S136 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 6, 2009 

‘‘SEC. 25. The first Saturday and Sunday 

after the first Friday in November, in every 

even numbered year, are established as the 

days for the election, in each of the States 

and Territories of the United States, of Representatives and Delegates to the Congress 

commencing on the 3d day of January thereafter.’’. 

SEC. 3. CHANGE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 

DAY TO SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. 

Section 1 of title 3, United States Code, is 

amended by striking ‘‘Tuesday next after the 

first Monday’’ and inserting ‘‘first Saturday 

and Sunday after the first Friday’’. 

SEC. 4. POLLING PLACE HOURS. 

(a) IN GENERAL.— 

(1) PRESIDENTIAL GENERAL ELECTION.— 

Chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, is 

amended— 

(A) by redesignating section 1 as section 

1A; and 

(B) by inserting before section 1A the following: 

‘‘§ 1. Polling place hours 

‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

‘‘(1) CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.—The 

term ‘continental United States’ means a 

State (other than Alaska and Hawaii) and 

the District of Columbia. 

‘‘(2) PRESIDENTIAL GENERAL ELECTION.—The 

term ‘Presidential general election’ means 

the election for electors of President and 

Vice President. 

‘‘(b) POLLING PLACE HOURS.— 

‘‘(1) POLLING PLACES IN THE CONTINENTAL

UNITED STATES.—Each polling place in the 

continental United States shall be open, 

with respect to a Presidential general election, beginning on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. 

eastern standard time and ending on Sunday 

at 6:00 p.m. eastern standard time. 

‘‘(2) POLLING PLACES OUTSIDE THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.—Each polling place 

not located in the continental United States 

shall be open, with respect to a Presidential 

general election, beginning on Saturday at 

10:00 a.m. local time and ending on Sunday 

at 6:00 p.m. local time. 

‘‘(3) EARLY CLOSING.—A polling place may 

close between the hours of 10:00 p.m. local 

time on Saturday and 6:00 a.m. local time on 

Sunday as provided by the law of the State 

in which the polling place is located.’’. 

(2) CONGRESSIONAL GENERAL ELECTION.— 

Section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the 

United States (2 U.S.C. 7) is amended— 

(A) by redesignating section 25 as section 

25A; and 

(B) by inserting before section 25A the following: 

‘‘SEC. 25. POLLING PLACE HOURS. 

‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

‘‘(1) CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.—The 

term ‘continental United States’ means a 

State (other than Alaska and Hawaii) and 

the District of Columbia. 

‘‘(2) CONGRESSIONAL GENERAL ELECTION.— 

The term ‘congressional general election’ 

means the general election for the office of 

Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or 

Resident Commissioner to, the Congress. 

‘‘(b) POLLING PLACE HOURS.— 

‘‘(1) POLLING PLACES INSIDE THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.—Each polling place 

in the continental United States shall be 

open, with respect to a congressional general 

election, beginning on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. 

eastern standard time and ending on Sunday 

at 6:00 p.m. eastern standard time. 

‘‘(2) POLLING PLACES OUTSIDE THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.—Each polling place 

not located in the continental United States 

shall be open, with respect to a congressional 

general election, beginning on Saturday at 

10:00 a.m. local time and ending on Sunday 

at 6:00 p.m. local time. 

‘‘(3) EARLY CLOSING.—A polling place may 

close between the hours of 10:00 p.m. local 

time on Saturday and 6:00 a.m. local time on 

Sunday as provided by the law of the State 

in which the polling place is located.’’. 

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

(1) The table of sections for chapter 1 of 

title 3, United States Code, is amended by 

striking the item relating to section 1 and 

inserting the following: 

‘‘1. Polling place hours. 

‘‘1A. Time of appointing electors.’’. 

(2) Sections 871(b) and 1751(f) of title 18, 

United States Code, are each amended by 

striking ‘‘title 3, United States Code, sections 1 and 2’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 1A and 

2 of title 3’’. 

By Mr. LEAHY: 

S. 150. A bill to provide Federal assistance to States for rural law enforcement and for other purposes; to 

the Committee on the Judiciary. 

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am 

pleased today to introduce the Rural 

Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 

2009, a bill designed to help rural communities deal with growing crime problems that threaten to become significantly worse as a result of the devastating economic crisis we face. 

Congress and the new administration 

are beginning this session focused on 

passing a stimulus bill that will provide hundreds of billions of dollars to 

restart our economy, create jobs, and 

reverse the economic downturn inherited from the Bush administration. The 

Bush administration has already provided hundreds of billions of dollars to 

rescue the financial industry, and 

President Bush released billions more 

for assistance to the auto industry. Despite our legislative efforts to protect 

jobs and the economy as a whole, little 

has been done to help the millions of 

people in rural America, who have been 

hit as hard as anyone by the devastating effects of this recession. 

We must help rural communities stay 

safe during this economic downturn. 

Rural areas, which lack the crime prevention and law enforcement resources 

often available in larger communities, 

have a particular need for assistance to 

combat the worsening drug and crime 

problems that threaten the well-being 

of our small cities and towns and, most 

particularly, our young people. The 

Rural Law Enforcement Assistance Act 

of 2009 will provide just this kind of 

help. 

This bill will reauthorize a rural law 

enforcement assistance program first 

passed by Congress in the early 1990s. 

Like so many valuable programs that 

help local law enforcement and crime 

prevention, funding for this program 

was allowed to lapse under the Bush 

administration, despite its effectiveness in contributing to the record drop 

in crime in the late 1990s. 

The program would authorize $75 million a year over the next 5 years in new 

Byrne grant funds for State and local 

law enforcement, specifically for rural 

States and rural areas within larger 

States. This support would be used to 

hire police officers, purchase necessary 

police equipment, and to promote the 

use of task forces and collaborative efforts with Federal law enforcement. 

Just as important, these funds would 

also be used for prevention and treatment programs in rural communities; 

programs that are necessary to combat 

crime and are too often the first programs cut in an economic downturn. 

This bill also authorizes $2 million a 

year over 5 years for specialized training for rural law enforcement officers, 

since training is another area often cut 

in hard times. This bill will immediately help cash-strapped rural communities with the law enforcement assistance they desperately need. 

In December, the Senate Judiciary 

Committee traveled to St. Albans, 

Vermont, to hear from the people of 

that resilient community about the 

growing problem of drug-related crime 

in rural America, and about the innovative steps they are taking to combat 

that scourge. The introduction of this 

bill is a step forward to apply the lessons learned in that hearing and in previous crime hearings in Vermont and 

elsewhere. 

Crime is not just a big city issue. As 

we heard in St. Albans last month, and 

at a hearing in Rutland, Vermont, earlier last year, the drugs and violence so 

long seen largely in urban areas now 

plague even our most rural and remote 

communities, as well. As the world 

grows smaller with better transportation and faster communication, so do 

our shared problems. Rural communities also face the added burden of 

fighting these crime problems without 

the sophisticated task forces and specialized squads so common in big cities 

and metropolitan areas. In fact, too 

many rural communities, whether in 

Vermont or other rural States, don’t 

have the money for a local police force 

at all, and rely almost exclusively on 

the state police or other state-wide 

agencies for even basic police services. 

In this environment, we must do more 

to provide assistance to those rural 

communities most at risk and hardest 

hit by the economic crisis. 

Unfortunately, for the last 8 years, 

throughout the country, State and 

local law enforcement agencies have 

been stretched thin as they shoulder 

both traditional crime-fighting duties 

and new homeland security demands. 

They have faced continuous cuts in 

Federal funding during the Bush years, 

and time and time again, our State and 

local law enforcement officers have 

been unable to fill vacancies and get 

the equipment they need. 

This trend is unacceptable, and that 

is why we must restore funding for 

rural law enforcement that proved so 

successful in 1990s, when crime fell to 

record lows in rural and urban areas 

alike. 

As a former prosecutor, I have always advocated vigorous enforcement 

and punishment of those who commit 

serious crimes. But I also know that 

punishment alone will not solve the 

problems of drugs and violence in our 

rural communities. Police chiefs from 

Vermont and across the country have 

told me that we cannot arrest our way 

out of this problem. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with SENATE
January 6, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S137 

Combating drug use and crime requires all the tools at our disposal, including enforcement, prevention, and 

treatment. The best way to prevent 

crime is often to provide young people 

with opportunities and constructive 

things to do, so they stay away from 

drugs and crime altogether. If young 

people do get involved with drugs, 

treatment in many cases can work to 

help them to turn their lives around. 

Good prevention and treatment programs have been shown again and 

again to reduce crime, but regrettably, 

the Bush administration has consistently sought to reduce funding for 

these important programs. It is time to 

move in a new direction. 

I will work with the new administration to advance legislation that will 

give State and local law enforcement 

the support it needs, that will help our 

cities and towns to implement the 

kinds of innovative and proven community-based solutions needed to reduce 

crime. The legislation I introduce 

today is a beginning, addressing the urgent and unmet need to support our 

rural law enforcement as they struggle 

to combat drugs and crime. 

It is a first step for us to help our 

small cities and towns weather the 

worsening conditions of these difficult 

times and begin to move in a better direction. I hope Senators on both sides 

of the aisle will join me in supporting 

this important legislation. 

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed 

in the RECORD. 

There being no objection, the text of 

the bill was ordered to be printed in 

the RECORD, as follows: 

S. 150 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in 

Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Law 

Enforcement Assistance Act of 2009’’. 

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATIONS FOR RURAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR

RURAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.—Section 

1001(a)(9) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

U.S.C. 3793(a)(9)) is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘(9) There are authorized to be appropriated to be carried out part O— 

‘‘(A) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

‘‘(B) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

‘‘(C) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

‘‘(D) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; and 

‘‘(E) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2013.’’. 

(b) CLARIFICATION OF RURAL STATE DEFINITION.—Section 1501(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796bb(b)) is amended by striking all that follows ‘‘a State in which the 

largest county has fewer than’’ and inserting 

‘‘200,000 people, based on the decennial census of 2000 through fiscal year 2009.’’. 

(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR

RURAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING.—Section 180103(b) of the Violent Crime Control 

and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 

14082(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

There are authorized to be appropriated to 

carry out subsection (a)— 

‘‘(1) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

‘‘(2) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

‘‘(3) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

‘‘(4) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; and 

‘‘(5) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2013.’’. 

SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF TITLES. 

(a) OMNIBUS CRIME CONTROL ACT.—Part O 

of the title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796bb 

et seq.) is amended by— 

(1) striking the part heading and inserting 

‘‘Rural Law Enforcement’’; and 

(2) striking the heading for section 1501 and 

inserting ‘‘RURAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE’’. 

(b) VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL ACT.—Section 

180103 of the Violent Crime Control and Law 

Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14082) is 

amended by striking the heading for the section and inserting ‘‘RURAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING’’. 

By Mr. MCCAIN (for himself and 

Mr. KYL): 

S. 151. A bill to protect Indian arts 

and crafts through the improvement of 

applicable criminal proceedings, and 

for other purposes; to the Committee 

on Indian Affairs. 

Mr. MCCAIN. Mr. President, I am 

pleased to be joined by my colleagues 

Senator THOMAS, Senator KYL, and 

Senator DOMENICI in introducing a bill 

to amend the Indian Arts and Crafts 

Act. This legislation would improve 

Federal laws that protect the integrity 

and originality of Native American 

arts and crafts. 

The Indian Arts and Crafts Act prohibits the misrepresentation in marketing of Indian arts and crafts products, and makes it illegal to display or 

sell works in a manner that falsely 

suggests it’s the product of an individual Indian or Indian Tribe. Unfortunately, the law is written so that only 

the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

FBI, acting on behalf of the Attorney 

General, can investigate and make arrests in cases of suspected Indian art 

counterfeiters. The bill we are introducing would amend the law to expand 

existing Federal investigative authority by authorizing other Federal investigative bodies, such as the BIA Office 

of Law Enforcement, in addition to the 

FBI, to investigate cases of misrepresentation of Indian arts and crafts. 

This bill is similar to provisions included in S. 1255, which passed the Senate last Congress but wasn’t acted on 

by the House, and the Native American 

Omnibus Technical Corrections Act of 

2007, S. 2087. 

A major source of tribal and individual Indian income is derived from 

the sale of handmade Indian arts and 

crafts. Yet, millions of dollars are diverted each year from these original 

artists and Indian tribes by those who 

reproduce and sell counterfeit Indian 

goods. Few, if any, criminal prosecutions have been brought in Federal 

court for such violations. It is understandable that enforcing the criminal 

law under the Indian Arts and Crafts 

Act is often stalled by the other responsibilities of the FBI including investigating terrorism activity and violent crimes in Indian country. Therefore, expanding the investigative authority to include other Federal agencies is intended to promote the active 

investigation of alleged misconduct. It 

is my hope that this much needed 

change will deter those who choose to 

violate the law. 

By Mr. MCCAIN (for himself and 

Mr. KYL): 

S. 152. A bill to direct the Secretary 

of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to jointly conduct a study of 

certain land adjacent to the Walnut 

Canyon National Monument in the 

State of Arizona; to the Committee on 

Energy and Natural Resources. 

Mr. MCCAIN. Mr. President, I am 

pleased to be joined by Senator KYL in 

reintroducing legislation to authorize a 

special resources and land management 

study for lands adjacent to the Walnut 

Canyon National Monument in Arizona. The study is intended to evaluate 

a range of management options for 

public lands adjacent to the monument 

to ensure adequate protection of the 

canyon’s cultural and natural resources. A similar bill was introduced 

last Congress and received a hearing in 

the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on 

National Parks. The bill being introduced today reflects suggested changes 

of that Subcommittee and includes 

language that met their approval. I am 

grateful for the input of the members 

of the Subcommittee and their staff. 

For several years, local communities 

adjacent to the Walnut Canyon National Monument have debated whether the land surrounding the monument 

would be best protected from future development under management of the 

U.S. Forest Service or the National 

Park Service. The Coconino County 

Board and the Flagstaff City Council 

have passed resolutions concluding 

that the preferred method to determine 

what is best for the land surrounding 

Walnut Canyon National Monument is 

by having a Federal study conducted. 

The recommendations from such a 

study would help to resolve the question of future management and whether expanding the monument’s boundaries could compliment current public 

and multiple-use needs. 

The legislation also would direct the 

Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to provide recommendations for management options for maintenance of the public 

uses and protection of resources of the 

study area. I fully expect that as this 

measure continues through the legislative process, Congress will ensure that 

funding offsets are provided to it and 

every other spending measure as we 

work to restore fiscal discipline to 

Washington in a bi-partisan manner. 

This legislation would provide a 

mechanism for determining the management options for one of Arizona’s 

high uses scenic areas and protect the 

natural and cultural resources of this 

incredibly beautiful monument. I urge 

my colleagues to support its passage. 


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