[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 568-572]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   NOMINATION OF TOMMY G. THOMPSON, OF WISCONSIN, TO BE SECRETARY OF 
                       HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kyl). The clerk will report the next 
nomination.
  The legislative clerk read the nomination of Tommy G. Thompson, of 
Wisconsin, to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the debate will 
include 60 minutes of time under the control of Senator Wellstone, with 
40 minutes for the chairman and ranking minority member of the Finance 
Committee and 10 minutes each for Senators Feingold, Kennedy, and Reid 
of Nevada.
  Who yields time?
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I yield myself such time as I might 
consume.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa is recognized.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I had the privilege of hearing Gov. 
Tommy Thompson, the designee for Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, when he came before our committee which the distinguished 
Senator from Montana chaired last week. We had a very good hearing.
  I want to compliment Senator Baucus for putting together a good 
hearing and, more importantly, for his cooperation in helping President 
Bush move many of his nominees through the Senate as quickly as 
possible, and Senator Baucus was responsible for doing that in the case 
of Secretary of the Treasury O'Neill, and now Secretary of Health and 
Human Services Governor Thompson.
  Last week, we invited then-Governor Thompson to testify. I have to 
say it was a very refreshing hearing. It became so apparent that the 
qualities that have made Governor Thompson so successful in Wisconsin 
are what will also make him very successful as a Secretary of the 
Department of Health and Human Services. This is a very ideal choice 
that President Bush has made.
  First and foremost, Governor Thompson is a problem solver, focused on 
improving the lives of real people. As Senators of both parties noted 
during our hearing last week, Governor Thompson has made remarkable 
progress in addressing the health care needs of families in Wisconsin. 
Successful programs such as Badger Care and family care reflect his 
ability to reach consensus and implement concrete solutions. In 
addition, Governor Thompson is a true innovator. On issues such as 
welfare reform he has shown that he is willing to cast away old, tired 
approaches. He reaches out for new ideas and develops creative 
solutions to tough problems.
  Governor Thompson has also been an effective administrator and 
manager of his State, expertise that will be critical as he oversees 
important programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the State children's 
health insurance program. Coming from being a Governor of a State, I 
think he has appreciation that one size doesn't fit all in our great 
country. A mold poured in Washington, DC, doesn't necessarily solve the 
problems of New York City or Madison, WI, with the same effectiveness 
as if we would give some leeway to the Governor of the State of New 
York and the Governor of the State of Wisconsin leeway in solving those 
problems that are unique to their respective States and, hence, deserve 
a unique solution.
  I can say from the standpoint of his work on welfare reform that he 
did not wait for the Federal Government to pass welfare reform before 
he started working within Federal law with what he could do to improve 
the system. When we were working on this in 1996, he was able to come 
to Washington and discuss the expenses and what needed to be done with 
Federal law to allow each State to have some leeway to help people move 
from welfare to work, to give people a chance, to move people from the 
fringe of our society to the mainstream of our society in order to be 
in that mainstream and to have the opportunities for advancement and 
progress as those in the mainstream.
  I think he is flexible. That flexibility that he has will serve well 
not only our Federal policies, but it will also help Governors and 
State and local administrators do a better job as they have some 
leeway. Also, as there are some changes in programs that will be 
suggested by President Bush we in the Congress will work on, as well. 
It gives citizens an opportunity to have right here in this town, full 
time, a person who has had the experience of being a Governor--where 
the rubber meets the road--on Federal programs to make sure that we are 
able to make the best policy to fit a country that is as geographically 
vast as ours, with heterogenous population.
  Lastly--and I hope this responds to some of the cynicism of people 
about Washington being too partisan sometimes--I am pleased to report, 
as Governor Thompson has been successful in his State, he has done it 
because he has been able to reach across party lines because he himself 
has followed the same principle of bipartisanship to find successful 
solutions in his home State by reaching across party lines. That 
bipartisanship and how it has been successful is shown in the fact he 
was warmly introduced to our committee by Senator Dole, a Republican, 
Senator Kohl and Senator Feingold, who are Democrats, and by Secretary 
Shalala from the present administration, who worked closely with 
Governor Thompson when she was chancellor of the University of 
Wisconsin.
  This support from party leaders on both sides of the aisle speaks for 
itself. I hope we in Washington will apply the Governor's bipartisan 
approach in Congress. I think we will.
  As I noted at the hearing, we are in a unique situation in the 
Senate. Bipartisanship can no longer be a hobby for a few; instead, it 
needs to be a way of life for all. The American people demand it. We 
must respond. I think hopefully when we look back at this year and even 
more so after 2 years of this 107th Congress, we will be able to say 
that the fact that the Senate was split 50/50 was good because it 
brought people closer together.
  For my part, I respond to the initiatives and the ideas that Governor 
Thompson brings and to an evenly divided Finance Committee, hoping we 
will seize the opportunity to solve the real problems we face--
modernizing Medicare and improving access to prescription drugs for 
seniors, reducing the number of 43.5 million uninsured, improving 
health care in rural communities. That is something that Senator Baucus 
and I have worked closely on over a long period of time, improving 
long-term care. These are priorities for me, but I am sure they are not 
just my priorities. They are priorities for many in this Congress, and 
particularly those that serve on the Senate Finance Committee.
  I look forward to working closely on these priorities, not only with 
my colleagues, but with Governor Thompson in his new position as 
Secretary of HHS. Governor Thompson deserves not only our votes but our 
thanks for his willingness to serve our country even though it means 
leaving both a job and a State he loves. I am also grateful to 
President Bush for choosing such a qualified Secretary. He sends a 
clear signal for his desire for problem solving, effective management, 
and bipartisanship.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, first, I note the presence of the new 
Finance Committee chairman. This is the first appearance of our new 
chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. I know all Senators agree 
with me in saying we look forward to a very long, prosperous, 
productive period, and eagerly seek to work with the chairman in a 
bipartisan nature, noting the 50/50 composition of the Senate. It is a 
terrific opportunity we have. I know I speak for the chairman in saying 
he also shares my desire to do the same.
  I rise to give my enthusiastic support to the nomination of Governor 
Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin to be our nation's 19th Secretary of Health 
and

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Human Services. I think he will be a great Secretary. He has the 
energy, the spirit, creativity, enthusiasm, and he takes a 
bipartisanship approach. He is quite a guy. He has the spirit of his 
predecessor, another Badger, if I can use that term. Secretary Shalala 
also had a lot of energy and spirit. I think Governor Thompson, when he 
does retire from that job and looks back upon his term, will find that 
he feels good about his achievements, and the rest of the country will 
as well.
  In saying so, I do not mean to imply that I expect to agree with 
every position of our about-to-be-Secretary. There are clearly going to 
be some issues on which we disagree--for example, a woman's right to 
choose and some aspects of the upcoming Medicare debate.
  With that said, I think Mr. Thompson is the right person for a very 
tough job. It is not an easy job. But he is more than up to the task. 
He is known for many things, probably best of all for his work on 
welfare reform. He is the nation's leader on this issue, as Governor of 
Wisconsin where he took the lead on their welfare reform. In many ways, 
his efforts helped the Senate pass welfare reform legislation. And I 
was an early supporter of these efforts. Welfare reform has affected 
our nation very significantly, most particularly in my State of 
Montana. I credit Governor Thompson. I salute him for taking that 
initiative.
  Just as important, he has provided resources to the programs that are 
necessary to make Federal reform work for needy families. If we are 
going to have welfare reform, certainly the families on welfare need 
these resources. And he didn't call it welfare reform, but a workfare 
program. It was obviously the correct approach.
  Governor Thompson has also been a leader on health care issues. He 
has found innovative ways to ensure health care coverage for the 
working poor. We have heard reference to BadgerCare, a combination of 
increases in Medicaid and the CHIP program. I teased him a bit in the 
hearing when I was talking about the BadgerCare program. It is 
obviously named after the mascot of the University of Wisconsin. The 
mascot of the University of Montana is the grizzly. I am not so sure 
``grizzly care'' makes much sense in Montana, but I mentioned that to 
him. Frankly, I am not sure BadgerCare really is that warm and 
comfortable either, but it gives Wisconsin a deep sense of pride.
  Governor Thompson has a reputation for work in other areas: Expanded 
job training, reform of Wisconsin law to allow women on welfare to keep 
more of the child support payments they receive. Those of us who know 
Governor Thompson and who are getting to know him better see him as 
someone with a reputation who is very honest, who tells you where he 
stands. An innovator, a risk taker. Perhaps most important of all, as 
my good friend Chairman Grassley said, he is someone who worked with 
both Republicans and Democrats to find bipartisan solutions. As the 
chairman mentioned during the confirmation hearings last week when 
Governor Thompson appeared before the Finance Committee, he was 
introduced not only by former majority leader Bob Dole, but also by his 
two Senators and by Secretary Shalala.
  Senator Kohl told us that Governor Thompson's ``methods reach across 
the aisle and his successes reach across the board.''
  Senator Feingold said that he ``values innovation above partisan 
gridlock.''
  And outgoing Secretary Shalala said that Thompson is a ``consensus 
builder'' rather than an ideologue.
  That, to my mind, is precisely what we need. A consensus builder, 
because the next Secretary faces challenges that defy partisan 
solutions.
  First and foremost, Congress must address the pressing need for 
Medicare to cover prescription drugs. The practice of medicine has 
changed dramatically since Medicare was created in 1965. Today, 
prescription drug therapies play a vital role in medical care.
  As we all know, drug prices are rising fast, and our seniors who do 
not have insurance coverage for prescription drugs pay the highest 
prices of anyone in the world.
  We need to fill this glaring gap in the Medicare program.
  Accordingly, it is my sincere hope that we can work together to enact 
a prescription drug program for all seniors, not just low-income 
seniors, and that we can do so quickly.
  In addition, we need to improve the Medicaid program and the CHIP 
program for low-income kids. We need to find ways to lend a hand to the 
43 million Americans who do not have health insurance. We all call that 
a national disgrace, that so many Americans do not have health 
insurance. There is no other country in the modern industrialized world 
that has such a large percentage of people uninsured. We Americans have 
to fill that gap quickly.
  On each of these issues, I look forward to working with Secretary 
Thompson to find innovative and bipartisan solutions that improve the 
delivery of health and human services.
  He has my full support, and I urge colleagues to vote to confirm his 
nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time? The Senator from Minnesota? 
The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask my good friend from Minnesota if 
this is a time he wishes to make his longer statement or to withhold. I 
ask that because the Senator from Delaware asked me some time ago to 
speak for about 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, as it turns out, I will be brief, too. 
It turns out I will take only about 10 minutes, 15 at the most.
  Mr. BAUCUS. I might say, if that is all right with the Senator from 
Delaware because he did ask me earlier if he could speak next.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. I apologize. I thought I had some time reserved.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota does have 60 
minutes. Without objection, he is recognized.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, first let me make it clear I am going 
to support Governor Thompson to be Secretary of Health and Human 
Services. I do not intend to oppose him, and I look forward to working 
with him.
  When he appeared before the HELP Committee, we had a spirited 
discussion. I think there are many areas where we can work together. 
The Secretary of Health and Human Services is very important and there 
are a lot of areas that are critical to the lives of people in 
Minnesota where this Secretary is going to be in a key role.
  I talked to Governor Thompson, soon to be Secretary Thompson, about 
having some parity in ending the discrimination in mental health 
coverage. We talked also about trying to end discrimination when it 
comes to substance abuse coverage. We talked about the importance of 
the strong support that Secretary Shalala showed for the Violence 
Against Women Act and the steps we need to take to reduce that 
violence.
  I think Senator Harkin asked the question about stem cell research, 
how important it is not only for people struggling with Parkinson's but 
for people struggling with other diseases. I thought we covered a lot 
of issues that are extremely important. I believe Secretary-to-be 
Thompson will be an important leader in these areas.
  I want to talk about one area of disagreement, though not a lot, 
which is why I want to take some time on the floor. It is an appeal to 
Governor Thompson. It is an appeal to colleagues. It is something I 
intend to be vigilant about as a Senator from Minnesota. It has to do 
with TANF or what we call welfare reform.
  As my colleague pointed out, Montana has been viewed as a State which 
is a leader in welfare reform--as a model, by some, for welfare reform. 
But what troubles me is that all too often we define reform as 
reduction of the caseload. None of us ever intended that welfare reform 
should be equated, ipso facto, with just the number of people who no 
longer receive welfare. The question was whether or not these families, 
almost all of them headed by women with children, all of them low-
income, were able to move from welfare to economic self-sufficiency.
  It just does not suffice to say that in Wisconsin or Minnesota or 
Delaware or

[[Page 570]]

Montana or anywhere in the country, TANF has been a huge success 
because we have cut the rolls by 50, 70, or 80 percent. The question is 
whether or not we have reduced the poverty. I raised these figures 
during our hearing. It is not really just about Wisconsin, which is a 
State I dearly love, and not to talk about a Governor in the negative 
who, frankly, has put more investment into child care and job training 
and health coverage than many Governors have, but it is interesting and 
important and I asked the Governor about this.
  When it comes to infant mortality, in 1996-1998 Wisconsin had the 
highest Hispanic infant mortality rate in the country and the fourth 
highest black infant mortality rate in the United States of America.
  I believe the figures in the early 1990s were different. Wisconsin 
really ranked well. They did well compared with other States in the 
country. When it comes to neonatal mortality rates, in 1989-1991 
Wisconsin had the seventh best black infant neonatality rate. By 1997-
1998, it had the fifth worst neonatal infant mortality rate in the 
United States. Wisconsin lagged dead last in the country for Hispanic 
neonatal infant mortality--double the U.S. average in 1996-1998.
  Why do I say this? Not to bash away at this Governor, who has been 
one of the leaders and has been willing to make more of the up-front 
investment, but to point out to colleagues that when you ask this 
Governor and other Governors--there is at least one former Governor 
here who might disagree with me--about welfare reform, they will say it 
has been a great success. Then you ask: Do you have the empirical data? 
Can you tell me where are these families? Do the mothers have jobs? Are 
they living wage jobs? What is the child care situation? Or, in the 
United States of America post-1996, do you know that there has been a 
30-percent decline in food stamp participation, which is the major 
safety net program for poor children in America, to make sure they do 
not go without food? Ask what has happened.
  What has happened is we have become so anti-welfare that we are 
neglecting to tell people they are eligible for some of these benefits.
  So I want to make the case today not against Governor Thompson, but 
that even in Wisconsin, which is recognized as a State where you had a 
Governor who was willing to make more of the up-front investment, you 
have had a situation where there is some troubling data when it comes 
to the infant mortality rate, especially for children of color.
  I will tell you something. I believe all of us have been guilty of 
not wanting to look at the data. Sometimes we do not know what we do 
not want to know. What I want to know and what I want to know from this 
administration is, as the TANF bill, welfare, comes up to 
reauthorization: Have we just dramatically reduced the rolls or have we 
really reduced the poverty?
  I can go through studies that will tell you that, in the majority of 
cases, these women do not have living-wage jobs. I can tell you too 
many of these families have lost medical assistance. I can tell you, 
based upon a Berkeley-Yale study, that the child care situation is 
really quite dangerous and inadequate. And I can tell you that just 
because you have single parents and just because they have children and 
just because they are scapegoated and just because it is easy to be 
anti-welfare, we better make sure in this reauthorization that we do it 
right.
  That is why I speak because this Governor, this Secretary to be, is 
going to be playing a critical role.
  I will just conclude, since I do not have a lot of time, by showing a 
couple of charts which I have which make my point. I asked the Governor 
about this, I say to my colleague from Montana, during the hearing. If 
you look at President Bush's proposed tax cut, which ultimately we are 
talking about $1.6 trillion in tax cuts over the next 10 years, and you 
add to that interest, and you add to that Pentagon expenditures, and 
you add to that what we must put into the Social Security trust fund, 
and you add to that what we must spend for Medicare, do you know how 
much money you are going to have for children, for job training, for 
child care, for education and all the rest? Zero dollars.
  So I would say to Governor Thompson, and I say to this 
administration: How are we going to do welfare reform right so we do 
make sure that women and poor children do not pay the price? Where is 
the investment in child care going to be? Where is the investment in 
education going to be? Where is the investment in job training going to 
be? I do not see any dollars for it. That is what I am worried about.
  We all say we care so much about the elderly. I have two parents I 
desperately wanted to stay at home and not be in a nursing home. They 
both had Parkinson's disease. Where is the money going to come from for 
the investment to make sure our parents and grandparents can live at 
home in normal circumstances with dignity, with $1.6 trillion in tax 
cuts.
  Finally--and this goes way beyond Governor Thompson--no child left 
behind? This is President Bush's education reform. I have heard some 
language about this on the floor today. Here is where we are heading in 
my not, I will admit, so humble opinion.
  Putting vouchers aside, which is a nonstarter, you are going to have 
mandatory testing in every State when it comes to title I children, 
low-income children, low-income neighborhoods, low-income schools. In 
the school districts, they are going to hire consultants to teach 
teachers how to teach for the tests. The kids are going to have 
consultants to teach them how to take the tests. It is going to be 
drill education. It is going to be educationally deadening. That is 
what is going on in the country. And do you know something else? We are 
setting up all these kids and all these teachers--I have two children 
to teach--and we are going to set up all these schools for failure 
because the accountability does not stop at the school door. What about 
us, Democrats and Republicans, and what about President Bush? How can 
you leave no child behind when you have $1.6 trillion in tax cuts which 
erodes the revenue base and makes it impossible to expand funding for 
Head Start, child care, the title I program, and the IDEA program, 
which is nowhere fully funded.
  This is not a step forward. It is a great leap sideways. This is a 
great leap backwards. Fannie Lou Hamer, a great civil rights leader, 
once uttered the immortal words:

       I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.

  I am going to make a fairly angry statement today: I am sick and 
tired of playing symbolic politics with children's lives. If you want 
to have children pass these tests, first, do not rely on one 
standardized test; have multiple measures. Then you make the investment 
in these children so every child has an opportunity to achieve, do 
well, and pass tests.
  This cannot be done. You cannot ``leave no child behind'' on a tin-
cup budget. I want to know whether this administration is serious about 
these investments. I will wait to see the budget, and I hope Democrats, 
if this administration wants to govern at the center of children's 
lives, and it wants to make this investment so these kids come to 
kindergarten ready to learn, I say to the Presiding Officer, I am 
willing to work together. If this administration does not do that and 
just have these tests, then all we have done is set these children, 
these teachers, and these schools up for failure.
  It will be cynical, it will be counterproductive, and as a Senator 
from Minnesota, I will draw the line, and I hope other Senators will as 
well. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I yield now to a new Senator. I look 
forward to hearing from the former Governor of the State of Delaware, 
Mr. Carper.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I thank the Senator for yielding and for 
the opportunity to speak today.
  For the last 8 years, I served as Governor of Delaware and a 
colleague of Governor Thompson. During that period of time, my family 
was fortunate

[[Page 571]]

enough to be a guest in his home. We have eaten at his table. There 
were times over the last 8 years when we crossed swords--rarely. But 
there have been many more times when we found there was common ground 
and the opportunity to work together for the good of Wisconsin, 
Delaware, and the other 48 States.
  He was chairman of the National Governors' Association for a year. He 
was also the chairman for our Center for Best Practices within the 
National Governors' Association. In those roles, I found him to be, 
first of all, pragmatic; secondly, I found him to be innovative.
  I found Governor Thompson to be someone who is civil, who really does 
not just talk about bipartisanship, but he actually means it and lives 
it. I found in Governor Thompson someone who really tries to treat his 
colleagues the way he would want to be treated.
  I want to pause for a moment and direct my thoughts and attention to 
welfare reform. Some people think it is possible to do welfare reform 
on the cheap and we simply set time limits and push people off a cliff 
at the end of that period of time. Governor Thompson does not approach 
welfare reform that way, nor do I, nor do most of our Governors.
  When welfare was actually created over 60 years ago, we set up a 
system with the best of intentions, but a system that unwittingly 
turned out to encourage people to get on welfare and have children out 
of wedlock, have them early, and for fathers to walk away from those 
responsibilities and for people to be better off by staying on welfare.
  What Governor Thompson has done and what Governors across the country 
have done is to say maybe we should change the incentives we set up 
over the last 60 years so people are better off when they go to work, 
not by staying on welfare.
  For Gov. Tommy Thompson, it has meant spending more money on child 
care, not less.
  For Gov. Tommy Thompson, it has been spending more money on health 
care to make sure when people leave welfare they do not also lose 
health care for themselves and their families.
  For Gov. Tommy Thompson, it has been providing transportation so 
people have the opportunity to take a job and actually have a way of 
getting there.
  For Gov. Tommy Thompson, and for the rest of us, it has meant 
changing our tax policies as well so people are not penalized for the 
first dollar they make when they go to work but actually are able to 
realize and keep that purchasing power they have earned.
  He does not believe in welfare reform on the cheap. He has a good, 
realistic, tough-love approach. Sure, there is a toughness to it, but 
there is also real love and compassion, and I believe he will take 
those same qualities to his new post as Secretary if we confirm him, 
which I hope we will.
  Another way I got to know him, believe it or not, is through Amtrak. 
The President historically appoints one Governor to serve on the Amtrak 
board. He was on the Amtrak board before me. President Clinton 
appointed me to serve for 4 years, and at the end of my service, I 
recommended the President appoint Governor Thompson again. Not only 
that, he ended up serving as the chairman of the board for Amtrak. In 
that capacity, he has helped to focus, spread, and expand passenger 
rail service, to improve the quality of that passenger rail service, to 
find ways to reduce Amtrak's operating budget deficit, to invest in the 
infrastructure of passenger rail service, and to try to be fair to not 
just the customers but the folks who work for Amtrak.
  In closing, I am delighted to be able to stand here before you today 
to say this is somebody I know, somebody I have known for a long time. 
This is someone of whom the people of Wisconsin can be proud. This is 
someone I am proud to express my support for today and to encourage my 
colleagues to support his nomination.
  I thank the Chair. I yield back my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I thank Senator Carper for those warm 
remarks about the Secretary-to-be, Governor Thompson. I say to the 
Senator--he may not know this--when Governor Thompson and the Amtrak 
board were trying to negotiate further funding for Amtrak, there was a 
proposal to take certain funds out of the highway trust fund. I had a 
somewhat tense meeting in the office of the Senator's predecessor, 
Senator Roth, with Governor Thompson and many others on how to handle 
all this.
  Frankly, I was adamant that money not come out of the trust fund. My 
point being, very much to his credit and to the Senator from Delaware, 
we worked out another solution as the bonding authority to provide 
resources to Amtrak. I am very grateful and appreciative of the way in 
which Governor Thompson handled that issue; that is, we both wanted to 
accomplish the same goals and objectives: Further funding for Amtrak, 
but not at the expense of the highway trust fund, money motorists paid 
in gasoline taxes which should go back to the States for highways. 
Rather, we saw another way and both sides were happy. I commend the 
Senator from Delaware, as well as Governor Thompson. This is an early 
example of this is a guy with whom we can work, who is straight, 
pragmatic, and looks for solutions. That made a positive impression 
upon me.
  Mr. President, I reserve the remainder of my time. The Senator from 
Wisconsin seeks the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous agreement, the Senator from 
Wisconsin is recognized for 10 minutes.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, while the distinguished Senator 
certainly has it right, he knows what it is like to watch Tommy 
Thompson in action and to watch him try to solve a problem. His 
assessment is right and so is the assessment of the former Governor and 
now new Senator from Delaware who, as so many other Governors, has told 
me how much they have enjoyed and benefitted from working with Governor 
Thompson. It is uniform.
  That is also the experience we have had in Wisconsin. I think I speak 
for myself, as well as for the senior Senator, Mr. Kohl. We are the two 
Senators who have worked with Tommy Thompson throughout the 14 years he 
has been the Governor of our State. No one in the long history of our 
great State has served as Governor longer, and he is a very popular 
Governor.
  For me, I marvel at him. I used to listen to older legislators talk 
about having known a person for many years and worked with them for 
many years. I am getting there with this one. I started working with 
Governor Thompson, then State representative Tommy Thompson, when I was 
in my twenties. Now 18 years later, I can tell you it has been an 
excellent relationship. Our roles have changed over the years, but 
consistently I have found it a pleasure to work with Governor Thompson, 
and I think you will find it the same when he becomes Secretary.
  We worked together on a wide range of issues--increasing access to 
home- and community-based services for the elderly and the disabled, 
and expanding health care for children and their families.
  I want to mention a couple things.
  Everybody talks about, of course, the signature issue of Governor 
Thompson--welfare reform. It is probably the most well-known example of 
his can-do attitude.
  We in Wisconsin can be proud that our State was the first in the 
Nation to submit a welfare plan under the 1996 law that created the 
temporary services to needy families, or the TANF program. In fact, I 
am very proud of our Governor on this. The Wisconsin plan was submitted 
on the very day that President Clinton signed the TANF program into 
law.
  Tommy Thompson has also been very devoted to the issue of child care. 
Because of his record, Wisconsin is also proud of its rating among the 
top 10 States in the Nation for the quality of child care by Working 
Mother magazine. The national recognition is a testament to the 
unprecedented investments Wisconsin continues to make in safe, 
affordable child care.

[[Page 572]]

  In the area of research, which is so very important across the 
country, and especially to those of us in Wisconsin and those of us who 
take such pride in our great university and its research abilities, 
this man, as Governor, has been a great supporter of medical research. 
He has been a vocal advocate of funding research at the University of 
Wisconsin, setting up an incubator for transferring that technology to 
the private sector. The Governor proposed a $317 million initiative to 
build a series of state-of-the-art research centers at the University 
of Wisconsin, Madison campus.
  With regard to what we like to call BadgerCare, Tommy Thompson has 
worked with both Republicans and Democrats in Wisconsin to enact 
BadgerCare, Wisconsin's program to expand health care coverage 
opportunities to children and their families. He has tirelessly 
promoted BadgerCare's ideals--the idea that children have a much better 
chance of being healthy and doing well in school when they have a 
chance to live in a healthy family.
  When BadgerCare took effect on July 1, 1999, again, as has been so 
often the case under Governor Thompson, Wisconsin became the first 
State in the Nation with a health insurance program that supports 
parents as well as children. This program has had a number of 
successes. According to the most recent statistics, more than 74,000 
children and their families are now covered under BadgerCare.
  Finally, I want to say a word about something on which Tommy Thompson 
and I worked together for many years, and that is our so-called 
Community Options Program in Wisconsin. We worked together, on a 
bipartisan basis, to support efforts to expand what we call the 
Community Options Program, which, better than any other State in the 
country, in my view, provides cost-effective home- and community-based, 
long-term care alternatives to institutions and nursing homes.
  Wisconsin was already on this issue and working effectively to find 
alternatives in the late 1970s, but there has been significant growth, 
on a bipartisan basis, on this issue ever since Governor Thompson 
became Governor in 1986. I think we all recognize that a lot more needs 
to be done to reform our long-term care system. It is one of my highest 
priorities.
  I noticed, when I had the honor of introducing Governor Thompson to 
the HELP Committee, that many of the members mentioned long-term care. 
Perhaps the most mentioned issue was either home- and community-based 
care or home health care. Governor Thompson is the right person to work 
on this issue. I believe he will use his experience as an innovator to 
make it easier for States such as Wisconsin to pursue their own 
reforms, such as making Federal long-term waivers more flexible and 
making it easier for States to apply for those waivers.
  So after 18 years, I can talk about a lot of other very positive 
reasons we are lucky to have Tommy Thompson as our new Secretary of 
Health and Human Services. But let me say, all of us in Wisconsin are 
very proud, and it will take some getting used to having a different 
Governor just because it seems as though Tommy Thompson has been our 
Governor forever. Of course, he has been very popular in that regard. 
But I think it will be a good opportunity for the country to see 
firsthand what it is like to have a person who has a ``can-do'' 
attitude, a person who really enjoys simply solving problems rather 
than trying to divide people. I think that has been a hallmark of his 
role as our Governor. I think it will be a hallmark of his role as the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
  I thank the ranking member and thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, I yield the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I do not know of any others on our side 
who wish to speak on this nomination. It is my understanding that there 
are no other Senators on the other side of the aisle who wish to speak 
on this nomination as well. I do not see other Senators who have 
special orders to speak.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair would advise the Senator from 
Montana, both Senator Kennedy and Senator Reid also asked to speak for 
10 minutes pursuant to the agreement.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Right.
  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. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Wyoming is recognized.
  Mr. ENZI. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. Enzi pertaining to the introduction of S. 149 are 
located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and 
Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. ENZI. 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. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. I ask to speak as in morning business for 8 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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