Salton Sea Projects Improvements Act

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the ``Korean War Divided Families Reunification Act'' with my colleague Senator Sullivan. This bipartisan piece of legislation would open opportunities for Korean Americans to be included in reunions with their relatives who remain in North Korea. Many first generation Korean Americans, now in their 80's and 90's, are waiting to be reunited with their parents, spouses, children, siblings, and cousins. They should not have to wait any longer.

One of the tragic legacies of the Korean War is the permanent separation of Korean families. Sixty-eight years ago, the United States, People's Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea agreed to an armistice which drew a new border between North Korea from South Korea. Since then, there has been little contact between South Koreans and their family members who remained in North Korea, and almost no contact between Korean Americans and their loved ones in North Korea.

North and South Korea first agreed to hold reunions of divided families in 1985. There have been 21 face-to face reunions and multiple video-link reunions, which have given approximately 24,500 Koreans the opportunity to briefly reunite with loved ones. There is no official channel, however, for Korean Americans to participate in these reunions.

Many Korean Americans long for an opportunity to meet their North Korean relatives. My constituent, Carol Li from Honolulu, wants to reconnect with her family's past and learn more about where her grandparents were from. Carol's maternal grandparents fled from North Korea to the South during the Korean War, leaving behind their siblings. Unfortunately, her grandparents passed away before they were able to reconnect with their siblings who remained in North Korea. While she was teaching English in South Korea, she grew more curious about her North Korean relatives and the war that divided them. With passage of this legislation, Carol hopes she can participate in future reunions to meet her North Korean relatives. She deserves the opportunity to do so.

The legislation I am introducing would open official channels between Korean Americans and their families in North Korea by directing the U.S. Secretary of State to consult with his counterpart in South Korea to identify opportunities for Korean Americans to participate in future family reunions. It also directs the State Department's Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues to consult the Korean American community on efforts to reunite families, including opportunities for video reunions.

Time is of the essence for those who have been seeking the opportunity to reconnect with their loved ones for nearly seven decades. Thanks to the leadership of Rep. Grace Meng of New York, the House of Representatives passed this legislation on July 19, 2021 by a vote of 415 to 0. It is time for the Senate to act. I call on my Senate colleagues to swiftly pass this bill. Thank you.

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan ``Salton Sea Projects Improvement Act'' to expand the Bureau of Reclamation's ability to participate and invest in projects at the Salton Sea.

This legislation would ensure Reclamation can meaningfully partner with state, local, and Tribal governments to address both the public health and environmental crises at the Salton Sea.

Under current law, the Bureau of Reclamation is only able to engage in projects that have a research focus. This means that Reclamation can only engage in projects to research how to protect habitat, enhance fisheries, enhance recreational opportunities, or control salinity. Reclamation also operates under a $10 million authorization.

This effectively prohibits Reclamation from participating in the Salton Sea Management Program run by California.

This legislation would expand Reclamation's authority so they can participate in large-scale projects, even if they don't have a research focus. Projects could improve air and water quality, restore fish and wildlife habitat, and improve public health at the Salton Sea. It would also increase Reclamation's authorization for Salton Sea efforts from $10 million to $250 million.

The Salton Sea, located in southern Riverside and northern Imperial counties, is California's largest inland body of water. It formed after Colorado River floodwater breached an irrigation canal and flowed into the Salton Sink.

The current Salton Sea maintains water levels from irrigation runoff but has been shrinking for many years. The water has become increasingly salty, so much so that its salinity is 50% higher than the Pacific Ocean. This has led to major water quality issues with

devastating impacts to the Salton Sea's ecosystem, which serves as critical habitat for migratory waterfowl and other species.

But this ecological crisis has even more widespread impacts. The declining water levels have also exposed wide swaths of lakebed at the Salton Sea, polluting the air with dust and pesticides. The largely disadvantaged communities who live nearby suffer from toxic, poisonous air and experience higer levels of related health conditions like asthma.

It is an environmental and public health crisis, and we need to ensure that the Bureau of Reclamation has the authority it need to partner with the State of California, Tribal and local governments, and nonprofits to adequately address these crises.

I thank Senator Feinstein for co-leading this bill with me, and for her decades of efforts at the Salton Sea. I also thank Congressmen Ruiz and Vargas for their relentless leadership to address this environmental hazard.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the bipartisan ``Salton Sea Projects Improvements Act'' as quickly as possible.

Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan ``Salton Sea Projects Improvement Act'' to expand the Bureau of Reclamation's ability to participate and invest in projects at the Salton Sea.

This legislation would ensure Reclamation can meaningfully partner with state, local, and Tribal governments to address both the public health and environmental crises at the Salton Sea.

Under current law, the Bureau of Reclamation is only able to engage in projects that have a research focus. This means that Reclamation can only engage in projects to research how to protect habitat, enhance fisheries, enhance recreational opportunities, or control salinity. Reclamation also operates under a $10 million authorization.

This effectively prohibits Reclamation from participating in the Salton Sea Management Program run by California.

This legislation would expand Reclamation's authority so they can participate in large-scale projects, even if they don't have a research focus. Projects could improve air and water quality, restore fish and wildlife habitat, and improve public health at the Salton Sea. It would also increase Reclamation's authorization for Salton Sea efforts from $10 million to $250 million.

The Salton Sea, located in southern Riverside and northern Imperial counties, is California's largest inland body of water. It formed after Colorado River floodwater breached an irrigation canal and flowed into the Salton Sink.

The current Salton Sea maintains water levels from irrigation runoff but has been shrinking for many years. The water has become increasingly salty, so much so that its salinity is 50% higher than the Pacific Ocean. This has led to major water quality issues with

devastating impacts to the Salton Sea's ecosystem, which serves as critical habitat for migratory waterfowl and other species.

But this ecological crisis has even more widespread impacts. The declining water levels have also exposed wide swaths of lakebed at the Salton Sea, polluting the air with dust and pesticides. The largely disadvantaged communities who live nearby suffer from toxic, poisonous air and experience higer levels of related health conditions like asthma.

It is an environmental and public health crisis, and we need to ensure that the Bureau of Reclamation has the authority it need to partner with the State of California, Tribal and local governments, and nonprofits to adequately address these crises.

I thank Senator Feinstein for co-leading this bill with me, and for her decades of efforts at the Salton Sea. I also thank Congressmen Ruiz and Vargas for their relentless leadership to address this environmental hazard.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the bipartisan ``Salton Sea Projects Improvements Act'' as quickly as possible.

Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the Strengthening the Vaccines for Children Program Act of 2021 with Senator Shelley Moore Capito. This bill seeks to protect children and their communities from preventable illness during the pandemic and for the long term by making vaccines more accessible. Similar bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Representatives Kim Schrier, John Joyce, G.K. Butterfield, and David McKinley.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, routine childhood vaccination rates are down, as parents have sought to avoid visits to the doctor and other medical care for their children for fear of catching or spreading COVID-19. These lower immunizations rates raise the very real possibility of a secondary outbreak of an infectious disease such as measles, mumps, or whooping cough. The Vaccines for Children (VFC) program provides federally purchased vaccines to approximately half of all children in the United States, including children who are enrolled in Medicaid or who are uninsured or underinsured, and plays a critical role in ensuring high rates of childhood vaccination. As children return to school in person this fall, the VFC program will be critical to helping children catch up on their routine immunizations to prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. However, much more must be done to update and improve the VFC program to better reflect the challenges of administering vaccines today.

Our bipartisan legislation would modernize the VFC program, addressing barriers to participation among families and their pediatricians. As such, this bill would extend eligibility to children enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program, streamlining and filling a gap in program administration. The bill would also ensure that Medicaid can pay appropriately for the administration and counseling of modern, multicomponent vaccines, helping to address vaccine hesitancy. Lastly, the bill includes new reporting requirements to identify disparities and pockets of low vaccination rates.

This legislation has already passed unanimously in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, demonstrating broad, bipartisan support for improving the VFC program and addressing lagging childhood vaccination rates. I look forward to working with Sen. Capito, as well as Representatives Schrier, Joyce, Butterfield, and McKinley towards passage of this legislation in both chambers in the near future.