Blanche Lincoln

Mrs. LINCOLN

Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, today I recognize the staff, board members, and volunteers of Open Arms Shelter in Lonoke County for their steadfast efforts to provide a home for abused or neglected children. Over 25 years, more than 2,100 children have found a temporary home at Open Arms until they are able to be placed in a relative's home, a foster home, or a long-term facility. Under the leadership of executive director Susan Bransford, the shelter served 177 children in 2009 and expects to serve at least that many this year. Open Arms provides children with the resources and care they need to be successful in school and life. The children attend school in Lonoke and have access to afterschool tutors if needed. Open Arms provides food, clothing, medical care and housing, while also offering recreational and educational outings and lessons, all within a structured, disciplined environment. The shelter employs 11 staff members, 2 of whom live at the shelter, along with 2 part-time cooks, a case coordinator, a part-time bookkeeper and 2 relief workers. The Open Arms board of directors includes individuals from throughout Lonoke County. They are: Shelby Hillman, Kathy Millard and David Woods of Carlisle; Peggy Anderson, Merritt Holman, Kaye Anderson and Betty Wilson of Lonoke; Leann Hanshaw, Rhonda Harps, Rhonda House and Patrick J. Hagge of Cabot; Pam Foster, Gary Canada and Sherry Sandage of England; and LuAnn Ashley of Little Rock, member at large. I commend the entire Open Arms community for their dedication to helping children in need with compassion and a loving heart.

Mrs. LINCOLN

Mrs. LINCOLN. Madam President, today I recognize the men and women of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management for their tireless dedication to keeping the residents of our State safe and secure. Because of their efforts, the department was recently granted full accreditation by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program, known as EMAP. Arkansas is one of only 22 other States and jurisdictions with accredited programs. Mr. President, I commend all of our emergency responders for their commitment to protecting the citizens of our State. Along with all Arkansans, I thank the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management for their work to identify and lessen the effects of emergencies, disasters and threats to Arkansas through effective prevention, preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery actions for all disasters and emergencies. I congratulate the entire team at the Department of Emergency Management for achieving this prestigious accreditation.

Mrs. LINCOLN

Mrs. LINCOLN. Madam President, today I am proud to recognize 10 Arkansans who are currently competing in the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association 2010 Pitching Championships in Cedar Rapids, IA. The 2-week event is held each summer and features eight divisions in which pitchers compete for $170,000 in prizes and scholarships. Arkansas has a strong horseshoe pitching tradition, with tournaments held throughout the State from March to November. These tournaments bring together Arkansans of all ages to enjoy wholesome recreation and learn new techniques to improve their skills to be more successful in horseshoe pitching. It is one of the few sports that has a national champion for men, women, boys and girls and can still be played in one's backyard by young and old alike. I commend the entire Arkansas Horseshoe Pitchers Association for promoting the sport and art of horseshoe pitching. I also applaud our Arkansas representatives in this year's national championship for their spirit of competition and their commitment to their sport. I join all Arkansans in wishing them the best of luck as they represent our State.

Mrs. LINCOLN

Mrs. LINCOLN. Madam President, today I honor Sergeant David Collins of Maumelle, who was recently named Officer of the Year for 2009 by the Maumelle Police Department. Sergeant Collins has worked for the department since 1992. I commend his commitment and dedication to protecting Maumelle residents. Along with all Arkansans, I recognize the courage, bravery, and dedication of our Arkansas law enforcement, who risk their lives each day to keep our citizens safe. I thank these public servants for their service and sacrifice.

Mrs. LINCOLN

Mrs. LINCOLN. Madam President, I join Arkansans and all Americans to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, known as ADA. This legislation has literally opened doors for countless Arkansans living with disabilities. ADA protects the civil rights of all people with disabilities by expanding opportunities for Arkansans and all Americans with disabilities and by reducing barriers, changing perceptions and allowing all Americans to go to the schools of their choice, gain meaningful employment, and fully participate in community life. This week, communities across Arkansas will commemorate the 20th anniversary of ADA with events and celebrations, including construction of wheelchair ramps by volunteers and a 5K Roll n' Walk Run event on the Fayetteville trail system in northwest Arkansas. I commend these volunteers and participants for their dedication to ensuring that Arkansans with disabilities have full access to the resources they need, in addition to promoting ADA's anniversary. On the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, I join my fellow Arkansans to celebrate this historic legislation that has touched the lives of so many in our State and Nation.

Mrs. LINCOLN

Mrs. LINCOLN. Madam President, today I recognize six Arkansans who were recently honored by the Arkansas Gospel Announcers Guild for their contributions to gospel music and the community. I commend them for their dedication to this beloved American art form, which has a strong tradition in Arkansas. Honorees were: Elijah and Belinda Mondy, KJIW Radio, Radio Broadcast Excellence; Charles Moore, Arkansas Gospel Mass Choir, Gospel Music Excellence; Irene Perkins, Irene's Productions, Gospel Promotions; C. Michael Tidwell, Centre for the Dansarts, Inspired Excellence-- Liturgical Dance; and Deacon Alvin White, KITA/KOKY, Lifetime Achievement. As a farmer's daughter from Helena, AR, who grew up in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, I have been surrounded by the unique traditions of gospel music all my life and am appreciative of its importance to the faith community in my State. With its roots in African-American culture, gospel music has grown beyond the church walls and is now firmly rooted in the American music tradition. Gospel music is an integral part of our Nation's history and heritage. Along with all Arkansans and all Americans, I honor these individuals who have dedicated so much of their time, energy, and talents to promoting gospel music in our State.

Mrs. LINCOLN

Mrs. LINCOLN. Madam President, today I congratulate Carolyn W. Mosley of Fort Smith for her outstanding contributions to the field of nursing education in our state. In recognition of her efforts, she will be inducted as a fellow into the National League for Nursing's Academy of Nursing Education in October in Las Vegas. Ms. Mosley currently serves as dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. Only 86 nurses worldwide have achieved the recognition. Ms. Mosley is among 19 new fellows from 17 nursing schools to be inducted this year. She is the only fellow chosen from Arkansas. The association itself has 31,000 individual and 1,200 institutional members. Ms. Mosley has also served as a human rights expert for the International Council of Nursing, received the Rosalyn Carter Caregiving Recognition Award, and the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow Award. She serves as Good Samaritan Health Clinic Board vice president, Sparks Regional Medical Center Investigational Review Board chairwoman, Sparks Board trustee, and St. James Missionary Baptist Church Board president. Madam President, Ms. Mosley serves as a role model for anyone aspiring to make a difference in nursing education and the field of health care. She represents the best of Arkansas, and I am proud of her achievements. Along with all Arkansans, I commend her for this extraordinary accomplishment.

Mrs. LINCOLN

Mrs. LINCOLN. I would like some clarification on that last comment, please, from the minority leader. There is no objection now on the UC?

Mrs. LINCOLN. That is not my question.

Mrs. LINCOLN. My question is what is the pending issue and is the question on whether there is an objection to the supplemental; is that correct?

Mrs. LINCOLN. I would like to wage my objection until I can further discuss it with the majority leader.

Mrs. LINCOLN

Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter dated June 30, 2010, from Senator Dodd and me to House Chairmen Peterson and Frank regarding the treatment of end users in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, H.R. 4173.

Mrs. LINCOLN

Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, today I honor a true Arkansas and American hero, 1SG Nick Bacon, who passed away this weekend. First Sergeant Bacon, 64, was a Medal of Honor recipient and former director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs. He served in the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1984 and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during a 1968 battle in Vietnam, along with countless awards and decorations including two Distinguished Service Crosses, the Legion of Merit, the Combat Infantry Badge, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. With his passing, Arkansas has lost one of its finest citizens, and his death is a tremendous loss to our State. First Sergeant Bacon served our State and Nation honorably, fighting valiantly in Vietnam. He took command of two platoons after the leaders of each were wounded during a battle near Tam Ky, Vietnam, on Aug. 26, 1968. Using grenades, he destroyed an enemy bunker before singlehandedly killing an enemy gun crew and disabling an antitank weapon. He then helped rescue several wounded and trapped soldiers. After 20 years of military service, he returned to Arkansas to serve his fellow veterans as the director of Veterans Affairs for the State from 1993 through 2005. It was an honor to be able to work with him serving the State of Arkansas. As director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs, he helped establish the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery and the Arkansas Veterans Coalition. He was also active in establishing a Veterans Cemetery Beautification Program. In addition, First Sergeant Bacon served as Commander, American Legion Post 1, Little Rock, after retiring as the director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs. First Sergeant Bacon was a true ``Arkansas son,'' born Nov. 25, 1945, in Caraway in northeast Arkansas. He moved with his family as a child to Arizona, where he joined the Army, but he returned to Arkansas in 1990 and most recently lived in Rose Bud. First Sergeant Bacon's legacy will live on through projects such as the Nick Bacon VFW Special Veterans Scholarship for selected children and grandchildren of veterans who have a 60-percent or more service-connected disability. Along with all Arkansans, I am grateful for First Sergeant Bacon's service and for the service and sacrifice of all of our military servicemembers and their families. These men and women have shown tremendous courage and perseverance through the most difficult of times. As neighbors, as Arkansans, and as Americans, it is incumbent upon us to do everything we can to honor their service and to provide for them and their families, not only when they are in harm's way but also when they return home. It is the least we can do for those whom we owe so much.

Mrs. LINCOLN

Mrs. LINCOLN. Chairman Dodd and I maintained this provision in the conference report to assure that the Commission has the power to prevent the creation of futures and swaps markets that would allow citizens to profit from devastating events and also prevent gambling through futures markets. I thank the Senator from California for encouraging Chairman Dodd and me to include it. I agree that this provision will strengthen the government's ability to protect the public interest from gaming contracts and other events contracts.

Mrs. LINCOLN. That is our intent. The Commission needs the power to, and should, prevent derivatives contracts that are contrary to the public interest because they exist predominantly to enable gambling through supposed ``event contracts.'' It would be quite easy to construct an ``event contract'' around sporting events such as the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, and Masters Golf Tournament. These types of contracts would not serve any real commercial purpose. Rather, they would be used solely for gambling.

Mrs. LINCOLN. I do. National security threats, such as a terrorist attack, war, or hijacking pose a real commercial risk to many businesses in America, but a futures contract that allowed people to hedge that risk would also involve betting on the likelihood of events that threaten our national security. That would be contrary to the public interest.

Mrs. LINCOLN. I thank the Senator for his leadership and his assistance and cooperation in ensuring the passage of this important bill.

Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, as chairman of the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, I became acutely aware that our pension plans, governmental investors, and charitable endowments were falling victim to swap dealers marketing swaps and security-based swaps that they knew or should have known to be inappropriate or unsuitable for their clients. Jefferson County, AL, is probably the most infamous example, but there are many others in Pennsylvania and across the country. That is why I worked with Senator Harkin and our colleagues in the House to include protections for pension funds, governmental entities, and charitable endowments in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Those protections--set forth in section 731 and section 764 of the conference report--place certain duties and obligations on swap dealers and security-based swap dealers when they deal with special entities. One of those obligations is that a swap dealer or the security-based swap dealer entering into a swap or security-based swap with a special entity must have a reasonable basis for believing that the special entity has an independent representative evaluating the transaction. Our intention in imposing the independent representative requirement was to ensure that there was always someone independent of the swap dealer or the security-based swap dealer reviewing and approving swap or security-based swap transactions. However, we did not intend to require that the special entity hire an investment manager independent of the special entity. Is that your understanding, Senator Harkin?

Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I wish to engage my colleague, Senator Dodd, in a brief colloquy related to the section 716, the bank swap desk provision. In the rush to complete the conference, there was a significant oversight made in finalizing section 716 as it relates to the treatment of uninsured U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks. Under the U.S. policy of national treatment, which has been part of U.S. law since the International Banking Act of 1978, uninsured U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks are authorized to engage in the same activities as insured depository institutions. While these U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks do not have deposits insured by the FDIC, they are registered and regulated by a Federal banking regulator, they have access to the Federal Reserve discount window, and other Federal Reserve credit facilities. It is my understanding that a number of these U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks will be swap entities under section 716 and title VII of Dodd-Frank. Due to the fact that the section 716 safe harbor only applies to ``insured depository institutions'' it means that U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks will be forced to push out all their swaps activities. This result was not intended. U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks should be subject to the same swap desk push out requirements as insured depository institutions under section 716. Under section 716, insured depository institutions must push out all swaps and security-based swaps activities except for specifically enumerated activities, such as hedging and other similar risk mitigating activities directly related to the insured depository institution's activities, acting as a swaps entity for swaps or security-based swaps that are permissible for investment, and acting as a swaps entity for cleared credit default swaps. U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks should, and are willing to, meet the push out requirements of section 716 as if they were insured depository institutions. This oversight on our part is unfortunate and clearly unintended. Does my colleague agree with me about the need to include uninsured U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks in the safe harbor of section 716?

Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I will ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter that Chairman Dodd and I wrote to Chairmen Frank and Peterson during House consideration of this Conference Report regarding the derivatives title. The letter emphasizes congressional intent regarding commercial end users who enter into swaps contracts. As we point out, it is clear in this legislation that the regulators only have the authority to set capital and margin requirements on swap dealers and major swap participants for uncleared swaps, not on end users who qualify for the exemption from mandatory clearing. As the letter also makes clear, it is our intent that the any margin required by the regulators will be risk-based, keeping with the standards we have put into the bill regarding capital. It is in the interest of the financial system and end user counterparties that swap dealers and major swap participants are sufficiently capitalized. At the same time, Congress did not mandate that regulators set a specific margin level. Instead, we granted a broad authority to the regulators to set margin. Again, margin and capital standards must be risk-based and not be punitive. It is also important to note that few end users will be major swap participants, as we have excluded ``positions held for hedging or mitigating commercial risk'' from being considered as a ``substantial position'' under that definition. I would ask Chairman Dodd whether he concurs with my view of the bill.

Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the letter that Chairman Dodd and I wrote to Chairmen Frank and Peterson to which I referred. investment adviser

Mrs. LINCOLN. As a general rule, the CFTC and the SEC should look at each entity on an individual basis when determining its status as a major swap participant. Swap Dealer Provisions

Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I rise to discuss section 409 of the Dodd-Frank bill, which excludes family offices from the definition of investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act. In section 409, the SEC is directed to define the term family offices and to provide exemptions that recognize the range of organizational, management, and employment structures and arrangement employed by family offices, and I thought it would be worthwhile to provide guidance on this provision. For many decades, family offices have managed money for members of individual families, and they do not pose systemic risk or any other regulatory issues. The SEC has provided exemptive relief to some family offices in the past, but many family offices have simply relied on the ``under 15 clients'' exception to the Investment Advisers Act, and when Congress eliminated this exception, it was not our intent to include family offices in the bill. The bill provides specific direction for the SEC in its rulemaking to recognize that most family offices often have officers, directors, and employees who may not be family members, and who are employed by the family office itself or affiliated entities owned, directly or indirectly, by the family members. Often, such persons co-invest with family members, which enable those persons to share in the profits of investments they oversee and better align the interests of those persons with those of the family members served by the family office. In addition, family offices may have a small number of co-investors such as persons who help identify investment opportunities, provide professional advice, or manage portfolio companies. However, the value of investments by such other persons should not exceed a de minimis percentage of the total value of the assets managed by the family office. Accordingly, section 409 directs the SEC not to exclude a family office from the definition by reason of its providing investment advice to these persons.

Mrs. LINCOLN. I appreciate the Senator's explanation and ask that the Senator work with me to make this point in a technical corrections bill.

Mrs. LINCOLN. I thank the Senator for her efforts to protect manufacturers. I share the Senator's concerns, which is why our language preserves the ability of manufacturers and businesses to use derivatives to hedge legitimate business risk. Working closely with the Senator, I believe the legislation reflects our intent by providing a clear and narrow end-user exemption from clearing and margin requirements for derivatives held by companies that are not major swap participants and do not engage in speculation but use these products solely as a risk-management tool to hedge or mitigate commercial risks.