Floor Statements

Mr. President, I rise to speak in favor of the Reid- Baucus-

Shaheen amendment to H.R. 3548, which is the unemployment benefits extension bill.

I very much regret that the majority leader has had to file a cloture motion on a motion to proceed to even consider that issue. To my mind, this should not be a partisan issue. There ought to be agreement in this body that we should proceed to extend unemployment benefits given the circumstances we face.

The job market in my home State of New Mexico is dismal, and there is very little indication of improvement expected in the near future. New Mexico's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is modest compared to some States. It was only 7.5 percent in August of 2009, but that is up from 7 percent in July and up from 4.3 percent a year ago. The trend is definitely disturbing. The decline in the number of jobs is the worst the State has seen in more than 45 years--with the speed with which we have been losing jobs.

The pain of unemployment is being felt across the country. More than 5 million Americans have been unemployed for 6 months or more, and 2 million of these workers face the end of their unemployment benefits before the end of this year. There are up to 4,000 New Mexicans who will exhaust their unemployment benefits by December 2009. The total number of unemployed and underemployed--including those who are working two or three part-time jobs to try to make ends meet and those who have given up looking for work--approaches 17 percent of our workforce. These are not just numbers, obviously. These are real people who face each day with the dread of not knowing how they are going to pay for the groceries they need that week or their mortgage payment or their rent payment.

The stimulus funding Congress passed earlier this year has helped to slow job losses, and it has created some new jobs, especially in education and in government services more generally. New Mexico's stimulus funding, alone, is expected to create about 22,000 jobs this year. This has had a significantly positive impact on the State's unemployment picture, but it is still not enough to fully address the needs created by the economic situation in which we find ourselves. Nationwide, for every job opening, there are six applicants. I was struck by the article on the front page of the New York Times this morning entitled ``$13 an Hour? 500 Sign Up, 1 Wins a Job.'' This was datelined Burns Harbor, IN. It says:

As soon as the job opening was posted, on the afternoon of

Friday, July 10, the deluge began.

C.R. England, a nationwide trucking company, needed an

administrative assistant for its bustling driver training

school here [in Indiana]. Responsibilities included data

entry, assembling paperwork and making copies.

It goes on to quote the head of corporate recruiting. It says:

When Stacey Ross, C.R. England's head of corporate

recruiting, arrived at her desk at the company's Salt Lake

City headquarters the next Monday, she found about 300

applications in the company''s e-mail inbox. And the fax

machine had spit out an inch-and-a-half thick stack of

resumes before running out of paper.

The article goes on to point out the estimate is there were 500 applications filed for this 1 job, a $13-an-hour job, but they took down the posting of the availability of the job.

We have a very serious problem that needs addressing. The extension of unemployment benefits will not ease the worry of the unemployed. It will not eliminate the dread they have about the need to pay bills each month. But it will make things a little bit easier for some of those individuals. Extension will make it easier, not just for the direct recipients but for the larger economy as well. Economists tell us that for every $1 in unemployment benefits the government provides, $2.15 is generated throughout the economy. These economic benefits are felt most immediately, as benefit recipients use the funds almost immediately to meet their daily needs.

The legislation the majority leader has filed, the petition to proceed to it, takes a responsible approach to providing these additional funds. The extension is paid for with an 18-month extension of the Federal unemployment tax, which has traditionally been used, both by Republicans and by Democratic administrations, for this very purpose. The extension is a responsible, well-thought-out response to the dire circumstances many Americans find themselves in today.

As I said at the beginning, this should not be a partisan issue. Unemployment is affecting everyone, regardless of their political party or their ideology. I urge the Senate to set aside partisan politics and to agree to the majority leader's request that we proceed to this bill so we can quickly provide assistance to the thousands of Americans who depend upon these benefits as they continue to search for jobs.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks.

The hearing will be held on Wednesday, November 4, 2009, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills:

S. 1369, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to

designate segments of the Molalla River in the State of

Oregon, as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers

System, and for other purposes;

S. 1405, to redesignate the Longfellow National Historic

Site, Massachusetts, as the ``Longfellow House-Washington's

Headquarters National Historic Site'';

S. 1413, to amend the Adams National Historical Park Act of

1998 to include the Quincy Homestead within the boundary of

the Adams National Historical Park, and for other purposes;

S. 1767 and H.R. 1121, to authorize a land exchange to

acquire land for the Blue Ridge Parkway from the Town of

Blowing Rock, North Carolina, and for other purposes;

S. Res. 275, honoring the Minute Man National Historical

Park on the occasion of its 50th anniversary;

H.R. 2802, to provide for an extension of the legislative

authority of the Adams Memorial Foundation to establish a

commemorative work in honor of former President John Adams

and his legacy, and for other purposes; and

H.R. 3113, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to

designate a segment of the Elk River in the State of West

Virginia for study for potential addition to the National

Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes.

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

For further information, please contact David Brooks at (202) 224- 9863 or Allison Seyferth at (202) 224-4905.

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that the hearing before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests to receive testimony on managing Federal forests in response to climate change, including for natural resource adaptation and carbon sequestration has been rescheduled.

The rescheduled hearing will be held on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those

wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send it to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510-6150, or by email to: [email protected] .gov.

For further information, please contact Scott Miller at (202) 224- 5488 or Allison Seyferth at (202) 224-4905.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, at 10:00 a.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on the role of natural gas in mitigating climate change.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record may do so by sending it to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510-6150, or by e-mail to [email protected]

For further information, please contact Kevin Rennert at (202) 224- 7826, or Deborah Estes at (202) 224-5360 or Rosemarie Calabro at (202) 224-5039.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Subcommittee on National Parks.

The hearing will be held on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, at 2:30 p.m. in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the current and expected impacts of climate change on units of the National Park System.

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

For further information, please contact Sara Tucker at (202) 224-6224 or Allison Seyferth at (202) 224-4905.

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests.

The hearing will be held on Thursday, October 29, 2009, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills:

S. 555, to provide for the exchange of certain land located

in the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests in the State of

Colorado, and for other purposes;

S. 607, to amend the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of

1986 to clarify the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture

regarding additional recreational uses of National Forest

System land that are subject to ski area permits, and for

other purposes;

S. 721, to expand the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in the State

of Washington, to designate the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River

and Pratt River as wild and scenic rivers, and for other

purposes;

S. 1122, to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture and the

Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative

agreements with State foresters authorizing State foresters

to provide certain forest, rangeland, and watershed

restoration and protection services;

S. 1328 and H.R. 689, to interchange the administrative

jurisdiction of certain Federal lands between the Forest

Service and the Bureau of Land Management, and for other

purposes;

S. 1442, to amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to

expand the authorization of the Secretaries of Agriculture,

Commerce, and the Interior to provide service-learning

opportunities on public lands, establish a grant program for

Indian Youth Service Corps, help restore the Nation's

natural, cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational,

and scenic resources, train a new generation of public land

managers and enthusiasts, and promote the value of public

service; and

H.R. 129, to authorize the conveyance of certain National

Forest System lands in the Los Padres National Forest in

California.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send it to

the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510-6150, or by email to [email protected] .gov.

For further information, please contact Scott Miller at (202) 224- 5488 or Allison Seyferth at (202) 224-4905.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public

that a hearing has been scheduled before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, at 9:45 a.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on the costs and benefits for energy consumers and energy prices associated with the allocation of greenhouse gas emission allowances.

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

For further information, please contact Jonathan Black at (202) 224- 6722 or Gina Weinstock at (202) 224-5684.

committee on energy and natural resources

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a business meeting has been scheduled before Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The business meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 14, 2009, at 11:30 a.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the business meeting is to consider pending nominations.

For further information, please contact Sam Fowler at (202) 224-7571 or Amanda Kelly at (202) 224-6836.

Mr. President, under paragraph 9 of rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I am here by submitting a description of Senate amendment No. 2605 that was accepted by unanimous consent to H.R. 3326 as follows:

Item: Additional User Evaluation and System Study for Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL)

Request Amount: $5.0M.

Requestor: Boeing Corporation

Address: Boeing--SVS, 4411 The 25 Way NE #350, Albuquerque, NM 87109- 5858

Suggested Location of Performance (major portion of the work): Albuquerque, NM.

Senate amendment No. 2605 proposes to allocate up to $5 million consistent with the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board report entitled ``The Airborne Tactical Laser (ATL) Feasibility for Gunship Operations'' to conduct additional enhanced user evaluation of the ATL and enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development center to conduct a system analysis of integrating solid state laser systems onto C-130, B-1, and F-35 platforms for the purpose of close air support. Such system study shall estimate per unit costs of such laser systems as well costs to operate and maintain each platform with the laser system.

Why Spending is in Interest to the Taxpayer: The Air Force Scientific Advisory Board report entitled ``The Airborne Tactical Laser (ATL) Feasibility for Gunship Operations'' made a number of recommendations regarding the advanced tactical laser. In addition to phasing out the ATL chemical laser system and transitioning to an electric laser system, the board recommended that additional enhanced user evaluations take place of the integrated laser-gunship system so that the most data possible can be collected of the funds spent to date on operational aspects of the tactical laser system regardless of laser characteristics. In addition, the board questioned the utility of placing tactical laser systems on high-speed platforms such as the F-35 and B-1, which were not designed for low speed, long-loiter close air support missions and recommended a system study of the available platforms to understand the cost per unit of integrating the laser onto each platform as well as long-term operations and maintenance costs with each integrated system. Senate amendment No. 2605 carries out the recommendations of the board to get the best benefit of the taxpayer's dollar spent to date and into the future on tactical laser systems under development by the Air Force.

I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter dated October 7, 2009.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing scheduled before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, previously announced for October 1st, has been rescheduled and will now be held on Wednesday, October 14, 2009, at 10 a.m.

The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on Energy and Related Economic Effects of Global Climate Change Legislation.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify

by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record may do so by sending it to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510-6150, or by e-mail to [email protected]

For further information, please contact Jonathan Black at (202) 224- 6722 or Gina Weinstock at (202) 224-5684.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a business meeting has been scheduled before Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The business meeting will be held on Thursday, October 8, 2009, at 10 a.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, immediately preceding the full committee hearing.

The purpose of the business meeting is to consider pending nominations.

For further information, please contact Sam Fowler at (202) 224-7571 or Amanda Kelly at (202) 224-6836.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The hearing will be held on Thursday, October 8, 2009, at 10 a.m., in room SE-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to consider the nominations of Marcia K. McNutt, to be Director of the United States Geological Survey, and Arun Majumdar, to be Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency- Energy, Department of Energy.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record may do so by sending it to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510-6150, or by e-mail to [email protected].

For further information, please contact Sam Fowler at (202) 224-7571 or Amanda Kelly at (202) 224-6836.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing previously announced for Thursday, October 1, 2009, at 9:45 p.m., is postponed until a later date.

The purpose of the hearing was to receive testimony on Energy and Related Economic Effects of Global Climate Change Legislation.

For further information, please contact Jonathan Black at (202) 224- 6722 or Gina Weinstock at (202) 224-5684.

subcommittee on public lands and forests

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing previously announced before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests on Thursday, October 1, 2009, at 2:30 p.m., is postponed until a later date.

The purpose of the hearing was to receive testimony on managing Federal forests in response to climate change, including for natural resource adaptation and carbon sequestration.

For further information, please contact Scott Miller at (202) 224- 5488 or Allison Seyferth at (202) 224-4905.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests.

The hearing will be held on Thursday, October 8, 2009, at 2:30 p.m. in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills:

S. 522, to resolve the claims of the Bering Straits Native

Corporation and the State of Alaska to land adjacent to

Salmon Lake in the State of Alaska and to provide for the

conveyance to the Bering Straits Native Corporation of

certain other public land in partial satisfaction of the land

entitlement of the Corporation under the Alaska Native Claims

Settlement Act;

S. 865 and H.R. 1442, to provide for the sale of the

Federal Government's reversionary interest in approximately

60 acres of land in Salt Lake City, Utah, originally conveyed

to the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association under the Act of

January 23, 1909;

S. 881, to provide for the settlement of certain claims

under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other

purposes;

S. 940, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey

to the Nevada System of Higher Education certain Federal land

located in Clark and Nye counties, Nevada, and for other

purposes;

S. 1272, to provide for the designation of the Devil's

Staircase Wilderness Area in the State of Oregon, to

designate segments of Wasson and Franklin Creeks in the State

of Oregon as wild or recreation rivers, and for other

purposes; and

S. 1689, to designate certain land as components of the

National Wilderness Preservation System and the National

Landscape Conservation System in the State of New Mexico, and

for other purposes.

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

For further information, please contact David Brooks at (202) 224- 9863 or Allison Seyferth at (202) 224-4905.

Mr. President, I rise today, along with Senators Reid, Dodd, Murray, Reed, Brown, Casey, Merkley, and Franken, to introduce the Graduation Promise Act of 2009, or GPA. This bill would create Federal-State-local partnerships to improve this nation's graduation rates, and to help transform our lowest-performing high schools.

Twenty years ago, the Nation's governors met with the first President Bush in Charlottesville, Virginia, for a groundbreaking education summit. They agreed to set high expectations for education for the coming decade, including an increase in the national high school graduation rate to 90 percent by the year 2000. Today, we are not even close to achieving that goal.

Indeed, the Nation's high school graduation rate has stagnated at around 70 percent. Graduation rates for students of color are even lower. In my own home state of New Mexico, the graduation rate is only 54 percent. Yet Federal education policy and funding have focused primarily upon elementary and postsecondary education. Only about 8 percent of all Title I dollars go to high schools.

The economic cost of the high school dropout crisis is significant. According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, if the students who dropped out of the Class of 2009 had graduated, the nation's economy would have benefited from nearly $335 billion in additional income over the course of these students' lifetimes. Failing to address the nation's dropout crisis fails our students and our country because too few young Americans are prepared to enter the workforce, which harms our economy and our standing in the world. If we don't improve our graduation rates, we will lose our competitive edge.

But low graduation rates are only one broad indicator of the crisis affecting our Nation's high schools. Even if a student makes it to graduation, only a third of all students who enter the 9th grade will graduate with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college or the modern workplace. They are not receiving the kind of quality education that permits a seamless transition to a job or postsecondary education.

Fortunately, research is available to help us better understand the factors behind low graduation rates and poor student performance in high school. We can use research-based tools to identify the high schools that are producing the majority of dropouts across the country. These high schools, roughly 2,000 in all, or 15 percent of all high schools, have persistently low rates of grade promotion and graduation. If you look at the typical senior class at one of these high schools, it will have decreased in size by at least 40 percent since these students entered the school 4 years earlier.

Research has also shed light on the specific risk factors that predict who will drop out of high school. We can identify future dropouts with a high degree of certainty by looking at such predictors as course failure, poor attendance, behavior problems, and retention in earlier grades. Students who enter high school significantly lagging behind in their academics and who show clear signs of disengagement are likely to drop out unless additional supports are put in place.

Research-based solutions, with solid evidence of success, are transforming high schools with low graduation rates. Restructuring schools into smaller, more personalized learning environments ensures that students become engaged from the time they enter 9th grade. Sustained efforts to boost attendance ensure that they don't fall further behind. Partnerships with community-based and education organizations help facilitate successful school transformations.

Schools that have combined these efforts with high-quality curriculum and instructional improvements have been successful in improving student achievement and increasing graduation rates: transitional math and English to 9th graders helps them catch up; challenging curricula and tangible, contextual applications of learning rekindle their interest; and teaching teams and professional development targeted to the needs of the school bolster teachers' effectiveness in identifying, managing, and engaging students at risk of dropping out. In combination, these interventions are proven to improve student achievement and increase graduation rates.

In essence, we know which schools have the highest dropout rates; we know the risk factors that predict to a high degree of certainty which students will drop out; and we know which sets of interventions work to turn around failing schools and failing students. The task before us is to partner with states and local school districts to enhance and expand these efforts. By appropriately extending its education focus to include the needs of students in middle and high schools, the Federal Government can move the nation from ``no child left behind'' to ``every student a graduate.''

To meet this critical goal, I am introducing, along with my colleagues Senators Reid, Dodd, Murray, Reed, Brown, Casey, Merkley, and Franken, the Graduation Promise Act of 2009.

The Graduation Promise Act will help build state and local capacity for secondary school improvement by providing states and local school districts with resources to identify and target high schools with the greatest needs. GPA recognizes that high school reform needs to start with experts on the ground--in the states and local districts where struggling high schools exist.

It also recognizes that reform efforts must be targeted to address the unique challenges each school faces in raising achievement and graduation levels. As such, GPA would provide resources to states to establish differentiated high school improvement systems and ensure that locally-driven school improvement actions are based upon the amount and type of supports necessary to turn such schools around.

In order to be eligible to receive funds to implement these school improvement plans, local school districts would work with the school improvement teams to assess the capacity of the high school to implement the plan, as well as identify the existing resources available to the district and the school. These assessments would be used to determine the amount of resources and technical assistance needed to successfully implement the high school improvement plan.

GPA also emphasizes transparency and accountability. Both state applications and local school improvement plans would be subject to a rigorous peer-review process. Schools needing targeted interventions, whole school reform, or replacement would be required to meet measurable and meaningful benchmarks of improvement.

The cost of raising student performance and graduation rates at our chronically underperforming high schools is considerable, yet it is a necessary investment in our Nation's future economic strength. The Graduation Promise Act authorizes $2.5 billion per year to meet this challenge, with the bulk of funding directed to states and local school districts to help turn around the high schools with the lowest student achievement and lowest graduation rates.

I submit that we cannot afford to let struggling high schools continue to push students off the path to prosperity. We must ensure the continued prosperity of our country by promising each high school student a chance to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue their dreams and succeed.

I want to thank my Senate cosponsors for their commitment to improving high schools and increasing graduation rates in this country, and I am pleased to be working with them and other Senate colleagues on this legislation.

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

Mr. President, I rise today, along with Senators Reid, Dodd, Murray, Reed, Brown, Casey, Merkley, and Franken, to introduce the Graduation Promise Act of 2009, or GPA. This bill would create Federal-State-local partnerships to improve this nation's graduation rates, and to help transform our lowest-performing high schools.

Twenty years ago, the Nation's governors met with the first President Bush in Charlottesville, Virginia, for a groundbreaking education summit. They agreed to set high expectations for education for the coming decade, including an increase in the national high school graduation rate to 90 percent by the year 2000. Today, we are not even close to achieving that goal.

Indeed, the Nation's high school graduation rate has stagnated at around 70 percent. Graduation rates for students of color are even lower. In my own home state of New Mexico, the graduation rate is only 54 percent. Yet Federal education policy and funding have focused primarily upon elementary and postsecondary education. Only about 8 percent of all Title I dollars go to high schools.

The economic cost of the high school dropout crisis is significant. According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, if the students who dropped out of the Class of 2009 had graduated, the nation's economy would have benefited from nearly $335 billion in additional income over the course of these students' lifetimes. Failing to address the nation's dropout crisis fails our students and our country because too few young Americans are prepared to enter the workforce, which harms our economy and our standing in the world. If we don't improve our graduation rates, we will lose our competitive edge.

But low graduation rates are only one broad indicator of the crisis affecting our Nation's high schools. Even if a student makes it to graduation, only a third of all students who enter the 9th grade will graduate with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college or the modern workplace. They are not receiving the kind of quality education that permits a seamless transition to a job or postsecondary education.

Fortunately, research is available to help us better understand the factors behind low graduation rates and poor student performance in high school. We can use research-based tools to identify the high schools that are producing the majority of dropouts across the country. These high schools, roughly 2,000 in all, or 15 percent of all high schools, have persistently low rates of grade promotion and graduation. If you look at the typical senior class at one of these high schools, it will have decreased in size by at least 40 percent since these students entered the school 4 years earlier.

Research has also shed light on the specific risk factors that predict who will drop out of high school. We can identify future dropouts with a high degree of certainty by looking at such predictors as course failure, poor attendance, behavior problems, and retention in earlier grades. Students who enter high school significantly lagging behind in their academics and who show clear signs of disengagement are likely to drop out unless additional supports are put in place.

Research-based solutions, with solid evidence of success, are transforming high schools with low graduation rates. Restructuring schools into smaller, more personalized learning environments ensures that students become engaged from the time they enter 9th grade. Sustained efforts to boost attendance ensure that they don't fall further behind. Partnerships with community-based and education organizations help facilitate successful school transformations.

Schools that have combined these efforts with high-quality curriculum and instructional improvements have been successful in improving student achievement and increasing graduation rates: transitional math and English to 9th graders helps them catch up; challenging curricula and tangible, contextual applications of learning rekindle their interest; and teaching teams and professional development targeted to the needs of the school bolster teachers' effectiveness in identifying, managing, and engaging students at risk of dropping out. In combination, these interventions are proven to improve student achievement and increase graduation rates.

In essence, we know which schools have the highest dropout rates; we know the risk factors that predict to a high degree of certainty which students will drop out; and we know which sets of interventions work to turn around failing schools and failing students. The task before us is to partner with states and local school districts to enhance and expand these efforts. By appropriately extending its education focus to include the needs of students in middle and high schools, the Federal Government can move the nation from ``no child left behind'' to ``every student a graduate.''

To meet this critical goal, I am introducing, along with my colleagues Senators Reid, Dodd, Murray, Reed, Brown, Casey, Merkley, and Franken, the Graduation Promise Act of 2009.

The Graduation Promise Act will help build state and local capacity for secondary school improvement by providing states and local school districts with resources to identify and target high schools with the greatest needs. GPA recognizes that high school reform needs to start with experts on the ground--in the states and local districts where struggling high schools exist.

It also recognizes that reform efforts must be targeted to address the unique challenges each school faces in raising achievement and graduation levels. As such, GPA would provide resources to states to establish differentiated high school improvement systems and ensure that locally-driven school improvement actions are based upon the amount and type of supports necessary to turn such schools around.

In order to be eligible to receive funds to implement these school improvement plans, local school districts would work with the school improvement teams to assess the capacity of the high school to implement the plan, as well as identify the existing resources available to the district and the school. These assessments would be used to determine the amount of resources and technical assistance needed to successfully implement the high school improvement plan.

GPA also emphasizes transparency and accountability. Both state applications and local school improvement plans would be subject to a rigorous peer-review process. Schools needing targeted interventions, whole school reform, or replacement would be required to meet measurable and meaningful benchmarks of improvement.

The cost of raising student performance and graduation rates at our chronically underperforming high schools is considerable, yet it is a necessary investment in our Nation's future economic strength. The Graduation Promise Act authorizes $2.5 billion per year to meet this challenge, with the bulk of funding directed to states and local school districts to help turn around the high schools with the lowest student achievement and lowest graduation rates.

I submit that we cannot afford to let struggling high schools continue to push students off the path to prosperity. We must ensure the continued prosperity of our country by promising each high school student a chance to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue their dreams and succeed.

I want to thank my Senate cosponsors for their commitment to improving high schools and increasing graduation rates in this country, and I am pleased to be working with them and other Senate colleagues on this legislation.

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

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing previously announced for September 17, 2009, has been rescheduled before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The hearing will now be held on Thursday, October 1, 2009, at 9:45 a.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on Energy and Related Economic Effects of Global Climate Change Legislation.

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

For further information, please contact Jonathan Black at (202) 224- 6722 or Gina Weinstock at (202) 224-5684.

Mr. President, I realize we are not on the Interior appropriations bill at this point; we are in morning business, but I wanted to speak briefly about three amendments I plan to offer, when we do go on the Interior appropriations bill, and to alert colleagues about those amendments and, hopefully, persuade them that they are meritorious.

The first amendment incorporates the key provisions of the FLAME Act, which establishes a separate appropriations account to fund Federal emergency wildfire suppression costs in an effort to initiate a more sustainable effort for funding Federal firefighting activities.

We have seen a dramatic growth in the number, the size, and the severity of wildfires in recent years. The trend and the number of acres burned by wildfires each year has tripled over the last 25 years, exceeding 8 million acres in 4 of the last 5 years.

While the agencies consistently have put out about 98 percent of the fires quickly and inexpensively, we have seen many fires that have been so extreme it takes weeks and months of effort and many millions of dollars to get those fires under control. The recent Station fire in southern California is one example. It is now nearly 4 weeks since that fire started. It has burned more than 160,000 acres. It still is not 100 percent contained. At times, there have been over 5,000 personnel assigned to the fire. Fire crews have built more than 130 miles of fire line, with the support of more than two dozen helicopters and airplanes, hundreds of fire engines, and more than 65 bulldozers. The pricetag for these efforts is more than $85 million and still counting.

The Forest Service's costs for fighting wildfires have increased sevenfold over the last 20 years. Yet we still budget for wildfires the same way we did 20 years ago. We take the average of the previous 10 years of fire suppression costs out of the agencies' budgets, and we make that their standard appropriation for each year. Back then, wildfire management accounted for less than 20 percent of the Forest Service's budget. That was 20 years ago. Today, wildfire management accounts for 50 percent of the Forest Service's budget.

Not surprisingly, the Forest Service has exceeded that budget every year for more than a decade--as it is mathematically guaranteed to do with the wildfire trends we have seen. As a result, the agencies have had to borrow and to steal literally billions of dollars from other programs--such as recreation and grazing and wildlife and even fuels reduction--to pay for emergency wildfire suppression.

In sum, our wildfire budgeting practices are broken, and they are steadily breaking the Forest Service and the communities and businesses and natural resources that the Forest Service is committed to serving. These troubling trends are only expected to get worse as a result of continuing climate change and population growth in and around our national forests.

The amendment I plan to offer seeks to establish a new paradigm for funding Federal wildfire suppression activities. Under the amendment, the agencies would continue to rely on their regular appropriations accounts to fund their routine wildfire suppression costs; that is, the approximately 98 percent of fires they can either swiftly put out or can manage for a resource benefit. But when they end up battling a large and extreme wildfire--such as the fire in southern California-- they could access a new emergency account to cover the exorbitant costs of fighting those kinds of fires.

If funded as intended, the new emergency account would ensure Congress would not have to raid the rest of the agencies' budgets to make appropriations for wildfire suppression. It also would ensure that the agencies would no longer have to steal funds from the other programs for which Congress has proposed funding in order to pay for unbudgeted costs of fighting the massive fires that require an emergency response.

Thanks to the leadership of the administration, Senator Feinstein, and the Appropriations Committee, for the first time in many years, the underlying bill would provide an appropriate amount of money for wildfire suppression. As a result, the amendment I am offering merely shifts money into a new emergency account. It does not result in any increase in spending.

The amendment will be cosponsored by a number of other Members. I appreciate their support, as well as support of many dozens of interest groups. I would also like to mention that the FLAME Act passed the House of Representatives in March by a vote of 412 to 3. So I believe this is a proposal that has broad support on both sides of the aisle and on both sides of Capitol Hill.

The second amendment I plan to offer simply provides for the funds that are already allocated to the Forest Landscape Restoration Act to be deposited in the special fund that was established to carry out that act. This amendment also will be cosponsored by a number of other Members. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Chairman Feinstein, who coauthored the Forest Landscape Restoration Act with me, and Senator Domenici and Ranking Member Alexander for including funding for this important program.

Finally, Senator Murkowski and I plan to offer an amendment that would make two technical improvements to the National Forest Foundation Act. Again, I hope these amendments will be adopted. I appreciate the consideration of the two managers of the bill for these three amendments.

Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.