[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 17249-17250]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  TREASURY AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001--Continued

  Mr. DORGAN. 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the quorum call be rescinded.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. DORGAN. Mr. President, one of our colleagues, Senator McConnell, 
today offered an amendment. I believe that amendment dealing with the 
issuance of war bonds is now pending. Another of our colleagues has a 
proposal in the form of an amendment dealing with what are called unity 
bonds. That is Senator Johnson from South Dakota. He asked that this be 
introduced on his behalf, and as manager I will do so.
  I ask unanimous consent that we set aside the McConnell amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 1574

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk offered by 
Senator Johnson.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from North Dakota [Mr. Dorgan], for Mr. 
     Johnson, proposes an amendment numbered 1574.

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of 
the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

[[Page 17250]]

  The amendment is as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Unity Bonds Act of 2001''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) a national tragedy occurred on September 11, 2001, 
     whereby certain individuals tried to steal America's freedom;
       (2) Americans stand together to resist all attempts to 
     steal their freedom;
       (3) united, Americans will be victorious over their 
     enemies, whether known or unknown; and
       (4) Americans must respond to this tragedy in a spirit not 
     of revenge, but of justice.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF UNITY BONDS.

       Section 3102 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(f) Issuance of Unity Bonds.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall issue bonds under 
     this section, to be known as `Unity Bonds', in response to 
     the acts of terrorism perpetrated against the United States 
     on September 11, 2001.
       ``(2) Use of proceeds.--Proceeds from the issuance of Unity 
     Bonds shall be used to raise funds to assist in recovery and 
     relief operations following the terrorist acts referred to in 
     paragraph (1), including humanitarian assistance, and to 
     combat terrorism.
       ``(3) Form.--The bonds authorized by paragraph (1) shall be 
     in such form and denominations, and shall be subject to such 
     terms and conditions of issue, conversion, redemption, 
     maturation, payment, and rate of interest as the Secretary 
     may prescribe.''.

  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise today to offer a bill to unite our 
citizens in this time of great crisis. As Americans, we feel many 
emotions, from anger to sadness, because of the tragedy of the 
terrorist attacks this past week.
  The American people have responded with incredible acts of heroism, 
kindness, and generosity. The outpouring of volunteers, blood donors, 
and contributions of food and money demonstrates that America will 
unite to provide relief to the victims of these cowardly terrorist 
acts. This response is the true American spirit our country has always 
known.
  So many of my constituents in South Dakota have called my office this 
week to ask what they can possibly do to help their fellow Americans 
who are suffering today. Many have given blood, others have donated to 
aid organizations, and most have offered prayers for the victims and 
their families. One woman asked whether she could buy the equivalent of 
the old war bonds that allowed our citizens to contribute to the war 
effort back in World War II.
  Based on my constituent's idea, today I am introducing legislation 
that directs the United States Treasury to issue Unity Bonds. Americans 
who purchase these savings bonds will be contributing to disaster 
relief to the victims of Tuesday's attack and to our Nation's war 
against terrorism.
  We will recover from this week's attacks. We will rebuild our 
Nation's infrastructure, and we will rebuild our Nation's spirit. But 
it will take a sustained, long-term effort to stamp out terrorism 
against the United States and all other liberty-loving nations.
  Unity Bonds will allow Americans who want to show their support for 
this great country to participate in a meaningful way. I urge you to 
join me in helping to unite our citizens.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I think both of my colleagues, Senator 
McConnell and Senator Johnson, have offered constructive ideas. They 
come at it in a slightly different way, but their amendments are very 
similar. It is my hope that perhaps they can get together and bring 
their amendments together, and together offer it today as well.
  I don't know whether we will finish this bill today. My hope is that 
we can find a way to actually finish this legislation today. I don't 
know that we have any requirement for a recorded vote on our side. I 
don't know whether they have a requirement on the Republican side.
  But my hope is that perhaps if we can finish this bill today, we can 
have a vote and perhaps seek a rollcall vote on the conference when the 
conference report comes back. But that is up to the members of both 
caucuses. We will not make that request at this moment.
  I hope that perhaps other people will consider that. We have a number 
of amendments that have been discussed. We are now in the process of 
trying to determine what the list of amendments will be, and we hope to 
have that at some point. I would like to believe that we can, if we 
work hard, deal with the amendments we know of on our side and the 
other side, and try to complete this bill pretty much this evening.
  Mr. President, I will wait for a bit. I have a managers' amendment, a 
managers' package that I will send to the desk in a few minutes. It has 
been cleared by my colleague from Colorado. I know he is working on 
some other business relating to this bill off the Senate Chamber.
  Let me, for a moment, while I am waiting for my colleague to come, 
and before I offer the managers' package, speak as in morning business, 
if I might, for 5 minutes. I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business for 5 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Jeffords). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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