[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 117 (Friday, August 1, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10887-S10890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DOING THE NATION'S BUSINESS
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the past 4 weeks have been extraordinarily
productive. I thank my colleagues for their participation, for their
cooperation, and for their patience to make that possible. I thank them
for accepting some deadlines that we put forward, accepting the overall
strategy, just as we just heard, of setting a goal far in advance so
people have the opportunity to prepare and to think so we can most
efficiently use the time for debate and amendment on the floor of the
Senate.
We have passed major legislation, of which we should all be proud. We
should share that with our constituents, as we go back to our States,
as we travel around the country to seek input and listen but also to
say that we are doing the Nation's business.
Our leadership has developed a straightforward mission. The mission
is crystal clear. It is to move America forward. We are doing so in a
manner with values such as civility and trust. We do it in a way that
is relationship centered, meaning that we are working together to get
the very best out of our individual Members, in terms of thoughts and
ideas. We do it in a manner that is solution oriented, that is
solutions to the problems that we identify, not just rhetoric and not
just talk about the problems.
I think we witnessed that yesterday, in a long day that began at 9
o'clock or 9:30 in the morning but continued until late at night, with
the ultimate passage of an Energy bill, of which passage, early in the
morning, people said: No way.
All the media questions, people coming up were saying it is going to
take another week or 2 weeks or 3 weeks on this Energy bill. Are you
going to stay in on Saturday? Are you going to come back and spend all
of September?
Yet after initial discussion and proposals, both caucuses worked
together and worked within themselves and we came together to pass an
Energy bill that will, indeed, move America forward. We did it against
what many people would say are the odds. We did it in a very closely
divided Senate. But it shows that even in that environment, of a
closely divided Senate, if we keep our eye on a specific goal, we can
move America forward.
We have set specific goals. As you just heard, we laid out what we
are going to be doing next far enough in advance for people to prepare.
Then we act. Each side has certain strategies, and then we reach that
goal to give a solution to the American people. That is what Americans
expect. When we talk to our constituents, that is what they say they
want. That is why they send us to the Senate. They want to be sure we
step up to the plate on growth and jobs.
We must be a key partner with the administration in the war on
terror. We must stand up and act on life and support our values here at
home and, indeed, around the world. We have much to do in the realm of
health. We have made progress, but we have much more to do. Our tort
system is badly in need of reform.
Of course, during all of this, our utmost responsibility is to
govern--to govern responsibly, in a responsive way.
Before we leave for our recess today, reflecting over the last 4
weeks we have been in session, I therefore jump back to before the
Fourth of July recess. Before the Fourth of July recess, it was at that
point that I informed our colleagues we would be doing the Energy bill
in this final week in July, and we did. I said at that time we would do
everything possible to finish the Energy bill this week, and we did. As
late as yesterday morning, there was doubt. Early in the morning,
people said there was no way it could be done. We got it done by
cooperation--again, on both sides of the aisle--by determination, and
by going back to one of those values I keep talking about which we are
expressing in this Congress--civility. We were successful. We got it
done. America will benefit. Americans will benefit.
We have a national comprehensive energy policy coming out of this
body. Yes, it will be modified. Yes, in part, it will be rewritten over
the coming weeks. But with the President laying
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out a plan 2 years and 3 months ago, with the House of Representatives
having acted, and the Senate having acted on energy, we can develop
that final product to send to the President to the benefit of all
Americans. It is part of government, it is part of leadership, and we
have delivered.
On the international front, last night we passed two highly
significant trade agreements. One was the Singapore free-trade
agreement, and the other was the Chile free-trade agreement. Those are
the first free-trade agreements to move through Congress under the so-
called fast-track authority since that process was restored a year ago.
It is an important achievement for the body itself, but it is an even
more important achievement for the world community and for our national
community as we improve those trade relationships with Chile and
Singapore.
As you just look at the action last night on energy, it was a tough
challenge. Everybody said: No, we have to spend days and days and days
more. As we look on the success with trade last night, we can say we
have added another chapter to our work to grow the economy and to
create jobs. It didn't exist yesterday morning, and now it exists after
our action last night. As we look at this whole issue of jobs and as we
travel around the country, it is the No. 1 issue you hear about because
it affects people's lives so directly.
We passed the Jobs and Growth Act of 2003. Indeed, as most of us are
aware, over the last week or week and a half and over the next several
weeks, 25 million families will receive checks of $400 or more per
child, which is in addition to the $600 they have already received this
year. But that additional incremental $400 is because of action here in
the Senate and passing the jobs and growth package--25 million
families--indeed, over 500,000 in my home State of Tennessee. If we had
not acted, they would not be getting the checks. They will be spending
those checks. Most importantly, they decide how to spend that $400, or
that $1,000, because of the action of this body. They are the ones who
decide whether it is on clothing, whether it is on food, or whether it
is on buying a computer to help their child in education. They will be
deciding.
A family of four, because of that jobs and growth package, making
$40,000 will see their taxes reduced. Remember, that means money in
their pockets--money they can save and invest. A family of four making
$40,000: $1,133 in 2003. That is how much their taxes will be reduced.
The Jobs and Growth Act is the third largest tax cut in history
passed by this body. The $350 billion package will boost the economy,
it will grow the number of jobs, and it will allow more Americans to
control more of their own hard-earned paychecks. This is money they
have earned which they paid to the Federal Government that the Federal
Government has returned to them to save and to invest, to boost the
economy, to make their lives more fulfilling. That is the sort of
action and the sort of solution that moves America forward.
Because of our commitment to meeting our legislative goals, we are
helping to put America on the road to economic security. We are
committed to strengthening America's economy. We are committed to
providing each American with more of that economic security. And we are
committed to ensuring that the playing field is fair.
On the international front, we funded Operation Iraqi Freedom in less
than 2 months. We have liberated the Iraqi people from the clutches of
a vicious and brutal dictator, a mass murderer who has killed thousands
of his own people, including members of his own family as well as
thousands of people from lands outside of the Iraqi border.
Over the last several weeks, we have had the opportunity to be
briefed by people directly in Iraq who are participating in the
rebuilding of that democracy. They brought to us encouraging news that
all too often we don't see on the front pages of the newspapers or in
the coverage on the television. But we are hearing directly from them.
We are making progress. Is it slow? Of course, it is slower than any of
us would want. But it is steady, consistent progress. The Senate will
continue to support this ongoing war on terror. We will continue our
financial commitment. We will continue our moral commitment until
America's enemies are defeated.
Internationally, we also passed the NATO Expansion Treaty bringing
700 new nations into that cornerstone organization of freedom in the
Western World. We are bringing more and more countries into the orbit
of democratic nations and providing more of the world's economic
citizens with that sort of opportunity, and more of the world's
citizens with that economic security that they, too, deserve.
The Senate is also flexing its influence to reform countries that
defy their citizens their natural, God-given rights to be free. We did
that recently with the assistant majority leader, Senator McConnell's
Burmese Freedom Act just several weeks ago. With a bit of luck, we will
finish action on the authorization of our foreign aid programs so that
we can further enhance our voice and our values around the world.
Again, if we jump back 5 or 6 weeks, before the last recess, I
articulated my goal to pass major appropriations bills in a timely
fashion. This, too, we are accomplishing in an organized, systematic
way.
The colloquy that just occurred on the floor with the distinguished
chairman of the Labor-HHS bill is a manifestation of planning and a
systematized approach of a strategy where we can address that very
important bill in a timely fashion. If we do it as he mentioned--as he
will be explaining on the floor of this Senate on the Tuesday we come
back--if we do it instead of delaying, there will be an additional $3
billion available. If it happens to be available the way the law is
written, that committee will not have the incentive later to take the
action but will address the bill right now.
This is in contrast to the last Congress. There was a logjam we had
in the last Congress where the appropriations bills really got stopped.
In fact, it was not until this Congress that we passed 11 of the 13
appropriations bills that were supposed to be passed in the last
Congress. We did that in the first couple months of this Congress.
But we are making progress. We built on our success with the FAA
authorization bill, the extension of unemployment benefits. When you
look at the appropriations, in 3 short weeks we passed the legislative
branch, the Department of Defense, military construction, and the
Homeland Security appropriations bills. That keeps moving America
forward. And we will come to Labor-HHS when we return.
I should mention that on the Homeland Security appropriations bill we
had distinguished leadership. I applaud and personally thank Senator
Thad Cochran for his tremendous work in particular because that was the
first time we have had this Department of Homeland Security and, thus,
it is a new appropriations bill. It was handled magnificently on the
floor, and we were able to successfully complete the Homeland Security
appropriations bill.
This whole process of setting goals, implementing a strategy in a
civil environment, and working hard through debate and amendment is
working. If you look at our commitment on health and health issues,
people see the commitment there. They saw it as we set out the agenda
in early January on a whole range of issues.
In January, most people, on Medicare, said: The Senate is not going
to be able to do it. The House can probably do it. They have done it in
the past. In fact, they do it really in every Congress. The rules are
very different in the House. But most people said: In the Senate
Medicare is too partisan. There is too much bickering. People use it
for political purposes. It can't be done.
Yet, again, we delivered. Now the Senate has passed a bill that, for
the first time in the history of this wonderful Medicare program--that
simply is out-of-date, but a wonderful program that as a physician I
have had direct experience with for 20 years, just about every day
taking care of Medicare patients before coming to the Senate, writing
thousands of prescriptions myself--for the first time those
prescriptions I was writing become a part of Medicare.
Heretofore, these outpatient prescriptions have not been a part of
Medicare. Yet the way health care has evolved, these medicines today
are probably the most powerful component, the most powerful tool
doctors
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and nurses and health care providers have to give seniors health care
security, to give patients health care security.
In addition, seniors and individuals with disabilities will have the
opportunity, for the first time in Medicare, to choose a plan or a type
of health care coverage that best suits their individual needs. We
passed it in the Senate. We did what a lot of people said we were just
not going to be able to do. And it was bipartisan. There were over 70
votes, and it was really kind of driven to get as many votes as
possible but with good policy, taking the very best of the Democratic
ideas and the very best of the Republican ideas, and melding those
together.
We have a challenge I am very hopeful we will meet by late September;
that is, to take that House bill, to take the Senate bill--the
conference is underway now--and, in conference, develop a bill that
will be strong, that will guarantee seniors access to good prescription
drug coverage, and give them the choice of a plan that best meets their
needs.
I will say--because people don't talk about it very much on the
floor; and I am speaking as an individual but also as a conferee--it is
important for us to complete action in this conference by late
September. The sooner we complete action on the bill, the sooner every
senior--people who are listening broadly around the country or near
seniors--will have a prescription drug card within months--within
months--of the time the President actually signs that bill; every
senior will get some help with that card in the very near future if
they are buying prescription drugs.
So the sooner we complete the bill, the sooner we can get the benefit
to the seniors, especially those seniors who are hurting, who are in an
economic position where this burden of buying prescription drugs is
great, is heavy. The sooner we pass this bill--it has to be a good
bill; it has to be an appropriate bill; it has to be a balanced bill;
and it has to be, most importantly, a responsible bill--the sooner
seniors can benefit from the $400 billion that this body, the House,
and the President of the United States have all agreed we want to get
to seniors.
So it is ready in terms of the commitment that is made. The money is
there. Now we need the vehicle itself. And that is what we are doing in
conference. So the sooner we can get it done, the sooner seniors will
be able to benefit.
On health, I will also have to mention the global HIV/AIDS bill this
body passed several months ago under the distinguished leadership,
great leadership, of Chairman Dick Lugar. This global HIV/AIDS bill
addresses the greatest moral, humanitarian, and public health challenge
of the last 100 years. It shows we are caring. It shows we have
compassion. It shows we do not just talk about it, but that we lead on
it.
I commend President Bush, in his State of the Union Message, for
leading on it, and this body for responding appropriately at a level--
again, in a bipartisan way--that most people in this country and,
indeed, the world would not have anticipated.
As a physician, I have had the opportunity over a 20-year period to
take care of HIV/AIDS patients personally, both when I was at
Vanderbilt University Medical Center and also as I did my medical
training in Boston, MA, and out at Stanford in California. I can tell
you, when you have the opportunity to look back over a 20-year period--
in 1983 we did not know this virus existed. We did not know about it.
The best scientists in the world did not know this virus existed. Then
it killed five people in the country. Then it killed, in the world, a
million people, then 5 million people, then 10 million people. And now
23 million people have died over that 20 years since 1983.
We are responding. This is the first time we have really stepped up
and said: We are going to eliminate this virus. I am very proud of my
colleagues and gratified that the Senate stepped up with this
determination to dedicate $15 billion, which is the figure people think
of, but equally important, taking a leadership role for comprehensively
addressing the ravages of this virus.
By passing this legislation, we are helping to prevent 7 million new
infections, we are providing antiretroviral drugs for 2 million HIV-
infected people, providing care for 10 million HIV-infected
individuals, and investing in research so we will find a cure.
Right now, today, there is no cure for this virus. There is no
vaccine to prevent this virus. Thus we need to do everything we can to
both preserve our great pharmacologic research endeavors in this
country and, at the same time, invest in a responsible way so we can
encourage and give incentives to encourage investment to find a cure--a
cure that if you had the virus, you will be able to cure the virus, and
also to prevent the virus. And you can do that with a vaccine.
In this Congress, we have seen Senator Susan Collins lead the
campaign to increase public access to defibrillation of the heart. When
a heart fibrillates, it becomes like a bag of worms. Instead of beating
regularly, it begins to fibrillate. And that is when people die,
because the heart is not pumping. But if you can get to them quickly
enough, you can put those paddles on, and you can shock the heart back
to that normal, constant beating.
That public access to defibrillation is important. It is something on
which we are making huge progress, specifically under the leadership of
Senator Susan Collins.
We passed the Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act. So if
driving home today you were to have an accident, there will be a trauma
center to respond to you immediately, especially when time and
expertise become critically important.
Our values have been on display this session as well.
We have allotted significant resources to upgrade the technology at
America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities. We took a
historic step in bringing a National Museum of African American History
and Culture to our Nation's capital by passage of that bill.
It has been 80 years of petitions that has led to an understanding of
how we might respond. But in terms of developing the museum, it took
passage on the floor of the Senate for it to take that next step to
become a reality. I have to thank Senator Sam Brownback and Congressman
John Lewis from the other side of the Capitol for their tremendous
leadership.
Senator Lamar Alexander has focused on the American History and
Civics Education Act. Because of his leadership, America's students
will have the opportunity to learn our Nation's great history and civic
traditions. I thank Senator Gregg for his bill, the Keeping Children
and Families Safe Act. We acted on legislation to make it easier for
States to continue their efforts to enroll children in health care
programs. The SCHIP legislation makes a difference in thousands and
thousands of families' lives.
There were three items passed earlier this year I want to mention. In
March we passed the partial-birth abortion ban. We have an agreement
with the other side of the aisle to address this issue for a day
sometime in September. The following month, we passed the CARE Act, the
President's faith-based initiative. That same month we passed the AMBER
alert. The lives of millions of Americans and future citizens will be
protected by all of these efforts. Each of these items demonstrates our
deep compassion for our most vulnerable citizens.
The Senate is accomplishing all of this through hard work, through
cooperation among Members on both sides of the aisle. I thank my
colleagues for their efforts. We are overcoming partisanship. We are
stressing civility and trust. We are making the legislative process
work in an orderly and systematic way.
One area, however, that is in some ways undermining progress is the
obstruction we are seeing with regard to Presidential circuit court
nominees. We have seen it with Miguel Estrada, Priscilla Owen, and
William Pryor. Now is not the time to rehearse the history of the last
7 months, but it is enough to say that the process is broken. The
process is not working. I would only hope as the fall unfolds, we will
find ways for the Senate to vote up or down. That is really all this
side of the aisle is asking for, to have that opportunity to vote yes
or no, up or down on the President's judicial nominations.
When it comes to the fall, we will continue our work to govern
responsibly and comprehensively. We will
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complete our efforts with regard to the emergency supplemental as well
as funding the President's request submitted in early July.
In those coming weeks of the fall, we will also complete action on
several remaining appropriations bills. As we outlined earlier today,
we will begin with the Labor, Health and Human Services legislation.
That legislation underwrites many of our Federal efforts to help where
we must to make a difference in so many Americans' lives.
We will also continue to work this fall on asbestos reform
legislation. It is clear that is a pressing national crisis. I am
convinced that with goodwill and cooperation, we will be able to
responsibly address this issue. I have talked with the Democratic
leadership repeatedly, and we all agree it is an issue we can address
and will address sometime in the future.
We will also take up at some juncture class action lawsuit reform. It
is a fairly quiet bill in the background, but it is one that will make
a huge difference in the fair and quick administration of justice
nationwide. We will also be revisiting medical litigation reform
sometime in the fall. There are other items we can address in terms of
tort reform that we in all likelihood will be considering. We will
continue to stand for issues surrounding life. We will complete action
on the partial-birth abortion ban at some point in September, and then
we will move ahead on legislation addressing the Unborn Victims of
Violence Act.
Yesterday Senator Judd Gregg announced hearings in September on
public health issues on tobacco. I know the distinguished Senator from
Kentucky, Mr. McConnell, introduced legislation on Wednesday with
regard to buying out quotas from tobacco farmers. We will be addressing
all of those issues in the coming months. In addition, we will be
looking for other opportunities.
In closing, I thank my leadership colleagues who have helped me each
and every day over the last 7 months: Our distinguished President pro
tempore, Ted Stevens; I talk to Chairman Stevens daily. He is an avid
user of e-mail so I get three or four every day, which I quickly
answer, a canny veteran whose counsel daily has proven invaluable to me
and to so many others; our assistant majority leader, Mitch McConnell,
whose tireless work day in and day out has kept us together as a team
and a conference in these months, is really the glue to our conference;
Conference Chairman Rick Santorum, who continues to work in overdrive,
working overtime, working with passion to keep an eye on the midterm
and the long-term issues that are so important to us, focusing so often
on those basic values we share; Jon Kyl, our policy committee chairman,
whose attention and focus and study, by leading the policy committee,
all ensures that we legislate the very best we can, with the very best
information at every opportunity; Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, our
vice chairman, who stands so often as our public persona in addressing
issues and explaining those issues in a way that is important for the
American people to understand, addressing issues in a sophisticated,
substantive way, but at the same time explaining those so Americans can
indeed fully understand where this institution is moving; George Allen,
our senatorial chairman, whose instincts are so often right and right
on target; Judd Gregg, who I rely on daily for counsel, whose word I
trust and whose support so often makes a huge difference in this
Chamber; Senator Bob Bennett, our chief deputy whip, whose work with
colleagues we simply could not do without; Senator Arlen Specter, who
was just on the floor, whose thoughts and advice inform so many of the
decisions we make here.
I am grateful to all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who
share a thought, who share with me that single word, that piece of
advice out of their busy day. I am proud that together as Senators we
have preserved what our predecessors have given us and are working to
pass on to our successors even something a little bit better.
I thank all the Senators for their hard work, their diligence, and
their cooperation. I look forward to returning in September to continue
our work on the people's business.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Bennett). The Senator from Rhode Island.
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