the San

Antonio Missions National Historical Park, and for other

purposes. (Rep. Doggett)

17. S. 1328, an bill to authorize the Secretary of the

Interior to conduct a special resource study of the

archeological site and surrounding land of the New

Philadelphia town site in the State of Illinois, and for

other purposes. (Mr. Kirk and Mr. Durbin)

18. H.R. 1241, an Act to facilitate a land exchange

involving certain National Forest System lands in the Inyo

National Forest, and for other purposes. (Rep. Cook)

19. S. 1437, a bill to provide for the release of the

reversionary interest held by the United States in certain

land conveyed in 1954 by the United States, acting through

the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, to the State

of Oregon for the establishment of the Hermiston Agriculture

Research and Extension Center of Oregon State University in

Hermiston, Oregon. (Mr. Wyden)

20. S. 2873, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the

Interior to acknowledge contributions at units of the

National Park System. (Mr. Coburn)

Because of the limited time available for the Business Meeting, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the business meeting record should send it to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, 304 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510-6150, or by email to [email protected].

For further information, please contact Sam Fowler at (202) 224-7571.

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Protecting Our Youth From Dangerous Synthetic Drugs Act of 2013 along with my colleagues and friends, Senators Klobuchar, Manchin and Schumer. This bill will provide law enforcement and prosecutors with an important new tool to address the growing threat posed by dangerous, synthetic drugs.

Synthetic drugs are unregulated substances designed by scientists to mimic the effects of controlled substances. They are packaged in a manner which is intended to appeal to our Nation's youth and are sold at gas stations, head shops and over the Internet.

Manufacturers of these products boldly seek to circumvent Federal law by marketing their merchandise as innocuous items like potpourri, incense, bath salts and plant food and stating that they are ``not intended for human consumption.'' Make no mistake; the individuals who produce, distribute and sell these products are nothing more than drug traffickers who seek to profit from the human use of these drug products.

When Congress outlawed several of these synthetic drugs last year, traffickers did not stop producing them. Instead, they made slight alterations to the chemical structure of the illegal drugs to skirt the law. By doing this, the traffickers produced ``controlled substance analogues.''

The bill I am introducing today will give law enforcement the tools they need to prosecute individuals who produce and distribute controlled substance analogues.

Many of the controlled substance analogues on the market today are designed to mimic the effects of THC, the principal chemical in marijuana. The Monitoring the Future survey, which tracks the drug- using behaviors of adolescents, began studying the use of synthetic marijuana in in 2011. Their 2012 report found that 11.3 percent of 12th graders had used synthetic marijuana in the prior 12 months. Aside from alcohol and tobacco, synthetic marijuana was the second most widely used drug among 12th graders after marijuana.

There are many other ``families'' of controlled substance analogues which

have been encountered in the market place. They mimic the effects of drugs like ecstasy, PCP and LSD and therefore produce strong stimulant and/or hallucinogenic effects when ingested.

Altogether, there are an estimated 200 controlled substance analogues available today. The threat is global and is rapidly expanding.

Fortunately, the Obama Administration has made progress combatting this threat. Two nationwide operations targeting designer synthetic drugs--one in 2012 dubbed Operation LogJam and the other which culminated approximately two weeks ago named Operation Synergy-- demonstrate this progress. These operations resulted in at least 318 arrests; 681 executed search warrants, including at least 29 for drug manufacturing facilities; $93 million in cash and assets seized; and the removal of 10 tons of synthetic drugs from the supply chain.

Today, I am introducing a bill that will put these drug traffickers on notice that if they seek to develop products containing controlled substance analogues that put our nation's youth in harm's way, then they will be brought to justice. This will be accomplished by creating a new tool by which the administration can designate, and publish, an administrative list of outlawed controlled substance analogues.

First, the Protecting Our Youth from Dangerous Synthetic Drugs Act of 2013 will establish an inter-agency committee of scientists, headed by the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, which will be responsible for establishing and maintaining an administrative list of controlled substance analogues. The Committee is structured so that it can respond quickly and robustly to the threat.

Second, DEA officials have informed my staff that virtually all of these controlled substance analogues arrive as bulk powders from outside our borders. My bill will make it illegal to import a controlled substance analogue on the list unless the importation is intended for non-human use.

Third, the bill directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review, and if appropriate, amend the federal sentencing guidelines for violations of the Controlled Substances Act pertaining to controlled substance analogues.

Finally, it is important to note that controlled substance analogues are not controlled substances, meaning that the registration, reporting and recordkeeping requirements of the Controlled Substances Act do not apply to those who seek to perform bona fide scientific research or use a controlled substance analogue for non-human industrial applications.

This bill sends a strong message to drug traffickers who continue to circumvent our Nation's laws. Congress recognizes that no matter how you alter the chemical structure of synthetic drugs to get around the law, they remain dangerous and should not be available for human consumption.

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

Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of myself and Senator Schumer to introduce legislation to ensure that our seniors and disabled citizens have timely access to home health services under the Medicare program.

Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nurse midwives and clinical nurse specialists are all playing increasingly important roles in the delivery of health care services, particularly in rural and medically underserved areas of our country where physicians may be in scarce supply. In recognition of their growing role, Congress, in 1997, authorized Medicare to begin paying for physician services provided by these health professionals as long as those services are within their scope of practice under state law.

Despite their expanded role, these advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants are currently unable to order home health services for their Medicare patients. Under current law, only physicians are allowed to certify or initiate home health care for Medicare patients, even though they may not be as familiar with the patient's case as the non-physician provider. In fact, in many cases, the certifying physician may not even have a relationship with the patient and must rely upon the input of the nurse practitioner, physician assistant, clinical nurse specialist or certified nurse midwife to order the medically necessary home health care. At best, this requirement adds more paperwork and a number of unnecessary steps to the process before home health care can be provided. At worst, it can lead to needless delays in getting Medicare patients the home health care they need simply because a physician is not readily available to sign the form.

The inability of advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants to order home health care is particularly burdensome for Medicare beneficiaries in medically underserved areas, where these providers may be the only health care professionals available. For example, needed home health care was delayed by more than a week for a Medicare patient in Nevada because the physician assistant was the only health care professional serving the patient's small town, and the supervising physician was located 60 miles away.

A nurse practitioner told me about another case in which her collaborating physician had just lost her father and was not available. As a consequence, the patient experienced a two-day delay in getting needed care while they waited to get the paperwork signed by another physician. Another nurse practitioner pointed out that it is ridiculous that she can order physical and occupational therapy in a subacute facility but cannot order home health care. One of her patients had to wait eleven days after being discharged before his physical and occupational therapy could continue simply because the home health agency had difficulty finding a physician to certify the continuation of the same therapy that the nurse practitioner had been able to authorize when the patient was in the facility.

The Home Health Care planning Improvement Act will help to ensure that our Medicare beneficiaries get the home health care that they need when they need it by allowing physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists and certified nurse midwives to order home health services. Our legislation is supported by the National Association for Home Care and Hospice, the American Nurses Association, the American Academy of Physician Assistants, the American College of Nurse Practitioners, the American College of Nurse Midwives, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the Visiting Nurse Associations of America. I urge all of my colleagues to join us as cosponsors of this important legislation.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The hearing will be held on Tuesday, August 1, 2013, at 9:30 a.m., in room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the November 6, 2012 referendum on the political status of Puerto Rico and the Administration's response.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record may do so by sending it to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510-6150, or by e-mail to danielle_deraney@energy .senate.gov.

For further information, please contact Allen Stayman at (202) 224- 7865 or Danielle Deraney at (202) 224-1219.

committee on energy and natural resources

Mr. President, the Subcommittee on National Parks has previously announced a hearing to be held on Wednesday, July 31, at 2:30 p.m. to consider several bills. In addition to the bills previously announced, the subcommittee will also hear testimony on:

S. 1328, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to

conduct a special resource study of the archeological site

and surrounding land of the New Philadelphia town site in the

State of Illinois, and for other purposes, and

S. 1339, to reauthorize the Ohio & Erie Canal National

Heritage Canalway.

For further information, please contact David Brooks at (202) 224- 9863 or John Assini at (202) 224-9313.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join with Senator Durbin to introduce a bill in support of New Philadelphia, the first town founded by a freed African-American. This bipartisan legislation directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of New Philadelphia to determine the feasibility of designating the area as a unit of the National Park System.

In 1836, Frank McWorter platted and officially registered the town of New Philadelphia, the first known town founded by a freed African- American before the Civil War. After saving money from neighboring labor jobs to purchase his own freedom and the freedom of fifteen additional family members, Mr. McWorter purchased a plot of land between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers in Pike County to establish New Philadelphia. The town became a station along the Underground Railroad and was a community where European-American, freeborn African- Americans and formerly enslaved individuals were able to live together during a time of intense racial strife.

In 2005, the town of New Philadelphia was designated as a National Historic Place and in 2009 the town was designated a National Historic Landmark. Further designating New Philadelphia as a unit of the National Park System will ensure that its historical legacy is preserved as an inspiring example of freedom and opportunity for future generations.

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