[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 78 (Friday, May 23, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7163-S7164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SENATE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as we go into the Memorial Day recess, 
I thought it might be appropriate to take a few moments and look back 
at the accomplishments of the Congress in which we currently find 
ourselves. We know that last year the Senate did not pass 11 of the 13 
appropriation bills, and never passed a budget. It was, in fact, the 
first time the budget did not pass since the Budget Act passed back in 
1974.
  We have now completed 5 months of the 108th Congress, a Senate 
narrowly controlled, 51-49, by the Republican Party--certainly not a 
huge margin from which to function. But, nevertheless, it has been an 
extraordinarily productive 5 months.
  Just to run down the list: Extension of unemployment benefits to 
those who need them, not once but twice, the second time being today. 
We did, back in January, pass 11 appropriation bills that were never 
passed for the previous year--in fact, the year in which we are 
currently operating. We funded Operation Iraqi Freedom, which allowed 
our military to have the resources to win, as the President put it, the 
battle for Iraq, the battle in the larger war on terrorism. We 
preserved our military strength by passing a Department of Defense 
authorization bill just this week in the Senate. We initiated the 
protection of our homeland by confirming the nomination of the first 
Secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security.
  As I made reference a few moments ago, we passed a budget which 
distinguishes this Senate from the previous one. We have enacted the 
President's plan to create jobs and stimulate the economy. We just 
passed that today and it is on the way to the President for signature. 
I think the Washington Post depicted it as the third largest tax relief 
package in history. If that is accurate, that sounds perfectly good to 
me.
  We have also, in the first 5 months this year, banned the horrific 
practice of partial-birth abortion. It passed the Senate by a very 
large margin.
  We passed the President's faith-based initiative. We funded the 
effort to eradicate the scourge of global AIDS, which gives the 
President the opportunity to go to the G-8 meeting next week and 
challenge our European allies to do likewise so that we all work 
collectively to deal with this plague which has affected all of the 
world, but in particular the continent of Africa.
  To guard our children against abduction and exploitation, we passed 
the PROTECT Act in the first 5 months of this year. We have improved 
safeguards from foreign terrorists by enacting the FISA bill. We 
engaged in our second historic NATO expansion to include the remaining 
members of the Warsaw Pact which were not in the first tranche that 
came in--Poland, Hungry, and the Czech Republic, six more countries on 
top of the original three to further expand NATO to complete virtually 
the entire area that used to make up the Warsaw Pact.
  We passed the significant arms reduction treaty with our former enemy 
turned ally, the Russians.
  We are bridging the digital divide by providing needed funds to 
historically black colleges.
  We affirmed the constitutionality of the use of the term ``under 
God'' in the Pledge of Allegiance.
  We awarded a Congressional Gold Medal to Prime Minister Tony Blair, 
who richly deserved it.
  And we provided tax equity to the men and women in our Nation's Armed 
Forces.
  This has been an extraordinarily productive first five months of the 
108th Congress.
  Particularly to be commended is our leader Bill Frist, who stepped 
into a new job at the beginning of this Congress, and has done an 
extraordinary job of holding us together and advancing the ball. Those 
are the two principal responsibilities of the majority leader--holding 
together at least his own side, if he can, and advancing the ball.
  We have been able to reach out to the other side and have critical 
Democratic support when that was necessary in order to achieve success.
  So as we go into the Memorial Day recess, I think we can all feel 
proud that we have accomplished a great deal for our constituents and 
made this a better country in many clearly discernible ways.
  Having recounted those accomplishments of the 108th Congress, I 
suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a few moments we will be completing our 
work for today--indeed for the week--after what has been a productive 
process in completing a lot of legislation today with a number of 
votes, but following really about 2 or 3 months of very consistent, 
steady progress, as was just outlined by the assistant majority leader 
a few moments ago.

  It caused me, as I listened to my distinguished colleague from 
Kentucky, to think back to 5 months ago, when we began the 108th 
Congress, and what we were thinking then as we projected forward what 
we hoped to accomplish.
  I recall at that time, on the floor, committing this body, working 
together in a bipartisan way, to achieve results for the American 
people--the type of results that would push America forward, focusing 
on action, on getting things done. We said that this Congress would be 
a Congress defined by action, defined by accomplishment, and I believe 
that indeed we have kept that pledge.
  Whether working to create jobs, increasing our Nation's economic 
growth, fighting global terror, protecting our homeland and making our 
homeland more secure, or helping to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS, this 
Congress has been quietly, steadily, and consistently getting the job 
done for the American people.
  As my colleagues leave today to return to their homes across the 
country and spend this Memorial Day holiday with their friends and 
families, I do want to take this opportunity, in these final moments, 
to thank them for their patience and their hard work. They have been 
extremely productive. They have been prolific.
  First and foremost, we have enacted measures to stoke America's great 
economic engine and to create new jobs for our workers. The 11 
appropriations bills left over from last year we passed in 1 omnibus 
appropriations bill, finishing the work left unfinished from the last 
Congress.
  We passed the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. And we passed that 
budget in near record time. Indeed, it was only the fourth time in the 
history of our budgeting process that we actually met the statutory 
deadline.
  Also, today we approved President Bush's jobs and growth plan, a plan 
which will put more money in the pockets of everybody listening right 
now, and more money in the pockets of all American families, thereby 
creating thousands and thousands of new jobs.
  It is progress. It shows action. It shows we are delivering to the 
American people. The package we passed just a few hours ago includes 
the third-largest tax cut in our Nation's history. I believe it will 
help turbocharge the economy because 60 percent of the $350 billion 
stimulus package will hit home this year and next year, in this 
timeframe, over the next 18 months.

[[Page S7164]]

  Working with President Bush, we have strived to make our homeland 
more secure and fight the global war against terror. In addition to the 
funds approved in the budget, the $80 billion supplemental 
appropriations bill, passed in April, not only helped pay for the cost 
of the Iraq campaign, but it provided funds to protect our own borders 
as well.
  In what may someday, I believe, be considered our most far-reaching 
initiative, Congress has approved--and the President, next Tuesday, 
will sign--a 5-year, $15 billion commitment to combat the global spread 
of that deadly HIV/AIDS virus--a virus we knew nothing about 25 years 
ago, a virus that represents, in the pandemic that has ensued, the 
greatest public health challenge of our time, killing more than 23 
million people, infecting more than 40 million people alive today, 
ultimately killing, in all likelihood--even if we discovered a vaccine 
today--another 60 million people over the next 20 to 30 years.

  But now, because of the action of this body, following the leadership 
of the President of the United States, working hand in hand with the 
House of Representatives, America is now--and proudly so--the global 
leader in HIV/AIDS funding and has brought the lamp of hope to millions 
of people threatened by this devastating disease.
  I have been privileged, as a physician, to be able to perform medical 
mission work in various places around the world, but specifically in 
Africa, and I can tell you how desperately--how desperately--needed is 
this leadership, is this funding. This legislation is a manifestation 
of the caring spirit--that spirit of compassion--that spirit of caring 
and compassion on behalf of the United States of America. It shows our 
commitment to the less fortunate in the world and that we are, indeed, 
a nation of moral courage.
  In foreign policy, we supported the Moscow Treaty, which calls for 
the most dramatic reduction of nuclear weapons between Russia and 
America in history. Under the terms of this treaty, the number of 
nuclear weapons will be lower than at any point since 1954.
  Also in foreign policy, we supported the expansion of NATO, bringing 
seven new democracies into the alliance: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, 
Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
  At home, we have not only acted to spur the economy to create jobs 
but we have looked after those who do not have a job but who are 
looking for a job. Today, again, just a few hours ago, we once again 
extended the unemployment insurance to ensure that families will have 
the economic support they need while they continue to look for a job.
  On issues here at home, we voted to end that abhorrent practice of 
partial-birth abortion. We approved the CARE Act to encourage 
charitable giving to charitable and nonprofit organizations. These are 
just a few of the many accomplishments of this Congress. I could go on: 
AMBER Alert, air cargo security, a national ``Do Not Call'' list to 
stymie unwanted phone solicitors, military tax relief--and the list 
continues.
  I mention all this because as we focus on our day-to-day activities, 
it is rare that we look at that large picture from 30,000 feet as to 
what we have accomplished. And, indeed, we have done much. It has been 
a productive 5 months. It has not always been a smooth road, but in a 
closely divided Senate few paths are easy. It takes working in a 
bipartisan way.
  Before I close, I do want to say, as part of a new leadership team on 
the Republican side of the aisle, it has been extremely important for 
me to have developed a positive working relationship with the other 
side of the aisle, both in terms of leadership and really throughout 
the Senate. I do want to thank the corresponding leaders on the other 
side of the aisle for working with me in a bipartisan way as we have 
set out this agenda and as, indeed, we have completed the agenda that 
has been set out.
  I do hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle enjoy the break 
and come back from their time refreshed because we have a lot of work 
to do. On the top of that list will be to bring our Medicare Program up 
to date so we can include prescription drugs as part of the 
armamentarium for health care delivery and health care security for our 
seniors. That is going to require bipartisan cooperation if we are 
truly to accomplish what I know we will accomplish, what we can 
accomplish, and what our seniors deserve; that is, a strengthening and 
improvement of our Medicare Program.

  We will do that the month we come back. It will be hard work, but in 
the end I know we can approve a plan to improve the current system, to 
strengthen it, to guarantee all seniors access to prescription drugs in 
a plan that can best meet their health care needs.
  I do want to thank my own Republican leadership team. We heard a few 
moments ago from my colleague, the assistant majority leader, our whip, 
Senator McConnell. Our working relationship has been such that it 
excites me, as we look to the future, again, having worked hand in hand 
to address these many issues in the past.
  As our colleagues go home, I know they will all be paying tribute to 
the men and women who have returned to their own communities after 
representing the best that we have in the United States of America, as 
they have fought for freedom and democracy--those freedoms that we are 
able to enjoy each and every day.
  We have done much, but we have much to do.

                          ____________________