[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 151 (Tuesday, September 23, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9230-S9233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            ALS REGISTRY ACT

  Mr. REID. One last thing, again, we have been told by our staffs that 
the ALS question you had has been all taken care of. I assume you will 
take a look at that and see if that, in fact, is the case.
  Mr. COBURN. Answering the majority leader through the Chair, my staff 
has advised me a moment ago that we have come to agreement on that. I 
have no objection to the way that is written at this time.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar 
No. 518, the ALS Registry Act, that all after the enacting clause be 
stricken and that an amendment at the desk, consisting of a compromise 
amendment based on the language of subtitle A of title I of S. 3297 be 
inserted in lieu thereof; that the amendment be considered and agreed 
to; that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and the 
motion to reconsider be laid on the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senate proceeded to consider the bill (S. 1382) to amend the 
Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment of an 
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Registry, which had been reported from 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, with an 
amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu 
thereof the following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``ALS Registry Act''.

     SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.

       Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 
     U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:

     ``SEC. 399R. AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS REGISTRY.

       ``(a) Establishment.--
       ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the receipt 
     of the report described in subsection (b)(2)(A), the 
     Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for 
     Disease Control and Prevention, shall--
       ``(A) develop a system to collect data on amyotrophic 
     lateral sclerosis (referred to in this section as `ALS') and 
     other motor neuron disorders that can be confused with ALS, 
     misdiagnosed as ALS, and in some cases progress to ALS, 
     including information with respect to the incidence and 
     prevalence of the disease in the United States; and
       ``(B) establish a national registry for the collection and 
     storage of such data to develop a population-based registry 
     of cases in the United States of ALS and other motor neuron 
     disorders that can be confused with ALS, misdiagnosed as ALS, 
     and in some cases progress to ALS.
       ``(2) Purpose.--It is the purpose of the registry 
     established under paragraph (1)(B) to--
       ``(A) better describe the incidence and prevalence of ALS 
     in the United States;
       ``(B) examine appropriate factors, such as environmental 
     and occupational, that may be associated with the disease;
       ``(C) better outline key demographic factors (such as age, 
     race or ethnicity, gender, and family history of individuals 
     who are diagnosed with the disease) associated with the 
     disease;
       ``(D) better examine the connection between ALS and other 
     motor neuron disorders that can be confused with ALS, 
     misdiagnosed as ALS, and in some cases progress to ALS; and
       ``(E) other matters as recommended by the Advisory 
     Committee established under subsection (b).
       ``(b) Advisory Committee.--
       ``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting 
     through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention, shall establish a committee to be known as the 
     Advisory Committee on the National ALS Registry (referred to 
     in this section as the `Advisory Committee'). The Advisory 
     Committee shall be composed of not more than 27 members to be 
     appointed by the Secretary, acting through the Centers for 
     Disease Control and Prevention, of which--
       ``(A) two-thirds of such members shall represent 
     governmental agencies--
       ``(i) including at least one member representing--

       ``(I) the National Institutes of Health, to include, upon 
     the recommendation of the Director of the National Institutes 
     of Health, representatives from the National Institute of 
     Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute 
     of Environmental Health Sciences;

[[Page S9231]]

       ``(II) the Department of Veterans Affairs;
       ``(III) the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 
     Registry; and
       ``(IV) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and

       ``(ii) of which at least one such member shall be a 
     clinician with expertise on ALS and related diseases, an 
     epidemiologist with experience in data registries, a 
     statistician, an ethicist, and a privacy expert (relating to 
     the privacy regulations under the Health Insurance 
     Portability and Accountability Act of 1996); and
       ``(B) one-third of such members shall be public members, 
     including at least one member representing--
       ``(i) national and voluntary health associations;
       ``(ii) patients with ALS or their family members;
       ``(iii) clinicians with expertise on ALS and related 
     diseases;
       ``(iv) epidemiologists with experience in data registries;
       ``(v) geneticists or experts in genetics who have 
     experience with the genetics of ALS or other neurological 
     diseases and
       ``(vi) other individuals with an interest in developing and 
     maintaining the National ALS Registry.
       ``(2) Duties.--The Advisory Committee shall review 
     information and make recommendations to the Secretary 
     concerning--
       ``(A) the development and maintenance of the National ALS 
     Registry;
       ``(B) the type of information to be collected and stored in 
     the Registry;
       ``(C) the manner in which such data is to be collected;
       ``(D) the use and availability of such data including 
     guidelines for such use; and
       ``(E) the collection of information about diseases and 
     disorders that primarily affect motor neurons that are 
     considered essential to furthering the study and cure of ALS.
       ``(3) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date on 
     which the Advisory Committee is established, the Advisory 
     Committee shall submit a report to the Secretary concerning 
     the review conducted under paragraph (2) that contains the 
     recommendations of the Advisory Committee with respect to the 
     results of such review.
       ``(c) Grants.--The Secretary, acting through the Director 
     of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may award 
     grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative 
     agreements with, public or private nonprofit entities for the 
     collection, analysis, and reporting of data on ALS and other 
     motor neuron disorders that can be confused with ALS, 
     misdiagnosed as ALS, and in some cases progress to ALS after 
     receiving the report under subsection (b)(3).
       ``(d) Coordination With State, Local, and Federal 
     Registries.--
       ``(1) In general.--In establishing the National ALS 
     Registry under subsection (a), the Secretary, acting through 
     the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention, shall--
       ``(A) identify, build upon, expand, and coordinate among 
     existing data and surveillance systems, surveys, registries, 
     and other Federal public health and environmental 
     infrastructure wherever possible, which may include--
       ``(i) any registry pilot projects previously supported by 
     the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
       ``(ii) the Department of Veterans Affairs ALS Registry;
       ``(iii) the DNA and Cell Line Repository of the National 
     Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Human Genetics 
     Resource Center at the National Institutes of Health;
       ``(iv) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 
     studies, including studies conducted in Illinois, Missouri, 
     El Paso and San Antonio, Texas, and Massachusetts;
       ``(v) State-based ALS registries;
       ``(vi) the National Vital Statistics System; and
       ``(vii) any other existing or relevant databases that 
     collect or maintain information on those motor neuron 
     diseases recommended by the Advisory Committee established in 
     subsection (b); and
       ``(B) provide for research access to ALS data as 
     recommended by the Advisory Committee established in 
     subsection (b) to the extent permitted by applicable statutes 
     and regulations and in a manner that protects personal 
     privacy consistent with applicable privacy statutes and 
     regulations.
       ``(2) Coordination with nih and department of veterans 
     affairs.--Consistent with applicable privacy statutes and 
     regulations, the Secretary shall ensure that epidemiological 
     and other types of information obtained under subsection (a) 
     is made available to the National Institutes of Health and 
     the Department of Veterans Affairs.
       ``(e) Definition.--For the purposes of this section, the 
     term `national voluntary health association' means a national 
     non-profit organization with chapters or other affiliated 
     organizations in States throughout the United States with 
     experience serving the population of individuals with ALS and 
     have demonstrated experience in ALS research, care, and 
     patient services.
       ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 
     $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, $25,000,000 for fiscal year 
     2009, and $16,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 
     2012.''.

     SEC. 3. REPORT ON REGISTRIES.

       Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of 
     this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
     submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 
     outlining--
       (1) the registries currently under way;
       (2) future planned registries;
       (3) the criteria involved in determining what registries to 
     conduct, defer, or suspend; and
       (4) the scope of those registries.

     The report shall also include a description of the activities 
     the Secretary undertakes to establish partnerships with 
     research and patient advocacy communities to expand 
     registries.

  The amendment (No. 5637) was agreed to, as follows:

       Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``ALS Registry Act''.

     SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.

       Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 
     U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:

     ``SEC. 399R. AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS REGISTRY.

       ``(a) Establishment.--
       ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the receipt 
     of the report described in subsection (b)(2)(A), the 
     Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for 
     Disease Control and Prevention, may if scientifically 
     advisable--
       ``(A) develop a system to collect data on amyotrophic 
     lateral sclerosis (referred to in this section as `ALS') and 
     other motor neuron disorders that can be confused with ALS, 
     misdiagnosed as ALS, and in some cases progress to ALS, 
     including information with respect to the incidence and 
     prevalence of the disease in the United States; and
       ``(B) establish a national registry for the collection and 
     storage of such data to develop a population-based registry 
     of cases in the United States of ALS and other motor neuron 
     disorders that can be confused with ALS, misdiagnosed as ALS, 
     and in some cases progress to ALS.
       ``(2) Purpose.--It is the purpose of the registry 
     established under paragraph (1)(B) to--
       ``(A) better describe the incidence and prevalence of ALS 
     in the United States;
       ``(B) examine appropriate factors, such as environmental 
     and occupational, that may be associated with the disease;
       ``(C) better outline key demographic factors (such as age, 
     race or ethnicity, gender, and family history of individuals 
     who are diagnosed with the disease) associated with the 
     disease;
       ``(D) better examine the connection between ALS and other 
     motor neuron disorders that can be confused with ALS, 
     misdiagnosed as ALS, and in some cases progress to ALS; and
       ``(E) other matters as recommended by the Advisory 
     Committee established under subsection (b).
       ``(b) Advisory Committee.--
       ``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting 
     through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention, may establish a committee to be known as the 
     Advisory Committee on the National ALS Registry (referred to 
     in this section as the `Advisory Committee'). The Advisory 
     Committee shall be composed of not more than 27 members to be 
     appointed by the Secretary, acting through the Centers for 
     Disease Control and Prevention, of which--
       ``(A) two-thirds of such members shall represent 
     governmental agencies--
       ``(i) including at least one member representing--

       ``(I) the National Institutes of Health, to include, upon 
     the recommendation of the Director of the National Institutes 
     of Health, representatives from the National Institute of 
     Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute 
     of Environmental Health Sciences;
       ``(II) the Department of Veterans Affairs;
       ``(III) the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 
     Registry; and
       ``(IV) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and

       ``(ii) of which at least one such member shall be a 
     clinician with expertise on ALS and related diseases, an 
     epidemiologist with experience in data registries, a 
     statistician, an ethicist, and a privacy expert (relating to 
     the privacy regulations under the Health Insurance 
     Portability and Accountability Act of 1996); and
       ``(B) one-third of such members shall be public members, 
     including at least one member representing--
       ``(i) national and voluntary health associations;
       ``(ii) patients with ALS or their family members;
       ``(iii) clinicians with expertise on ALS and related 
     diseases;
       ``(iv) epidemiologists with experience in data registries;
       ``(v) geneticists or experts in genetics who have 
     experience with the genetics of ALS or other neurological 
     diseases and
       ``(vi) other individuals with an interest in developing and 
     maintaining the National ALS Registry.
       ``(2) Duties.--The Advisory Committee may review 
     information and make recommendations to the Secretary 
     concerning--
       ``(A) the development and maintenance of the National ALS 
     Registry;
       ``(B) the type of information to be collected and stored in 
     the Registry;
       ``(C) the manner in which such data is to be collected;
       ``(D) the use and availability of such data including 
     guidelines for such use; and
       ``(E) the collection of information about diseases and 
     disorders that primarily affect motor neurons that are 
     considered essential to furthering the study and cure of ALS.

[[Page S9232]]

       ``(3) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date on 
     which the Advisory Committee is established, the Advisory 
     Committee may submit a report to the Secretary concerning the 
     review conducted under paragraph (2) that contains the 
     recommendations of the Advisory Committee with respect to the 
     results of such review.
       ``(c) Grants.--The Secretary, acting through the Director 
     of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may award 
     grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative 
     agreements with, public or private nonprofit entities for the 
     collection, analysis, and reporting of data on ALS and other 
     motor neuron disorders that can be confused with ALS, 
     misdiagnosed as ALS, and in some cases progress to ALS after 
     receiving the report under subsection (b)(3).
       ``(d) Coordination With State, Local, and Federal 
     Registries.--
       ``(1) In general.--In establishing the National ALS 
     Registry under subsection (a), the Secretary, acting through 
     the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention, may--
       ``(A) identify, build upon, expand, and coordinate among 
     existing data and surveillance systems, surveys, registries, 
     and other Federal public health and environmental 
     infrastructure wherever possible, which may include--
       ``(i) any registry pilot projects previously supported by 
     the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
       ``(ii) the Department of Veterans Affairs ALS Registry;
       ``(iii) the DNA and Cell Line Repository of the National 
     Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Human Genetics 
     Resource Center at the National Institutes of Health;
       ``(iv) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 
     studies, including studies conducted in Illinois, Missouri, 
     El Paso and San Antonio, Texas, and Massachusetts;
       ``(v) State-based ALS registries;
       ``(vi) the National Vital Statistics System; and
       ``(vii) any other existing or relevant databases that 
     collect or maintain information on those motor neuron 
     diseases recommended by the Advisory Committee established in 
     subsection (b); and
       ``(B) provide for research access to ALS data as 
     recommended by the Advisory Committee established in 
     subsection (b) to the extent permitted by applicable statutes 
     and regulations and in a manner that protects personal 
     privacy consistent with applicable privacy statutes and 
     regulations.
       ``(2) Coordination with nih and department of veterans 
     affairs.--Consistent with applicable privacy statutes and 
     regulations, the Secretary may ensure that epidemiological 
     and other types of information obtained under subsection (a) 
     is made available to the National Institutes of Health and 
     the Department of Veterans Affairs.
       ``(e) Definition.--For the purposes of this section, the 
     term `national voluntary health association' means a national 
     non-profit organization with chapters or other affiliated 
     organizations in States throughout the United States with 
     experience serving the population of individuals with ALS and 
     have demonstrated experience in ALS research, care, and 
     patient services.''.

     SEC. 3. REPORT ON REGISTRIES.

       Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of 
     this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services may 
     submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 
     outlining--
       (1) the registries currently under way;
       (2) future planned registries;
       (3) the criteria involved in determining what registries to 
     conduct, defer, or suspend; and
       (4) the scope of those registries.
     The report may also include a description of the activities 
     the Secretary undertakes to establish partnerships with 
     research and patient advocacy communities to expand 
     registries.

  The committee amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended, 
was agreed to.
  The bill (S. 1382), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, let me say, as Senator Coburn leaves the 
floor, he knows there isn't a single bit of my mind or body that has 
any ill will toward him. He does this. I disagree with his doing this. 
He has a right to do this. My objection is not with him. It is his 
colleagues who procedurally support him in this. I want him to know our 
relationship is very good. I like him. The fact that I like him doesn't 
take away from my ability to disagree with him. Again, I would hope 
that maybe later today we can come here and pass some of these other 
bills we have tried to do today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. COBURN. Madam President, it is my understanding I have 14 minutes 
remaining in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. COBURN. Madam President, I appreciate the attitude with which the 
majority leader comes. We have attempted to work out several bills that 
I think we will get worked out today. I would like to provide a more 
general discussion about what went on here because the American people 
need to know.
  All these bills could have come to the floor for debate and 
amendment. They haven't been blocked. What has happened is one Senator, 
myself, to the dismay of most of my colleagues on my side of the aisle 
who want these bills to pass, has said the American people ought to 
hear a debate. We ought to be able to amend the bills. We are talking 
about $10 billion in new spending, 37 new Government agencies, and we 
are to pass that by not having any debate and just saying yes.
  I will not do that. I understand that is frustrating to my colleagues 
on both sides of the aisle. As a matter of fact, I get much more 
consternation from Republicans than I do from Democrats for my desire 
for us to be frugal with taxpayer dollars and also to be transparent. 
The fact is, we ought to have debates. We ought to amend. If one 
watches C-SPAN at all, what they see is, the vast majority of time, we 
are not doing anything in here. So there is plenty of time for us to do 
it.
  I will make another significant point. We have in front of us a 
financial crisis that we are going to ask the American taxpayer to 
fund, some $700 billion in guarantees on loans, one way or the other, 
for loans that are not performing, whether that be mortgages or other 
loans, commercial real estate, home real estate. We are getting ready 
to ask the American people to do that. The contention I have had in 
this body since I have been here is completely opposite of what Senator 
Reid voiced yesterday and again this morning, that these don't cost 
anything. If they don't cost anything and we are not going to spend any 
money, then they are not ever going to have any impact, if we don't 
spend the money. The fact is, authorizations matter because we do 
intend to spend the money. Therefore, if we continue to authorize and 
authorize and grow the Government bigger than what it is today--and one 
of reasons we are in the jam today is because the Federal Government is 
trying to do things totally outside the enumerated powers of the 
Constitution that were specifically given to us to limit the range and 
impact and reach of the Federal Government. That is why we are going to 
be asking for $700 billion of the next generation's money to make up 
for mistakes that Congresses have made as we have reached beyond what 
the Constitution says.
  The very idea to claim that these don't spend any money flies in the 
face of reality. I would like to submit to the record a release on 
military aid spending. It shows the duplicity associated with our 
words. The majority leader said none of this spends any money. We 
passed the Defense authorization bill. Lo and behold, what are the 
releases of all the Members of Congress that had marks and things that 
go home on parochial interests? Here is what they say. They will spend 
money. Major research and military infrastructure needs will receive an 
enormous boost. Nearly $200 million in Federal spending to ensure the 
State's bases have everything they need.

  Well, if authorizations do not spend any money, why are we claiming 
in press releases they do? We cannot have it both ways. The fact is, if 
we say they do not spend any money, and we do not intend to appropriate 
it, what we are doing is playing a hoax on the American people.
  We are going to have before us this week some very difficult 
challenges for the Congress. The medicine, the painful medicine this 
country is going to have to take to reestablish confidence in our 
financial markets is directly related to the behavior of not 
deauthorizing and not getting rid of wasteful programs. The fact is, 
the Government Accountability Office has specifically listed out, along 
with the inspectors general of each of the agencies, as well as the 
Congressional Budget Office and Congressional Research Service, over 
$300 billion of waste, fraud, or duplication.
  When was the last time we aggressively eliminated waste, we 
aggressively eliminated fraud, we aggressively eliminated duplication? 
The President has admitted that combining the debt with what we are 
borrowing from Social Security, this next year we are going to have a 
$600 billion deficit.

[[Page S9233]]

Not only are we going to take $700 billion and put it into 
nonperforming loans, we are going to borrow another $600 billion from 
the next generation to operate the Government, when we know over $300 
billion of that is waste.
  What are we doing? We are passing more authorizations with new 
spending, which will get spent, or we are being dishonest with those 
people who say we are supporting those programs. It is time for a 
change. Both campaigns on the Presidential side are talking about that. 
But the change that needs to happen is a change inside Congress, that 
we will start addressing the real problem. Imagine the fact that HHS 
put out that in 2007 31 percent of all Medicare payments were 
improperly made, with about 80 percent of those being overpayments.
  It does not sound like much until you see that is almost 80 billion 
of Medicare dollars that were improperly paid. Where is the bill on the 
floor now to fix that? Where is the bill on the floor to get us out of 
the energy jam we are in? Instead, we are authorizing new programs 
without eliminating others and continuing the very errors of our ways 
that got us into the jam we are now going to ask the American taxpayers 
to give us $700 billion to get us out of.
  It time for a timeout in Washington. It is time for us to reconsider 
how we do things, why we do things, and when we do things. Passing 
large numbers of new authorizations without eliminating the areas that 
are not working now does not fix anything. All it will do is make it 
more expensive to continue to fail. It also means we do not hold the 
bureaucracies accountable, which we are not.
  I ask the Presiding Officer the amount of time I have.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Six minutes 41 seconds.
  Mr. COBURN. I thank the Presiding Officer. I will finish in a moment.
  The question the American people ought to be asking of Congress right 
now, I believe, is this: You took an oath to uphold the Constitution. 
The Constitution has in it this very significant component that is 
called the Enumerated Powers Act. It is article II, section 8. It tells 
us exactly what we are to be about, what we are to do, and what we are 
not to do. The question you ought to measure us on is: Are we following 
the U.S. Constitution? Many of the bills Senator Reid just brought 
forward are well within the bounds of the Enumerated Powers, but many 
of them are not. Yet we think at a parochial level and a political 
level about our own reelections and we forget this document that has 
guided this country so well.
  My hope is the American people will start demanding that we follow 
this rule book, this guide book. If we do, not only will we eliminate 
that $300 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse, we will eliminate another 
$300 billion worth of programs that do not have any role coming out of 
the Federal Government, and we will put Government closer and more 
directly accountable to the very people who are being governed, and 
that is back at the local and State levels.
  I will say in finishing up, Senator Reid made several references to 
the Republican caucus. I will assure him that the vast majority of the 
members of my caucus do not support my position on authorizations. 
Their only support of me came in light of contrasting it next to an 
energy bill, which we still have not accomplished.
  Congress has still not done anything about the No. 1 national 
security issue facing us, which is our dependence on foreign sources of 
energy. That is what we ought to be about this week. We ought to pass a 
CR. We ought to do what we have to do to fix the financial crisis. And 
we ought to be back making sure that another year does not go by where 
we do not have a comprehensive plan that utilizes every bit of 
America's talents, every bit of America's resources to make us less 
dependent and more secure on the issue of energy.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that this document be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

   Reid Set To Deliver Nearly $200 Million to Nevada To Aid Military

       Washington, DC.--Major research efforts in Nevada and 
     military infrastructure needs statewide could soon receive an 
     enormous boost from Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who is 
     delivering nearly $200 million in federal funding to help 
     ensure the state's bases have everything they need.
       As part of the defense authorization bill passed Wednesday 
     by the Senate, Nevada will see important benefits if 
     President Bush drops his veto threat. Notable are the 
     construction of a $33.9 million Army Reserve Center in Las 
     Vegas, as well as nearly $64 million in improvements at 
     Nellis Air Force Base. This includes construction of a hangar 
     and aircraft maintenance unit, and infrastructure upgrades 
     for the F-16 aggressor squadron at the base.
       There is also more than $32 million for improvements at 
     Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, including funds for 
     the construction of the Unmanned Aerial Systems Flight 
     Simulator and Academics Facility.
       ``Safety abroad begins with strength at home, and I will 
     always make sure Nevada's military installations are as 
     strong as possible,'' Reid said. ``This money will improve 
     both our ability to protect our country and the quality of 
     life for the troops we appreciate so greatly. I will always 
     deliver for our military and for our veterans when their 
     military service ends, and I call upon the President to do 
     the same by signing this bill.''

  Mr. COBURN. With that, I yield the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.

                          ____________________