Floor Statements

Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the Disaster Loan Fairness Act of 2007. This legislation strikes provisions contained in the Community Disaster Loan Act of 2005 and the Emergency Supplemental spending bill for hurricane relief, which prohibited forgiveness of Special Community Disaster Loans authorized in those measures.

Section 417 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act requires forgiveness of a loan if an independent audit determines that its recipient cannot sustain its repayment obligations after a 3-year grace period. The statute recognizes the very real possibility that hard-hit communities may need to be excused from repayment. For the first time in the history of the program though, forgiveness was specifically prohibited by the Community Disaster Loan Act of 2005. These were the strictest terms ever required. Clamping down in the wake of the worst disaster in history did not make sense at the time, and it does not make sense now.

In the last Congress, I introduced S. 1872, which eliminated this provision governing the first round of loans authorized in October of 2005. Louisiana applicants received about $739 million in this first round. This bill accomplishes that same objective, and also strikes forgiveness restrictions attached to a second round of loans authorized in June of 2006, through which Louisianans received about $261 million in Orleans, St. Bernard, and St. Tammany Parishes. These recipients in the second round included sheriffs, fire districts, levee districts, school boards, sewage and water boards, port harbor and terminal authorities, regional transit authorities and parish governments.

Essential operational expenditures must be made to facilitate recovery in the wake of a disaster, including services like police, fire protection, transit and sanitation. One of the great ironies of the Community Disaster Loan Program is the fact that it exists largely to supplement shortcomings in the Stafford Act. Between 1970 and 1974, the program was administered as a grant program before the Stafford Act converted it to a loan program. FEMA will not reimburse emergency responders for their straight-time salaries, and a large portion of these loans were needed for payroll expenses to essential employees.

This bill does not necessarily forgive all loans made to hurricane- affected communities. Communities must apply for cancellation, and forgiveness is only permitted when an independent review of a city's fiscal health finds justification to cancel the debt. Even then, communities must still repay loan funds used for capital improvements, debt servicing, assessments, intragovernmental services, cost-sharing and otherwise reimbursable activities. It is also important to remember that the size of the loans has been limited to a proportion of the community's operating budget since these programs were first authorized.

The majority of disaster loans have been repaid, and the program is used only by areas that have suffered a major disaster. In 29 years, the program has only received 64 applications associated with 21 disasters. Compared to 1,104 disasters declared in total, that is a very small proportion. There were no loans issued under this authority for 6 years prior to FY 2005. These figures indicate that this program has not been abused by jurisdictions that could do without the funds. Program administrators and independent auditors have found cause to cancel 93 percent of loan funding distributed to hard-hit areas over the years, but this represents the inevitable fact that disasters can be catastrophic, and areas requiring significant help are less likely to be whole again after only 3 years.

The City of New Orleans was forced to lay off 3,000 people--over 80 percent of its workforce. Let us act now to ensure that other cities are not forced to follow, by giving a break to disaster loan recipients who prove unable to repay their debt. They will still have 3 years to try, and some may succeed, but we must adjust to the reality of the situation. It is time we relieve Gulf Coast communities of the burdens they were forced to shoulder in order to keep police cars, fire trucks and sanitation trucks rolling, reopen schools and bring cities back to life by getting things working.

I ask unanimous consent the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, as we all know, there was a tremendous amount of criticism of the Federal Government's response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year. Things are better now and the region is slowly recovering. But, having just finished the 2006 hurricane season, and with the 2007 season a few months away, we must be sure that if we have another disaster, the Federal Government's response will be better this time around. Disaster response agencies have to be better organized, more efficient, and more responsive in order to avoid the problems, the delays, mismanagement, and the seeming incompetence that occurred in 2005.

Today, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of legislation to improve the disaster response of one agency that had a great deal of problems last year, the Small Business Administration, SBA. This bill, the ``Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act'' makes major improvements to the SBA's disaster response and provides them with essential tools to ensure that they are more efficient and better prepared for future disasters--big and small. I should also note that this bill is a result of intensive bipartisan work over the past couple of months and was introduced shortly before the 109th Congress adjourned as S. 4097. Unfortunately, there was no action on that bill so it must be reintroduced in the new Congress. I strongly believe though we can secure passage during this Congress as the bill is reflective of the priorities from Senators Kerry and Snowe, respectively, Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Small Business Committee, as well as Senators Landrieu and Vitter. For my part, I have heard loud and clear from our impacted businesses that SBA reforms should be implemented as soon as possible. That is why in September, I sent a letter to the new SBA Administrator Steve Preston, expressing concerns on the lack of progress on SBA disaster reforms, which were included in S. 3778, the FY07 SBA Reauthorization bill reported out of the Senate Small Business Committee. In this letter, I requested his cooperation, along with our committee to pass this important legislation before Congress adjourns at the end of the year. The introduction of this bill today, shows the progress that the committee made since September on this issue. I hope that this spirit of bipartisanship continues into the 110th Congress and that I can continue to work with my colleagues on the Senate Small Business Committee to reform SBA.

This legislation offers new tools to enhance SBA's disaster assistance programs. In every disaster, the SBA Disaster Loan program is a lifeline for businesses and homeowners who want to rebuild their lives after a catastrophe. When Hurricane Katrina hit, our businesses and homeowners had to wait months for loan approvals. I do not know how many businesses we lost because help did not come in time. Because of the scale of this disaster, what these businesses needed was immediate, short-term assistance to hold them over until SBA was ready to process the tens of thousands of loan applications it received.

That is why this legislation provides the SBA Administrator with the ability to set up an expedited disaster assistance business loan program to make short-term, low-interest loans to keep them afloat. These loans will allow businesses to make payroll, begin making repairs, and address other immediate needs while they are awaiting insurance payouts or regular SBA disaster loans. However, I realize that every disaster is different and could range from a disaster on the scale of Hurricane Katrina or 9-11, to an ice storm or drought. This legislation

gives the SBA additional options and flexibility in the kinds of relief they can offer a community. When a tornado destroys 20 businesses in a small town in the Midwest, SBA can get the regular disaster program up and running fairly quickly. You may not need short-term loans in this instance. But if you know that SBA's resources would be overwhelmed by a storm--just as they were initially with Hurricane Katrina--these expedited business loans would be very helpful.

This legislation also would direct SBA to study ways to expedite disaster loans for those businesses in a disaster area that have a good, solid track record with the SBA or can provide vital recovery efforts. We had many businesses in the Gulf Coast that had paid off previous SBA loans, were major sources of employment in their communities, but had to wait months for decisions on their SBA disaster loan applications. I do not want to get rid of the SBA's current practice of reviewing applications on a first-come first-served basis, but there should be some mechanism in place for major disasters to get expedited loans out the door to specific businesses that has a positive record with SBA or those that could serve a vital role in the recovery efforts. Expedited loans would jump-start impacted economies, get vital capital out to businesses, and retain essential jobs following future disasters.

This bill also makes an important modification to the collateral requirements for disaster loans. The SBA cannot disburse more than $10,000 for an approved loan without showing collateral. This is to limit the loss to the SBA in the event that a loan defaults. However, this disbursement amount has not been increased since 1998 and these days, $10,000 is not enough to get a business up and running. That is why this bill increases this collateral requirement to $14,000 and gives the Administrator the ability to increase that amount, in the event of another large-scale disaster. I believe this is a reasonable and fiscally responsible increase, and at the same time gives the Administrator flexibility for future disasters which will inevitably occur.

As you may know, I pushed to get language in the last Hurricane Supplemental Appropriations bill in June 2006 to require SBA to develop a disaster plan and report to Congress on its contents by July 15, 2006. SBA provided this status report in July and I am pleased that, since then, SBA has been working on a comprehensive disaster response plan. That said, I believe that with the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season fast approaching, and other disasters possible before then, the SBA should be looking at additional ways to improve upon this plan. This legislation requires SBA to report to Congress, by March 15, 2007 on the current status of its response plan and to provide us with a snapshot of where they were with Hurricane Katrina and where they are now. The report also requests SBA feedback on suggested improvements. These improvements include better incorporating State disaster assistance efforts into SBA's response, as well as better coordination with Federal response agencies like FEMA.

The Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act will provide essential tools to make the SBA more proactive, flexible, and most important, more efficient during future disasters. Again, I look forward to working with both Senator Snowe and Senator Kerry during this new session of Congress to ensure that the SBA has everything it needs to meet these goals.

I ask unanimous consent that a copy of my September 27, 2006 letter to SBA be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita revealed the Gulf Coast's vulnerability to storms and flooding. With the help of generous Americans, the people of the gulf coast have been working hard over the last year and a half to rebuild their economy, their communities, and their lives.

Since these devastating storms struck in 2005, Congress directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to better protect America's gulf coast. Yet Congress's failure to pass a Water Resources Development Act WRDA, has delayed much of the needed protection. Of all of the many worthy projects throughout the Nation awaiting WRDA passage, there is one hurricane protection project that stands out and cries for immediate congressional authorization with or without a WRDA bill. Accordingly, I am introducing legislation to singularly authorize this long overdue project known as ``Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Protection.''

This project includes a series of levees, locks and other systems through Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes in Louisiana. When complete, the Morganza to the Gulf project will protect about 120,000 people and 1,700 square miles of land against storm surges such as those caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Morganza to the Gulf project is distinguishable from all other projects awaiting WRDA passage because it was originally authorized in the last enacted WRDA bill in 2000, with the requirement that the Army Corps of Engineers deliver a favorable feasibility report by December 31 of that year. The Corps eventually submitted its report more than a year late, causing the authorization to expire despite the Corps' favorable recommendation.

Though repeated attempts have been made, Congress has been unable to deliver a new WRDA bill since 2000. As a result, vital hurricane protection for a portion of southeast Louisiana that the Corps recommends after years of environmental and economic analysis is awaiting congressional action, and an area of America's gulf coast remains needlessly vulnerable. Notably, every failed WRDA bill that the Senate, the House, and its committees have separately passed since 2000 has authorized the Morganza to the Gulf Hurricane Protection project. Simply stated, there is no other item in WRDA that has been kicked down the road as many times as this.

This bill that I introduce today fully authorizes the Morganza to the Gulf project in accordance with the plans and subject to the conditions of the Corps' report.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and ask unanimous consent that a copy of my statement and the bill appear in the Record.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join with my colleague from Main, Senator Collins, in introducing the Access to Affordable Health Care Act. The latest available Census figures show that 46.6 million people in our country--including almost 19 percent of the people in my home State of Louisiana--are without health insurance.

This statistic has been referred to so often in the media and in this body that it is almost possible to hear it without realizing the full impact of such uncertainty on one's day-to-day life. 46.6 million people without health insurance means 36.3 million families struggling with the knowledge that they may be just one hospitalization away from bankruptcy. It means 8.3 million children who may not be able to access the care they need to prevent increasingly common and often debilitating chronic illnesses such as diabetes and asthma, adversely affecting them for the rest of their lives. It means 27.3 million Americans with jobs, who work everyday knowing that they still may not be able to provide for their families in their time of need.

Across the country, small business owners and families are struggling with the high cost of health care. This is particularly true in Louisiana and across the gulf coast, where recovery from the 2005 hurricanes has already placed heavy burdens on thousands of families trying to rebuild and businesses working to reopen. Since 2000, the number of employees nationwide receiving health insurance through their employers has actually decreased, reversing the progress we saw in the 1990s. Small businesses create two out of every three new jobs in America and account for nearly half of America's overall employment. Yet only 26 percent of businesses with fewer than 50 employees can offer health insurance

to their employees. The Access to Affordable Health Care Act gives the small businesses that are the backbone of this country the opportunity to help make their employees' lives just a little easier.

This legislation further provides for the expansion of the enormously successful SCHIP program, allowing States to cover increased numbers of pregnant women and poor, working adults. It allows for more community health centers and encourages health care providers to practice in the increasingly underserved rural areas of all States. It gives businesses the tools to not only insure their employees against illness but to encourage wellness, decreasing health care costs for everybody. It allows our government to reward States that find ways to improve health outcomes among Medicare patients, actively supporting the types of cost-efficient successes that improve the quality of life.

A country identified by its ingenuity and creativity has a moral responsibility to do more than we have to provide its citizens with the ability to keep their families safe and healthy. These comprehensive, real steps forward will open new doors of opportunity and access to affordable health care for millions of American families and business owners, and I am proud to have partnered with Senator Collins in this important pursuit. I encourage my colleagues to consider this legislation and to help provide our all our constituents with the peace of mind.

Madam President, I come to the floor briefly to speak about a bill I introduced today on the first day of this 110th Congress to signify its importance to our State and to speak about that for a moment.

But before I do, I want to give my public congratulations to the new leadership of this Chamber, to thank the Senator from Nevada and the Senator from Kentucky, the majority leader and the minority leader, for their gathering together of the Senators today, as the Presiding Officer also attended--a quite historic meeting of almost 100 of us in the Old Senate Chamber--and their commitment to us and to the Nation, although it was a private meeting, to work in a more collegial, cooperative way as this Congress begins and to try to forge the bipartisan solutions I think our country called for as a reflection of the outcome of the last elections.

I, for one, publicly want to commit myself to that endeavor and to work toward that end, as I continue to work across the aisle with many in the other party, and even Members such as the Presiding Officer in our own party, in the Democratic Party, to get the job done for our States.

In that regard, I introduced this bill today to authorize a project and to ask for special consideration for this very important levee and hurricane protection project in the State of Louisiana called Morganza to the Gulf. As today we look forward into what we are going to do with this new hope and new spring and new era of cooperation, that is terrific. But we also need to think about looking a little bit backward as to what we did not get done in the last Congress or the Congresses before so we can pick up that work and move forward.

This initiative, Morganza to the Gulf, would fall into that category of a project that was actually approved not only by the last Congress, the 109th Congress, but the 108th and the 107th, and started back actually decades ago. And because of just a few technical glitches resulting in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' failure to timely complete its report, the contingent authorization of the Morganza project expired. Eventually, the Corps submitted its report more than a year late and

recommended authorization of the project.

Madam President, this project when completed will protect 120,000 people in south Louisiana, many of whom were devastated by two of the worst storms and subsequent flooding in the history of our country only 2 years ago, in 2005. However, these people are left vulnerable without this project being completed. It was part of a major WRDA bill, the Water Resources Development Act, of which this Congress worked together in quite an extraordinary bipartisan effort, as the Presiding Officer knows. You have been a part of that effort.

It comes out of the EPW Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee. Democrats on that committee and Republicans worked very hard, into the late hours of the night, trying to get that bill through. But for a number of reasons, this massive bill, with billions of dollars of projects, could not pass in the final hours.

But this one project, of all of the projects in the Nation, I believe deserves special attention, not because it is in Louisiana, not because Senator Vitter and I represent this, and not only because our State received devastation from Katrina and Rita but because this is the one hurricane protection project that actually had been approved in the last WRDA bill. But because of untimeliness on the part of the Corps of Engineers, we could not get it authorized in the last bill, and it should be first to be approved now.

I do not know what is going to happen with our WRDA bill. I am certain the Senator from California, who has pledged her support, and the ranking member of that committee, Senator Inhofe from Oklahoma, who is familiar with this, understand the special nature of this issue. Whether we can move this independently, I do not know. But I am going to ask. Until we are told no, we are going to try. Senator Vitter is not here to speak for himself, but I know he feels very strongly about this, as indicated by his own actions and strong words he has put in the Record. Our House Members, both Republicans and Democrats, could make the same arguments on the House side.

I know people may be tired of seeing the Senators from Louisiana and Mississippi come down and talk about the gulf coast. But it is America's energy coast. It is a working coast. There are working people who live in real communities, large and small, whose homes have been devastated, whose churches have been destroyed, whose schools have been destroyed, and who still look to us to help them, to not waste their money or others' money in the relief but to spend it wisely and well and to provide at least the Federal partnership for these hurricane protection levees. And that is what this is.

The communities of Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes, located in southeast Louisiana, which are the heart of America's energy coast, are willing and able to do their engineering, to put up their own money, to make sure that the projects are done in an expedited fashion. But they cannot begin without this Federal authorization.

So I have introduced as stand-alone legislation, the Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Protection Project, as my first bill, to indicate the continued need throughout south Louisiana and the gulf coast for more protection from hurricanes and smart engineering, to say we are not going to stop asking for the things we think are most certainly meritorious of this Congress's attention and to continue to say that with all the challenges of housing, health care, education, small business recovery, et cetera, that hurricane protection for levees and coastal restoration remains a constant need for the gulf coast and, I would predict, for other coasts around the country that need to wake up to the dangers of rising tides, surges from whatever, tsunamis on the west coast, hurricanes on the east coast, as a potential, and get serious about the business of stronger infrastructure and better planning about where and where not to build close to the coast.

But again, these are working communities that are there--not sunbathing, not condos--running ports, laying pipelines, and giving the Nation the energy infrastructure it needs. These people, just like in the big cities of New Orleans and Baton Rouge and Lafayette and Lake Charles--these small communities of Houma and Lafourche and Cocherie and Golden Meadow and places that no one in Washington has ever heard of, but we visit all the time, deserve the protection of their Federal Government based on what they contribute to the Nation.

So I thank the Presiding Officer for letting me speak for the Record on this issue. I thank the leadership for giving me this time and commend it for the Senate to consider. Hopefully, we can pass it within the first weeks of this Congress.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, at the end of the 109th Congress, I learned that the Internal Revenue Service had a tax surprise for citizens in my state of Louisiana and in Mississippi who are trying to rebuild after Katrina. This tax surprise will set back our recovery and discourage our citizens from coming home.

Let me explain to my colleagues what I am talking about. Both Louisiana and Mississippi have established programs to help families rebuild their homes and their lives after Katrina and Rita. Congress appropriated the money for these initiatives--more than $10 billion in all, and we are very grateful for the assistance. The Louisiana program is called the ``Road Home'' and it is administered by the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA). The program is now starting to get going. Homeowners are eligible to receive grants from the Road Home of up to $150,000 to help them rebuild or repair their homes. Rental properties are also eligible. Grants can also be used to buy out homes. The Louisianians who were displaced by the storms want to go home and the Road Home program will get them there.

But the IRS has dug a big pothole in the middle of the Road Home by making some of these payments taxable. The way this tax surprise works is by requiring that any hurricane victim who claimed a casualty loss deduction for damage to their home on their tax return for 2005 will have to reduce that loss by the amount of any payment from the LRA. So if they had their taxes reduced in one year and received a Road Home grant the next year, they have to essentially eliminate any benefit of the earlier casualty loss deduction. Their taxes will go up.

Now I realize that under normal circumstances, when a person's home burns down, the roof caves in, or they are a victim of theft, they can take a casualty loss deduction, provided it meets certain requirements. The loss must exceed ten percent of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income, with a per loss floor of $100. In some circumstances, taxpayers are permitted to include a current-year casualty loss on an amended prior year return.

Immediately after Katrina, we enacted the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act (KETRA) that suspended the ten percent floor for casualty losses incurred in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area, including those claimed on amended returns. The purpose of the change in KETRA was simple: we wanted to put money in the hands of Katrina victims as quickly as possible. We essentially encouraged taxpayers to take this casualty loss, even by amending a past return. The IRS would then provide them with a refund.

This was a very helpful proposal in the days immediately following Katrina, Mr. President. Hurricane victims needed that money. If you had lost your home, that money could help you pay for a place to live. Many hurricane victims lost their jobs and needed this money to see them through until they started working again. They used the money to begin the rebuilding of their lives.

Congress encouraged people to take the new deduction by changing the law. Now the IRS wants to take it back.

I fully understand the policy behind what the IRS is doing. Casualty loss deductions are normally reduced by the amount of any insurance or other recovery they make on the loss. In fact, at the time the taxpayer makes the deduction he or she is supposed to reduce the amount of the loss by any insurance recovery they reasonably expect to receive. If you receive a larger payment than you expected at a future time, you must claim it on your income tax return when you receive it.

The problem is that this policy will encourage people to leave Louisiana. If you took the casualty loss on your return, and you receive a $150,000 Road Home payment to rebuild your house, you will have a tax consequence. But if you took the casualty loss and sold your house to the LRA for the $150,000 payment, it is treated like a home sale and there is no tax. This policy creates a disincentive to recovery. The Road Home will become the Road Out.

Congress has done a tremendous job passing legislation to encourage investment and the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. At the end of the last session we passed a tax extenders bill that contained a two-year extension of the bonus depreciation for investment in the most seriously damaged areas in the GO Zone. That investment is supposed to attract businesses and people to Louisiana and the Gulf. The IRS's actions will only keep people away. We should not put road blocks in the way of the Road Home.

Today, I am introducing legislation to eliminate this road block to our recovery and to clarify that Road Home payments are not to be taxed. The hurricanes in 2005 were remarkable events causing unprecedented damage. As Congress has done in the past, we must continue to respond in unprecedented and innovative ways. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. President, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita revealed the Gulf Coast's vulnerability to storms and flooding. With the help of generous Americans, the people of the gulf coast have been working hard over the last year and a half to rebuild their economy, their communities, and their lives.

Since these devastating storms struck in 2005, Congress directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to better protect America's gulf coast. Yet Congress's failure to pass a Water Resources Development Act WRDA, has delayed much of the needed protection. Of all of the many worthy projects throughout the Nation awaiting WRDA passage, there is one hurricane protection project that stands out and cries for immediate congressional authorization with or without a WRDA bill. Accordingly, I am introducing legislation to singularly authorize this long overdue project known as ``Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Protection.''

This project includes a series of levees, locks and other systems through Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes in Louisiana. When complete, the Morganza to the Gulf project will protect about 120,000 people and 1,700 square miles of land against storm surges such as those caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Morganza to the Gulf project is distinguishable from all other projects awaiting WRDA passage because it was originally authorized in the last enacted WRDA bill in 2000, with the requirement that the Army Corps of Engineers deliver a favorable feasibility report by December 31 of that year. The Corps eventually submitted its report more than a year late, causing the authorization to expire despite the Corps' favorable recommendation.

Though repeated attempts have been made, Congress has been unable to deliver a new WRDA bill since 2000. As a result, vital hurricane protection for a portion of southeast Louisiana that the Corps recommends after years of environmental and economic analysis is awaiting congressional action, and an area of America's gulf coast remains needlessly vulnerable. Notably, every failed WRDA bill that the Senate, the House, and its committees have separately passed since 2000 has authorized the Morganza to the Gulf Hurricane Protection project. Simply stated, there is no other item in WRDA that has been kicked down the road as many times as this.

This bill that I introduce today fully authorizes the Morganza to the Gulf project in accordance with the plans and subject to the conditions of the Corps' report.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and ask unanimous consent that a copy of my statement and the bill appear in the Record.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join with my colleague from Main, Senator Collins, in introducing the Access to Affordable Health Care Act. The latest available Census figures show that 46.6 million people in our country--including almost 19 percent of the people in my home State of Louisiana--are without health insurance.

This statistic has been referred to so often in the media and in this body that it is almost possible to hear it without realizing the full impact of such uncertainty on one's day-to-day life. 46.6 million people without health insurance means 36.3 million families struggling with the knowledge that they may be just one hospitalization away from bankruptcy. It means 8.3 million children who may not be able to access the care they need to prevent increasingly common and often debilitating chronic illnesses such as diabetes and asthma, adversely affecting them for the rest of their lives. It means 27.3 million Americans with jobs, who work everyday knowing that they still may not be able to provide for their families in their time of need.

Across the country, small business owners and families are struggling with the high cost of health care. This is particularly true in Louisiana and across the gulf coast, where recovery from the 2005 hurricanes has already placed heavy burdens on thousands of families trying to rebuild and businesses working to reopen. Since 2000, the number of employees nationwide receiving health insurance through their employers has actually decreased, reversing the progress we saw in the 1990s. Small businesses create two out of every three new jobs in America and account for nearly half of America's overall employment. Yet only 26 percent of businesses with fewer than 50 employees can offer health insurance

to their employees. The Access to Affordable Health Care Act gives the small businesses that are the backbone of this country the opportunity to help make their employees' lives just a little easier.

This legislation further provides for the expansion of the enormously successful SCHIP program, allowing States to cover increased numbers of pregnant women and poor, working adults. It allows for more community health centers and encourages health care providers to practice in the increasingly underserved rural areas of all States. It gives businesses the tools to not only insure their employees against illness but to encourage wellness, decreasing health care costs for everybody. It allows our government to reward States that find ways to improve health outcomes among Medicare patients, actively supporting the types of cost-efficient successes that improve the quality of life.

A country identified by its ingenuity and creativity has a moral responsibility to do more than we have to provide its citizens with the ability to keep their families safe and healthy. These comprehensive, real steps forward will open new doors of opportunity and access to affordable health care for millions of American families and business owners, and I am proud to have partnered with Senator Collins in this important pursuit. I encourage my colleagues to consider this legislation and to help provide our all our constituents with the peace of mind.

Mr. President, at the end of the 109th Congress, I learned that the Internal Revenue Service had a tax surprise for citizens in my state of Louisiana and in Mississippi who are trying to rebuild after Katrina. This tax surprise will set back our recovery and discourage our citizens from coming home.

Let me explain to my colleagues what I am talking about. Both Louisiana and Mississippi have established programs to help families rebuild their homes and their lives after Katrina and Rita. Congress appropriated the money for these initiatives--more than $10 billion in all, and we are very grateful for the assistance. The Louisiana program is called the ``Road Home'' and it is administered by the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA). The program is now starting to get going. Homeowners are eligible to receive grants from the Road Home of up to $150,000 to help them rebuild or repair their homes. Rental properties are also eligible. Grants can also be used to buy out homes. The Louisianians who were displaced by the storms want to go home and the Road Home program will get them there.

But the IRS has dug a big pothole in the middle of the Road Home by making some of these payments taxable. The way this tax surprise works is by requiring that any hurricane victim who claimed a casualty loss deduction for damage to their home on their tax return for 2005 will have to reduce that loss by the amount of any payment from the LRA. So if they had their taxes reduced in one year and received a Road Home grant the next year, they have to essentially eliminate any benefit of the earlier casualty loss deduction. Their taxes will go up.

Now I realize that under normal circumstances, when a person's home burns down, the roof caves in, or they are a victim of theft, they can take a casualty loss deduction, provided it meets certain requirements. The loss must exceed ten percent of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income, with a per loss floor of $100. In some circumstances, taxpayers are permitted to include a current-year casualty loss on an amended prior year return.

Immediately after Katrina, we enacted the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act (KETRA) that suspended the ten percent floor for casualty losses incurred in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area, including those claimed on amended returns. The purpose of the change in KETRA was simple: we wanted to put money in the hands of Katrina victims as quickly as possible. We essentially encouraged taxpayers to take this casualty loss, even by amending a past return. The IRS would then provide them with a refund.

This was a very helpful proposal in the days immediately following Katrina, Mr. President. Hurricane victims needed that money. If you had lost your home, that money could help you pay for a place to live. Many hurricane victims lost their jobs and needed this money to see them through until they started working again. They used the money to begin the rebuilding of their lives.

Congress encouraged people to take the new deduction by changing the law. Now the IRS wants to take it back.

I fully understand the policy behind what the IRS is doing. Casualty loss deductions are normally reduced by the amount of any insurance or other recovery they make on the loss. In fact, at the time the taxpayer makes the deduction he or she is supposed to reduce the amount of the loss by any insurance recovery they reasonably expect to receive. If you receive a larger payment than you expected at a future time, you must claim it on your income tax return when you receive it.

The problem is that this policy will encourage people to leave Louisiana. If you took the casualty loss on your return, and you receive a $150,000 Road Home payment to rebuild your house, you will have a tax consequence. But if you took the casualty loss and sold your house to the LRA for the $150,000 payment, it is treated like a home sale and there is no tax. This policy creates a disincentive to recovery. The Road Home will become the Road Out.

Congress has done a tremendous job passing legislation to encourage investment and the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. At the end of the last session we passed a tax extenders bill that contained a two-year extension of the bonus depreciation for investment in the most seriously damaged areas in the GO Zone. That investment is supposed to attract businesses and people to Louisiana and the Gulf. The IRS's actions will only keep people away. We should not put road blocks in the way of the Road Home.

Today, I am introducing legislation to eliminate this road block to our recovery and to clarify that Road Home payments are not to be taxed. The hurricanes in 2005 were remarkable events causing unprecedented damage. As Congress has done in the past, we must continue to respond in unprecedented and innovative ways. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. President, I pay tribute this morning to a great American journalist from New Orleans, LA. Alec Gifford will be formally retiring from WDSU in New Orleans this December after an extraordinarily lengthy, fulfilling, and energetic career covering politics and a whole range of issues over decades, including hurricanes, storms and other disasters. He even hosted, believe it or not, a cooking show.

Alec came from a family of journalists. His father covered Governor Huey Long for the Times-Picayune, and his grandfather published one of the first local French language newspapers. So his family tradition has deep roots in Louisiana and in New Orleans. After serving in the U.S. Navy, Alec came to WDSU in 1955. He introduced the people of Louisiana to a very young Senator at the time, John F. Kennedy, as he sought to become--and ultimately did--the President of the United States. Just as we have spent many hours on this floor in recent months and years discussing the share of royalties that Louisiana should get from energy production off of our coast--and I believed I was the first on the story--I was corrected by my staff that Alec Gifford was one of the first on the story four decades ago.

He asked Senator Kennedy his position on how these royalties would be handled when he came in to campaign for the Presidency back then. And he also pressed him on the Nation's path toward an equal education for all of our children during that extraordinary historic interview.

Louisiana later gave all of its electoral votes to Senator Kennedy, who became our 35th President. We then, of course, passed major legislation for equal opportunity, and today or tomorrow we will be passing a historic piece of legislation on royalty sharing after all these many years.

Alec was a journalist who always knew the important stories and managed to explain them to the people at home in a way they could grasp and understand the impact on their daily, everyday lives, and their future.

But Alec really made a name for himself in 1965, demonstrating his dedication to the story when Hurricane Betsy struck Louisiana. While every other station had lost their ability to broadcast back in 1965-- the city and region were basically dark and shut down, and the winds were howling, and the waters were almost as high as during Katrina-- Alec stood in the path of the hurricane and brought images of the storm into every home that could receive a television signal.

Forty years later, he was there again for us with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He evacuated himself to Jackson, MS, but stayed on the story, as many brave journalists did. But Alec has been doing this for so long. His accomplishments throughout this were singular. Working his way--scratching, crawling his way--back to New Orleans, like many of our journalists did, he continued to stay on the story.

The hurricanes could not stop him. The flooding could not stop him. And in a few simple sentences, Alec Gifford illustrated the magnitude of the impact that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have had on Louisiana, when he said:

This is nothing like Betsy. . . . Betsy was a horrible

storm. Betsy was a walk in the park. I cannot believe how

Katrina and Rita have turned our world upside down and

backward. Isn't it amazing how everything changes?

But Alec has not changed at all over these decades. He has stayed resolute, committed to his craft, energetic, and absolutely consistent in his work ethic. He is almost 80 years young, and he has never slowed down. His colleague, Travers Mackel, can attest to that. He said:

I'm 31 years old, and I have a tough time keeping up with

him. He's the first one in to work [in the morning] and the

last one out the door.

His news director, Anzio Williams, said: ``I don't ever want to hear anybody complain,'' he says to his staff, ``about being overworked and overstressed. This guy, [referring to Alec], outworks everybody.''

But after a half a century on the air, at WDSU, WVUE, and for NBC News, Alec has decided to retire. He has certainly left his mark on the news in New Orleans, hiring the next generation of WDSU in anchor Norm Robinson and reporter Richard Angelico--who both have done an outstanding job for our community--but he will now be able to spend more time with the people he cares about most, his wife Delores, his five children, and his eight grandchildren.

He is truly part of the soul of our city, and a shining example of the best in his craft--a reporter to the core, a man willing to stay on the job, no matter what, to tell the story, to tell it right, to tell it clearly. Alec Gifford may be leaving the studio, but he is not leaving our hearts and our memories. I for one would not be surprised to see him on television again. I am sure he will come back in a different capacity, in a different way, but this Senator would like to say how much I have personally appreciated his service to our community and wanted to pay tribute to Alec Gifford today on the eve of his retirement from WDSU.

Mr. President, I have a few more minutes before the 10:30 vote, and I take this time to say a few words about some of my colleagues who are retiring. We had a good bit of time yesterday devoted to their tremendous contributions, and as each of us, the 100 of us, do know each other pretty well, I have come to the floor to say a few things about several of the colleagues I have had the distinct pleasure of working with very closely.

Bill Frist

Mr. President, one is, of course, Senator Bill Frist, our retiring majority leader. I had the wonderful opportunity to be invited to travel with Senator Frist. I guess you could say it was clearly an opportunity. It was not necessarily a pleasurable trip in the sense that the first trip I took with him was to tour the devastation of the tsunami. Soon after he assumed the role of leader, the tsunami hit the Indian coastline. It was one of the largest disasters in the recent history of the world.

I had a chance to go to that region with Senator Frist. I actually saw him firsthand don his doctor's coat and take off, if you will, his hat as Senator and put on his coat as doctor and operate. I agreed to go on that trip with him under one condition, that I myself would not have to go with him into the operating rooms. So I stayed outside and talked with people while he went in and actually did the hard work of saving people's lives and bringing them back to health.

But what I will most remember about that trip--and there were about six of us on it--is that he was the first one awake in the morning, the last one to go to bed at night, constantly working until the point where those of us said we are unlikely to ever travel with him again because we could not get any rest through the entire week and were so exhausted when we got back. We said: If he calls again to ask us to travel, tell him I am doing something else. I am kidding, of course. But I say that with the greatest admiration for a man who has an extraordinary work ethic. And through so many ups and downs, literally, of these helicopters and trips, I remember him staying so steady and so calm, even when we saw some of the most horrific sights you can imagine.

But he has led this Chamber and brought his own style of leadership and his own gifts that God has given him to this Chamber. I am a Senator who truly admires that particular aspect of his service and wanted to put that into the Record in a small way this morning.

Jim Jeffords

Mr. President, I also want to remember for a minute the good work of Senator Jeffords. Senator Jeffords tends to be one of the quiet Members of the Senate. Some of us talk a lot more than others. He does not do much talking, but he sure gets a lot done. I will never forget, and the people of Louisiana are so grateful to Senator Jeffords, as he chaired the EPW Committee, for being one of the first Senators in this Chamber to recognize the extraordinary loss of our wetlands and what it would mean to south Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. And ultimately, of course, we saw the tragedy

unfold before our eyes. Had we listened to Senator Jeffords, and the other few voices who were calling out years ago, perhaps some of that loss of life and billions of dollars of loss of property could have been averted.

Senator Jeffords came down to Louisiana on several occasions. One I will never forget is standing with him in this very southern part of the State in Lafourche Parish, literally almost into the gulf waters, we were so far down south. I was explaining to him--and this is far out from New Orleans. You have to try a little hard to get there. You fly into the big airport, and then you have to go by either bus or helicopter, and it is difficult. And, of course, Senator Jeffords' health has not been great lately. But he was a real trooper, and he said: No, Mary. I want to go, and I want to see it.

So we flew him way down to the wetlands, and he and I were standing there, and I was explaining to him how his work in the Senate was affecting the lives of my constituents down in the bayou and was saying: Senator, almost once a week or so some fishing vessel or shrimp trawler runs into this bridge. And when the bridge shuts down, we literally not only keep schoolchildren from getting to school and parents from getting to their children, but we literally shut down the whole offshore oil and gas industry or a big part of it, because when a bridge shuts down, none of the trucks can move, no supplies can get out to the rigs. Don't you think this country, which spends trillions of dollars every year, can spend a few million dollars to fix this bridge?

The words had not gotten out of my mouth when a shrimp trawler hit the bridge, and the bridge moved slightly. The big wings of the shrimp trawler collapsed, and Senator Jeffords looked at me and said: Now, Mary, you have gotten way too dramatic on this point. You did not have to set that stage for that boat to hit that bridge. He said: I get the message. So we, of course, had a laugh about that.

But his sense of humor, his commitment, and his passion for the environment and the people who live on the land, the people who live in this natural environment, is what has always made me a real fan of his. I want him to know I am going to miss him and his staff who have also been extremely kind to me and my staff in the Senate.

Mike De Wine

Mr. President, I wish to speak about Senator DeWine, my distinguished colleague from Ohio, and a good friend, and a man whom I have worked very closely with in our capacity as appropriators. Also, we share a passion for the child welfare system in this Nation, trying to improve it--of course, promoting adoption, the notion that there is no such thing as unwanted children, just unfound families.

I could not but come to the floor and say that Mike DeWine is literally one of the most compassionate men I have ever known. That compassion is obvious to anyone who works closely with him day in and day out. It is not fake. It is very real. And the spiritual depths of which he and his wife Fran and their children live their faith--not just talk about it, not just use it as a shield to protect them, but as a way to serve others--is quite extraordinary.

This Senator has seen that in him and his work, side by side with him. I want my other colleagues to know that if it were not for Senator Mike DeWine, the District of Columbia would not have their family court, the country would not have the stable families legislation he and Senator Rockefeller pushed through this Chamber at a time when not that many people understood the consequence of a foster care system in disrepair and what happens to children when they get stuck in a system that does not appreciate their dignity or respect their right to a family.

Senator DeWine, a family man himself, most certainly understands that and pushed that legislation through, and dozens of other pieces of legislation that I had the privilege to help him with, and to assist him with, and to watch him lead on. So I am certainly going to miss his leadership. But I will commit to him my focus on Haiti. I will never be able to fill the shoes he has laid out with the work he has done, but several of us intend to continue his work with Haiti, the poorest nation on the Earth, and continue his great passion, as much as we can, in our time here in the Senate.

lincoln chafee

Mr. President, Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island has been an independent voice for his State and the issues he believes in, regardless of partisan consideration. He will be missed by all of us.

conrad burns

Mr. President, Senator Conrad Burns has represented his State of Montana for three terms. He has been a stalwart on behalf of his constituents and his philosophy of government. We thank him for his public service.

george allen

Mr. President, finally, I want to recognize the Senator from Virginia, George Allen, for his service as Senator and as Governor of his State. We have worked together on a range of issues on the Energy and Small Business Committees as well as on the historic antilynching bill.

To all of our retiring Members, I say thank you. Thank you for your efforts on behalf of my State when you were needed and thank you for your service to America.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, let me join my colleague from New Mexico in thanking the leaders of this bill, Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus, for their acquiescence to put this very important measure, which over 70 Senators voted earlier in the year to do, but to put it on this measure to make sure it passed.

Mr. President, you have not been in this Chamber long, but you know this has been a debate which has gone on around Louisiana and the gulf coast for almost 60 years--literally since President Truman was President of this country and offered 37.5 percent to the State of Louisiana for a new industry. Well, that deal was never struck 60 years ago. Tonight, that arrangement, that compromise, that deal is being struck in the Senate. It is a good deal, a square deal for the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, the gulf coast, and the people of the United States, and it is going to open up 8.3 million acres of new opportunity--enough gas, as the Senator from New Mexico said, to fuel 1,000 chemical plants for 40 years. That is a lot of gas. We need that. We need it right now. We need it today to preserve jobs in America and to keep our industries competitive. Those jobs are in every State in the Union, not just on the gulf coast. We are proud to be the producers, but people use this gas in industries all over the Nation.

In addition, as you know--and the Senator from New Mexico has heard this story literally a hundred times--the great delta that supports this extraordinary resource for the Nation is literally washing away into the Gulf of Mexico, not just because of the channels that have been dug in some cases for the industry--that has had a minor impact-- but the damming of the Mississippi River, the leveeing of that river stopped its natural overflow, and a delta that took a thousand years or more to create, which is the home of hundreds of communities and literally tens of millions of people in this country, is at risk.

We saw the pain, suffering, and the death in Katrina and Rita. This bill will help because that money is dedicated to that source.

Finally, because of Senator Salazar and Senator Alexander, primarily, a portion has been set aside for the first time in the Nation for conservation royalty, so that the land and water conservation fund stateside is fully funded. All 50 States can use these great revenues which come in for parts of the greenspace.

I thank Senators Martinez and Nelson from Florida. Without their help and patience, this bill never could have come together. The buffer of protection has been provided for Florida. They have chosen a different way, but the gulf coast is working together as a unit. Some of us are drilling, some are not, but we are all working toward the benefit of America.

To all of the Senators along the gulf coast, including Senator Vitter from Louisiana, and particularly Senator Trent Lott, who put in countless hours to help us negotiate this bill, I thank him for his great and steady leadership.

To Senator Frist and Senator McConnell, who kept this issue steady, it is really a testament to their leadership.

So the people of Louisiana and the gulf coast are grateful that this provision is in the final package. It has been a long and tough battle but one of which we are very proud.

I thank the Senator from Iowa for yielding.

capital gains income

Mr. President, I wanted to just take a minute. I spoke before the vote and thanked many of my colleagues for their extraordinary work on passing the Gulf of Mexico security bill, which Senator Domenici led and so many of us helped. But I did not have an opportunity at that time to thank so many staff people who put their heart and mind and spirit into this action, which is really a historic accomplishment for the State of Louisiana and the gulf coast.

This effort goes back 9 years, and there are many staff people who contributed. I want to read into the Record and mention some of the Energy staffers who worked with me over the years, and legislative directors and chiefs of staff who have helped make this possible: Dionne Thompson, Ben Cannon, Jason Schendle, Tom Michels, Elizabeth Craddock, Kathleen Strottman, Jason Matthews, Janet Woodka, Adam Sharp, Rich Masters, Norma Jane Sabiston, and my current chief of staff, Ron Faucheux.

There were many other staffers on the committees, from both sides of the aisle, who helped to make this bill possible. But in the Landrieu office, none of this would have gotten done without the people who just worked tireless hours, year after year, through victory and defeat, through disappointments and setbacks, to keep their eye on the ball to make this historic bill that is going to do so much to help the southern part of our State, the entire State, and the whole southern part of the United States, to gain its footing, to rebuild, to restore these wetlands, and protect some great infrastructure for America.

So I want to thank my colleagues, particularly Senator Frist and Senator Reid, for their work in guiding us to victory tonight. Thank you.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, as a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and as an original cosponsor and a principle architect of S. 3711, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, I wanted to rise today to offer my perspective on the bill. This bill is now part of a broader package that was considered today in the House H.R. 6111. The package passed by a vote of 367-45. I sincerely hope and believe that the Senate will pass this historic legislation later tonight or sometime this weekend and that if it is tonight or tomorrow, it will be a historic occasion.

The legislation will open 8.3 million acres of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf in the central Gulf of Mexico to leasing for oil and natural gas exploration and production. This area is located more than 125 miles from the closest point in Florida on the Florida Panhandle and more than 300 miles from the southern gulf coast of Florida. The area is closest to Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi and most of the exploration and production activities are likely to be staged from ports along the gulf coast, and from the ports in my state located in southeast Louisiana.

The U.S. Department of the Interior estimates that the area contains at least 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 5.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. To put this in perspective, that is enough natural gas to heat and cool nearly 6 million homes for 15 years.

In addition to opening up 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to new oil and natural gas leasing, this legislation will prohibit leasing within 125 miles of the State of Florida in the new eastern Gulf of Mexico planning area until June 30, 2022. Additionally, it prohibits leasing within 100 miles of the State of Florida in the new central Gulf of Mexico planning area, and east of the western boundary of the 181 area until June 30, 2022. Similarly, under the provisions of S. 3711, no oil and natural gas leasing, preleasing and other activities east of the military mission line may occur until June 30, 2022. This was done to accommodate the military training missions that occur from military installations located in Florida. After 2022, the Department of Defense may veto leasing plans if such would interfere with these exercises.

Under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, 50 percent of the receipts resulting from the collection of bonuses, rents, and royalties from leases in the new areas will be deposited in the general fund of the U.S. Treasury. The other 50 percent will be spent, without further appropriation action, for payments to States and to provide financial assistance to States in accordance with section 6 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965--16 U.S.C. 460l-8. Of this amount, 25 percent will provide financial assistance to States in accordance with section 6 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965--16 U.S.C. 460l-8--the ``state-side'' of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The other 75 percent of this amount will be disbursed by the Secretary of the Interior, without the need for appropriation, to the four Gulf producing states of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. These amounts are not subject to appropriation or further authorization.

It is the intent of this legislation that the State of Louisiana and all of the recipient States shall have the immediate capacity to bond anticipated future revenues they expect to receive from that portion of the Outer Continental Shelf Federal revenues to which they will be entitled to under this act and to allow the States, if they so decide, to get immediately underway hurricane and coastal protection projects within the scope of this act pursuant to such financing. There is nothing in this act that is intended to prohibit or impede the right of the four recipient States to bond anticipated future revenues they shall receive from this act.

The receipts that derive from the leasing in areas newly opened by the

Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act will be allocated among the four gulf producing States of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi to each state in amounts based on a formula established by the Secretary by regulation--that are inversely proportional to the respective distances between the point on the coastline of each gulf producing State that is closest to the geographic center of the applicable leased tract and the geographic center of the leased tract. Thus, for each lease, the Department of the Interior will determine the distance from the center of that lease to the nearest point on the coast of each of the four producing states and allocate the qualified revenues derived from that lease according their respective distances with the farthest getting the least and the closest getting the most, but with none receiving less than 10 percent.

A detailed example will help to illustrate how this will work in practice. Imagine that OCS lease A that is producing $10,000 in qualified--shared--revenues each year. The distance from lease A to the nearest points in the four gulf producing States is: 260 miles to Texas, 80 miles to Louisiana, 100 miles to Mississippi, and 90 miles to Alabama. The sum of these distances is 530 miles. The inverse proportion of the distance from the lease to each State's shore is: for Texas 530/260, for Louisiana 530/80, for Mississippi 530/90. Therefore, the States revenues from that lease would be allocated as follows: 10 percent or $1,000 for Texas, 33 percent or $3,300 for Louisiana, 27 percent or $2,700 for Mississippi, and 30 percent or $3,000 for Alabama. In this example Texas is precisely far enough away to receive 10 percent of the total under the formula. However, if Texas were somewhat farther away, it would still receive 10 percent of the total because of the provision in S. 3711 that guarantees a minimum share to each gulf producing State.

This process is repeated for every new lease located in the areas opened for leasing by this legislation. The totals for each state are added up. 20 percent of each state's allocable share and is disbursed directly to coastal counties, parishes or political subdivisions in the manner outlined under section 384 of the Energy Policy Act of 2006, Public Law 109-58.

Under the legislation, the Gulf energy producing States of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi will 37.5 percent of the receipts that derive from new leasing in areas of the Gulf of Mexico where oil and gas production occurred prior to enactment. Those receipts will be allocated among the states based on the amount of leasing and oil and natural gas production that has taken place over historically off each State's coast. The more leasing and production of oil and gas that has occurred off your coast, the greater your share of these receipts will be.

The task of determining each State's share is not an easy one. The MMS will examine every lease tract in the central and western Gulf of Mexico, determine the revenues derived from its leasing and any ensuring production and add up the totals for each tract. Then, the MMS will determine the distance from the center of every lease tract that has been let since October 1, 1982, to the nearest point on the coast of each of the four producing States.

Then the MMS will divide the total revenues generated by each lease by the proportional according to their respective distances, allotting the least to the farthest, and the most to the closest, but with none allotted less than 10 percent.

After completing this exercise, the MMS will total up the amount allotted to each State. Each State's total will determine the proportional share of the new revenues from the gulf leases from areas where leasing has been allowed.

Again, an example may help to clarify what is an admittedly complex formula: Imagine that 500 leases in this area had cumulatively produced $100 million since 1982. Then imagine MMS going through the process outlined above with each of these leases. When all is settled, Louisiana would be allotted $50 million, Texas $25 million, Mississippi and Alabama would both be allotted $12.5 million. Those allotments then become each State's proportionate share--Louisiana's allotment was 50 percent of the total, so Louisiana would receive 50 percent of the shared revenues from every new lease located in the already-opened areas after the date of S. 3711's enactment. Texas would receive 25 percent, Alabama 12.5 percent, and so on. Each year, each gulf State's allocation will be adjusted by the amount of leasing and production that took place near its shore in the preceding calendar year.

And, as with the revenues shared from newly opened areas, at the end of each year, the totals for each State are tallied and 20 percent of each State's allocable share is disbursed directly to coastal counties, parishes or political subdivisions in the manner outlined under section 384 of the Energy Policy Act of 2006, Public Law 109-58.

Starting in 2017, this legislation would provide additional direct spending authority encompassing 50 percent of the receipts derived from new OCS oil and gas leases, purchased after the date of enactment, in the areas of the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico that were made available by the 2002-2007 Proposed Final Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. Beginning in 2016, the bill would limit total direct spending under the bill in any year to no more than the sum of the receipts from the new areas plus $500 million.

Additionally, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act will offer monetary credits to firms that hold OCS leases located in areas that will be subject to the temporary moratorium on new leasing activity near Florida. These credits may be used for the purchase of a new lease in the Gulf of Mexico. The credits will be equal to the sum of the original bonus bid paid for the held lease and the rentals paid for the lease as of the date that the lessee notifies the Secretary of the Interior of the decision to exchange the lease or leases. Based on information from the Department of the Interior, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that those credits would be worth $84 million and would be redeemed soon after they were made available.

In general, revenues shared with the coastal energy producing States under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act should be treated in exactly the same ways as are revenues shared with States under the Mineral Lands Leasing Act 30 U.S.C. Sec. 181-287. These funds are not grants by any definition. Rather, they constitute income for the State--simply the State's fair share of revenues generated seaward of its coast. States have, in at least two occasions; used funds provided under the Mineral Lands Leasing Act as cost-share for other Federal programs. At this time in Louisiana's recovery, I envision this as a very much needed avenue for the State of Louisiana, as its citizens regain their feet following the destruction of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I know it is very late and everybody is working hard to finish up. We have accomplished a great deal today. But I wanted to come to the floor while the majority leader was here to explain that there is one small but important project called Morganza to the Gulf that the House of Representatives sent over to us about 2 hours ago. It is a scaled-back version, but the reason I am going to stay here until we are able to work this out is because this has been approved by the subcommittee chair on the Republican side, the chair on the Republican side, the subcommittee chair on the Democratic side, and the chair on the Democratic side. This project, Mr. Majority leader, is the only project in the entire WRDA bill--in the entire bill that I am aware of--that was authorized in the last WRDA bill, but because of a technical error, it was left out. It was authorized, not in this WRDA bill--well it is, but in two, the last and this one. So it is because WRDA, of course, collapsed--and it is a very important bill; I have literally billions of dollars of other projects in the WRDA bill--that I am not asking to move forward because it would not be fair for me to ask to move mine forward because no one else is getting theirs. But this project has been signed off by Chairman Inhofe, by Senator Bond, and Senator Boxer because they recognize it is unique among projects.

I now understand it is being held up. I just wanted to speak publicly. I wish to stay for a little while to see what we can work out and see if we can get this to the House, the Morganza to the Gulf has already been scaled back, and try to get it done before we leave.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, the Internal Revenue Service had another big surprise for citizens in my State of Louisiana and in Mississippi who are trying to rebuild after Katrina: a tax surprise.

The problem is simple. Louisiana and Mississippi have both established programs to help families rebuild their homes and their lives after Katrina and Rita. Congress appropriated the money for these initiatives--more than $10 billion in all and we are very grateful for the assistance. The Louisiana program, which we call the Road Home, is administered by the Louisiana Recovery Authority, LRA. The program is now starting to get going. Under the Road Home, up to $150,000 in grants are available to people to rebuild or repair their homes. There is also funding available for rental properties. Grants can also be used to buy out homes. The Louisianians who were displaced by the storms want to go home and the Road Home program will get them there.

But the IRS is putting a pothole in the middle of the Road Home by making some of these payments taxable. The way this tax surprise works is by requiring that any hurricane victim who claimed a casualty loss deduction for damage to their home on their tax return for 2005 will have to reduce that loss by the amount of any payment from the LRA. So if they had their taxes reduced in one year and received a Road Home grant the next year, they have to essentially eliminate any benefit of the earlier casualty loss deduction. Their taxes will go up.

Now I realize that under normal circumstances, when a person's home bums down, the roof caves in, or they are a victim of theft, they can take a casualty loss deduction, provided it meets certain requirements. The loss must exceed ten percent of the taxpayers adjusted gross income, and a per loss floor of $100. In some circumstances, taxpayers are permitted to include a current-year casualty loss on an amended prior year return.

Immediately after Katrina, we enacted the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act, KETRA, that suspended the ten percent floor for casualty losses incurred in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area, including those claimed on amended returns. The purpose of the change in KETRA was simple: we wanted to put money in the hands of Katrina victims as quickly as possible. We essentially encouraged taxpayers to

take this loss, even by amending a past return. The IRS would then provide them with a refund.

Hurricane victims needed that money. They had to find a place to live, often at higher rents. Many of them had lost their jobs and needed this money to see them through until they started working again. They used the money to begin the rebuilding of their lives. These people didn't take this money and invest it in the stock market or put it in a trust fund somewhere. They spent it because they had to. Congress encouraged people to take the deduction by changing the law. Now the IRS wants to take it back.

I fully understand the policy behind all of this. Casualty loss deductions are reduced by the amount of any insurance or other recovery they make on the loss. In fact, at the time the taxpayer makes the deduction he or she is supposed to reduce the amount of the loss by any insurance recovery they reasonably expect to receive. If you receive a larger payment than you expected at a future time, you must claim it on your income tax return when you receive it.

The problem is that this policy will seriously hamper our recovery by discouraging people from staying in Louisiana. If you took a casualty loss and you receive a $150,000 Road Home payment to rebuild your house, you will have a tax consequence. But if you took the casualty loss and sold your house to the LRA for the $150,000 payment, it is treated like a home sale and there is no tax. This policy creates a disincentive to recovery. This tax policy will encourage people to take the road out of town and not to return to the gulf coast. On top of this, if a person did not claim the casualty loss, but receives a grant, the grant is tax free.

Mr. President, Congress has done a tremendous job passing legislation to encourage investment and the rebuilding of the gulf coast. We should not put road blocks in the way of the Road Home. Today, I am introducing legislation to eliminate this road block to our recovery. I realize that we are at the end of the session and that there will not be enough time to pass this legislation before we adjourn. I will pursue this in the next Congress when we return in January. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. President, the Internal Revenue Service had another big surprise for citizens in my State of Louisiana and in Mississippi who are trying to rebuild after Katrina: a tax surprise.

The problem is simple. Louisiana and Mississippi have both established programs to help families rebuild their homes and their lives after Katrina and Rita. Congress appropriated the money for these initiatives--more than $10 billion in all and we are very grateful for the assistance. The Louisiana program, which we call the Road Home, is administered by the Louisiana Recovery Authority, LRA. The program is now starting to get going. Under the Road Home, up to $150,000 in grants are available to people to rebuild or repair their homes. There is also funding available for rental properties. Grants can also be used to buy out homes. The Louisianians who were displaced by the storms want to go home and the Road Home program will get them there.

But the IRS is putting a pothole in the middle of the Road Home by making some of these payments taxable. The way this tax surprise works is by requiring that any hurricane victim who claimed a casualty loss deduction for damage to their home on their tax return for 2005 will have to reduce that loss by the amount of any payment from the LRA. So if they had their taxes reduced in one year and received a Road Home grant the next year, they have to essentially eliminate any benefit of the earlier casualty loss deduction. Their taxes will go up.

Now I realize that under normal circumstances, when a person's home bums down, the roof caves in, or they are a victim of theft, they can take a casualty loss deduction, provided it meets certain requirements. The loss must exceed ten percent of the taxpayers adjusted gross income, and a per loss floor of $100. In some circumstances, taxpayers are permitted to include a current-year casualty loss on an amended prior year return.

Immediately after Katrina, we enacted the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act, KETRA, that suspended the ten percent floor for casualty losses incurred in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area, including those claimed on amended returns. The purpose of the change in KETRA was simple: we wanted to put money in the hands of Katrina victims as quickly as possible. We essentially encouraged taxpayers to

take this loss, even by amending a past return. The IRS would then provide them with a refund.

Hurricane victims needed that money. They had to find a place to live, often at higher rents. Many of them had lost their jobs and needed this money to see them through until they started working again. They used the money to begin the rebuilding of their lives. These people didn't take this money and invest it in the stock market or put it in a trust fund somewhere. They spent it because they had to. Congress encouraged people to take the deduction by changing the law. Now the IRS wants to take it back.

I fully understand the policy behind all of this. Casualty loss deductions are reduced by the amount of any insurance or other recovery they make on the loss. In fact, at the time the taxpayer makes the deduction he or she is supposed to reduce the amount of the loss by any insurance recovery they reasonably expect to receive. If you receive a larger payment than you expected at a future time, you must claim it on your income tax return when you receive it.

The problem is that this policy will seriously hamper our recovery by discouraging people from staying in Louisiana. If you took a casualty loss and you receive a $150,000 Road Home payment to rebuild your house, you will have a tax consequence. But if you took the casualty loss and sold your house to the LRA for the $150,000 payment, it is treated like a home sale and there is no tax. This policy creates a disincentive to recovery. This tax policy will encourage people to take the road out of town and not to return to the gulf coast. On top of this, if a person did not claim the casualty loss, but receives a grant, the grant is tax free.

Mr. President, Congress has done a tremendous job passing legislation to encourage investment and the rebuilding of the gulf coast. We should not put road blocks in the way of the Road Home. Today, I am introducing legislation to eliminate this road block to our recovery. I realize that we are at the end of the session and that there will not be enough time to pass this legislation before we adjourn. I will pursue this in the next Congress when we return in January. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.