Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act of 2013

Mr. President, as Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I remain focused on the needs of small businesses. Much of what we do on the committee involves overseeing the Small Business Administration's contracting, counseling, and capital programs, and we are always looking for ways to improve them. As our country slowly recovers the economic downturn, one of the most pressing issues facing small business owners is access to capital.

In the past two fiscal years alone, the Small Business Administration, SBA, supported over $30 billion in loans to approximately 60,000 small businesses each year through its 7(a) and 504/CDC lending programs. As of September 2012, there were over 2,400 SBA lenders nationwide. While the SBA currently releases some information publicly about SBA lending activity, it is extremely difficult to find and comprehend if you are not an SBA lending professional. If a small business, mayor, or governor wants to determine SBA lending activity in their area, they lack the ability to do so easily.

I come to the floor today to introduce a bill that would increase accountability at the SBA in its lending reporting activity. The Communicating Lender Activity Reports from the Small Business Administration, CLEAR SBA, Act would require the SBA to establish an online database to provide consumers with more transparent, user- friendly data about their local SBA lenders.

More specifically, the CLEAR SBA Act would require the SBA to post a user friendly Lender Activity Index on the SBA website. Users will be able to access the following data for any given bank: name of bank or Certified Development Company, CDC, number of SBA loans each lender made, total dollar amount of SBA loans of each bank or CDC, zip code of lender activity, not where every single loan was made, but a list of every zip code where the bank has made an SBA loan, industries lent to, hospitality, manufacturing, service, software, etc., stage of business cycle, new, or existing business, and business specific information, i.e. Women Owned Businesses, Minority Owned Businesses, or Veteran Owned Businesses. Data will be available for the year to date and users will be able to compare to 3 previous fiscal years. Both quarterly and annual data will be included.

I would like to emphasize that this proposal has already received bipartisan support. In the 112th Congress, the SBA Lender Activity Index was included as a provision in Title II of the SUCCESS Act. On July 12, 2012, the Senate voted on the SUCCESS Act. On July 12, 2012, the Senate voted on the SUCCESS Act as part of Senate Amendment 2521 to S. 2237, the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act of 2012. Although the amendment came up short of the 60 votes needed to end debate, the SUCCESS Act received a strong 57 bipartisan votes, including five of my Republican colleagues. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together in support of this common sense proposal to increase transparency and accountability at the SBA.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act of 2013.

As we continue to find ways to tackle the important issues of this nation's long-term future, we begin this new congress with an opportunity to take responsibility. This includes the ways we look to safeguard our land. Today, I am introducing the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act as part of our collective mission to ensure a prosperous nation for future generations.

We all know our land has a deeper worth than the goods we have cultivated or extracted from beneath the earth. It is our heritage. And when a piece of our heritage is lost, we do not simply lose its future value in dollars. We also lose the wildlife habitat and the open areas that may be enjoyed by people from around the world, on top of the very personal value it has held for generations of landowners. It is our job in government, as stewards of the land, to safeguard this precious gift for our grandchildren and to provide support to the farmers, ranchers and other hard-working landowners who rely on it to make a living.

For this reason we have decided to provide targeted income tax relief to small farmers and ranchers who donate their land under a qualified conservation easement. The provision increases the deduction amount eligible farmers and ranchers may receive for charitable contributions of qualified conservation easements by raising the adjusted gross income limitation from 50 percent to 100 percent and extending the carryover period from 5 years to 15 years. For all other landowners, the AGI limitation was raised from 30 percent to 50 percent. This provision was included in the fiscal cliff package and will expire at the end of this year. The bill before you, the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act of 2013, will make this valuable incentive permanent.

Conversation easements have been established as an effective land preservation method across the country. In Montana, we currently have over 2.1 million acres covered by conservation easements. To some, that may seem like a large amount, but this is Montana, and those easements are only 2.2 percent of the total state land area. But we leverage far more value out of these easements because they are often located within or next to large tracts of public lands. In Montana, we fully recognize the importance of using these easements to protect our lands. Now is the time to help my country and my State to do all they can.

This legislative body, the individual States, and the Nation together should stand up for future generations and declare that the time for land preservation is now. I believe that we should do all we can to help landowners afford to choose conservation and preservation, and this bill is a step in the right direction. Let us get rid of the uncertainty that comes with temporary provisions and build on the success of what we have already begun to do. Let us pass the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act of 2013.

As we continue to find ways to tackle the important issues of this nation's long-term future, we begin this new congress with an opportunity to take responsibility. This includes the ways we look to safeguard our land. Today, I am introducing the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act as part of our collective mission to ensure a prosperous nation for future generations.

We all know our land has a deeper worth than the goods we have cultivated or extracted from beneath the earth. It is our heritage. And when a piece of our heritage is lost, we do not simply lose its future value in dollars. We also lose the wildlife habitat and the open areas that may be enjoyed by people from around the world, on top of the very personal value it has held for generations of landowners. It is our job in government, as stewards of the land, to safeguard this precious gift for our grandchildren and to provide support to the farmers, ranchers and other hard-working landowners who rely on it to make a living.

For this reason we have decided to provide targeted income tax relief to small farmers and ranchers who donate their land under a qualified conservation easement. The provision increases the deduction amount eligible farmers and ranchers may receive for charitable contributions of qualified conservation easements by raising the adjusted gross income limitation from 50 percent to 100 percent and extending the carryover period from 5 years to 15 years. For all other landowners, the AGI limitation was raised from 30 percent to 50 percent. This provision was included in the fiscal cliff package and will expire at the end of this year. The bill before you, the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act of 2013, will make this valuable incentive permanent.

Conversation easements have been established as an effective land preservation method across the country. In Montana, we currently have over 2.1 million acres covered by conservation easements. To some, that may seem like a large amount, but this is Montana, and those easements are only 2.2 percent of the total state land area. But we leverage far more value out of these easements because they are often located within or next to large tracts of public lands. In Montana, we fully recognize the importance of using these easements to protect our lands. Now is the time to help my country and my State to do all they can.

This legislative body, the individual States, and the Nation together should stand up for future generations and declare that the time for land preservation is now. I believe that we should do all we can to help landowners afford to choose conservation and preservation, and this bill is a step in the right direction. Let us get rid of the uncertainty that comes with temporary provisions and build on the success of what we have already begun to do. Let us pass the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act.

Mr. President, I support efforts to provide permanent enhanced conservation tax incentives for family farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who make charitable contributions of land for conservation purposes. As a cosponsor of the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act, S. 526, I am a strong supporter of these valuable tools for protecting significant natural and historic resources on privately owned lands.

These incentives expired at the end of 2013 and are among the so- called extenders--tax provisions that are routinely extended each time they expire. Making these provisions permanent would benefit wildlife, enhance hunting, fishing and shooting access, and keep working lands functioning and intact.

Specifically, the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act would permanently increase the allowable deduction for charitable contributions of property for conservation purposes. The maximum deduction for individuals would increase from 30 percent to 50 percent of adjusted gross income, AGI. Farmers and ranchers would be allowed a maximum deduction of up to 100 percent of AGI. The bill would also allow any unused deduction to be carried forward for up to 15 years to help donors receive the full benefit of their contribution.

When this incentive was in place, it supported donations of conservation easements in my home State of Maine. In 2012, a landowner donated a conservation easement on a 20-acre property in Machiasport, which is home to centuries-old cultural artifacts, including petroglyphs. In addition to being a spiritual site for Maine's Passamaquoddy tribe, this property allows people to explore the State's precolonial history and provides access for local fishermen to utilize valuable clam flats.

Another success story is from 2013 in Harpswell, where a landowner donated a conservation easement on a 44-acre island property in the heart of Casco Bay. The easement provides public access to a scenic peninsula where visitors can picnic, boat, and kayak. Due to this generous donation, Casco Bay is experiencing increased recreational use while also protecting critical habitats for many species of wildlife including shorebirds, herons, and bald eagles.

Continuing the enhanced conservation tax incentives would assist in the conservation of thousands of additional acres and provide a whole host of community benefits--protecting historical features, securing economic opportunities, enhancing recreational access, and preserving valuable wildlife habitat--in 2014 and beyond.

I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.

Mr. President, today I introduce the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act along with Senators Whitehouse, Cardin, Klobuchar, Franken, Warren, and Cowan.

In December 1989, Liberia became engulfed in a devastating 7-year civil war, which killed over 150,000 people, displaced more than half the population, and destroyed the country's infrastructure. Thousands of Liberians who were forced from their homes sought refuge in the United States and in 1991, were granted Temporary Protected Status, TPS. Since that time, the status of many of these refugees, as well as many of those who fled to the United States during Liberia's second civil war, 1999-2003, has been extended through renewals of both TPS and Deferred Enforced Departure, DED.

America is now home to these law-abiding and tax-paying Liberians. They came here to escape violence and are strengthening our communities. Many now have children of their own who are U.S. citizens, some of whom serve in the U.S. military. They are here legally, and they continue to work hard and play by the rules.

We are currently less than 20 days away from the expiration of DED on March 31, 2013. In the short term, I have been joined by several colleagues in urging the Administration to extend DED so Liberians who have lived here legally do not face deportation.

The Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act, which I have introduced every Congress since 1999, offers a more long-term solution. It seeks to provide a path to citizenship for qualifying Liberian refugees. After decades of perennial uncertainty about whether they will be able to stay in their communities or whether their families will be split up, this bill would give eligible Liberians the opportunity to apply for legal permanent residency, and begin the process of finally becoming citizens.

Currently, a bipartisan group of my Senate colleagues is working towards a comprehensive immigration reform bill. I look forward to working with them and others to include the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act in immigration reform. I thank Senators Whitehouse, Cardin, Klobuchar, Franken, Warren, and Cowan for cosponsoring this bill and urge our colleagues to join us in taking the next steps to finally provide a path to citizenship for qualifying Liberians.