[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 92 (Friday, July 14, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S7565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THIS WEEK IN THE SENATE

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, we made real progress this week in passing 
a very important bill, the Homeland Security appropriations bill, under 
the leadership of Chairman Judd Gregg, who did a superb job on a very 
important bill which adds billions of dollars to issues we spend a lot 
of time talking about and debating but that puts real money, real 
resources where they are needed: over $14 billion for issues 
surrounding tightening our borders, increasing the number of border 
security agents by 1,000, increasing the number of detention beds by 
over 1,000, and well over $14 billion for border security and 
immigration issues. It is a very important bill.

  Over the course of this month I also intend to address other issues 
surrounding securing our homeland, issues such as the Department of 
Defense authorization and our military construction bills, all of which 
focus on getting money down to where it is needed, protecting our 
homeland, supporting our troops here and overseas.
  Also, it was an interesting week in that we had very positive 
economic developments announced with not just the 5.4 million jobs that 
have been created over the last 30 months or so, not just the low 
unemployment--4.6 percent, which is lower than the average of the 
1960s, 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s, but the fact that the deficit is coming 
down much faster than anyone had anticipated. That is in large part--in 
most part--because of the progrowth President-Bush-led policies of less 
taxation which promotes that strong economic growth. Revenues are 
coming into the Federal Government with lower tax rates, and the 
revenues are coming in much faster than anticipated because of those 
policies. And those increased revenues coming in, by definition, lower 
that deficit. The deficit is projected this year to be 30 percent lower 
than what we thought it was going to be just in February, earlier this 
year.
  The important thing to recognize, as we have this great, what we call 
``macro'' or large global prosperity, in the sense of our global or 
American economy here, with 5.6 percent growth in GDP last quarter, the 
fastest it has been in years and years--at the same time we have the 
squeeze that is on our average person, average taxpayer out there 
today. That is due in part to the high gasoline prices that we are 
going to see go up again--in part because of the international turmoil 
in the Middle East, the fact we are 60 percent dependent on the Middle 
East. Our response on this floor should be and will be to address 
issues surrounding lowering that dependence on foreign sources of oil. 
I hope we can do that in the next several weeks.
  We had a very positive bipartisan announcement about opening 
exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. It is bipartisan, so I am very 
hopeful about that.
  Health care is another one of those issues that squeezes people so 
much because health care prices continue to go up two to three times 
faster than wages. When that is the case, you get squeezed as an 
individual. So in spite of the great macro numbers around the United 
States of America, the individual feels squeezed with gasoline prices 
and health care. So small business health plans are something we should 
come back to, something we need to come back to and address. Most 
people today work for what we call small businesses. These small 
business health reform plans allow small businesses and the individuals 
to have lower health care costs. They slow that growth of health care 
costs over time and hit at one of the major reasons they feel the 
pinch.
  I mentioned energy. A lot of that focuses on the area called 181, in 
the Gulf of Mexico. And I mentioned health care costs with the focus on 
the small business health plans. We have the support of 56 Senators on 
the floor, and I need 60 Senators to actually pass that bill. So I hope 
a few more of our Senators will recognize, from a small business 
perspective, from the perspective of the individual employee, how 
important it is to allow small businesses to group together, to have 
the purchasing power to get those lower costs, to get those lower 
charges just like the big companies can get--the clout, the muscle you 
can get by grouping small business together.
  It is common sense. The American people scratch their heads and say: 
Why can't you pass it? We have majority support.
  We don't have 60 people yet supporting it. We need to work on that, 
and I think we have to do it sometime this year.
  Let me just comment and then I am going to take a short break and I 
will come back to the floor to make a final comment on stem cells. On 
Monday we will begin the debate on the three bills--one, a fetal 
farming bill, a second bill that looks at alternative ways of 
developing pluripotent cells or embryo-like cells--very exciting 
research--and a third, the House bill which increases Federal support 
for embryonic stem cells that are derived from embryos that are 
otherwise going to be discarded. Those are the exact words in that 
bill.
  We will have very good debate. It will be on Monday and Tuesday of 
next week. We will have those votes starting at 3:45 on Tuesday. Each 
of those votes will have 60 votes for passage. People ask why. We all 
agree to that because we can spend weeks and weeks on the floor of the 
Senate and with all the filibuster and cloture and the like, that is 
what you end up with, is you have to have a 60-vote threshold. That is 
why we have agreed with that.
  Mr. President, I will close and will come back and within 10 minutes 
or so speak on stem cells for about 4 or 5 minutes, and at that time we 
will formally close.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be dispensed with.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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