[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20661]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        BUSINESS OF THE CONGRESS

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, my friend from Kentucky, in the opening of 
his remarks, talked about this Congress not being terribly successful. 
I would take some issue with that. This Senate has been successful, as 
I look down the list I have of more than three pages of legislation 
going back to the use of force resolution after September 11, responses 
to terrorist attacks, the Patriot Act, the airport security, Defense 
authorizations, homeland defense, antiterrorism bills, terrorism 
insurance--we are still working on the conference--access to affordable 
pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs, reimportation, patients' bill of 
rights. Again, conference reports have not been reached, but this 
Senate has had extensive debates where all sides have been heard on 
these matters.
  I mentioned in the election reform bill more than 40 amendments were 
considered on the floor. With all due respect to the other body these 
days, it is not uncommon for legislation to be considered where only 
one or two amendments may be offered. It is regrettable we have not 
been able to reach agreement between the other body and this body on 
some of these matters, but the Senate over this last Congress has 
responded to incredible and unprecedented difficulties in this 
generation. In the wake of September 11, the anthrax attack, and the 
tremendous pressures that put on this institution, I am as disappointed 
as anyone that we do not have a prescription drug benefit, that we 
don't have a Patients' Bill of Rights, that we don't have a minimum 
wage, that we are not responding to the unemployment requests.
  That is not because this Senate has not wanted to step up, time after 
time. I am proud to be a Daschle Democrat. I hear people suggesting 
that as a moniker of derision. Many think Tom Daschle has done a 
remarkable job in being the majority leader. It is disappointing we 
have not been able to do on the other matters what we were able to get 
done on the election reform, but that is not the fault of the majority 
leader.
  I am proud of the election reform bill. I am proud of a lot of other 
things done in this Senate over the last number of months before we 
adjourn. I am disappointed we were not able to reach agreement on some 
of the other matters. The fault of that lies elsewhere.
  I wanted to not let the afternoon close without this Senator 
expressing his strong feelings about some of the other matters that the 
American public desperately need. I did not engage in the debate 
earlier today about the economic conditions of our country, but it is 
what people are asking about as I go throughout my State, and other 
parts of the country. People are very worried about where we are headed 
economically. They are worried about the quality of education. They are 
worried about whether jobs will be there. They want to hear us engaging 
in ideas that will advance how we can improve the quality of education, 
extend health care benefits to people. They want to get a sense we are 
on their side. They know we cannot do it all ourselves. It takes 
cooperation between private and other governmental sectors, but they 
want to know we care as much about what they struggle with to make ends 
meet, to provide for families and provide for their future.
  I think it is regrettable we will spend the last remaining days with 
people flying around the country attending fundraising events when we 
could be working on some of the economic problems afflicting people in 
this country. We see the deficits mounting again after the great hope 
the surpluses were going to provide, surpluses from the previous 
administration. It is sad we have come to this in our country. We ought 
to get our priorities straight and get back on the economic issues. The 
American people expect nothing less.
  If we wonder why people do not participate as often as we would like 
in the election process, some has to do with people being too lazy. An 
awful lot has to do with people wondering whether the things they worry 
most about are even being considered by the people they elect to public 
office. People do not think of themselves as Democrats or Republicans 
every day. They think of themselves as being citizens of the country: 
Parents, children, neighbors, coworkers. That is how they define 
themselves. They want to know their elected representatives, regardless 
of party, are keeping their interests in mind.
  This is a republic. They do not get the chance to vote. If 280 
million Americans could be packed in the Chambers, the agenda would 
change. It would be about health care, it would be about prescription 
drugs, about a minimum wage, and improving the quality of elementary 
and secondary education. If they could stand here collectively, that is 
what they would ask us to do--to be leaders on those questions, to 
become forces in visions for improving the quality of life for people 
in the country.
  That is what Senator Daschle has tried to do over the past 2 years in 
the wake and midst of all the other problems we face. I commend him for 
it, Harry Reid, Byron Dorgan, and other Members of the leadership here. 
I understand as well it is not easy for Trent Lott and Don Nickles, the 
leadership on the other side.
  My hope is when we come back here in January we get about the 
business of grappling with the underlying questions. We spent a lot of 
time on Iraq and the other questions. The American people want to know 
why we cannot spend a few days talking about the issues they worry most 
about. When they get up in the morning and they go to bed at night, 
they worry and they sit around talking about how they will lick these 
issues. They would like to know we would spend at least as much time on 
those questions as some of the other issues.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I rise today to support the hard work of 
the conferees on the election reform conference report. I did not 
hesitate to vote against S. 565 because it unfairly disadvantaged rural 
States and did not fix the most grievous flaws with the current system. 
I am pleased to report that significant improvements have been made 
from the original bill, and I support this attempt to give greater 
integrity to the electoral process.
  We can now ensure that the ballots from our servicemen and women 
overseas are properly handled. Their ballots cannot be refused based on 
early submission, and each will bear a postmark in order to avoid 
recent election debacles from occurring again.
  All States will receive a minimum grant award, with the potential to 
apply for additional funds, an improvement over the Senate-passed 
version, which would have disadvantaged rural States with a solely 
competitive grant program. Most importantly, this report identifies 
remedies for election fraud. States may purge any individuals who do 
not vote in two consecutive Federal elections and are unresponsive to 
follow-up by State officials. We must clean up our voter rolls, and 
this provision gives States the vehicle to do so, should they choose to 
use it. This is by no means a perfect report, but I am sufficiently 
convinced that we have taken great strides to better our voting 
process.

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