Education

• Educational Training
  • Nothing posted to date
• Educational Funding
  • Nothing posted to date
• Teaching Evolution/Intelligent Design
  • Nothing posted to date

Energy

• Clean Coal Technology
  • During consideration of the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 (H.R. 6) in the Senate, two competing amendments regarding coal-to-liquid fuels were proposed. S. Amdt. 1628 would have provided a minimum standard in the amount of coal-to-liquid fuels to be used in "covered fuels" (aviation fuel, motor vehicle fuel, home heating oil, and boiler fuel) beginning in 2016. While the amendment mandated the clean coal fuel to emit 20% less life-cycle greenhouse gases than gasoline, opponents objected to the comparison of coal to liquid fuel as similar to gasoline. They argued that liquid fuels derived from coal are more similar to diesel-based fuel, and emit up to 150% more greenhouse gases than petroleum-based diesel fuel. S. Amdt. 1628 failed passage with a vote of 39-55. Senator Byrd voted against this amendment.
  • The competing amendment, Amdt. 1614, would have provided up to $10 billion worth of loans for projects that reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal gasification (or other transformation processes) by at least 75% and ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are at least 20% below the conventional baseline. Challengers criticized the 75% sequestration requirement as too high and voiced concern that the loan money would end up disbursed to other projects (read the debate). S. Amdt. 1614 also was rejected, with a final tally of 33-61. Senator Byrd voted for this amendment.
• Fuel Economy Standards
  • See discussion of H.R. 6 under the Renewable Energy section.
• Nuclear Power
  • Nothing posted to date
• Renewable Energy
  • After a lengthy debate in June of 2007, the Senate passed the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 (H.R. 6), which seeks to increase America’s energy independence through the development of renewable fuels and the fostering of energy efficiency. The legislation would mandate the use of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022, require an increase in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to 35 mpg by 2020, and establish a carbon capture and storage research program. Senator Byrd voted for the final version of H.R. 6, which passed with a vote of 65-27.
    
    In the face of a veto threat from President Bush, the House passed the Senate version of H.R. 6 with amendments by a vote of 235-181 on December 6, 2007.The final Senate rendering of the bill, which passed with a vote of 86-8, still included language raising CAFE standards to 35 mpg by 2020. Senator Byrd voted for the revised version of this bill. The final version of the bill passed in the House with a vote of 314-100 and was signed into law by President Bush on December 19, 2007.
    
  • During debate of the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 (H.R. 6), the Senate also passed S. Amdt. 1693. This amendment would revise the Clean Air Act to provide short-term and long-term studies on the effects of the increased use of renewable fuels on the environment. It also allows the administrator of the study to create regulations that would mitigate any negative effects on air quality that did occur as a result of the increased use of these fuels. The amendment passed with a vote of 58-34. Senator Byrd voted for S. Amdt. 1693. The amendment, however, did not make into the final version of H.R. 6, which was passed by the Senate on December 13, 2007.

Environment

• Nothing posted to date

Climate Change

• With a vote of 51-42 the Senate rejected S. Amdt 1094 to the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (H.R. 1495). This amendment would have required the Army Corp of Engineers to account for the long-term and short-term effects of global climate change in all feasibility studies or reevaluation reports. Supporters of S. Amdt. 1094 focused especially on the dangers associated with increased hurricane intensity and rising sea levels. Opponents criticized the amendment as being too expensive to implement and refuted any relationship between hurricane intensity and global warming (read the floor debate). Senator Byrd voted against this amendment.

Health

• Healthcare
  • In May 2008, amendments were added to Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2008 (H.R. 2642) by Senator Byrd that would allow certain physician owned hospital to continue to be eligible for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. These provisions benefit hospitals in four states that four Appropriations Committee Democrats serve. Under the old clause, physicians could not own more than 40% of the hospital. Without this clause, taxpayers would have saved $1.6 billion over the next ten years, and with this clause taxpayers will save $300 million less.
  • The Senate passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 (H.R. 493) with a vote of 95-0. After the House passed the bill in April 2007, Senator Coburn placed a hold on the bill because he wanted to clarify language to allow for "business necessity exemptions." The bill passed by the Senate was amended to reflect changes Senator Coburn wanted. After passage in the House, President Bush signed GINA into law on May 21, 2008.
  • On August 2, 2007, the Senate passed the final version of the “Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007” (H.R. 976) with a vote of 68-31. This bill would have increased funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by $50 billion dollars over five years. Opponents saw the bill as too costly and were critical of the funding methods for the program, including a cigarette tax increase (read the floor debate). Senator Byrd voted for this legislation. On October 3, 2007, President Bush vetoed H.R. 976, citing that the bill moved too many children towards federally funded healthcare. The House attempted to override the President’s veto, but the measure failed to pass with a vote count of 273-156. On December 29, 2007, President Bush signed the Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (S. 2499) which extends funding for SCHIP through March of 2009, but does not significantly expand the program.
  • On July 15, 2008, both Houses of Congress voted to override President Bush’s veto of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (H.R. 6331), a bill to put off an almost 11% cut of payments to doctors who care for Medicare patients. The legislation offset putting off the payment cuts for doctors by reducing reimbursements to insurance companies that include Medicare patients in their managed-care programs.[1]. The Senate voted 70 to 26 in favor of a veto override. Senator Byrd voted for this legislation.
• Embryonic Stem Cell Research
  • In April of 2007, Congress passed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 (S. 5), which would have overturned President Bush's ban on the use of federal funding for research on embryonic stem cell lines created after August 9, 2001. Senator Byrd voted for the legislation. The bill passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 247-176 and the Senate with a vote of 63-34. President Bush vetoed both this legislation and an identical bill that was passed by Congress in 2006.
• Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Research
  • In December 2005, Congress passed the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (H.R. 2520), which President Bush signed on December 20, 2005. The law "creates a new Federal program to collect and store cord blood, and expands the current bone marrow registry program to also include cord blood." Senator Byrd voted for this bill. The legislation passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 431-1 and passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

Innovation

• On August 9, 2007, President Bush signed the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act (H.R. 2272) into law. The law authorizes the doubling of funding for the National Science Foundation over the next seven years, increased funding for the National Institute of Standards and Technology and competitive grants for teachers and schools with the goal of strengthening the quality of education in science, math, and critical foreign languages. The bill was passed with unanimous consent in the Senate and was agreed to by a vote of 367-57 by the House after being reconciled in a conference committee. Senator Byrd voted for this legislation. The America COMPETES Act was not fully funded in 2008.

Research and Research Management

• Funding
  • Nothing posted to date

Technology

• • In the summer of 2008, the Senate met to consider the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (H.R. 6304), which would give retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that wiretapped customers’ phones for the Bush administration shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The legislation also allows the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens for up to 7 days before obtaining court approval. The Senate passed the bill with a vote of 69 to 28, and the legislation was signed by President Bush on July 7, 2008. Senator Byrd voted against this legislation.