[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 73 (Thursday, May 24, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5577-S5578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CHANGING SENATE LEADERSHIP

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this is a historic day in the Senate. The 
announcement this morning by Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont that he is 
going to become an Independent and organize the Senate with the 
Democratic caucus means a change in leadership in this important 
institution of government. It is not the first time that a Member of 
the Senate has changed political parties. I reflected as I came to the 
floor that there were four Members on the Republican side who were 
formerly Democrats at some point in their career. Senator Thurmond was 
a Democrat from South Carolina and made a decision to become a 
Republican, I believe, in the 1970s. Senator Phil Gramm was a 
Democratic Congressman from Texas who changed his party allegiance and 
ran for reelection before he was elected to the Senate as a Republican. 
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell switched parties from Democrat to 
Republican and now sits on the Republican side. In addition, Senator 
Richard Shelby of Alabama made the same transition from Democrat to 
Republican.
  Of course, it is different in this circumstance in a 50/50 Senate. 
Any change of party has historic consequences. The decision of Senator 
Jeffords to organize with the Democratic caucus means there will be a 
rather substantial change in terms of the leadership of the Senate.
  For the last several months, since the election of President Bush, 
many have given speeches and made statements about the need for 
bipartisanship. Now we will be put to the test if we have a Democrat-
organized Senate, a Republican House, and, of course, a Republican in 
the White House. Literally, the agenda for the country and the fate of 
our country will be in the hands of bipartisanship. I think we can rise 
to that challenge. I hope we will.
  I have the greatest confidence in the man who will be the Democrat 
majority leader, Tom Daschle of South Dakota. I have worked with him 
for almost 20 years in public life, in both the House and the Senate. 
He is not only very talented; he is an honest person, as hard working 
as any Member of this Chamber, and his word is good. President Bush, as 
well as Speaker Hastert, I am sure, will find him to be an excellent 
person with whom to work.
  I also hope we can develop a common agenda, a bipartisan agenda for 
the Senate. We have dealt with important budget and tax matters. There 
are other issues that need to be resolved, not just the 13 spending 
bills that fund our Federal Government but important issues which, 
frankly, have not received the attention they deserve. One of those is 
the Patients' Bill of Rights, to make certain the families across 
America can have peace of mind that they can go to the best doctors and 
the best hospitals and rely on medical decisions being made by medical 
professionals rather than by insurance company clerks. Too often, good 
medical decisions are being overridden by those who work for insurance 
companies who have a profit motive in mind rather than the best 
interests in a person's health. I think a Patients' Bill of Rights 
should be high on our agenda.
  Second, of course, we will move into the area of education. This is 
an area we were debating before the tax bill arrived, and that most 
Americans agree is absolutely critical to the future of our country. We 
have to make a commitment in our agenda to public education and the 
education of all children across America. The schools of today face 
extraordinary challenges which my generation could not have even 
imagined. Children are coming to school now with greater problems than 
they have had in the past, and we are expecting more out of the school 
in terms of training and education than we ever did in the past. We 
have to make the investment in quality teachers and accountability, in 
safe classrooms, in modern classrooms, and technology so our kids have 
a fighting chance to lead America into the 21st century. That should be 
high on our list of priorities.

  In addition to that, the President has asked us to look at questions 
related to energy. That is an important issue in my home State of 
Illinois where people have gone from recordbreaking heating bills 
because of the cost of natural gas to the recordbreaking cost for 
gasoline at the pump. It is important to not only find new sources of 
energy that are environmentally sound and make certain they are 
delivered to the people who need them but to also talk about 
conservation, a responsibility that is not only one we have as 
individuals but as the Government. We have to do our part as consumers 
to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles. Government has to do its part to 
encourage Detroit to catch up with Japan which already has these duel-
use, duel-energy vehicles on the street that are in great demand. 
Unfortunately, Detroit has not come up with an alternative to compete. 
They should.
  In addition, we have to look at the marketplace for energy in 
America. Some people think it is simply a supply-and-demand market. It 
is hard to imagine there is real competition of supply and demand when 
you drive around Chicago or Springfield, IL, and see all of the prices 
at the gasoline stations going up in lockstep and coming down, 
trickling down, in lockstep to believe there is real competition. It is 
hard to find anybody who is selling at a low price in order to entice 
consumers.
  Sadly, despite the high energy prices and the fact some say it is a 
market situation, these energy companies are having the highest profits 
in many years. It is one of the industries that can guess wrong for 
consumer demand and make higher profits. That is something that has 
occurred.
  We also need to address the question of the minimum wage for workers 
across America. There was a tax bill passed yesterday that leaves 
behind over 70 million Americans who do not get a reduction in their 
tax rate, those at the 15-percent rate, the lowest rate, and those are 
the same people in many cases who are working for a minimum wage. We 
have not touched the minimum wage in years in this country.
  We have in my State over 400,000 people who go to work every single 
day at the minimum wage. If we are serious about giving mothers and 
fathers more time at home with their kids so they can have some leisure 
time and an opportunity to work with their kids on education, taking a 
look at the minimum wage is an important element so

[[Page S5578]]

they don't have to work two or three jobs to try to make end's meet.
  There is an important agenda ahead of us. I have touched on only a 
few items I hope we will consider. Now that we have this change in 
leadership in the Senate, it is important we address it on a bipartisan 
basis. It is a unique day in the history of the Senate. It is a unique 
challenge to all to rise above partisanship and put our country first.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. (Mr. Bunning). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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