[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 77 (Friday, June 4, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6470-S6479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will resume consideration of S. 2400, which the clerk will 
report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2400) to authorize appropriations for fiscal 
     year 2005 for military activities of the Department of 
     Defense, for military construction, and for defense 
     activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe 
     personnel strengths for such fiscal year for the Armed 
     Services, and for other purposes.

  Pending:

       Kennedy amendment No. 3263, to prohibit the use of funds 
     for the support of new nuclear weapons development under the 
     Stockpile Services Advanced Concepts Initiative or for the 
     Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP).

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Nevada is 
recognized.


                               EDUCATION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is now quarter to 7 in Nevada. Children 
are walking on their way to school. Here in the East, children are 
already at school. In Nevada we have a wide range of school districts. 
We have 17 school districts, one for each county. The school district 
in Las Vegas, the Clark County School District, is approaching 300,000 
students. It is one of the largest school districts in America. 
Esmeralda County, Goldfield, has 84 students. Because of the feeling I 
have and the complaints I received about the Leave No Child Behind Act, 
I thought it appropriate that I meet with those 17 school 
superintendents. I did that last week when I was home during the 
Memorial Day break. Jim Hager, the superintendent from Washoe County--
that is Reno, which is the second largest school district--is the 
president of the Superintendents Association. At my request he convened 
this meeting.
  I have had many meetings over the years, as we all have, dealing with 
a broad range of subjects, but I have never had a meeting that was more 
meaningful, more informative, more educational to me than the meeting I 
had with the school superintendents. My only regret is I didn't spend 
more time with them. We spent an hour and 15 minutes. That is what we 
had scheduled. It was a tremendously good meeting.
  I had no agenda with the superintendents other than to listen to 
them. I didn't bring them into the room and proceed to give a Senate 
filibuster to them. I wanted to make sure that every one of the 17, 
from the smallest school district to the largest, had an opportunity to 
speak--and that is what we did.
  Every one of the 17 has tried so hard to comply with the intent and 
the actual substance of the Leave No Child Behind Act. They simply 
said, though, that in an effort to comply with this new law, they have 
robbed Peter to pay Paul with their budgets. They have compromised on 
all kinds of very important programs within the school districts. They 
have tampered with and eliminated art programs, programs for the 
academically talented, athletic programs, music programs, and history 
classes in an effort to meet the requirements of Leave No Child Behind.
  There is no question, when I went to high school, that the courses I 
took--English, math, and sciences--were important. I was taught those 
subjects, of course. But also it was important that I have a full 
education, that I have the opportunity to participate in athletics, 
that teachers be given the opportunity to teach other subjects than 
math, science, and English. A superintendent said they had even had to 
shorten the time allotted for recess. Some say, Good, the kids are out 
too much. You know, recess time is time just like the time people take 
for coffee breaks. People take a break to get away from the drudgery, 
or even if somebody loves their job, a break is important. Children 
need a break just like adults. They have even shortened the time 
allotted for recesses.
  Instead of just ignoring the law, they have tried to comply with it, 
all 17 superintendents. I commend them for their unified efforts in 
that regard. But there is only so much they can do with a law that is 
basically flawed, a law that is flawed because there are no resources 
to fulfill the requirements of that law. One after the other, these 
educators gave examples of how the No Child Left Behind Act is leaving 
these children behind. It is simply not reaching its goal.
  One superintendent said: What if you, in Washington, passed a law 
that every child, to graduate from high school, had to dunk a 
basketball?
  It didn't matter how hard I tried. I could never dunk a basketball. I 
couldn't dunk the basketball when I graduated high school at age 17.
  If they passed a law saying every child who graduated from high 
school had to high jump 6 feet, they could not do it; if every child 
had to run a mile in 6 minutes, they could not do it. Physically and 
emotionally, it is impossible for children to do those things.

[[Page S6471]]

A select few can do it but not very many. But that is what we have 
required.
  The Leave No Child Behind Act is based on the premise that we can 
track the progress of every school by using a one-size-fits-all 
approach, including standardized tests.
  What I heard from these superintendents was their problems aren't 
standardized. The one-size-fits-all approach doesn't always work.
  The Clark County School District is the fastest growing school 
district in the country. The New York Times published this week an 
article on education in Las Vegas, painting a very realistic picture of 
what we are facing. We are in the midst of a massive program to build 
88 new schools to accommodate about 12,000 new elementary and secondary 
aged students who move into the county every year. This number is going 
to increase.
  Clark County's teacher recruitment effort spans nationwide and costs 
more than $1 million a year--just to recruit the teachers. According to 
Superintendent Carlos Garcia, about 2,000 were hired last year. They 
need 1,600 more teachers, as we speak.
  To cite one pervasive challenge that Nevada as a whole and Clark 
County in particular faces, the Clark County School District has 81 
documented foreign language barriers--not 18. I didn't make a mistake; 
81 different languages are spoken in the Clark County School District.
  There are so many children entering our public schools who do not 
speak English that, under the Leave No Child Behind, most of our public 
schools will eventually be on the ``watch list'' or considered a 
``failing school.'' Like many parts of this country, we know it costs 
more to educate these children.
  The Leave No Child Behind Act promises that resources will be 
provided, but we haven't kept that promise to the 17 superintendents in 
Nevada--and the rest of this country. We have underfunded the Leave No 
Child Behind--not by a little but by billions and billions of dollars 
every year. We have not kept our promise, but we still expect fourth 
grade children who are struggling to learn English to perform well on a 
test they can't understand.
  I don't say this to be boastful, but I did OK in school. But if I did 
not speak English, it would not have mattered what my mental capacity 
was. In the fourth grade, I would have had problems with a fourth grade 
test.
  We haven't kept our promise. I don't think for one minute that these 
children are not aware they are part of a cell group causing their 
schools to fail--simply because they do not comprehend the language.
  Superintendent Garcia told me something that certainly got my 
attention. He said: I am so tired of walking into a classroom of fourth 
graders and seeing kids with their heads down on their desks crying 
because they can't read the test.
  He said: I see children with their heads on their desks crying--not 
because they are stupid, not because they are dumb, but because they 
cannot understand what they are being asked to do.

  As a result, not only is that child failing but the whole school 
district is failing. The school that the child is in could be failing 
as a result.
  These children are being left behind because they are forced to take 
tests in a language they can't speak, and it hasn't changed a thing. 
They still can't dunk a basketball. Testing a child doesn't make him 
any smarter any more than weighing a steer makes that steer heavier.
  Superintendent Garcia said the obsession with testing is actually 
causing some children to learn because they are taking fewer lessens. 
Many high school kids are so worried about standardized tests that they 
only want to take math. They are afraid of failing the standardized 
tests, leaving no time for other classes--sometimes even history 
courses.
  The distinguished junior Senator from Tennessee and I have sponsored 
legislation talking about having American government taught in school. 
We are not going to be able to do that.
  Does this program we have make a child better prepared to succeed in 
college or in life? No.
  I personally would have been a failing student in a failing school if 
this law had been enacted when I was growing up.
  I decided to go to law school because I had a part-time counselor and 
teacher by the name of Mrs. Dorothy Robinson who pulled me out of the 
junior class in high school and said: I have looked over all of your 
tests and I think you should be a lawyer. I don't know what tests I 
took. I think she was trying to be nice to me. But I followed what she 
suggested. From that minute forward, I said: I am going to be a lawyer. 
I had never met a lawyer, I had never been to a courthouse, and I had 
never been involved in a court case, but because of Mrs. Robinson 
having confidence in me--not because of some standardized tests--I 
decided that was what I wanted to do, even though my grammar was 
atrocious. My parents were uneducated. She was able to do that, and it 
wouldn't have happened if she had been more concerned about punitive 
measures in our school if I had failed a standardized test.
  It is easy to look at Clark County's woes under this law because it 
educates more than half of our State's elementary and secondary 
students. However, there are other counties in Nevada facing challenges 
that are much different but no less significant.
  A school system right next door to Clark County is Nye County, which 
has seen much slower growth than Clark County but still growth. It is 
the largest school district in the continental United States. It is 
huge. Superintendent Rob Roberts is a West Point graduate who worries 
about problems such as children riding schoolbuses in the desert with 
no air-conditioning. Nye County can only buy used buses because they 
are spending so much money on the Leave No Child Behind Act. They 
literally drive a million miles a year to get kids to school and back. 
And they are going to eliminate an extra bus which allows students from 
some of these outlying districts to participate in athletics and music 
programs and other enrichment programs. They are going to eliminate 
that. They can't afford it. Gas prices are going to speed up that 
demise.
  Other counties have seen enrollment decline as industries such as 
mining went through cycles. Lincoln County is one of them, and it is 
struggling to keep its head above water to provide transportation for 
its increasingly scattered student population.
  Elko County has been gradually slowing the decline in its enrollment. 
But they have increased expenses because of the Leave No Child Behind 
Act. They did what 14 or 15 other school districts wanted to do; that 
is, hire a grant writer. They had to pay a lot of money to do this. 
Most school districts can't afford a grant writer. They have people who 
try to write for grants but don't know how. One of the superintendents 
said: I tried to write for a grant. I do not know how.
  Mineral, Lander, and Carson City Counties are also in the position of 
needing to hire grant writers--just to find new ways to supplement 
their financially strapped school districts, because the Leave No Child 
Behind Act is bankrupting the school districts.
  In Esmeralda County, some of the children travel up to 160 miles 
every day to school. Transportation expenses are 70 percent of their 
budget. They are cutting special events because of rising 
transportation costs.
  The Humboldt County superintendent concurred--that there are all 
kinds of problems with this Leave No Child Behind Act. They are 
concerned about the costs associated with the transfer of students to 
new schools, if one of the schools fails its annual yearly progress.
  Under the Leave No Child Behind Act, if you do not like a school and 
it is failing, you can demand that your child go to a school someplace 
else.
  These counties can't afford to haul these kids around. These are not 
schools located two or three blocks away, or 2 miles away--it could be 
180 or 190 miles away.
  White Pine County has two local schools that perform well. Parents 
know that they do a good job. But because of a situation with one or 
two special education students struggling in math--these are children 
who are emotionally or physically or mentally handicapped--these two 
fine schools will be classed as ``failing'' schools.
  Douglas County's superintendent knows about the stigma of a failing 
school. Superintendent John Soderman

[[Page S6472]]

said he appreciates the accountability principles in the law but the 
punitive implications are brutal. It is the ``label of blame'' law.
  Pershing County is fretful over the way its 23-percent special 
education students are being left behind.
  Pershing County: The largest city in Pershing County is Lovelock, 
with 23 percent of the students in special education in that school 
district. They will be left behind.
  Churchill County asked me when the Federal Government planned to 
fully fund this law. I said I did not know. Storey County is the 
historic county seat of Virginia City. The superintendent said the law 
was too inflexible.
  Again, you cannot legislate a child to be able to dunk a basketball.
  Every one of these counties agreed that providing teachers with 
professional development, ensuring that they are highly qualified in 
their subject--or, as in the case of Lyon County, multiple subjects--is 
proving to be expensive and frustrating.
  The meeting with these superintendents took place in Nate Mack 
Elementary School in Henderson, NV. We were greeted by a student band 
featuring drums and xylophones. Another class presented a wax museum of 
famous Nevadans in history. They were dressed as historical characters. 
The first child, a little girl, was a special education student. She 
was physically handicapped, but she played her part very well.
  Now, is this little girl going to make that school a failing school? 
If we had a law that was meaningful and fair and educated students, 
that little girl would not make it a failing school. She would make it 
a successful school. This law is going to make it a failing school 
because of this little girl.
  I was so impressed with this wax museum of famous Nevadans. They were 
trained not to smile. They did not frown. They were mimes, there to be 
wax. They were not to move. They did a wonderful job dressed as the 
historical characters they studied.
  These are examples of how experienced, creative teachers can find 
exciting ways to help children learn. Music and history are integral to 
education, but the Leave No Child Behind law focuses on standardized 
tests.
  I hope these children and their instructors will continue their 
lessons in music and in history, their athletics and art classes, even 
though there will not be standardized tests on these subjects.
  This was one of the best meetings, if not the best, I have ever had. 
It opened my eyes. But I am not alone. I am sure many Senators have 
heard similar stories from educators in their States. I hope we can 
work together to fix this law, mainly by either changing it or funding 
it, and do the other things needed that we have to do to achieve the 
laudable goal of ensuring that no child is ever left behind.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Nevada. He is a 
thoughtful and excellent speaker on issues important to the country.
  I do not agree with him that the big problem we have in education 
today is the No Child Left Behind Act. My home county of Mobile is a 
large school system. What the Federal goal of No Child Left Behind set 
to accomplish was to encourage systems to confront schools that are 
failing; that we, in fact, have schools in America today that are not 
functioning well. As a matter of fact, they are failing. Some are 
failing utterly.
  Who is the person who loses? Is it the wealthy American who, if their 
children are sent to a failing public school, do they leave them there? 
No, they do not leave them there. They move to another part of town, or 
perhaps they put them in a private school they believe is better. That 
happens all over America.
  What about our low-income people who are sent by law to a school in 
Nevada or any other State and that school is failing by objective 
standards and those children are not learning and they are not gaining 
the kind of education critical to their success later in life?
  In most aspects of the No Child Left Behind bill that passed--and I 
was on the Education Committee when we marked it up. Senator Kennedy 
was there with other Democrats, and I believe it passed unanimously out 
of committee and moved forward in a bipartisan way to the Senate. If 
there is something wrong with it, I am willing to look at it and fix 
it.
  Frankly, I would like to have accountability and virtually no 
controls, objective evaluation of how children are doing, and allow the 
school system to function as it will.
  If we love these children, if we care about children deeply, and they 
are in a school that is failing, don't we want to help them?
  What happened to the superintendent in my hometown? He realized they 
had schools that were not functioning well. They created a bonus to 
encourage outstanding teachers to go to those poor school systems to 
raise that level up because he cared about them. He did not want to 
ignore it and did not want to go along with some idea that self-esteem 
is the only thing that counts. If a child cannot read, how can they 
have self-esteem as they move forward? We have to confront that early 
and move in that direction.
  No Child Left Behind basically requires the school system to have 
tests to make sure children are progressing. If they are not 
progressing, we want to act to help them. If the whole school is not 
progressing, students in the whole school are not progressing in a 
rational way. They ought to be held to account and improvement ought to 
be made.
  We simply cannot and will not continue to shuffle children through a 
system when they are not learning. That is what it is all about. If we 
care about children, we want them to have the best. If we care about 
children, we want to inquire as to whether or not their school is 
functioning and whether or not they are learning.
  I feel strongly about this. I have talked to superintendents and 
teachers throughout my State. My wife taught a number of years. I 
taught 1 year. I don't think teachers are sufficiently appreciated. A 
lot of the problems are Federal regulations. One of them is IDEA, the 
Disabilities Act Program. We can do better with those. We are working, 
and I have been working, as a lead sponsor to give more flexibility and 
respect to the teachers and principals--many of them with master's 
degrees in special education--to help those children in the best way 
and remove them from Federal court and State court and lawsuits.

  I note under President Bush's leadership, we have had greater 
increases in education since he has been President in funding from the 
Federal Government than we have throughout the entire time that 
President Clinton was President. There has been increased funding on 
the Federal side, but we do not want the Federal Government to be the 
prime sponsors of education in America. It is a local school deal that 
we care about.


                                  Iraq

  I want to share a few thoughts about the war in Iraq. It is an 
important matter for the entire world. It is a defining moment for us 
as we confront terrorism and instability and violence in the world. How 
can we make this world better?
  I had the honor Wednesday of hosting seven Iraqi citizens at the 
meeting of the Senate Steering Committee which I chair. These were 
courageous men who wanted to personally thank the Senate and the 
American people for liberating their nation. They urged us to stay the 
course in Iraq. I ask unanimous consent that the article in the 
Washington Post about these seven men be printed in the Record at the 
conclusion of my remarks.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  (See exhibit No. 1.)
  Mr. SESSIONS. These Iraqis have a special perspective on the Abu 
Ghraib prison. It was there that they each had their right hand 
amputated by the Saddam Hussein regime. Their crime? Doing business 
with American dollars. Those were atrocities. That was life in Abu 
Ghraib before the liberation in Iraq, substantially different than 
under the American Army, even allowing for

[[Page S6473]]

the physical abuse and psychological abuse we have seen in the 
photographs recently.
  There were several hours of videotapes that were discovered and found 
of other atrocities that came to my attention. This was discovered in 
the seizure of records and documents in Iraq by the American soldiers. 
People's hands, fingers, tongues, heads being cut off, as well as 
people being pushed off buildings--all on videotape.
  These were not low-level rogues. These were not isolated instances. 
It was systematic torture by a regime that used torture, mutilation, 
and murder as a means to a political end. The videotapes were made, in 
fact, at Saddam Hussein's request and direction so he could be certain 
his brutal orders were carried out. In fact, that is what dictators 
such as Saddam Hussein do. If you have seen some of the films of the 
history of Saddam Hussein's regime, you know he used random terror, 
random violence, death and destruction and mutilation as a tool to 
instill fear throughout the populace and help strengthen his hold on 
that country and to make sure nobody would cross him.
  America can never make these Iraqi men whole, but the sacrifice of 
our troops has made them free and has given each one of them a new life 
and a new hope. Thanks to the good will of doctors and businesses that 
donated money and services, they have been fitted with prosthetic 
hands. As I greeted each one of them in the Mansfield Room Wednesday, 
they proudly extended their newly restored right hands. I have shaken 
many important hands during my political life, but never was I more 
honored to shake a hand of one than these men.
  Sunday is June 6, the 60th anniversary of D-Day. I would like to read 
a prayer that President Roosevelt delivered after the invasion. As I 
read it, I ask my colleagues to reflect on our mission and our troops 
in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  President Roosevelt said:

       Almighty God, our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have 
     set upon a mighty endeavor; a struggle to preserve our 
     republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free 
     a suffering humanity . . . They fight to end conquest . . . 
     They fight to liberate . . . They yearn but for the end of 
     battle, for their return to the haven of home.
       Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall 
     return again and again; and we know by Thy grace and the 
     righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

  Just as we did 60 years ago, our President and our people today pray 
for our brave soldiers in Iraq. They are serving superbly. They are 
serving with professionalism. They are serving with restraint and poise 
and discipline under very difficult circumstances. They are out in 
crowds every day. Most people are friendly. You never know when someone 
out there may not be. Sometimes there are protests and people are 
shouting and raising guns in the air and chanting or even throwing 
rocks. We have seen them on television show discipline and poise and 
restraint and allow this spasm of anger to vent itself because, in the 
long run, that is probably going to be healthy as the Iraqis go through 
this painful transition from oppression to a decent government.
  So we pray for their return home. We celebrate the magnificence of 
their service and the triumphs of their cause. Our cause is just. Our 
resolve must be firm. Our troops are brave and courageous. Some things 
have changed in 60 years. We have the ability to win a war much faster 
with less risk to our troops but still at great risk, and much less 
risk to innocent civilians.
  Medical technology allows us to heal wounded soldiers faster and 
provide help to amputees. The Internet allows photographs of misconduct 
to reach the public with lightning speed. But some things remain the 
same. Mothers and wives of soldiers worry just as much. The pain felt 
by the families of a lost soldier hurts just as much. Those who live 
under tyranny, fear, with a thirst for liberty and a desire for peace, 
are just as grateful to those who bring them peace, liberty, and 
freedom. We pray for the Iraqi people that their suffering be ended, 
that they be liberated from tyranny.
  Shortly before I met with the seven Iraqis who had their hands cut 
off as punishment by Saddam Hussein, I was meeting a group of 
schoolchildren from Alabama. I told them I was going to be meeting with 
these Iraqis, and the schoolteacher called me aside, a young teacher 
who was with the group. He said: Just tell them--this was so sincere--
just tell these people we care about them. We want nothing but them to 
have a good government, and we wish them the best in the future. He 
said: Tell them that is not Washington talking. That is the people of 
America. That is what we want.

  I shared that with them because I thought it was a meaningful 
expression of American love and affection for the good and decent 
people of Iraq who suffered so long.
  So we pray for the Iraqi people. We pray that their suffering will be 
ended, that their liberation will continue, that tyranny will not 
return, and that economic progress and scientific advancement and 
education will flourish in their country.
  D-Day brought about the last days of Nazi tyranny. As we liberated 
the country and the world was horrified to see the images of brutality, 
torture and murder that were brought to light in the prison camps, the 
world will forever remember what occurred there. We have a permanent 
record of those horrible events at the Holocaust Museum. They remind us 
to be vigilant forever against tyrants, wherever they be.
  I urge my colleagues to meet with these seven Iraqis, to view the 
videotapes that showed what happened in those days under Saddam 
Hussein. This was Abu Ghraib prison not long ago. As we look at the 
unfortunate actions at Abu Ghraib, as our military proceeds to 
investigate and take actions about our failures there, I urge my 
colleagues to reflect on the liberation of Abu Ghraib and to gather 
some perspective. Nothing we can say makes what happened in Abu Ghraib 
by our soldiers right. It was wrong. It cannot be justified. Our Nation 
was humiliated, and it occurred under our watch.
  But to put it in perspective, we must reflect on who we are as a 
people, what is our purpose. Our Government investigated the images of 
abuse with the intent to prosecute those who committed criminal acts. 
Saddam Hussein investigated the images of mutilation to ensure that his 
torture was carried out.
  American soldiers have shed their own blood to bring freedom to the 
Iraqi people and security to America and the world. Saddam Hussein 
spilled the blood of others to maintain his rein of terror and to 
expand his dictatorship. America wants peace, democracy, and freedom 
for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. The terrorists want to destroy 
America and the values we hold dear.
  President Bush, Secretary Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Secretary 
Powell, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, our troops, this very day are 
working to secure our Nation, to secure Iraq, and to establish a 
framework for an Iraqi government where state-sponsored torture, 
mutilation, murder, and terrorism can be a painful memory of the past. 
And the American people understand it. They understand what we are 
trying to do, that we only want the best for Iraq. They want our 
Government to succeed. But this is an election year and we have had 
some comments that, frankly, are wrong and need to be talked about.
  I have waited. I have not responded aggressively. But the senior 
Senator from Massachusetts, summarizing his take on the Abu Ghraib 
abuses and photographs that came out, said:

       Shamefully, we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers 
     reopened under new management: U.S. management.

  That is not correct, Mr. President. That is absolutely wrong. It has 
undermined and is an attack on our soldiers who serve in Iraq. It makes 
their job more difficult, it puts them at greater risk, and it provides 
ammunition for those in Iraq who are frustrated and want to oppose 
American efforts there. It was not good and it was wrong and should not 
have been said. You watch Saddam's torture videos and try to explain to 
the American people how the actions of President Bush or Secretary 
Rumsfeld or General Myers or General Abizaid or General Sanchez equate 
with this kind of activity. No, sir, that is not correct. It is wrong.
  Saddam persecuted the people in prison. We are prosecuting people who 
violated the law of the United States concerning how to handle 
prisoners. Within days of the report being made

[[Page S6474]]

public, a single young soldier brought forth this information. Within a 
day, a criminal investigation was ongoing. Within a week, a public 
statement was made that abuses had occurred and an investigation was 
ongoing. A formal investigation by a two-star general was commenced. 
And we are making every effort to find out what happened, who did it, 
and punish those who did it. Some have already been court-martialed and 
sentenced to prison, and others will be. That is what the American 
people do.
  When I was with the seven Iraqis who had their hands cut off by 
Saddam Hussein in his prison, one of the reporters asked one of them 
about these abuses. He said, well, President Bush--that is not his 
policy; it was Saddam Hussein's policy. The American people are 
punishing those who did wrong. They were not punished under Saddam 
Hussein. They were encouraged.
  I think we need to talk about this. Former Vice President Gore, in a 
recent speech at New York University, said:

       How dare they subject us to such dishonor and disgrace. How 
     dare they drag the good name of the United States of America 
     through the mud of Saddam Hussein's torture prison.

  That is the kind of broad-based condemnation of the American soldiers 
who, at this moment--because three-fourths plus of this body sent them 
to Iraq to carry out an American policy to strike down terrorism and 
create a new government there--are putting their lives at risk for us 
because we sent them there. They ought not to be condemned in this 
fashion by the former Vice President of the United States of America. I 
don't know what has gotten into his head. It is wrong.
  Last night, I was at Walter Reed and I met great soldiers. Time and 
again, they told me they want to go back. Some of them have lost limbs. 
Some are in serious condition. Some are coming along nicely and, in 
fact, are going back to Iraq. These are the best of America. They love 
this country, and they love the rule of law. They care about doing the 
right thing, and they want to see our policies succeed--the policies we 
sent them to carry out. We sent them. We owe them support and help and 
affirmation. We don't need political second-guessing by armchair 
quarterbacks.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that an article be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the Washington Post, May 24, 2004]

           For Seven Iraqis, A Vital Part of Life Is Restored

                            (By Vince Bzdek)

       Houston.--Nine years ago in Abu Ghraib prison, on the night 
     before doctors were to cut off his right hand, Nazaar Joudi 
     wrote a letter to his wife. It was the final act he was to 
     perform with the hand, which was to be methodically removed 
     on Saddam Hussein's orders as punishment for the crime of 
     doing business in American dollars.
       ``Do not be sad,'' Joudi wrote to Um Fuqaan that night. 
     ``Hopefully Allah will replace my hand with an even better 
     one. . . . God will reward you for standing next to your 
     husband and being my right hand.''
       Thanks to a Fairfax-based film producer, a half-dozen 
     health care providers and businesses in Houston, and a 
     legendary ``white knight in blue spectacles,'' Joudi's 
     promise to his wife came true last Monday.
       Doctors and prosthetists moved by the plight of Joudi and 
     six other Iraqi merchants whose right hands were amputated at 
     Abu Ghraib finished fitting each of the men with $50,000 
     ``bionic'' hands. Black tattoos of crosses that had been 
     carved into the men's foreheads to label them criminals were 
     removed by a Houston plastic surgeon a few weeks earlier. All 
     the services and products were donated.
       As resentment of Americans in Iraq seems to swell each day, 
     these seven Iraqis are unabashed in their gratitude, not just 
     for their new hands, but for the U.S. role in ending what 
     they call the ``reign of horror'' that claimed the lives of 
     as many as 2.5 million of their countrymen.
       ``Tell the American people what all Iraqis want to tell to 
     them,'' Salah Zinad said. ``Tell them: Thank you. Thank you. 
     Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.''
       The other six Iraqis were equally effusive, their 
     appreciation undimmed by the current prisoner abuse scandal 
     at Abu Ghraib, outside Baghdad, and other occupation worries 
     back home.
       ``We have freedom in Iraq. Now we say anything we want,'' 
     Zinad said. ``Under Saddam we whispered.''
       In recent interviews, the seven Iraqis were unflagging in 
     their confidence about Iraq's future and the U.S. role in it.
       Zinad on the prisoner abuse: ``Some American soldiers are a 
     problem. Not all Americans. These Americans who did this will 
     be punished. Under Saddam, such abuses were rewarded and 
     praised. Iraqis understand the difference.''
       Qasim Kadhim on Americans who think the invasion of Iraq 
     was a mistake: ``I think those people have made a mistake, 
     because under Allah, all people are brothers. We must help 
     each other if we have a problem. . . . How do we do it if 
     nobody helps us?''
       Basim Al Fadhly on why many Iraqis are angry: ``They have 
     good reasons to be angry. There have been many mistakes 
     because of cultural differences. Iraq is not a country 
     like America yet. We were 35 years under Saddam. But that 
     does not mean Iraqis don't want democracy. People like 
     freedom, but with freedom you need life.''
       The seven have become celebrities in Houston as they learn 
     how to use their artificial limbs and soak up a bit of Texas 
     hospitality when not at the hospital. They've watched an 
     Astros game in the owner's box, donned cowboy duds for a 
     barbecue at the historic Y.O. Ranch, even spent a night at 
     the dog track.
       This week, they make a pilgrimage to Washington to employ 
     their new limbs shaking the hands of more Americans they want 
     to thank, including soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical 
     Center who have undergone amputations. They also plan to lay 
     a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
       ``Saddam is the past,'' Kadhim said. ``Now we must make 
     business contacts in America.''


                            amputation city

       Their odyssey began almost exactly a year ago, with an 
     overheard conversation in a Baghdad cafe.
       Don North, a former correspondent for both ABC and NBC who 
     is currently a freelance producer, was in Baghdad last June 
     helping set up the U.S.-sponsored Iraq Media Network when he 
     received a videotape from one of the Iraqi journalists 
     working for him. It showed doctors amputating the hands of 
     nine Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib in 1995.
       ``I'd seen a lot of videotape, but this was truly gruesome 
     and shocking,'' North said. In Baghdad, the owner of a small 
     video production shop had been asked to make 10 copies of the 
     tape by secret police in 1995. He clandestinely made an extra 
     to keep as evidence of the atrocities. That was the copy that 
     found its way to North.
       Al Fadhly said that, after a year in hellish prisons and 
     five months in Abu Ghraib, he was almost relieved when he 
     heard he and the eight other merchants were going to be freed 
     after having their hands amputated.
       ``We were the lucky ones,'' Al Fadhly said. ``Others stayed 
     in prison much longer. Thirty thousand in Abu Ghraib went to 
     the hangman's noose.''
       Their trial lasted 30 minutes. Al Fadhly said all nine men 
     believe they were scapegoated by Hussein because his economy 
     was collapsing after the Persian Gulf War, and U.S. currency 
     was anathema to him. Two weeks after the men lost their 
     hands, they said, the law banning trade in foreign currency 
     was thrown out.
       Hussein had the nine hands brought to him, to be sure the 
     sentence was carried out, said Farhad Taha, an attending 
     physician at the amputations who was later interviewed by Al 
     Fadhly, who now works for the media network.
       Amnesty International estimates that hundreds, perhaps 
     thousands, of Iraqis had their hands amputated for similar 
     crimes. ``Baghdad is Amputation City,'' North said. ``Within 
     a block you run into two to three people without a leg, or an 
     arm, or an ear.'' Hussein's secret police, like Hitler's, 
     kept meticulous records of who was killed or maimed, and 
     why. A committee of former prisoners is sorting through 2 
     million to 4 million files in hopes of accurately 
     quantifying the scope of the depravity.
       One of the nine maimed men escaped to Europe after his 
     release, and another has died. Over the next nine years, the 
     seven who remained in Baghdad kept a low profile, living the 
     life of scarred outcasts. They also became their own support 
     system, forever bonded by their time in prison.
       ``They were their own best friends,'' North said.


                       Houston's ``White Knight''

       After viewing the tape. North was determined to make a 
     documentary about the men. ``It was already a famous story in 
     Baghdad.'' When he met the seven, North decided he would shed 
     his role of detached observer. ``I decided I wasn't going to 
     leave it up to chance that some doctor who saw my documentary 
     would offer to help,'' he said.
       An oil engineer from Houston, Roger Brown, overheard North 
     talking about the men in a Baghdad cafe. He suggested North 
     contact Houston's ``white knight in blue spectacles,'' famed 
     TV newsman Marvin Zindler.
       Zindler is the kind of institution only Texas could spawn: 
     a woofer-voiced champion of underdogs and the underprivileged 
     who sports white pants, a silver hairpiece and blue-tinted 
     eyeglasses.
       Although Zindler made his name with muckraking, populist 
     journalism--he uncovered the scandal memorialized in ``The 
     Best Little Whorehouse in Texas''--these days he uses his 
     airtime on the ABC affiliate's ``Eyewitness News'' more to 
     comfort the afflicted than to afflict the comfortable. 
     ``Why'd we

[[Page S6475]]

     do this?'' Zindler replies to a question. ``Because the guys 
     had their hands cut off.''
       Zindler is 82 but looks much younger thanks to 30 
     reconstructive surgeries. (``I was fired from my first TV job 
     for being too ugly,'' he explains.) Those surgeries yielded a 
     good friend in Joe Agris, Zindler's plastic surgeon. After 
     talking to North, Zindler called Agris to get the good deeds 
     rolling.
       Agris, who has volunteered time in Vietnam and Nicaragua 
     doing reconstructive surgery on children, rounded up the 
     doctors, nurses, hospitals and clinics to give the men new 
     hands. North spent his days off making the logistical 
     arrangements. It took months to line up all the benefactors 
     and cut through the red tape, but by early April the amputees 
     were bound for Houston.
       The Methodist Hospital, the Institute for Rehabilitation 
     and Research, and Dynamic Orthotics and Prosthetics in 
     Houston donated the operating rooms, rehab and training; 
     Houston-based Continental Airlines paid for the seven Iraqis' 
     flight; the Marriott and Warwick hotel chains housed them; 
     and the  Minneapolis branch of a German prosthetics company, 
     Otto Bock, provided the artificial hands.
        The Iraqis were met with a surprise in their first days in 
     Texas: the prospect of another round of surgeries to further 
     shorten their arms. Agris and another surgeon he'd enlisted, 
     Fred Kestler, determined that the Abu Ghraib surgeries had 
     left the men with far too much real pain and ``phantom 
     pain''--painful sensations where the limb used to be. 
     Operations were needed to repair the nerves and create a new, 
     smooth surface for the artificial hands.
        Last week, the men had recovered enough for the final 
     fitting of their bionic hands, microprocessor-assisted 
     marvels that receive instructions from the brain via 
     electrodes attached to muscles in the arm. The Iraqis are 
     training themselves to fire the right muscles to control hand 
     functions, a process that will take months. Already, they can 
     throw balls, shake hands, raise a glass.
        Agris and North will go back to Baghdad with the seven in 
     early June to make sure they have the proper medical support. 
     Agris has arranged to visit other amputees, and he will help 
     Baghdad hospitals upgrade their knowledge about amputations 
     and prosthetics.
        ``The thing that'll win hearts and minds in the 
     humanitarian effort, not guns,'' Agris said. ``You take care 
     of someone's child, not only do you help the child but you 
     win over the family. And the family talks to the neighbors 
     and you win over the neighbors. It just escalates.''
        He thinks Al Fadhly, Joudi, Kadhim, Salah and the other 
     three men--Laith Aggar, Hassan Al Gereawy and Al'aa Hassan--
     will change some minds, too.
        ``I think we're going to see a ripple effect, especially 
     with a guy like Al Fadhly who's got a job working for the 
     coalition's new TV station. They're bringing back a different 
     attitude, a different look.''


                          Ready for Homecoming

       No one turned down North, Zindler or Agris when they asked 
     for help. L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, 
     wrote an executive memo authorizing the trip. The Homeland 
     Security Department issued seven ``medical emergency'' visa 
     waivers, and the Air Force transported the group to Germany 
     to catch the Continental flight to Houston.
       ``This is really who we are as a country,'' Agris said.
       After nearly two months in Houston, the Iraqis admit they 
     are getting homesick. Kadhim has developed what he says is 
     too much of a fondness for Budweiser, Aggar is eager to get 
     back to his jewelry shop, and the seven men have run up a 
     $6,000 phone and laundry bill at the hotels.
       North is shopping his documentary about the men to major 
     television networks. He worries, however, that the publicity 
     the Iraqis have received and their new, expensive hands might 
     make them targets back home. ``Anybody in Iraq who is a 
     decent, productive member of society has become a target,'' 
     he said.
       But the Iraqis themselves aren't that worried. ``Saddam's 
     friends don't have much power any more,'' Aggar said. ``Iraq 
     is many millions of people. They are only hundreds. They are 
     the ones who live in fear now''
       ``Allah will watch over us,'' Kadhim added. ``Once Saddam 
     has his trial, it will be over. Hopefully, it will be 
     quickly.''
       When Al Fadhly gets home, the first thing he plans to do 
     with his new hand is wave vigorously to his friends and 
     neighbors. Kadhim plans to embrace his seven boys and 
     daughter all at once. Aggard said he will, for the first 
     time, properly shake the hand of the friend who watched over 
     his house and family while he was in prison.
       Last week at Dynamic Orthotics, Joudi didn't answer when 
     asked what he would do first. He was already busy using his 
     prosthetic to try something he hadn't done since the night 
     before he lost his hand. He was writing a letter to his wife.

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I was moved last night to be with those 
supersoldiers and have dinner with them and talk with them and their 
families. They are so fine and so indicative of the strengths and 
values of America.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Mississippi is 
recognized.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, as the Senate continues its consideration 
of the National Defense Authorization Act, I wish to commend our 
military forces for the exemplary and successful performance of their 
missions in the war on terrorism.
  This bill provides the authorization for appropriations of funds 
needed to enable them to continue to protect our national security 
interests in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the world. In 
Afghanistan, the Taliban leadership has been removed and is no longer 
able to provide a safe haven for al-Qaida operatives or to train 
terrorists or to plan attacks against people around the world. In Iraq, 
Saddam Hussein is in prison, and 46 of the most wanted operatives in 
his regime are no longer a threat to others.
  Our military forces have helped provide an opportunity for Iraq to 
start a transition to democracy. The President's envoy to Iraq, 
Ambassador Paul Bremer, has led this impressive transition to peace and 
sovereignty. Under Ambassador Bremer's leadership, and with the 
assistance of many courageous Iraqi citizens, unemployment has fallen 
by nearly one-half. And for the first time in decades, Iraq's 
marketplaces are filled with consumer goods. More than 395,000 jobs 
have been created for the Iraqi people. All 22 universities and 43 
technical institutes and colleges are open. Almost 2,500 schools have 
been rehabilitated, and 240 hospitals and more than 1,200 health 
clinics are now open for the Iraqi people. Five million children have 
been immunized for measles, mumps, and rubella. Electricity generation 
has surpassed prewar levels and is more evenly distributed now than it 
was before. The number of telephone subscribers, including cell phone 
users, is nearly one-third above the level it was before the liberation 
began. More than 90 percent of Iraqi towns and provinces have local 
government councils. These are individuals who have voluntarily assumed 
responsibilities for moving their communities into this new era of 
self-government.
  Iraq has a functioning judiciary now and is on its way to providing 
true and equal justice for all. More than 200,000 Iraqis are now 
serving in their own security forces, and 25,000 troops from other 
countries are present in Iraq as well, contributing to the peacekeeping 
operations.
  This authorization bill also provides support for other defense 
activities in the central command area of responsibility and elsewhere 
around the world where our interests are threatened. It is important 
that we pass this bill.
  Chairman Warner and Senator Levin and their committee staff members 
have worked hard to put together a comprehensive authorization bill for 
the day-to-day operation and activities of our military forces. The 
bill provides essential authority for the funding that is necessary to 
keep our troops safe in the field, enabling them to protect themselves 
with the latest technologies and innovations that are available.
  The amendment that has been offered by the chairman and ranking 
minority member authorizes an additional $25 billion in supplemental 
appropriations for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
  The other day, our Appropriations Committee, the Subcommittee on 
Defense, conducted a hearing with General Pace, the Vice Chairman of 
the Joint Chiefs of staff, and representatives from the Office of 
Management and Budget and the Department of Defense, the civilian 
leadership. We were able to question them about the use of these funds 
and what it was for.
  It is specifically allocated to services. It is not just a lump sum 
of money available to spend in any way the Department or the military 
chooses, but it is described in this supplemental appropriations bill 
that will be before the Senate as well.
  This contingent emergency reserve fund is important to ensure that 
the Department of Defense has the ability to respond to the rapidly 
changing environment in which our troops are currently operating. The 
authorization for this additional funding helps ensure that the core 
funding authorized in the bill for routine operations of the 
Department, such as the training of troops, base operations, 
maintenance, and the planned procurement of equipment continue 
uninterrupted in the

[[Page S6476]]

next fiscal year, while still ensuring that our troops in Afghanistan 
and Iraq have the resources needed to perform their important missions.
  This funding will likely be used to provide ammunition and supplies, 
fuel for aircraft and vehicles, and maintenance for the equipment, and 
to provide force protection needs, such as body armor and other armor 
for vehicles that are used by our troops.
  In my State of Mississippi, more than 3,000 National Guard and Air 
National Guard troops have been deployed since Operation Iraqi Freedom 
began. A few weeks ago, we welcomed home to our State a battalion of 
combat engineers who had been sent to Iraq right after the airport at 
Tikrit had been overtaken. They built a perimeter around that airfield 
to protect it and to protect this operation from those who would do 
harm to our troops. They built structures for the defense of other 
military forces and activities throughout northern Iraq. Then they came 
home. They came home to the welcome that was earned--well earned--
because of their brave service. They suffered not one casualty in the 
performance of their duties. They were under fire, but they protected 
themselves successfully. Thirty-two members of that battalion received 
Bronze Medals for their heroism and their courage under fire.
  It makes me very proud that these soldiers from my State carried out 
their mission so successfully and with such distinction. I am proud of 
them and other troops from our State and throughout the country who 
have been called on to serve in this war on terrorism, many without 
complaints, many volunteering for that service in particular.
  It has been a very impressive performance in behalf of the security 
interests of our great country. We appreciate their service, we 
appreciate their skill, and we want to be sure this legislation 
contains the resources that will be necessary for them to continue to 
safely carry out their duties in the future.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, first, I wish to thank my good friend from 
Alabama. Who says that words do not have weight and they are not 
remembered a long time. I was glad he recited the prayer from President 
Roosevelt on the eve of D-Day some 60 years ago this weekend. Words do 
have weight, and they are remembered a long time.
  When we hear that prayer, maybe we ought to start thinking as a body 
and as representatives of our constituencies that maybe this might be 
the better approach to completing the mission in Iraq. Last night, the 
Senator from Alabama and 32 other Senators visited Walter Reed Army 
Medical Center. It is a moving experience whenever one sees warriors 
come home with limbs gone, but it is also moving to see the miracles of 
healing, of what modern-day medicine and technology has done to 
rehabilitate these young people to put them back into the mainstream of 
American life.
  It is remarkable to see their spirit because everything around them 
is negative. Yet they find a way to say this is my country, this one I 
will die for because I also understand there are generations behind us 
to which we must pass this great country.
  Some of us inherited these freedoms. We have not paid for them. They 
were given to us. Sometimes we use them a little loosely because we did 
not earn them. That makes a lot of difference.
  Last night was a remarkable night. I visited a young man from Montana 
who just within the last week returned. He lost one leg, the whole leg. 
With a series of surgeries and skin grafts and probably 6 or 8 months 
of hard rehabilitation, he will be back home again in the central part 
of Montana.
  Earlier this week, we also got the word that a soldier, Owen Witt, 
from Sand Springs, MT--Sand Springs has one grocery store and one post 
office; that is all that is there--was killed in the line of duty in 
Iraq. David and Karen, his folks, ranch in that part of the world. Of 
course, we send them our prayers and our thoughts at this time.
  When I talked with his mother, she said two of them in that community 
went into the Army as soulmates. Both of them wanted to go to the same 
outfit. His good friend, Kevin Rogge, is still over there, and we will 
be in touch with him, we hope, before the next couple of weeks are out.
  Again, I go back to that prayer. Maybe it would be a good approach 
for every representative to go back and read that prayer because we all 
understand what the mission is. The people on the ground understand 
what the mission is. They are willing to take the risk. They are 
willing to see it through to victory: to liberate and do away with a 
tyrant, to give freedom to people who have never known it in their 
lifetime. That is a high calling and a calling worth our attention.
  I was struck also a while ago when the distinguished minority leader 
was talking about No Child Left Behind. I remind this body that No 
Child Left Behind, when it went to the States, had enough flexibility 
in that law that the States could set their rules and regulations on 
how they wanted this to apply. If there is a little bit of tension or 
nervousness from our teachers or a little bit of pressure and they are 
a little uncomfortable because of testing, they are supposed to be a 
little uncomfortable because, for the first time, we are looking at not 
only the job they are doing but the job the administration of the 
school is doing and how we are doing as supporters of public education.
  We all better be a little bit nervous, and if there is something 
wrong in my State and I can help it, I will go after it now. Do not 
come to the floor and make excuses why it isn't working if you have not 
been involved.
  There was some nervousness among my teachers. We are slowly getting 
those worked out. We are finding there is a comfort level whenever we 
see the progress of young people who are now being taught the basics, 
and the basics are the Three R's: reading, writing, and arithmetic.
  That is what it is all about. The funds from the Federal Government 
are flowing at a level never seen before in the history of this 
country. Now, is it a perfect law? No. Is it a step in the right 
direction? It is.
  I congratulate my friend from Mississippi, who talked about the 
contingency report. It is very important.
  My good friend from New Mexico was with us last night, and it was 
truly a moving event when talking to those young people.
  Let us comment a little bit about the budget. We are having a tough 
time. I do not think we as individuals have seen the urgency of having 
a budget. Having a budget is bigger than any one of us in this Senate. 
I urge my colleagues this coming week, as we go into the appropriations 
season, to work doubly hard to come up with a budget.
  Also, my good friend from New Mexico has worked on an energy bill. 
That needs passing, too, this next week. Look around us and see what is 
happening in energy in this country and how it can slow down this 
economy.
  This economy is booming. More people own homes now than at any time 
in the history of the country. More people are working in my State of 
Montana than ever before. We did not have huge unemployment. Even 
though our economy nationwide was stagnant, we continued to grow.
  A lot of things in this country are working to the positive side, and 
we are not talking about them. More people are working today than at 
any time in the history of this country. More homes are being bought. 
There are more first-time home buyers. That is an accomplishment. We 
are putting more people back to work. That is an accomplishment.
  I thank my good friend from Alabama this morning for allowing me this 
5 or 10 minutes. I wanted to remind people that it is not all doom and 
gloom. If my colleagues think it is doom and gloom, then it is going to 
be doom and gloom. If my colleagues think we cannot win in Iraq, we 
will not win in Iraq.
  Last night, I heard a young man comment--and my colleagues think 
words do not have weight? He said: Senator, you can pull us out of Iraq 
and bring us home, but the people who want to bring us down will follow 
us. They will be here. I do not think we want that.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Mexico.


                          Recent Economic News

  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise to talk this morning about good 
news.

[[Page S6477]]

This morning we just received a current report on how many new jobs 
were created in America in the past quarter. There were 248,000 jobs 
created in May.
  There is so much talk about unemployment. People say this 
Presidential race is going to depend on jobs and the performance of our 
President with reference to jobs and the American economy during his 
term. We all know that about the time he was elected, this country was 
going into recession. That means the big growth that occurred for about 
4 years prior to that had reached its peak and was on the way down. 
That means if something was not done, we would have to wait for the 
natural give and take of the American economy to right itself. Who 
knows how long that would have taken. Perhaps it would have taken 2, 3 
or 4 years to right itself because the lessons of economics take that 
long. Once the economy starts down, one has to wait for the economy to 
right itself, and who knows how long that will take. That recession was 
coupled with the bust of the stock market. Who knows when it would have 
filled that gap.
  The recession did not last very long because somebody did something 
right. I surmise that Congress did not do anything right because I can 
look around and see what happened. They did not do anything. The 
President did something that was right. He suggested that we ought to 
interrupt that recession and startup the American economy again by 
cutting taxes.
  I have been here when numerous tax bills were passed. They were 
passed in the name of new jobs, in the name of putting people to work, 
in the name of making sure there was some kind of fairness--whatever 
reason they were passed. Essentially one has to look at them and see 
how they worked and how good were they in comparison to the tax cuts 
that were done at the request of President Bush.
  Frankly, I looked down the other day and saw this list of tax cuts 
that have occurred during this President's time. They were pushed and 
shoved through Congress, Democrats voting almost to a man against them. 
But if one looks at the list, it is the most astounding list of 
appropriate tax cuts for growth I have ever seen in my 31 years.
  Normally, we pass all kinds of irrelevant tax cuts when we pass a tax 
cut bill. I think the Senator from Alabama knows that. This tax 
package, with Congress usually working its way to change the 
President's approach and do the wrong thing, adopted all of the 
essential features of the President's tax bill. They were directed at 
small business in America.
  Guess what. It worked. Small business in America is booming. The job 
creator in America, small business, is absolutely moving ahead. Jobs 
are being added. Families that own businesses are buying trucks, adding 
on to their buildings because we were smart enough to adopt a tax bill 
that invited investment, invited growth type items for them.
  My colleagues can look at the list. Even Congress went along with the 
President and adopted the right ones. I will admit there were two that 
were socially minded. That was the child credit and trying to get the 
marriage tax penalty closer to reality, closer to fairness, but all the 
rest had to do with growth.
  What happened to all the clamor about jobs? In the last 10 months, 
this economy in America has created 1.4 million new jobs. Now, there 
was a lot of talk about the President and 2 million jobs that he lost. 
What a joke. First, he did not lose them. We had a recession going and 
he did not create that, but he did cause a shallow recession. Now we 
are kind of up, up and away on job creation.
  I surmise this will continue right up and through the election. If it 
does, that 2 million jobs argument going on across America can be wiped 
out, and we will be back to the best way to create jobs is to create a 
tax system and tax cuts that are directed at corporate and small 
business in America so they can add jobs and still grow and prosper or 
indeed do better than they were doing. That is what the President did.
  Unemployment had reached 7.8 percent during that shallow recession. 
It is now down to 5.6 percent. That is not too shabby. As a matter of 
fact, I predict it will continue to go down. I say to my friend that it 
has gone from 7.8 to 5.6 and holding steady or coming down.
  The second argument being made is that these tax cuts caused this big 
deficit.
  Let me suggest there are at least three things that can cause a 
deficit to grow. One is if you spend more, and one is if you have a 
recession or a downturn in the economy, and then the third one is if 
you cut taxes. Of course, if you cut taxes and assume it will not do 
anything in the economy, then you will do a straight line and say the 
tax cuts created part of the deficit.
  Let me tell you, the numbers are absolutely startling. If they are 
correct, for those who think we will fix this by increasing taxes, they 
have to be in some way reading tea leaves that have already lost all 
their flavor and are not good for anything. That is because the 
Congressional Budget Office, which is a neutral body, has said the weak 
economy caused 40 percent of the deficit we have accumulated. Let me 
repeat. When a recession occurs, you don't collect taxes--you collect 
less, I should say, because there are fewer workers and businesses are 
making less money, and in a sense the weak economy causes losses in the 
tax take by the American Government and other things that create 
growth. So 40 percent came from that, from that one thing, the 
recession.
  Increased spending? We know what we increased the spending for. Some 
was of our own doing, just because we spent it, but most of it was 
because of homeland security, increased defense costs, and the like. 
Who would not have done that? That had to be done. That was increased 
spending by 36 percent. So we have 40 and 36 that had nothing to do 
with taxes. You would think, from those who are talking about it, that 
the tax cut created it all. It created the total of 40 plus 36, which 
is 76 percent. That leaves something like 24 percent that came from tax 
cuts.
  If the tax cuts stimulated the economy and pulled us out of the 
recession, then you can almost say if we wait around that one will 
disappear because, with significant economic growth, the tax revenues 
of the country will go up almost automatically.
  I can remember at one point when I was chairman of the Budget 
Committee, we were getting estimates of the tax take of the United 
States. We were so inept at measuring the result of the tax cuts and 
economic growth that every quarter we underestimated by a substantial 
amount how much revenue was coming into the Government. We had three 
successive quarters when the revenues came in at $50 billion more than 
we expected. As a matter of fact, I assume that within the next 4 or 5 
months with this growth, if it remains and is sustained, we will start 
seeing the revenue numbers of America change.
  They are not going to change for the worse; they are going to change 
for the better. There is already a slight change, but I am not willing 
to brag about it yet because it has not passed $20 billion. It is under 
$20 billion. You know, we have to be careful assuming that estimates 
are going to remain right because they change from being right to being 
wrong, in terms of their validity.
  We will get there, though. Soon this prosperous economy will start 
producing more revenue. The deficits will have to be affected 
positively. If we continue to restrain our budget growth, the country 
will have everything right. It will have the tax cuts that we have done 
still in place--there are a couple of more that we need to do. They 
will be in place and America will be able to say under the leadership 
of George Bush, the country came out of recession and started growing. 
Even with a war we did it right, and the Americans at home are 
investing in small businesses. And it is growing. American corporations 
are incurring more and more surplus and are looking around for 
investments, and that is good.
  I repeat, I am very proud of what this President did. As with Iraq, 
this President has courage. On the economy, he exercised courage. There 
were more people around, including some Republicans--maybe more than a 
few--who were beating down his door, saying: Don't cut taxes. We are in 
a recession and the deficit is growing. Don't cut taxes.
  He was steadfast. He said the only way to fix it is to cut taxes and 
cut

[[Page S6478]]

them in a way that investment will occur, that savings will occur. That 
is what we did, at his behest and under his leadership.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, before the Senator leaves, I thank him 
for his excellent comments. He served so ably as chairman of the Senate 
Budget Committee. He has been a Member of this Senate 31 years and has 
seen a lot of things occur.
  I guess my question to the Senator is this: For some reason, the 
media or whatever, created an image--and some of the speeches on this 
floor nurtured that image--that President Bush created this economic 
slowdown that occurred. But as I remember, and I ask the Senator is it 
not correct, the third quarter of President Clinton's last year in 
office was negative growth, and the first quarter--and the President 
didn't take office until mid-January when he got sworn in--the first 
quarter of the year he inherited was negative growth. Then we had the 
September 11 attack. So a number of things that came together were not 
his fault. Is that fair to say?
  Mr. DOMENICI. That is absolutely correct. Incidentally, in my list of 
things that have hurt the economy, that we had to eliminate, I failed 
to mention that we, the United States, had imposed upon us the 9/11 
incident. It caused a lot of turmoil in this economy. I am not saying 
that trying to ignore the terrible deaths that occurred and the wrath 
that Americans have for the terrorists. But that should be in the list, 
also, of things that would add to the economic downturn.
  But the Senator is correct. The President not only inherited a 
recession, but it continued afterwards, and it could not have been 
caused by President Bush because it occurred too quickly. With an 
economy this size you can't do anything in 2 months. If you wanted to 
hurt it, you couldn't hurt it. It is too big, too powerful. As a matter 
of fact, if you want to cut taxes, you have to be patient because they 
do not bring the economy back tomorrow or next week. It takes a while.
  It took a while. While the doubters ran around the country talking 
about no jobs, the economy was percolating underneath and created the 
jobs. That is what happened today.
  I forgot to mention one thing we did not do that is currently a 
political issue and is in this campaign. That is, what do we do about 
the fact that most of these tax cuts--I just told you what my view is 
about them, which is that they help--are temporary? They should not 
have been temporary; Congress would have made them permanent. But the 
problem is, the Budget Act of the United States, which governs budgets 
and governs the mandatory change in taxes, has provisions in it that 
mean you cannot cut taxes permanently. You can only do it over a number 
of years and your authority runs out. So many of these tax cuts are 
going to run out.
  I am grateful they are not going to run out before this growth, but 
they are going to stop growth because those people involved in 
investing are expecting to have the same tax cut for a while. They 
don't expect to be turned off and on like a spigot. If you want them to 
respond, you have to tell them when you act on them you don't have to 
worry about next month that you are going to be in a business that you 
lost a hundred-thousand-dollar tax credit, or you lost whatever it was. 
You have to leave them in. I think we ought to have a full-blown debate 
on that. I hope we can. I don't know if we can because we don't have 
that budget and I am not sure we can do a tax bill without a budget.
  Senator Nickles is trying hard. There are some on our side who will 
not let us do it. I regret it because I believe for those who talk 
about ``no more tax cuts because of the deficit,'' they actually have 
it backwards. Because of the deficit, you should be making sure the tax 
cuts remain because you can put more people to work. You can cause more 
revenues to come into the country. You can stabilize for long periods 
of time the status of the American economy, which is good at this 
point, not bad. I thank the Senator.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I thank the distinguished Senator from New Mexico. His 
wisdom should not be lost on this body. It is very valuable, and we 
thank him for that.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Dole). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I want to follow up on Senator 
Domenici's comments and those of Senator Burns about the growth we have 
in the economy.
  This was a great announcement today about the 248,000 new jobs 
created last month. The month before that, we created 288,000 jobs, and 
the month before that, 315,000 new jobs. This is some of greatest 
growth we have had in many years. The third quarter of last year was 
over 8-percent growth.
  People started to dismiss the economic growth. Where are jobs? All 
the experts told us that jobs follow growth. They don't come in the 
same week in which there is growth. We have had tremendous growth over 
the last four quarters. Actually, certainly the last three quarters 
represent the highest growth in 20 years. That 8-percent growth was the 
highest growth in 20 years, and this job expansion today is something 
we have to celebrate. It is the kind of thing that gives us confidence 
in America. We did it not by not raising taxes, creating bureaucracies, 
make-work programs and governmental deals; we did it by allowing the 
American people to have more of their own money so they could invest in 
their communities.
  I know the Senator from North Carolina traveled her State as I 
traveled my State the last recess, and every city mayor I talked to 
said his sales taxes were up. Those are real numbers, aren't they? When 
a town's sale taxes are up--little and big towns--that means something 
good is happening out there. People are able to have more money to buy 
and spend and create growth in the economy.
  Manufacturing jobs are up--something I know the Senator from North 
Carolina worries about as I do in Alabama. We see growth in 
manufacturing jobs for the first time in a long time.
  Those are good things that are happening. If we stay the course, if 
we invest in the American people to allow freedom, productivity, 
innovation, and the dream of profit and progress to occur and continue 
to occur, I believe we will continue to have good growth in America.
  I yield the floor. 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. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


    Amendments Nos. 3281, 3282, 3283, and 3244, as modified, en bloc

  Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, on behalf of the managers, I have a 
set of amendments to the Defense bill that have been cleared by both 
managers. Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that the amendments be 
considered and agreed to and the motions to reconsider laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendments were agreed to, as follows:


                           AMENDMENT NO. 3281

  (Purpose: To express the sense of the Senate that the Department of 
     Defense should support the construction of schools in housing 
   privatization agreements that severely impact student populations)

       At the end of subtitle F of title III, insert the 
     following:

     SEC. 353. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE IMPACT OF THE 
                   PRIVATIZATION OF MILITARY HOUSING ON LOCAL 
                   SCHOOLS.

       (a) Findings.--The Senate finds the following:
       (1) There are approximately 750,000 school-aged children of 
     members of the active duty Armed Forces in the United States.
       (2) Approximately 650,000 of those students are currently 
     being served in public schools across the United States.
       (3) The Department of Defense has embarked on military 
     housing privatization initiatives using authorities provided 
     in subchapter IV of chapter 169 of part IV of subtitle A of 
     title 10, United States Code, which

[[Page S6479]]

     will result in the improvement or replacement of 120,000 
     military family housing units in the United States.
       (4) The Secretary of each military department is authorized 
     to include the construction of new school facilities in 
     agreements carried out under subchapter IV of chapter 169 of 
     part IV of subtitle A of title 10, United States Code.
       (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate 
     that the Department of Defense should support the 
     construction of schools in housing privatization agreements 
     that severely impact student populations.


                           AMENDMENT NO. 3282

 (Purpose: To require a Comptroller General study and report on use of 
   alternative technologies to address groundwater contamination at 
                  Department of Defense installations)

       At the end of subtitle C of title III, add the following:

     SEC. 326. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY AND REPORT ON ALTERNATIVE 
                   TECHNOLOGIES TO DECONTAMINATE GROUNDWATER AT 
                   DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE INSTALLATIONS.

       (a) Comptroller General Study.--The Comptroller General of 
     the United States shall conduct a study to determine whether 
     or not cost-effective technologies are available to the 
     Department of Defense for the cleanup of groundwater 
     contamination at Department installations in lieu of 
     traditional methods, such as pump and treat, that can be 
     expensive and take many years to complete.
       (b) Elements.--The study under subsection (a) shall include 
     the following:
       (1) An identification of current technologies being used or 
     field tested by the Department to treat groundwater at 
     Department installations, including the contaminants being 
     addressed.
       (2) An identification of cost-effective technologies 
     described in that subsection that are currently under 
     research, under development by commercial vendors, or 
     available commercially and being used outside the Department 
     and that have potential for use by the Department to address 
     the contaminants identified under paragraph (1).
       (3) An evaluation of the potential benefits and limitations 
     of using the technologies identified under paragraphs (1) and 
     (2).
       (4) A description of the barriers, such as cost, 
     capability, or legal restrictions, to using the technologies 
     identified under paragraph (2).
       (5) Any other matters the Comptroller General considers 
     appropriate.
       (c) Report.--By April 1, 2005, the Comptroller General 
     shall submit to Congress a report on the study under 
     subsection (a). The report shall include the results of the 
     study and any recommendations, including recommendations for 
     administrative or legislative action, that the Comptroller 
     General considers appropriate.


                           AMENDMENT NO. 3283

(Purpose: To authorize a program to commemorate the 60th anniversary of 
                             World War II)

       At the end of subtitle G of title III, add the following:

     SEC. 364. PROGRAM TO COMMEMORATE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD 
                   WAR II.

       (a) In General.--For Fiscal Year 2005, the Secretary of 
     Defense may conduct a program--
       (1) to commemorate the 60th anniversary of World War II; 
     and
       (2) to coordinate, support, and facilitate other such 
     commemoration programs and activities of the Federal 
     Government, State and local governments, and other persons.
       (b) Program Activities.--The program referred to in 
     subsection (a) may include activities and ceremonies--
       (1) to provide the people of the United States with a clear 
     understanding and appreciation of the lessons and history of 
     World War II;
       (2) to thank and honor veterans of World War II and their 
     families;
       (3) to pay tribute to the sacrifices and contributions made 
     on the home front by the people of the United States;
       (4) to foster an awareness in the people of the United 
     States that World War II was the central event of the 20th 
     century that defined the postwar world;
       (5) to highlight advances in technology, science, and 
     medicine related to military research conducted during World 
     War II;
       (6) to inform wartime and postwar generations of the 
     contributions of the Armed Forces of the United States to the 
     United States;
       (7) to recognize the contributions and sacrifices made by 
     World War II allies of the United States; and
       (8) to highlight the role of the Armed Forces of the United 
     States, then and now, in maintaining world peace through 
     strength.
       (c) Establishment of Account.--(1) There is established in 
     the Treasury of the United States an account to be known as 
     the ``Department of Defense 60th Anniversary of World War II 
     Commemoration Account'' which shall be administered by the 
     Secretary as a single account.
       (2) There shall be deposited in the account, from amounts 
     appropriated to the Department of Defense for operation and 
     maintenance of Defense Agencies, such amounts as the 
     Secretary considers appropriate to conduct the program 
     referred to in subsection (a).
       (3) The Secretary may use the funds in the account 
     established in paragraph (1) only for the purpose of 
     conducting the program referred to in subsection (a).
       (4) Not later than 60 days after the termination of the 
     authority of the Secretary to conduct the program referred to 
     in subsection (a), the Secretary shall transmit to the 
     Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of 
     Representatives a report containing an accounting of all the 
     funds deposited into and expended from the account or 
     otherwise expended under this section, and of any amount 
     remaining in the account. Unobligated funds which remain in 
     the account after termination of the authority of the 
     Secretary under this section shall be held in the account 
     until transferred by law after the Committees receive the 
     report.
       (d) Acceptance of Voluntary Services.--(1) Notwithstanding 
     section 1342 of title 31, United States Code, the Secretary 
     may accept from any person voluntary services to be provided 
     in furtherance of the program referred to in subsection (a).
       (2) A person providing voluntary services under this 
     subsection shall be considered to be an employee for the 
     purposes of chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, 
     relating to compensation for work-related injuries. Such a 
     person who is not otherwise employed by the Federal 
     Government shall not be considered to be a Federal employee 
     for any other purposes by reason of the provision of such 
     service.
       (3) The Secretary may reimburse a person providing 
     voluntary services under this subsection for incidental 
     expenses incurred by such person in providing such services. 
     The Secretary shall determine which expenses are eligible for 
     reimbursement under this paragraph.


                           AMENDMENT NO. 3244

(Purpose: To prohibit the storage of mercury from the National Defense 
                    Stockpile at certain facilities)

       On page 411, after line 6, add the following:

     SEC. 3303. PROHIBITION ON STORAGE OF MERCURY AT CERTAIN 
                   FACILITIES.

       (a) Prohibition.--The Secretary of Defense may not store 
     mercury from the National Defense Stockpile at any facility 
     that is not owned or leased by the United States.
       (b) National Defense Stockpile Defined.--In this section, 
     the term ``National Defense Stockpile'' means the stockpile 
     provided for in section 4 of the Strategic and Critical 
     Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98c).

                          ____________________