Bill Nelson

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize OWL and the important work that it does for older women in our country. For more than 30 years, OWL has served as the only national nonprofit to focus solely on the issues of aging American women and be the voice for the 74 million mid-life and older women in our country. Every Mother's Day, OWL focuses on a key issue that affects our Nation's aging women--our mothers, grandmothers, wives, sisters, aunts, and friends. Past issues of OWL's Mother's Day Campaign have ranged from examining our Nation's health care system, addressing the growing epidemic of elder abuse, and educating women on end-of-life choices. This year, OWL has chosen to focus on the need for quality, accessible long-term care. Women often serve as the primary caregivers for a loved one, and women also may need long-term services and supports as they outlive men. Today, OWL is hosting a briefing to unveil a report on key findings and discuss how this year's Mother's Day Campaign can create a dialogue around this topic. I particularly look forward to seeing their findings this year. As chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and particularly this May in observance of Older Americans Month, I am well aware of the need to examine the long-term care system in America. As the population ages and more Americans need long-term care services and supports, it is important that they receive high-quality care without placing a burden on their families. The Aging Committee has and will continue to examine this topic and raise awareness of the issues surrounding our Nation's long-term care. OWL's continued work across the Nation is more critical now than ever before, and we must ensure that our existing long-term care system is able to meet the needs of America's women.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, the recent kidnappings of over 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria by Boko Haram, a terrorist organization whose name translates to ``Western education is sinful,'' has captured the world's attention and stirred global outrage. These girls were abducted from their classrooms at gunpoint and their captors are now reportedly threatening to sell them into child marriages and slavery. The Senate unanimously approved a resolution condemning Boko Haram for kidnapping these young girls and terrorizing the people of Nigeria, and Secretary of State John Kerry has publicly condemned the kidnappings, calling them an ``unconscionable crime'' and pledging our assistance. Such inhumanity simply cannot be tolerated. As a nation, we must do all that we can to assist the people of Nigera and help them find these missing children. Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and I am hopeful they will be reunited with their families soon.

Mr. NELSON

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

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Madam President, we have had a severe act of Mother Nature in Florida and a number of other Southeastern States, where skies of Biblical proportions in dumping rain have occurred. In Pensacola, FL, there was close to 25 inches of rain that fell within a 24-hour period. The counties of Escambia and Santa Rosa in Florida were particularly hard hit, and just today the Governor of Florida requested a major disaster declaration from the President and sought assistance for that part of Florida. I passed along the Governor's request to the White House and asked that it be approved as soon as possible. Right now the State of Florida government and local governments as well are assisting people in need, and they are surveying the damage to assess the extent of the storm's impact. We are going to do everything we can to make sure the people have the assistance and the help they need during this very difficult time. Of course, it was not just in Florida that these storms hit; it was a number of States--Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia. As the storm proceeded on upwards, it occurred in a lot of the Southeastern United States. But particularly those States plus ours, in northwest Florida, is where it really hit the hardest. Many people have worked around the clock to save lives and to provide support in the immediate aftermath of the storm. Thank goodness there is a Florida National Guard that is as experienced as it is, and it is experienced because we are accustomed to storms, particularly hurricanes. But we are not accustomed to 25 inches in 24 hours, and all emergency personnel are down there helping. According to Florida's request for Federal assistance, in addition to the spinoff tornadoes, some parts of the panhandle received this enormous amount of rain, and another indication is that in just 1 hour, 5.68 inches of rain fell--in 1 hour--in the city of Pensacola. It brought floods. It destroyed homes, roads. It destroyed essential infrastructure. If you have seen any of the views on television, then you have seen the devastation, you have seen people being pulled out of the water, cars completely submerged, portions of roads taken out. It has occurred in multiple States. Responding to a disaster such as this is a critical responsibility for not only government in general but for the Federal Government and the unique things and people and services the Federal Government can provide. It is one of those things government is supposed to do for people. It is supposed to help in times of emergency. The President has already declared a disaster in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama, making Federal resources available there. I hope the President is going to do the same for Florida. Sometimes challenges are just too great for any one local community or State to take on alone. The unique position of the Federal Government in a time such as this is to coordinate resources and people across the Nation to solve our biggest challenges. A lot of that is done through FEMA, and who better to have the help ready than the head of FEMA, who is a Floridian and who was the head of Florida's emergency department before President Obama tapped him to be the head of FEMA. With this terrible toll on people's lives, I hope this will serve as an example of how we can all come together when people are in need. Clearly, our hopes and prayers and thoughts are with the people who are affected by these storms. I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Madam President, while I had the opportunity on the floor, I wanted to call to the attention of the Senate that the Special Committee on Aging, which I have the privilege of chairing, held a hearing last week on scams particularly affecting senior citizens--but not limited to senior citizens--in the selling of precious metals, in particular gold. Basically, the bottom-line takeaway from the hearing is if you are an American getting a cold call suggesting to you that you should invest in a precious metal such as gold, more than likely it is a scam and you are about to be robbed of your money if you play along and start investing in this fictitious investment in gold. The testimony showed that most of the time the scammers do not even purchase the gold and certainly are not storing it--even though they are charging the poor victim, often a senior citizen, storage fees for this fictitious gold. I was astounded. We are accustomed to getting telemarketer calls-- unless you are on the Do Not Call list--but telemarketers still call through the Do Not Call list. That is another giveaway. If you are on the Do Not Call list and you are getting one of these calls to invest, they can make it sound so good. We had a man who was about to be sentenced and was one of the telemarketers. Why do these scams often end up being from South Florida? But it is true--not only these kinds of scams, but also Medicare and Medicaid fraud. It is concentrated in South Florida. This man was a part of this scam calling unsuspecting Americans to get them to invest in something that sounds too good to be true, only it is the gold standard. People fell for it, and then they sent him money. He showed us. They have four different stages: someone who first gets you interested, someone who comes in and closes the deal, another person who comes along and then gets up the deal, and then others who keep you hooked into the scam until you find out that you don't have any gold that is being held in trust for you in storage but, in fact, it is all a sham. I wanted to share with folks what the Senate Special Committee on Aging found out. If you get a cold call and they want you to invest in gold, chances are it is a scam and it is not real. It is a word to the wise: Beware. Don't fall for it. I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I rise to recognize an important meeting taking place this week at the Scripps Research Institute in my home State of Florida that coincides with Older Americans Month. Leaders in the field of aging and medical research are gathering at this internationally renowned research facility to discuss their latest research at a symposium, the first of its kind, entitled, ``Therapeutic Approaches for Extending Healthspan: The Next 10 Years.'' Headquartered in California, the Scripps Institute has long been recognized as a leader in biomedical sciences. Establishing an additional Scripps research facility in Florida in 2009 represents an extension of this tradition of world-class research excellence to our State. Scripps Florida is working on finding answers to some of the most critical biomedical questions that confront us today through six academic departments targeting the areas of cancer biology, chemistry, infectious diseases, molecular therapeutics, neuroscience, and the relationship between metabolism and aging. Hopefully, this symposium will lead to a series of gatherings where experts can forge collaborative partnerships and work toward improving the quality of life for aging adults. Over the past decade, Scripps has advanced existing knowledge on aging-related diseases such as blindness, atherosclerosis, deafness, and amyloid diseases that cause Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's Diseases, among others. This forum will focus on novel research in the field of aging and establish a path for research into the next decade. Though the field shows enormous promise for the future, barriers still exist in translating research into clinical applications. Experts participating in this symposium will discuss how to overcome these challenges to provide meaningful medical solutions for our aging Nation. As chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, I am aware of the daily challenges faced by many older Americans. Like the roundtable hosted by the Aging Committee last October to discuss the state of aging research, I believe these opportunities to bring our Nation's best scientists, physicians, and researchers together are essential if we are going to conquer aging-related diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia. As such, we must continue to support research that drives innovation, advances current knowledge, and encourages collaboration among our Nation's greatest thinkers. As the number of older Americans continues to grow, we must support research efforts that provide paths to treatment or prevention so our Nation's seniors can enjoy living out their golden years with dignity.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, if you live along the southeastern coast of the United States, you know the sea level is rising. We have a lot of people who would question the reason for this rise of the sea level. Some people deny there is climate change, that the Earth is warming up. I think as we look at the science, we will clearly understand the greenhouse effect is occurring. The more we put gases into the atmosphere by human action such as carbon dioxide, the more the Sun's rays come in and reflect upon the Earth's surface and would naturally radiate out into space. The fact is, as the Earth's surface reflects the Sun's rays back out into space, which is what Mother Nature intended, keeping the delicate balance of the temperature of the Earth, what happens when we put greenhouse gases such as CO2 into the atmosphere, a shield or blanket, the effect of a greenhouse occurs. As they reflect back out, they are trapped--the Sun's rays, the heat from them--and it continues to warm up the Earth. Thus, we have the greenhouse effect. One of the consequences of the greenhouse effect is that the icecaps in Greenland to the north and Antarctica to the south are melting. This causes the sea level to rise. Another effect of the greenhouse effect is that as the Earth's temperature rises, most of the surface of the planet is covered with seawater. Therefore, the water absorbs that heat. That causes additional effects such as the intensity, the frequency, the ferocity of storms that fuel the storm surge and power from the surface water they consume. Having said all of that, then, what are we seeing as a consequence? As I said in my opening, if you live along the southeastern coast of the United States, you know that seas are rising. The commerce committee, under the blessing of our chairman, Senator Rockefeller, just held a hearing in ground zero. Ground zero is Miami Beach, FL. One of the people to testify was a NASA scientist, a Ph.D., who happens to be a three-time shuttle astronaut. He testified in front of the committee--not predictions, not forecasts, he testified what are the actual measurements of the rise of the sea level over the course of the last half century. That rise is anywhere from 5 to 8 inches along the southeastern coast. The effects of that are being felt in southern Florida. For instance, it is now a normal occurrence at high tide that we are finding parts of Miami Beach are, in fact, flooded. The actual beach itself and the dunes are higher than some of the land as it progresses away from the ocean and the barrier island of Miami Beach becomes lower. There is a major north-south thoroughfare called Alton Road on Miami Beach. At high tide, it is frequent that Alton Road floods. What we are expecting in seasonal high tides coming this October, just as they were last October, is we will see maybe up to a foot of water in Alton Road. Why does this occur if it is not flooding over the dunes by the beach? Because Florida sits on a porous substrate of limestone. It is like Swiss cheese. This is why people say: Well, why do you not do what the Dutch did? The Dutch built dikes. They are under sea level; New Orleans, the same thing, dikes and canals. Under sea level. You cannot do that in Florida, because with the porous limestone supporting the earth, the land, what happens is the rise in tides causes more pressure, and it causes the saltwater to start to invade this honeycomb of limestone that supports the land of Florida and there you get saltwater intrusion. With the rising tides and rising sea levels, that water also starts coming into the drainage systems that keep Florida dry. That is happening now in Miami Beach at high tide. We had it last time in October in the seasonal high tides. We are going to have it again in the high tides coming this October. So naturally this is going to cause a considerable extra expense since you cannot build a dike for the local government, the State government, and the Federal Government to keep people dry. I am happy to say the local governments of South Florida have all banded together and you are seeing them speak with one voice as they have, for example, not competing for a grant from the Federal Government but instead they have banded together and supported the grant application for the city of Miami which is the first ground zero, in order for Miami to try to attack its problem. There is an economic consequence to this as well, as we had someone from the Miami-Dade convention bureau come and point out. I can sum it up as I did during the hearing: No beach, no bucks. Florida is blessed since we have more coastline than any other State save for Alaska, and we certainly have more beach than any other State. Florida is blessed with these beautiful beaches that people from all over the world want to come and enjoy. No beach, no bucks. It is going to have a huge economic consequence, not only in the cost of government to try to hold back the water but also in lost business. I will conclude my remarks by saying not the measurements, 5 to 8 inches. That has already been done. That has happened, 5 to 8 inches of sea level rise the last 50 years. Now the forecast. The forecast in the scientific community--and we had one of the scientists from one of the State universities testify, along with the NASA scientist, is that it is going to be upwards of a foot within the next 20 to 30 years. By the end of this century, we are talking 2 to 3 feet. Let me tell you what that means for the State of Florida. The State of Florida this year will surpass New York in population as the third largest State, moving on toward 20 million people, and 75 percent of that population is on the coast of Florida. The east coast, the west coast, which is the gulf coast, is 75 percent of our population. If we don't turn this back 2 to 3 feet by the end of this century, that 75 percent of our population will, in fact, be underwater. We are trying to get insurance companies interested. We had a major reinsurer testify that although insurance policies are set--property and casualty policy premiums--in 1- to 3-year increments, over the course of time that is certainly going to change. I conclude my remarks by complimenting the next Senator who is going to speak. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island has been our conscience. He and Senator Barbara Boxer have been ringing the bell on this issue for months and for years in trying to get people to pay attention to what is happening. I want Senator Whitehouse to share what he has done over his Easter vacation in trying to bring attention to this subject. At the end of the day, we have to do something about it, and that means we are going to have to be very sensitive about all the stuff that not only we, the United States of America, are putting into the air and creating that shield, that greenhouse effect, but we are going to have to get other countries that are polluting even more than we are to do the same. Senator Whitehouse, I thank you for what you have done as you share your story with us. You have done a courageous act of patriotism in bringing attention to this dramatic issue.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I wish to recognize National Healthcare Decisions Day, which is next Wednesday, April 16, a day to educate the public about advance care planning and encourage them to have conversations with loved ones to plan for end-of-life decisions. I am pleased that over 50 organizations--representing health providers, communities of faith, the legal community, and the public sector--in Florida are participating in the day's events. This issue has been important to me throughout my career, and as the chairman of the Senate's Special Committee on Aging, I had the opportunity to chair a hearing on end-of-life care last June. We found that polls show most Americans would like to talk about their advanced care needs, but they do not know how or with whom to have these conversations. In fact, only about 20 percent of Americans have executed an advanced directive, in part due to a lack of knowledge about planning. Our hearing also touched on some commonsense solutions that individuals have used to broach this topic with their loved ones. For example, Aging with Dignity, an organization based in my home State of Florida, has created a simple resource called Five Wishes that is focused on things that are meaningful for patients and families, rather than a system of advance care planning dictated exclusively by the terms of doctors and lawyers. Five Wishes takes into account personal, emotional, and spiritual needs as well as medical wishes. With a straightforward, easy-to-complete questionnaire, Five Wishes takes end- of-life decision-making out of the emergency room and into the living room. There are also areas where the Federal Government could help alleviate some of the barriers individuals face in trying to complete an advance directive. We know many people could use the assistance of a trusted health care provider in completing an advance directive. In 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services--CMS--included advance care planning as a reimbursable item as part of the annual wellness visit for Medicare beneficiaries under the Affordable Care Act. Unfortunately, just a short time later, CMS reversed itself and removed this service as reimbursable. I hope this decision is revisited. At the same time, there are efforts at the State level. For example, in Florida, a consortium of health care providers, faith-based groups, and the legal profession are collaborating to establish the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment program to ensure that advance directives are honored. It is my hope Congress will support the goals of National Healthcare Decisions Day. Advance care planning is a desired health service and should be a normal part of health care. Advance care planning can empower individuals and allow adults to voice their medical treatment preferences. Together, we can ensure Americans' wishes for medical care at the end of their lives are respected and achieved.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, we need to find a cure for the devastating disease of Alzheimer's. According to the Alzheimer's Association, there are 5 million people living with Alzheimer's in America today. Last year alone, $213 billion was spent on Alzheimer's care in the United States. And if measures are not taken to address the issue, it is estimated this will rise to $1 trillion a year by midcentury. As the senior Senator from Florida and the chairman of the Special Committee on Aging, I am well aware of the toll this disease takes on individuals and their families. In 2010, about 450,000 Floridians were living with this disease, but this number is expected to rise to 590,000 by the year 2025. Florida is the home of groundbreaking research in the field of treating, and hopefully curing, Alzheimer's. Today I will focus on just one of Florida's many research institutes, the University of South Florida, USF, Health Byrd Alzheimer's Institute. A leader in the field, the Byrd Institute is already implementing and routinely practicing key tenets outlined in the milestones of the Federal Government's 2013 National Alzheimer's Plan, including prevention, memory impairment screening, state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment, supportive services, and education. As a university-affiliated free-standing Alzheimer's center, the Byrd Institute is one of very few places that can offer high-quality, integrated Alzheimer's care. In fact, USF Magazine boasts that it is ``the largest facility of its kind in the world.'' The Byrd Institute's streamlined approach emphasizes integrated Alzheimer's care among physicians, researchers, therapists, social workers, support groups, caregivers, and other entities that play a crucial role in the comprehensive well-being of Alzheimer's patients. As an active Alzheimer's research site, patients have access to many publicly and privately funded clinical trials. Research productivity at the Byrd Institute has been brisk with $2.7 million in Federal grant expenditures for basic and translational research from 17 new and continuing Federal grants in 2012 and 2013. The Alzheimer's Association, along with several other non-Federal sponsors, provided nearly $1 million in funding to the center. The institute's strong track record as a regional trailblazer in Alzheimer's care demonstrates the vast potential for the expansion of similar types of care centers on a national level. Moving forward, the Byrd Institute offers hope for accelerated and improved Alzheimer's care. It is a living and breathing testament to what can be accomplished by working together to tackle a problem that affects us all and a true model for the future of Alzheimer's care in this Nation. I know that many Floridians--as well as advocates from all across the Nation--are visiting with their congressional representatives to urge greater funding for research funding at the National Institutes of Health and caregiver support from the Administration for Community Living. I want all Floridians visiting, as well as all of those who couldn't be here today, to know that I share their commitment for finding a cure for this dreaded disease.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I wish to recognize an important meeting taking place in Jacksonville, FL. The Association of Jewish Aging Services--AJAS--is holding its 54th annual conference this week. The theme of this year's conference is ``Bringing the Future Home.'' AJAS has set itself apart as the central address for Jewish eldercare. This theme reflects AJAS's commitment to making a positive impact on the lives of seniors and emphasizes the importance of keeping seniors in their homes. It also indicates the growing importance of continuing to plan for the future and demonstrate the value of and necessity for providing resources for Jewish aging services. As chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, I am well aware of the need to make sure our long-term care system is meeting the needs of our aging population. As our Nation's seniors continue to age in to the need for greater supports and services, we must evolve to meet the cultural, social, and physical needs of Jewish seniors. In fact, we have shined a spotlight on this issue in the Aging Committee. Conversations such as those at AJAS's conference this week are ever- more critical to ensure that as a Nation we continue to innovate and adapt our existing system to meet the demands of America's seniors.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. NELSON. I thank the Senator from Louisiana, who has been the sparkplug behind this bill. As a result of her hard work, there are a lot of people in Florida who will be saved unconscionable increases. Again, my thanks to the Senator from Louisiana.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9 a.m. today, Tuesday, March 11, 2014; that following the prayer and the pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks, the Senate be in a period of morning business until 11:30 a.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, and that the time be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first hour and the Republicans controlling the next hour; that at 11:30 a.m. the Senate proceed to executive session, as provided under the previous order; and that following the cloture vote on the Parker nomination, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I want the 31 colleagues who have been on the floor to know how proud I am. As I have watched throughout the evening and this morning, I have seen our colleagues continue to hold this floor to try to bring attention to climate change. I am very proud of them. I have the privilege of being the cleanup hitter in this session that has gone on for hours and hours. I want to speak from the perspective of the part of the United States that is going to be and is most affected by sea level rise, which is a consequence of climate change; that is, the State of Florida. I also want to speak from the perspective of outer space. When someone looks back at the planet through the window of a spacecraft--which I had the privilege of doing 28 years ago in the early part of the space shuttle program, the space shuttle Columbia, which was piloted by now-retired Marine Gen. Charlie Bolden, who is the head of NASA and has been for the past 5 years--when we look back at our home, we see this incredible creation that is so colorful suspended in the midst of nothing. Space is nothing. Space is an airless vacuum that goes on and on for billions of light years, and there is our home and it is so beautiful, yet it looks so fragile from that perspective of miles and miles away. What the naked eye can see from that altitude as we orbit the Earth at 17,500 miles an hour is incredible in the detail we can see, but some of that detail is quite disturbing. For example, coming across the Amazon I could see the color contrast. I could see the destruction of the rain forest. Then I could look to the east coast of Brazil at the mouth of the Amazon. I could see the silt that discolored the waters of the Atlantic for hundreds of miles, the extra silt coming off the destruction of the trees upriver. On the other side of the globe, for example, coming across Madagascar 28 years ago when they were cutting down all of their trees for fuel, for fires, and as a result there was no vegetation, and when the rains came, the water ran down the hills, the silt came into the rivers, and we could see for miles and miles at the mouths of the rivers from Madagascar--flying 203 miles above the surface of the Earth, we could see the effects. We could see those kinds of effects in the midst of that God-given beauty, that the Earth is so fragile. We could look at the rim of the Earth and see this thin film. It went into a blue band that then went into the blackness of space, and we could see what sustains all of life--the atmosphere. As a result, I certainly became more of an environmentalist because I saw in its entirety how fragile this ecosystem is. We could see the effects of storms. We were up in January, so we saw a hurricane in the Southern Hemisphere going clockwise, not counterclockwise as in the Northern Hemisphere. For hundreds of miles, there was this storm in the Indian Ocean. We could see from that perspective of the window of a spacecraft the delicacy of this God- created ecological balance. What we have done, as we burn more fuel and carbon dioxide goes into the air, instead of what was created where the Earth's rays come in and hit the surface--where the Sun's rays come in through the atmosphere and hit the Earth's surface and reflect back into space, suddenly the excess gases in the atmosphere create a kind of greenhouse effect, which then traps the heat. The heat, as it reflects off of the Earth's surfaces and bounces as it radiates back into space, can't get out and the Earth continues to heat. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that the globe could warm 1.5 to 4.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. It also estimated that sea levels could rise from 1 foot to 3 feet over the same period. Since we are talking about inches, degrees, and hundreds of years, now I want to go from space to my home in my native State of Florida, which is ground zero for the sea level rise. What will Florida look like in the year 2100? Florida has a population closing in on 20 million people. We are surpassing New York as the third-largest State. About 14 million of those people live along the coast, and that number is going to double by the year 2100. In those coastal cities and towns, there are homes, schools, powerplants, water treatment plants, roads, and bridges which could be underwater as the sea level rises. This isn't only hypothetical; this is real. Florida's Atlantic University, one of our great State universities, indicates that Florida has recorded 5 to 8 inches of sea level rise in the last half century. This rate is a rate of 1 foot per century, and it is about 8 times the average rate over the past 2,500 years. Today at high tide we can see for ourselves the flooded roads. They are a regular occurrence. We can see the flooded neighborhoods. We can see what happens when the infrastructure is flooded. If we just take a few years further in this century, 2060, we are going to see close to 1 to 2 feet of sea level rise. According to the National Research Council, by 2100 that number could be as much as 3 feet. Do you want to see what 3 feet is? Three feet of sea level rise-- look at the heavy population of southeast Florida. Look at all of these portions of the Everglades. Look at the Florida Keys--gone, under water. Look at the Fort Myers area, the Caloosahatchee River, Charlotte Bay, and look at Tampa Bay. Look where our space shuttle launched from pad 39A, Cape Canaveral--under water. Look at all of the coast of Florida, look over here at the tremendous Apalachicola oyster estuary-- under water, and so forth and so on. That is what prominent scientific organizations have estimated at the end of this century: a 3-foot rise in the sea and 14 million people--a population that over the course of the next few decades will double; 28 million people living on the coast of Florida--are going to be under water. Why aren't people paying attention? Before I came to the Senate, I had one of the toughest jobs I had ever had in elected public service. I was the elected insurance commissioner in Florida. The task fell to me in the aftermath of the monster storm Hurricane Andrew to resuscitate the insurance marketplace back to life. Back then, in the early 1990s, we could see monster storms meant warming of the climate, warmer ocean temperatures, more frequency and ferocity of storms. So as the then-insurance commissioner, I tried to go to the insurance companies to try to start getting them interested in protecting the investments they insured, and they kept their heads in the sand. We couldn't get it. So you can see that 75 percent of the State's population on the coast makes up 80 percent of the State's total income. Because we have more beaches than any other State, we have more coastline than any other State, save for Alaska, and a warmer climate, we have a great tourism industry--a tourism industry that attracts 37,000 companies to Florida--businesses related to the coast, from boating, to fishing, to lodging, to leisure recreation, all told employing a quarter of a million people. This 1,350 miles of coastline is a magnet for visitors. They come and they enjoy the beaches. They fish for red snapper in Destin, up here. They look for red snapper off of Panama City. Maybe they go for scallops off of Cedar Key. Maybe they go to see the spring training games in Tampa. Maybe they watch the sunsets from the Florida Keys. Well, you can see what is happening. The most recent data from the State indicates that in 2011 tourists spent $67 billion in Florida and contributed $4 billion to our State treasury. So while a lot of people have their heads in the sand, some local leaders, happily some local elected leaders are starting to do something about it. The city of Miami Beach already experiences flooding and drainage problems due to the high tides. They are planning to spend $200 million to purchase more pump stations, raise seawalls, and upgrade stormwater storage. Do you know whom we are talking to? Holland, the Netherlands. We are trying to learn about large-scale dikes and engineering fixes and how the Dutch have kept their lands dry. Miami Beach is taking the initiative so that homes and businesses will continue to thrive. The higher sea levels--get this--also threaten the water supply. Do you know why? Because Florida is basically land on top of a vast limestone honeycomb. Like a sponge, it holds freshwater deep underground, but when the sea level rises, the saltwater moves in and replaces the freshwater, so those aquifers become too salty or brackish. You can't drink that. That is happening, and it is happening in a little town on the southeast coast of Florida called Hallandale Beach. Their local officials are spending right now $16 million to upgrade their stormwater system and move the city's drinking water system to the west side of the city, further away from the coast. So local leaders are making the tough decisions to prepare for the future, and that is one reason I have the privilege of having the support of Senator Rockefeller, the chairman of the commerce committee, and we are going to take a commerce committee field hearing during the April recess down to South Florida, to Miami Beach, and we are going to hear what local governments, businesses, and even reinsurance companies are doing in the wake of the sea level rise. One additional thing. I described what CO2 does, going into the air and creating the greenhouse effect, which stops the radiating of the Sun's heat back out into space. But there is another thing it does. Because carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is making our oceans more acidic, it threatens the coral reefs and all of the creatures in the ocean, from lobsters to clams. This is a picture of a healthy coral reef. This is not. The coral reef system in Florida is responsible for bringing in $3.5 billion in sales and income, and off of the coast of South Florida it supports 36,000 jobs. More acidic water means oysters, crabs, and lobsters are threatened. Biologists tell us that when shelled organisms are at risk, the entire food web may also be at risk because the reefs provide the core reproductive and feeding habitat for the marine life. So I come to the end of my comments, Mr. President. Whether you look at it from the perspective of the Senator from Florida, whose State is severely threatened at this moment, or from the perspective of the window of a spacecraft, looking back at this creation we call home, planet Earth, we are in severe jeopardy, and it is time for us to get out of our lethargy and recognize the problem happening in front of our very eyes. I am so proud of my colleagues. Before the Senators came in, I said that I had been watching on C-SPAN during the course of last evening and this morning, and I am so proud of you for what you have done in bringing attention to this issue. Hawaii Travel and Tourism

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, at 11:30 a.m. there will be a series of four cloture votes on the Leitman, Levy, Michelson, and Parker nominations, all to be district judges for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, one of the places that is threatened most is a low-lying area such as Bangladesh, but do you know what area is threatened most in the Continental United States? The Miami area. I am going to be taking the commerce committee during the April recess to have a hearing on climate change and sea level rise particularly right in the heart of a city that has been experiencing flooding over and over because of this climate change. Florida is ground zero for sea level rise. We have a compelling story to tell. Our leaders are making key decisions and investments today so that our coastal economy will thrive. We are going to pull all this together in the hearing. There are several members of the commerce committee here tonight. I invite Senators during the April recess to come to this hearing. Thank you all for organizing this all-night event, and I look forward to the material that will be coming out this evening. Thank you.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I rise today on the anniversary of Bob Levinson's disappearance from Kish Island off the coast of Iran. March 9 will mark 7 excruciating years of waiting and wondering for Bob's family who have desperately sought assistance from the Governments of Iran and the United States in finding him and bringing him home. Bob, a retired FBI agent, is now one of the longest held Americans in our Nation's history. Bob's safe return is his family's highest priority--as it must remain for the U.S. Government as well. At the beginning of this year, this body unanimously passed a resolution urging the Government of Iran to fulfill their promises of assistance in Bob's case. At a time when our governments are talking to one another after more than 30 years, I ask that they talk about locating Bob and bringing him home to Florida. This case transcends any differences between the United States and Iran. I continue to believe our two countries share the same goal: as a humanitarian matter both governments can readily support bringing a father home to his children and grandchildren. I have said as much to officials in the Iranian Government, and I rise today to reiterate this same message. I will also continue to call on the U.S. Government to raise Bob's case with Iranian officials at every opportunity and do all they can to end this ordeal. Bob and his wife Christine have seven children and four grandchildren. For their sake, after 7 heart-wrenching years, we must all redouble our efforts to bring Bob home.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I was necessarily absent from the votes during yesterday's session on Tuesday, February 25, 2014. Had I been present, I would have supported the nominations of James Donato and Beth Freeman to fill judicial emergency vacancies on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and James Moody to fill a judicial vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. I also would have voted in favor of the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 1982, the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act of 2014.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, today the Senate will vote to invoke cloture on the nomination of James Moody to fill a judicial vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Though I was not able to be present to cast my vote this afternoon, I fully support the nomination of this qualified individual to fill the vacancy in Arkansas. If I had been here I would have voted to confirm this highly qualified nominee. It would not have changed the outcome of the vote. I want to congratulate Senator Leahy and Senator Grassley on their leadership and hope that we can all continue to work together to address the backlog of judicial nominations.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, today the Senate will vote to invoke cloture on the nomination of Jeffrey Meyer to fill a judicial vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Though I was not able to be present to cast my vote this afternoon, I fully support the nomination of this qualified individual to fill the vacancy in Connecticut. If I had been here I would have voted to confirm this highly qualified nominee. It would not have changed the outcome of the vote. I want to congratulate Senator Leahy and Senator Grassley on their leadership and hope that we can all continue to work together to address the backlog of judicial nominations. Cloture Motion

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, today the Senate will vote to confirm the nomination of Jeffrey Meyer to fill a judicial vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Although I was not able to be present to cast my vote this afternoon, I fully support the nomination of this qualified individual to fill the vacancy in Connecticut. If I had been here I would have voted to confirm this highly qualified nominee. It would not have changed the outcome of the vote. I congratulate Senator Leahy and Senator Grassley on their leadership and hope that we can all continue to work together to address the backlog of judicial nominations.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for 5 minutes.

Mr. NELSON

Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I wish to discuss the circumstances many unemployed families face. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and now face serious financial consequences. Many families are having trouble paying the rent or their mortgage, or they are struggling to buy necessities for their children. On February 6, the Senate voted, again, to try to extend unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed who are down on their luck. But we still fell one vote short. We needed one more Republican. I hope one of my colleagues on the Republican side will join us soon to get that legislation over the top and help folks who have been hurting since the first of the year. Getting this benefit extended is only one of the problems that unemployed families have faced in my State. Thousands of unemployed Floridians have had their benefits delayed by flaws in the State's new automated unemployment system. The website is called ``Florida CONNECT.'' But ironically it has left many Floridians disconnected. We started hearing about some of the problems people were facing soon after the website was launched late last year. When I started hearing about these reports, I asked U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez to investigate. And I am pleased to report that the Department of Labor is now working with the State to sort out who should be getting their checks. I am told most of the people who were stuck in this mess have either started getting the benefits they deserve or have received a letter directing them to a human being they can talk to and resolve possible problems with their applications. I trust that the State of Florida will hold anyone responsible for that flawed website completely accountable for this mess. In the meantime I hope that we here in the Congress will do our part to help folks that are down and out and pass the extension of benefits for long-term unemployed.