[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 356-358]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP PRIORITIES FOR THE 108TH CONGRESS

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, officially, the Congress that ended in 
December was the 107th Congress. But history will almost surely record 
it as the September 11th Congress. From the moment the first plane hit 
the first tower until the last moments of the lameduck session, helping 
America recover from that horrific day, bringing its plotters to 
justice and making changes to protect America from future terrorist 
attacks dominated the Senate's agenda.
  We continued that work--even as we confronted unprecedented 
challenges in the Senate: anthrax, the rise of new threats to our 
Nation, and the loss of our friend and colleague, Paul Wellstone.
  Through tragic and historic events, the 107th Senate under Democratic 
control produced a number of important legislative accomplishments: 
aviation security and counterterrorism legislation; the toughest 
corporate accountability law since the SEC was created in 1934; the 
most far-reaching campaign finance reforms since Watergate; the most 
significant overhaul of Federal education policies since 1965; and a 
new farm bill to replace the failed Freedom to Farm Act.
  However, other important legislation fell victim to special-interest 
arm-twisting, and the other party's unwillingness to compromise on 
their proposals, or even consider ours. We saw that on proposals to 
dedicate greater resources to homeland security, a Medicare 
prescription drug benefit, and a real, enforceable patients' bill of 
rights.
  The proposals we are introducing today recognize that the American 
people have real concerns about their security, and that Republicans 
and the Bush administration have not done enough to address those 
concerns.
  But they also recognize that security means more than national 
security,

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and homeland security. It means economic security, retirement security, 
and the security of knowing that our children are getting a good 
education, and that, if you get sick, health care is available and 
affordable. It means giving people who work fulltime the security of 
knowing they can earn a decent wage--whether they work on a farm, in a 
factory, or at a fast-food restaurant. It is the security of knowing 
that our air is safe to breathe and our water is safe to drink, that 
America is living up to its commitment to civil rights, and that we are 
keeping our promises to our veterans.
  Democrats are committed to tackling terrorism abroad, and making our 
country more secure.
  One of our first priorities will be to make Americans safer by 
enhancing protections for our ports, borders, food and water supplies, 
and chemical and nuclear plants.
  We are introducing a bill to commit real resources to doing all of 
those things, and to hiring more police and first responders and 
providing them the tools and training to do the difficult jobs we are 
now asking them to do.
  We also recognize that national strength also depends on economic 
strength, and in the last 2 years, America's economy has weakened. In 
the coming weeks, we will put forward our ideas for how best to 
stimulate the economy in the short term.
  But, in the long term, one of the most important things we can do is 
give people greater confidence that their private pensions will be 
there for them. That is why another of our leadership bills is one to 
strengthen pension protections, expand pension coverage, and crack down 
on rogue corporations.
  It has been said that almost every problem any society faces can be 
solved with two things: good health, and a good education--and we have 
bills in each of those areas.
  The Right Start for Children Act makes Head Start fully available for 
4- and 5-year-olds, and increases availability for infants and 
toddlers. It will help improve childcare quality, make childcare more 
affordable for 1 million additional children, and strengthen child 
nutrition programs to reduce child hunger.
  The Educational Excellence for All Learners Act builds on that 
foundation by improving education every step of the way--from 
kindergarten, to college, to lifelong learning. It makes sure that we 
match the real reforms we passed last year with the real resources they 
demand. It will help us recruit, hire, and train qualified teachers, 
build new schools, and make college and job training more affordable 
and more available.
  President Bush pledged to leave no child behind, and then proposed 
more than a billion dollars of education cuts. We are proposing to put 
our money where the Republicans' mouths are--and help secure a good 
start, a good education, and good prospects for all Americans.
  When it comes to health care, it was an outrage that 40 million 
Americans were uninsured 2 years ago. In the past year, over 1 million 
more Americans have lost health insurance. And those who are lucky 
enough to have health insurance are seeing their premiums skyrocket.
  With the Health Care Coverage Expansion and Quality Improvement Act, 
we hope to reduce the number of uninsured by making health care 
coverage more available to small businesses, parents of children 
eligible for CHIP and Medicaid, pregnant women, and others.
  We also want to improve the quality of care people receive by 
overcoming Republican resistance to a real, enforceable, patients' bill 
of rights.
  We will also insist that mental illness be treated like any other 
illness--something that will not only honor Paul Wellstone's legacy, 
but also help millions of families.
  We are also committed to passing a prescription drug benefit under 
Medicare, and lowering the price of prescription drugs for all 
Americans. Last year, we passed a bill to lower the price of generic 
drugs, but the House refused to take it up. And we had 52 Senators 
support our Medicare prescription drug benefit--but it was blocked on a 
procedural motion.
  The high cost of prescription drugs--combined with the increasing 
need for such drugs--is destroying the life savings--and threatening 
the dignity--of millions of older Americans. And that is simply 
unacceptable.
  A couple of months ago in elections all across the country, and in 
words spoken here in the Senate, we have seen that when it comes to 
protecting equal rights, we still have a lot of work to do in changing 
hearts, minds, and laws.
  That is why we are introducing The Equal Rights and Equal Dignity for 
Americans Act. This bill will enforce employment nondiscrimination, 
fund the election-reform measures we passed last year, outlaw hate 
crimes, and take other steps to see that as a nation, we live up to the 
promise of equal rights.
  I hope those Republicans who have recently expressed their support 
for civil rights will join us in expressing their support for this 
legislation. I also hope they will join us in supporting our bill to 
combat drug and gun violence, to crack down on new crimes like identity 
theft, and to protect against and prevent crimes against children and 
seniors.
  We also need to ensure greater dignity for our minimum wage workers, 
our farmers, and our veterans. The purchasing power of the minimum wage 
is now the lowest it has been in more than 30 years. And a full-time 
minimum wage income won't get you over the poverty line. If we can 
afford over a trillion dollars in tax cuts for those at the top of the 
income scale, we can afford a dollar fifty more an hour for those at 
the bottom.
  We need to help our rural economy, and help those impacted by a 
drought and other natural disasters that are being called among the 
costliest for agricultural producers in our Nation's history.
  And we need to maintain our commitment to those currently serving, 
and keep our promises to our veterans. One way we do that is by 
allowing our wounded veterans to receive both their full disability and 
retirement benefits. Another way is by addressing the current crisis in 
veterans' health care. With each of these proposals--we stand with the 
leading veterans organizations, and for those who served our country.
  Finally, we are committed to stopping what is adding up to an all-out 
assault on our environment. By unilaterally abandoning the Kyoto 
process, the Bush administration took us out of position to lead the 
world on the issue of climate change. The Global Climate Security Act 
will help America reassert our position of world leadership on this 
vital issue of world health.
  Each of these things is relevant, not revolutionary. If they seem 
familiar, it is because most of what is in them has been introduced 
before.
  But they are not law, despite the support of the American people and, 
in some cases, a bipartisan majority of Senators.
  They have been opposed by an extreme few, and their special interest 
supporters. And while those bills have languished, we have seen the 
rise of more threats to our country; more people have lost their jobs 
and their health care; and more of our national challenges have gone 
unmet.
  These are our priorities. In the last couple of days, the President 
has made clear his priorities--more tax cuts for those who need them 
least.
  The President's plan won't help middle income families. It won't 
contribute to economic growth; it won't make our homeland more secure; 
it won't expand educational opportunity for the young, or strengthen 
health care for the elderly.
  Instead--by putting us deeper into deficit and debt--it makes all of 
these things, and all of our other goals, harder to achieve.
  Our bills will help us create an America that is stronger, safer, and 
better for all Americans--and I hope my colleagues will join me in 
supporting them.

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