[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 192 (Friday, December 14, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15643-S15644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             SENATE ACTION

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise today first to thank my staff 
for their wonderful work on the farm bill: Hilary Bolea, who is a very 
smart young woman, who has been working with us in Washington, DC, and 
then also Dave Frederickson, experienced--he was the former head of the 
National Farmers Union who came out of retirement to join my staff in 
Minnesota. They are quite a pair. My favorite

[[Page S15644]]

thing this summer is when Dave Frederickson took Hilary Bolea to a 
tractor pull at the Minnesota Farmfest. So we have a great team, and I 
am proud of their work.
  I am happy the farm bill passed today with its forward-looking 
provisions on cellulosic ethanol, the disaster relief, permanent 
disaster relief that we worked so hard to get, the strong safety net 
for our farmers. The reasons we had that safety net 75 years ago in the 
Depression with volatile prices, volatile weather, continue today.
  As you know, I would have liked to have seen a little more reform in 
this bill. I would like to see some income eligibility limits as well 
as the subsidy limits set down in the Dorgan-Grassley bill. We are 
going to continue to push for that reform. We will work with 
Representative Peterson, who is from Minnesota, the head of the Ag 
Committee in the House, and our great leader, Senator Harkin, with our 
ranking member, Senator Chambliss, as the bill goes to conference 
committee.
  I am hopeful there will be some discussion with the White House about 
the reform in the bill. We have a very good start here and we need to 
continue that discussion in the months to come.
  The other thing, I wish to commend the Senate for passing the Energy 
bill yesterday. I came out of the Commerce Committee. We worked on that 
gas mileage standard. We are now seeing a 10-mile-per-gallon increase, 
not only good for the environment but also, most importantly, good for 
the American consumer. They can save money by having less cost for gas. 
This energy bill is just the beginning of us starting to focus not on 
spending all our money on the oil cartels in the Middle East but 
instead focusing on the farmers and workers of the Midwest and our own 
energy independence.
  Finally, on the FHA reauthorization and the work being done on the 
subprime issue, I had a roundtable with a number of people involved in 
this back in Minnesota. Minnesota is fourth in the country for subprime 
mortgage foreclosures. The chickens are coming home to roost in terms 
of predatory lending. We finally have started to work on the issue in 
Washington, and we see the problems it is causing not only for 
individual homebuyers but for entire neighborhoods and communities.
  All in all, I believe we got some things done at the end of the week.
  The one last thing I commend the Senate for is the work on the pool 
safety bill. I have spoken on the floor a few times about something of 
maybe little note when you look at the larger scheme, but a very 
important note to one family, and that is the Taylor family of Edina, 
MN. Their girl Abby was severely injured in a wading pool this summer. 
She may never eat again. She is sick but she is so strong in spirit. 
Her family called me literally every 2 weeks to check on the progress 
of this bill. Because of Abby, we were able to strengthen the bill. It 
was named after former Secretary of State Jim Baker's granddaughter 
when she was so tragically killed in a similar accident. This puts in a 
standard, a retroactive standard for public pools which includes 
apartments, any pools used by the public. It includes stronger drain 
covers, a vacuum suction system. It is a very good bill. The House bill 
is similar. I have every intention to get this thing done. I thank 
Senator Pryor, Senator Stevens, and others for their work to get this 
done on a bipartisan basis in the Senate. One of the proudest moments 
my year here was when I was able to call Scott Taylor last night at 
about 9 p.m. from the Senate floor and tell him that that bill had 
passed and to know we were going to go home to Minnesota and have a 
little Christmas present for that family, something we worked so hard 
on to make sure this wouldn't happen to another child.
  I yield the floor and 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. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 
be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. KLOBUCHAR). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________