Mr. President, I rise today with Senators Robert Casey, Herb Kohl, and Tom Udall to introduce the Health Access and Health Professions Supply Act of 2009. Health care reform is a national priority--far too many Americans do not have access…
Mr. President, I rise today with Senators Robert Casey, Herb Kohl, and Tom Udall to introduce the Health Access and Health Professions Supply Act of 2009.
Health care reform is a national priority--far too many Americans do not have access to meaningful, affordable health insurance. But even if every person in the U.S. had health insurance, we do not have a cohesive or coordinated strategy to address health workforce emergencies and shortages, and problems with reliable access to quality, affordable care. Over 20 percent of Americans are living in health professions shortage areas without access to adequate medical, dental, and mental and behavioral health services. This workforce deficiency will worsen as the population ages and grows by an estimated 25 million individuals per decade and, could be severely exacerbated by epidemics and disasters. It is estimated that without intervention, the United States will experience shortages of as many as 200,000 physicians and one million nurses by 2020. It takes many years to create a pipeline of health professionals. I am introducing the Health Access and Health Professions Supply Act of 2009 to coordinate our health workforce strategy, to build and maintain this pipeline, so that health and safety of every American is protected. The legislation is based on the most recent recommendations developed by Council on Graduate Medical Education and other health workforce experts.
This legislation addresses these issues in an unprecedented and comprehensive manner. It creates a Permanent National Health Workforce Commission to assure that the Federal investment in the education of health professionals is a public good that address the needs of the American people. The Commission is tasked to design, revise, implement and evaluate programs, grants, and regulations related to the nation's health workforce.
The Health Access and Health Professions Supply Act of 2009 expands the Medicare medical home demonstration project. This pilot program would include 1,000 medical home primary care providers working in interdisciplinary teams. These clinicians will provide the highest quality medical care using the best health information technology, and personalized, coordinated, and accessible care.
But new models are not enough. We have allowed our primary care educational infrastructure to crumble. Without intervention, the decline will likely continue, and access to care in underserved areas will rapidly deteriorate. Family physicians represent 58 percent of the rural physician workforce, 70 percent of non-federal physicians in whole-county health professional shortage areas, and 78 percent of primary care physician full-time equivalents in the National Health Service Corps. Yet, the number of graduates from medical school in the U.S. who choose to practice family medicine has plummeted 50 percent in less than 10 years. Currently, less than 5 percent of graduates from medical school specialize in primary care. This is despite the fact that one of the most significant measures of the effectiveness and efficiency of a healthcare system is the degree to which the population has access to meaningful and coordinated primary care.
Experts tell us that the dearth of primary care providers may be attributed to many factors including low reimbursement levels and a lack of federal incentives to teaching institutions to promote primary care. My legislation would allow the National Health Workforce Commission to analyze these issues and recommend solutions including changes in Federal reimbursement systems. For example, this bill calls for improved transparency and accountability for Federal dollars spent for medical education through direct Graduate Medical Education, GME, and Indirect Medical Education, IME, and money paid in Disproportionate Share, DSH, support for safety net services provided under the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
This legislation also substantially increases funding for the National Health Service Corps. This will help provide healthcare access to the areas of our country that are in most desperate need. Also, included are expanded loan forgiveness and grant programs to develop new training programs in rural and other underserved communities to help us train health professionals in areas where they are needed.
The Health Access and Health Professions Supply Act of 2009 establishes a U.S. Public Health Sciences Track to train physicians, dentists, nurses, physician assistants, mental and behavior health specialists, pharmacists, and public health professionals emphasizing team-based service, public health, epidemiology, and emergency preparedness and response in affiliated institutions. Students in this program are accepted as Commission Corps officers in the U.S. Public Health Service and will receive tuition remission and a stipend with a two year service commitment for each year of school covered. This group will form an elite cadre of healthcare professionals that can be deployed when epidemics, natural or other disasters strike.
I am introducing the Health Access and Health Professions Supply Act of 2009 with the understanding that our health workforce shortfall cannot be solved using a piecemeal approach. We must address health workforce issues in health care reform to guarantee access to quality care for all Americans but we must also ensure that taxpayer dollars used to support health professions education are spent wisely.
This legislation has received widespread support and is endorsement by the: National Association of Community Health Centers, National Rural Health Association, American Medical Students Association, Trust for America's Health, American Psychological Association, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American Academy of Physician Assistants, Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service, National Rural Recruitment and Retention Network, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New Mexico Health Resources, New Mexico Medical Society, New Mexico Chapter of the American College of Physicians, and the Santa Fe Project Access.
I urge my colleagues in the Senate to join us in support of the Health Access and Health Professions Supply Act of 2009.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009. This legislation would reform the antiquated Mining Law of 1872, a law that governs the mining of hardrock minerals, such as gold, silver, and copper, from our Federal lands.
When the Mining Law was enacted in 1872, in the aftermath of the California gold rush, Congress sought to encourage settlement of the West. Congress did this by offering free minerals and land to those who were willing to go West and mine. Congress put in place a system whereby miners could enter the public lands and locate claims for valuable mineral deposits, and mine the minerals with no further payment to the government. In the 1872 law, Congress also provided that the Federal Government would patent, or transfer title in fee simple, to the mining claims on the public domain for $2.50 or $5.00 an acre.
In 1920, Congress enacted the Mineral Leasing Act, and removed oil, gas, coal, and certain other minerals from the operation of the Mining Law. In so doing, Congress enacted a management regime that requires the leasing of these minerals. In addition, Congress required payment of per-acre rentals and ad valorem royalties based on the value of production of the oil, gas and coal, providing a return to the public for the production of publicly-owned resources.
However, as we all know, the Mining Law of 1872 continues to govern the disposition of hardrock minerals from Federal lands. While Congress has stepped in and prevented the patenting of lands through annual appropriations riders, patenting provisions allowing the transfer of mineralized Federal lands for $2.50 or $5.00 per acre are still on the books. In addition, to this day under the Mining Law, billions of dollars of hardrock minerals can be mined from Federal lands without payment of a royalty. General land management and environmental laws apply, but there are no specific statutory provisions under the Mining Law setting surface management or environmental standards.
Efforts to comprehensively reform the Mining Law have been ongoing literally for decades, but results have thus far been elusive. Congress came close to enacting comprehensive reform in 1994, and Congress has enacted moratoria on patent issuance and has imposed claim maintenance fees through the appropriations process. The House passed reform legislation last Congress and several of us in the Senate had discussions regarding how we could address this issue.
There is a growing number of people saying that finally this Congress may be the time to achieve this long-awaited reform. Chairman Rahall, a champion of reform in the House of Representatives, has again introduced mining reform legislation. The bill that I introduce today differs in many significant ways from the House legislation, and builds on discussions in the Senate last Congress. My bill, like other reform proposals, reflects a view that the law needs to be amended to ensure that the public gets a fair return for its resources, that environmental and land use requirements are modernized, and that certainty is provided to the mining industry.
I note that my bill includes a range for both the royalty rate and the reclamation fee which will be set by the Secretary through a rulemaking process. This ensures that the Secretary will have the benefit of comments and information from interested parties and the public in setting the royalty and fee. We must look comprehensively at the subject of royalties and fees to ensure that we continue to maintain a healthy domestic hardrock mining industry with the benefits that the nation derives from that industry, including jobs and strategic minerals. At the same time, we want to ensure that the public gets the fair return on these resources that the American people deserve. I hope to receive additional input on this issue of royalties and fees during consideration of the bill.
Another part of this legislation warrants special attention--that is the provisions relating to abandoned hardrock mine reclamation. While estimates vary, a recent survey of States indicated that there are as many as 500,000 abandoned hardrock mine sites nationwide with most of these in the West. These abandoned mines pose serious public health and safety risks. They also degrade our environment and pose special threats to our most precious resource: water.
As we discuss the size and shape of legislation to reform the 1872 law, there appears to be substantial support for enacting a robust hardrock abandoned mine land program. My legislation would enact a reclamation fee to fund this effort. In 1977, Congress enacted a coal AML program as part of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act to address the serious problem of abandoned coal mines. This program was funded by a fee levied on coal production. We are overdue to enact a similar program to deal with abandoned hardrock mines.
Mr. President, the bill I introduce today reforms the Mining Law of 1872 in important ways. The key provisions of this bill are outlined.
The bill eliminates patenting of Federal lands, but grandfathers patent applications filed and meeting all requirements by September 30, 1994.
The bill makes modest increases in the annual claim maintenance fee, from $125 to $150, and claim location fee, from $30 to $50. The legislation requires the mine operator to pay a fee in exchange for the use of Federal land that is included within the mine permit area. The bill provides that fees collected are to be used for the administration of hardrock mining on Federal lands. Any excess funds are deposited into the Hardrock Minerals Reclamation Fund.
The bill provides that the production of all locatable minerals is subject to a royalty to be determined by the Secretary by regulation of not less than 2 percent and not more than 5 percent of the value of production, not including reasonable transportation, beneficiation, and processing costs. The royalty may vary based on the particular mineral concerned. No royalty will be collected from lands under permit that are producing in commercial quantities on the date of enactment. Royalty revenues will be deposited into the Hardrock Minerals Reclamation Fund.
The bill includes a provision for royalty reductions for all or part of a mining operation where the person conducting the mineral activities shows by clear and convincing evidence that without the reduction, production would not occur.
The bill states that permits are required for all mineral activities on Federal land except for ``casual use'' that ordinarily results in no or negligible disturbance. Mining permits are for a term of 30 years and so long thereafter as production occurs in commercial quantities. The operator must provide evidence of approved financial assurances sufficient to ensure completion of reclamation if performed by the Secretary concerned.
Financial assurances attributable to the cost of water treatment will not be released until the discharge has ceased for at least 5 years or the operator has met all applicable water quality standards for at least 5 years. The operator may be required to establish a trust fund or other long-term funding mechanism to provide financial assurances for long-term treatment of water or other long-term post-mining maintenance or monitoring requirements.
The Secretary of Agriculture must take any action necessary to prevent unnecessary or undue degradation in administering mineral activities on National Forest System land. The bill directs the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to jointly issue regulations.
The bill requires within 3 years a review of certain lands to determine whether they will be available for future mining claim location. The Governor of a state, Chairman of an Indian tribe, or appropriate local official may petition the Secretary to undertake a review of an area.
The bill establishes a program for the reclamation of abandoned hardrock mines in 14 western states. Creates a Hardrock Minerals Reclamation Fund comprised of hardrock royalties, fees, and donations. Each operator of a hardrock mining operation on Federal, state, tribal or private land, must pay a reclamation fee established by the Secretary of not less than 0.3 percent, and not more than 1.0 percent, of the value of the production of the hardrock minerals for deposit into the Fund. The bill provides grant programs for all states for hardrock reclamation projects and for public entities and nonprofit organizations for collaborative restoration projects to improve fish and wildlife habitat affected by past hardrock mining.
Reform of the Mining Law of 1872 is a matter that has come before the Congress repeatedly and that we simply must address. I ask that my colleagues
join me in cosponsoring this important legislation.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a bill summary be printed in the Record.
Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the School Day Factor Act of 2009.
This bill would encourage States to provide students with the time they need to master knowledge and skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century, and to provide teachers with sufficient time to deliver effective instruction.
Twenty-first century learners, and their teachers, are faced with educational demands that simply did not exist decades ago. Right now, our economy is struggling. But we have a plan to get it back on track by investing aggressively in scientific R&D, and the deployment of new technologies. If we are to maintain and increase our Nation's competitiveness in the global economy for decades to come, we must allow every child the opportunity for a quality 21st century education. Today's students need to master mathematics, science, and technology, language arts and social studies, and they must also have opportunities to study foreign languages, the arts, and physical education. No one of these subject areas should be sacrificed at the expense of another. But that is the choices that teachers and students are faced with in schools across the United States. Teachers are being asked to cover more material than before, without being given more time. Students are expected to master more material than students of decades ago, without being given more time. Meanwhile, researchers have demonstrated that reducing instructional time hinders learning. As summarized by the National Research Council, in its report on How People Learn, ``. . . significant learning takes major investments of time.''
How can a quality, well rounded education be achieved when the average school year in this country includes only 180 days--less than half the number of days in a calendar year? Children today are spending only 20 percent to 30 percent of their waking hours in school, even if they have a record of perfect attendance. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, by the time American students finish high school, they will have spent more time watching television than in the classroom.
In 1991, Congress established the National Education Commission on Time and Learning, an independent advisory group charged with studying the relationship between instructional time and student learning in American schools. Members of the commission visited schools in the U.S. and abroad, and interviewed teachers, administrators, parents, and students. The Commission concluded that students and teachers in American schools are ``prisoners of time,'' captives of an agrarian- based school calendar that robs them of the opportunity for a quality education. To quote from their report, ``we have been asking the impossible of our students--that they learn as much as their foreign peers while spending only half as much time in core academic subjects.'' I add that this means we have also been asking the impossible of our teachers--to deliver effective instruction, without sufficient time. Clearly, our school calendars have not moved forward along with our societal and technological advances.
The Commission's 1994 report was not the first to recommend lengthening the school year. In 1983, the Nation at Risk report recommended increasing the school day to 7 hours per day, and the school year to 200 to 220 days per year, as a means to strengthen our nation's grip on global competitiveness. Well, it has been 25 years since that report, and I believe the time has come to give students and teachers the time they need for a quality education.
The School Day Factor Act will support efforts to expand the school year, by coordinating school funding with the length of the school year, and by encouraging schools to add five days to their calendar each year, for the next 4 years. This bill introduces a variable, the ``School Day Factor,'' that will reflect the number of mandatory full days included in a state's school year, and it may be adjusted to reflect any increases in instructional hours per day. This variable will be added to existing Title I allocation formulas that determine education grants to States.
The existing funding allocation formulas would be essentially unchanged for States whose school calendars meet a base level number of days per school year. By raising the base level school year length by 5 school days per year, over a 4 year period, the average school year calendar would reach the target of 200 school days per year by 2014. Inclusion of the School Day Factor will result in higher grants to states with school years that exceed the base level number of school days per year, and smaller grants to states with school years that fall below the base level.
I believe that schools are not only ready for this change, but that they are setting the pace for this movement. Some States and school districts have
already taken the initiative to expand their school year by 20 days per year. In my own State of New Mexico, a State initiated pilot program to extend kindergarten by 20 to 25 days per year led to such positive outcomes that the program was recently extended to third grade. Requests to participate have increased, as more school districts understand the benefits afforded by expanding students' and teachers' educational time. The School Day Factor Act is an investment that will support the efforts to dramatically increase this participation rate such that the 200 day school year is the norm, not an expanded calendar.
Clearly, more time alone is not sufficient to insure quality learning. By including the School Day Factor Act in the reauthorization of ESEA, it will be paired with actions designed to enhance and support quality instruction delivered by highly qualified teachers. I hope that this legislation will be included in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
Mr. President, I rise today with my colleagues Senators Burr, Kennedy, Hatch and Murray to introduce the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation, ATTAIN, Act of 2009.
This bill would amend title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to rename part D, Achievement through Technology and Innovation, and reauthorize it through FY2014. I am very pleased that ATTAIN is supported by the Consortium for School Networking, International Society for Technology and Education, Software and Information Industry Association, State Educational Technology Directors Association, and many other education groups.
In 2002, Congress enacted the No Child Left Behind Act to close the achievement gap between low-income, underperforming students and their more affluent peers. Without a renewed dedication to the quality of programs used in our schools, this goal, as well as providing an excellent education for students, will be difficult to achieve. While there is no question that we have made progress in recent years in advancing educational opportunity, I remain concerned about the number of schools that are failing to meet the performance criteria set out in the No Child Left Behind Act.
The bill I am introducing represents a critical step forward in advancing learning technologies for millions of students across the country. Many schools lack the resources necessary for the 21st century classroom and to meet the needs and expectations of today's students. Furthermore, technology and e-learning in our schools are a must if we are to meet our Nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education needs and to provide students with the skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century knowledge-based, global economy.
By authorizing the Enhancing Education Through Technology Act, EETT, as part of NCLB, Congress recognized that Federal leadership and investment is needed to serve as a catalyst for State and local education initiatives aimed at school innovation and improved student achievement. EETT has shown to be effective, particularly in my home State of New Mexico. As you know, many schools often do not have access to learning resources that enable their students to gain an academic background with the technological skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college or the modern workplace. Through EETT, programs such as the Online Teaching and Learning Opportunities Year 2, have become bright spots of opportunity in some of our Nation's most isolated communities and have brought technical training, professional development and advanced technology resources to teachers and students. Notwithstanding this record of success, it is critical that states such as New Mexico have the opportunity to further advance the use of learning technologies to deliver innovative instruction and curriculum.
To this end, the ATTAIN Act has three main objectives. First, to ensure that through technology every student has access to individualized, rigorous, and relevant learning to meet the goals of NCLB and to prepare all students for the 21st century. Second, to build upon and increase the use of evidence-based and innovative systemic school redesign that centers around technology. And finally, to provide meaningful professional development around technology that leads to changes in teaching and curriculum and improves student technology literacy.
The future of our students' success depends on the quality of their educational experience. I want to thank Senators Burr, Kennedy, Hatch, and Murray for their leadership and commitment to improving education in this country. They remain tireless advocates for our Nation's students, and I am pleased to be working with them on this legislation as we begin reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act.
This legislation is an integral step in advancing State and local learning technologies for millions of students across the country, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.