[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14844-14845]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRESS

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a few moments we will be adjourning 
until Monday afternoon. But in looking back over the last 5 days, I do 
want to share with my colleagues my satisfaction with the progress we 
have made.
  I have had the pleasure of opening the Senate most every day, and 
then closing it most every day or evening and at the end of the week, 
so it gives me an opportunity to look back. For just a few minutes I 
would like to comment on some of the things we accomplished this week.
  We had very good debate--strong debate, effective debate--on the 
Energy bill over the past week and, in fact, over the past 2 weeks.
  I do want to take this opportunity to thank, praise and commend the 
chairman of the Energy Committee, the distinguished Senator from New 
Mexico, Chairman Domenici, for his tremendous work in moving us forward 
on this critically important bill. We have made solid progress. We have 
had a number of votes this week.
  As all of my colleagues know--because I have said it on this floor 
and in many other places almost daily--we will be turning to the 
Medicare prescription drug bill next week. We will stay on the bill 
until we complete that legislation. I think we can finish it actually 
in less than 2 weeks, although I have targeted a 2-week period, which 
gives more than adequate time for debate and amendment. I am even more 
confident that we will be able to pass

[[Page 14845]]

that bill after spending about 12 hours yesterday in the Finance 
Committee meeting, where we looked at the bill, debated it, amended it, 
and passed it with a strong bipartisan majority in preparation for 
coming to the floor.
  But I do want to make it very, very clear that we will be coming back 
to the Energy bill, and we will finish it.
  Also, this week, we accomplished a lot, locking in an agreement which 
limits the number of amendments that can be considered on the Energy 
bill. That is real progress because now we have a finite number of 
amendments, and we can talk to the various Members and see what they 
have proposed and get those amendments organized in such a way that we 
can spend time on each of the amendments in a way that makes sense, 
that is systematic, and whereby we will be able to, I believe, lay out 
a glidepath to bring that bill to conclusion.
  It is imperative for the United States of America that we have a 
comprehensive energy policy. It is America's future that is at stake, 
our economic future, so much so that, in fact, the Federal Reserve 
Chairman, Alan Greenspan, came to the Hill this past week to speak 
specifically on the need for action on energy policy.
  The price of natural gas for July delivery is 150 percent higher than 
it was 3 years ago. Meanwhile, natural gas storage levels are at their 
lowest in almost 3 decades. Chairman Greenspan warns that the 
volatility in the price of natural gas could eventually contribute to 
``erosion'' in the economy. We simply cannot afford that.
  American industry, at the same time, is caught between regulations 
limiting the supply of natural gas and regulations encouraging its use. 
The result of that is we have rising gas prices, with some industries 
cutting jobs or being priced out altogether, and consumers getting hit 
with rising electric bills.
  As we talked about a lot this week, and looked at the various 
amendments, we absolutely must diversify our sources of energy. We must 
do so in a way that lessens our overall dependence on foreign sources.
  America's energy policy should be consistent with our foreign policy 
in the sense that both should be independent and secure--independent 
and secure.
  By increasing America's domestic production of sources of energy--
whether it is clean coal, oil and gas, nuclear, solar, or other 
renewable energy sources--we increase not only our energy supply but 
our national security.
  In closing, I want to say one other thing about the comprehensive 
nature of a national energy policy. We will, by doing so, create needed 
jobs. The Energy bill, it is estimated, will create at least 500,000 
jobs, and we know it will save even more. The Alaskan pipeline, for 
example, will create at least 400,000 jobs alone. The hundreds of 
millions of dollars that will be invested in research and development 
of new technologies will not only benefit the environment but will also 
create new jobs. These are the types of jobs that are increasingly 
important, I would argue, in this century--jobs of engineering, 
mathematics, chemistry, physics, and science.
  Thus, I am committed, as majority leader, to get a comprehensive 
national energy bill passed as soon as we possibly can. We hear the 
Democrats warning, darkly, of a weak economy and increasing 
unemployment, while we, as Republicans, are talking about taking action 
and making our economy strong with such action.
  So again, Mr. President, we will return to this bill. We will dispose 
of the remaining amendments, and we will deliver to the American people 
energy that is cleaner, more abundant, and more secure.
  In addition to the Energy legislation which we spent most of the week 
on, we actually touched on a number of other very important legislative 
matters. The Senate last night passed the Federal Aviation 
Administration reauthorization bill. We were able to consider a number 
of amendments, and as the Democratic assistant leader said earlier 
today at the opening of the Senate this morning, it was remarkable to 
see how that bill was handled on the floor. It came together in a 
bipartisan way, in a way that really is a good model for us in handling 
this type of legislation when it comes to the floor.
  I thank the chairman and ranking member and Members on both sides of 
the aisle for their cooperation in moving us forward and passing that 
very important bill.
  We also passed this week the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act. I am 
pleased the Senate was able to consider that bill to address the 
tragedy that is occurring, as we speak, in Burma and the issues of 
freedom and democracy for which we have fought so hard in other parts 
of the world. It shows we understand, that we are caring, we are 
compassionate, and we will take action when freedom and democracy are 
challenged.
  I thank the majority whip, the distinguished Senator from Kentucky, 
Mr. McConnell, for bringing that bill to our attention and bringing it 
to the floor.
  We also passed the Women Business Centers Preservation Act which was 
sponsored by our colleague, Senator Olympia Snowe. In addition, we were 
able to clear a number of executive nominations. Just a few minutes ago 
I was looking at the nominations that are pending, and I will continue 
to work toward clearing these nominations on the Executive Calendar and 
scheduling rollcall votes as necessary.
  (Mr. Bennett assumed the Chair.)

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