[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 77 (Thursday, June 15, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5905-S5909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR DEFENSE, THE GLOBAL WAR
ON TERROR, AND HURRICANE RECOVERY, 2006--CONFERENCE
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the hour of 10
a.m. having arrived, the Senate will proceed to vote on the conference
report to accompany H.R. 4939, which the clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the
two Houses on the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H.R.
4939) making emergency supplemental appropriations for the
fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for other
purposes, having met, have agreed that the House recede from
its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate and agree to
the same with an amendment, and the Senate agree to the same,
signed by a majority of the conferees on the part of both
Houses.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I intend to vote for this emergency
supplemental appropriations conference agreement because of the
critical funding it will provide to our troops. Our men and women in
uniform, and their families, deserve our support, not just in words but
with deeds. This bill also provides important support to our fellow
Americans in the gulf coast region who continue to rebuild their
communities after the devastation of the 2005 hurricane season.
But I am disappointed that important provisions included in the
Senate bill were stripped out in conference. With nearly 150,000 U.S.
troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is shameful that this
conference report stripped out $430 million for veterans health care.
And I am concerned that this bill short changes the U.S. Coast Guard
and important port security measures. Through the regular
appropriations process, I will continue to fight for our veterans, and
to ensure the security of our coast and our ports.
In this bill, we have provided over $15 billion to fix or replace
equipment that has been damaged during combat operations and to buy
additional force protection equipment desperately needed by our brave
men and women on the battlefield.
To help protect our troops from deadly improvised explosive devices,
IEDs, this bill creates the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat
Fund and provides the fund with nearly $2 billion to develop and field
the necessary tactics, equipment, and training to defeat these deadly
weapons.
To ensure that we do all we can to care for soldiers when they are
injured, this bill includes an additional $1 billion for the Defense
Health program. This money ensures that we can continue to provide
world-class services including rapid aero-medical evacuation to our
most severely wounded soldiers.
The veterans health care system is stretched to the limit at a time
when more and more veterans are turning to VA. That is why I
cosponsored an amendment by Senator Akaka to increase veterans funding
by $430 million to meet the health care needs of soldiers returning
from Iraq and Afghanistan and other war veterans. I am very
disappointed that this funding was removed in conference but will
continue to fight for our veterans to ensure they have the funding
needed to receive the care they deserve.
The rank-and-file employees of the Federal Government are the unsung
heroes of this country. Unfortunately, they are often required to work
in substandard or often hazardous conditions. It was recently reported
that employees within this very building are forced to enter tunnels
full of asbestos and on the verge of collapse. That is why I co-
sponsored an amendment by Senator Allard that provides over $27 million
for critical emergency structural repairs to the Capitol Complex
utilities tunnels. I will continue to fight for our Federal workforce
to ensure they have safe working environments and proper safety
equipment.
We know that nearly 40 percent of the soldiers deployed today in Iraq
and Afghanistan are citizen soldiers who come from the National Guard
and Reserves. More than half of these will suffer a loss of income when
they are mobilized because their military pay is less than the pay from
their civilian job. Many patriotic employers and State governments
eliminate this pay gap by continuing to pay them the difference between
their civilian and military pay. The reservist pay security amendment,
which I worked on with Senator Durbin, was designed to ensure that the
U.S. Government also makes up for this pay gap for Federal employees
who are activated in the Guard and Reserves. Again, this important
piece of legislation was removed from the bill during conference, but
it is not dead with me. I will continue to push for equitable treatment
for our Guard and Reserve troops who selflessly serve their Nation.
After 9/11, we realized that our borders were not secure. Since then,
we have waged the war on terror and made great strides in protecting
our homeland. We have made significant investments in law enforcement
and security; however, the infrastructure that supports our border
security has been allowed to crumble.
To counter this, I supported an amendment proposed by Senators Gregg
and Byrd to add $1.9 billion for border security initiatives to include
buying additional vehicles, airplanes, helicopters, and ships. This
amendment also provided $600 million for the U.S. Coast Guard, the
border protector of our waters. Of this amount, $12 million was for the
Mission Effectiveness Program at the U.S. Coast Guard Yard at Curtis
Bay, MD. This project is designed to extend the service life and
increase the mission performance of the Coast Guard's aging fleet of
medium endurance cutters. I regret that in conference the House and
Senate agreed to
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the President's border security proposal which solely focuses on
beefing up the National Guard and border agents along the Nation's
southwest border.
I am also disappointed that $648 million for additional port security
initiatives was stripped from the final conference agreement. The Port
of Baltimore, in my hometown, recently celebrated its 300th
anniversary. It is my responsibility to see to it that the Baltimore
community celebrates the port's 400th anniversary. We must continue to
provide adequate funding for our ports in the manner we are for our
borders.
We have all seen the devastating effects of natural disasters and
terrorism and are working hard to prevent future occurrences from
affecting our Nation and the world. We have recently learned of another
potential threat: a worldwide flu epidemic that could cost millions of
lives if we are unprepared. In response to this threat, this bill
provides $2.3 billion to prepare for and respond to an influenza
pandemic. Making this money available now will help expand the domestic
production capacity of influenza vaccine and will help develop and
stockpile the right vaccines, antivirals, and other medical supplies
necessary to protect and preserve lives in the event of an outbreak.
Mr. President, this bill is a Federal investment in supporting our
troops and their families and providing relief for those impacted by
the devastating hurricanes.
We support our troops by getting them the best equipment and the best
protection we can provide. We support them by making it easier for our
citizen soldiers in the National Guard and Reserves to serve their
country. And we support them by ensuring they are cared for with the
best possible medical system when they are injured or ill.
With this bill, we are also helping our neighbors rebuild their
homes, their communities, and their lives, and I am proud to give it my
support.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, the conference report we have before us
contains $94.5 billion in funding for the war on terror, hurricane
recovery in the gulf coast, pandemic flu preparation, and border
security.
We have to fund our troops. Therefore, I will support passage of this
conference report. But I do so with reservations, mainly because
resources for the training and equipping of the Iraqi army have been
funded well below the level requested by the President. As all of my
colleagues know, training and equipping the Iraqi army is imperative to
the ultimate success of our mission there. The security of the Iraqi
people, ensured by a properly trained and equipped Iraqi army, is our
exit strategy.
Unfortunately, the must-pass nature of this bill has led to the
inclusion of hundreds of millions of dollars in unrequested,
nonemergency spending and typical run-of-the-mill earmarks. Examples of
unrequested and nonemergency additions to this emergency spending bill
include three Marine Corps V-22 tilt rotor aircraft, two KC-130J tanker
aircraft, four C-130J cargo aircraft, the advance procurement of seven
C-17 cargo aircraft, and one Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV. It
also includes $975 million for SINCGARS tactical radios, $675 million
in Army tank and Bradley Fighting Vehicle upgrades, $130 million for
Army STRYKER vehicles above combat losses, and $567 million for Army
trucks. None of these were requested by the administration, and they
are not critically needed to aid in the war on terror.
Let's take a closer look at just one of these add-ons. The conference
report includes $230 million to buy three Marine Corps V-22s. The
President did not request any money for the V-22 Osprey, which is still
in the development and testing stage. In fact, the V-22 has not even
been deployed to an operational squadron yet. If continued development
and testing goes well, the Marine Corps will send the V-22 to an
operational squadron in the summer or fall of 2007. I have to question
why funding for a nonoperational aircraft that is still in the
development stages is considered to be an emergency in this bill. The
answer is that there is no emergency need for this aircraft--if there
was, I am more than confident that the President would have requested
the appropriate funding in the emergency supplemental submitted last
February.
Additionally, the conference report contains a provision which
authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to reimburse shipbuilding
contractors for ``business disruptions'' that were incurred during and
after Hurricane Katrina. This provision may increase Navy shipbuilding
costs by $140 million over what the administration had requested. The
provision is expected to primarily benefit Northrop Grumman's shipyard
in Pascagoula, MS. This language substitutes Government funding for
what insurers would pay to shipbuilders. Northrop Grumman is suing its
insurer, Factory Mutual, for those costs associated with Hurricane
Katrina. However, in the near term, the appropriators have decided the
best course is to arrange a giveaway to an insurance company and a
shipbuilder.
Furthermore, the explanatory statement accompanying this conference
report contains language stating that the conferees agree with House
and Senate language delaying the Department of Transportation, DOT,
rulemaking which proposes to give domestic air carriers with foreign
investors more control over business matters. Yet this legislative
language does not include any related provisions, and rightly so, in my
view. This greater control would only be granted for business matters
that do not relate to safety or security and only when the investors'
home countries provide our airlines with investment and market access.
I assure my colleagues this statement was not included by accident, and
its intent seems to be to signal to DOT that Congress does not approve
of its proposed rulemaking.
Here are some other notable projects funded as ``emergencies'' in
this measure: $16 million for hurricane repair in the State of
Pennsylvania; $40 million for sugar and sugarcane disaster assistance
in Florida, which was not requested; $40 million for sugar and
sugarcane disaster assistance in Louisiana, which was not requested by
the President; $400,000 for disaster assistance to sugar cooperatives
in Texas, which was not requested by the President. $400,000 to the
Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Demonstration barrier, which was not
requested by the President; $9 million in drought emergency assistance
to communities in Nevada and New Mexico; $225,000 to the Missouri
Soybean Association for the purchase of a building for use as an
incubation center in the Kansas City metropolitan statistical area;
$100,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington in Silver
Spring, MD for renovation of Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington
Clubhouse No. 2, Clubhouse No. 4, Clubhouse No. 10, Clubhouse No. 11,
and Clubhouse No. 14 in the District of Columbia; $100,000 to Wesleyan
College in Macon, GA, for facility renovation, buildout, and
construction; $125,000 to Craig County, VA, for purchase, renovation,
buildout, and upgrade of a library.
I think we can fund this war--and indeed win this war--while also
budgeting for this war. We know the war is going to cost more than the
over $400 billion we will have appropriated to date upon enactment of
this conference report, and we know that the war is not going to end as
quickly as most of us would prefer. But we need to continue our
military operations until the job is done. Withdrawing our military
presence prematurely is not an option in my view, the view of many of
my colleagues, nor the view of the President or his advisers. We are in
it to win.
Instead of fixing the problem, and fixing it will not be easy, we
have only succeeded in making it bigger, more unstable, more
complicated, and much more expensive. And adding hundreds of billions
of dollars that are more conveniently designated as emergency
expenditures--so that they don't have to be budgeted for along with
other national priorities--is only making the fiscal problem that much
greater.
Again, Mr. President, it is unfortunate that, at a time of war and
with such a huge deficit and burgeoning debt, we continue to fund
unnecessary projects and load up emergency supplemental appropriations
bills with nonemergency items. We need to concentrate on providing the
resources necessary for our young men and women swerving in Iraq to
successfully complete their mission, so that they
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can return safely to their families, and a grateful Nation.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, the conference report provides needed
funds to meet a number of our national security needs. It includes
$65.8 billion of funding for ongoing military operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan, to give our troops the armored vehicles, ammunition,
medical supplies, and other materials essential for their operations.
The legislation also provides funds for the Commander's Emergency
Response Program, which enables commanders on the ground to pay for
urgently needed infrastructure, and also to make condolence payments to
Iraqi civilians who are injured or killed. That program is intended to
build good will with the Iraqis, and I commend the Appropriations
Committee for taking such a strong interest in it.
During consideration of the bill, we had a strong debate about
whether the nondefense items in the bill were truly emergencies and
belonged in this legislation. Most of us believe they do because the
budget process does not allow us to respond quickly to urgent needs,
and the emergency supplemental process is the only way we can address
them.
It is clear that border security, hurricane relief, and pandemic flu
preparations all affect our national security. The need for these funds
cannot easily be assessed in advance and made part of the regular
budget. But no one can disagree that each has a profound impact on our
Nation and has to be addressed.
I commend Senator Harkin for his leadership on the needed funding to
prepare for a pandemic flu. Those of us on the authorizing committee
look forward to continuing to work with Senator Burr to see that these
funds are used effectively to increase the Nation's readiness for this
major disease threat.
I am disappointed that the conference report rejected our Senate
amendment to compensate first responders injured by experimental flu
vaccines. If pandemic flu reaches our shores, Americans will have to
rely heavily on nurses, paramedics, emergency technicians, and other
first responders. The question is whether these first responders will
risk taking an experimental vaccine so that they can stay on the job
and protect us all. The least these brave first responders deserve is
fair compensation if they are harmed by the vaccine. We know from past
experience that without such a compensation program, first responders
will be reluctant to take experimental vaccines. The Senate did the
right thing, to fund a compensation program, but Republican leaders
inexplicably allowed the House conferees to reject the funds. The
message we are sending to first responders is obvious--``You're on your
own'' and a pandemic will be even more disastrous if it hits.
I am very pleased, however, that our colleagues on the Appropriations
Committee included critical funding to provide relief to elementary and
secondary schools in the gulf region and to schools across the country
that generously opened their doors to young students whose lives were
turned upside down by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This additional
funding will help ensure that the schools that educated displaced
students are reimbursed for the additional costs incurred during this
school year so that they can continue to provide good education for all
the children they serve.
The schools, colleges, and universities are a cornerstone of the gulf
communities, and their recovery is essential to the successful
rebuilding of the region. I am disappointed that the conferees rejected
a Senate provision that would have leveraged hundreds of millions of
dollars of low-cost loans for these colleges and universities. I am
pleased, however, that the conferees increased the grant aid in the
bill to help these colleges and universities rebuild. These funds are a
step in the right direction to enable these institutions to remain a
vital part of the gulf coast.
On the issue of education, we know that countless families across
America are struggling to put their children through college. The last
thing they need is an increase in interest rates on student loans. I
commend the Appropriations Committee for expanding loan consolidation
options and resisting efforts by lenders to increase the burden of
college debt. Last February, Congress perpetrated the biggest raid on
college aid in the history of the program, cutting $12 billion from
student loan programs to help pay for tax giveaways to the wealthy. We
need to do more to help struggling families afford college, and the
committee's action on this bill is a step in the right direction.
This bill includes an important provision to support our objective of
promoting democracy in Iraq. It includes $50 million for American
nongovernmental organizations helping Iraqis to create the essential
building blocks of democracy. The funds will go to seven
nongovernmental organizations doing excellent work in Iraq on democracy
and reconciliation under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions.
We must be clear in our commitment to stand by these organizations that
are serving on the front lines in the struggle for democracy in Iraq
every day. We need to demonstrate to the Iraqi people that we are
committed to Iraq's long-term democratic development. We must have a
long-term strategy backed by appropriate resources, and this bill is a
start toward achieving our goal.
While this bill contains much that is positive, I strongly oppose the
decision of our Republican colleagues to include a deeming resolution
in this conference report that will impose an unreasonably low limit on
discretionary spending for next year. This cap means that critical
domestic programs will be cut. It is a sorry substitute for a real
budget.
The deeming resolution completely ignores the Senate-passed budget.
It sets a spending cap $16 billion below the level approved by a
bipartisan majority of Senators in the Senate budget resolution. It
wipes out an amendment passed by the Senate to add $7 billion for
urgent health and education needs. It cuts funding for vital medical
research by the National Institutes of Health. It underfunds the No
Child Left Behind education initiative by $55.7 billion over the next 5
years. It sets the wrong priorities for America.
This deeming resolution indicates a willingness on the part of
Republicans in Congress to blindly follow the Bush administration's
reckless strategy of cutting essential domestic programs American
families depend upon while providing more and more tax breaks for the
wealthiest taxpayers in the country. It is outrageous. It is one more
failure for a Republican leadership that consistently takes the country
in the wrong direction.
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise to acknowledge a tangible result
of our Federal Government's investment in preparing for a possible flu
pandemic. This week, the U.S. Agency for International Development,
USAID, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, in
partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society launched the Global
Avian Influenza Network for the Surveillance of wild birds, or the
GAINS program.
GAINS systematically tests and monitors wild and dead birds to
identify the viral strains they carry, to share the virus samples in
order to continually update vaccine production options, and to
disseminate lab results on a map-based publicly accessible database.
Major flyways around the world will be monitored including those
running north-south through the Americas.
I wish to recognize Chairman Cochran from Mississippi and Senator
Byrd from West Virginia, along with my colleagues, Senator Harkin from
Iowa, Senator Specter from Pennsylvania, and Senator Brownback from
Kansas, for their commitment to avian flu preparedness and for putting
in place an effective system for the surveillance of wild birds. GAINS
is instrumental to our capacity to prepare communities in the wake of
wild birds moving with the virus for a potential outbreak.
At the same time we work to develop a vaccine and procure antivirals,
we can also track the movement of the virus in wild birds. GAINS can
track wild birds in the same way the National Hurricane Center tracks
hurricanes. By analyzing, storing, and reporting using a real-time
computerized data mapping system and interface, we can see the viral
strains wild birds carry, where they are carrying the virus along
migratory routes, and how the virus is genetically evolving. This will
make it possible for us to develop
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vaccines more quickly using the most recent strain available and will
help us warn vulnerable populations in wild bird flightpaths should the
avian flu strain turn deadly.
I am happy to report that the GAINS program and Dr. William Karesh at
the Wildlife Conservation Society have already contributed vital
disease samples of the highly pathogenic H5Nl virus from Mongolian
swans to the efforts currently under way to develop a human vaccine for
avian influenza.
The Wildlife Conservation Society has partnered with USAID and the
CDC to spearhead this effort. They are an international conservation
organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York and have
offices across the world, including my home State of Connecticut. With
more than 3,000 full-time staff working in 60 countries around the
world on more than 400 field conservation projects, the Wildlife
Conservation Society is well positioned to lead the global efforts to
monitor the disease in birds and provide key information to local
communities to mitigate the effects of future outbreaks. Our
Government's capacity to build partnerships such as this one and
continue to fund them with nongovernmental organizations with
tremendous expertise and others in the private sector is key to
effectively fighting a potential pandemic.
Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, this supplemental appropriation
provides funds that are urgently needed by our Armed Forces to sustain
the global war on terror and our operations to stabilize Iraq and
Afghanistan. The $70 billion provided in this appropriation for
military operations brings America's investment in this fight to over
$445 billion since September 11, 2001. Included in this appropriation
are funds necessary to keep our Guard strong and ready and to ensure
that our reservists have access to essential medical coverage for
themselves and their families.
With respect to domestic assistance in this bill, while it is not
perfect, because it removed funding for port security and veterans'
health care, and greatly reduced the amount of agriculture assistance
that was originally included in the Senate passed bill, it does provide
immediate aid to the people of the gulf coast to help in their
continuing effort to recover from last year's hurricanes.
I thank the chairman and ranking member of the Appropriations
Committee, Senator Cochran of Mississippi and Senator Byrd of West
Virginia, for their leadership and even handedness in crafting this
supplemental measure. They have been very kind towards my constituents
and I am most appreciative of their efforts. This supplemental
addresses three areas critical to the continued recovery and vitality
of Florida.
Florida was hit by eight hurricanes in 15 months and the recovery
continues, even as Tropical Storm Alberto traversed the State
yesterday. I know that my colleagues from the gulf coast are also well
aware of the long-term challenges facing their States and are bracing
themselves for another active hurricane season. We all learned valuable
lessons from the disasters of the past 2 years and we will face the
coming months together.
I am pleased that this supplemental includes some relief for the
State of Florida's hard hit agriculture industry. In 2005 as in 2004,
the Florida agriculture industry sustained more than $2 billion in
losses. One of the hardest hit industries was the sugar industry, so
the $40 million in assistance this bill provides to the sugar producers
will be critical. Our specialty crops and nursery growers also will
receive a much-needed share of the $95 million provided in the bill.
The measure also provides the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, NOAA, with emergency funding. I cannot emphasize how
important the work of this agency is to Florida. It includes the
National Marine Fisheries Service, NMFS, that plays a key role in
Florida because of our significant fishing industry--both recreational
and commercial. And the National Weather Service whose hurricane
forecasts many times mean the difference between life and death for
Floridians. This emergency supplemental provides $150 million for
mapping for debris removal, oyster bed and shrimp ground
rehabilitation, the repair and reconstruction of the NOAA science
facility on the Gulf of Mexico and a replacement emergency response
mapping aircraft to provide information about hurricane damage--all
desperately needed.
Additionally, the conference report maintains the Senate funding
level of $5.2 billion for the Community Development Block Grant, CDBG,
program. The President's original request was for $4.2 billion to
address the utter devastation caused by Katrina in Louisiana. Yet unmet
needs from the previous Gulf of Mexico hurricanes still remain in
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. This level of CDBG funding
will ensure that all States harmed by last year's hurricanes will
receive an adequate level of continued support so that they may
continue to invest in long-term recovery efforts, provide housing and
business assistance, perform infrastructure reconstruction, and
undertake mitigation efforts.
Specific to Florida, additional CDBG funds will greatly help
Panhandle communities impacted by Hurricane Dennis, who were not
eligible for the last round of disaster CDBG funds, and the heavily
populated areas of South Florida where insured damages from Wilma were
estimated at $7.4 billion. Hurricane Wilma was a major hurricane, the
final major storm of last season, causing the highest amount of insured
losses to southeast Florida since Hurricane Andrew over a decade ago.
Chairman Bond and Ranking Member Murray included a provision in the
bill that will help address the backlog of emergency highway repairs. I
thank them for their efforts, as this provision is vital to Florida's
Panhandle which was pummeled by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and then by
Dennis in 2005. It includes language lifting the mandatory cap of $100
million in spending per state. Florida has about $118 million in
damages left over from Dennis, most of it concentrated along US-98,
which runs along the coast of Florida from Tallahassee to Pensacola, a
distance of over 200 miles.
The assistance contained in the supplemental will go a long way
towards the recovery of the gulf coast and I will support this measure.
Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate is approving
today the conference report on this supplemental appropriations bill.
The bill provides funding to replenish the spending accounts of the
Department of Defense, the Department of State, as well as other
agencies and departments of the Government which are engaged in the war
on terror. The conference report also makes available needed funding
for efforts to repair and rebuild the homes, businesses, and public
facilities that were damaged by hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast
region last year.
A bipartisan majority of the conferees have reconciled the
differences between the two bills and reached agreement on the
conference report. The House also approved the conference report by a
vote of 351 to 67.
The conference agreement provides a total of $94.519 billion. Of this
amount, over $70 billion is provided to carry out the global war on
terror and to cover the expenses of ongoing operations and
reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Title II of the agreement provides $19.338 billion for hurricane
related damage and recovery costs. Title III provides $500 million for
agriculture disaster assistance to hurricane affected areas. Title IV
includes $2.3 billion for influenza pandemic preparation and response
activities. Title V provides $1.9 billion for various border security
initiatives. Title VI includes $27.6 million for the Architect of the
Capitol to address health and safety concerns in the utility tunnels in
the Capitol complex. Finally, title VII includes general provisions and
technical corrections.
This conference agreement is the result of hard work and true
compromise between the House and Senate, and I am pleased the Senate is
prepared to approve it.
Mr. COCHRAN. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The question is on agreeing to the conference report. The clerk will
call the roll.
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The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr.
Rockefeller) is necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Murkowski). Are there any other Senators
in the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 98, nays 1, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 171 Leg.]
YEAS--98
Akaka
Alexander
Allard
Allen
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Burr
Byrd
Cantwell
Carper
Chafee
Chambliss
Clinton
Coburn
Cochran
Coleman
Collins
Conrad
Cornyn
Craig
Crapo
Dayton
DeMint
DeWine
Dodd
Dole
Domenici
Dorgan
Durbin
Ensign
Enzi
Feingold
Feinstein
Frist
Graham
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Hutchison
Inhofe
Inouye
Isakson
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerry
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
Martinez
McCain
McConnell
Menendez
Mikulski
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Obama
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Roberts
Salazar
Santorum
Sarbanes
Schumer
Sessions
Shelby
Smith
Snowe
Stabenow
Stevens
Sununu
Talent
Thomas
Thune
Vitter
Voinovich
Warner
Wyden
NAYS--1
Specter
NOT VOTING--1
Rockefeller
The conference report was agreed to.
Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, today I voted in favor of the fiscal
year 2006 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the
Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery conference report despite
my serious reservations about using an emergency supplemental bill to
fund ongoing U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and despite the
fact that the bill fails to change the flawed and dangerous policy in
Iraq that this administration is pursuing. That policy is taking a
tremendous toll on our Nation's resources and our national security,
and I will continue to look for every opportunity to force the Senate
to debate and vote on changing that policy.
I supported the conference report because it included necessary
funding for our troops, along with vital assistance to those
communities devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and to those
suffering in war-torn countries and those countries in need of
immediate funding for their newly formed democracies. I am particularly
pleased to see that $618 million is being provided for establishing
peace in Darfur and $63 million for supporting the nascent Liberian
Government that was recently elected.
Mr. COCHRAN. I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
Mr. COCHRAN. Madam President, I thank all Senators for their patience
and support during our deliberations on this conference report. I think
the vote reflects strong sentiment that we have reached an agreement
that is fair. It reflects respect for the administration's budget
request and remaining within that budget request.
I appreciate the cooperation of all members of our Appropriations
Committee and the full Senate as well.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Burr). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it is my understanding that the Department
of Defense authorization bill is the pending business before the
Senate.
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