Floor Statements

I really appreciate the words of Senator Schatz, which are spot-on. People are so frustrated right now with Congress, and it does not take a Ph.D. in political science to figure out why common Americans of all backgrounds are frustrated with Congress. It is because people are frustrated with business as usual here in the Senate and the House. In this case, as Senator Schatz points to, here we are at the end of the 113th Congress facing a $1 trillion spending bill--a bill with funding that is critical to our national defense. It is critical to the health and well-being of Americans. It is critical to the strength of our community.

I know the sincerity and passion with which Senate and House negotiators have been working to get this done. They have been focusing on making sure the American public has those critical services that we need. I give tribute to many of the leadership in this body for working on it. Senate leaders should get credit, also--Barbara Mikulski for holding the line on so many critical priorities, for putting in this trillion dollar spending plan some very important items that should arouse the gratitude of many people. They also stood up against, fought, and prevented from getting into this some very extreme proposals. But to the many people watching this unfold in New Jersey, in Hawaii, and across this country, what they are also seeing, unfortunately, is a bill passed with policies pushed by very connected special interests--special interests with armies of high paid lobbyists looking out for their own protection. There are special interests with armies of high-paid lobbyists looking out for their own protections and looking to roll back commonsense protections for people who cannot hire those high-priced lobbyists or make donations to political candidates and elected officials.

This omnibus--this CRromnibus, as it is called--is a jagged, bitter pill for anyone to swallow.

I will start with the provision that Senator Schatz mentioned, the provision that is rolling back aspects of Dodd-Frank. Risky transactions involving asset-backed derivatives were at the heart of a 2008 fiscal crisis. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas estimated that the financial crisis cost the United States between $6 and $14 trillion. This amounts to $50,000 to $120,000 for every U.S. household or the equivalent of 40 to 90 percent of 1 year's economic output. It was cataclysmic.

I don't need economists to describe the pain that Americans felt. I saw it myself. I felt it as a mayor of a big city in America--Newark, NJ--New Jersey's largest city. When the Nation goes through a recession, rural and urban areas, vulnerable populations, people living at the margins go through a cataclysmic depression. Many Americans,

even today, remain unemployed or underemployed and are still struggling to make ends meet because of the risky behaviors we saw within the financial industry.

Now, Dodd-Frank--this Wall Street protection act--was passed to enhance consumer protection and increase safeguards against risky activities so we, as a country, do not go through this again. Dodd- Frank is not perfect. I am the first to admit there are ways to change it and improve it and implement its provisions, frankly, that still have yet to be fully implemented.

Changes to financial regulations should be done through a much more transparent process and in the public eye. We should openly debate these issues on the floor of the House and the Senate. It should not be done like this was, behind closed doors and definitely through what they call a must-pass omnibus bill. This is wrong.

Here we are in the last moments on an omnibus spending bill with a provision which goes to the heart of protecting American taxpayers from the risky, reckless schemes that helped to launch the crisis in the first place.

This provision is literally called the Prohibition Against the Federal Government Bailouts of Swap Entities, which ensures taxpayer dollars will not be used for the more risky Wall Street speculation and gambling. It looks to make sure that Americans are on the hook for the risky gambling of a few people seeking to make extraordinary gains.

I am outraged. I am frustrated that we are not on the floor debating this, and, instead, are having this put into a bill that everyone says must pass.

There are arguments on both sides that we should be having. If the provisions of Dodd-Frank come up, we should discuss them. The public should see it and know about it.

I will not condemn the entire financial services industry, and, indeed, we need in this country a robust network of financial institutions that support the vibrant economic activity in the United States. However, we must ensure that the necessary and important protections that shield taxpayers and our economy from the failures of 2008 remain in place.

I rebuke the slick and secretive ways that this has been done, and I will echo the concerns of people all over New Jersey that this kind of business as usual must end.

But there are other concerns that should be out in the public eye. Take, for example, truck safety. There is this ``hours of service'' language which protects America's highways, but now the language that protects us has been changed and altered in this bill. It was inserted through the appropriations process. This language suspends the administration's rules designed to prevent driver fatigue.

I will read from the rule that is now being suspended under the omnibus. It states:

Only drivers who drive nights and work more than 60 or 70

hours in a week will be impacted. . . . Drivers who will be

impacted by this provision work heavy and irregular schedules

that include some nighttime driving. . . . The limitation

reduces maximum time during which a driver may drive up to an

average of 70 hours in 7 days, a decrease from the 82-hour

average allowed under the 2003 rule . . . Working long daily

and weekly hours on a continuing basis is associated with

chronic fatigue, a high risk of crashes, and a number of

serious chronic health conditions.

These right here are commonsense rules put in place to protect Americans who are driving to and from work with their families or to church to protect them against these heavy, irregular vehicles barrelling down the highway that might now have an overfatigued driver.

These regulations were put in place to try to limit those drivers from straining human endurance, but now they are being suspended within this omnibus bill.

These rules are based on years of sound scientific study, and I am outraged that despite the efforts of my colleagues and the safety community, the provisions to suspend these safety rules were included in this omnibus bill.

Each year nearly 4,000 Americans are killed in truck accidents, and over 100,000 Americans are injured on our highways in truck accidents. These drivers who drive trucks are hard-working men and women, and they have, unfortunately, been pushed to tread on the limits of human endurance.

The number of fatalities caused by truck accidents has risen 16 percent since 2009, and the number of people injured in these crashes has increased 40 percent. At a time when accidents are on such a savage rise, we are in no position to be crippling existing safety measures designed to keep our roads safe. For the sake of our Nation's security and the untold anguish and loss that comes from these highway accidents, this provision should be taken out of the bill.

There is more in this omnibus, and I feel compelled to mention another objectionable thing. The very idea of taxation without representation and self-determination is at the core of our democratic ideals as a nation. Yet, despite this, Washington, DC, with a population larger than two of our States, sees the constant undermining of this very principle. I believe it is an offense to Americans of all States, to Americans in the District of Columbia, and to all those who believe in our cherished ideals that this is done so.

When the District of Columbia votes, just as in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, to change marijuana laws--when Washington, DC, is grappling with the devastating impact of the drug war and sees the pain and the challenges and the struggles involved therein, when the people of the District come together and decide to try a different way forward--should we not honor their results? Should we not respect their self-determination as is going on in other States? This provision in this omnibus, undermining the democratic will of the District of Columbia--these great Americans--should be taken out.

My list of concerns in this bill could go on. I could continue. We should be having a discussion and debate on issues of this magnitude.

Take, for example, the rules on pensions that will slash benefits for thousands of retirees. Make no mistake. We need to address the state of multi-employer pension plans, and we need to discuss the tough choices that have to be made, but this is not the way to do it--not business as usual with no discussion and no debate.

This bill also includes provisions that roll back protections for wildlife and endangered species. This is not how we should do this-- business as usual with no discussion and no debate it.

There are provisions that keep the USDA from addressing an array of fraudulent, deceptive, anticompetitive, and retaliatory practices which will now undermine important protections for farmers against unfair practices. This is not the way to do it--business as usual, no discussion, no debate.

When people wonder how Washington does things in such a manner that is skewed in favor of the connected, skewed in favor of high-priced lobbyists, and skewed in favor special interests, when they see how the common good and common sense gets undermined, this is how it happens. This is how it happens.

I have been in this body for a little over 12 months, and the way we are doing this is offensive. The American people deserve better. We should do better.

I object to so much being put in this that deserves to be on this floor, discussed and debated in the light of the public. This is no way to run the globe's greatest democracy.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise today to discuss an issue that I believe should be discussed and worked on so much more in Congress. It demands an urgency of action, a dedication, and a focus to address our shortfalls as a nation to live up to our ideals, liberty and justice for all. Equal justice under the law is written on the Supreme Court, and is a theme of our Nation.

It is the source of anguish that I believe is driving protests all over our country right now. From Ferguson to Staten Island, from New Jersey to Oakland, citizens of all races and all backgrounds--Americans are joining together to call for change, and to have this idea that our legal system really should be a justice system.

Now this is an anguish that is not simply the result and the reaction to specific incidents. Yes, there is much discussion about those specific incidents in places such as Staten Island, but it is a reflection of a deeper anguish, an unfinished American business that has lasted for decades.

I feel in my own personal life this sense of gratitude for my unique upbringing. As a young man in 1969, my parents literally had to get a white couple to pose as them to buy the house I grew up in in New Jersey. They literally had to go through the indignity of trying to break barriers of race to move into a town that was all white at the time.

I stand here to tell you I grew up in the greatest place. The citizens of Harrington Park, NJ, are why I am standing here right now. The love and caring that exists in my State is remarkable.

I am also here today because of a city that is a majority Black city, Newark, NJ, that embraced me as a young professional, and where I eventually became mayor.

Through my unique position, I have to say I am able to understand all corners of this country. In an intimate way, I see this anguish that I speak of with so many of my friends and colleagues. I heard it here in the Senate. I have had security guards pull me aside to talk to me about their anguish and frustrations about the criminal justice system. I have had the people who do the work in this body--those who clean our floors or tend to the needs of our Senators--and they feel this frustration about an American legal system that is falling short of American ideals and is not a justice system.

I saw it with my own parents who, with agony and pain, talked to me about not having a margin of error when it comes to dealing with police officers. They would coach me on how I should speak and talk and what I should do with my hands because of the fears they had of the treatment I might have that would be different than other Americans.

I stand today because this cannot simply be reduced to a racial issue. This is the larger questions of justice in our country. This calls to the consciousness of all Americans, and it is sourced by the realities we face in this country where we lead the globe in areas that no American who believes in freedom and liberty should want to lead.

We have had over the last decades of my lifetime an explosion in incarceration that belies the truth of who we are. This Nation has seen this country have an 800-percent increase in the Federal prison population over the last 30 years. Think about that--an 800-percent increase. We now have the very ignominious distinction on the globe for leading the planet Earth in a country that incarcerates its own citizens. In fact, America is just 5 percent of the globe's population, but we have 25 percent of the world's imprisoned people, and I tell you that is not because Americans have a greater proclivity for criminality, it is because our legal system is not a justice system.

This overincarceration and overcriminality anguishes this Nation, aggravates divisions, undermines freedom and liberty and costs taxpayers so much more money. It is an unnecessary burden and expense that is a self-inflicted wound in this Nation that undermines our prosperity and our success. We spend $\1/4\ trillion a year locking people up, and the majority of those people are nonviolent offenders.

In fact, over the last decade, right now in America there are more people in prison for drug offenses than all of the people in prison in the 1970s. It is an extraordinary fact. Whether you are Black or White, if you get arrested and charged with a felony crime for doing some things that the last three Presidents of the United States admitted to doing, and then tried and convicted--I say ``tried'' with hesitancy because the majority of them are plea bargains. As the President knows, if you get convicted of that felony offense, the nondrug violent offense, the collateral consequences to your life are horrendous.

We now live in a nation where the collateral consequences are profound. We now know that time behind bars, even for these nonviolent offenders, reduces people's hourly wages by 11 percent, their annual employment by 9 weeks, their annual earnings by 40 percent. It has a powerful economic impact.

If a person is convicted for possession of controlled substances use, they become ineligible for so many benefits that we would often think we would want these very people to have. They

can't get Federal education grants such as a Pell grant. They can't get loans or work assistance. They become ineligible for business licenses, outrageously so. A person convicted of a felony will be denied public housing, even the ability to visit their family in public housing. They could be kicked out of their current housing arrangements. Former inmates can't get jobs, shelter, or loans. They often feel that no option exists other than going back to that slippery slope toward more crime. That is for all the people within the criminal system.

But what is anguishing so many is the clear and undeniable applications of this criminal justice system and the applications of this legal system in unequal ways to different portions of our population.

In my life I have seen that firsthand--how the usage of drugs in different communities where there is no difference between Blacks and Whites is treated differently based upon their race or their socioeconomic status.

Let me be clear. These issues are American issues, not simply race issues. They affect us all because we are a nation with a profound declaration of independence, but the truth of our country speaks also to an interdependence. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

I point out these facts to let you understand why we have to have such an urgency. African Americans and Whites have no difference in drug usage whatsoever, but an African American who chooses to use marijuana is 3.7 times more likely to be arrested for that usage than someone who is White.

In fact, between 2007 and 2009, drug sentences for African-American men were 13.1 percent longer than those for White men. Usage has no difference, but arrest rates are dramatically higher for African- American men. In fact, for all crimes, when you start breaking the actual data down, you see patterns of discriminatory impact that are unacceptable in a nation this great.

Even for police violence, we have to understand that today nearly 2.5 times more Whites are arrested than Blacks for crimes that are violent and nonviolent--2.5 times more arrests for Whites than Blacks, but somehow African Americans are 21 more times more likely to be shot dead by a police officer.

This is data that should not shock us along racial lines but shock us along American lines. We are the Nation of liberty and justice for all. We are the country of equal protection under the law. African Americans make up just 13 percent of our population but 40 percent of the prison population.

In New Jersey, African Americans are 13.7 percent of New Jersey's population but 62 percent of New Jersey's prison population. Much of that, as clearly the data shows, has come about through the persecution of the American drug policy that is applied to different groups and different effects. The reality for minorities is punishing. By the age of 23, 44 percent of Latino youth will be arrested. We know the sad reality that 1 in 3 black males born in America today can expect, if we make no changes, to be incarcerated at some point in their lives compared to 1 in 87 White males, ages 18 to 64, incarcerated, while 1 in every 12 Blacks is.

I struggled with these issues my whole life. As a mayor of a city constantly working to fight to protect citizens, I know how complicated these problems can be. My police department, ourselves, we dug into the data. We saw that our practices had to be changed, that we had to find better ways of keeping our community safe, but we also knew something deeper. I will never forget when I sat with the head of the FBI in Newark, and I asked him about the violent crime problem: How are we going to solve this problem?

He looked at me and said: You don't understand, Mayor. We--meaning law enforcement--are not going to solve this problem. What has to be done are changes greater than this.

I watched how young kids get arrested for breaking the law, for smoking marijuana or being caught with possession. Teenagers find themselves--because they have marijuana on them of a certain amount and weight so the charges increase, to being in a school zone which is every place in many cities--now facing mandatory minimums of upwards of 5 years. These teenagers are scared, afraid, knowing they broke the law, but other folks like the last three Presidents have gotten away with it. They get offered it by the prosecutor, overworked, trying hard to serve the public and keep people safe. The prosecutor doesn't give them the mandatory minimum, they give them a deal: Just take time served or a month or 6 months, but they find themselves with a felony conviction. Now they find themselves in a world where they think they have no options. They can't get jobs. They can't get education grants. They can't get hope.

Hopelessness is a toxic state of being, and those kids then often get caught up again into the underground economy, back into the world of drugs.

What we saw in my time as mayor is that so many of the people who ultimately end up being violent criminals started as kids who felt all their options closed in on them because they got caught up in this world of drugs.

One of the worst collateral consequences of the way we are going about prosecuting our criminal legal system is the violence we are seeing from people who think they have no options but to do what they are doing.

I say this all to simply say we must find a way out. If we are America, a system that believes in elevating human potential and believes in ideas of liberty and freedom and deplores this concept that government should take people's liberty for no good means, we have to do something about this issue.

We who believe in freedom, who tell the world to look at our light and our torch and our promise, should evidence something better than leading the globe in incarcerating our own citizens. We, this country, where generation after generation has conquered discrimination against Irish, has conquered discrimination against Italians, has beat back discrimination against Catholics, has stood up to discrimination against Jews, has fought against Jim Crow and slavery; advancing not toward Black ideals or Jewish ideals or Irish ideals, but the common ideals that bind us as brothers and sisters of justice, of freedom, of equality--we have to do better than lead the globe in incarceration, to have a legal system that subjects more of its people and minorities toward search and scrutiny than seizure and arrest. This we cannot tolerate.

Why I stand so confidently with a faith in my Nation that we can do better does not just stem from this hallowed history. It also stems from the President. Right now in America there are States doing incredible things, incredible things, to change away this reality.

I am proud of my State. We have gone far but not far enough. In New Jersey, between 1999 and 2012, we reduced our prison population 26 percent. Guess what. During that same period of time, New Jersey saw a 30-percent reduction in violent crime. We showed to America that we are better than this. We can give more liberty to people, lowering our prison population, having a disproportionate effect on minorities, and actually drive down crime as well.

We are not the only State. New York's prison population is down 24 percent from the late 1990s. This is due almost entirely to reforms of the Rockefeller drug laws, policies that sent thousands of people to prison often serving sentences for low-level crimes. Over that same period, New York reduced its crime by more than half, lowering prison populations, disproportionately affecting African Americans and Latinos and lowering crimes.

Texas reduced its prison population in 2013 dramatically and has seen decreases in both crime and recidivism rates. All of these States can do more, but why has the Federal Government done little to nothing to follow suit?

I am proud of what is going on in the Senate with many of my colleagues. I came and joined this body when people pulled together to begin legislation such as the Smarter Sentencing Act or, more recently, the REDEEM Act I did in partnership with Rand Paul.

I am so proud that this issue cuts across political sides, that we have Democrats and Republicans, red States and blue States, all beginning to say we can do better. I am here today to end my remarks with that call to the consciousness of our country. If we

have an injustice in our midst with a legal system that is so far away from the justice system to which we should aspire, we have to do better.

I was raised to believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. In the words of Langston Hughes: ``There's a dream in this land with its back against the wall; to save the dream for one, we must save the dream for all.''

I know in my heart that with anguish of millions of Americans being punished by a legal system that has gone way out of control, affecting Blacks and Whites, young people of all backgrounds, a legal system that patently has a discriminatory impact on minorities, a legal system that steals the people's liberty, we can do better than this. We can save taxpayer money. We can lower our prison incarceration rates. We can elevate the promise of so many now denied their promise, and we can celebrate our American ideals. We need to lead this globe, not in incarceration, by telling the truth of who we are; that America is a land of freedom, of justice, where there truly is liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

Mr. President, today I recognize the life and legacy of New Jerseyan and Newark city historian Dr. Clement Alexander Price, who was taken from us too soon on November 5. Clem was a mentor and valued friend to me, and he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

The foremost authority on the history of African Americans in New Jersey, Clement Alexander Price was born in 1945 in Washington, DC, to James Price, Sr. and Anna Christine Spann Price. He inherited his love of history from his parents and since then instilled in generations this love for history. After earning his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Bridgeport, Clem came to Newark to teach at Essex Community College. He earned his Ph.D. at Rutgers University, became a professor at Rutgers University-Newark, and founded the Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience.

Clem was devoted to Newark, and he served not only as our leading historian but as a powerful spiritual force in our State's largest city. He was invested in Newark, and--ever generous with his time--was known to arrange tours for visitors that highlighted not only the city's rich history but its considerable promise. Clem always recognized the vital truth that charting a brighter course for the future requires a comprehensive understanding of the past. As a fervent believer in Newark's potential, Clem, with his unparalleled knowledge and thoughtful advice, was invaluable to me and so many others who were elected to serve the city.

Clem's commitment to the city of Newark was surpassed only by his dedication to public service, and he lent his time and expertise to a multitude of causes and organizations. From serving as president of the Newark Education Trust to chairing President Obama's 2008 transition team for the National Endowment for the Humanities, Clem was always seeking opportunities to serve his community and his Nation. He believed in the power of civic engagement, and he dedicated his career to cultivating that engagement through historical literacy and unyielding activism in service of Newark and beyond. Clem was truly one of Newark's great statesmen.

Most of all, Clem was kind. He touched so many lives and helped all who knew him to learn, grow, heal, and come together.

Clem is mourned by his wife Mary Sue Sweeney Price, his sister Jarmila, and his brother James, and by friends and colleagues in the city of Newark, the State of New Jersey, and across the Nation. I ask that the Senate join me in remembering and honoring the extraordinary life of Dr. Clement Alexander Price.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce with Senate colleagues the Innovation in Surface Transportation Act, which will spur economic development and include more local stakeholders in transportation projects. I am proud to join with Senators Wicker, Begich, Cochran, and Casey to sponsor this important bipartisan legislation.

As a former Mayor, I understand local leaders are often in the best position to make sound, cost-effective investment decisions to boost the local economy. Today, our cities, towns and suburbs are not getting the transportation investments they need to remain competitive and attract the kind of investment needed to create jobs and put more people to work.

This legislation establishes a statewide program of competitive grants to local communities overseen by a diverse selection panel, including state Departments of Transportation, local jurisdictions, port authorities, and representatives from air quality and safety organizations. This innovative proposal would encourage communities to compete against their peers, and stretch to make the most of every project and every dollar. Recognizing each state and region has different transportation needs, the panel would create criteria specific to their State's needs, such as improving the movement of freight, or connecting low-income communities to jobs. The bill would also require a metric-based, objective, fully transparent process based off critical criteria, such as return on investment, job creation, and reducing environmental impacts.

The most cost-effective and economically important projects will rise to the top, which will help communities across the country meet the great challenge of maintaining aging infrastructure and preparing for future growth with constrained funding.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to build further support for this legislation and continue working to provide long-term transportation investment that strengthens communities across the nation.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce with Senate colleagues the Innovation in Surface Transportation Act, which will spur economic development and include more local stakeholders in transportation projects. I am proud to join with Senators Wicker, Begich, Cochran, and Casey to sponsor this important bipartisan legislation.

As a former Mayor, I understand local leaders are often in the best position to make sound, cost-effective investment decisions to boost the local economy. Today, our cities, towns and suburbs are not getting the transportation investments they need to remain competitive and attract the kind of investment needed to create jobs and put more people to work.

This legislation establishes a statewide program of competitive grants to local communities overseen by a diverse selection panel, including state Departments of Transportation, local jurisdictions, port authorities, and representatives from air quality and safety organizations. This innovative proposal would encourage communities to compete against their peers, and stretch to make the most of every project and every dollar. Recognizing each state and region has different transportation needs, the panel would create criteria specific to their State's needs, such as improving the movement of freight, or connecting low-income communities to jobs. The bill would also require a metric-based, objective, fully transparent process based off critical criteria, such as return on investment, job creation, and reducing environmental impacts.

The most cost-effective and economically important projects will rise to the top, which will help communities across the country meet the great challenge of maintaining aging infrastructure and preparing for future growth with constrained funding.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to build further support for this legislation and continue working to provide long-term transportation investment that strengthens communities across the nation.

Mr. President, with a great deal of respect and deference to my good friend and an extraordinary Senator from Arkansas, I actually do object.

What I would like to do, because I fully support what an extraordinary and very important piece of legislation this is, honoring those who served and fought and fell in Desert Storm--what I object to is the decoupling of the two bills, both of which honor our veterans.

Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 398, H.R. 1033, the American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act, and Calendar No. 403, H.R. 503, the Desert Storm Memorial en bloc, that the committee-reported amendment to H.R. 1033 be agreed to, that the bills, as amended, if amended, be read a third time and passed en bloc, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

There is no more eloquent a person when it comes to good government than Senator Coburn, but I do not modify my request. I object. I ask unanimous consent that the previous request I made be agreed to.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Startup Opportunity Accelerator Act or SOAR Act, which provides funding for accelerator programs and organizations that support small business startups.

The importance of small businesses to the economy and job creation is well documented. In fact, data has shown the innovative, smallest companies represent a significant majority of all new businesses, reaffirming the importance of young, small firms to driving small business and economic growth.

To be sure, we see the impact of these high growth startups daily in the technology we rely on for communication and access to information. Many of the startups developing these innovative technologies have thrived in regions, such as Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley, where there are high concentrations of other entrepreneurs and startups. Specifically, these regions have benefited from the presence of growth accelerators and other organizations that connect startups with the resources necessary for growth. These resources can provide critical opportunities for entrepreneurs to access the

venture capital, mentorship, and industry networks vital to success.

That is why I am introducing the SOAR Act. The SOAR Act would authorize the Small Business Administration's SBA, Growth Accelerator Fund, which offers funding to growth accelerators and other organizations supporting startups through a competitive prize program. The SOAR Act would broaden the reach of these organizations to new communities by specifically encouraging applicants that fill both geographic and demographic gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

After launching in the spring of 2014, the SBA saw tremendous interest in the Fund and received more than 800 applications from organizations across the country. The SBA was able to grant awards to 50 organizations, including a New Jersey-based innovation center that plans to develop a new growth accelerator focused on the food industry.

The SOAR Act will authorize the Growth Accelerator Fund for 5 years and provide a needed funding boost to help meet high demand from small businesses and entrepreneurs in the program.

I am proud to introduce this legislation that provides increased resources to help startups succeed. This relatively small, targeted investment would deliver big returns for communities across the country, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this legislation.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Startup Opportunity Accelerator Act or SOAR Act, which provides funding for accelerator programs and organizations that support small business startups.

The importance of small businesses to the economy and job creation is well documented. In fact, data has shown the innovative, smallest companies represent a significant majority of all new businesses, reaffirming the importance of young, small firms to driving small business and economic growth.

To be sure, we see the impact of these high growth startups daily in the technology we rely on for communication and access to information. Many of the startups developing these innovative technologies have thrived in regions, such as Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley, where there are high concentrations of other entrepreneurs and startups. Specifically, these regions have benefited from the presence of growth accelerators and other organizations that connect startups with the resources necessary for growth. These resources can provide critical opportunities for entrepreneurs to access the

venture capital, mentorship, and industry networks vital to success.

That is why I am introducing the SOAR Act. The SOAR Act would authorize the Small Business Administration's SBA, Growth Accelerator Fund, which offers funding to growth accelerators and other organizations supporting startups through a competitive prize program. The SOAR Act would broaden the reach of these organizations to new communities by specifically encouraging applicants that fill both geographic and demographic gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

After launching in the spring of 2014, the SBA saw tremendous interest in the Fund and received more than 800 applications from organizations across the country. The SBA was able to grant awards to 50 organizations, including a New Jersey-based innovation center that plans to develop a new growth accelerator focused on the food industry.

The SOAR Act will authorize the Growth Accelerator Fund for 5 years and provide a needed funding boost to help meet high demand from small businesses and entrepreneurs in the program.

I am proud to introduce this legislation that provides increased resources to help startups succeed. This relatively small, targeted investment would deliver big returns for communities across the country, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this legislation.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, I rise today to urge support for a successful veterans health care program that will be extended if we pass this bipartisan package of Veterans Affairs reforms.

My colleague across the aisle Senator Heller and I have joined to introduce legislation to extend the Assisted Living Program for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury, or AL-TBI, and give it the kind of support veterans with these severe brain injuries deserve.

I am grateful for the leadership of Senator Heller and his partnership on this very important critical issue. I am proud to work with him, and I am hopeful all of our colleagues will join to pass the bipartisan package of VA reforms which now includes our legislation.

I thank Senator Sanders, Ranking Member Burr, along with Senators McCain, Pryor, Murkowski, Landrieu, Johanns, and Baldwin for joining with us in this important effort.

This program places veterans suffering from moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, or TBI, in privately run facilities where they receive 24-hour team-based attention.

These are our veterans who stood for us, who answered the call to service, who went into harm's way, and have suffered traumatic brain injury, who now need to get the kind of care and attention they deserve.

They are immersed in this therapy that helps them with their movement, their memory, their speech, their gradual community integration. That last point is actually the key. This program does not just prepare veterans for transition from one health care setting to another health care setting; it is about giving them the practical skills they need to return to their communities and live independently.

That is what is so special about this program.

This is the kind of innovative work that Senator Heller stands for in his community and I in New Jersey and that all of our veterans across the country should have. Congress should support this kind of work more often.

This past week I had the opportunity to visit a facility in Plainsboro, NJ--one of several facilities using this program. While I was there, I spoke with an incredible veteran named Gary.

Gary first enlisted in the military and completed his tour in the Navy after graduating from high school. Then 9/11 happened, and Gary stood up, reenlisted, this time with the National Guard, and served in Iraq.

During his time there he suffered a traumatic brain injury. Upon return home, Gary was confined to a wheelchair and the doctors told him he would never ever walk again. But then he began treatments through this program that Senator Heller, myself, and others are trying to extend.

Now, because of this program, Gary can walk again. He, himself, and his family called it a miracle. He is now using a cane. When he is indoors he can walk without assistance.

Gary's sister told me that before receiving this unique care through the program, Gary was very negative, often depressed, often angry. But now that he has made progress, Gary's whole attitude has changed. He is more than upbeat. He is social and enjoys cooking. In fact, he offered to cook me a meal, which, I say to Senator Heller, as a bachelor, I take all the meals I can get.

Another veteran named Duane sustained a traumatic brain injury in 2003 while serving our country in the Navy. Unable to live independently or get around without the aid of a wheelchair, this gentleman, this honorable veteran, who was not even 25 years old, found himself living in a nursing home alongside a population many decades his senior.

In 2011, through this program in our legislation, his life was changed. He moved into a specialized facility in New Jersey, where he still lives today and receives a range of treatments, including physical, occupational, speech therapies, as well as psychological counseling and residential assistance.

He is making incredible progress. I saw it with my own eyes, heard it from his family and his care workers. He has actually also traded his wheelchair for a cane and manages a regime of his own chores, adding more dignity to his already exemplary life of courage. He has an active social life. He has friends and comrades, and he believes he has a country that has been there for him when he is in need.

These are the heroes who stepped up to serve our country when we needed them most, and now it is our responsibility to serve them with the extension of this incredible program.

This program means independence for these veterans with severe brain injuries. We cannot cut their or any other veterans' care short. This is a cost of war. We should not just be there to spend resources when we are sending them off; we should be there with open arms and support when we are welcoming them home.

The VA now offers no alternative program to the one I have described--no alternative program--that provides the same kind of comprehensive, rehabilitative, long-term care in a residential setting. These brave men and women who are benefiting from this specialized care were willing to put their lives on the line for our country. It should not be an option; it should be our obligation to take care of them when they return home.

I strongly urge my colleagues in the Senate to do their duty, to pass this reform package, and extend this life-changing program.

I want to again thank Senator Heller.

If I may yield to him, he has been a stalwart partner, a leader on this issue. I have been encouraged by this opportunity to work together with him. I am only disappointed that he would not shave his head, as I have. That would have shown true bipartisan camaraderie. But despite that, I look forward to his continued leadership on issues for our veterans, and now I look forward to his remarks.

Mr. President, I rise to talk about our Nation's infrastructure and how Congress needs a long-term transportation bill that empowers local and regional planning authorities.

Infrastructure drives our economy. New Jersey alone has more than 38,000 miles of public roads, and nearly 1,000 miles of rail freight lines, connecting every corner of my State to consumers and networks throughout the region.

This means jobs. It means quality of life. It means investment in our communities and moving us forward.

Currently, just 8 percent of our Federal highway dollars are controlled by regional and local interests.

In order to increase the role of local communities in our transportation policy decisions, I introduced today The Local Empowerment Act, which would reward high-performing Metropolitan Planning Organizations, MPO's, with additional, directly-allocated funds.

MPO's that coordinate well with other MPOs in the region, consider performance goals as part of their planning, have equitable approaches to decision making, and demonstrate high technical capacity would be rewarded with additional resources to support their local priorities.

Consider the fact that \3/4\ of GDP is generated from within metro areas, 65 percent of the population resides in metro areas, and 95 percent of all public transportation passenger miles traveled take place in metro areas.

As the mayor of Newark, NJ, I learned through first-hand experience how important it is that the federal government partner with local communities to make substantial, long-term investments in our transportation infrastructure.

Federal transportation policy must provide local and regional stakeholders with resources and decision-making power, and take into account how local communities are being impacted by congestion, air pollution and our broader investment decisions.

At all levels of government, there is a dire need for additional, creative policy options that will rind more projects, create more jobs, and rehabilitate and rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.

I would like to highlight the leadership of Anthony Foxx, Secretary of Transportation, for proposing a program along the lines of this legislation.

Secretary Foxx, like me a former mayor, understands how important it is that Federal programs empower local entities and I urge my colleagues to join in supporting this legislation.

Mr. President, I rise to talk about our Nation's infrastructure and how Congress needs a long-term transportation bill that empowers local and regional planning authorities.

Infrastructure drives our economy. New Jersey alone has more than 38,000 miles of public roads, and nearly 1,000 miles of rail freight lines, connecting every corner of my State to consumers and networks throughout the region.

This means jobs. It means quality of life. It means investment in our communities and moving us forward.

Currently, just 8 percent of our Federal highway dollars are controlled by regional and local interests.

In order to increase the role of local communities in our transportation policy decisions, I introduced today The Local Empowerment Act, which would reward high-performing Metropolitan Planning Organizations, MPO's, with additional, directly-allocated funds.

MPO's that coordinate well with other MPOs in the region, consider performance goals as part of their planning, have equitable approaches to decision making, and demonstrate high technical capacity would be rewarded with additional resources to support their local priorities.

Consider the fact that \3/4\ of GDP is generated from within metro areas, 65 percent of the population resides in metro areas, and 95 percent of all public transportation passenger miles traveled take place in metro areas.

As the mayor of Newark, NJ, I learned through first-hand experience how important it is that the federal government partner with local communities to make substantial, long-term investments in our transportation infrastructure.

Federal transportation policy must provide local and regional stakeholders with resources and decision-making power, and take into account how local communities are being impacted by congestion, air pollution and our broader investment decisions.

At all levels of government, there is a dire need for additional, creative policy options that will rind more projects, create more jobs, and rehabilitate and rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.

I would like to highlight the leadership of Anthony Foxx, Secretary of Transportation, for proposing a program along the lines of this legislation.

Secretary Foxx, like me a former mayor, understands how important it is that Federal programs empower local entities and I urge my colleagues to join in supporting this legislation.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, I rise today filled with anguish and heartbreak that is shared by so many Americans who have been watching over the past week as countless innocent children and innocent civilians have been killed and live in states of great fear or even terror. Millions are running for bomb shelters time and time again. We are seeing people in Gaza killed or maimed and seeing people in Israel live under the terror in the sky and terror coming from below.

I want to stand resolute and clear about the true cause of this crisis. That lies squarely with Hamas, a terrorist organization whose ends do not start and finish with the well-being of the Palestinian people. Their primary focus and their clear agenda is not peace for their people. Written into their very charter is the firm determination to eliminate the State of Israel. They have proven this evil determination to do everything necessary to achieve their goal. They are willing

to kill Israelis. They are willing to kill Americans. They have killed them both. Even worse, they are willing to put innocent Palestinians in harm's way, causing death and destruction within their own communities, to their own children, to their hospitals and to their schools.

They are in the interests of wracking up casualties to add what they consider, in a warped way, moral force for their terrorist aim. I believe clearly in the evidence that this terrorist organization is willing to stop at no end in order to build their tunnels and to advocate and advance their independence.

They are willing to deny their people food. They are willing to deny their people construction materials that could be building schools and building infrastructure. They are willing to deny medical supplies. They are willing to deny a higher standard of living in order to support clearly terrorist activities.

This is unacceptable. This is unacceptable. This is unacceptable. We as Americans cannot advocate for or in any way accept a false peace that will allow Hamas, a terrorist organization, to continue their effort to destroy the State of Israel. Hamas is not seeking peace. Hamas is not seeking the peaceful coexistence between two states. What they are simply doing is they are willing to cause death and destruction to destroy Israel. Hamas is not a democratically elected organization. They are a terrorist organization. They do not speak for the Palestinian people. Hamas speaks for Hamas.

Their history of killing Americans and Israelis and putting countless of their own people in harm's way, causing their destruction and their denial of the basics, must be stopped. For the sake of the Palestinian people and for the sake of the Israeli people, we as a Nation cannot support any measure or any agenda that gives this terrorist organization harbor or support, that gives this terrorist organization any advantage in trying to achieve their end.

We cannot in this Nation advocate for that kind of false peace that allows Hamas to go back to tunneling, to firing rockets, to hiding missiles in schools and in hospitals, and putting more innocent children in harm's way. We as Americans must advocate for a true peace where two sides clearly recognize the right for peaceful coexistence and where both sides pledge to a true cessation of aggression, not a peace that allows one side to go back to its evil end, to tunneling, to plotting, to preparing just for the next attack. We have seen this before in recent history. We cannot allow it again. Right now we are in a state of crisis. America's voice must be resolute.

We stand with our allies. We stand with the democratic State of Israel. We stand against terrorism.

This is why today I come before you in support of the $225 million in additional funding requested by the Department of Defense to ensure that the Iron Dome in Israel remains equipped to protect civilians from Hamas-fired rockets.

Hamas has fired over 2,500 rockets at Israel over the past 3 weeks, while putting innocent Palestinians at risk to protect their stockpiles and their evil ends. Yesterday alone 51 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel.

In this time of crisis, America must stand for a true peace for the Palestinian people and for the Israeli people. Now, as a terrorist organization has evil ends to destroy the State of Israel, we must stand with our ally. We must stand with the State of Israel. We must stand for peace. Therefore, I support this expenditure and continue a resolute, unwavering, and unequivocal support of the continuance of the State of Israel.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce with my colleagues Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and Senator Barbara Boxer of California, the Superfund Polluter Pays Restoration Act of 2014. This bill reinstates an expired excise tax on polluting industries to help fund the cleanup of Superfund sites and restore communities back to health.

Across our Nation we have far too many un-remediated and dangerous Superfund sites sitting in our neighborhoods--properties that are literally poisoning our residents. This problem is particularly acute in my State of New Jersey, which is both the most densely populated State and the State with the most Superfund sites.

Nationwide, there are more than 1300 Superfund sites on the National Priorities List, NPL, which require long-term cleanups. The sites listed on the NPL are the most heavily contaminated in the country and are the sites that pose the greatest potential risk to public health and the environment. In the past five years, 94 new sites have been added to the NPL, but an average of only 7 have been removed each year.

Cleanup has not even begun at hundreds of these NPL sites. Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and the Government Accountability Office, GAO, state that the reason why cleanup is not starting at hundreds of sites, and taking so long at others, is because of the limited funding available for cleanup activities.

There are more than 11 million Americans who live within one mile of a Superfund site, and of that, 3 to 4 million are children. Studies show that children are particularly susceptible to the health hazards presented by Superfund sites. Researchers have found increased autism rates, and recently researchers found that babies born to mothers living within 1 mile of a Superfund site prior to cleanup had a 20 percent greater incidence of being born with birth defects.

The need for more funding could not be clearer.

When Congress created Superfund in 1980, it established the Superfund Trust Fund from which the EPA receives annual appropriations for Superfund cleanup activities. For 15 years, the Trust Fund received a steady source of revenue from excise taxes on crude oil and certain chemicals. Those taxes expired at the end of fiscal year 1995. The Superfund program is now operating at 40 percent of 1987 levels, which is unsustainable according to a 2010 GAO report which found that current funding levels would likely not be sufficient to meet the future needs of the Superfund program EPA officials estimate they will need 2 to 2.5 times more funding to effectively and efficiently cleanup unremediated sites.

It is unfair for the taxpayer to shoulder the burden of cleanup costs for these Superfund sites. To meet the need for additional funding and to protect the health of our families and children, Senator Menendez, Senator Boxer, and I have come together to introduce this act, aimed at holding polluting industries accountable, reducing the need to spend taxpayer dollars, and providing a steady flow of funds to the Superfund program.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce with my colleagues Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and Senator Barbara Boxer of California, the Superfund Polluter Pays Restoration Act of 2014. This bill reinstates an expired excise tax on polluting industries to help fund the cleanup of Superfund sites and restore communities back to health.

Across our Nation we have far too many un-remediated and dangerous Superfund sites sitting in our neighborhoods--properties that are literally poisoning our residents. This problem is particularly acute in my State of New Jersey, which is both the most densely populated State and the State with the most Superfund sites.

Nationwide, there are more than 1300 Superfund sites on the National Priorities List, NPL, which require long-term cleanups. The sites listed on the NPL are the most heavily contaminated in the country and are the sites that pose the greatest potential risk to public health and the environment. In the past five years, 94 new sites have been added to the NPL, but an average of only 7 have been removed each year.

Cleanup has not even begun at hundreds of these NPL sites. Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and the Government Accountability Office, GAO, state that the reason why cleanup is not starting at hundreds of sites, and taking so long at others, is because of the limited funding available for cleanup activities.

There are more than 11 million Americans who live within one mile of a Superfund site, and of that, 3 to 4 million are children. Studies show that children are particularly susceptible to the health hazards presented by Superfund sites. Researchers have found increased autism rates, and recently researchers found that babies born to mothers living within 1 mile of a Superfund site prior to cleanup had a 20 percent greater incidence of being born with birth defects.

The need for more funding could not be clearer.

When Congress created Superfund in 1980, it established the Superfund Trust Fund from which the EPA receives annual appropriations for Superfund cleanup activities. For 15 years, the Trust Fund received a steady source of revenue from excise taxes on crude oil and certain chemicals. Those taxes expired at the end of fiscal year 1995. The Superfund program is now operating at 40 percent of 1987 levels, which is unsustainable according to a 2010 GAO report which found that current funding levels would likely not be sufficient to meet the future needs of the Superfund program EPA officials estimate they will need 2 to 2.5 times more funding to effectively and efficiently cleanup unremediated sites.

It is unfair for the taxpayer to shoulder the burden of cleanup costs for these Superfund sites. To meet the need for additional funding and to protect the health of our families and children, Senator Menendez, Senator Boxer, and I have come together to introduce this act, aimed at holding polluting industries accountable, reducing the need to spend taxpayer dollars, and providing a steady flow of funds to the Superfund program.

Madam President, it is with a heavy heart that I pay tribute to a young New Jersey police officer who gave his life in the line of duty on Sunday, July 13.

Officer Melvin Santiago was born and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey's second largest city. As a child, he dreamed of following in the footsteps of his uncle, an officer in the city's police department. That dream came true last December, when he graduated from the police academy, and it ended tragically early Sunday morning, when he was ambushed and killed in the line of duty while responding to a call. He was only 23 years old.

Officer Santiago is described by his friends and family as having been full of life, with an easy smile and a gift for making others laugh. He is a source of pride for his parents, mother Cathy and stepfather Alex, and a role model for his younger brother and cousins. Officer Santiago was committed to being the best police officer he could be, and he quickly earned the respect of his fellow officers by volunteering to work in the West District--one of Jersey City's toughest neighborhoods--because he wanted to serve where he was most needed. According to his family, he savored every moment of the last 7 months, thrilled to be doing what he loved.

Officer Santiago's courage, spirit of service, and commitment to his community will be long remembered by those he protected and for whom he gave his life. As we recognize Officer Santiago's tremendous sacrifice, I ask that the Senate join with this courageous officer's family, friends, fellow Jersey City Police Department personnel, the Jersey City community, and the State of New Jersey in mourning the loss of this extraordinary young man.