Improving Trauma Care Act of 2014

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce two separate bills to open a small portion of the Arctic coastal plain, in my home State of Alaska, to oil and gas development. I am introducing these bills because new production in northern Alaska is vital to my State's future and global energy security.

The 1.5 million acres of the Arctic coastal plain that lie within the non-wilderness portion of the 19 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are North America's greatest prospect for conventional onshore production. The U.S. Geological Survey continues to estimate that this part of the coastal plain has a mean likelihood of containing 10.4 billion barrels of oil and 8.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, as well as a reasonable chance of economically producing 16 billion barrels of oil. If produced at a rate of 1 million barrels per day, that supply could last for more than 40 years--bringing us jobs, revenues, and security in every one of them.

Today, Alaska supplies about 7 percent of U.S. crude oil. This is a 4 percent decline since I last introduced similar bills in 2011. It is an even more substantial loss compared to what we have provided in past decades, and what we could be providing today. Importantly, despite the Federal Government owning almost 70 percent of the lands in Alaska, almost all of our oil production is from State lands. The only production on Federal lands is from the Northstar project, a small man- made island that straddles state and federal waters in the Beaufort Sea.

For more than 30 years, my State has successfully balanced resource development with environmental protection. Alaskans have proven, over and over again, that these endeavors are not mutually exclusive, and with advances in technology, the footprint of development projects is only getting smaller. Yet at the Federal level, there is an astonishing refusal to acknowledge that record.

As a result, production on the North Slope continues to decline by about 6 percent annually. With new exploration and development projects on Federal lands blocked or delayed at every turn, Alaska faces a tipping point. Declining production is now threatening the continued operation of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. A closure of TAPS would shut down all northern Alaska oil production, devastating Alaska's economy, causing global oil prices to rise, and deepening our dependence on unstable petrostates throughout the world. Exploration and development in the Arctic offshore and National Petroleum Reserve- Alaska are moving forward, but these resources will not be developed without a viable way to transport them to market.

The bills I introduce today, S. 2408 and S. 2409, would disturb no more than 2,000 acres of the vast coastal plain, and one bill would not allow surface occupancy of the coastal plain, only directional drilling from outside the refuge to access the oil and gas resources. To put this in perspective, 2,000 acres is less than the size of the local Dulles Airport, or about \1/10\ of 1 percent of the refuge. Since these areas are less than 60 miles from TAPS, development in the coastal plain is the quickest, most environmentally-sound way to increase oil production in Alaska and ensure the pipeline will operate well into the future, providing jobs and supporting the economies of both Alaska and the United States.

The terms of both bills include strong protections for fish and wildlife, fish and wildlife habitat, subsistence resources, and the environment. Development could not move forward if it would cause significant adverse impacts to the coastal plain. Both bills

also return 50 percent of all revenues to the Federal Government, rather than the 10 percent allowed under current law. At approximately $100 per barrel, and given the Coastal Plain's estimate of over 10 billion barrels, there is a trillion dollars' worth of oil locked up beneath this small area in northern Alaska.

As we continue to struggle with high long-term unemployment and unsustainable national debt, we need to pursue development opportunities more than ever. The shale oil and gas boom on state and private lands in the Lower 48 has been the one shining light as our economy struggles to recover from the recession. My bills offer us a chance to produce more of our own energy, for the good of the American people, in an environmentally-friendly way. With oil hovering near $100 a barrel, with so many of our fellow citizens out of work, and with the U.S. nation still about 40 percent dependent on foreign oil--it would be foolish to once again ignore our most promising prospect for new development.

For decades, Alaskans, whom polls show overwhelmingly support development of the coastal plain, have been asking permission to explore and develop the resources located there. Technology has advanced so that it is possible to develop oil and gas from the refuge with little or no impact on the area and its wildlife.

I hope this Congress will have the common sense to allow America to help itself by developing the coastal plain's substantial resources. This is critical to my State and the nation as a whole. With this in mind, I will work to educate the members of this chamber about the opportunity we have and the tremendous benefits it would provide. I will show why such development should occur--why it must occur--and how it can benefit all of us at a time when we so desperately need good economic news.

Mr. President, I am joined today by Senators McCain, Rockefeller and Coburn in introducing a bill to respond to overwhelming and indisputable evidence of large scale cyber intrusions by the Government of China into the computer networks of private U.S. companies for the purpose of stealing valuable intellectual property and proprietary information. Such illegal and damaging behavior demands strong and immediate action.

American companies invest hundreds of billions of dollars every year in research and development. The innovation that results from those investments drives the growth of American companies and the U.S. economy. Unfortunately, our companies are having their intellectual property stolen right out from underneath them through cyberspace. According to a 2013 Center for Strategic and International Studies study, cyber theft costs American companies $100 billion annually--a staggering amount that threatens to undermine America's global competitiveness.

General Keith B. Alexander, former head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, has called the cyber theft of U.S. intellectual property ``the greatest transfer of wealth in history.''

Monday's Department of Justice indictment of 5 Chinese military officials for computer hacking, economic espionage and other offenses directed at 6 American companies confirms what earlier U.S. Government reports have documented: the culprits of cyber theft are frequently foreign governments and China is the worst offender. The indictment alleges that the defendants, members of China's People's Liberation Army, conspired to hack into the computers of U.S. companies to steal information useful to those American companies' Chinese competitors, including state-owned enterprises.

The indictments demonstrate the administration's willingness to take on cybercrime through the aggressive use of the criminal justice system. The legislation we are introducing today, a revised version of a bill we introduced last year, gives our Government another tool to impose costs on those who steal and profit from the cyber theft of American technology, trade secrets and proprietary information.

Our bill would authorize the President to direct the Treasury Department to freeze the assets of any foreign person or company, including a state owned enterprise, determined to have benefitted from the theft of U.S. technology or proprietary information stolen in cyberspace.

The Deter Cyber Theft Act would also require the Director of National Intelligence to compile an annual report on foreign economic and industrial espionage that includes: a list of foreign countries that engage in economic or industrial espionage in cyberspace against U.S. firms or individuals, including a priority watch list of the worst offenders; a list of U.S. technologies or proprietary information targeted by such espionage, and, to the extent possible, a list of such information that has been stolen; a list of items manufactured or produced or services or services provided using such stolen technologies or proprietary information; a list of foreign companies, including state-owned firms, that benefit from such theft; details of the espionage activities of foreign countries; and actions taken by the DNI and other Federal agencies to combat industrial or economic espionage in cyberspace.

As Dennis C. Blair, former director of national intelligence and co- chair of the IP Commission report has said, ``Jawboning alone won't work. Something has to change China's calculus.'' We need to call out those who are responsible for cyber theft and empower the President to hit the thieves where it hurts most--in their wallets.

If foreign governments, like the Chinese government, want to continue to deny their involvement in cyber theft despite the proof, that is one thing. We can't stop the denials. But we aren't without remedies. We can make sure that the companies that benefit from cyber theft, including state-owned companies, pay the price. Blocking these companies from doing business in the United States will send the message that we have had enough.

We worked closely with the administration in developing this bill. I believe it is an important complement to their recent aggressive efforts to respond to economic espionage by members of the Chinese military.

In light of the Snowden leaks, some have charged that it is inconsistent of the U.S. to criticize China's campaign to steal our intellectual property

through cyberspace. Let's be clear. Attempts to equate China's actions and our own are false. The United States economy is built on the hard work and innovation of American entrepreneurs who are free to think for themselves, develop new products and deliver them to the world. China's actions, on the other hand, reveal a country that is satisfied with theft as a means of economic growth while ironically, suppressing the freedoms that encourage new ideas and innovation. The Snowden revelations are about espionage; the United States does not steal intellectual property for economic gain.

I urge the speedy enactment of the Deter Cyber Theft Act.

Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the important issue of foster care and the need to recruit, retain and support foster families. What better time than during National Foster Care Month. Foster parents make a significant and meaningful difference in the lives of so many vulnerable children by opening their hearts and homes. But we continue to struggle to recruit and retain enough foster families to ensure each child is placed in a family-like setting. This is particularly true for Native American kids who are in foster care at rates dramatically higher than others.

Caring for a child in foster care can be more expensive than caring for one's own biological children. Children placed into foster care often have experienced significant emotional and physical trauma and have higher incidences of medical and behavioral health issues, resulting in additional costs to parents. Unfortunately, too many caring foster parents struggle financially because Federal and State programs that reimburse parents for a child's daily living costs do not provide for the real cost of caring for the child. A 2007 study of State foster care programs, conducted by the University of Maryland School of Social Work, Children's Rights, and the National Foster Parent Association, found that current foster care rates would have to increase on average 36 percent nationwide to provide for basic care.

A 2002 report by the Department of Health and Human Services' Inspector General found that foster parents' expenses often exceed foster care reimbursement rates, leading foster parents to pay out-of- pocket to meet foster children's basic needs. Some benefits already exist in the current tax code to support these families, but few are aware of their existence or utilize them.

Today I am introducing the Foster Care Tax Credit Act to provide additional tax relief for foster families to help cover the actual costs of caring for a foster child. This legislation also requests additional outreach and education by the Department of Health and Human Services to better equip State and Tribal foster agencies and foster families to take advantage of all tax benefits available. I thank my colleague, Senator Kaine, for joining me in this effort.

As we continue working towards the goals of improving child welfare, I hope more of my colleagues will join me in seeking to provide additional support for families caring for foster children.

Mr. President, I wish to announce that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will meet on July 22, 2014, at 10 a.m., in room SD-430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Coal Miners' Struggle for Justice: How Unethical Legal and Medical Practices Stack the Deck Against Black Lung Claimants.''

For further information regarding this meeting, please contact Sindey Holcomb of the committee staff on (202) 228-1455.

Mr. President, I wish to announce that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will meet in executive session on Wednesday, July 23, 2014, at 10 a.m. in room SD-430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building to mark up H.R. 2083, Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act; S. 315, Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research and Education, MD-CARE, Amendments of 2013; S. 2154, Emergency Medical Services for Children Reauthorization Act of 2014; S. 531, Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Act; S. 2405, Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act; S. 2406, Improving Trauma Care Act of 2014; S. 2539, Traumatic Brain Injury Reauthorization Act of 2014; S. 2511, A bill to amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974; as well as any additional nominations cleared for action.

For further information regarding this meeting, please contact the Committee at (202) 224-5375.

Mr. President, I wish to announce that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will meet on July 24, 2014, at 10 a.m., in room SD-430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``The Role of States in Higher Education.''

For further information regarding this meeting, please contact Aissa Canchola of the committee staff on (202) 224-2009.

Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act along with Senators Kirk, Murray, and Isakson, and also the Improving Trauma Care Act, which includes burn injuries in the definition of trauma.

These two bills, S. 2405 and S. 2406, build on my previous efforts to improve trauma care, which is an essential component of our care system. Timely and effective trauma care is critical to ensuring lifesaving interventions for those who have serious unintentional injuries. Such injuries are the leading cause of death for children and adults under 44, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC.

I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle toward expeditious passage of these bills.