Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with.

Mr. President, the bill we are considering this morning--the AGOA- CAFTA-Burma sanctions package--has several parts, but I want to focus on the very real impact that one provision will have on jobs in my home State of North Carolina.

This provision would make non-controversial technical fixes to the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement.

When the DR-CAFTA was first negotiated nearly a decade ago, the intention of all the parties was to preserve the benefits of tariff reductions on yarn for the countries at the negotiating table.

That is how the United States has traditionally negotiated the textile chapter of its free-trade agreements.

But when the DR-CAFTA was agreed to in 2005 an out-of-date definition for sewing thread was used that inadvertently allowed non-CAFTA nations to export a certain kind of yarn into the CAFTA region duty free.

Textile manufacturers in countries like China began exploiting this loophole to substitute their yarn for U.S.-produced yarn, and this action severely damaged textile manufacturers in North Carolina and the rest of the United States.

Let me give you one example.

Unifi is a textile manufacturing company headquartered in Greensboro, NC, with plants throughout the State. Half of their employees tied to the thread business have lost their jobs since 2006 when CAFTA took effect and the yarn loophole was exposed.

Unifi is not alone.

There are nearly 2,000 jobs in the United States that are directly affected by the exploitation of this loophole.

Creating jobs in North Carolina is my No. 1 priority.

Now I am proud of North Carolina's historic textile industry. It continues to innovate its way through advanced manufacturing and investments in research and development.

But times are tough enough as it is for the American textile industry.

We simply cannot afford to lose good-paying manufacturing jobs in North Carolina's textile industry because foreign countries are exploiting drafting errors and Congress delays fixing them.

We should be looking for ways to allow our textile companies to compete with their foreign counterparts on a level playing field. This bill is a step in that direction.

The corrections in this bill were brought to the attention of other CAFTA countries by the United States, were agreed to in February 2011 and have since been enacted by all the other CAFTA countries.

I am glad that we overcame this hurdle to ally ensure the integrity of the textile provisions of the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

This fix is long overdue.

I want to express my deep appreciation to Chairman Baucus for his leadership in moving this bill forward.

Mr. President, I too echo the comments of the Senator from Colorado, and I thank the Senator from Rhode Island for bringing this bill forward and for putting together what the American people expect from people who donate to campaigns.

Today, I join my colleagues, as I did 2 years ago, to discuss the state of campaign finance and reflect on what I think is a dark cloud that has been cast over our Nation's election system.

The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United created a watershed effect in our elections process. The decision eviscerated decades of campaign finance law that was in place for the purpose of making sure the American people, not special interests, decided our elections. It was 2 years ago that I expressed my deep concern that this ruling would weaken the voice of the American people in elections, and I am afraid my fear and the fears of many others have come true.

Since the ruling, many political operatives have established nonprofit proposed social welfare organizations under 501(c)(4) of the Tax Code. These groups utilize a loophole in the Tax Code to receive huge, secret donations intended solely to influence political campaigns rather than promote the social welfare of our citizens.

In 2006, outside groups spent $69 million on political campaigns. Only 1 percent, $690,000 in 2006, of that funding came from undisclosed sources.

By comparison, in 2010, the amount of outside group spending on political campaigns skyrocketed to $305 million, and the sources of 44 percent of that money were not disclosed. So in 4 years' time, the amount of undisclosed dollars grew exponentially from 1 percent to almost half of all outside political spending.

This year, outside group spending is projected to rise at an astounding rate, and we are certainly seeing it now. Of the $140 million raised by super PACs thus far, 82 percent has come from secret donors. That is shocking, and we know it is growing.

In North Carolina, the story is no different. Last week, the Charlotte Observer reported that ``more than any congressional battle in the south . . . North Carolina's 8th District has become a magnet for money.'' And that is outside money. In that same article, the newspaper reported that only two other districts in the entire country have seen more outside spending than the $1.6 million poured into the eighth congressional district. The two candidates themselves have only spent $1 million through the end of June.

Let me point out that this level of spending is for a runoff primary election in a mostly rural part of North Carolina. I cannot imagine what the general election race will look like.

The level of secret, anonymous money influencing our political elections is breathtaking. America's campaign finance process should and must be transparent. Of course, every American, including the wealthiest among us, has the right to have his or her voice heard, but those spending huge amounts of money to influence elections should not hide their activities. Information on who is funding political advocacy should be available to the public so voters can ultimately make fully informed decisions.

The DISCLOSE Act would take a step in the right direction to ensure accountability in our system. The bill would institute comprehensive disclosure requirements on corporations, on unions, and other organizations that spend money on Federal election campaigns. By increasing the transparency of campaign spending by these groups, the DISCLOSE Act seeks to prevent unregulated and unchecked power over our elections by a handful of wealthy corporations and individuals.

Right now, the voices of ordinary Americans--of ordinary North Carolinians--are being drowned out by secret money. North Carolina deserves better and our country deserves better. That is why I am cosponsoring the DISCLOSE Act. The voices of North Carolinians--not the voices of a few wealthy companies and individuals--should determine the outcome of our elections.

I will continue to work with my colleagues here in the Senate to protect the integrity of the elections process. We came very close last time, with 59 votes. We were one vote away. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join this effort to achieve a fair and transparent elections process.

I yield the floor.

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

Madam President, I rise today to speak in support of the Small Business Tax Cut and Job Creation Act.

Families throughout North Carolina are facing a difficult economy right now. I have said repeatedly that the people of our State cannot wait until after the election for Congress to work on solutions to speed up our economic recovery. That is why I am pleased the Senate has agreed to consider this small business legislation.

This is a bill that will help North Carolinians get back to work this year in industries such as health care, finance, construction, manufacturing, and retail.

This legislation supports businesses that expand payroll or invest in new equipment, and there are estimates that it will put 27,000 unemployed people in my State back to work. It does this by creating an incentive for North Carolina small businesses to add new jobs in 2012 by giving businesses a 10-percent income tax credit on new payroll.

And it encourages businesses to make new investment by extending the 100-percent business deduction on qualified property. Providing real tax relief that lowers the cost of doing business should be a bipartisan idea and it is one I will support.

I also want to express my deep appreciation to the Small Business Committee chair, Senator Landrieu, for including a proposal of mine in her SUCCESS Act amendment. This amendment would put us on the path to establishing a common application for small businesses to apply for Federal assistance across agencies, across departments, and programs with a single application.

Frequently I hear from small business owners who tell me that government redtape is preventing them from growing their businesses and creating jobs. We need to slim down this bureaucratic redtape. I believe our small business should not have to be responsive to the whims of the Federal bureaucracy. The Federal Government needs to be responsive to the needs of our small businesses.

In February, I introduced the Small Business Common Application Act, which would establish a common application that allows small business owners to apply for grants, seek technical assistance, and bid on contracts from the Federal Government with a single form. It would function much like the common application students use today to apply to multiple colleges and universities.

Senator Landrieu's amendment would put us on the path toward creating a common application by establishing an interagency executive committee with representatives from 12 different agencies and departments that will report back to Congress and the SBA within 270 days on whether a common application is feasible.

This is a commonsense bill that I believe both sides of the aisle can agree to to cut the paperwork burden on our small business owners.

I ask unanimous consent that all time spent in quorum calls be equally divided.

Mr. President, I call up Hagan amendment No. 2366.

I ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, as everyone knows, Federal crop insurance policies are extremely technical and complex. My amendment seeks to give farmers additional access to clear, concise information about crop insurance policies and programs approved by the USDA.

This commonsense amendment seeks to accomplish this goal in two ways:

First, it will require the Secretary of Agriculture to report back to Congress on the status of the agency's effort to comply with the President's Executive order to require the use of plain language. My hope is that this simple measure will force USDA to move quickly to provide information necessary for our farmers in North Carolina and other parts of the country to make informed decisions about signing up for the crop insurance plans that meet their specific needs.

Second, my amendment requires the Risk Management Agency to improve its existing Web site so that agriculture producers in any State can access easily understandable information on crop insurance.

I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment.

Mr. President, I certainly want to congratulate Senator Mikulski for all the hard work she has done, not only on this bill but on all the bills on which she has worked so hard on behalf of women in our country. I applaud her for her efforts.

I join with my colleagues to discuss an issue that affects women and families across America every day; it is the wage gap. Almost 50 years have passed since the Equal Pay Act was signed into law, and the wage gap between men and women remains wide today. It is time to bring the wages of women in line with those of their male counterparts.

I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act. Yet some question why we need this bill. Well, the numbers make it pretty clear. Women in the United States earn 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. In North Carolina, it is a little better but not equal. Women earn 81 cents for every dollar earned by men doing the same work, the same job. Over the course of 1 year, women in North Carolina experience nearly $8,000 in lost wages. That is $8,000 from what her male counterparts earn.

With that $8,000, a woman could spend for her family an extra $110 a week on groceries for 73 weeks. She could buy another 2,200 gallons of gas at $3.60 a gallon. If women were paid the same as men for the same work, these are just a few of the expenses they would be able to afford more easily.

The wage gap is not isolated in one industry either. It exists across virtually every sector of our economy. The wage gap exists regardless of education level. In many cases, the most educated women are paid less for the same work, and it exists regardless of a woman's personal choices, such as becoming a mother. Working mothers should not pay a penalty for having children.

A group in North Carolina called MomsRising told me in the last few months they have heard from women across the State--from Wilmington, from Durham, from Greensboro, and from Raleigh--that once these women actually had children, they got overlooked for promotions, overlooked for pay raises, and overlooked for the projects on which they wanted to work. However, this collective group of women are afraid to speak out about their wage discrimination because in this economy they are worried about getting fired from the job they need to support their families.

Yesterday I met with women and small business owners in Charlotte to discuss the Paycheck Fairness Act. My visit with those fantastic women reinforced for me the importance of this bill, the Paycheck Fairness Act. One woman brought her young son with her to the event and they both wore T-shirts that each had a number on the front. The mom's shirt said 94 and the son's shirt said 50. If earnings continue at the slow pace they are going now, those numbers signify the ages that mom and that son will be when pay equality is achieved in our country. Sadly, at the rate we are going, most of us in the Senate will not live to see that day.

This wage gap has real consequences, not just for women but for their children too. In North Carolina alone, women head over 500,000 households. The economic security of women and families is put at risk when they are paid less than men for performing the same jobs. Later today I will be voting to help close this gap, to help bring the wages of women in line with those of their male counterparts. I am hopeful that petty partisan gamesmanship does not get in the way of a bipartisan issue that both Democrats and Republicans, men and women, overwhelmingly support.

In a recent poll, 81 percent of men and 87 percent of women supported having a law to provide women more tools to get fair pay in the workplace. This poll also showed support for such a law from 77 percent of Republicans and 87 percent of Independents and 91 percent of Democrats. With such widespread approval, we should be able to address this issue right away.

We need Paycheck Fairness to prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who discuss salary information with their coworkers. We need Paycheck Fairness to strengthen the legal remedies available for women to ensure they can be compensated for pay discrimination. We need Paycheck Fairness to provide businesses, especially small ones, assistance with equal pay practices.

On the eve of the anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, we need to close the loopholes that allow pay discrimination to happen. The Paycheck Fairness Act would do just that by helping women successfully fight for full pay.

I ask unanimous consent for 30 additional seconds.

Equal pay for equal work to me is just basic common sense. I hope this body can come together to address this disparity that exists in North Carolina and around our country.

I again thank Senator Mikulski for the work she is doing on behalf of this very important bill that is truly going to make a difference in the lives of women throughout our country, as well as their families.

I yield the floor.

I would request 6 minutes.

First, Madam President, I do want to applaud the hard work of the Senate HELP Committee chairman Tom Harkin and the ranking member Senator Mike Enzi. This bill is truly one of the most bipartisan efforts I have had the opportunity to be a part of in the 3 years I have served in the Senate. It ought to be a reminder that, yes, when we work together across the aisle, the Senate can get things done.

I am particularly proud to support this bill because of what it will mean for patients who are suffering with diseases, who do not have access to adequate treatments, or who do not have access to any treatment at all. This bill we are voting on includes key provisions of the TREAT Act--the Transforming the Regulatory Environment to Accelerate Access to Treatments Act--which I introduced in February. These important provisions will expedite the review of treatments for serious or life-threatening diseases without compromising the FDA's already high standards for safety and effectiveness.

I introduced the TREAT Act after meeting with a family whose child suffered from spinal muscular atrophy or SMA. This is an incurable neuromuscular disease and is the leading genetic cause of infant deaths. Of course, that family was not alone. There are 30 million Americans suffering from rare diseases, and I have had the honor to meet a number of them. Their stories are both heartbreaking and inspiring.

When I visited the North Carolina Children's Hospital last month, I met with Megan and Jarrod Hendren of Lumberton, NC, whose 13-month-old twins Logan and Lucas suffer from Gaucher's disease. This disease is a painful and potentially debilitating metabolic disorder for which currently there is no cure.

I also met with 8-year-old Ashley Burnette from Raleigh, who is resilient and wise beyond her years, but who is suffering from neuroblastoma.

For the families and patients like these, suffering from these rare diseases for which there are no approved medications, medical advances cannot come fast enough. There are so many rare diseases, but fewer than 250 have FDA-approved therapies. The provisions of the TREAT Act that have been included in this bill take great steps toward resolving the problem.

There is currently a pathway at the FDA to expedite the review of drugs for illnesses that are serious or life-threatening and for which there is no adequate treatment. This is called the Accelerated approval pathway. Since the early 1990s, it has been successfully used to advance treatments for patients with HIV and cancer by leaps and bounds. However, it has not been applied regularly or consistently to the review of drugs to treat other diseases.

This inconsistency is why I introduced the TREAT Act. My bill will broaden the application of the accelerated approval pathway beyond HIV/ AIDS and cancer to a wider range of diseases, with a particular focus on rare diseases. That is why my proposal enjoys broad support from patient advocates, including the National Organization of Rare Diseases, Us Against Alzheimers, Parkinson's Action Network, the Huntington's Disease Society of America, and many more.

By providing for consistent application, we will help the FDA implement these provisions, assist drug sponsors to navigate the approval process, and, hopefully, bring safe and effective treatments more rapidly to the patients who need them.

I am also proud to have played a critical role in the legislation that led to the negotiations of the first biosimilars user fee agreement, which is also included in the bill before us. Last Congress, we passed the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act to facilitate the introduction of lower cost alternatives to biologic drugs, while ensuring continued research and development into innovative biologics which can save or improve the lives of millions of Americans.

The user fees negotiated by the industry and the FDA will provide the necessary funding for the review of these critical therapies. The biosimilars industry is in the earliest stages of development, and the biosimilars user fee agreement will help facilitate this industry's growth.

In addition, the FDA Safety and Innovation Act provides the necessary regulatory updates to keep pace with the rapid innovations of the biopharmaceutical industry. This is imperative for creating jobs in States such as mine--in North Carolina--and maintaining America's competitive edge in the global economy.

Companies with footprints in North Carolina are partnering with our world-class universities to improve the health of people all across the globe

every day by researching, discovering, and developing lifesaving treatments for those suffering from these devastating diseases.

Passing the FDA Safety and Innovation Act for States such as North Carolina, and for our Nation, to remain global leaders is important. It is especially important if we are to help attract the jobs of the future.

The American public also expects the FDA to be the world's gold standard when it comes to ensuring the supply, the safety, and the integrity of our drug supply. By sending the FDA Safety and Innovation Act to the President's desk, we will establish a clear and effective pathway for turning ideas into cures and cures into treatments. And we will have shown the foresight and flexibility required to maintain our country's position at the top of the medical treatment and device industries.

I thank the Chair and I urge my colleagues to join in supporting the FDA Safety and Innovation Act.

I yield the floor.

Section 901 of the managers' amendment to S. 3187, Enhancement of Accelerated Patient Access to New Medical Treatments states that an accelerated approval under section 506(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act is subject to certain limitations, including the requirement that the sponsor conduct appropriate post- approval studies to verify and describe the predicted effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit. Does the lack of an explicit reference to postapproval validation of surrogate endpoints, as described in current law, in any way restrict the Secretary's existing authority to require such validation postapproval?

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to also speak about preventing student loan interest rates from doubling from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. I am disappointed that partisan gamesmanship is threatening the financial futures of students in North Carolina and around the country.

In North Carolina we are very proud of our 16 excellent public universities and 58 outstanding community colleges. In addition, dozens of the best private colleges and universities in the Nation also call North Carolina home. Our excellence in higher education sets North Carolina apart.

Business owners I talked to routinely told me that our highly educated and highly skilled workforce is what attracted their companies to North Carolina. There is no doubt that the strength of our economy going forward depends on the continued strength of our educational system. However, the cost of college continues to rise in North Carolina and across the country. If Congress does not act before July 1, more than 160,000 North Carolina students will be saddled with an additional $1,000 in student loan debt.

According to the project on student debt, more than half of North Carolina's 300,000 students at 4-year colleges and universities borrowed money to pay for their education. On average these students graduated with more than $21,000 in debt. That debt has real consequences for our graduates and for North Carolina's economy. With this debt to pay off, young entrepreneurs are less likely to take a chance starting a small business. They are less likely to buy a new car, and they are less likely to buy a home. This only hurts our economy. Keeping interest rates low will go a long way to ensuring that young people can afford their student loan payments when they graduate.

I recently heard from a freshman at UNC Charlotte about how concerned

she already was about the debt she was piling up when she graduates in 4 years. She cannot imagine what would happen if interest rates double. Perhaps she would have to drop out altogether.

A student at Western Carolina University recently wrote to me, while studying for finals, asking that we please prevent a doubling of his student loan interest rates. So in the midst of preparing for final exams, this young man was worrying about the final bill that he will receive after graduating. He said doubling the Stafford loan interest rate would severely hurt his ability to continue his education. He wants to study cell biology.

In a global 21st-century economy, the sciences are exactly the types of fields that we need our students to excel in so we can compete with China and other foreign countries. We should be helping these young people succeed, not throwing up barriers that get in the way.

I am also hearing from parents. A mom with three children e-mailed me recently. Her oldest child will be starting college in 2 years. She is already worried about the debt that her children will incur, and she certainly is requesting that we not double the interest rate on this debt.

Our students deserve a fighting chance when they graduate. We shouldn't put them thousands of dollars behind before they even reach the starting line. I will do my part to ensure students in North Carolina have the chance to thrive after graduating.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation that will prevent student interest rate loans from doubling.

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

Madam President, I rise to join my colleagues in calling for passage of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. I am disheartened that in the last several months petty, partisan gamesmanship has held up this legislation.

Since VAWA originally passed on a bipartisan basis in 1994, the annual incidence of domestic violence has decreased by 53 percent. Many victims are now reporting incidents of abuse rather than hiding in fear. Reports of abuse have increased by 51 percent. This law has transformed our criminal justice system and victim support services. The law has worked well because it encourages collaboration among law enforcement, health and housing professionals, and community organizations to help prevent and respond to intimate partner violence.

In one recent instance in my State, a man was on pretrial release after being charged with stalking his wife. Thanks to the STOP grants funding--which provide services and training for our officers and prosecutors--he was being

monitored. This individual was being electronically monitored and was caught violating the conditions of his release when he went to his estranged wife's home. The supervising officer was immediately notified of this violation and police officers found the man with the help of the GPS and arrested him in his estranged wife's driveway.

Thank goodness this woman was protected and this incident did not add another victim to the 73 deaths caused by domestic violence each year in North Carolina.

Unfortunately, though, the well-being of women in North Carolina and around the country hangs in the balance until we in Congress take action on this act.

Domestic violence also hurts our economy. It costs our health care system $8.3 billion each year. The reauthorization of this act streamlines crucial existing programs that protect women while recognizing the difficult fiscal decisions facing the Federal Government today. Thirteen existing programs would be consolidated to four, which will reduce administrative costs and avoid duplication. New accountability provisions will also require strict audits and enforcement mechanisms aimed at ensuring these funds are used wisely and efficiently.

In fact, title V of this bill includes one of my bills--the Violence Against Women Health Initiative. My bill provides vital training and education to help health care providers better identify the signs of domestic violence and sexual assault. It helps medical professionals assess violence and then refer patients to the appropriate victim services.

This training would have helped Yolanda Haywood, a woman who, as a young mother of three, found herself in an abusive marriage. Her husband abused her regularly and one night punched her in the face and split her lip, which sent her to the emergency room. She obviously needed stitches. As she sat on the examination table, the physician who was sewing her lip back asked: Who did this to you? Yolanda quietly said: My husband. The physician responded by telling her she needs to learn how to duck better.

Yolanda spent the next several years learning how to duck before finally leaving that abusive relationship. Empowered by her experience, she went to medical school and now teaches students at a prestigious university the importance of identifying and treating domestic violence and sexual assault, as well as working in an ER.

In a recent visit to a woman's domestic shelter in Charlotte, I met a counselor who shared this story with me. A young boy had just spent his first night at the shelter. The next morning the counselor was talking to him and he said he slept with both eyes shut last night. The counselor asked the young boy: Well, how do you usually sleep? He said: I usually sleep with one eye open and one eye closed because the last time I slept with both eyes closed my mommy and I both got hurt.

This is the kind of experience this bill will help with. It will protect women and children. For all the progress we have made combating violence against women, this must continue to be a priority. I urge each of my colleagues to support the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act because it literally saves lives in North Carolina and around the country, while ensuring a better future for our children.

I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.

Mr. President, Leadership North Carolina is an organization committed to engaging and informing leaders from across my home State. Today I wish to recognize a constituent who is a leader of Leadership North Carolina. Tom McSwain's service to our citizens may be recognized during his term as chairman of the American Traffic Safety Services Association from 2004 to 2006, but his leadership skills were forged many years before this term and he continues to lead in many ways. Tom is a native of Macon, GA, and a proud alumnus of the University of Georgia, who has a deep love for and commitment to his adopted home State of North Carolina. Two sources of strength for Tom are his wife Shawn Scott, an alumna of Leadership North Carolina Class IX, and his son, Jack.

Currently, Tom serves as eastern region director with responsibility for company sales and activities in the Eastern United States, Latin and South America with Ennis-Flint. Ennis-Flint is the world's largest supplier of pavement marking materials and is headquartered in Dallas,

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Madam President, I come here today to pay tribute to Senator Barbara Mikulski on becoming the longest serving woman in the history of Congress.

First and foremost, I feel deeply privileged to be able to serve alongside Senator Mikulski. She blazed a path that allowed the rest of us, and people like me, to be here today. Along the way, she distinguished herself as not only a leader and tenacious advocate for the people of Maryland but for all Americans.

Senator Mikulski's path to the U.S. Senate prepared her well to be an effective fighter for her constituents. Ever the dedicated public servant, Senator Mikulski worked as a Baltimore social worker, community activist, and as a city council member. She brought an urgency and an unrelenting commitment to service to her work and the people she represented. It can be seen in the legislation she has fought for and the causes she has championed during her 25 years in the Senate.

I am proud to say the first bill I cosponsored when I came to the Senate 3 years ago was one of Senator Mikulski's--the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This bill--which ensures that no matter your gender, race, national origin, religion, age or disability, you will receive equal pay for equal work--the fight to get it signed into law is a perfect example of the tenacity and sense of fairness that drives Barbara Mikulski.

I am particularly grateful to her for her mentorship. On the day I was sworn in to the Senate, I was standing in the back of the Chamber waiting to walk down to the well. My colleague from North Carolina, Senator Burr, was with me. Senator Mikulski came up to me and asked who was going to escort me to the well to be sworn in. I, obviously, said: My colleague from North Carolina. She said: Well, you need a woman too. And with that, I was both humbled and honored to have her escort me down the Chamber aisle to be sworn in as a U.S. Senator.

Her generosity in sharing her experience and her expertise did not stop on that day. She is always encouraging, supportive, and eager to foster a spirit of teamwork. I especially appreciate that Senator Mikulski embraces the need for bipartisanship, which no doubt is why she is and has been so effective, accomplished, and widely respected.

Everyone knows well and respects Senator Mikulski for her advocacy on behalf of women and families. In this regard, she is truly a role model. During the debate on health care reform, her tireless fight to ensure that women's preventive services, including screenings for breast cancer and cervical cancer, would be covered with no out-of- pocket expenses is legendary.

Her ability to see and understand people's needs is clearly reflected in her Spousal Anti-Impoverishment Act, which protects seniors across the country from going bankrupt while paying for a spouse's nursing home care. It is no wonder she is beloved, not only in the Third District, which she represented for 10 years in the House, but by all the people of Maryland whose interests she fights for every single day.

As one of the 17 women now serving in the Senate, it is hard to imagine what it must have been like when she arrived here 25 years ago as one of two women. I am grateful she and the other female Senators have paved the way.

Barbara Mikulski is the dean of the women Senators, and her bipartisan women's dinners are among my favorite Senate traditions. I thank Senator Mikulski for her leadership and strong belief in the empowerment of women in our communities and in public office. For those of us who came to Washington to make a difference, Barbara Mikulski has set a very high bar.

I congratulate Senator Mikulski for this extraordinary and historic accomplishment. I look forward to many more years of serving alongside her.

Surface Transportation Act

Madam President, I will speak for a couple minutes on the Transportation bill.

I have come to the floor to express my support for passing the Senate bill before the current Transportation authorization expires this Saturday. This would create and sustain nearly 41,000 jobs in North Carolina and across the country close to 3 million jobs.

Earlier today, the House passed a short-term 90-day extension. Unfortunately, passing another stopgap extension is not the solution that businesses, States, and the entire country needs.

Short-term extensions create instability and uncertainty in funding, and without that certainty, States such as mine, North Carolina, cannot plan or move forward with projects, which jeopardizes tens of thousands of projects and millions of jobs in America. Once again, that is 41,000 jobs in North Carolina.

Upgrading our infrastructure is not a Democratic or a Republican priority; it is truly an American priority.

The Senate Transportation funding bill makes critical investments in transportation and infrastructure in North Carolina and across our Nation.

The return on investment, when it comes to infrastructure, is high. Moody's estimates that for every $1 spent on infrastructure, our GDP is raised about $1.59.

Additionally, for every $1 billion spent on infrastructure, 11,000 to 30,000 jobs are created--jobs that North Carolina desperately needs.

Failure to pass the Senate Transportation bill could put these millions of jobs and $1.2 billion worth of North Carolina construction projects in jeopardy.

This Transportation bill we are talking about is truly an economic engine. My State currently receives only about 92 cents for every $1 we pay into the highway trust fund. This new legislation would ensure that at least 95 percent of North Carolina's payments to the highway trust fund will come back to our State--nearly 3 percent more than we currently receive.

Maintaining and upgrading our infrastructure is not just about creating jobs in the construction sector; it is the lifeblood of our communities. We need to make sure businesses have roads to access their plants and factories, rail, ports, and airport runways to export goods across the globe and to keep pace with the 24/7 global economy.

To put this in a global perspective, China currently spends four times as much on infrastructure as we do in the United States. We cannot allow this to continue. This is about staying competitive and leveraging commonsense investments that will enable our economy to grow.

This Transportation funding bill will be used to improve our roads, bridges, and mass transit systems--projects that will put North Carolinians back to work and help American businesses compete in our global economy.

I urge my colleagues to take up and pass the Senate Transportation funding bill without delay.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of the Cantwell-Johnson amendment to the JOBS Act. This amendment, which reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank through 2015, is a critical step in our job-creation efforts here in Congress. We approved this bipartisan legislation out of the Senate Banking Committee by voice vote in October. It is fiscally responsible, bipartisan, and will allow U.S. businesses to create jobs by leveling the playing field for American exporters.

If we do not act with urgency to pass this reauthorization, the Ex-Im Bank will not be able to guarantee new loans starting May 31. As our economy is finally showing some hopeful signs of recovery, now is not the time to let partisanship tie the hands of our small business owners who are ready to expand their companies and export their products.

For decades, the Export-Import Bank has supported job creation in America. In fiscal year 2011, the bank supported nearly 300,000 American jobs throughout the country and $41 billion in exports. In North Carolina in 2007, the Ex-Im Bank supported over $1.8 billion in export sales by 169 companies, and 116 of those North Carolina companies are small businesses--the backbone of our economy.

The Ex-Im Bank has made small business growth a top priority, and this is not just lipservice on their part. In conjunction with the bank, I have convened two global access forums in North Carolina, one in Charlotte and one in Greensboro, with bank President and Chairman Fred Hochberg. We had over 400 North Carolina small business owners attend the workshops to learn more about exporting their products. My four favorite words are ``made in North Carolina,'' and I am proud to work with the Ex-Im Bank to help get that label shipped around the world.

This bill also includes an amendment I sponsored that would add a representative from the textile industry to the bank advisory committee. The textile industry has a rich history in North Carolina, where we have more than 1,500 textile facilities employing over 130,000 people. But the U.S. textile and apparel industry has faced a lack of reliable supply chain financing that has caused them to fall behind. Fortunately, the Export-Import Bank is well positioned to provide liquidity and financing to this industry.

I worked hard with my friend Chairman Johnson to include language that would give textile and apparel producers a voice at this important agency. But whether it is a small yarn company in Sanford, NC, a furniture producer in Morganton, NC, or a turbine manufacturer in Charlotte, just to name a few, the Export-Import Bank is truly a lifeline for growth for thousands of businesses that are ready to expand, to hire, and to export.

Given the fiscal situation our country finds itself in right now, I wish to stress the following point for my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and on both sides of the Capitol: The Export-Import Bank does not add a dime to our deficit. It is a self-financed agency that pays for itself. In fact, it more than pays for itself. Since 2005, $3.7 billion has been sent to the U.S. Treasury by the Ex-Im Bank, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that a reauthorization will reduce the deficit by $900 million over 5 years.

We simply cannot afford to let partisan bickering hold up progress on job creation. The people of North Carolina didn't send me to Washington to sit on my hands while jobs take a backseat to partisan gamesmanship.

Reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank is common sense, it is bipartisan, it is fiscally responsible, and it is necessary for continued job growth.

I urge my colleagues to support the Export-Import Bank reauthorization of 2012.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Madam President, I thank our Presiding Officer for bringing this forward, and the comments from the Senator from Washington and the Senator from California are really highlighting the issues we are talking about.

I am proud to join my colleagues to support the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. I stand here today during National Women's History Month to urge my colleagues to take swift action on a bill that is critical to the well-being of women, our families, and our country.

As Hillary Clinton declared more than 15 years ago in Beijing at the Fourth World Conference on Women, ``Human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights. If we take bold steps to better the lives of women, we will be taking bold steps to better the lives of children and families too.''

It is disheartening in the last several months that petty partisanship and gamesmanship have held up policies critical to women's health, including this act. Since its original passage in 1994, the bill has made tremendous progress in protecting women from domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The bill has transformed our criminal justice system and victim support services. It has encouraged collaboration among law enforcement, health and housing professionals, and community organizations to prevent and respond to domestic partner violence. It has funded programs such as services-training-officers- prosecutors grants, or STOP grants, which are used to provide personnel, training, technical assistance, and other equipment to better apprehend and prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes against woman.

Unfortunately, until Congress takes action on the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, the well-being of women across our country hangs in the balance. I see this as a serious lapse in our responsibility as Senators. As a mother of two daughters, I am here to tell you that this reauthorization cannot wait.

The rate of violence and abuse in this country is astounding and unacceptable. According to a 2010 CDC survey, domestic violence alone affects more than 12 million people each year. In the year leading up to the CDC study, 1.3 million women were raped. And this study showed these women are severely affected by sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and stalking, with one in four women falling victim to severe physical violence by an intimate partner. Domestic violence also has a significant impact on our country's health, costing our health care system alone over $8.38 billion each year.

The reauthorization of this act strengthens and streamlines crucial existing programs that really protect women. In fact, title V of the reauthorization includes a bill that I sponsored titled ``Violence Against Women Health Initiative,'' and this legislation consolidates three existing health-focused programs, while strengthening the health care system's response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. This initiative fosters public health responses to domestic violence and sexual violence. It provides training and education to help health professional respond to violence and abuse, and it supports research on effective public health approaches to end violence against women.

Since my time in the North Carolina State Senate, where I served 10 years, I have been dedicated to combating violence against women. While I was a State senator, I led the effort to ensure that local law enforcement tested rape kits to convict the perpetrators of sexual assault. It was astounding to me to discover that after a woman had been raped and she had an examination where DNA was collected, that rape kit test would actually sit on a shelf in a sheriff's office or police station and would not be analyzed. Sadly, the evidence would only be analyzed if a woman could identify her attacker. What other victims in America have to identify their attacker before law authorities will take action?

When I first discovered this and brought it up, I was told there was not enough money for every rape kit to be tested. We soon found the money. But there are States today that still have these rape kits sitting on shelves unanalyzed.

For all the progress we have made, combating violence against women must continue to be a priority and must be a priority in every State in the country.

As I take the floor in support of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, it is fitting to recognize one of our fiercest advocates for women's rights--my colleague and mentor Senator Barbara Mikulski, who, on Saturday, will become the longest serving female congressional Member in history.

For more than 35 trailblazing years, Senator Mikulski has been a strong and unwavering voice for women, families, and the people of Maryland. She shepherded through the Lilly Ledbetter Act, which helps ensure that no matter your gender, race, religion, age, or disability, one will receive equal pay for equal work. She fought tenaciously for her important amendment to the health care reform legislation, ensuring that women's preventive care would be covered with no added out-of- pocket expense.

I thank Senator Mikulski for her mentorship, her leadership, and her fierce advocacy for women's rights. I look forward to continuing to work alongside Senator Mikulski and my colleagues to promote policies that support our women, our children, and our families and put them on a path to a brighter future. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act is central to that goal, and I urge my colleagues to take up this bill and pass it without delay.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join this colloquy and to hear the Senator from Tennessee and the senior Senator from Arkansas work together on this issue. I think it is something of prime importance. Just as Senator Isakson went across Georgia this past week, I was in many cities and communities in North Carolina, and people are concerned, as he said, with such a low approval rating of the Congress. They are asking us: Why can't you work together? And, as the Senator from Tennessee said, when we have 47 Members in one party and 53 Members in the other party and today we need 60 votes in order to get something done, we are going to have to work together in this Chamber. That also means the Senate and the House are going to have to come together and have conferences that actually work so we can get legislation passed--in the case we are talking about right now, getting the 12 appropriations bills passed.

When I was in the North Carolina Senate, I was one of the cochairs of the Budget Committee. We know how to do this. We know how to get things done. Obviously this is a much bigger piece of the pie up here, but it is important to the people throughout our country that we work together to get these bills passed. So I am very pleased to hear this debate and colloquy and the commitment we have standing here and talking about and pledging to work together.

I am pleased that Senator Inouye, the chairman of this committee, and the ranking member, Senator Cochran, are putting this together and bringing this forward. I applaud both the Senator from Tennessee and the Senator from Arkansas for holding this colloquy and bringing this out so the American people can hear what we are talking about and the commitment to move forward.

I thank the Chair. We are here to make this place work, to make our country work better every day. We are going to have our differences of opinion. The way the Senate is structured, we should bring the bill to the floor and offer amendments. Let's have a vote. Let's have our differences of opinion. When we don't do that, we are not doing our job.

I see the Senator from South Carolina has arrived. I wish to say this to him: For the last 45 minutes, we have had a stream of Democratic and Republican Senators who have come to the floor and who have congratulated the majority leader, the Republican leader, and the chairman and the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, for saying we should take all 12 appropriations bills this year, bring them through committee properly, have all of our hearings, do our oversight, bring them to the floor, and then let's pass them.

More than that, we have said we know our leaders can't be leaders if they don't have any followers, and it is part of our job to create an environment in which they can succeed. So we have come to the floor to say that, to pledge we are going to do that. It is not just those who come tonight. We represent a preponderance of Senators on our side of the aisle and, I am told, a preponderance of the Democrats as well.

I would say to the Senator from South Carolina that the Senator from Virginia, Mr. Warner, was here a little earlier and he said the exercise tonight reminded him of a volunteer fire department. I believe I first heard those words from the Senator from South Carolina. The Senator from South

Carolina has seen the House of Representatives and he has seen the Senate and he has seen the condition of our country. I wish to yield to him in this colloquy for his thoughts on what we are doing here tonight.

Mr. President, today I am proud to introduce the Transforming the Regulatory Environment to Accelerate Access to Treatments, TREAT, Act.

This bill empowers the Food and Drug Administration to ensure consistent processes and a clear and effective pathway that will encourage the development of innovative treatments to benefit patients, particularly subpopulations and those with rare diseases, and improve the public health.

Without question, the FDA plays a critical role in helping to ensure that new medicines are safe and effective. At the same time, by promoting investment in and development of innovative treatments for unmet medical needs, the FDA can positively influence our national strategy to identify and treat serious and life-threatening diseases and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans.

In order for FDA to accomplish this goal, however, Congress needs to give the agency the tools necessary to transcend existing barriers, reform its processes, and provide greater clarity, consistency, and transparency to industry.

The bill accomplishes this in three ways.

First, it provides the FDA with the authorities and tools that are reflective of the agency's responsibilities and that are necessary to ensure maximum operational excellence by updating FDA's mission statement and creating a management review board.

Second, it advances regulatory science and innovation within FDA to ensure that evaluations of innovative treatments, therapies, and diagnostics are conducted by those who have the best available knowledge. To do this, the bill creates a chief innovation officer and chief medical policy officers, and expands participation on advisory committees by those experts most familiar with the disease being considered.

Finally, the bill promotes the utilization of modern scientific tools and methodologies to ensure patients have timely access to innovative products by creating a clinical informatics coordinator, providing more information to drug sponsors when an application has not been approved, and enhancing and codifying the accelerated approval process.

In the nearly 2 decades since the accelerated approval mechanism was established by FDA to more expeditiously approve treatments, advances in medical sciences, including genomics, molecular biology, and bioinformatics, have provided scientists with an unprecedented understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms and pathogenesis of disease.

A new generation of modern, targeted, personalized medicines is currently under development to treat serious and life-threatening diseases. Some apply drug development strategies based on biomarkers or pharmacogenomics, predictive toxicology, clinical trial enrichment techniques, and novel clinical trial designs, such as adaptive clinical trials that can be altered based on observed patient outcomes in the interim.

In order to ensure these scientific advances are translated into treatments that benefit patients, Congress should allow FDA to implement a more effective process for the expedited development and review of innovative new medicines intended to address unmet medical needs for serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions.

FDA is already doing this, to some extent. However, application of the accelerated approval process has been somewhat limited, largely to HIV and oncology drugs, and inconsistently applied to other disease targets. For example, a 2011 report by the National Organization for Rare Disorders compared the approval process for 135 non-cancer orphan therapies approved by FDA from 1983 through June 2010. The report found that 45 went through the conventional approval process; 32 were approved with some sort of administrative flexibility; and 58 were approved on a case-by-case flexibility process. This report illustrates that while FDA does have the authority to approve these treatments with some flexibility, there does not appear to be uniformity or consistency in employing this flexibility.

The TREAT Act allows FDA to tap into modern scientific advances by using a broad range of surrogate or clinical endpoints and modern scientific tools earlier in the drug development cycle, when appropriate, to approve treatments for patients. Employing these modern scientific tools may result in fewer, smaller, or shorter clinical trials for the intended patient population or targeted subpopulation without compromising or altering FDA's existing high standards for the approval of drugs.

It is the patients suffering from these serious and life-threatening diseases that benefit from expedited access to safe and effective innovative therapies. For the 30 million Americans living with rare diseases, new advances in science and medicine cannot come fast enough. That is why I am proud that this bill has the support of the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) and Friends of Cancer Research. The TREAT Act provides FDA with the tools needed to modernize its processes and encourage the development of innovative products to benefit patients, particularly subpopulations and those with rare diseases.

I urge my other colleagues to join us in supporting this important bill.

Mr. President, today I am proud to introduce the Transforming the Regulatory Environment to Accelerate Access to Treatments, TREAT, Act.

This bill empowers the Food and Drug Administration to ensure consistent processes and a clear and effective pathway that will encourage the development of innovative treatments to benefit patients, particularly subpopulations and those with rare diseases, and improve the public health.

Without question, the FDA plays a critical role in helping to ensure that new medicines are safe and effective. At the same time, by promoting investment in and development of innovative treatments for unmet medical needs, the FDA can positively influence our national strategy to identify and treat serious and life-threatening diseases and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans.

In order for FDA to accomplish this goal, however, Congress needs to give the agency the tools necessary to transcend existing barriers, reform its processes, and provide greater clarity, consistency, and transparency to industry.

The bill accomplishes this in three ways.

First, it provides the FDA with the authorities and tools that are reflective of the agency's responsibilities and that are necessary to ensure maximum operational excellence by updating FDA's mission statement and creating a management review board.

Second, it advances regulatory science and innovation within FDA to ensure that evaluations of innovative treatments, therapies, and diagnostics are conducted by those who have the best available knowledge. To do this, the bill creates a chief innovation officer and chief medical policy officers, and expands participation on advisory committees by those experts most familiar with the disease being considered.

Finally, the bill promotes the utilization of modern scientific tools and methodologies to ensure patients have timely access to innovative products by creating a clinical informatics coordinator, providing more information to drug sponsors when an application has not been approved, and enhancing and codifying the accelerated approval process.

In the nearly 2 decades since the accelerated approval mechanism was established by FDA to more expeditiously approve treatments, advances in medical sciences, including genomics, molecular biology, and bioinformatics, have provided scientists with an unprecedented understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms and pathogenesis of disease.

A new generation of modern, targeted, personalized medicines is currently under development to treat serious and life-threatening diseases. Some apply drug development strategies based on biomarkers or pharmacogenomics, predictive toxicology, clinical trial enrichment techniques, and novel clinical trial designs, such as adaptive clinical trials that can be altered based on observed patient outcomes in the interim.

In order to ensure these scientific advances are translated into treatments that benefit patients, Congress should allow FDA to implement a more effective process for the expedited development and review of innovative new medicines intended to address unmet medical needs for serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions.

FDA is already doing this, to some extent. However, application of the accelerated approval process has been somewhat limited, largely to HIV and oncology drugs, and inconsistently applied to other disease targets. For example, a 2011 report by the National Organization for Rare Disorders compared the approval process for 135 non-cancer orphan therapies approved by FDA from 1983 through June 2010. The report found that 45 went through the conventional approval process; 32 were approved with some sort of administrative flexibility; and 58 were approved on a case-by-case flexibility process. This report illustrates that while FDA does have the authority to approve these treatments with some flexibility, there does not appear to be uniformity or consistency in employing this flexibility.

The TREAT Act allows FDA to tap into modern scientific advances by using a broad range of surrogate or clinical endpoints and modern scientific tools earlier in the drug development cycle, when appropriate, to approve treatments for patients. Employing these modern scientific tools may result in fewer, smaller, or shorter clinical trials for the intended patient population or targeted subpopulation without compromising or altering FDA's existing high standards for the approval of drugs.

It is the patients suffering from these serious and life-threatening diseases that benefit from expedited access to safe and effective innovative therapies. For the 30 million Americans living with rare diseases, new advances in science and medicine cannot come fast enough. That is why I am proud that this bill has the support of the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) and Friends of Cancer Research. The TREAT Act provides FDA with the tools needed to modernize its processes and encourage the development of innovative products to benefit patients, particularly subpopulations and those with rare diseases.

I urge my other colleagues to join us in supporting this important bill.