Issues & Legislation
U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings has dedicated his career to fighting
for everyday South Carolinians. Today he continues to use a common
sense approach to government to meet South Carolina’s needs. The
following are a few highlights of what he’s accomplished in
Washington in recent years, focusing on his accomplishments in the
106th Congress.
Senator Hollings has long been recognized as one of Washington's
most committed and vocal deficit hawks. He has argued for over two
decades that the federal government must balance its budget and
reduce the national debt. View the Public Debt
to the Penny, courtesy of the Bureau of the Public Debt, an
agency of the U.S. Treasury.
Sen. Hollings supported the 1993 Budget Act, a deficit reduction
package. This was one of the most successful pieces of legislation
in recent history. It reduced federal deficits each year since its
passage, and now the federal government has its smallest deficit in
over 25 years. The Budget Act helped spur the unprecedented economic
growth that has made the past decade the longest period of peacetime
expansion in U.S. history. Sen. Hollings opposed the so-called
Balanced Budget Act of 1997 because it reverses the progress
achieved since 1993 by raiding surpluses in the Social Security
trust fund and cutting Medicare benefits.
Politicians and media commentators continue to trumpet
"surpluses." Sen. Hollings disputes these reports because they use a
bogus measure -- the excess dollars in federal trust funds that are
supposed to be spent on Social Security, Medicare, military and
civil service retirees, and highway and airport construction -- to
cover budget deficits and create a phony surplus. "Under corporate
law, it's a felony to pay off the company debt with the pension
fund. But in Washington, we pay down the public debt with trust
funds and call it a surplus," says Sen. Hollings. "It's like paying
off your MasterCard with your Visa card and saying you don't owe
anything." Instead of telling people what they want to hear, Sen
Hollings tells people the truth -- that there is no budget
surplus. As of October 1, 1999, Congress has borrowed $855
billion from the Social Security trust fund and owes all of the
trust funds over $1.86 trillion. The long-term cost of raiding these
trust funds is runaway debt that will crush future generations and
shackle the economy.
Sen. Hollings supports holding the line on spending increases and
delaying tax cuts until we reduce the national debt, a position
shared by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. He believes we
must use our current economic prosperity to pay down the national
debt -- which currently costs the American public roughly $1 billion
a day on interest costs alone. Reducing the debt will allow us to
provide Americans with true tax relief and significant investments
in education and health care.
The former chairman and most senior member of the Senate Budget
Committee, Sen. Hollings successfully amended the 1999 budget
resolution to commit Congress to using any budget surpluses to
save the Social Security system first . The amendment, which
the Committee approved unanimously, states that Congress and the
President should continue to work to balance the budget without
stealing trust fund surpluses. However, since Congress continued to
raid the trust fund, Sen. Hollings worked with the Social Security
Administration to develop a plan to keep these monies out of the
hands of federal appropriators. The result is a bill he introduced
that creates the only true Social Security "lockbox," ensuring that
future generations receive the money they have paid into the Social
Security system.
The next step to saving Social Security is to address the
program's long-term solvency. But, as Sen. Hollings says, before we
can remedy Social Security's intrinsic problems, we must first
prevent politicians from raiding its surpluses, restore truth in
budgeting, and put the "trust" back in trust funds. He has promised
the people of South Carolina that he will continue to oppose any
legislation that does not meet these strict requirements.
Social Security
Administration
Throughout his career, Senator Hollings has fought on behalf
of senior citizens. He believes that South Carolinians deserve to
enjoy a secure and dignified retirement when they've worked hard all
of their lives. He has consistently worked to ensure that older
South Carolinians have access to top-notch health care, affordable
housing, public transportation, nutritious Meals on Wheels and
quality home care. Sen. Hollings voted against the Balanced Budget
Act of 1997 due to the large cuts it made in the Medicare
program. He knows that health care providers across the state
have been struggling to continue caring for seniors in the face of
these drastic cuts. To help out, he recently voted to restore $12
billion to Medicare for hospital and nursing home stays, doctor and
therapist services and home health care. Sen. Hollings intends to
continue taking strong action now to control costs, maintain
affordability, and strengthen and improve benefits of the Medicare
program.
He recognizes that a particularly urgent need is to help
senior citizens obtain prescription drug coverage. The rising
cost of prescription drugs has put medications out of the reach of
many seniors. Indeed, Sen. Hollings knows that South Carolinians can
face average monthly drug costs of $100 or more. He advocates
medical research at the National Institutes of Health. However, he
believes the ability to provide patients with life-saving drug
treatment is equally as important as actual breakthrough research at
the NIH. Senior citizens must have affordable access to new cures.
Almost all employer-provided private insurance policies include
prescription drug coverage, but Medicare does not. Sen. Hollings
will fight to change that and see that every senior in South
Carolina can get the medication he or she is prescribed.
Sen. Hollings is also a strong supporter of the Older
Americans Act (OAA), which is due to be reauthorized. The Older
Americans Act funds many of the vital programs that meet the
day-to-day needs of seniors in South Carolina -- from Meals on
Wheels to legal counselors and from senior center activities to
part-time jobs. With the aging baby boomer generation looming on the
horizon, Sen. Hollings recognizes that it won't be long before we
see the number of seniors who rely on OAA programs double, and
believes the OAA should be reauthorized and prepared to meet that
demand.
Social Security
Administration
Health Care Financing
Agency
Throughout his career, Senator Hollings has been a strong
supporter of the Head Start program. He helped obtain $5
billion in funding for the national program for 2000, a 13 percent
increase over the previous year's funding levels. In 2000, thanks to
Sen. Hollings, South Carolina will receive $63.5 million, an
increase of $7 million from 1999. In 1999, more than 11,000 children
were enrolled in Head Start in South Carolina. Studies suggest that
early childhood development programs like Head Start save more than
$7 for every dollar invested. A good start in life is the best
medicine we have to prevent crime and deter special education and
health care costs down the road.
Sen. Hollings has also done his part to support Title
I grants, the major federal program that provides funding for
poor schools. It helps schools hire more reading and math teachers,
particularly in the early grades. Some South Carolina schools
receive as much as 20% of their budgets from Title I, and the state
receives close to $100 million per year from the program. Sen.
Hollings has helped block major cuts to this program and has urged
Congress to increase funding to keep pace with current significant
increases in school populations.
Sen. Hollings knows the competitiveness and dynamic pace of
our economy increasingly demands highly skilled workers. As
governor, he understood the value of educating and training workers
to meet the needs of local industries when he founded the South
Carolina Technical Education School System -- a system which now
boasts over 16 colleges offering more than 160 career programs in
high-technology professions. Today, he continues to work to advance
technical education in South Carolina and increase funding
for federal programs in our nation's schools. He helped increase the
FY 2000 budget for technology grants by $35.6 million to a total of
$575.6 million. These grants are part of the Technology Literacy
Challenge Fund, which helps communities guarantee that each student
gains the computer skills demanded by the 21st century marketplace.
Sen. Hollings knows poverty prevents many students from
achieving their dream of a college education. He is a leading
supporter of the TRIO program, which helps qualified
low-income, first generation college students overcome traditional
barriers to higher education to plan for and graduate from college.
Recently, Sen. Hollings added $45 million to the national
TRIO program, which will help almost 17,000 South Carolina students
attend college. Over 20 South Carolina colleges and technical
schools operate TRIO programs that help students take the right high
school courses to prepare for college, offer tutoring, assist with
financial aid questions and foster academic achievement at college.
Sen. Hollings is a leading supporter of college student
aid programs. In 1995, he led the successful effort to overturn
the attempt by House Republicans to radically cut student loan
programs. Had the Republicans been successful, over 88,000 students
in South Carolina would have been forced to pay more for college,
and 21,000 would have been eliminated from a loan program entirely.
Sen. Hollings also prevented Republicans from cutting the Student
Incentive Grant program. Most students in South Carolina who receive
grants to attend private colleges do so through this program.
South Carolina students receive over $70 million a year in
Pell Grants. In 1995, Sen. Hollings prevented Republicans
from cutting this program and restored funding to its maximum level
of $2,340 per student. Since then, he has increased Pell Grant
funding 41 percent to $3,300 per student.
Senator Hollings is steadfast in his commitment to helping South
Carolina's families prosper and thrive, which includes ensuring that
everyone has access to proper health care. He has spearheaded the
establishment of 83 community-run, nonprofit health centers
across South Carolina. Today, over 150,000 South Carolinians rely on
community health centers for primary health services.
A strong supporter of HMO reform, Sen. Hollings
recently cosponsored legislation that will guarantee patients access
to the emergency room and specialists, give patients the right to an
independent review process if an HMO denies payment for treatment,
and holds HMOs and insurers accountable if they make inappropriate
medical decisions that harm patients. He believes patients deserve
to have their doctor -- not an accountant or an insurance company --
make medical decisions.
He has worked particularly hard to provide our mothers,
daughters, sisters and children with the best health care possible,
starting with pre-natal care. Sen. Hollings was instrumental in
creating the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program that
provides nutritional supplements for pregnant women and infants.
Last year he secured federal funds to begin Healthy Start programs
for low-income children in South Carolina.
In 1990, he initiated a nationwide effort to combat breast
and cervical cancer by securing funding for a pilot screening
program. Thanks to Sen. Hollings, South Carolina was among the six
states selected to participate in this landmark initiative. Today he
makes sure South Carolina receives approximately $3 million annually
in federal funding to continue this innovative program, through
which 40,000 South Carolina women have been screened to date. Sen.
Hollings was also a leading supporter of bipartisan legislation to
stop "drive-thru" mastectomies and require health plans to provide
two days of health coverage for women who undergo this surgery.
Cancer research and treatment are hallmarks of Sen.
Hollings' record on health care -- and rightly so. South Carolina
has the third highest death rate due to cancer in the nation. Sen.
Hollings has long recognized the terrible toll this disease takes on
the lives of South Carolinians. He believes the federal government
must play an active role in the fight against cancer. Throughout his
career, he has pushed to increase funding for national cancer
research and secured millions of federal dollars for local treatment
at the Medical University of South Carolina Oncology Center.
Sen. Hollings also takes public safety issues very
seriously. He is dedicated to providing firefighters with the most
technologically advanced equipment. He cosponsored a bill signed
into law that funds research to improve the occupational health
and safety of firefighters, including improvements to protective
clothing and equipment and other lifesaving operational devices. He
is also a cosponsor of a bill that proposes providing $1 billion a
year for five years to local fire departments throughout the United
States. The bill would help local fire departments hire new
firefighters and purchase new equipment.
His efforts are aimed at reducing the United States'
alarming death rate in fires of 4,500 each year – the largest
figure among industrialized nations – and direct property damage of
$8 billion annually. In South Carolina, 78 fire-related deaths were
reported in 1999. In 1998 (the most recent year in which statistics
are available), the projected number of fires in South Carolina was
22,976 with a projected property loss of $85.8 million. (Source:
S.C. State Fire Marshal's Office).
Health Care Financing
Agency
Senator Hollings knows the best way to fight crime in our
communities is to provide money to the people who know best -- local
law enforcement officers. Sen. Hollings is a strong supporter of the
Community Oriented Policing -- or COPS -- program. From the
program's inception in 1994 through mid-March 2000, South Carolina
law enforcement agencies received $66.7 million to fight local
crime. The agencies have used this money to hire 965 new officers
and deputies to patrol our streets.
The COPS program is a proven success. As Sen. Hollings says, the
beauty of the program is that it gets money out of Washington and
back to the police officers and sheriffs who know best how to fight
crime in our communities.
In 1998, Sen. Hollings offered a new, innovative program to fight
crime in our schools. The Safe Schools Initiative, which
Hollings steered to approval by the Senate, will provide $225
million nationwide in 2000 to fight campus crime by putting police
officers in schools. This initiative, which is administered by the
COPS program, is based on programs in Richland and Newberry
counties.
Hollings also secures funding for South Carolina in the form of
Local Law Enforcement Block Grants. These grants provide
direct funding to state and local jurisdictions to use as they see
fit to reduce crime and improve public safety. In 1999, South
Carolina jurisdictions received $9.5 million in federal grants.
Through the Senate appropriations process, Sen. Hollings, as
ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds
the Department of Justice, has helped secure other important
appropriations. Thanks to Sen. Hollings’ efforts, the National
Advocacy Center was established adjacent to the University of
South Carolina campus in Columbia to train thousands of federal and
state prosecutors. He also convinced the Immigration and
Naturalization Service to establish a U.S. Border Patrol Academy
, which trains new border patrol agents at the former Charleston
Naval Base.
In 1998, the Senate unanimously passed the Bulletproof Vest
Partnership Act , of which Sen. Hollings was a strong proponent.
This legislation created a $25 million annual matching grant program
to help state and local law enforcement agencies purchase body armor
for their officers, with the cost of the armor split between the
federal government and local jurisdictions. The bill directs that
half of the grants go to small jurisdictions and provides a
preference to agencies that do not currently own body armor. In
FY99, 56 jurisdictions in South Carolina received a total of $1.1
million. Sen. Hollings believes every police officer or sheriff’s
deputy who needs a bulletproof vest should have one; his bill helps
protect our law enforcement officers who routinely risk their lives
to guarantee our safety.
Sen. Hollings' commitment to preventing violence against women is
another noteworthy entry in his record on crime. A cosponsor of
1991's Violence Against Women Act, Sen. Hollings has obtained
federal money to strengthen law enforcement, prosecution strategies
and victim services for cases involving sexual assault and violence
against women. He has also led the fight to secure federal money for
the Violence Against Women Prevention Center at the Medical
University of South Carolina.
Sen. Hollings knows that to reduce crime we must put more
police officers on the beat, train criminal prosecutors in new trial
techniques, and expand our prisons to hold growing numbers of
inmates. He applauds the work our public safety officers do,
recognizes that local officials are more capable of fighting crime
in South Carolina than federal officials and pledges to continue his
efforts to be a partner in their crime fighting efforts.
As a former Army officer in World War II's North African and
European campaigns, Senator Hollings is a respected voice on defense
and military issues. He advocates a strong national defense
through his leadership role as a member of the Senate
Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on defense.
South Carolina has a proud military history and actively
supports the men and women in each of the branches of the Armed
Services. The home of many important military bases, our state is
charged with critical missions within the national defense
structure. Sen. Hollings has made it a priority to voice South
Carolinians' support for the Armed Forces and continues to elevate
issues key to U.S. national defense.
Sen. Hollings has championed efforts to address recruitment
and retention issues in the Armed Services. In October 1999, he
voted in support of the FY 2000 Defense Appropriations Conference
Report, which added $165 million over the budget request to fully
fund a 4.8 percent military personnel pay raise. In addition, the
bill added $399 million over the budget request to boost active duty
and reserve pays and allowances to enhance recruiting, advertising
and retention programs including: $110 million for aviation
continuance pay to alleviate Air Force and Navy pilot shortages,
$100 million for military basic allowance for housing reform, $88
million for enlistment bonuses and $74 million for reenlistment
bonuses.
Unlike those who feel that the National Guard and Reserve
should be scaled back, Sen. Hollings maintains they should be
increased and modernized. The money spent on one active duty fighter
can finance four trained and skilled reservists or guardsmen. As
defense dollars continue to be stretched to their limit, Sen.
Hollings believes it makes more fiscal sense to boost the Guard and
Reserve. He helped the South Carolina National Guard bring a Heavy
Rapid Assessment and Initial Detection (RAID) team to South
Carolina. This team will play a critical role in disaster response
and will be the rapid response force in the event of an emergency.
Modernizing force structure is an important mission for the
Armed Forces in the new millennium. Sen. Hollings continues to push
for the development of high-tech weapons systems to defend against
emerging threats. As the Patriot missile program demonstrated in the
Persian Gulf War, technologically superior weapons can save lives
and help achieve victory on the battlefield. Defense modernization
plans are often at odds with the fiscal discipline Congress demands,
requiring decision-makers to be smarter about allocation. Sen.
Hollings demands that Congress not compromise our national defense
capabilities with overzealous budget-cutting, but rather look at
programs on their individual merits. For this reason, he was an
early critic of the B-2 Bomber, which cost American taxpayers more
than $875 million per plane. These radar-evading planes were Cold
War anachronisms that continued to receive funding in spite of their
demonstrated liabilities. They were not called into action in the
Persian Gulf because they represented a huge financial risk with
limited tactical capabilities in the theater. Sen. Hollings believes
that Congress must be wiser in its strategic planning if it is going
to reconcile fiscal responsibility and a vibrant national defense.
An early supporter of the Reagan Administration Strategic
Defense Initiative, Sen. Hollings advocates a limited national
missile defense commensurate with the new risk profile facing the
United States after the Cold War. He believes the benefits of such a
system, including its demonstrated reliability, must outweigh the
diplomatic damage that pursuing such a system would cause. The
President and Congress should work in concert with NATO and our
allies to reduce the threat of rogue missile attacks against
American citizens.
The next generation Armed Forces will be technologically
driven – enabling them to be lighter, smaller, faster and more
lethal. This represents a strategic shift at the Pentagon as a
result of the changing nature of perceived and real threats to the
United States. South Carolina will play an important role in this
shift. With the strong leadership of Sen. Hollings and the South
Carolina congressional delegation, the Charleston Naval Yard
retained the Space and Naval Warfare Command
Systems Center (SPAWAR), a cutting-edge division of the Navy
whose mission is to support the front line command with critical
communications, sensing, intelligence surveillance and
reconnaissance capabilities. SPAWAR represents the kind of expertise
needed to meet future defense demands.
North Charleston is also home to the Naval Nuclear Power
Training Command and Naval Nuclear Propulsion School . This
training center is preparing the next generation Navy, providing
expertise in the field of nuclear propulsion. Larger than Wofford
College or Presbyterian College, with roughly 2,000 students
enrolled, the center provides young sailors with the technical skill
and determination fundamental to the U.S. nuclear fleet. This new
campus represents a firm commitment to the Navy in Charleston.
Meeting the challenge of getting soldiers to the fight, the
437th Airlift Wing stationed at the Charleston Air Force Base
represents the best that the Air Force has to offer. The 437th flies
C-141 and C-17 aircraft and provides immediate, around-the-clock
strategic airlift, aeromedical evacuation and humanitarian aid
support. Given the short lead time and increasing frequency of
operations, the 437th plays a vital role responding to
geographically disperse conflicts.
The Army and Marine Corps train young men and women to be
soldiers and Marines on South Carolina soil. Fort Jackson, the Army's
largest basic training installation, was named in honor of Major
General Andrew Jackson, a South Carolina native and seventh
president of the United States. Fort Jackson trains an average of
40,000 soldiers each year.
Parris Island is
the home of the Marine Corps Eastern Recruiting Region and Recruit
Training for all male Marines east of the Mississippi and all female
Marines nationwide. Today, about 19,000 recruits are trained at
Parris Island each year.
Senator Hollings is determined to force the government to uphold
its commitment to our nation's veterans and provide them the health
care they were promised. During the last session of Congress, he
helped win passage of a test of Medicare subvention at veterans’
facilities as a first step toward increasing military retirees’
access to health care. In this same vein, Sen. Hollings recently
sponsored legislation to allow Medicare to reimburse veterans
hospitals for expanded health care to veterans.
Sen. Hollings also has sponsored additional legislation to
protect veterans’ access to health care. He introduced the
Military Healthcare Equality Act of 1998, which would allow
all eligible military beneficiaries to enroll in the Federal
Employees Health Benefits Plan. He also cosponsored legislation
which would expand access to the Department of Defense National Mail
Order Pharmacy Program to cover all eligible beneficiaries,
regardless of age or residence.
As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen.
Hollings secured approval for the accelerated establishment of three
community-based, Veterans Administration outpatient clinics
throughout the state. The clinics -- which are slated to be opened
in Beaufort, Orangeburg and Sumter -- will provide much-needed
health care services to over 100,000 veterans in those communities.
Hollings continues to oppose the VA's efforts to discontinue
treatment of veterans who suffer from illnesses caused by smoking
habits they developed during military service. A decorated World War
II veteran, Sen. Hollings will continue to fight tooth and nail for
South Carolina’s veterans.
Throughout American history, the federal government has helped
build the infrastructure local economies need to expand. In keeping
with this tradition, Senator Hollings works to use federal funds and
know-how to provide practical solutions to South Carolina’s
infrastructure problems and economic development needs.
A sound transportation system is at the crux of these solutions,
and Sen. Hollings has long been an advocate for the most stringent
guidelines in transportation. He knows that safe and efficient
air travel is especially essential to economic development and a
high quality of life. As ranking member of both the Commerce,
Science and Transportation Committee -- which oversees the Federal
Aviation Administration -- and a senior member of the Appropriations
Committee, Sen. Hollings is in a unique position to demand a higher
standard in our nation's aviation system as well as to secure
funding for expansion and improvements of airports throughout South
Carolina.
In his leadership role, Sen. Hollings has constantly
challenged the FAA and the aviation industry to make safety
improvements. He has made it a priority to extend and
rehabilitate runways and provide airports with critical technology
including weather radars, instrument landing systems and other air
traffic control equipment. These enhancements go hand in hand with
airport development projects, ensuring that South Carolina business
and leisure travelers and tourists have a pleasant and secure
flight.
Over the years, South Carolina has seen new runways and
expanded terminals at airports across the state. These improvements
mean new jobs and broader economic opportunities for many
communities. When United Parcel Service (UPS) began looking for a
site to establish its regional cargo sorting facility, Sen. Hollings
worked with UPS, the FAA and the Columbia Metropolitan Airport to
obtain necessary funding for the expansion, which created more than
500 new jobs. Sen. Hollings secured more than $45 million to
facilitate BMW's needs at the Greenville-Spartanburg International
Airport, thus helping attract the company to the state. Sen.
Hollings also stepped up to the plate when the former military and
joint use airfield in Myrtle Beach required funding to mitigate the
effects of the Air Force's withdrawal. He helped to craft a program
ensuring that former military air bases throughout the country could
be converted for civilian use. As a result of his work, Myrtle Beach
is now a strong and viable airport and one of the most rapidly
expanding in the state. Sen. Hollings' many efforts have addressed
the critical needs not only of commercial airports, but also general
use airports in South Carolina.
Beyond the airports themselves, Sen. Hollings is also
committed to providing Americans with access to affordable air
travel by encouraging expanded service and competition among air
carriers. He has applauded Continental and Delta Airlines for
recently expanding their services to South Carolina airports. The
state's economic growth depends on airlines' continuing introduction
of new service to our local markets.
From the air to the ground, Sen. Hollings works hard to deliver
for South Carolinians on the move. Roads and bridges are a
focal point. For example, he has secured crucial money to widen I-85
in the Upstate from four to six lanes. In the Lowcountry, he has
provided $120 million for the Mark Clark Expressway; $35 million for
the James Island Bridge; $32 million for the Isle of Palms
Connector; and over $70 million to help replace the Cooper River
Bridges.
In 1998, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen.
Hollings was instrumental in raising South Carolina’s average annual
share of federal highway money from $232 million to $420 million, a
79.3 percent increase. This was the state’s best share ever and the
largest increase of any state. Hollings was able to guarantee South
Carolina will receive $1 billion more than usual over the next few
years.
Sen. Hollings has also obtained over $1 million in federal
funding for the S.C. Heritage Corridor. Administered through
the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, this funding
will allow the State of South Carolina to leverage funds for
economic development along the corridor. The Heritage Corridor
allows South Carolina to capitalize on its unique combination of
natural beauty and rich heritage to attract visitors interested in
history, culture and outdoor recreation. As co-chair of the Senate
Tourism Caucus, Sen. Hollings understands the importance of the
tourism industry in South Carolina and the nation. It
produces over $14 billion in direct and indirect economic impact and
supports 253,000 jobs in our state alone. South Carolina state and
local governments collect $515 million in taxes generated from
tourism each year.
Senator Hollings opposes legislation and trade agreements that
undermine the strong manufacturing base in our state. Frequently
these agreements are advertised as methods enabling U.S.-based
manufacturers to increase exports to foreign nations. Unfortunately,
the results more often increase imports and ultimately cause U.S.
manufacturers to relocate abroad in order to take advantage of lower
wages and limited regulations. For these reasons, Sen. Hollings
opposed both the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). His skepticism of free trade efforts proved
well-founded when the U.S. trade deficit with both Canada and Mexico
rocketed to record heights following the enactment of NAFTA in
January 1994. Since that time, 17,300 textile workers and 15,000
apparel workers have lost their jobs in South Carolina.
More recently, Sen Hollings opposed two proposals that would
harm U.S. manufacturers and their employees: the Caribbean Basin
Initiative (CBI) and the African Growth and Opportunities Act. He
fought these bills because of the impact they would have on the
textile and apparel industries in South Carolina. Sen. Hollings also
continues to strongly contest Fast Track trade authority for the
President. With fast track authority, the President would
possess the right to negotiate trade agreements without
Congressional debate. Sen. Hollings believes that this arrangement
is not only unwise, but unconstitutional.
Senator Hollings is a staunch ally of South Carolina farmers. He
is well aware of the importance of farming in South Carolina and
throughout the South. In 1998, when Sen. Hollings and U.S.
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman toured South Carolina farms, they
witnessed firsthand the extensive crop damage resulting from
drought. Since then, Sen. Hollings has been instrumental in
passing meaningful disaster relief legislation for farmers. While
Congress has said that it cannot continue to pass disaster
relief, Sen. Hollings believes Congress has an obligation to
protect the nation's family farmers. "The 1996 Farm Bill has failed
to live up to promises made to farmers and should be rewritten," he
says. "The introduction of some type of safety net and an overhaul
of the crop insurance system are key components to any comprehensive
farm legislation."
Senator Hollings has joined several Southern members of Congress
to create a coalition ensuring that any farm legislation contain
these key components. He has co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to
reform crop insurance that will make it more affordable and
cost-effective to purchase. This legislation will also provide more
effective risk management tools for farmers to use in the future.
While reforming crop insurance will provide some relief for farmers,
Sen. Hollings feels that farmers will continue to suffer until
inadequacies in current farm legislation are addressed. That is why
he has continued to push for "safety nets" to protect farmers
from market fluctuation. These safety nets combined with a new type
of crop insurance will lead to higher farm economy and provide
financial stability to our family farmers in South Carolina.
Senator Hollings believes that we must conserve our natural
resources and plan how to use them efficiently if we hope to
maintain South Carolina’s superior quality of life. He wrote and
secured Senate passage of the Oceans Act of 1997, which is a
blueprint for saving our oceans. This legislation calls for a
national policy to sustain our priceless marine resources and to
preserve U.S. leadership on coastal and oceanic issues. It will
foster greater understanding and improved management of oceanic and
coastal ecosystems and help protect coastal residents from natural
disasters. By 2010, more than 60 percent of Americans will live
along the coast. Sen. Hollings’ Oceans Act will help us continue to
provide a high quality of life for these people and ensure
intelligent and sustainable development of our coasts.
Sen. Hollings has earned a reputation as a practical and
resourceful conservationist who is dedicated to preserving South
Carolina's natural beauty. Through his seat on the Interior
Appropriations Committee, he has obtained funding for South Carolina
to purchase unspoiled lands throughout the state in order to protect
them for future generations. These lands stretch from the mountains
to the coast and include the Jocassee Gorges, the Congaree
National Swamp Monument and the ACE Basin, Waccamaw and
Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuges. Citizens of South
Carolina and visitors from across the nation are able to see
wildlife in its natural habitat thanks in part to Sen. Hollings'
efforts.
Sen. Hollings has also fought those in Washington who have
attempted to roll back the environmental successes of the last 25
years. He believes that these attempts are shortsighted and will
only be detrimental to the environment. Specifically, Sen. Hollings
has supported efforts to ensure clean and safe water. During
debate of the fiscal year 2000 Agriculture Appropriations bill, he
voted in favor of phasing out the use of Methl Tertiary Butyl Ether
(MTBE), a gasoline additive that can contaminate drinking water.
The passage of nuclear waste disposal legislation is
one of the priorities of the 106th Congress. An original cosponsor
of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997, Sen. Hollings continues to
push for legislation that will establish a permanent repository for
high-level nuclear waste in a safe and timely manner. In the
meantime, he will do all that he can to safeguard South Carolina
from becoming the nation's nuclear waste dumping ground.
Senator Hollings has
a distinguished record on telecommunications issues, highlighted by
his work on the Telecommunications Act of 1996 , the first
major rewrite of the Communications Act of 1934. He fought to ensure
that the 1996 Act would not only provide new and innovative services
to consumers at affordable rates, but would also safeguard the
ability of small businesses to participate. He continues to work to
ensure that consumers have a choice of local phone service providers
and FCC regulators uphold the principles of the Act.
Sen. Hollings believes consumers' concerns are at the crux of
formulating telecommunications policy. That's why he is committed to
preserving universal service, protecting consumers from slamming and
ensuring communities have local and diverse broadcast programming.
Universal service means that consumers who live in
rural and high cost areas or have low incomes have access to
communications services at affordable rates. Universal service also
supports the connection of schools, libraries, and rural health care
facilities to the Internet. In South Carolina, with a substantial
portion of the population living in rural areas, Sen. Hollings
realizes the importance of telecommunications technology in keeping
residents connected and in educating our children.
Slamming occurs when a customer's telephone service
provider is changed without proper authorization. Recognizing the
importance of this issue to consumers, Sen. Hollings joined other
members of Congress to adopt a provision in the 1996
Telecommunications Act to protect consumers against slamming. In
1998, Sen. Hollings also cosponsored legislation to further protect
consumers from slamming.
The 1996 Telecommunications Act lifted the ceiling on the
number of radio stations a broadcaster could own nationally and
raised the cap in local markets from ownership of four to as many as
eight stations. During passage of ownership provisions concerning
the radio broadcast industry, Hollings worked to protect the small
business person and ensure that local and diverse programming would
be available to communities. Other members of Congress proposed to
remove all limits from radio ownership and relax rules on television
ownership. It was Senator Hollings who ensured that although the
ownership limits would be relaxed, a single company or television
network could only own a limited number of stations. Senator
Hollings continues to work with the Federal Communications
Commission to ensure that local and diverse programming is
available to all citizens.
Finally, Sen. Hollings believes strongly that, while children
should have every access to technology, it is the responsibility of
adults to protect them from potentially damaging material. For that
reason, he has worked to shield children from violence on television
and from pornography on the Internet .
Since his early days in the Senate, Sen. Hollings has been
concerned about the impact of violent television programming
on children. He introduced legislation in the 103rd, 104th and
105th Congresses to provide a "safe harbor" from violent TV
programs. Under this approach, violent programming could not be
shown when children make up a large part of the viewing audience.
As the Internet has developed, there has been a proliferation
of pornographic Web sites that children can access simply by making
search requests. Therefore, in 1999, Senator Hollings cosponsored
legislation to ensure that indecent materials cannot be accessed by
children through school computers, where parents would be unable to
provide appropriate supervision. He also supported the
Communications Decency Act, which became law in 1996. The Supreme
Court struck the Act down on First Amendment grounds, but Senator
Hollings has continued to seek constitutional ways to help parents
protect their children from inappropriate materials available on the
Internet.
Senator
Hollings has always believed that keeping pace with technology is
vital to growing and sustaining South Carolina businesses. For that
reason, he has worked diligently to foster competitiveness and
innovation in technology.
In 1988, Congress enacted Sen. Hollings' legislation that
established a nationwide network of locally-managed technology
centers funded through public-private partnerships. Known as
Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP) Centers, these centers
provide technical assistance to small and medium-sized manufacturers
in the development of performance-improving technologies to maintain
their competitiveness against global rivals. South Carolina's center
is housed at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Recent
statistics show that a $2 million federal investment in South
Carolina's MEP has had an impact of over $66 million throughout the
state.
Sen. Hollings also created the Advanced Technology Program
(ATP), in which federal funds match industries' financing to
conduct high risk, high-payoff research that the private sector
otherwise would not undertake.
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