Jay Rockefeller

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Incentives to Educate American Children Act of 2011--I TEACH. This bill provides important tax incentives to promote the quality of all public school teachers by encouraging them to achieve certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. It provides further incentives to teachers in rural and high-poverty schools. We all know that teachers are the front line for the education of our nation's children. Still, teachers continue to earn less than other college graduates. A recent study found that teachers only earn 77 percent as much as other college graduates. It is even worse for teachers in rural schools. Rural schools struggle with many unique challenges, and one of them is how to pay competitive salaries when transportation costs are necessarily higher than for urban schools. The Department of Education has reported that rural school districts have the lowest base salaries for starting teachers. This bill helps combat this inequity by providing a tax incentive to public school teachers in rural and high-poverty schools. All schools today are struggling with the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers. Due to retirements and decreasing retention of beginning teachers, the experience level of our teachers is decreasing. In the 1987-1988 academic year, the most common number of years of experience for our teachers was 15 years. The most recent data from the 2007-2008 shows the most common years of experience is now just 1 year. The distribution of teaching experience in the data shows the strong need for incentives to encourage teachers to stay in the profession. We know that more experienced teachers help our students learn. States are responsible for certifying teachers in their own states, but teachers have had the additional opportunity since 1987 to earn a certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. This independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan organization provides teachers with a national board certification similar to those in other professions. Since 1987, more than 91,000 teachers have completed the rigorous process of National Board Certification. The National Research Council of the National Academies recently affirmed that students taught by National Board certified teachers make higher gains on achievement tests than students taught by teachers who have not applied or have not achieved this certification. This bill provides an incentive to public school teachers to achieve this certification and stay in the classroom. The I TEACH Act of 2011 provides important incentives for teachers to serve in rural and high-poverty schools as well as for all public school teachers to demonstrate the accomplishment of National Board Certification. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Community Hospital Jobs Act of 2011, legislation that gives Fairmont General Hospital, a small community hospital in West Virginia, the chance to make an important transition. Many of Marion County's residents were born at Fairmont General Hospital--founded in 1939. And many of the hospital's 700 employees are from the surrounding area. That is why, when Fairmont's leaders told me the hospital was going to lose a large portion of its Medicare payments because it was going to lose its status as a Sole Community Hospital, I knew it was important to make sure Fairmont General maintained its role as a vibrant health care leader in our community--and I began looking for ways to help. Over the last couple of years, I have worked extensively with Fairmont officials and with other members of the West Virginia delegation to identify possible solutions to Fairmont's problem, which the hospital did nothing to cause. First we looked for a regulatory solution. However, after speaking extensively with federal and hospital officials, scrutinizing every regulation, we determined that without intervention from Congress, Fairmont would lose its status as the sole community hospital--and with it, additional federal payments that are helping the hospital stay afloat and maintain jobs, as many as 70 of which may be at stake. Once it became clear that legislation was necessary, I got to work again on behalf of Fairmont. Last fall, I started to work on a legislative solution to allow Fairmont to retain its sole community hospital status. And, when the Senate began consideration of an end-of- the-year health care bill, I pushed for the inclusion of legislative language to allow Fairmont to keep its sole community hospital status for a three-year transition period. Unfortunately, this language was not ultimately included in the final Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010--but I am not going to give up. Fairmont General does not give up on its patients, and I am not giving up on Fairmont. That is why I am introducing this important legislation today. I urge my colleagues to support the Community Hospital Jobs Act.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Incentives to Educate American Children Act of 2011--I TEACH. This bill provides important tax incentives to promote the quality of all public school teachers by encouraging them to achieve certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. It provides further incentives to teachers in rural and high-poverty schools. We all know that teachers are the front line for the education of our nation's children. Still, teachers continue to earn less than other college graduates. A recent study found that teachers only earn 77 percent as much as other college graduates. It is even worse for teachers in rural schools. Rural schools struggle with many unique challenges, and one of them is how to pay competitive salaries when transportation costs are necessarily higher than for urban schools. The Department of Education has reported that rural school districts have the lowest base salaries for starting teachers. This bill helps combat this inequity by providing a tax incentive to public school teachers in rural and high-poverty schools. All schools today are struggling with the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers. Due to retirements and decreasing retention of beginning teachers, the experience level of our teachers is decreasing. In the 1987-1988 academic year, the most common number of years of experience for our teachers was 15 years. The most recent data from the 2007-2008 shows the most common years of experience is now just 1 year. The distribution of teaching experience in the data shows the strong need for incentives to encourage teachers to stay in the profession. We know that more experienced teachers help our students learn. States are responsible for certifying teachers in their own states, but teachers have had the additional opportunity since 1987 to earn a certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. This independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan organization provides teachers with a national board certification similar to those in other professions. Since 1987, more than 91,000 teachers have completed the rigorous process of National Board Certification. The National Research Council of the National Academies recently affirmed that students taught by National Board certified teachers make higher gains on achievement tests than students taught by teachers who have not applied or have not achieved this certification. This bill provides an incentive to public school teachers to achieve this certification and stay in the classroom. The I TEACH Act of 2011 provides important incentives for teachers to serve in rural and high-poverty schools as well as for all public school teachers to demonstrate the accomplishment of National Board Certification. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Community Hospital Jobs Act of 2011, legislation that gives Fairmont General Hospital, a small community hospital in West Virginia, the chance to make an important transition. Many of Marion County's residents were born at Fairmont General Hospital--founded in 1939. And many of the hospital's 700 employees are from the surrounding area. That is why, when Fairmont's leaders told me the hospital was going to lose a large portion of its Medicare payments because it was going to lose its status as a Sole Community Hospital, I knew it was important to make sure Fairmont General maintained its role as a vibrant health care leader in our community--and I began looking for ways to help. Over the last couple of years, I have worked extensively with Fairmont officials and with other members of the West Virginia delegation to identify possible solutions to Fairmont's problem, which the hospital did nothing to cause. First we looked for a regulatory solution. However, after speaking extensively with federal and hospital officials, scrutinizing every regulation, we determined that without intervention from Congress, Fairmont would lose its status as the sole community hospital--and with it, additional federal payments that are helping the hospital stay afloat and maintain jobs, as many as 70 of which may be at stake. Once it became clear that legislation was necessary, I got to work again on behalf of Fairmont. Last fall, I started to work on a legislative solution to allow Fairmont to retain its sole community hospital status. And, when the Senate began consideration of an end-of- the-year health care bill, I pushed for the inclusion of legislative language to allow Fairmont to keep its sole community hospital status for a three-year transition period. Unfortunately, this language was not ultimately included in the final Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010--but I am not going to give up. Fairmont General does not give up on its patients, and I am not giving up on Fairmont. That is why I am introducing this important legislation today. I urge my colleagues to support the Community Hospital Jobs Act.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be discharged from further consideration of S. 266 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Environment and Public Works Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 307 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no interviewing action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration en bloc of the following resolutions, which were submitted earlier today: S. Res. 72, S. Res. 73, S. Res. 74, S. Res. 75, and S. Res. 76.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, with no interviewing action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 12, S. 365.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I ask unanimous consent that on Monday, February 28, at a time to be determined by the majority leader, after consultation with the Republican leader, the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 6, S. 23, the Patent Reform Act.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn under the provisions of H. Con. Res. 17 until 2 p.m. on Monday, February 28; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and Senator Isakson then deliver Washington's Farewell Address to the Senate; that following the address, there be a period of morning business until 3:30 p.m. with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; further, at 3:30, the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 6, S. 23, the Patent Reform Act of 2011; and, finally, I ask that at 4:30 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to debate the nominations of Amy Totenberg and Steve Jones, as provided for under the previous order.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, Senators should expect rollcall votes at approximately 5:30 on Monday, February 28 on confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 9, the nomination of Steve Jones, of Georgia, to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Georgia; the nomination of Amy Totenberg of Georgia, to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Georgia, which will be confirmed by a voice vote.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I would say to the Senator from Oklahoma, most of the pending amendments which are now pending have been objected to from his side of the aisle. I don't have any objection to looking at some of his amendments and seeing if we can vote on them. But I can't do that right now. I obviously can't give him any kind of consent right now. It is a difficult situation. It is a sort of rolling veto type of situation. If objection is made, we can't have votes on amendments which are pending. I am willing to look at what he has suggested. As he talked through some of them, they sort of stung pretty hard in my State of West Virginia, but I am willing to look at them. But I can't do that without consent from folks on my side. So for the time being, I object.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I object.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I object.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I object.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I will be objecting to your amendments because you objected to the pending amendments, and there will be no reason to add more unless you lift your objection.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I am very happy to listen to what you have to say.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I think the order has to be reversed.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I cannot assure that at this point. We have not arrived----

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. If you have amendments you wish to offer--I think five--I am constrained to object to them.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. There is objection.

Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 16, 2011, at 9:15 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``The Value of Education Choices: Saving the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.''