Joe Manchin

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I do not believe there is opposition to this amendment. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan, commonsense amendment that will address a very urgent need in this country: helping our children develop healthy eating habits at a very young age. I wish to thank my cosponsor, Senator Kelly Ayotte from New Hampshire, for working with me on this amendment. All this does is require the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture to develop, implement, and promote national dietary guidelines for pregnant women and for children up to 2. It is the only segment we have not done. If you are 2 years of age or older, we do it. We try to tell you how to stay healthy, what you should eat, what you should feed your child. This basically fills in the gap for woman from when they become pregnant until 2 years of age. I urge support of this amendment.

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I call up amendment No. 2345.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I rise today to speak in favor of the congressional resolution of disapproval that Senator Inhofe has filed under the Congressional Review Act to stop the EPA from implementing one of the most expensive rules in recent memory. I thank my colleague, Senator Inhofe, for introducing this important resolution to send a message to the EPA. I would like to say a few words about the little State of West Virginia that does the heavy lifting that helps this entire Nation. We mine the coal, we make the steel, we have done just about everything we possibly can. We probably have more people serving in the military, percentage-wise, than any other State. We have given our all for this great country, and we will continue to do the heavy lifting. But what we have to do is make sure the EPA, make sure this government is working with us, not against us. The Government's role is to be a partner, not an adversary but an ally. We are asking the government to work with businesses, not against them. Their actions will put thousands of hard-working Americans out of a job in the worst economy in generations. Do not raise electricity rates on the consumers who can barely afford their monthly bills today as it is. It is mostly our seniors and people struggling with their families trying to make a living. The economic reality is that the environment and economy have to work hand in hand. It has to be in balance. From the day I arrived at the Senate, I have been determined to stop the EPA's job-killing agenda, and this resolution of disapproval takes an important step to rein in this out-of-control agency. In the State of West Virginia, like most States, we do our rules and regulations through a legislative process. People have to vote. We do not give bureaucratic agencies the right to set policy. The people have given us that responsibility and right as elected leaders to set the policy. That is what we are asking. We have this agency stepping way beyond its boundaries, further than our Founding Fathers ever intended, that is putting an absolute burden on the backs of every American. Along with a handful of other rules on the verge of being implemented or already in place, the Utility MACT rule would cost the economy over $275 billion over the next 25 years, according to the Electric Power Research Institute. The Utility MACT could cost 1.3 million jobs over the next two decades, according to the National Economic Research Association. On the issue of Utility MACT, I have heard from thousands of West Virginians in the past several weeks. In fact, just yesterday I had 45 of my constituents from Boone County, WV, get on a bus, 756 miles, drive all day to get here to be able to speak to some of us, and drive last night to go back home. That is how committed and dedicated most of them are. They had either worked in the mines or were working in some aspect of mining. People think mining is just coal mining and coal mining only. It is not. The energy business is basically--if people work in a battery factory or a machine shop, if they work in any type of ancillary jobs, the ripple effect to their economy is unbelievable. If they work in a powerplant--these people were scared to death because all they hear every day is they are going to lose their jobs because the government is going to shut them down and work against them. About three-fourths of the miners in that room had already been laid off. They are fighting for their jobs. They brought their families and children with them. They wanted to make sure we could put the faces of real people on what is happening. Our coal miners are the salt of the Earth. They work so hard to provide energy for our country and provide for their families. They do not want a handout. All they want is a work permit. That is all they have asked for. Now is not the time to pull the rug out from under them and make them worry about how they will pay their bills and feed their family. I believe this country needs to strike a balance, and I have said that before. Our lives are about balance. Every day people get up in the morning they look for a balance in their lives. They look for a balance in how they can run their business, how they can make a living. That is what we need to find in this body today. The EPA has truly gone too far. We have heard so many different testimonies about that. That is why I will be casting my vote in favor of this resolution by Senator Inhofe to disapprove of the new rules, and I urge all my colleagues to do the same. I truly believe energy is an issue where we can bring thoughtful members of both parties together to work out solutions. Let me point out an important example. In the time I served, I learned that many of my colleagues know of West Virginia only as a coal State. They have no idea what we do and how we do it. This past weekend I wanted to make sure they understood that not only do we do coal, we do wind, we do hydro, we do natural gas with the Marcellus shale-- a tremendous find--we do biomass, we do everything we can, and we think every State should be held accountable and responsible to try to be energy independent and do it in the most environmentally friendly way. This weekend I invited leaders of the Energy Committee, Senators Wyden and Murkowski, a Democrat and a Republican, to spend a weekend with me to tour our State to see how West Virginia's all-in policy for energy works. One of them will likely be the next chair of Energy and Natural Resources, but I assure you both of them will work as a team trying to find policy that works for this country. You will hear both of them say one size doesn't fit all. We need everything. We need a comprehensive energy plan for this country--which brings me to our recent visit to West Virginia. They saw how we are using an ``all-of-the-above'' approach. In the eastern part of our State we stopped at Mount Storm. They saw a 265- megawatt wind farm. They saw a 1,600-megawatt coal-fired plant with the most modern technology that cleans the air up to 95 percent. They saw it all. When the wind is not blowing, basically they saw there was no power generated--especially in the hot summer or the cold winter. Basically what we are saying is we are doing everything we possibly can. We will continue. In short, we saw a little bit of everything that can be done if we work together. I think it should be a bipartisan effort to find a solution. We cannot keep fighting each other, and agencies cannot keep controlling what we are not legislating. If it has not been legislated, it should not be put into law until we are able to evaluate it. I appreciate what is being done today, the bipartisan effort we are talking about. We have our differences, but we can come together. I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, first of all, I want to thank the good Senator from Oklahoma, Mr. Inhofe, for his leadership on this very important piece of legislation. I am proud to be part of that with him and the leadership he has shown for us fellow pilots and, basically, the only connection we have in some rural parts of not only West Virginia but all of over the country, our private aviation. We hope to keep that alive and well. I know it is the same in the Presiding Officer's State. We appreciate all of the support and Senator Inhofe's leadership. Hydrocodone Abuse Mr. President, I rise today to speak about a very important issue that I believe will truly help each and every one of us, every Senator and every Congressman from all 50 States, accomplish something meaningful when it comes to fighting the prescription drug abuse epidemic that is plaguing communities all over this great Nation. I have not talked to a person in my State who has not been affected by a person in their immediate family or extended family with prescription drug abuse. It is something that is of epidemic proportions that we have to fight and work together on. Less than a month ago, I was so proud when the Senate came together to unanimously support an amendment I offered with Senators Mark Kirk, Kirsten Gillibrand, Chuck Schumer, and Jay Rockefeller that would make it far more difficult to abuse addictive pain medication by reclassifying drugs containing hydrocodone as schedule II substances. Let me explain what this means in practical terms. Moving hydrocodone to a schedule II drug means that patients would need an original prescription to get their pills refilled. Pills would be stored and transported more securely, and traffickers would be subject to increased fines and penalties. As we speak, negotiations are ongoing between the House and the Senate on a compromise version of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act. The Senate version contains my amendment and the House version does not. So we are fighting as hard as we can to make sure this amendment is included in the final bill. Last month I stood on the Senate floor and shared stories that I heard in communities across West Virginia about why this amendment is so urgently needed. Prescription drug abuse is responsible for about 75 percent of the drug-related deaths in the United States and 90 percent in my home State of West Virginia. According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States. It is claiming the lives of thousands of Americans every year. But no statistic can illustrate the scope of this problem like hearing the pleas of children who are begging their leaders to do something to get drugs out of their communities--children such as those I met in Wyoming County, West Virginia, last October where more than 120 people have died from drug overdose in 7 years, including 41 last year and 12 already this year. Since that proud moment when the Senate unanimously passed my hydrocodone rescheduling amendment, it has come under fire--you can imagine--from groups that seem to think trying to limit the number of hydrocodone pills making their way into our communities, and oftentimes into the wrong hands, is a bad idea because it affects their bottom lines. I recognize this amendment does not fit into the business model of selling as many pills as possible. I understand that. But with that being said, I believe we have a responsibility to this great Nation, and especially to the youth of America. This will affect us for generations to come. To win this war on prescription drugs it needs to happen now. Hydrocodone is one of the most abused substances we have and the most addictive. I do not think I have talked to a person who does not recognize that each and every State is experiencing these horrible problems with this prescription drug abuse. The facts will bear this out. According to a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control in November, the death toll from overdoses of prescription painkillers has more than tripled in the last decade. The findings show that more than 40 people die every day from overdoses involving narcotic pain relievers such as hydrocodone, methadone, oxycodone, and oxymorphone. These prescription painkillers are responsible for more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined. Yet still we are hearing from some folks who just do not believe that rescheduling hydrocodone is a good idea. I have said to those groups: Let's work together on a compromise that can address your legitimate concerns. If anyone has a concern with this amendment, just come to me and we will sit down with you and try to work through it in a most reasonable manner. We have already offered a number of compromises to different groups in an effort to get this bill passed and signed into law. I want to clarify some of these concerns. We have heard from some with concerns that making hydrocodone a schedule II drug will mean that patients with legitimate needs for those medications would face increased hurdles to obtaining them and that those patients would have to visit the doctor more often. To them, I would say the following: Look at what the DEA did in 2007 to reduce burdens facing patients when it came to refills. They finalized a new rule allowing doctors to provide individual patients with a 90-day supply of any schedule II medication by issuing three separate prescriptions: one for an immediate supply and two additional prescriptions that cannot be filled until a certain specified date. If they receive a 90-day supply, patients would only need to visit their doctor four times per year. If they have a chronic ailment, I would think those patients would want that type of evaluation anyway. That makes all the sense in the world to me, and I know to a lot of Americans. If a practitioner is prescribing medication as part of a usual course of professional practice and for legitimate medical reasons, there is no numerical limitation on the quantity they can prescribe. Federal law does not limit physicians to providing only a 30-day supply of medication. The amount prescribed and length of treatment is within each doctor's discretion. We have also heard from those who are worried that pharmacies could face increased operating costs caused by new storage requirements as well as increased paperwork. But there is no difference in Federal storage requirements between schedule III and schedule II drugs. Federal law requires that all controlled substances be stored and securely locked in substantially constructed cabinets. As for more paperwork, pharmacies are already doing paperwork on their current schedule II drug orders. All this amendment would require is including an additional line on the existing form that specifies how many hydrocodone combination pills they are ordering. The bottom line is, we have to recognize this is a very addictive drug. As a schedule III drug, hydrocodone is very available to people who might not use it for the right purposes but for elicit purposes. All we are saying is give us a chance to protect some of the most vulnerable people we have, especially our young people who are addicted to these prescription drugs. Look at all of the people who support this amendment, the folks who are out there on the front lines trying to keep our society safe and fight the war on drugs so that we can all be in a better society and more protected. We have groups such as the Fraternal Order of Police, the National District Attorney's Association, the National Narcotics Officers' Association, the National Troopers Coalition, the National American Society of Addiction Medicine, the National Association of Drug and Alcohol Interventionists, the West Virginia Medical Professionals Health Program, the Drug Free America Foundation, Inc., the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse, and the Prevention Partnership. These people are on the front lines. They are saying this amendment is needed. This will help them immensely fight this war on drugs. Those are the people who are out there helping us every day in society. We are willing to sit down and work with people if they have legitimate concerns. But if the concern is that this amendment interrupts their business plan, I hope they would rise above their business plan and be an American first. What we are trying to do is good for this country. It is good for each one of our States. I know it would be good for the State of West Virginia and the Presiding Officers's State of Vermont for generations to come. We will be working hard and we will be protecting them for the quality of life as Americans. I am not trying to put anyone out of business. I am a businessperson myself. I appreciate the hard work of businesses all across this country and the risks they take and the dedication they have. But when we have a problem, we have to fix it. We have a problem. This amendment is not going to solve all of our problems, we recognize that. It is not going to eliminate prescription drug abuse once and for all. But it does give us one more tool to fight the drug abuse problem we have in this country. To get this passed, it is going to take the voices of the public--not just the voices in this Chamber or across the Capitol but the voices of the public, the voices of people who have seen what it has done to our families, to our children, and our communities. We need their voices saying: We cannot stand by and watch this happen any longer; voices such as those from Oceana Middle School in Wyoming County in the State of West Virginia who participated in a letter-writing campaign to their elected leaders asking for help with a drug epidemic. One of them wrote this to me: My town, Oceana, has an issue about drugs. I write this letter to you because I hope you can do something about it. In 2006, my godmother died of an overdose. She was the only person I could talk to. Drugs make people act in bad ways, and if something doesn't happen about them, then our town will be in worse shape. Mr. President, I have been there many times. As a young person in college, my roommate was from Oceana. It was one of the most beautiful cities I had ever seen 40 years ago, but you would not recognize it with what has happened. These are young middle-school children crying out for help. They are afraid to go out in the streets. This is happening all over America. These students want a better life for their parents, their siblings, their friends, and for their communities. Also, they want a better life for themselves. They are willing to fight, and we should be willing to fight for them. That is our job and what we were sent here to do. I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise to recognize a very special event taking place tomorrow in our Nation's Capital: West Virginia's first ever Always Free Honor Flight, a free trip for our veterans to see the monuments built for their service and sacrifice. I have always said West Virginia is one of the most patriotic States in this great Nation, and we are so proud of the number of veterans and Active-Duty members who have served our country with honor and distinction. The 31 veterans who are traveling to the Capitol tomorrow embody our State's history and contributions to the freedom of this Nation: 12 of them served in World War II, 3 in the Korean war, and 16 in Vietnam. I wish to tell my colleagues a little bit about this very special group. These heroes engaged in combat across the globe, fighting in the Aleutian Islands, England, Normandy, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the South Pacific, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Some served here at home, servicing aircraft with ammunition. Some served in historic events such as the Battle of the Bulge, the liberation of the Philippines, and the front in Japan. They took on different roles, serving as infantrymen, door gunners, ammunition soldiers, combat fighters, tactical fighters, and medics. One brave World War II veteran received the Legion of Honor Chevalier Award from the French Embassy. These veterans come from all parts of our great State--from Welch to Beckley, to Huntington, to Princeton, to Bluefield, to Lester, and all the places in between. I especially wish to point out one special person. His name is Gene Cecil Pennington of Princeton, WV, and he will be joining us tomorrow also. He is the youngest West Virginia veteran of World War II, and that is because he lied about his age to join the Navy in the 1940s and first saw combat--think of this--first saw combat at the age of 16. He is 83 now, and we are so proud he will be visiting with us. In addition to the veterans visiting us, a number of volunteer escorts will also be accompanying them. Seven of these escorts will be representing their deceased fathers who served in various wars throughout the years. Three of our World War II veterans are accompanied by their sons who themselves are veterans of the Vietnam war. Service is truly a family tradition in our State and in this Nation. Our veterans have a full day's journey ahead of them tomorrow. They will leave Princeton, WV, at 2:15 in the morning, traveling here by bus. They will return to West Virginia after touring our beautiful Capitol Building, the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, and the Iwo Jima Memorial. These monuments to service and sacrifice have important meaning to everyone in this country, but I know our veterans will find special meaning tomorrow when they tour these sites. This is the first time for many of these veterans to see these monuments, which is why I am very grateful for the hard work of the West Virginians who made this trip possible by bringing the Honor Flight Network to our State--the Denver Foundation and Little Buddy Radio located in Princeton, WV. These nonprofits were founded by Bob Denver--also known as Gilligan from ``Gilligan's Island''--and his wife Dreama, a West Virginia native. Their love of West Virginia, their vision, and their dedication to service have truly been a gift to our great State. The Honor Flight Network is an idea that started with Earl Morse, a physician assistant and retired Air Force captain who wanted to honor the veterans he had cared for over 27 years. Earl found that many of his patients couldn't afford to see the monuments built to honor their service, so he took it upon himself to make that happen. Earl was also a private pilot, and he offered a free flight to a World War II veteran who was also his patient. One free trip led to another, and with the help of more volunteers, Earl's efforts grew into the Honor Flight Network. The first flight took place in May of 2005, and by the end of that year, Honor Flight had taken 137 World War II veterans to visit their memorial. The Honor Flight Network has expanded to cities and States around the country, and in 2011, the network transported 18,055 veterans to see their memorials--at no cost to those veterans. In West Virginia, we are lucky to have had the operations manager at Little Buddy Radio in Princeton, WV, Charlie Thomas, introduce the Honor Flight to our State. Tomorrow, Charlie will be representing his deceased father, Clifford Richardson, who served in the Navy during World War II. I would also like to take a moment to thank the Vice President of the Always Free Honor Flight, Dreama Denver, who is the widow of ``Gilligan''--Bob Denver. She is representing her deceased father, Glen E. Peery, who served in the Army during the Korean War. I would like to thank Pam Coulbourne, who has been instrumental in planning West Virginia's first Honor Flight. She is representing her father Francis Fluharty, an Air Force aerial photographer on a B 24 Liberator during World War II. Thanks to Charlie, Dreama, Bob Denver, Pam, and the hard work of so many others, 31 veterans will be traveling to Washington tomorrow on this very special journey. I commend them for their dedication and for giving West Virginia just one more way to say thank you to our veterans for their service and sacrifice. I have always said we owe our men and women who have served more than a debt of gratitude. Showing our appreciation is something we should do each and every day. But tomorrow is a special day where we can pay tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our great Nation. I am so pleased I am able to greet some of our most courageous West Virginia veterans who are all heroes. I ask the Senate to join me in honoring these 31 veterans and welcome them and their close friends and family to Washington, DC, tomorrow. Thank you. I yield the floor and I note the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MANCHIN. I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I wish to say to the chairman that I appreciate his hard work on this bill, a very important piece of legislation. I would like to address an issue that touches all of us: Democrats and Republicans, rich and poor, young and old, West Virginians and New Yorkers. As you know, the prescription drug epidemic is destroying communities across this nation, wreaking havoc on our education system, devastating our workforce and our economy, and tearing our families apart. Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States, and it is claiming the lives of thousands of Americans every year. According to a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control in November, the death toll from overdoses of prescription painkillers has more than tripled in the past decade. More than 40 people die every day--every single day--from overdoses involving narcotic pain relievers. These prescription painkillers kill more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined. It's especially tough in my home state of West Virginia, which has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the country. Nearly 90 percent of those deaths are linked to prescription drug abuse. For months now, I have been going out and listening to the stories of so many people in my State--law enforcement, business owners, school teachers, pastors, and especially the children who ask for help getting their parents off the stuff. So I worked with all of them to offer an amendment to this bill that would make it harder for anyone to abuse prescription drugs. That bipartisan amendment was submitted on behalf of the countless West Virginians and Americans whose lives have been cut short by drug abuse and the families who are picking up the pieces, and it is on their behalf that I thank my colleagues in the Senate for passing it unanimously. Last night I was so moved and encouraged to see the Members of the U.S. Senate come together across party lines and unanimously approve that measure, to take a serious step to fight this prescription drug epidemic. I strongly urge our friends in the House to do the same, and the President to sign this important bill. This measure is not the work of just one person, however. I would like to thank the cosponsors of this bill, who all believe so strongly in it: Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and, of course, Senator Jay Rockefeller of my home State of West Virginia. I also thank Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and Congressman Nick Rahall for their tireless work on this issue, along with Congressman Vern Buchanan of Florida, who is doing excellent work to end pill mills. As we all know, last night's vote gives this amendment a solid step forward, but there is much work remaining to give our communities the right tools to fight this epidemic. That's because all too often, we all hear stories like this one, which the Ohio County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition in my State shared with me. A young boy was injured and was prescribed prescription pain killers containing hydrocodone. After the injury he began using the opiates with the other teens in school. They began by taking pills and eventually by graduation, snorting the pills on a daily basis. One day he was convinced by a friend to try IV use. He was married and was able to hold down a job until he began using IV. His wife was addicted to pain killers and their child was born addicted to drugs. He wanted more than anything to be a hard-working father and husband. He wanted to live and to amend his past behaviors. He completed treatment but eventually began using pain killers again. This man in his mid-twenties overdosed and died. Think about it. This young man was snorting pills by high school graduation and dead in his mid-20s. Unfortunately, that story is more common than we would all like to believe. A 2012 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 8 percent of high school seniors had admitted to abusing Vicodin in the past year. The Centers for Disease Control has found that about 12 million Americans have reported non-medical use of prescription painkillers in the past year. Unlike many illegal drugs, prescription drugs are not produced in basement labs or smuggled across the border--they are found in our own medicine cabinets and are often prescribed for medically necessary reasons. And that makes it much easier for people to become addicted or abuse these medications. In 2010 alone, pharmacies dispensed the equivalent of 42 tons of pure hydrocodone--that is enough to give every man, woman and child in the United States 24 Vicodin pills. The fact is, that number is just too high. People are getting these pills because it is just too easy. That is why this amendment would make it harder to get addictive prescription drugs, by moving them to a more restrictive category in our official drug classification system. Practically, this means that patients would need an original prescription for refills and pills would have to be stored more securely. Let me me close by sharing a few more personal stories about this problem--stories that show on a human level the urgency we need to put a stop to prescription drug abuse and why I am committed to this fight. This is a problem that hits very close to home in my office. A member of my staff, a very bright young girl from Wyoming County who is doing very good work has lost three friends to drug abuse, all in their 20s. Theirs were lives full of promise, but they were tragically cut short by drug abuse. In the past 7 years, more than 120 people have died from drug overdoses in Wyoming County alone, including 41 in 2011 and 12 just this year. I visited Wyoming County in October to speak with a group of students at Oceana Middle School who are working very hard to take on the drug abuse crisis in their community. These students were part of a letter writing campaign, organized by the faith-based group ``One Voice,'' which works to help addicts and their families. I want to share with you a few excerpts from some of these letters: ``My town, Oceana, has an issue about drugs. I write this letter to you because I hope that you can do something about it. In 2006, my godmother died of an overdose. She was the only person I could talk to. Drugs make people act in bad ways and if something doesn't happen about them then our town will be in worse shape. I will give just one more example: I am 13 years old and I am a student at Oceana Middle School. I have witnessed drug deals, prostitution and homeless people in our town. I have medicine I take for ADHD and here recently some of my meds were stolen. I will graduate high school in 7 years. If nothing is done about these issues it'll be worse in the future. I visited with these students in person. They want a better life for their parents, their siblings, their friends, their communities--and themselves. They are willing to fight, and they are asking for our help. The amendment that passed last night with unanimous bipartisan support is a good step toward reaching their dream, and I offer my heartfelt thanks to my colleagues on behalf of all the people in West Virginia who have been affected by prescription drug abuse. And I urge my colleagues in the House to support this measure and the President to sign it--for the good of all the 12-year-old girls who are asking us to help get their daddies off this stuff.

Mr. MANCHIN. I would like to say to both chairmen on both sides of the aisle, thank you for legislation that is much needed. Thank you for an amendment agreed upon, voted on unanimously, and accepted last night. This will go a long way to fight drug abuse in America and save countless children's lives. I thank both Senators so much.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, before I speak today about the bill before us, I want to commemorate the life of a dear friend and a true West Virginian, Bill Stewart. Bill was taken from us 2 days ago at the age of 59, but he left behind a lifetime of memories and love for our State. Bill Stewart was a proud West Virginian in every sense of the word, and he was the best cheerleader this State ever had. Whether it was playing ball at Fairmont State--where I first met him--or coaching West Virginia University to a Fiesta Bowl win--where he took an underdog team to a thrilling victory--you never had to worry about Bill's enthusiasm; he had enough for all of us. In fact, you were either a friend of Bill Stewart's or he hadn't met you yet. Bill was raised in New Martinsville and was a West Virginian through- and- through. Countless young men thrived under his coaching, but he was also truly dedicated to his family--his wife Karen and his son Blaine. I hope Karen and Blaine know just how much Bill meant to the people of our State, how much we loved him and how much we all will miss him. My wife Gayle and I will keep Bill's entire family in our thoughts and prayers.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. OK.

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

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendments, so I may call up my amendment No. 2151, as modified, with the changes at the desk.

Mr. MANCHIN. Absolutely.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I wish to give a brief explanation of the amendment and hope it will be accepted. Basically, what we are doing is changing the hydrocodone combination drugs to be schedule II drugs rather than schedule III drugs. That makes it much harder for people to have access to this drug that has been wreaking havoc throughout our States and throughout the country. I would appreciate adoption of this amendment.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, if I may say this: Senator Kirk, as you know, has worked very closely with me on this matter, and we have many other Senators--Gillibrand, Schumer, Rockefeller--so many people who are having this problem in their States. This is one way for us to fight this abuse. I have said this: If we do nothing else--if we go to some of these communities that have been ravaged, and we speak to these young children, they will come up to us and say: Please help me to help my daddy or my mommy get off of this addiction. It will tear your heart out. This gives us a chance--one more tool with which we can fight the drug abuse that is going on with prescription drugs. I appreciate its consideration and would ask unanimous consent that it be adopted, if we can do that. I thank the Senator.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I rise today with the surest conviction that this body--united as a group of Democrats and Republicans--can and will vote to ensure the women and children of this country are free from domestic abuse. I believe that opposing the bill before us would defy every ounce of common sense I have in my body. I am a proud sponsor of the Violence Against Women Act, as are most of my colleagues in this body, because it is unfathomable that any individual could oppose efforts to ensure women and children are free from violence. The bill we are currently considering would reauthorize several essential grant programs that have made a tremendous difference in my State of West Virginia and across this Nation. Here is what I have heard from the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence Team Coordinators Sue Julian and Tonia Thomas: The Violence Against Women Act is the most critical piece of federal legislation affecting the safety of survivors of domestic violence and their children in every county of West Virginia. [The law] supports cost-effective responses to the pervasive and insidious crimes of domestic violence. VAWA funds innovative, successful programs that are at the core of our nation's response to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking. Action taken at the congressional level to end violence against women, children, and men echoes through the hills and hollows of the most remote communities in this state. Without VAWA, the collaborative efforts of law enforcement, prosecution, victim advocates, and judicial personnel would be fragmented, compartmentalized, and at worse counterproductive to each other. VAWA saves lives, changes communities, offers safety and creates channels of hope. We know since it first passed in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act has reduced domestic violence by more than 50 percent through the critical programs it funds. Still, violence against women and children is a terrifying reality in this country. Let me share with you some startling statistics that illustrate the scope of the problem. According to the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services--our State's sexual assault coalition--one in six women in West Virginia will be a victim of attempted or completed rape. According to the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, on any given day, licensed domestic violence programs in West Virginia provide services to nearly 600 women, children, and men. Every 7 minutes a call is made to a domestic violence hotline in West Virginia. One-third of homicides in West Virginia are related to domestic violence. More than two-thirds of women murdered in West Virginia are killed by a member of their family or their household. In 2010, there were 11,174 investigations into domestic violence allegations in West Virginia, which required 272,450 hours of law enforcement involvement. This legislation is a fight on behalf of the women whose stories are contained in those numbers but whose lives are invaluable and more important than any statistic could ever hope to portray. No one can better speak to the importance of the Violence Against Women Act than the groups whose work each and every day is improved because of the programs supported by the law. Growing up in a small community, as I did in Farmington, WV, in a loving family, violence against women and children was unfathomable. I would not even have thought it. The most beautiful people in my life were my mother, my grandmother, my sister, my aunts, and my cousins. They were the most beautiful people I could have hoped to grow up with. My grandmother--we call her Mama Kay--had been the glue to our family and kept it together, and she really kept the community together. She was a symbol of strength to whom others would turn for a place to stay or a hot meal in times of trouble. We celebrated and admired the women who raised us and those around us. We thanked them and loved them and showed them appreciation and respect. So it is incomprehensible to me how anybody could make a decision to inflict physical pain on a woman or a child or even a man. Truly, life is tough enough without involving violence. Once again, for each and every Member of the Senate who will cast a vote on this bill, the question comes down to this: What is it that we truly value? What are our priorities? Ensuring that women and children have adequate protection against violence just makes common sense. To the people of West Virginia, I know this is the highest of priorities. Of course, these atrocities are not unique to my State. Nationally, domestic violence accounts for 22 percent of the violent crimes experienced by women and 3 percent of the violent crimes against men. Approximately 37 percent of the women seeking injury-related treatment in hospital emergency rooms were there because of injuries inflicted by a current or former spouse or partner. In tough economic times--like those we are experiencing now--women are more likely to become a victim of domestic violence. According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, domestic violence is more than three times as likely to occur when couples are experiencing high levels of financial strain as when they are experiencing low levels of financial strain. Women whose male partners experienced two or more periods of unemployment over a 5-year study were almost three times as likely to be victims of intimate violence as were women whose partners had stable jobs. Seventy-three percent of shelters attributed the rise in abuse to ``financial issues.'' ``Stress'' and ``job loss'' were also frequently cited as causing the increase of victims seeking shelter. It goes on and on. All we are asking for is to make this a nonpartisan issue--come together as Americans, as Senators, not worrying about political differences. This is one bill that brings us all together for a common cause--a most decent cause--and something that is needed in America. I urge the support of all of my colleagues. Please support this. Let's come back together as Americans. I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I rise to speak about the importance of teaching our young people to embrace their right--and responsibility-- to participate in our democratic election process and to highlight a West Virginia high school that has an outstanding record for going the extra mile to encourage their students to register and vote. As Americans, there is no greater freedom or responsibility than our right to vote. Our country was born because brave men and women fought tirelessly and endured countless hardships to win their voting rights. In fact, even young people had to fight for this right. It was West Virginia's own Senator Jennings Randolph, who was elected to serve with our beloved Robert C. Byrd, who relentlessly advocated for the 26th amendment to the Constitution so Americans could vote starting at age 18. In 1971, the measure finally passed. What few people know is he worked on that for over 20 years. Senator Randolph believed, as I do, that every vote counts, and as important, I believe every voter has the right and responsibility to take an active role in our electoral process. I tell young people all the time they cannot just sit on the sidelines and watch life happen; they have to get in the game and get active. Voting not only gives us the opportunity to have our voices heard but also to have a real impact on setting the priorities for America's future. As secretary of state from 2000 to 2004, in which position I was proud to serve in my great State of West Virginia, I made it a priority to educate young people all over West Virginia on the electoral process and to encourage them to get involved. At that time very few people knew that if someone was 17 years of age and would turn 18 years of age before the general election, they could still vote in a primary at 17. So we educated them and we went around to every school. To make the goal a reality, we established a program called Sharing History and Reaching Every Student, or the acronym SHARES, a program which was tremendously successful. I am proud to say, during my tenure, we registered 42,000 high school students to vote. Eleven years after the SHARES Program began, it is my privilege to stand on the Senate floor and recognize a school that is truly committed to carrying on this tradition and passing it down to each senior class and generation that has come after them. I am so pleased they have joined me in the gallery today. Every year for the past 11 years, the staff members at Fayette County's Meadow Bridge High School have registered 100 percent of their senior class. Think about that, 100 percent. It is truly an incredible accomplishment. I am unaware of any other school in our great State or in the entire Nation that has registered every student in their senior class for 11 years. This school and this year the class gathered together in the school's cafeteria so they could register at the same time. This is not only a testament to the tradition established at Meadow Bridge High School but also to the students and their commitment to their community and their civic responsibility. I congratulate the Meadow Bridge High School students, their faculty and staff, under the leadership of their principal Al Martine, for their commitment to our democracy. I also challenge every high school, not just in West Virginia but in New York and every other State, to follow their example--an unbelievable example. We must work together to engage our young people in national issues and encourage them to participate in the democratic process by getting our young adults involved. They are not children anymore. The world is growing up so fast around them, and we are preparing them to be active and passionate leaders for the future. They cannot stand on the sidelines and we as Americans cannot afford to let them stand on the sidelines. We need them in the game now. They can forge the future. This is not a Democratic or Republican or Independent issue but one all Americans can and should embrace for the future of our great Nation. We see so many divides in this great Capitol of ours with so many of our colleagues. Everyone comes here for the right reason. The right reason truly is sitting in the gallery today and back home, the children and young adults who are going to make the difference and lead the next generation. I, for one, do not intend to turn over to this generation the keys to a country in worse shape than when we received them. I do not want to be the first person in our country's history to say we did not do a better job than the previous generation. We are going to work hard. But the unbelievable commitment they made, the knowledge they have about the importance of voting, shows me this next generation will take us to a new level. I am proud that West Virginians all over our State, but most importantly Meadow Bridge High School, are leading that example. I thank them and appreciate the effort they made in setting the example for all. I yield the floor and notice the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, on behalf of my cosponsors, Senator Rockefeller, Senator Mikulski, and Senator Merkley, I call up amendment No. 2079.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President and all of my colleagues here, this amendment is the only one that will give us a chance to save, truly, the American Postal Service. It is the only one. It is a 2-year prohibition against closing any of our post offices and postal services. A lot of good things have been done and a lot of amendments have been made already that nibble around the edges. This is the only amendment that basically says: For a 2-year period, you have to sit down and restructure this. Now, $200 million is what they are talking about. I can go in many different directions with this, but that is 1 day in Afghanistan. This is what the little State of West Virginia will lose: 150 post offices. They are saying: Well, we have a 1-year moratorium. We can restructure this and show where the savings should be. I have a lot of different ideas on where the savings can be, but I can tell you right now that we can start with former Postmaster General Potter, who earned $501,000. That is more than the President of the United States. There are a lot of savings at the top end of this. But we could save these. If you take these lifelines away--and this is all that people have. They get their medicine and they get everything they do and depend on their lifelines with these post offices. They have nothing else. Their towns have just about gone away except for that connection. And I am asking basically for my colleagues to consider keeping these lifelines. Let us work and give us the 2-year period we need.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 19, 2012, at 10 a.m., to hold a hearing entitled, ``Syria: U.S. Policy Options.''

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Time Takes Its Toll: Delays in OSHA's Standard-Setting Process and the Impact on Worker Safety'' on April 19, 2012, at 10 a.m., in room 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, first I thank my colleague, Senator Kent Conrad from North Dakota. To say he is going to be missed is an understatement as he goes back to the private sector with his beautiful wife and family. But his steadfast commitment to this country to put our financial house back in order is the direction we should be going. We should have the courage to do that. I believe we will with his leadership because he has laid out a plan that is more reasonable. There has been more bipartisan support for a longer period of time, and it has grown. It is the only plan since I have been here, less than 2 years, that has maintained that bipartisan support because of the leadership of Senator Kent Conrad. On behalf of the grateful State of West Virginia and the people of America and my colleagues here in the Senate, we thank Senator Conrad. We thank him for his leadership. Postal Service Reform