[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 168 (Thursday, November 1, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13653-S13657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEMOCRACY FOR CUBA
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I am happy to join my colleague from
Florida, Senator Martinez, to express outrage at the continued
injustice carried out by the Castro regime inside of Cuba and to
highlight that we are at a critical time for democracy inside of Cuba.
This past Monday, as many of us were sipping coffee and driving to
work, 70 young Cuban dissidents were arrested, detained, and
harassed. Ten have been released but others remain detained.
What was their crime that got them arrested? Were they destroying
property? Were they stealing food? Were they acting violently? No, none
of that. They were walking down a street in Havana, and while they were
peacefully walking down that street together, they had on their arms
this wristband--this wristband, a simple white wristband--that has one
word written on it, ``cambio,'' which in Spanish means ``change.''
This one simple gesture was strong enough to have them thrown in
prison. This one simple gesture was strong enough to have them detained
and harassed. But I also hope this one gesture would be strong enough
to inspire us and to inspire those who love freedom and democracy and
have respect for human rights around the globe.
This incident was not isolated. These youth knew the consequences
their actions might very well bring them--this simple statement of
wearing a white wristband that says ``change.'' Decades of repression
has led to decades of fear. But these young people did not show fear.
They showed courage and, I think, showed us where they want Cuba to go.
They want it to change.
Their courage must not fall on deaf ears. We are listening and
watching. From the Senate floor to the White House we are inspired by
what these young people have shown us. They have shown us that Cuba can
and will change, and this change will come from within Cuba, from the
Cuban people themselves, from its youth. But they need our help, and we
must continue to fight here to do what we can to empower them and to
acknowledge them when they empower themselves.
We also have to build on this momentum. Just like last week,
President Bush said:
The operative word in our future dealings with Cuba is not
stability. The operative word is freedom.
One of Cuba's most well-known dissidents, at least inside of Cuba
suffers, while unfortunately, the rest of the world remains largely
silent. It is interesting to me how American news stations go to Cuba
and spend a lot of time with members of the regime but do not spend a
lot of time focusing on those people inside of Cuba who are trying to
create movements for freedom and democracy, as others did in other
parts of the world at different times in our history, such as Lech
Walesa did in Poland, such as Vaclav Havel did in the former
Czechoslovakia, such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn did in Russia, and so
many others such as Nelson Mandela did in his own country.
There was international spotlight on these people as they were given
a chance by the world's acknowledgment to try to create movements for
freedom and democracy in peaceful ways within their own society. Yet in
Cuba, somehow, because there are those who have lived with the
romanticism of the Castro regime and do not understand it is nothing
less than an oppressive dictatorship, they somehow seem to look the
other way.
I want to talk just briefly, before I yield the floor to my
distinguished colleague from Florida, about one of those dissidents who
gives inspiration to these young people who were arrested simply for
wearing this plastic white bracelet that says ``change.''
Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, in his absence because he is in jail--
languishing in Castro's jail--will be receiving the Presidential Medal
of Freedom next week. Dr. Biscet may not be a household name in
America, but he is probably the best known political prisoner inside of
Cuba.
Let me read a little about him:
During the Black Spring of 2003, was sentenced to 25 years
in prison. The prosecution was the most severe of several
that Dr. Biscet had to endure since 1986, when he first
publicly declared himself an opponent of the dictatorship.
Barely a month before he was arrested, Dr. Biscet had
completed a 3-year prison sentence for, among other
``crimes,'' displaying the Cuban flag upside down as a form
of protest. Before he was imprisoned, Dr. Biscet opposed the
regime on several fronts.
In 1986, a year after he graduated from medical school, he
protested the long hours Cuban doctors had to work without
pay. In 1997, he started the Lawton Foundation for Human
Rights and conducted a secret 10-month study of abortion
techniques that found, among other things, that many babies
were killed after they were born alive.
In February of 1998, Dr. Biscet was kicked out of the Cuban
national health care system, making it impossible for him to
work as a physician because of the principled positions he
took.
[[Page S13654]]
During Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba in January of
1998, activists with the Lawton Foundation publicly
demonstrated for the release of Cuban political prisoners.
They went on a 40-day liquid fast to demand the release of
political prisoners and to draw attention to the human rights
situation on the island.
But by the end of 1999, the dictatorship had enough of Dr.
Biscet. On November 3, 1999, he was arrested and eventually
sentenced to 3 years in prison for the so-called crimes of
dishonoring national symbols--that is, displaying the Cuban
flag upside down--public disorder, and inciting delinquent
behavior. He finished his sentence in late 2002. But only 36
days after finishing that sentence, he was rearrested again
while preparing to meet with a group of human rights
activists.
After several months in jail, he was formally charged with
being a threat to state security and sentenced to 25 years in
prison.
And he languishes there today. His crime? Seeking peaceful change in
his country. His crime? Talking about the death of young born children.
His crime? Fighting against a repressive regime. Yet in America, there
is silence. There is silence.
It is amazing to me that such a person could write a letter like this
even though he has gone through some of the worst things that someone
can go through in their life: constant harassment, imprisonment.
Earlier this year he wrote an open letter from himself from the Kilo
5.5 Prison in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, that got out. The letter says:
To my fellow Cubans, wherever you find yourselves, whether
in our enslaved island, or in exile in any part of the world.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full letter be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
An open letter from Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet from the Kilo 5.5 Prison in
Pinar del Rio Cuba.
To my fellow Cubans, wherever you find yourselves, whether
in our enslaved island, or in exile in any part of the world.
I include also those descendents of Cubans born in other
lands. To all of you I send my warmest and sincere greetings.
Our efforts to achieve the unconditional liberty of our
nation will soon become reality. I do not need to reveal
details to communicate what among Cubans is common knowledge.
We suffer not from division or fragmentation in our
principles, but rather in which methods to use. We do not
lack unity in ideals, but only in the methods to be applied
to obtain our liberty. Unfortunately, these insignificant
differences of opinion have given room for division among
exile leaders and dissidents inside Cuba. These differences
have given oxygen to the flames of the most recent and
dangerous obstacle that we confront.
I refer to the movement for complacency. A movement that
intends to make Cubans--faithful lovers of liberty--believe
that they should applaud and be content to receive only small
doses of liberty. A movement that suggests that Cubans do not
deserve full liberty, but only small dosages of it. This
movement of low expectations unites with speculation that
other fragments of liberty and democracy will automatically
follow. This thoughtless movement does not claim for Cubans
internationally recognized basic human rights, it only
suggests them. It does not claim the democratic rights of the
violated Constitution of 1940, but opts instead for the
framework of the illegitimate Communist constitution of 1976.
That constitution is nothing more than an instrument of
oppression, a malevolent document whose only purpose is to
justify the totalitarian and ill-formulated state. It is an
illegal aberration that has permitted and even encouraged the
imprisonment, torture and execution of political opponents
without even the minimal legal rights or a defense. An
atheist abomination that has only served those who enslave
our nation.
To those who feel exhausted after more than 40 years of
constant oppression and of unfruitful efforts. To those whose
frustrations and discontent have caused them to lose their
moral compass. To those who have concluded that we must
appease the oppressor. To them I ask:
Is it acceptable to the memory of the thousands of young
Cubans, our best sons, who were executed by firing squads for
the simple crime of defending our right to full liberty, to
now accept complacency? Do those tens of thousands of
compatriots who spent decades in prison, and who are still in
a prison system whose horrors we can only imagine, deserve
only partial liberty? Do those countless families who were
separated from their loved ones and destroyed in the process,
or those who have perished at sea, or who have died in exile
dreaming of returning to their country, deserve that we now
accept the crumbs that we are being offered? Shall we accept
defeat after nearly a half a century of patriotic heroism in
search of liberty and democracy, or shall we show the world
that the most brutal and longest lasting dictatorship in our
time could not extinguish the unbreakable spirit of liberty
of the Cubans?
I must tell you that we have reached a crossroad in our
history. Nearly a half a century ago we as a nation
confronted a similar historical decision. In those days many
accepted the fateful words that circulate again today:
``anything would be better than what we already have.'' They
were mistaken then and they are mistaken now. Tragically,
more than forty years of our national nightmare have elapsed
to find ourselves again with the same question, and with the
opportunity to correct our mistakes and make ourselves truly
the owners of our own destiny.
I call for the unity of all my compatriots. There exists
only one path before us. A path that unites us and includes
all Cubans inside and outside the island of Cuba. A path that
claims the rights of the citizenry in its entirety. A path
that demands full democracy and the unconditional freedom of
the Cuban people under a multiparty system of government,
democratically elected through free general elections. A path
where the Rule of Law is established and which guarantees
equality under the law, without distinction of races, sex or
religious creed. A path that brings about an unconditional
and immediate amnesty to all political prisoners.
Fellow Cubans, let us take a step forward and let us do it
in a clear and decisive manner. The work awaiting us is
difficult but not impossible. Together we can achieve for our
country the genuine democracy deserved by Cuba's citizens.
Finally, to the leaders of the democratic states of the
world, to the American people, and in particular to the
President of the United States, George W. Bush, we ask only
one simple commitment: do not support or promote any solution
or accord regarding the future of the Cuban nation that you
would not consider acceptable for your own country.
May God illuminate us in our path for the liberty of Cuba.
Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet.
Mr. MENENDEZ. I want to read only two paragraphs of it:
To those who feel exhausted after more than 40 years of
constant oppression and of unfruitful efforts. To those whose
frustrations and discontent have caused them to lose their
moral compass. To those who have concluded that we must
appease the oppressor. To them I ask:
Is it acceptable to the memory of the thousands of young
Cubans, our best sons, who were executed by firing squads for
the simple crime of defending our right to full liberty, to
now accept complacency? Do those tens of thousands of
compatriots who spent decades in prison, and who are still in
a prison system whose horrors we can only imagine, deserve
only partial liberty? Do those countless families who were
separated from their loved ones and destroyed in the process,
or those who have perished at sea, or who have died in exile
dreaming of returning to their country, deserve that we now
accept the crumbs that we are being offered? Shall we accept
defeat after nearly a half a century of patriotic heroism in
search of liberty and democracy, or shall we show the world
that the most brutal--
The most brutal--
brand longest lasting dictatorship in our time could not
extinguish the unbreakable spirit of [the] liberty of the
Cubans?
That is Dr. Biscet from jail. Those young people who marched on the
street with a very simple message--with a very simple plastic bracelet:
``cambio,'' ``change,'' they are inspired by the Dr. Biscet of Cuba and
others.
Finally, it is amazing to me that when the island of Cuba is engulfed
by a tropical storm, instead of making preparations for the people of
Cuba to be safe, state security is making arrests of young people who
peacefully walk down a street in Havana because of a simple bracelet
but also a powerful message of change. It speaks volumes about what
that regime is about.
I hope our colleagues use this tragic and other tragic sets of
circumstances inside of Cuba to think about what our policy should be
to this regime. I am reminded, standing up here with my colleague from
Florida, of our successful fight to increase funds to our democracy
assistance programs inside Cuba which help people create peaceful
change in their own country.
We are at a critical time for democracy in Cuba, and the Cuban people
are the fuel. It is the Cuban people who have faced fear and repression
for decades. Yet they continue to fight for change. It starts and it
will finish with them. This is why my heart and support go out to them,
for what they do is more meaningful and powerful than most can imagine.
That is why we grieve for those arrested and harassed and incarcerated
and languishing in Castro's jails.
We are also encouraged. We know they grow stronger. We come to the
floor of the Senate to make sure they understand they are not alone.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Brown). The Senator from Florida is
recognized.
[[Page S13655]]
Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from New Jersey, my
distinguished colleague, for his very passionate and correct and
appropriate remarks. I think there is no higher moment for this body
than when we stand with those who are oppressed, as this country has,
and as this Senate has over the history of our Nation. Standing with
those who are oppressed is our highest moment and our best calling.
I do find it ironic that something as simple as this simple little
white band, with the word ``change'' on it, could be so threatening to
this illegitimate regime as to have to imprison 70 young people. Now,
today, we hear that another 40 have been arrested. It is
unconscionable. It is unthinkable that a regime would be so weak as to
be so threatened by something as simple as these wristbands we are
wearing.
But it is also a sign of the continuing spirit of freedom that
continues to be alive and well on that imprisoned island. There is no
question about that. That is why I think it was so appropriate we came
together to increase the funding for the dissident movement inside
Cuba--so they can have the simple resources, such as pens and paper, so
they can communicate with one another and they can add their message of
freedom and their message of hope.
I do not have any question these young people, whether they were
arrested for a few days or for a harsher sentence--and we do not know
because there is no rule of law; there is no guidepost we can follow--
are simply at the mercy of this regime that for now almost half a
century has brutalized its people with totalitarian rule.
I am pleased my colleague from Texas is here, Senator Cornyn. I want
to give him a moment of time if he cares to comment on this situation.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas is recognized.
Mr. CORNYN. Briefly, Mr. President, I commend my distinguished
friends and colleagues from New Jersey and Florida for this statement
of solidarity with the Cuban people.
I could not agree more that it is important--certainly now as much as
ever--that we stand arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, opposed to
oppressive regimes that really govern by fear.
I have to say, just briefly, to my friend from Florida, Senator
Martinez, I know his personal history of being a refugee from Cuba when
he was 16 years old, being part of a Pedro Pan effort to bring young
Cubans to America so they could have a better life.
He also shared with me recently a movie which, while a work of
fiction, I think, gave me a very emotional sense of what people in
Cuba, in Havana in particular, must have experienced with the Cuban
people being oppressed by Fidel Castro. I have to tell my colleagues,
it is a bleak existence that these people, who are seeking nothing more
than the most basic of human rights, have under a heartless regime of a
dictator such as Fidel Castro.
So I just wanted to express a few words of thanks and words of
solidarity for my colleagues from New Jersey and Florida and to
reiterate that all of us, all of the American people stand in
solidarity with those in Cuba who seek change, who seek what we perhaps
too often take for granted; that is, our freedom to speak, to live, to
worship as we see fit. We ought to do everything we possibly can to
support them.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida is recognized.
Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I wish to join my colleagues,
our two distinguished Members of the Senate who are of Cuban origin and
who proudly bear that moniker of ``Cuban American,'' one of the most
distinguished groups in our society in America today.
I wish to say that at the time Fidel Castro was beginning his
takeover on the island of Cuba, as a young boy I had the opportunity of
representing the youth of America and going to the Iron Curtain at the
German-Czechoslovakian border and speaking over Radio Free Europe to
the young people behind the Iron Curtain. Of course, at age 17, what I
saw that day made a lasting impression, for standing there at the
German-Czechoslovakian border in the little village of Tillyschantz,
seeing the machine gun nests, the guard towers, the concrete dragon's
teeth to prevent anyone from breaking through the fence, the mine
fields, the ground raked very clean so that any footprints could be
seen, seeing the dogs patrolling back and forth, that, of course, made
a significant impression upon a young mind that had some appreciation
for the enslavement of people.
Now, what happened to the Iron Curtain is happening to Cuba. That
iron curtain around Cuba is starting to fall, and it is for exactly
these same things that are happening now: 70 young people walking
around with white wristbands that say ``cambio''--change--that the
dying Communist, repressive, totalitarian regime is continuing to lash
out and arrest them. It is the inevitable march of history that
ultimately freedom is going to win, just as it did in Eastern Europe
with the fall of the Iron Curtain that I saw at age 17. It has taken a
lot longer in Cuba because of its island barrier, because of its
extraordinary repressive regime.
So whenever we get a chance to speak out for change--``cambio''--we
in this Senate need to do it. I am delighted to join my colleagues,
Senator Martinez and Senator Menendez, in unifying our voices in
calling for cambio in Cuba.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida is recognized.
Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Florida for
coming to the floor. Senator Menendez was so eloquent in his
description of the situation today, and I wish to echo his comments
regarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom Oscar Elias Biscet will be
receiving on Monday. It is a wonderful acknowledgment of this Afro-
Cuban doctor. He, in his quest for freedom, has chosen to follow Martin
Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama, and Gandhi. This is a man of peace.
He is not a man of armed conflict, not a man of violence; he is a man
of peace. He is in prison, as was mentioned by the Senator from New
Jersey, but I want us to understand that being in prison in Cuba isn't
as simple as just being denied the opportunity to walk and move as you
will but it is to be in the most repressive gulag the world has ever
seen.
President Bush last week was speaking eloquently about the situation
in Cuba. He said: The day this regime ends, those who have supported it
will be embarrassed by the things that will be revealed, just like
those who supported the Eastern European gulag or the Nazis or the
Stalins of the past, who were embarrassed at a time when the full
measure of their cruelty was seen and recognized.
As we approach the agricultural fair in Havana, I remember that as a
young boy--my father was a veterinarian, and one of the biggest thrills
for me was to go from my small city to Havana to the fair. This was a
time when the cattle exposition was there, and my father, of course,
being involved in this industry, was there doing business. I remember
seeing my first rodeo there. It is a wonderful memory.
Well, this fair still goes on every year. I know there will be many
from this country who believe the most appropriate thing to do is to
make a buck and go there and sell goods and participate in this fair. I
hope when they are there, they might have the courage themselves to
wear one of these little wristbands. I will be happy to supply them. I
have a few. It would be wonderful if they would show up at the fair
wearing these wristbands that say ``cambio''--just a simple message of
solidarity with those who are oppressed.
We are a people of freedom. We enjoy our liberty, and we want it for
others. We understand that the time for the Cuban people is coming. The
hour for the Cuban people is approaching. It is coming. So I thank my
colleagues for their solidarity, Senator Cornyn from Texas as well as
my colleague from Florida and Senator Menendez, all joining today in
one voice seeking ``cambio''--change--and standing together with these
young people for their courage and their bravery, as well as
celebrating this wonderful award Dr. Biscet will be receiving on
Monday, which is a good recognition of his long work in the area of
human rights, and hoping that it might be an opportunity for the Cuban
regime to perhaps consider whether it is the time to grant him his
freedom.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
[[Page S13656]]
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. McCaskill). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in
morning business for about 7 or 8 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BROWN. Madam President, Members of the House and Senate have
worked diligently over the last several months to write a bill to
reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program. They worked hard
and came to a solid bipartisan compromise. This is a bill that
Republicans and Democrats alike have championed. Almost 70 Members of
the Senate voted for the Children's Health Insurance Program, and about
290 members of the House voted for it.
Despite the strong support nationwide from both parties in the House
and both parties in the Senate and the strong support from groups such
as the United Way to children's hospitals, to pediatricians, to medical
groups, to all kinds of children's advocates, the President still
vetoed it.
Now we have an opportunity to save the bill. For our national leaders
who are still unsure, I wish they would meet the families benefiting
from this program. I would love it if President Bush would meet
families such as the Coltmans of Conneaut, OH, which is not far from
where my wife grew up, near the Pennsylvania border. The Coltmans are a
large family with five children and two hard-working parents.
In July, their 7-year-old son Caleb was diagnosed with leukemia. The
doctors are optimistic, but treatment, of course, is very expensive.
Last year, Kenna Coltman, Caleb's mother, left her job to work for her
family business, a neighborhood grocery store. Unfortunately, this
meant she had to search for new health insurance. After a long search
for private insurance, the Coltman family found an affordable plan, but
it wasn't scheduled to go into effect until August.
By that time, Caleb had been diagnosed with leukemia. Needless to
say, that was a deal breaker for the private insurer.
Uninsured, facing catastrophic illness--a parent's worse nightmare--
the Coltmans ran out of options. Caleb's mother recounted the
experience this way:
If there was absolutely any other way to get our son the
care and medication he needs without totally impoverishing
our family, we would do it.
Instead, the Coltmans turned to Ohio's Healthy Start/Healthy Families
program, a Medicaid-CHIP joint initiative.
Mrs. Coltman said:
We were lucky in the fact that last year was a really bad
year for us financially, or we may not have even qualified
for Medicaid.
Hear that again:
We were lucky in the fact that last year was a really bad
year for us financially, or we may not have even qualified
for Medicaid.
It seems wrong to me that a family should be feeling ``lucky''
because they earned so little money in 1 year that they were able to
qualify for Medicaid to take care of their son who was diagnosed with
leukemia.
But Mrs. Coltman does feel lucky and they qualified--falling below
200 percent of poverty even after exhausting all their savings.
Caleb's treatment is now covered. Thankfully, his current prognosis
is good, and the family business seems to be turning the corner.
Although the Coltman parents are still without health insurance, the
children remain covered through SCHIP--a bona fide lifesaver, a real
lifesaver.
Let's make sure other families--in Ohio and elsewhere--have access to
this critical health insurance safety net by sending the Children's
Health Insurance Program bill to the President's desk.
Let's provide children in Ohio, in Missouri, and elsewhere, such as
Caleb, the start in life that will help them to achieve their goals and
develop to their fullest potential.
Ten years ago, a Democratic President and Republican Congress made a
promise to low-income children and their parents. We told them they
would be able to insure their children. We wrote it into law and the
Children's Health Insurance Program has worked for 6 million children.
Now, this bill will help us follow through on that promise for 4
million additional children.
There are millions of low-income American children who are eligible
but not now enrolled. This bill enables our country to follow through
for more children who are already standing at the door. This bill lets
them in. We have an insurance program that works, a bipartisan
consensus that is firm, and a goal that is above politics. Our goal is
to provide health insurance for our children. Let us move forward.
Madam President, 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. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the
quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. Madam President, I have had a number of conversations this
morning with Democratic and Republican Senators. They are attempting to
work out a compromise with respect to the CHIP bill, the children's
health program. They think if they have more time, they can do that. I
believe they are acting in all sincerity. They have tried very hard.
They have even had individual meetings with House Members; Democratic
Senators have met with Republican House Members; Democratic and
Republican Senators have met with Republican House Members. They have
tried to work something out.
It is an unusual situation. They have even been calling the Speaker.
A number of the prime negotiators have talked to her numerous times on
the telephone and met with her personally.
Having said that, this is an effort to try to work something out. I
ask unanimous consent the motion to proceed to H.R. 3963 be agreed to,
that the bill be laid aside until 4 p.m. this coming Monday, November
5; that on that day, Monday, November 5, the Senate vote on cloture on
the bill at 5 p.m.; if cloture is invoked, there be 2 hours for debate
on the bill and any possible germane amendments thereto, and at the
conclusion or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote under
the provisions of rule XXII.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on behalf of one of the Members on my
side of the aisle, I would have to object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. REID. Madam President, in an effort to try to be cooperative in
this matter, I ask consent to allow these individuals more time to deal
with this, and therefore I ask unanimous consent to proceed to this
legislation, H.R. 3963, and that it be adopted and the bill be laid
aside until the disposition of the farm bill, H.R. 2419. That would
probably not be until, at the earliest, somewhere in the middle of
November sometime.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, once again there is an objection on
this side of the aisle.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. REID. Madam President, of course, I am disappointed. I have tried
to keep the Republican leader advised. I have done my best to balance
the requests. I usually do not get in this position of Democratic and
Republican Senators, but I have been happy to do that. This is my
effort to try to do that.
I hope there can be some way, sometime, that we can send a bill to
the President that he will not veto. Hopefully, this one he will not.
We have made some changes in it, as I have indicated. We changed to no
waivers over 300 percent. We have locked in more tightly anything
dealing with undocumented children. We have cut the time for adults.
Any adults who are on the program, with no children, they were to have
2 years, now it is 1 year. We have moved the best we can.
Having done that, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate
now proceed to consideration of the children's health insurance bill,
H.R. 3963, the time between now and 4:45 p.m. today be equally divided
between
[[Page S13657]]
the two leaders or their designees, and no amendments or motions be in
order to the bill; that at 4:45 p.m. the Senate vote on cloture to the
bill and that motion to be filed upon reporting of the bill; if cloture
is invoked, the bill be read a third time and the Senate vote without
any intervening action or debate on passage of the bill.
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, reserving the right to object, and I
will not object, let me echo the observations of the majority leader
about how important the children's health insurance issue is.
This was a measure that originated with a Republican Congress back in
the 1990s. I think we are going to be able to get this worked out after
this skirmish that has been going on over the last few weeks in a way
that will guarantee additional poor children receive the health
insurance they certainly richly deserve.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the unanimous consent
request? The chair hears none, and it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. I thank the Chair.
____________________