[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16861-16864]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        LEGISLATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, most of our colleagues are departing, and 
we will shortly, in just a bit, for a recess which, as all of us know, 
is a time for visiting with our constituents, visiting around the 
country with people who give us the opportunity to serve in the Senate 
and interact with them in a way that we can ask questions. How are we 
doing? You elected us to fulfill a vision that you have had and which 
we are doing our best to lead with. So it gives us an opportunity to 
really sit back and assess how we are doing as public servants, as 
Senators representing our own States.
  As I look back over the last week, it has truly been an exciting week 
for America. After years of discussion, after years of debate, we 
passed a bill this morning, in the middle of the night, late last night 
after midnight, that we know, once we work through

[[Page 16862]]

conference, and once it is signed by the President of the United 
States, will strengthen Medicare, will improve Medicare, will modernize 
Medicare in a way that we simply never have since the origin of 
Medicare in the mid-1960s.
  We know from this legislation that we developed in a bipartisan way, 
that for the first time in this program and, indeed, in the history of 
the country, seniors, through the Medicare Program, will have access to 
prescription drugs. They will have for the first time the option to 
choose health care coverage that best suits their individual needs. It 
is all voluntary. They don't have to take advantage of any of these new 
options that they will have. Their health care coverage will be 
responsive not only to them, the way this program is designed, but to 
the constant advances in health care delivery and new medicines and new 
technology that we know characterize health care today but will even 
more so characterize health care in the years to come. It will be able 
to capture those lifesaving innovations of modern medicine.
  Best of all--I keep mentioning it--I am very pleased with the way 
this bill came to the Senate floor, was debated, and in committee prior 
to that because it really was a bipartisan effort. Many times, 
especially when the American people look at the way we operate here, 
they say: That extreme partisanship and that rhetoric going back and 
forth; how in the world does any business get done?
  This particular legislation, probably as complicated as any 
legislation that would be on this floor--and clearly it is big; this is 
the largest single expansion of an entitlement program in the last 30 
years--was carried out in a way that debate took place in a civil 
fashion and people came together, not always agreeing, as we saw last 
night and early this morning, on every single issue, but we tackled the 
issues head on, something our seniors deserve, something the American 
people expect. And we delivered a bill that reflects the needs and 
priorities of both sides of the aisle.
  Not everybody is perfectly happy with it. We know it is not perfect. 
But it is as good as can be generated from this body at this point in 
time.
  That is sort of the last week, the last couple weeks. Over the last 6 
months, as leadership in the Senate, we have tried to lead this body in 
a way that is very much mission focused, that is very much building on 
relationships, centered on different relationships on both sides of the 
aisle in a way that values are important--the values of civility and 
trust, and with a real action orientation, looking for solutions to 
problems, not just talking about them, not just legislating for 
legislation's sake but actually delivering where problems are 
identified.
  So if you look at being mission focused and relationship centered and 
values based and action oriented, that is what you set out to do. Then 
it provides a good opportunity, now as we go into this recess about 6 
months into the year, to see what sort of job we are delivering for the 
American people.
  Again, I mentioned the bill last night because I think it fits all 
four of those criteria and shows us with that common mission of moving 
America forward and doing it in a very respectful and civil way.
  Over the past 60 days, the Senate has acted, responded, and provided 
solutions to many of the jobs problems and the challenges brought to 
us. Every Senator can leave for this Fourth of July recess today proud 
of what they have accomplished on behalf of our fellow citizens. We 
passed the third largest tax cut in history. The Jobs and Growth Act is 
providing immediate relief to millions of Americans, American citizens, 
their families, to States, to businesses. Of the $350 billion stimulus 
and growth package that we passed, nearly $200 billion, a full 60 
percent, is provided this year and next, not way off in the future. 
Indeed, many of those checks will start flowing in the next 4 weeks.
  This injection of money, this injection of resources will grow the 
economy, and by growing the economy will create jobs, will increase 
investment, will provide States with resources to maintain essential 
government services, and will reduce unemployment.
  On this chart, I do list, in this whole jobs and growth dimension, 
the fact that we did do a budget, the second earliest in the history of 
this body in terms of generating a budget on April 11. And we did pass 
the jobs and growth package on May 23. If you look, just since this 
jobs and growth package was signed into law, stocks have surged about 
$619 billion in value. We should not read too much into short-term 
fluctuations in stock prices, but indeed, recent trends in the stock 
market suggest that overall conditions are set for a resumption of 
strong overall economic growth.
  As I mentioned, because of passage of this jobs and growth package, 
American workers will have more money in their paychecks. A family of 
four making $40,000 will see their taxes reduced by $1,133 in 2003. 
Those checks for $400 will be sent to nearly 25 million taxpayers 
starting in about 4 weeks.
  We also voted in these last several weeks to expand the child tax 
credit to include low-income families. Because of the jobs and growth 
act, working Americans will have more money in their pockets to spend, 
to save, to invest how they wish next month.
  Last month, we also passed--I have this listed under health--the 
global HIV/AIDS bill on May 15. As a physician, as one who has been 
trying to fight this virus for the last 20 years--really since about 
1983 when this virus first appeared--23 million people have been 
killed. It has infected another 40 million people alive today and will, 
in the best of all worlds, kill another 60 million people. This bill, 
in a bipartisan way, working with the President of the United States, 
who led, and with the House and with the Senate, will have the impact 
of helping prevent another 7 million infected people.
  It will help care for 10 million HIV-infected individuals and AIDS 
orphans and probably, most importantly, does bring back hope to 
millions of people in this country but indeed all over the world who 
recognize that ultimately that virus can and will be destroyed.
  It links prevention, care, and treatment in a comprehensive way, led 
by the United States of America, where we can leverage our leadership 
so that countries all over the world will step up and join us arm in 
arm in fighting this deadly virus.
  Our work in passing this global HIV/AIDS legislation demonstrates 
that we as a society place a high value on life. History will judge us 
on how we respond to such challenges and, indeed, we can now say very 
proudly that we are responding, that we in this body made the right 
choice. We are taking the necessary steps to put an end to one of the 
most deadly scourges of human life in recorded history. It is a moral 
challenge, a medical challenge, a humanitarian challenge. But we are 
responding, and we are leading.
  Alongside these legislative accomplishments, we also passed a number 
of other measures. In the last 2 months we passed the Department of 
Defense authorization, the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, 
authorization, and the extension of unemployment benefits.
  We also allotted significant resources to upgrade technology at 
America's historically black colleges and universities.
  I am particularly very excited about this legislation because, again, 
firsthand, I have had the opportunity to visit and speak at 
historically black medical schools. In fact, I was at Morehouse School 
of Medicine a few weeks ago. On my visit there, I had the opportunity 
of looking at their technology and innovation center, where they are 
actually using technology to best teach young physicians-in-training so 
they will be able to extend the great power they have as physicians in 
making others' lives better.
  We took a historic step in bringing a National Museum of African 
American History and Culture to our Nation's Capital. There have been 
80 years of petitions on bringing an African American museum to the 
family of museums we have here in Washington, but only in this Senate 
are we finally, by passing that legislation, close to having a museum 
of African American history in Washington on the Mall. I want to

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take the opportunity to thank all of my colleagues, but in particular 
Senator Brownback, and in the House, Congressman John Lewis, for their 
leadership on this initiative.
  We passed expedited hiring authority for the Security and Exchange 
Commission under the leadership of Senator Shelby. This legislation 
will allow the SEC to hire the accountants and the economists they need 
to enforce corporate accountability and maintain that investor 
confidence we know and trust, and that we know must be the undergirding 
foundation of our investor economy today.
  Our colleague from Maine, Senator Susan Collins, led the campaign to 
increase public access to cardiac or heart defibrillation. We passed a 
trauma care systems planning piece of legislation that is potentially 
important to everybody listening to me. If you happen to be in a motor 
vehicle accident driving home from work today, where are you going to 
go? How quickly are people going to respond? Are you going to have a 
tertiary trauma center nearby? We, in effect, will double our national 
efforts through this legislation as we focus on trauma care systems 
planning. I had the opportunity to introduce that, and passage was on 
June 23.
  My colleague from Tennessee, Senator Alexander--through his 
leadership, we passed the American History and Civics Education Act. 
Because of this act, and through this act, America's students will be 
able to learn our Nation's great history and civic traditions.
  That reminds me of Senator Gregg, the Senator from New Hampshire, and 
his tremendous work on the initiative called Keeping Children and 
Families Safe Act, which was signed by President Bush just this week, 
focusing on our children and their safety and their security.
  Earlier this year, in March, we passed the ban on partial-birth 
abortion, a procedure that is unnecessary and offends the sensibilities 
of the American people.
  The following month we passed the President's faith-based 
initiative--not the whole initiative, but an important aspect of it, 
through a bill called the CARE Act.
  The same month we passed AMBER Alert. Some are listed here on the 
chart, including partial-birth abortion ban, faith-based initiative, 
AMBER Alert, which we have all seen on television and heard on radio 
where the names actually come forth, where we have a national alert in 
the event some tragedy has occurred.
  Last week the child care conference report was passed. Millions of 
lives of Americans and future citizens will be protected by each of 
these initiatives passed. They all passed on the floor of the Senate, 
demonstrating our deep commitment and compassion for our most 
vulnerable citizens.
  Internationally--and I have some of these under security--again, I 
will not go through each one. While all of this has been going on, we 
have funded Operation Iraqi Freedom. Who will ever forget that morning 
watching the Iraqi people pull down that statue of Saddam Hussein? The 
United States, this body, will continue to aggressively support the war 
on terror. We will continue that financial commitment, whatever it 
takes, and that moral commitment to the war until America's enemies are 
defeated.
  Internationally, also globally, we passed the Moscow Treaty, the NATO 
expansion. When you look at Bulgaria and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, 
Slovakia, and Slovenia, we see democracy in action, where 15 or 20 
years ago people would have said ``impossible.'' So the very freedoms 
we are fighting for, whether it is in Iraq or this ongoing war of 
terror, they are embodied in what we have voted on in this Senate--
expansion of NATO to include these new democracies.
  We also passed the Microenterprise Assistance Program, which will 
help impoverished citizens build and grow small businesses, so people 
who may not have access to capital are given some assistance, which, 
combined with their own entrepreneurial spirit, can grow and they can 
have that opportunity to take part in a growing economy. This economic 
tool is especially powerful for impoverished women in developing 
countries all over the world. I spend some time every year going to 
Africa and in a few months I will be going with a Senate delegation to 
South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. Last January, I was in Uganda, 
Tanzania, Kenya, and the Sudan. You see the importance of these what 
are called microenterprise grants, giving people that opportunity to 
grow economically, help their family return to dignity and opportunity 
that they simply don't otherwise have.
  I listed here a series called values. I mentioned most of these. But 
the Burmese Freedom Act is an issue that is ongoing in a part of the 
world where we see the civil liberties we take for granted being 
stripped away. When you say freedom in this country, you think of 
freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press. But 
the Burmese Freedom Act is necessary because in that part of the 
world--particularly right now--those freedoms don't exist. Again, this 
was an important response on behalf of the Senator from Kentucky and 
others to bring attention to the human rights abuses that are being put 
forth and committed by the Burmese government against its citizens.
  So the Senate, by working together, has accomplished a lot, with a 
lot of hard work and cooperation. I once again thank my colleagues for 
their efforts. We are doing all this, and I put ``action'' up here on 
the chart, and the goals that we have met because day to day we are 
focusing on each of these and we rarely have the opportunity to go 
back. The importance is on ``action.'' This is occurring now in this 
first 6 months, but it occurred compared to the last Congress, when we 
never passed a budget.
  In the last Congress, we didn't pass 11 out of 13 appropriations 
bills. In the last Congress, we did not pass Medicare. So it is the 
action, and the solution is fulfilling the agenda that we put forth. 
That is what the American people expect. We have made the legislative 
process work.
  The one area that I believe continues to undermine the effectiveness 
of the Senate is the obstructionism towards the President's circuit 
court nominees, the judicial nominees. This is unprecedented in our 
200-year history, the tactics to endlessly delay the process and 
prevent the Senate from performing its constitutional responsibility to 
vote on the President's judicial nominees. That is inconsistent with 
the Constitution.
  Our responsibility is to advise and consent. Yet we are being denied 
a simple up-or-down vote, allowing people to vote how they wish, but 
allowing them to express advice and consent by voting which is, in the 
end, the only way we can express that advice and consent. The Senate 
has few constitutional responsibilities as important as exercising that 
advice and consent on the President's judicial nominees. I am 
determined to press forward in the next weeks to carry out a fair and 
orderly Senate process and return to the norms of the last 200 years, 
where Senators are given that opportunity for an up-or-down vote.
  Looking ahead, July will be a busy month. I do want my colleagues to 
know--and we had some discussion with the Senator from West Virginia 
last night in terms of making sure we have good productive Fridays--I 
can assure my colleagues that in July, in large part because we will be 
addressing the appropriations bills very aggressively during that 
month, we will be working 5 days a week, and it is likely that votes 
will continue late in the day on Fridays, at least later than usual on 
Fridays.
  During July, in addition to the appropriations bills, we will 
complete action on the Energy bill, which we all know is critical to 
generating an affordable, reliable energy supply.
  I know we will be aggressive in passing these appropriations bills 
for the Cabinet agencies. Early on, I expect to see the Department of 
Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, Labor and Health and 
Human Services, and, at the same time, I want to address one other 
issue in July--and this is an ambitious schedule--but I do believe 
strongly, and I say this in part as a physician, yes--that we have an 
obligation to diminish--I would like to say

[[Page 16864]]

eliminate--the frivolous medical liability lawsuits that are being 
applied today.
  That needs to be the goal: to get rid of the frivolous lawsuits 
because they unnecessarily drive up the cost of health care, and if you 
unnecessarily drive up the cost of health care, you end up driving 
people to the ranks of the uninsured.
  We will address that issue during the month of July, as well as 
issues surrounding genetic discrimination, an issue that has already 
been addressed in committee and is ready to come to the floor.
  This is an impressive list, I think. It is one I am confident we will 
be able to handle in a systematic and productive way, always keeping in 
mind that goal of moving America forward and that we are working for 
the American people. They send us here to get results, not unnecessary 
legislation, but get results to the problems and challenges they face.
  If we look at the list, I think we are on the right track. We have 
accomplished a lot. We have had a number of successes. We have seen 
results. We are delivering to the American people in strong, effective 
legislation, and I have every expectation that we will continue 
building on this record of success in the weeks and months to come.
  To my colleagues, I do wish them all a happy Fourth of July. I hope 
they will travel safely. I extend my best wishes to them and their 
families.
  Mr. President, in a few minutes I will be back with another 
statement, and then we will have some closing business over the course 
of the day.
  For now, 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. DOMENICI. 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. DOMENICI. Parliamentary inquiry: What is pending before the 
Senate?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate is in morning business.
  Mr. DOMENICI. The Senator from New Mexico desires to proceed as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has that right.

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