[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Pages 21952-22007]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE REORGANIZATION

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of S. Res. 445, which the clerk will report.

[[Page 21953]]

  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 445) to eliminate certain 
     restrictions on service of a Senator on the Senate Select 
     Committee on Intelligence.

  Pending:

       McConnell/Reid/Frist/Daschle Amendment No. 3981, in the 
     nature of a substitute.
       Bingaman (for Domenici) Amendment No. 4040 (to Amendment 
     No. 3981), to transfer jurisdiction over organization and 
     management of United States nuclear export policy to the 
     Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


                             Cloture Motion

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the cloture motion 
having been presented under rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to 
read the motion.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We the undersigned Senators in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the standing rules of the Senate 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate to the pending 
     amendment on S. Res. 445, a resolution to eliminate certain 
     restrictions on service of a Senator on the Senate Select 
     Committee on Intelligence.
         Bill Frist, Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid, John Cornyn, 
           Craig Thomas, James Inhofe, Mike Crapo, Conrad Burns, 
           Norm Coleman, Tom Daschle, Lamar Alexander, James 
           Talent, Wayne Allard, Gordon Smith, Larry Craig, Robert 
           Bennett, Pete Domenici, Susan Collins.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate debate on Amendment 
No. 3981, offered by the Senator from Kentucky, Mr. McConnell, shall be 
brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL, I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. 
Campbell), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss), and the Senator 
from New Hampshire (Mr. Sununu) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. REID, I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. 
Edwards), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Graham), the Senator from South 
Carolina (Mr. Hollings), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), 
the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy), and the Senator from Connecticut 
(Mr. Lieberman) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Bond). Are there any other Senators in the 
Chamber desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 88, nays 3, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 204 Leg.]

                                YEAS--88

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Clinton
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Conrad
     Cornyn
     Corzine
     Craig
     Crapo
     Daschle
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Graham (SC)
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Levin
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Miller
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Nickles
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Talent
     Thomas
     Warner
     Wyden

                                NAYS--3

     Collins
     McCain
     Voinovich

                             NOT VOTING--9

     Campbell
     Chambliss
     Edwards
     Graham (FL)
     Hollings
     Kerry
     Leahy
     Lieberman
     Sununu
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 88, the nays are 3. 
Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the 
affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
  The assistant Republican leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
pending amendment be temporarily set aside.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                    Amendment No. 4035, As Modified

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 4035 for the 
majority leader, Senator Frist. I understand a modification to the 
amendment is at the desk. I ask unanimous consent that the modification 
be accepted.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. ALLARD). Is there objection?
  The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The legislative clerk continued with the call of the roll.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  Mr. HARKIN. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The legislative clerk continued with the call of the roll.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  Mr. HARKIN. I object.
  Mr. HATCH. I cannot make a unanimous consent request.
  Mr. HARKIN. I object.
  Mr. HATCH. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 
be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted 
to speak for up to 1 hour and after that the quorum be reinstituted.
  Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, his hour will be counted 
against the time for the cloture; is that right?
  Mr. HATCH. No, because I am not speaking on the bill.
  Mr. REID. I object, then.
  Mr. HATCH. That is fine.
  Mr. REID. I objected.
  Mr. HATCH. Fine. Your request is fine.
  Mr. REID. The hour will be counted?
  Mr. HATCH. Fine.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Utah is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. HATCH. I thank the distinguished minority whip and, of course, my 
friend from Iowa for their courtesy. I have been wanting to give these 
Senate remarks as in morning business ever since yesterday.


                       Medicare Modernization Act

  Mr. President, over the past few weeks several of our colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle have given rousing statements on health 
care.
  There is no question that health care is of paramount importance on 
American families. On that we can all agree.
  I am sure it will come as no surprise that I disagree with a number 
of points my colleagues have raised. In fact, some of their allegations 
are just plain wrong, particularly with respect to the Medicare 
prescription drug law which I helped to negotiate.
  I was a member of the tripartisan group that came up with a bill that 
I think would have been supported by the 20 Democrats at the time. I 
have been working on this ever since and was on the conference 
committee, sat in for days, weeks, and months on that conference 
committee to negotiate this bill.
  It is mind-boggling some Senators seem willing to sacrifice the 
health and well-being of beneficiaries by spreading mistruths about the 
law. These mistruths could cause a beneficiary to forego learning more 
about provisions in the law that could really help, such as the 
Medicare-approved discount card program which study after study shows 
is delivering real savings, or the voluntary Part D benefits that begin 
in 2006.
  This continued misinformation and set of damaging attacks are a 
tremendous disservice to Medicare beneficiaries. So I wanted to take 
this opportunity to set the record straight.

[[Page 21954]]

  Opponents have characterized the Medicare law as a failure for 
beneficiaries. What poppycock. To me, we would have failed had we not 
passed the Medicare Modernization Act, had we not given beneficiaries 
what they need, meaningful prescription drug coverage and a stronger 
Medicare Program.
  Let me highlight a few areas in which we need to set the record 
straight. The first is the cost estimates of the MMA. I will refer to 
this bill, the Medicare Modernization Act, from here on in as the MMA. 
That means the Medicare Modernization Act.
  Let me talk about cost estimates. The central theme echoed by those 
who seek to discredit the new Medicare law is the allegation that the 
administration hid the true cost of the Medicare law from the Congress 
before the final vote.
  This is simply political election year hyperbole.
  The opponents of the drug benefit have made this claim because the 
complete and final cost estimate from the CMS Office of the Actuary was 
not finished before the vote took place.
  Let's be clear, the administration's cost estimate was not withheld 
from Congress because there was not a final cost estimate from CMS to 
withhold. The CMS cost estimate was not even completed until December 
23, 2003--long after the House and Senate vote, long after the bill was 
signed into law. So let's get rid of that argument right off the bat 
because it is a false, fallacious argument.
  Rick Foster, the chief actuary for the Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services confirmed these facts to us earlier this year in a 
Finance Committee briefing and we all know that. Even after that 
briefing, however, some chose to continue this erroneous attack, 
perhaps because they did not take the time to attend the briefing. To 
me, this is but another indication of election year hyperbole.
  Let me also be clear that we did have the official cost estimate on 
the Medicare bill before the vote. That estimate, as my colleagues are 
well aware, is the one from the Congressional Budget Office, not CMS. 
That is what binds us. That cost estimate, our official cost estimate, 
by the entity we rely on in Congress, was available to every Member of 
Congress before the measure was presented to either the House or the 
Senate.
  No one should doubt that we had the true cost estimate for the 
prescription drug bill last year, and everyone in this body and the 
other body had access to it before the vote.
  There also have been claims that the administration changes its cost 
estimate. Again, that is not the case. The President's mid-session 
review did update the estimates of Medicare outlays, but it did not 
change the estimate of the Medicare Modernization Act, the MMA.
  In fact, Rick Foster, the CMS actuary, has said you simply cannot add 
the change in estimated outlays to the MMA estimate and declare you 
have a new estimate.
  Apparently, Mr. Foster's words, the words of a trained actuary, don't 
matter to some of these so-called critics. If opponents of the Medicare 
bill value his opinion of cost estimates so highly, why do they ignore 
him now? That is amazing to me. They will quote part of what he said--
but ignore the other part of what he said. Mr. Foster has said that the 
MMA estimate has not changed; but despite that, opponents of the MMA 
have wrongly claimed that it did.
  Again, it is just political hyperbole. We had--and have--the true 
cost estimates from CBO. Case closed. That is what we have to rely on 
in the Senate Finance Committee.
  Now let me address the accusations that the bill prohibits Medicare 
from negotiations with drug companies. This is another one of the 
fallacious things that enemies of the bill have been spewing forth.
  Those who make this charge imply, wrongly, that the price charged to 
beneficiaries is not subject to negotiation. That could not be further 
from the truth. The truth is, Medicare prescription drug plans will be 
negotiating with drug makers. These negotiations are the very heart of 
the new Medicare drug benefit.
  The absurd claim that the Government will not be negotiating with 
drug makers comes from a non-interference clause in the Medicare law.
  This noninterference clause does not prohibit Medicare from 
negotiating with drug makers. It prohibits CMS from interfering in 
those negotiations. That is a far cry from some of the fallacious 
statements that have been made on this floor.
  Let me be clear, the non-interference clause is at the heart of the 
bill's structure for delivering prescription drug benefits. This clause 
ensures those savings will result from market competition, rather than 
through price fixing by the CMS bureaucracy. That is what was behind 
this. Let's not distort these provisions.
  What is ironic about the minority charges on this provision--some in 
the minority; not all in the minority would agree with some of these 
fallacious charges--but what is ironic about these minority charges by 
some on this provision is that the same non-interference clause was in 
the Daschle-Kennedy-Rockefeller bill and the Gephardt-Dingell-Stark 
bills in the year 2000.
  I hate to say this, but if my memory serves me correctly, these are 
leading Democrats in the Senate and in the House. They are not 
Republicans. It is the same provision that is being condemned by some 
in this body through hyperbole, political hyperbole. In fact, I want to 
read this to you:

       In administering the prescription drug benefit program 
     established under this part, the Secretary may not--(1) 
     require a particular formulary or institute a price structure 
     for benefits; (2) interfere in any way with negotiations 
     between private entities and drug manufacturers, or 
     wholesalers; or (3) otherwise interfere with the competitive 
     nature of providing a prescription drug benefit through 
     private entities.

  Now, what is the source of that language? It is from S. 2541, the 
Medicare Expansion for Needed Drugs, or MEND, Act, introduced in 2000 
by Senator Daschle and cosponsored by 33 Democrats, including Senator 
Kerry. Think about it, some of the very people who are criticizing the 
MMA, that passed overwhelmingly in both Houses of Congress.
  I find it curious that this approach, which is mislabeled as 
``preventing Medicare from negotiating,'' was fine in the year 2000 
when the Democrats were putting forth a bill, but not fine when enacted 
into law by a Republican President and a Republican Congress in 2003.
  I must remind my colleagues that Senator Daschle, the distinguished 
Senator from South Dakota, once said:

       Our plan gives seniors the bargaining power that comes with 
     numbers. . . . Our plan mirrors the best practices used in 
     the private sector. For beneficiaries in traditional 
     Medicare, prescription drug coverage would be delivered by 
     private entities that negotiate prices with drug 
     manufacturers. This is the same mechanism used by private 
     insurers.

  Think about that. I think those who advance these arguments that you 
cannot have competitive work with regard to drug pricing ought to be 
ashamed of themselves and ought to quit playing politics with a bill 
that is so important for senior citizens all over this country.
  A related charge I heard one minority Senator make was that this so-
called non-interference language contributed to next year's Part B 
premium increase. Again, this is plain wrong.
  The Part B premium reflects the costs of Part B benefits. These 
include physician services and other outpatient services.
  I would like to remind my colleagues that when Medicare was first 
created, the Government paid 50 percent of the premiums and 
beneficiaries paid 50 percent of the premiums. That was when Medicare 
was instituted. Today, the Government pays 75 percent of the premiums 
and beneficiaries pay only 25 percent of the premiums because we in the 
Congress were trying to help limit beneficiaries' out-of-pocket costs.
  Those who suggest this non-interference language will drive up the 
cost of implementing the law simply do not have the facts or the 
legislation on their side.

[[Page 21955]]

  This is what the CBO said about eliminating the non-interference 
clause in a letter earlier this year:

       [T]he Secretary would not be able to negotiate prices that 
     further reduce federal spending to a significant degree.

  The CBO in that letter went on to say:

       CBO estimates that substantial savings will be obtained by 
     the private plans.

  Now, let us be clear: Direct Government negotiation is not the 
answer. The Government does not negotiate drug prices. That would be 
price control, and it would, I think, inevitably cause prices to rise 
as companies would not be able to do business in this country as they 
have in the past.
  The bill's entire approach is to get Medicare beneficiaries the best 
deal through vigorous market competition, not price controls.
  Again, it might be illustrative to quote from the distinguished 
minority leader, Senator Daschle, when he outlined the principles for 
the MEND Act. Now remember, the MEND Act was a Democrat-sponsored act. 
This is what Senator Daschle said:

       [W]e should take a lesson from the best private insurance 
     companies: Cost-savings should be achieved through 
     competition, not regulation or price controls.

  Now, keep in mind, they had the same provision in their bill that 
they are criticizing now in the MMA.
  This year, even the Washington Post, in a February 17 editorial, 
stated that:

       Governments are notoriously bad at setting prices, and the 
     U.S. government is notoriously bad at setting prices in the 
     medical realm.

  There is proof of that.
  In an August 2000 report, the Government Accountability Office, the 
GAO, found that drug manufacturers could respond to a mandate that they 
extend Federal prices to a larger share of purchasers by adjusting 
their prices to others. The larger the group that would be newly 
entitled to receive a Federal price, the greater the incentive for drug 
manufacturers to raise that price.
  The GAO stated that with the Medicaid rebate experience, 
specifically, that following enactment of the rebate program, discounts 
for outpatient drugs decreased significantly because manufacturers 
raised the prices they charged large private purchasers. Now, this 
shows how Federal and non-Federal drug price discounts could change if 
Medicare beneficiaries had access to the same price discounts available 
to Federal purchasers.
  It is common sense that expanding access to the Medicaid rebate means 
weaker discounts for everyone. If almost everyone can get the Medicaid 
``best price,'' then no one gets a discount.
  Another charge we hear frequently is that Congress should give 
Medicare beneficiaries access to the Veterans' Administration approach. 
Well, what these critics do not tell beneficiaries about the VA model 
is that it is a very restrictive formulary and that the drugs are 
available only through a limited number of VA pharmacies.
  The VA has lower prices in part because it has a very restrictive 
formulary. Now, this puzzles me because many proponents of the VA 
system also have expressed the concern of ensuring beneficiaries' 
access to drugs.
  In calling for the VA system, Families USA spotlighted 15 drugs 
commonly taken by Medicare beneficiaries. In fact, of the 15 drugs 
mentioned by Families USA, only nine are even on the VA formulary. The 
rest are not even covered.
  Sixty-one percent of the drugs on the VA formulary are generic drugs. 
If a Medicare beneficiary needed a brand-name drug--and the vast 
majority either do or will--the beneficiary would have to meet a narrow 
set of exceptions to get that brand-name drug under the VA system.
  The drugs are only dispensed at VA facilities. Such a closed system 
would limit Medicare beneficiaries' access to their neighborhood 
pharmacy. I am not for limiting beneficiaries' access to their 
neighborhood pharmacies. And I don't think any of my colleagues are 
either, in spite of some of the comments that have been made on the 
floor of the Senate.
  So while proposing the VA system might make for a good sound bite or 
advantageous sound bite, they might think, there are some important 
facts they are not sharing that could do more harm than good. And those 
facts were taken into consideration when we wrote this bill.
  We did not rely on CMS price fixing, but instead created a new drug 
benefit that relies on strong market competition and an approach in 
keeping with the principles of the MEND Act, the Democratic act, as 
introduced by Senator Daschle and cosponsored by 33 Democrats, 
including their candidate for President, Senator John Kerry. But that 
was then, I guess this is now. All of a sudden, this provision they 
adopted, that they were articulating, that they were pushing, is now 
suddenly a bad provision for senior citizens.
  Moving along, I want to talk about the Part B premium increase. There 
has been a good deal of criticism on the increase of the Part B 
premium, and that was understandable as many of us were shocked at so 
high a jump. Many of us were concerned about the impact this could have 
on beneficiaries, especially those living on fixed incomes.
  But it might be helpful to look at why this increase occurred rather 
than demagogue about it.
  The vast majority of the premium increase resulted from physician 
payment changes made in a previous year and by those in the Medicare 
Modernization Act that were needed to ensure beneficiaries' access to 
care. I can't relate how many letters I have received over the past few 
years from beneficiaries and providers alike who were concerned about 
the negative impact of reductions in physician reimbursement. 
Preventing those cuts was not a partisan issue. Indeed, Republicans and 
Democrats worked to prevent payment cuts to physicians so access to 
their services would be protected.
  In fact, some of today's most vocal critics of the administration 
joined with 71 Democrat and Republican Senators to sign a letter to the 
administration calling for immediate action to prevent payment cuts to 
physicians. We all knew that had to be done if we were going to be fair 
to those on Medicare. Virtually all of us hailed the ensuing action to 
prevent the physician pay cuts.
  Yet today many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
criticize the Part B premium increase, four-fifths of which is directly 
attributable to the actions they requested to prevent the decrease in 
physician payments. Is that right? I don't think so.
  Let's look at another reason the Part B premium increased so much 
this year.
  Congress increased payments made on behalf of beneficiaries who 
choose a Medicare Advantage plan. The higher payments, like the 
physician payments, were necessary to preserve access to Medicare 
Advantage plans and were supported by both Democrats and Republicans.
  In a letter to Medicare conferees, several prominent Democratic 
Senators expressed support for including these higher payments in the 
final Medicare bill. Senator Kerry, by the way, was a lead cosponsor of 
an amendment to increase Medicare Advantage funding.
  In his floor statement last June, he said:

       The Schumer-Santorum-Kerry amendment focuses on protecting 
     this important option for seniors who have nowhere else to 
     turn for the quality health care coverage they need.

  Senator Kerry went on to state:

       I urge my colleagues to support the additional funding that 
     is urgently needed to strengthen the Medicare+Choice program 
     for seniors. This should be among our highest priorities in 
     this year's Medicare debate.

  ``Among the highest priorities''--that is their nominee for President 
of the United States. These are the reasons the Medicare premiums went 
up. It wasn't because of the new Medicare bill. I find it so 
disingenuous for some of my colleagues to question the premium increase 
when they, in fact, supported the changes that led to the premium 
increase. Better medical care and more widespread medical care is being 
given as a result of the bipartisan work that we did.

[[Page 21956]]

  There were also six amendments to the Medicare bill introduced by 
Democratic Senators that, if approved, would have increased the Part B 
premium even more--six amendments by Democrats that would have 
increased the Part B premium even more. Yet we hear the persistent 
minority drumbeat trying to say that this increase was caused by the 
new Medicare reform bill.
  That is pure bunk. The amazing thing is, I guess they don't fully 
realize it. So I am making this speech to make sure they do realize it 
and that they understand it. When we hear charges that the new Medicare 
bill drove up the Part B premium--which as I have noted are largely 
false--we must also keep in mind the fact that the premium increase 
will not affect low-income beneficiaries, whose premiums are paid for 
by the Government.
  We must also bear in mind the important fact that the premium also 
reflects new Medicare coverage for important preventive benefits.
  Practically every other American with private health coverage has a 
wider array of preventive benefits. But Medicare beneficiaries, who 
could possibly benefit the most from the value of prevention, did not 
have the benefit of coverage for many of these basic preventive 
services prior to enactment of the Medicare reform bill.
  That didn't make sense. Now Medicare will cover important screenings 
for cholesterol and diabetes, as well as the initial physical.
  Finally, the MMA can save beneficiaries money. Reforms and 
overpayments for drugs, combined with the new preventive benefits, will 
lower beneficiaries' out-of-pocket costs by $270 million in 2005.
  Beneficiaries deserve to know the facts, not to be fed lines that 
amount to nothing more than political year potshots. They deserve to 
know how the new benefit will work, not to be given misleading 
information that may cause them to forgo learning more about the 
prescription drug benefit. Quite frankly, I am surprised and dismayed 
that some who claim to care about seniors and the disabled have 
unfairly distorted the new law and have spread falsehoods about what it 
does. To me, their actions are irresponsible and wrong and should be 
condemned as election year politicking at its very worst.
  Beneficiaries deserve much better. I hope my colleagues will think 
twice about frightening beneficiaries with untruths and distortions. 
The new Medicare law is a solid attempt to improve some glaring 
deficits in the Medicare program and should be heralded as what it is: 
a bipartisan effort to help seniors and the disabled, and not hurt them 
as some so irresponsibly have charged.
  How anybody can say that this new Medicare bill will not help seniors 
when we are going to spend an additional $400 billion plus over the 
next number of years that would never have been there without this bill 
is beyond me. I don't see how anybody can stand up with a straight face 
and make some of the comments and charges that have been made. In all 
honesty, it is hard to believe some of these charges. And in the 
process, we have taken care of more of the poor than was even 
contemplated by the prior attempts to reform Medicare. The poor are 
very much helped by that bill. Frankly, virtually everybody is very 
much helped by that bill. I personally think it is despicable to come 
on the floor or to speak in public and try to scare our seniors so they 
don't know what to do. Seniors can have confidence in CMS and have some 
confidence in the Medicare bill which will be for their benefit.


                          Judicial Nominations

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise to speak about four fine judicial 
nominees that deserve votes before we adjourn this Congress. Three of 
these four nominees received the ABA's highest rating, unanimously 
``well-qualified.'' The Judiciary Committee has thoroughly reviewed 
their background and qualifications and determined that they would all 
make fine Federal judges. All four were reported favorably by the 
committee, three of the four by unanimous vote. They have put forward 
their good names for the Senate's evaluation, and they deserve our 
attention before we adjourn. We owe them no less.
  Susan Neilson has been waiting a long time for a vote. She was 
nominated to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, for a seat that has 
been classified as a judicial emergency, on November 8, 2001. That is 
nearly 3 years that she has been waiting for this body to consider her 
nomination. Mr. President, it is time.
  Judge Neilson is an outstanding candidate for this post. She received 
a unanimous ``well qualified'' rating from the American Bar 
Association. She graduated with high distinction from the University of 
Michigan Honors College in 1977 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. 
Judge Neilson received her law degree, cum laude, from Wayne State 
University School of Law in 1980 and was a member of its law review. 
Following her graduation, Judge Neilson began her legal career as an 
associate at the Detroit law firm of Dickinson Wright, one of the 
oldest and most prestigious law firms in Michigan. She became a partner 
in the firm in 1986 and continued to practice there until 1991. While 
in private practice, Judge Neilson appeared in court on a regular basis 
and handled hundreds of cases at both the trial and appellate levels.
  In 1991, Governor John M. Engler appointed her to the 3rd Judicial 
Circuit Court of Michigan, the largest trial court in the State. She 
was reelected to that post in 1992, 1996, and 2002. She currently is 
assigned to the criminal division of the court.
  Despite her busy schedule, Judge Neilson makes it a priority to give 
back to the community. She is active in many service organizations 
including the Catholic Lawyers Society and the Worship Commission of 
her church. She served as President of her local chapter of Soroptimist 
International, a worldwide organization working to promote human rights 
and the status of women.
  Judge Neilson is also a prolific writer. She has written numerous 
articles and was co-editor and author of Michigan Civil Procedure, a 
two-volume treatise on all areas of Michigan civil practice. This 
treatise was selected by the Michigan Judicial Institute for purchase 
on behalf of every trial court judge in the State of Michigan and 
received the ``Plain English Award'' from the State Bar of Michigan. I 
also understand that she is currently working on a new book.
  Judge Neilson is imminently qualified for the Sixth Circuit. I 
commend her to my colleagues and urge them to vote for her 
confirmation.
  Micaela Alvarez, nominated to be United States District Judge for the 
Southern District of Texas, is an experienced attorney and trial judge. 
She began her legal career in 1989 as an Associate Litigation Attorney 
at the law firm of Atlas & Hall, in McAllen, TX. Her practice focused 
primarily on insurance defense, employment defense, and wrongful 
discharge defense. Judge Alvarez later joined the Law Offices of Ronald 
G. Hole where she expanded her practice to include medical malpractice 
defense and products liability. In 1995, she was appointed to the 139th 
Judicial District Court in Hidalgo County, TX, where she served as 
presiding judge.
  Judge Alvarez brings a wealth of experience to the Federal bench, and 
she will make an excellent addition to the Southern District of Texas.
  Keith Starrett, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern 
District of Mississippi, is an exceptional nominee with a long and 
distinguished record both as an attorney and judge. He is a graduate of 
Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi School 
of Law. He is an experienced litigator who has represented plaintiffs, 
defendants, debtors, creditors, and criminal defendants in both State 
and Federal courts. While in private practice he litigated over 400 
cases. In 1992 he was appointed to the Fourteenth Circuit Court of 
Mississippi where he presently serves. The American Bar Association 
unanimously gave him its highest rating of ``well qualified.'' The 
Mississippi Bar Association awarded him with the Judicial Excellence 
Award in 2003. Undoubtedly, he

[[Page 21957]]

will be a wonderful addition to the Federal bench.
  Christopher Boyko has been nominated to the United States District 
Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Judge Boyko brings 25 years of 
legal experience and sterling credentials to the Federal bench. He has 
served as a judge for the Court of Common Pleas in Cuyahoga County for 
8 years. He also served on the Parma Municipal Court before joining the 
Court of Common Pleas.
  Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Boyko built a successful 
law practice, which he coupled with his duties as assistant prosecutor, 
prosecutor, and director of law, for the city of Parma. He also served 
as the legal adviser to the local police department's S.W.A.T. team, as 
a statutory legal counsel for the Parma School District, and as chief 
legal counsel for the Southwest Enforcement Bureau.
  The ABA has recognized this seasoned nominee with a unanimously 
``Well Qualified'' rating. In addition, he has received Martindale-
Hubbell's highest rating of ``AV.'' He has the distinction of having 
been elected to ``Who's Who in American Law,'' and the Judicial 
Candidates Rating Coalition, in Cleveland, unanimously gave him an 
``excellent'' rating for 2004.
  Mr. President, I think that you will agree that these four fine 
nominees possess the credentials, reputation, and experience to be 
Federal judges. I am convinced that each of them would serve with 
distinction.
  Now, let me take a minute to dispense with the old canard that judges 
aren't confirmed late in an election year. When Senator Thurmond 
chaired this committee, during a Presidential election year, the Senate 
confirmed six Circuit Judges after August 1--one in August and five in 
October. In addition, 12 district judges were confirmed in September 
and October of that year. So I will follow that Thurmond rule and 
continue to bring the President's nominees to the committee for action 
and to the Senate for consideration.
  I am only too well aware of the unprecedented and constitutionally 
suspect tactics my colleagues across the aisle have used to filibuster 
circuit court judges. So I am under no illusion that Judge Neilson will 
be given the up-or-down vote that the Constitution requires. Certainly 
this is unlikely to occur in the closing days of this session. Be that 
as it may, I hope that the devious tactic of filibustering circuit 
judges will in no way prevent the Senate from confirming three superbly 
qualified district judges. I hope they will be included in the final 
Executive Calendar package along with four commissioners for the 
Sentencing Commission and four U.S. Attorneys.
  I understand time is precious. We are in the waning hours of this 
Congress, and still much is left to be done. We should not, however, in 
our haste to adjourn, neglect consideration of all these outstanding 
nominees. They deserve our attention. They deserve our time. I call on 
the leadership on both sides of the aisle to move these nominations and 
urge my colleagues to vote for the confirmation of all these 
distinguished nominees.
  Mr. President, in accordance with the unanimous consent request 
agreed to earlier, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Talent). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. 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. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business for 1 hour and when my time is yielded that the quorum 
be questioned.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I object for the moment, but I will come 
back to it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I withdraw my objection.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the Senator is recognized.


                          Judicial Nominations

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I will address some of the issues just 
debated on the floor of the Senate. The Senator from Utah is my friend. 
We have worked together, and he chairs the Judiciary Committee. We are 
miles and worlds apart on many issues but have found common ground many 
times and I am sure we will in the future. He has done an excellent job 
for his President as chairman of the committee.
  It is my understanding that, as of today, President Bush has 
successfully nominated over 200 Federal judges to fill vacancies, 
thanks to the work of Senator Hatch and many others in the Senate. 
Those nominees have been approved. At this point, it is my 
understanding that we have one of the lowest vacancy rates in the 
Federal judiciary in recent memory and that we have responded 
particularly in the areas of our country where there have been 
shortages of judges and an abundance of cases to be considered. It is 
my understanding that the scoreboard on President Bush's nominees who 
have been proposed and accepted and approved by the Senate is 201; 
somewhere in the range of 6 or 8 have not been approved. That is quite 
a good average by any standard for any President. It is certainly 
dramatically better than the approval given to judges under the 
previous President, President Clinton.
  There have been a lot of complaints and concern expressed about the 
six or eight judges who have not been approved, and while all of that 
argument has gone on, 201 of President Bush's nominees have been 
approved.
  Now we have a suggestion that in the closing days of this session, we 
should approve even more judges. It is a troubling suggestion only in 
this regard: Not reflecting on any single judicial nominee or that 
person's qualifications, it has been a practice and tradition in the 
Senate that in a Presidential election year, we suspend the approval of 
Federal judges after the first nominating convention of a major party. 
It is known as the Thurmond rule because Senator Strom Thurmond of 
South Carolina, chairing this same committee, established it and said 
once we get that close to a Presidential election, with the outcome 
uncertain, that we will not be approving judges. We will wait and see 
what the verdict of the American people will be as to whether the 
President, in this case, is reelected or a new President takes office 
and fills those same vacancies.
  The Senator from Utah has asked us to look beyond this time-honored 
Thurmond rule. In my State of Illinois and many other States, we have 
withheld pursuing nominees because we understood the process was closed 
down, that there would not be any further judicial nominees considered. 
I am sure this will be discussed at length. So the record will reflect 
that has been the tradition. It is the situation that has applied to 
President after President, and most of us believe, in fairness, it 
should apply in this situation.
  I listened carefully as the Senator from Utah talked about a number 
of issues, all of which are relevant, many of which will be discussed 
tonight in the second Presidential debate at Washington University in 
St. Louis between President Bush and Senator Kerry.
  One of the issues which he spoke to with some force was the issue of 
whether we are doing enough to help seniors and other American families 
pay for their health care. He noted that we passed a Medicare 
prescription drug bill. It is true that a bill passed with that name. 
For a person like myself who has supported throughout his congressional 
career the idea of assistance to senior citizens to pay for 
prescription drugs, it was painful to vote against a bill called the 
Medicare prescription drug bill. But I did vote against it, and the 
reason I voted against it is the same reason that most seniors across 
America are not only skeptical of this proposal by the Bush 
administration and the Republican leaders in Congress but have flatly 
rejected it, because if you take a close look at the proposal which the 
Bush White House put before us and was approved by this Republican 
Congress, you will see it is only a Medicare prescription drug bill in 
name. In fact, it is not, and the reason is obvious. There

[[Page 21958]]

 is no authority in the bill for Medicare as an agency to bargain with 
the pharmaceutical companies to get the best price for seniors and 
families across America. The pharmaceutical industry is the most 
powerful industry on Capitol Hill. Bill after bill, vote after vote, 
amendment after amendment, the pharmaceutical industry rarely loses. 
Why? Because they are a powerful force in our economy, the most 
profitable economic sector in America, and a powerful political force. 
They are involved in the campaigns, primarily with Republicans but some 
Democrats, too. They make contributions to those who believe in their 
approach, and they are rewarded many times with votes that come out 
their way. This is what happened with the Medicare prescription drug 
bill.
  This bill expressly prohibits the Medicare agency from bargaining 
with pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of prescription drugs, 
and what it means is that seniors, even with this bill, will continue 
to see the cost of medication going up 10, 15, and 20 percent a year. 
There is no end in sight. It will continue to grow at a pace that will 
outstrip the money we put in this bill, at a pace that will outstrip 
the resources of most seniors and, frankly, will do it in a hurry.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, will my friend yield for a question?
  Mr. DURBIN. I will be happy to yield for a question from the Senator 
from California.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, first, I thank my friend from Illinois. We 
had the Senator from Utah talking about how wonderful everything is 
with that prescription drug plan the Senator from Illinois and I voted 
against and Senator Kerry does not support either. The reason we voted 
against it is it does not do much for our seniors. It is very costly 
for them when they need it. It is not there because after a certain 
amount of expenditure, the benefit stops. We call it benefit shutdown, 
donut hole--different names. Lots of us are trying to fix it.
  One of the main problems is what my friend described--a prohibition 
on the Medicare agency from negotiating with these giant drug companies 
for lower prices. This is where I want to ask my friend a question.
  If someone from the Government came up to one of our constituents who 
was looking for a new bike for their son and said, You cannot shop 
around, you have to take whatever that store on the corner says you 
have to pay, I do not think that would be very popular for the 
Government to do. I am sure my friend would agree.
  Essentially, that is what we are doing here. We are essentially 
taking the leverage away from Medicare to help our seniors get lower 
prices by telling them, even though there are 40 million Americans--
that is my understanding--on Medicare, they cannot use that power and 
that leverage to sit across from Pfizer or any of the big companies and 
say: If you want to get on our formulary, you have to lower this price.
  It seems stunning to me that Senator Hatch would come to the floor 
and say it is not true. He said: We do not stop Medicare, we just stop 
the agency that runs Medicare. Talk about flimflam. Talk about 
misleading the seniors. Is that what the Senator from Illinois heard 
the Senator say?
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, in response to the Senator from 
California, I did not hear that exact quote, but it is clear for anyone 
who reads the bill that Medicare, as an agency, does not have the 
authority to bargain for lower drug prices or to create its own drug 
benefit program.
  The Republican leadership in the White House and Congress insisted 
that this be done through private sector insurance companies. In fact, 
they expressly prohibited seniors from buying Medicare gap policies to 
cover this overwhelming cost of prescription drugs.
  The most telling fact that I think should be part of this debate is 
the Bush administration insisted that this so-called Medicare 
prescription drug benefit plan would not go into effect until after 
this election. They know, the Senator from California knows, I know, 
that when seniors see the situation close up and all the details, they 
are going to feel even worse about what Congress has done. Congress has 
left them vulnerable on prescription drug costs, and they are not the 
only ones.
  We are finding companies across America and families across America 
wrestling with the high cost of health care. What has the Bush 
administration done to help small businesses provide health insurance, 
to help families afford health insurance, to come to the rescue of 
100,000 American retirees who have lost their health care benefits 
because of a bankruptcy court? What have they done to help these people 
in such dire straits? Nothing. Why? Because the companies that are 
profiting from these high costs of insurance and pharmaceuticals are 
companies that are the political favorites of the Bush administration 
and the Republican leadership in Congress.
  So when any Senator comes to the floor and talks with some pride 
about what has happened over the last 4 years on health care, go ask 
the families of America what is happening. The honest answer is no 
relief, no help, and they find themselves with increasing costs for 
health care and the cost of health insurance.
  Businesses identify this as the No. 1 problem facing American 
business today, that health care premiums are going up 25 percent and 
more each year. They say to us: How can we provide coverage for our 
employees, how can we be competitive in the world if we face that 
overhead cost?
  Labor unions say exactly the same thing. They say: We try to get more 
money per hour for our workers so they can have a better life, but 
every penny of it goes for health insurance, and this year's coverage 
is less than last year's coverage. They are frustrated. Business, 
labor, families, individuals, and retirees are being left out in the 
cold.
  What has the Bush administration and the Republican Congress done for 
these groups? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
  Mrs. BOXER. Will my friend continue to yield to me?
  Mr. DURBIN. I would be happy to yield for a question.
  Mrs. BOXER. Again, I want to thank my friend for moving to the bigger 
issue of all of our citizens, leading off with the issues that are 
facing our seniors. But I want to get back to our seniors.
  My friend said it is interesting that the date of the prescription 
drug benefit is after the election because it is such a bad benefit and 
they do not want people to see there is really not very much there. 
They thought they could run on this as an issue, but I say to my 
colleague seniors are smart.
  We say this is the greatest generation. This is the generation that 
has kept us free, and they are smart. I am sure my friend has seen what 
I have seen. As I go around my State, seniors are saying, please fix 
this thing, allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prices. Do not have 
the benefit that shuts down just when we need it the most. It is too 
expensive. Allow importation of pharmaceutical products through Canada. 
I am sure my friend is having that same experience.
  The thing they did not count on, President Bush and our friends on 
the other side, is that the seniors see this on the horizon. They get 
it. They are used to reading the small print, and I believe they are 
letting us know that they are quite unhappy.
  I want to ask my friend this: One would think, after looking at what 
the Veterans' Administration does for its people, when they sit down, 
knowing they have millions of veterans behind them, and negotiate with 
a drug company and get those prices down, perhaps a third less, maybe 
even a half lower than what they sell for normally on the market, one 
would think that would have been the perfect model for this group that 
wrote this bill to emulate what the Veterans' Administration does for 
its veterans.
  Oh, no, no. Was not my friend surprised when it turned out that 
instead of taking the model that has been developed for veterans on 
pharmaceutical prices, where the Veterans' Administration sits across 
the table from the big drug companies, essentially, and

[[Page 21959]]

bargains for lower companies, that instead of taking that model they 
are reversing that model and prohibiting Medicare to negotiate?
  Mr. DURBIN. The Senator from California, I am sure, has met with 
veterans, as I have in Illinois. Veterans are fortunate when they reach 
an age that they can go to a Veterans Hospital and get their 
prescriptions filled for a modest amount each month. That is because 
the Veterans' Administration bargains for the prices of drugs, brings 
them down to a lower cost than a senior on Medicare is going to pay.
  There has been a lot of talk about reimportation of drugs from 
Canada. I just want to say for the record, many of us believe that a 
promise had been made on the Senate floor that we would vote on this 
issue of reimportation of drugs from Canada before we went home this 
year. In fact, there is ample evidence in the Congressional Record, a 
colloquy between Senator Dorgan of North Dakota and the majority leader 
of the Senate, which led us all to believe that we would finally get a 
chance to reimport drugs that have been made in the United States 
safely and can be bought at a fraction of the cost in Canada and other 
places.
  The decision was made, no, we do not have time. We cannot do it. 
Well, that decision was made as the decision was made to stop Medicare 
from asking for lower prices for drugs, at the request of the 
pharmaceutical companies. These companies are making the greatest 
profit of any sector of the American economy, and they have asked for 
Congress to protect their profits. This is a decision driven by greed. 
It is a decision where the pharmaceutical companies have said, despite 
the hardship on seniors, despite the hardship on families and 
businesses, we will not reduce the prices of our drugs.
  A phony argument has been raised, and that is that we cannot reimport 
drugs from Canada without compromising the safety of the drugs that are 
brought in. Let me remind everyone that the overwhelming majority of 
the drugs we are talking about are the product of research in the 
United States. They are the product of American pharmaceutical 
companies. They are in packages and under names in Canada exactly as 
they are in the United States. We are only asking that these drugs be 
brought back in so that seniors can get some relief from high drug 
prices, relief that is not forthcoming in the Medicare prescription 
drug bill.
  Let me say something about the safety issue. Do not trust me. I am 
just an elected official. Trust instead Dr. Peter Rost, who is vice 
president of marketing at Pfizer. Let us see what he had to say about 
the safety issue:

       During my time responsible for a region in northern Europe, 
     I never once--not once--heard the drug industry, regulatory 
     agencies, the government, or anyone else saying that this 
     practice was unsafe. And personally, I think it is outright 
     derogatory to claim that Americans would not be able to 
     handle reimportation of drugs, when the rest of the educated 
     world can do this.

  It is a phony issue. Safety of drugs is a phony issue. We can put 
safeguards in place. We have proposals before the Senate to do it. In 
my home State of Illinois, Governor Blagojevich has been a leader on 
the reimportation issue. He has established what I consider to be 
rational and very thoroughly thought out standards for the 
reimportation of drugs. Resistance comes from the Food and Drug 
Administration, and that resistance is inspired by the pharmaceutical 
companies that do not want to see cheaper drugs coming into the United 
States to help seniors and families meet the overwhelming cost of 
prescription drugs.
  Tonight, during the course of this debate between President Bush and 
Senator Kerry, I am sure that health care will be an issue. I am 
guessing that someone, in 90 minutes, in the Washington University 
audience is going to say to both candidates: What are you going to do 
to reduce the cost of health care for families across America?
  What the President will say is, We have done it with the Medicare 
prescription drug bill. And the obvious answer to that is, Well, then 
why did you postpone it until after the election? Why is it so hard to 
understand? Why the gaps in coverage? Why can't Medicare bargain for a 
lower price?
  The answer on the other side from Senator Kerry is obviously, this 
administration, in the thrall and under the control of the 
pharmaceutical industry, is not prepared to confront them on behalf of 
American families and businesses which are struggling to pay for 
prescription drugs.
  I think that is a clear choice, as there will be a clear choice on so 
many issues.
  Take a look at this issue as well. On the issue of health care, what 
has happened under the Bush administration? Under President Bush's 4 
years, fewer jobs in America provide health insurance. We know from the 
reports, the President, during his administration, has lost more jobs 
in America than any President in the last 70 years of either political 
party. Even today's report about a few new jobs in America still leaves 
the President somewhere between 500,000 and 800,000 net jobs lost 
during his Presidency. Even his father, facing a recession and a war, 
was able to see much more employment created than this President.
  As a result of the lost jobs, and as a result of businesses 
struggling with the Bush economic policies, fewer companies offer 
health insurance.
  In the year 2000, when President Bush took office, 63.6 percent of 
companies offered employer-provided health insurance. Today, it is 60.4 
percent. That means 3.8 million Americans have lost health insurance 
coverage at their job.
  Now, what does one do when they have lost their health insurance at 
their job? Well, for many of these Americans, it means no protection 
whatsoever. It means that they pray each morning that someone does not 
develop a serious illness or get involved in an accident.
  So how is this making America a better place? How is it strengthening 
families? How is it removing fears and worries from families who are 
just trying to get by each day and maybe make life a little better for 
their children? I cannot imagine in my family, if we did not have 
health insurance, what it would be like, fearful that at any given 
moment the savings that we have could evaporate paying for health 
costs.
  Under President Bush, 3.8 million Americans have lost health 
insurance. That is a fact. That will come up tonight during the course 
of this debate.
  Look at the jobs that have been lost under President Bush as well. 
The Clinton administration saw an increase of 20.7 million jobs in the 
8 years of his Presidency; under President Bush, a loss of 1.6 million 
jobs. The President says his economic policies are working. The 
unemployed people of America are a living testimony to the fact that 
they have failed because the President's economic policy is very simply 
stated. If we give tax breaks to the wealthiest people in America, 
surely everybody else will be better off.
  It has not worked. It is not going to work. The helping hand should 
be given to businesses to create jobs. A helping hand should be given 
to working families to try to keep up with increased costs for health 
care and college tuition and gasoline. These are the basics of life. 
This administration has ignored it. By ignoring it they have created an 
economic climate that has destroyed jobs instead of creating them.
  Mrs. BOXER. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. DURBIN. I am happy to yield to my friend.
  Mrs. BOXER. Would you keep the chart up. This is a shocking chart. 
This is not about politics or rhetoric. This is a fact. The fact is, we 
came off of the Clinton administration where 20.7 million new jobs were 
created, and we are at the end of the Bush administration and a loss of 
1.6 million jobs. They will make every excuse in the book for it. The 
fact is, we have that kind of record, even though we are in raging 
deficit spending.
  I am an economics major. Granted, it was a long time ago that I went 
to college and I got my degree in economics, but one of the things they 
taught us in economics 101 was that when you wanted to rejuvenate the 
economy--deficit spending. So here we have a President who is deficit 
spending, who has stolen every penny from the Social Security trust 
fund to pay for his tax cuts,

[[Page 21960]]

throwing hundreds of billions--let's be exact, between $120 billion and 
$200 billion at Iraq with no end in sight to bear the burden of that 
war, let alone the human loss of life, and with all of this deficit 
spending we see a loss of 1.6 million jobs. It is shocking to see this 
type of record.
  The President goes around with the music blaring, saying how great 
his economic program is, as my colleague pointed out, and all of these 
great new jobs that are being created. I want to ask my friend, for the 
jobs that are being created--and there are some, although it is very 
anemic--isn't it true that the average pay of those jobs is 
approximately $9,000 less a year than the pay of the jobs that have 
been lost? If my friend, in answering that question, could talk about 
what that means to families who have to pay the higher costs of health 
care, college tuition, gas prices, and all the things we need to pay 
for, it would be helpful.
  Mr. DURBIN. I would be happy to respond to that question. I would say 
if you listen carefully, the President's regular response when asked 
about whether there is enough employment in America is: This 
administration will not rest until every American has a job.
  The President better plan on staying up late at night, all through 
the night, for the next 3 weeks-plus of this campaign, because 
Americans are having difficulty finding jobs.
  The point the Senator made is an important one. I have met with some 
of these unemployed people, many of whom worked for years, even 
decades, in good-paying jobs. They live in nice houses, their kids go 
to good schools, they had savings accounts, a car in the driveway--
maybe two or three, vacations were planned. Then all of a sudden the 
bottom fell out. They lost the job. I met with them and listened to 
them about their desperate efforts to find another job. They are in a 
situation where they will take a lot less money for a job just to go 
back to work. The potential employer says: ``Wait a minute, you are 
overqualified. Because you are overqualified we are not going to hire 
you because we know you'll take something better that comes along,'' so 
they can't get employed. But if they luck out and get one of the lower 
paying jobs, what will they have to sacrifice? Will it be their 
savings? Will it be the college education of their child? Will it be 
the home they live in? You can't tell what it means.
  But if this President says he won't rest until every American has a 
job, he better stay up at night for a long, long time because we have 
lost more jobs under his Presidency than any President's since Herbert 
Hoover. For those who are not students of history, he was the President 
during the Great Depression, a depression which our parents lived 
through and will remember as the toughest time in their lives.
  This President has created a climate in this country where the number 
of jobs is not growing. It did not have to be that way. Take a look at 
what happened under the Clinton administration. The Clinton 
administration was creating 2.6 million jobs a year. The Bush 
administration has been losing about 200,000 jobs a year.
  You say to yourself, What was the difference? The difference was the 
Clinton administration put together a sound fiscal policy for America. 
It was not easy. In fact, it passed the House and the Senate--I served 
in the House at the time--by one vote in each Chamber. Vice President 
Gore cast the deciding vote. President Clinton did say that in his 
administration we are going to take deficits seriously. I know the 
other party, the Republicans, say they are fiscal conservatives but we 
believe that getting the deficit under control is critically important 
if we are going to rejuvenate this economy and bring down interest 
rates and have more capital investment.
  We did it. It was painful. Many Members of the House and Senate lost 
their seats because they voted for this plan. But it worked. As a 
consequence, under the Clinton administration jobs were created.
  Now take a look at what this President has done. Claiming to be a 
fiscal conservative, this President now has us in a position where we 
have the largest deficit in the history of the United States. How can 
this be? The President will say, Don't blame me for 9/11. Don't blame 
me for the recession that was inevitable. Don't blame me for the war in 
Iraq. But the honest answer is he has to accept the blame for an 
economic policy that called for tax cuts during this same period, tax 
cuts primarily focused on the wealthiest people in America. That is 
what has been driving deficit numbers to a great extent. That is 
something for which you can blame the Bush administration.
  Many of us believe a tax policy that would have helped smaller 
businesses, family farmers, and individuals struggling to pay the bills 
for their families could have put real juice in this economy, as the 
Senator from California suggested, rejuvenating it at the right level 
at a lower cost.
  To give to a person making over $200,000 a year another $5,000 or 
$10,000 or $20,000 is gilding the lily. Their life is pretty 
comfortable. To give them $20,000 more means more stocks purchased, 
more money invested. But it is not the same kind of expenditure as when 
you give $5,000 to a working family which turns around and says now we 
can consider the downpayment on a car, we can get the washer and dryer, 
a little remodel job on the kitchen, we can put the money away for our 
son and daughter for a college education, we can make sure we are 
planning for a brighter future for our family. It is the difference 
between night and day.
  There was a moment in a movie, which was controversial, called 
``Fahrenheit 9/11.'' President Bush was speaking to a group. I don't 
know where it was located. He was on film. He was in his tuxedo and the 
people all around him were in tuxedos, and he said something along 
these lines: Some people say you are the upper last class. They call 
you the wealthy. They call you the upper level. But I call you my base.
  It was supposed to be a humorous line, but there was more truth than 
humor. The President has served his base well with his economic 
policies. He has said to those people who are well off: You are my 
first priority. His economic policies have been directed to help them, 
time and again, at the expense of working families, at the expense of 
the worst deficit in our history.
  So we have a choice. We have a choice to make on November 2. More of 
the same? Continuation of this policy, risking more jobs lost, putting 
more burdens on working families?
  Take a look at the long-term unemployment in this country. The long-
term unemployment in 2000 was 649,000 people. Now it is almost three 
times that amount, 1.7 million people. Long-term unemployed, meaning 
they have tried and tried and cannot get back to work.
  Take a look at who is better off because of the policies of the Bush 
administration. These charts tell you what happens here. The household 
income in America is down, under the Bush administration. If you think 
you are pedalling faster and not going any farther, this chart tells 
you why. You may be making a few more dollars, but the cost of living 
for working families has gone up.
  How have the CEOs at the major corporations done under the Bush tax 
policy, the people making dramatically more money than the people 
working in the office and factory? The CEO compensation went up 20 
percent. Take a look at the HMOs, the insurance companies that have 
been protected by this administration. Their profits have been up 84 
percent.
  Do you think you are paying more for gasoline today than you were 4 
years ago? This is the chart: $1.47 was the average price of gas in 
2001. The average price of a gallon of gas in 2004 is $1.92. And when 
we hear the price of a barrel of oil is over $50, it may be a good 
thing for the oil companies, but it is bad news for American families 
and a lot of businesses.
  Why are these airlines going into bankruptcy one after the other? I 
was on a plane the other day--United. At the end of the flight, as we 
landed, the flight attendant came on and said: Thank you for flying 
United. I know

[[Page 21961]]

you had a choice of many companies that are in bankruptcy or near 
bankruptcy. That is what he announced to the passengers. Everybody kind 
of laughed, but it is a sad reality.
  The cost of fuel, the cost of oil, and our dependence on foreign oil 
instead of an energy bill that moves us toward independence have left 
us vulnerable as an economy and left American families vulnerable 
paying for the bills.
  Where is the leadership? Do we really need 4 more years of wrong 
decisions like these, decisions that would not challenge the Saudis and 
their oil supplies and instead say America is going to move forward to 
energy independence so we can't be held captive by OPEC and the Saudi 
Arabian oil cartel? That is the difference. That is the case.
  We are suggesting there ought to be a better vision for America, and 
move us away from dependence on Mideast oil, move us toward an economic 
policy to give working families a fighting chance. You haven't seen it 
for 4 years.
  Tonight, this administration through the President is going to try to 
justify some of the harsh realities.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mr. DURBIN. Yes.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Reid 
be granted the hour which will come to me postcloture.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. CORNYN. We object.
  Mrs. BOXER. I ask unanimous consent that it be yielded to Senator 
Daschle.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator has the right to give it to Senator Daschle under the 
rule.
  Mrs. BOXER. I make that point.
  As I listened to my friend in his usual way of kind of tying together 
the pieces and as we get ready to watch our Presidential candidate 
tonight, I am wondering if my friend is beginning to see a pattern by 
this administration which is kind of just coming in.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a parliamentary 
inquiry?
  As manager of the bill, am I not entitled to be given by the Senator 
from California 1 hour of time? As manager of the bill, as I understand 
it, I have the right to be yielded 1 hour of time by any Member.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct and the Chair was in 
error, not realizing that Senator Reid was the manager of the bill on 
this side of the aisle. The Chair apologizes to the Senator from 
California. She has a matter of right to give the hour either to 
Senator Reid or Senator Daschle.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I might say that I am going to give my 
hour to Senator Reid.
  Mr. REID. Thank you, Mr. President.
  Mrs. BOXER. I am sorry for the interruption.
  As I hear the Senator from Illinois talk--and I think back to the 
first debate where I believe all of America now knows there was no plan 
for Iraq following the stunning military victory. There was no plan for 
after that military victory, and we are paying a heavy price. I have 
come to this floor and eulogized those being lost.
  There is no plan for Iraq.
  By the way, that was pointed out not only by Democrats such as 
Senator Kerry, Senator Biden, and Senator Dodd, who sit on the Foreign 
Relations Committee, but also by Senators Lugar, Chafee, and Hagel, who 
also sit on that committee. There was no plan.
  I am asking my friend, as we look at the disastrous factual 
statistics on this economy, whether he believes there really was a plan 
as to how we were going to continue the Clinton administration record 
on job creation, stem the loss of manufacturing jobs, and stem the loss 
of outsourcing jobs, which, shockingly, people in this administration 
say is good for our economy. Was there a plan? Was there a plan to make 
sure that health care premiums would be affordable for our people? Was 
there a plan to lower prescription drug prices for our people through 
importation? Was there a plan for gas prices? My God. My friend put up 
a chart--$1.81 average. People in California would be thrilled at $1.92 
a gallon. We are looking at $2.30, $2.40, $2.20, $2.50 a gallon. When 
the Senate voted in a bipartisan way to beg this administration to stop 
filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve so we could put downward 
pressure on the prices, nothing has really happened.
  To conclude my question, I am beginning to see a pattern of kind of a 
``flying by the seat of your pants'' administration where there is no 
plan to make life better for people, whether it is our men and women in 
uniform in Iraq, whether it is our consumers, our middle-class 
families, working families, and all of our families in regard to health 
care and gas prices.
  Could my friend comment on that bigger picture?
  Mr. DURBIN. I would be happy to respond to the question.
  First, Mr. President, may I inquire how much time I have remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 21\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, let me say to the Senator from California 
that she has really come to the heart of the problem. The President 
said in his first debate that being President was hard work. He said 
that over and over again. This is hard work. This is hard stuff. These 
are hard things to do. I don't doubt it. Being President of the United 
States may be the toughest job in the world. But sadly, the President, 
despite the hard work he has experienced, doesn't understand the hard 
work families have to go through just to make ends meet. If he were a 
little more in touch with these families and their own struggles, he 
would understand why we need a man or a person in the White House 
standing up for them and understanding the challenges families face 
every single day. And it hasn't happened.
  The Senator from California mentions outsourcing. It is true. The 
head of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Bush administration 
sent a report to Congress saying that the outsourcing of jobs was a 
positive, a good result; sending jobs overseas was good. He explained 
that that would mean more competition and lower costs, completely 
overlooking the obvious. When a good-paying job leaves America, it is 
not likely the person who lost it is going to get another good-paying 
job, or get it soon. It is likely that that follow job is not going to 
have the same level of benefits for the person who just saw their job 
outsourced.
  This administration plays by a strange economic textbook. That 
economic textbook calls for total free market forces despite the 
consequences. Even under this administration, the President has seen 
what the free market unbridled can lead to.
  I put as exhibit A Enron. If you do not have a government through its 
President and regulatory agencies keeping an eye on some corporate 
activity as we keep an eye on individual activity, terrible things can 
occur--and they did occur in Enron, a business that defrauded a lot of 
innocent people out of their life savings, not to mention 
misrepresentations made in terms of the status of that business and the 
impact it had on so many other businesses. But this President steps 
back every time someone suggests that he needs to stand up to free 
market forces that are not serving America. He will not stand up to 
pharmaceutical companies that are overcharging Americans. He wouldn't 
let the Medicare agency bargain for lower prices. No. Let the free 
market work its will. The free market is working its will at the 
expense of a lot of senior citizens and families who can't afford their 
prescription drugs.
  Did the President get on the phone as he promised as a candidate and 
call the OPEC cartel when they were holding oil off the market and 
driving up prices in America? No. Let the free market work its will. 
You know what happened. Gasoline prices have gone through the roof, 
airline fuel prices have gone through the roof, and America's economy 
has suffered. More jobs are being lost, more airline employees are 
being laid off, and we see businesses dependent on fuel struggling 
across America.

[[Page 21962]]

  When it came to a tax break, did this President take into 
consideration that the cost of a college education is going up more 
than 20 percent a year in many institutions and that families with 
bright students who want the best chance in life just can't imagine 
their son or daughter graduating with $100,000 in debt and a diploma? 
Did the President think about that when he decided to look at the Tax 
Code to help families? No. No, there was no provision in there for the 
deductibility of college education expenses. The President said to let 
the market work its will at the expense of many of these families.
  Langston Hughes once referred to the group of people that I am 
talking about. He called them ``people for whom life ain't been no 
crystal stair.'' He was a person who understood that people get up 
every morning and struggle--struggle to keep their family together, 
struggle to make ends meet, struggle to try to believe that their kids 
will be better off than they are. These families would like to believe 
there is somebody someplace in Washington who cares, someone who 
understands we are headed in the wrong direction in this country in so 
many instances.
  We are losing jobs. We are seeing important jobs outsourced. We are 
seeing our deficit at record levels. These are the harsh realities.
  The Senator from California says it does not appear that this 
administration has a plan. In many instances, it does not appear this 
administration has a clue. It is as if the President, with those 
auditoriums filled with thousands of fans, does not take the time to 
step outside the auditorium and talk to an average family about what 
they are going through as their cost of health insurance goes up and 
the cost of living goes up as well.


                                  Iraq

  I will use my remaining time of morning business to speak to the 
other issue brought up by the Senator from California. That, of course, 
is the situation in Iraq.
  We had a report through the Senate Intelligence Committee and Senate 
Armed Services Committee this week from Mr. Duelfer who went back to 
Iraq and for the second time spent months and millions of dollars to 
look for weapons of mass destruction. He came back and told us they are 
not there. We cannot find them.
  Think about that. Think of how often President Bush, Vice President 
Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell, and others told us we 
were in imminent danger from an attack from Saddam Hussein because of 
arsenals of chemical and biological weapons and the rebuilding of the 
nuclear weapons in Iraq. That was the justification. That is why we had 
to invade. That is why we could not wait. And it was all wrong. Totally 
wrong.
  Now comes the administration saying, no, it was not really about 
weapons of mass destruction, despite the fact they said that then over 
and over again. It was the fact that Saddam Hussein could not be 
trusted and was an evil man. It was about the fact he may have had the 
desire--the new word, ``desire''--to build weapons of mass destruction 
and it really was about the Oil for Food Program in Iraq.
  Really? Go back and check the tape on statements made by the 
President as to why we had to send our Armed Forces into harm's way. 
The statements made by the President do not quibble: weapons of mass 
destruction, yellow cake uranium coming into Iraq, linkage between al-
Qaida and those who were responsible for September 11, al-Qaida and 
Saddam Hussein.
  Now, today, that evidence, that case, has evaporated. It is gone 
after millions of dollars have been spent desperately trying to find 
evidence of one weapon of mass destruction.
  Trust me, those who are following this debate, had this 
administration found a tiny shred of evidence of weapons of mass 
destruction, it would have been front page news around the world. They 
could not find a thing.
  The intelligence was bad. The reasons for going to war, given to us 
by the President, was just plain wrong.
  Where are we today? Mr. President, 140,000 of our best and brightest, 
our soldiers, marines, our airmen, those in the U.S. Navy, our 
guardsmen and reservists, got up this morning in Iraq and went to do 
their duty and risk their lives for America. Over a year and a half 
after our invasion of Iraq, there is no end in sight. They say we hope 
someday soon to have elections. We are not quite sure how much of Iraq 
will be safe to vote. We hope to have an election and we hope to have 
the Iraqis take over. Those are two good goals. I hope we can reach 
them.
  But we have to acknowledge the obvious. This administration was not 
prepared for the war in Iraq. They were prepared for the invasion. Our 
troops did a masterful job in a very short period of time. But this 
administration was not ready for what followed. Isn't that the most 
basic thing to ask of a Commander in Chief? Don't send my son or your 
son into battle unless you are prepared to give that soldier everything 
they need to be safe, to win, and to come home. This administration was 
not prepared.
  I know that because for the last few months I have spent time on 
behalf of Illinois soldiers, demanding they have body armor to protect 
themselves in Iraq, one of the most basic things one would think we 
would provide, demanding we have armor plating on Humvee vehicles so as 
they travel across Iraq they do not fall prey to the homemade bombs and 
rocket-propelled grenades, demanding we put the necessary defensive 
equipment on helicopters so we will not have Guard and Reserve and 
Regular Army helicopters shot out of the sky because they were not 
properly equipped.
  Why would I be doing this, a year and a half after the invasion, 
after giving the Bush administration every single penny they asked for 
to execute this war? I am doing it, and many others in the Senate and 
Congress are doing it, we are doing it because this administration was 
not prepared for the war in Iraq.
  The losers are over 1,000 American soldiers who have lost their 
lives, and the 7,000 bravely wounded. I have met many going to a 
veterans hospital, Jefferson Barracks, right outside of St. Louis, 
meeting a young soldier, quadriplegic as a result of injuries sustained 
in Iraq; going to Walter Reed Hospital to meet these brave young men 
and women who have lost an arm, a leg, both hands, suffered head 
injuries. They are there with their families trying to put their lives 
back together, still proud of their service to this country, as they 
should be.
  But as you walk away from the hospitals, you think we could do more. 
We should have been ready. We were not ready. But we could not wait. We 
could not wait for the U.N. inspectors to finish. We could not wait for 
a real coalition to come together--taking nothing away from the 
coalition we have, let's be honest. When you pick up the morning paper, 
the casualties, the soldiers who have lost their lives are 
overwhelmingly American soldiers. I am glad the Brits are with us. I am 
glad another 30 nations have given us some assistance in this regard, 
but when it comes to putting lives on the line in Iraq every single 
day, trust me, it is America front and center. And it has been for a 
long, long time.
  When it comes to paying for this war, it is the American taxpayers 
front and center. We have spent over $1 billion a week on the war in 
Iraq and there is no end in sight. We appropriated almost $20 billion 
to start rebuilding Iraq and we are not spending it. Why? It is a 
vicious circle. Let me tell you what it is.
  You cannot stabilize Iraq until you move the economy forward. You 
cannot move the economy forward until you build basic infrastructure 
such as electricity, and you cannot build basic infrastructure if you 
have insurgents and terrorists and guerillas blowing up everything you 
build. This vicious circle suggests there is no end in sight.
  So the President has driven our national bus into a cul-de-sac and 
now challenges Senator Kerry to explain how to get out of this mess. A 
lot of us think that even giving the President the authority to go 
forward, he should have been prepared. He should have known what we 
were getting into.
  Ambassador Bremer said, within the week, we did not send enough 
troops

[[Page 21963]]

there. Had the right number of troops been sent at the right time, it 
could have been a more peaceful environment, but instead it is 
dangerous and American soldiers are still living in fear of what is 
going to happen from day to day.
  At the same time, we turned our back on the obvious target, Osama bin 
Laden. I went to Afghanistan in the first codel with Senator Daschle, 
the first daylight codel that was allowed into Afghanistan, to Bagram 
Air Force Base, to a closed briefing by our intelligence agents about 
Osama bin Laden. They put up this huge aerial photo of the Tora Bora 
Mountains and they drew a tiny circle on the map. They pointed to all 
Members of Congress and the Senate and said: This is where Osama bin 
Laden is and we are going to nail him. This tiny circle.
  I left there thinking, great, that will break the back and the morale 
of this terrorism network of al-Qaida. But it didn't happen. The Bush 
administration did not execute it well. They did not bring in the 
troops. They did not capture Osama bin Laden. He is not only still on 
the loose but al-Qaida is spreading like a cancer across the globe.
  Where is our coalition to fight al-Qaida? It is the coalition that 
was stiff-armed by this administration when it came to the invasion of 
Iraq, when the President said, We will do it alone. We do not need you. 
Bring it on.
  Remember when the President said, ``Bring it on''? Well, they brought 
it on and, sadly, we have a lot of soldiers who have sacrificed so much 
for their country because of it.
  We need to turn this corner. We need to have a new vision. We need to 
have a leader who will reach out to the world and reestablish America 
as a leader willing to work with others, not that any country should 
ever have veto power over our national defense. That is our call. That 
is our decision.
  But we know, as President Bush's father knew, that it is a coalition 
of nations that makes us stronger. When we decided in the Persian Gulf 
war to bring Arab nations and their soldiers into that war as part of 
our coalition, it did not just add more soldiers in the field, it added 
an element that is missing in this war in Iraq.
  Why are we being criticized so roundly in Arab States? Because we 
went into Iraq without waiting for those who could and would have 
helped us. This President could not wait, and now our soldiers are 
paying the price. I hope the American people make a decision to move 
forward with a new vision for this country, not to repeat the same 
mistakes again and again.
  We have made mistakes when it comes to our economic policy, and we 
have paid a dear price for it. We have made mistakes when it comes to 
our agenda in Congress. We do not take up the serious bills that 
America's working families expect us to take up. We have generated the 
biggest deficit in the history of the United States to leave our 
children. We have the costs of war that are over $1 billion a week, and 
no end in sight. And, sadly, we are still losing our soldiers.
  I was on the phone yesterday, as I have tried to so many times, to 
call the families of Illinois soldiers who have died overseas. I have 
not been able to get through to all of them, and I can understand some 
of them just don't want to take phone calls. That is understandable. 
And each and every one of them is a profile in courage. They are so 
proud of their son or daughter who has lost his life or her life in 
Iraq, and they are proud they served their country. I am, too. But I 
also want to take some pride that we have policies that are going to 
reduce the likelihood that more soldiers will end up losing their 
lives.
  This administration has been in total denial about the reality of the 
threat in Iraq, total denial about the reality of what continues as a 
war in Iraq, total denial when it comes to understanding that we have 
lost a worldwide coalition that stood by our side after 9/11 and now 
wonders why the United States wants to go it alone.
  I want to make certain, as I end these remarks, that we understand 
that in this great Nation we live in, we do have a chance to make a 
choice. And that chance will come on November 2.
  Mr. President, it is my understanding that as part of my unanimous 
consent agreement, that when I finish and yield the floor, a quorum 
will be questioned.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has to actually suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  Mr. DURBIN. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. DURBIN. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The legislative clerk continued with the call of the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Burns). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Senator from Texas wishes to speak for 
20 minutes as in morning business. The time will count toward the 30 
hours. Following that, Senator Durbin, who has already used his hour, 
or his designee, would be recognized for 20 minutes to speak as in 
morning business. That time would also count against the 30 hours. That 
is the request for which I ask unanimous consent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, can I ask the distinguished Democratic 
whip if from the 20 minutes allotted to our side I could consume 10 
minutes, and then Senator Talent be recognized to speak for 10 minutes, 
and then Senator Durbin be recognized for his time?
  Mr. REID. Absolutely. And that following Senator Durbin, or his 
designee, we will return to a quorum call.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
  Hearing none, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Texas.


             Americans Are Stronger, Safer, And Better Off

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I was sitting in my office watching on 
television the proceedings in the Chamber, and I was inspired to come 
to the Chamber to respond to some of the comments I heard on the Senate 
floor. I expected to be watching debate about reform of the oversight 
that this body provides for the intelligence community and homeland 
security but instead watched what appeared to be part of the 
Presidential campaign playing out here on the Senate floor.
  I just want to respond to some of the things that I heard, and not at 
great length. But I think in fairness to the American people they 
should not be fed just one side, which I think is fraught with 
inaccuracies. So I think a few facts are pertinent.
  First of all, I would say that after listening to the distinguished 
Senator from Illinois, you would wonder why in the world anyone would 
want to live in the United States of America today because things are 
so bad we might as well give up and depart for somewhere else. And you 
may have noticed, Mr. President, people are not knocking down the door 
to leave the United States of America because somehow we are no longer 
the land of opportunity and freedom and hope.
  Indeed, just the contrary is true. People are literally dying to get 
into the United States by any method they can because they recognize 
that America still is the last best hope of freedom-loving people 
anywhere in the world.
  For example, we heard some very dire statements made about job 
figures. Well, it just so happens that since August 2003, we learned 
today, 1.9 million new jobs have been created in the United States of 
America--1.9 million new jobs. That is not because the Government 
created the jobs, but it is because Government created the conditions 
that allowed the risk takers and

[[Page 21964]]

the hard-working people all across this country to create jobs, by 
investing and building opportunities for those who wanted to find work.
  Now, the truth is, as we all know, we came out of a very difficult 
time at the beginning of President Bush's first term in office when he 
started his Presidency because during the end of President Clinton's 
term we were going through a recession. The recession had just started 
then. Then we know that the terrible events of 9/11 followed on shortly 
thereafter, with tremendous negative impact on our economy in addition 
to the terrible loss of human life.
  Then there were the corporate scandals at the highest level of 
corporate America which caused the public to lose confidence in the 
marketplace.
  Thanks to the efforts of this President and this administration, this 
Congress, thanks to the fact that we lowered taxes for hard-working men 
and women, it allowed them to save more, invest more, and for small 
businesses to create more jobs. Indeed, we are coming back with 1.9 
million jobs being created since August 2003.
  If we had agreed with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
about what course to take, the recovery would have been killed in its 
infancy because their solution was to raise taxes, not to lower taxes 
and let people keep more of what they earn. Yet what they want to do is 
play the card of class warfare and accuse this President and this 
administration of favoring part of the population, the wealthiest, over 
the rest of America.
  The fact is, the tax cuts that were passed by this Congress affected 
every taxpayer, lowered the tax rates for even those of the most modest 
means, and are responsible for creating 1.9 million jobs.
  We continually hear criticism about this President's policy in Iraq 
and in the global war on terror. Our colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle have a short-term memory because the only reason we took 
Saddam Hussein out of Iraq, as the bloodthirsty dictator that he was, 
and put him in a prison cell, is because of the authorization of this 
Congress. An overwhelming majority of the Members of this Congress, of 
this Senate, voted to authorize the use of force in October of 2002, to 
enforce U.N. resolutions which Saddam Hussein had defied since 1991.
  I was at the same Senate Armed Services Committee where Mr. Duelfer 
testified a couple of days ago. While he confirmed that the 
intelligence the President relied on and this Congress relied on with 
regard to weapons of mass destruction proved not to be correct--and we 
are working in this bill to correct those deficiencies in our 
intelligence gathering and analysis capability--he did confirm Saddam 
Hussein had corrupted the Oil for Food Program, was evading sanctions, 
chased the inspectors out of his country because he didn't want them to 
know he was in the process of rebuilding his capacity to rearm himself 
with weapons of mass destruction as soon as those sanctions failed.
  Indeed, former Ambassador Paul Bremer, who served as the head of the 
coalition efforts to rebuild Iraq, said:

       The president was right when he concluded that Saddam 
     Hussein was a menace who needed to be removed from power. 
     [The president] understands that our enemies are not confined 
     to al Qaeda, and certainly not just Osama bin Laden, who is 
     probably trapped in his hide-out in Afghanistan. As the 
     bipartisan 9/11 commission reported, there were contacts 
     between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's regime going back a 
     decade. We will win the war against global terror only by 
     staying on the offensive and confronting terrorists and the 
     state sponsors of terror--wherever they are. Right now, Abu 
     Musab al-Zarqawi, a Qaeda ally, is a dangerous threat. He is 
     in Iraq.

  I hope those who listen to the debate and the politics of this season 
and the attempt to score political points by criticizing this Nation's 
policy with regard to the global war on terror understand exactly what 
is going on. We are in the silly season, where sometimes the statements 
being made in pursuit of scoring political points stray way too far 
from the facts.
  The fact is, America is stronger and safer and better off as a result 
of President Bush's leadership and as a result of the leadership of 
this Congress. We have created opportunity for more Americans. America 
is more secure than we were on 9/11. We are constantly working, 
including here today, to make it safer. We have created 1.9 million 
jobs since August 2003 as a result of the policies of this Congress and 
this President. If we had accepted the rationale of our colleagues 
across the aisle and raised taxes and let spending run amok, then we 
would still be in very dire straits, indeed, and not on the road to 
recovery.
  I yield the remainder of the 20 minutes allotted to our side to the 
Senator from Missouri.
  Mr. TALENT. I thank the Senator for yielding.
  Mr. President, how much of the 20 minutes remains?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri has 11\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. TALENT. Mr. President, if the Senator from New Jersey would 
agree, I ask unanimous consent for an additional 5 minutes, and I 
would, of course, agree that he could have an additional 5 minutes, if 
we could modify that previous unanimous consent request.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Speaking for our side, is the Senator asking for 5 
minutes from our remaining time?
  Mr. TALENT. No, 5 minutes in addition to my 11 minutes, and then my 
request would be that you would have an additional 5 minutes, for a 
total of 25.
  Mr. REID. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. President.
  Mr. TALENT. Under the same parameters as the unanimous consent 
request of the Senator from Illinois, I ask to extend the 20 minutes to 
25 minutes on each side. I think I can do what I need to do if I have 
about 15 minutes.
  Mr. REID. As I understand, the Senator from Missouri would be 
recognized for 15 minutes, and Senator Durbin or his designee would be 
recognized for 25 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that Senator Lautenberg be the 
designated substitute for Senator Durbin.
  Mr. TALENT. If the Senator from Nevada will yield, it is only a 
minute, but a minute is a minute. I think I had 11, so an additional 5 
would be 16 minutes.
  Mr. REID. And further, the consent agreement said that following the 
statement of Senator Durbin or his designee, we would return to a 
quorum call.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Missouri.
  Mr. TALENT. I thank the Senator from Nevada. I don't mean to quibble 
over a minute. On the other hand, the Rams would probably have won the 
Super Bowl a couple of years ago if they had had another minute, so one 
never knows.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, if my friend would yield, those of us who 
served in the House know how important a minute is.
  Mr. TALENT. And the Senator knows, I also served in the House and 
came from there more recently than he did. I do guard my minutes 
jealously.
  Mr. REID. In the House, how we got to speak was, we were entitled to 
1 minute a day. We were always guaranteed 1 minute a day. But most of 
the time that was all we got all week long, that 1 minute a day.
  Mr. TALENT. The Senator has had a similar experience as I have. 
Having prepared a nice set of remarks on issues about which he feels 
passionately and gone to the floor manager in the House and asked how 
much time he could have and being told: Well, a couple of other people 
have expressed a desire for time; how about 90 seconds.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Speaking from the Chair and the observation of 
the Chair, I never served in the House, and we might observe the same 
rules here some days.
  Mr. TALENT. I thank the Senator from New Jersey and the Senator from 
Nevada for their flexibility. I will proceed with my 16 minutes as best 
I can.
  Mr. President, I share the observation of the Senator from Texas that 
our friend from Illinois is certainly very angry and seems to be rather 
negative about the prospects for America.

[[Page 21965]]

He would probably say he is negative about the administration, but he 
seems to describe an economic and foreign policy picture that is very 
bleak. I don't think it reflects reality or what most Americans believe 
is reality. I am certain it does not reflect the views or the policies 
of the administration.
  I do think it is important to get some of these charges correct. I 
don't have time to go through everything. I want to talk about a couple 
of things that have interested me. I don't generally get up here to 
participate in these debates that are clearly part of the Presidential 
campaign. I am here to try and do things. I have an agenda I am trying 
to accomplish, and others share it.
  I was distressed when the Senator from California referred to some of 
the remarks of the Senator from Utah and said: Talk about flimflam, 
talk about misleading the seniors.
  That was with reference to the Senator's comments regarding the 
Medicare prescription drug bill, which I happened to rather like and I 
supported. It is already helping thousands of Missouri seniors, and I 
don't think that is flimflam. I will get to that in a minute.
  The Senator from Texas correctly pointed out that when the whole 
issue of jobs lost over the last few years comes up, it is important to 
keep in mind, before blaming President Bush, that President Bush was 
not in office when the recession began. Americans all across the 
country understand there is something called a business cycle, an 
economic cycle in the country. I don't tend to blame Presidents for 
recessions. I blame them if they have long-term policies that depress 
the economy over the long term.
  I agree with the Senator from Texas, if you want economic growth--and 
we should all want that because we cannot do anything we want to 
without growth; we cannot fund education, we cannot have good health 
care, or a strong defense, and we cannot have retirement security 
without growth.
  How do you get growth? Our Democrat friends believe you get it by 
raising taxes on people. What the Senator from Illinois said--they 
didn't used to think that. There was a time not so long ago when there 
was a bipartisan agreement that, if you wanted growth, one of the 
things you did was cut taxes. That is not some kind of modern 
conservative philosophy. That is what John Maynard Keynes thought; that 
is what FDR thought; that is what LBJ and JFK thought. But they don't 
believe that today. They are entitled to their beliefs, but they are 
not entitled to blame President Bush for a recession that was in effect 
and had started before he assumed office and was magnified by events 
over which he had no control--the attack on 9/11 and corporate fraud.
  I don't blame any President for that either, but it didn't happen on 
President Bush's watch. He took steps to get the economy moving. He 
proposed a tax cut, which we passed despite the opposition of many--
although not all--Members of the other side of the aisle. He proposed 
tort reform, restrictions on abusive lawsuits, which I think is the 
most important thing we can do to get the economy going. That was 
filibustered by the other side. You can filibuster if you want to, but 
you cannot filibuster and then blame somebody else for not getting 
things done.
  You heard from the Senator from Illinois that energy prices are too 
high. I am on the Energy Committee. It is one of my priorities to get 
energy prices down. We put together a really good Energy bill. We got 
it all the way through the process, with one vote left. We could not 
take that vote. Do you know why? It was filibustered. Is it President 
Bush's fault that the Energy bill was filibustered--a pro-production, 
pro-jobs, pro-growth Energy bill?
  Many Members on the other side joined us in trying to defeat the 
filibuster, but there were not enough. We lost three-quarters of the 
other party. Senator Kerry voted for the filibuster.
  Iraq. We hear over and over again that there was no reason, no plan, 
no coalition. There was a reason and it goes back to 1991. I remember 
during the 1990s, when people criticized the first President Bush 
because he didn't get rid of Hussein. He was trying to appeal to the 
U.N., and he left Saddam Hussein in power.
  I was in the House all through the 1990s on the Armed Services 
Committee. This man and his regime was an organic threat to the 
interests and security of the United States of America. Everybody saw 
it. He had attacked his neighbors twice, lobbed missiles all over the 
country. He used weapons of mass destruction on his own people. We 
cannot permit an anti-American tyrant to take control of that part of 
the world.
  I believe very strongly that President Clinton was moving toward a 
resolution of that when he left office. Look at the statements he made 
then and the statements he has made since then. Even if there had not 
been a 9/11, we would have had to do something about Saddam Hussein 
and, no, we could not wait longer. How long are you supposed to wait? 
At what point do arguments in favor of waiting really become just a 
disguise for doing nothing and not wanting to admit it?
  No plan. The plan was to remove Saddam Hussein and replace him, with 
the help of the Iraqi people, with a liberal democracy that would be an 
ally against terrorism. Saddam Hussein is gone. We have had the 
provisional convention. We have a provisional government in place. We 
are going to have elections in January. Prime Minister Allawi stood on 
the dais in the House and said that. He also said: We are going to 
stand with you. He said--I remarked on this--``as you have stood with 
us, we will stand with you in the battle against terrorism.''
  No coalition. Look, this kind of a military effort, no matter where 
it occurs, and whether the U.N. supports it or not, is going to be 95-
percent led and executed by forces of the United States of America. In 
the air war in Bosnia, which everybody supported, even though there was 
no U.N. resolution in support of it, 95 to 97 percent of the airpower 
was American.
  There is one very important coalition partner--the Iraqis. It is 
incorrect to say that 90 percent of the casualties have been American. 
We have taken casualties, but they are taking them too, and they will 
take more and more as they assume responsibility for this war.
  The Medicare prescription drug bill. The Senator from Illinois says 
it is a terrible political conspiracy on the part of the President to 
delay the full implementation of the bill until after November 2004. 
Nobody's proposal would have been implemented before November 2004. I 
didn't like that. I complained about that. I thought, well, in 1965 
they did the whole Medicare bill in 8 months. Why does it take so long 
to set up one new feature? Everybody believed that. There were not any 
of their proposals that would have taken effect before November of 
2004. I don't like that, but that is not a political conspiracy. I 
don't know if the Senator from Texas heard that. I had not. You cannot 
bargain.
  Look, this is the reason for the Medicare prescription drug bill--and 
I have 200,000 senior citizens in Missouri who have no insurance for 
their prescription drugs. They are paying not only out of pocket, which 
is the first thing that is wrong, but they are paying the highest price 
because when they walk into the pharmacy, it is them against the big 
insurance companies. The whole idea is to get them into a pool because 
if you are part of a big pool, you have economies of scale and prices 
will be lower. That is what this bill does. I don't have time to go 
into length on this issue.
  The bargaining with the prescription drug companies is going to be 
done by the organizations that put the pool together--like we have 
discount cards, one, for example, that AARP puts out, and AARP bargains 
with the prescription drug companies and you buy the AARP discount card 
and you get the discount. People are getting that discount today.
  If I go to the car dealer and buy an automobile, I may bargain with 
the dealer about the price of the car. I am not going to bargain about 
the price of the tires on the automobile. That doesn't mean there was 
no bargaining over the price of the tires; it means the automobile 
manufacturer did it. The

[[Page 21966]]

difference between us and them on this--and it is a legitimate 
difference--is they want a one-size-fits-all, Government-dominated 
program where the Government would directly do the bargaining with the 
drug company.
  There are worse things than that. We thought ours was better. We 
wanted a number of different options for seniors, where the people who 
organized the options would bargain with the prescription drug 
companies. It is a difference of philosophy because they are more 
trusting of the Government than we are. It is not some kind of 
conspiracy with the drug companies.
  How much time do I have left?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 6 minutes 32 seconds.
  Mr. TALENT. I think I can do it in 6 minutes.
  This is the reason I got up. President Bush actually has a plan to 
lower health insurance premiums. It is a pretty good plan. It is my 
plan. He kind of got it from me and Senator Snowe and Senator Bond and 
a couple of us over here, those of us who have worked on this since 
1997 when I was in the House. I don't like people saying my plan is not 
a plan.
  President Bush wants two things. He wants medical liability reform--
reform of frivolous lawsuits in medicine. In Missouri, they know about 
this because we are losing doctors because malpractice insurance 
premiums are going up due to a problem with frivolous lawsuits.
  The Senator from Texas told me they just passed a bill to reform that 
and their health insurance premiums are going down substantially, and I 
know this is happening all over the country. If you cut that risk of 
the frivolous lawsuits, where people are recovering many more times the 
value of actual injuries, insurance premiums will go down. President 
Bush wants that. We didn't get that here because it was filibustered. 
His opponent in the election supported the filibuster.
  How can you say he doesn't have a plan? You can say you disagree with 
the plan if you want--you filibustered it. The plan I have that the 
President supports is called the association health plan.
  Most of the people who do not have health insurance in the country 
are working people. They work for small businesses or are farmers. They 
cannot get health insurance because it is more expensive to buy health 
insurance as part of a small group than it is as a big national pool.
  There is a reason everybody else who has health insurance, except 
people who work for small businesses, get in as part of a national 
pool. Think about that for a minute. You work for a big company, you 
are part of a big labor union plan, Medicare, a national pool, 
Medicaid, a national pool. You are a Federal employee, retired Federal 
employee, retired military, you get it as part of a national pool 
because there are economies of scale to insuring a large group. 
Administrative costs are less, and the bargaining power is more. You 
get more for less. You get better quality health insurance at less cost 
and no sacrifice of access or quality.
  What I would like to do and the President would like to do is allow 
small businesses to do the same, to get health insurance through their 
trade association, so that my brother--and I have mentioned him on the 
floor before--who has a little restaurant in St. Louis--and I encourage 
anybody within the sound of my voice to patronize it; great hamburgers, 
Mr. President--he would like to get health insurance for his people as 
part of a big group. He would get it then. He is an employee of his 
corporation, his little business. He has to buy it on the small group 
market. But what if he could join the National Restaurant Association 
and become part of a 10-, 20-, 30-person pool and get health insurance 
on the same terms as if he worked for Anheuser-Busch headquartered in 
St. Louis or Hallmark headquartered in Kansas City. The health 
insurance premiums would go down 30 percent, at no cost to the 
taxpayers because it is not a Government program. It empowers small 
businesses to do what big businesses can do.
  We hear over there how they do not like big business. They are not 
supporting this. It has passed in the House year after year with 
bipartisan support. The President supports it; his opponent does not.
  Mr. President, look, there are differences between President Bush and 
Senator Kerry. The nature of our elections, unfortunately, is our 
candidates--and I can assure voters of this--are never as bad as they 
make each other out to be. They are both better people than you would 
believe from the commercials, but there are big differences of opinion. 
And I am proud of the fact that with the support of many people on the 
other side of the aisle, my party in leading this Congress and my 
party's leader at the White House has proposed a series of measures 
that empower small businesses and farmers that create jobs, that lower 
health insurance costs in innovative ways that will not cost the 
taxpayers a lot of money, that has built up our defenses, has taken the 
fight to the terrorists and has stood with respect but clearly for the 
commonsense cultural values of this country.
  I would say in each of those areas, there is a big difference between 
my party's nominee for President and the other party's nominee, as much 
as I respect him and as often as I have worked with him on various 
issues in the past. With the greatest respect to the Senator from 
California and the Senator from Illinois, that ``ain't'' flimflam. That 
is not misleading anybody. That is the way it is. If we are going to 
debate out here on the floor regarding the Presidential election, we 
ought to at least get it right.
  I yield back the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.


                                  Iraq

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I will use our time to discuss a 
couple of subjects, one of which relates to the present debate or 
dialog, and that is the position of our respective parties on behalf of 
the interests of the American people. After that, I will talk about the 
terrible attack that took place in Egypt against a group of Israelis 
and what the world is saying about events such as that.
  First, what we heard in the debate a little while ago was the fact 
that the reason, as I heard it--and I am willing to be corrected if 
wrong--that one of the reasons we went to war in Iraq was a resolution 
that was passed in this body, in the Senate--talking about the 
resolution that was passed in October 2002--giving the President 
authority to send our troops to Iraq. That hardly was the reason we did 
that.
  We did not mandate in this body that we go to war. What we said was: 
OK, Mr. President, if you know about those weapons of mass destruction, 
and if you know that al-Qaida has a presence there, and if all of these 
threats are directed at world peace and a threat to the security of the 
United States, we give you permission, we give you support to send 
them.
  We never relinquished our support for the troops in Iraq, nobody 
here, not even the most tranquil of the personalities. Everybody said: 
Take care of our troops. Senator John Kerry stood up and said: Take 
care of our troops.
  I was not in the Senate at that particular moment, but I have been 
back here again since the beginning of 2003. There was never a moment 
when it was suggested that we would not support our troops and their 
needs, the basic things.
  So when we were told that all these threats were there, that we have 
to do it to protect ourselves, that 9/11 was fresh in our memory, that 
we felt we had to get out there before we had another 9/11 thrust down 
our throats that would kill more Americans, we said: OK, let's do it. 
Let's go ahead and make sure that we wipe out these things that menace 
America's population, that menace American citizens.
  That was the reason we did it. Then we found out that we were duped. 
That is what happened. We were fooled. We were misled, and now 
everybody knows it. Yes, Senator John Kerry had the same information 
President Bush had. The fact is, Senator John Kerry did not manipulate 
the information, did

[[Page 21967]]

not make sure that people were identifying tubes and pipes as part of 
the threat that Iraq raised to us and to world peace.
  Much of that was, if not fabricated, tainted, biased. Some of our 
most distinguished Government servants, our distinguished Secretary of 
State Colin Powell, made such a convincing argument in front of the 
U.N. and in front of the world at large about where these weapons were 
stored, how they were transported, and so forth. And all of us--I speak 
for myself--have faith in Secretary Powell, a distinguished soldier, 
great statesman, brilliant man, honest--honest. He later on said in a 
public release that he, too, was deceived by the information that he 
received.
  Now when we try to suggest that we were parties to the origination of 
this war, it is an outrage. I felt, too--and I was not in the Senate, 
but I said it publicly, people were still hearing me occasionally--that 
I supported the thrust to go to war in Iraq because of the ominous 
reports we had.
  It was not that we wanted to throw American lives in there. We are 
now about to deploy some 1,500 Guard people from New Jersey. I hope 
that tomorrow I will be able to be there to wish them well when they 
depart New Jersey. It reminds me of a long time ago when I also was 
transported out of New Jersey to a ship up in Massachusetts so I could 
go to Europe during the war. I want to be there tomorrow. They are all 
concerned. They are frightened. The families are frightened. Their 
spouses are frightened. Their kids are frightened. We are in a mess, we 
are in a quagmire, and the world is looking at us and listening to the 
messages that say we are doing well, we are prepared for the Iraqi 
takeover fully for the next election.
  We hear, well, maybe the next election cannot be held as we thought 
it might be in the whole country, maybe only part of it, maybe just the 
part that we think is friendly.
  The assertion when Prime Minister Allawi was here, the interim Prime 
Minister who made his speech at the joint session, that we should be 
assured--I heard President Bush say we should be assured that things 
are on the right track. In other words, do not believe what one sees in 
front of them. No, no. Listen to what we tell people coming from the 
administration. Listen to the fabrications. Listen to the stories about 
Senator John Kerry's lack of courage, unwillingness to support the 
troops. There is an unwillingness that stands largely in our sight 
about an unwillingness to serve when the country was sending its people 
to Vietnam, where 58,000 of them perished on the battlefield. For Vice 
President Cheney, he said, and I quote him, I think--if I do not quote 
him, I am sure about the general content of what he said, and that is: 
I had other priorities. He received almost a half dozen deferments.
  President Bush's service, yes, I know, it was 30 years ago, and what 
does it matter? It matters because it shows character. That is what it 
does. It shows character. President Bush did not want to be over there 
where the fighting was tough, where one's life might be at risk. No, 
no. He managed to have a sweetheart duty and never went to war when he 
could very well have, with the bravado that is now exhibited. He could 
have gone to war and stood alongside people like John Kerry and Max 
Cleland, those who paid a price for their loyalty to country.
  I saw a commercial running on TV this morning. I found it shocking. 
Widows, apparently, whose husbands perished in the Korean War were 
saying they did not trust John Kerry's judgment because, why? It is 
because the Bush administration and the political operation there has 
succeeded in poisoning the minds of Americans.
  Do not believe the fact that Senator Kerry got three Purple Hearts, 
deservedly, oh, no. They want to make the judgment from the White 
House. Those judgments were made by the medical department of the U.S. 
military, and they were confirmed by the highest authorities in the 
military.
  The medals for valor, the Bronze Star and Silver Star--I served in 
Europe during the war and I know what it took to get those medals. It 
took heroism. I did not get one of those medals. I did my job the best 
I could. But John Kerry earned his medals, and they are being 
questioned to try to show he is unpatriotic.
  The fact that he rebelled against the purpose of the war in Vietnam 
after he served, boy, what kind of backbone that takes. The man knows 
the policy is wrong, and it turned out to be wrong, and it turned out 
to be a terrible loss of life, but he fought the battle. He exposed 
himself to danger, to death. He did it. What kind of courage that is. 
That is not the kind of courage we saw from a young George W. Bush, not 
at all, or from Vice President Cheney. I think Attorney General 
Ashcroft also had a few deferments. There is a list of them.
  I think the race against former Senator Max Cleland, who lost two 
legs and most of an arm and struggles to get out of bed every day and 
do what he has to--he is a courageous man and he lost because he was 
portrayed as soft on defense. He was portrayed as soft on defense by 
those who also had Vietnam deferments.
  The country was in a rage, with demonstrations all over the place, 
but John Kerry took up the challenge and went to war.
  So now when I hear these spurious assertions that one cannot trust 
John Kerry, well, I will say, if I was lost in the woods and had a 
choice between John Kerry or George W. Bush getting me out, I know John 
Kerry can make a decision. I know he can find his way. I know he can 
survive when the going is tough. I know he had the guts to reach into 
the water to pull out one of his companions who was likely to drown and 
saved his life. The man says so all over the place.
  I think the country would be far better off if we followed John 
Kerry's courageous character and tried to find a way out of the mess. 
We are almost a year and a half after President Bush declared the 
mission was accomplished. It is almost 18 months ago but more 
importantly it was more than 800 lives ago. We have now lost over 1,000 
people and more than 800 of them since May of a year ago, and they are 
still trying to portray what the President said as gospel: mission 
accomplished.
  He said, bring them on. Boy, that one got to me because I know what 
it is like to be worried about the enemy. They shoot at you. Bring them 
on? I never wanted to see a German uniform, I can say that. I never 
wanted to see more of the enemy. I wanted to make sure I did my duty. I 
wanted to make sure that I got through. I wanted to make sure I got 
back to my widowed mother and my kid sister. That is what I wanted to 
do. So we never said, bring them on. I have never heard of another 
Commander in Chief say, bring them on.
  I do not want to elongate this discussion, but I must say when I see 
these character assassination ads that run on television regularly, I 
do not hear them talking seriously about the job recovery, no, no. Some 
jobs are newly created but not as many as we lost.
  They talk on the other side about how John Kerry is going to raise 
taxes. Outrageous, the thought that he had voted to increase taxes. No, 
they would rather vote to increase the deficit and to increase our 
indebtedness. That is what they want to vote for. Let America owe so 
much money that we may one day tip the world's economy into a recession 
mode. That was said by former Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin, a very 
reliable voice. Both Republicans and Democrats had faith in Bob Rubin. 
He said if this indebtedness continues to grow, we could upset the 
world's economy, not just ours. And I believe it. Anybody who has ever 
been in business, anybody who has ever paid bills, anybody who has ever 
lived in a serious adult life knows that indebtedness is a killer. But 
the administration managed to turn things around. It wasn't my doing, I 
can tell you. I tried to help. When I left here, we were having 
surpluses, a couple of hundred billion dollars in surplus with 
forecasts of a $5 trillion surplus at the end of 10 years. That has 
turned around. Instead, we expect about a $7 trillion deficit after 10 
years.

[[Page 21968]]

  We have managed to take this economy and turn it on its ear, borrow 
from Social Security, threaten Medicare with insolvency in 15 years. By 
2019, the expectation is that Medicare will go belly-up at that time. 
Social Security? We are borrowing everything available there. Why don't 
we tell the people the truth? Why don't we talk about those issues in 
depth?
  In the debates coming up tonight and another one next week, I hope 
the focus will be on what kind of plans each of the candidates has. 
What kind of plans has President George W. Bush for getting us out of 
Iraq? What kind of plans does he have for getting this economy back 
into surplus performances year after year? What kind of plans does he 
have to fulfill the obligation he took on with the Leave No Child 
Behind Act? It is one thing to enact legislation, to create law; it is 
another to pay for it. When it comes to paying for it, that didn't 
happen.
  When you think about these tax cuts, we were accused before by one of 
our distinguished colleagues on the other side of trying to create 
class warfare. That is the cheesiest thing I have ever heard. Class 
warfare? I happen to be in a class of income earners who did very well 
in America, I and two other kids who came from the same poor 
neighborhood that I did. Their father worked in the same mill my father 
worked in, and my father died at 43 from an occupationally hazardous 
environment. We built a huge business, a huge business. We went from 
nothing, three of us together, kids in their 20s, and we built a 
business that today employs 40,000 people. That is the old-fashioned 
American way. I made some money with this, as did many others who 
succeeded in business. We did it the old-fashioned way.
  Class warfare? I come from working-class stock, and I am proud of it. 
But because I have been successful, because this country was the 
enabler that permitted me to be successful, as everybody else who has 
been successful here, I say I don't need a tax cut. It will not do me 
any more good. I can't buy more, I can't eat more, I can't do more, and 
I want it distributed among the ordinary people who work every day, 
struggling the way I remember my mother and my father did just to keep 
things on an even keel, to provide clothing, to provide food, to 
provide decent shelter. I lived in the back of the store for a lot of 
years, I can tell you, four of us in one room. Nobody wants to hear 
those stories anymore. The Great Depression is a thing of the past. But 
we do understand when people want to rise above their circumstances and 
educate their children and make sure they have a chance at a job, a 
career, and a family where they can afford the ordinary things of 
life--not the luxuries.
  So we can't talk about class warfare. If there is class warfare, boy, 
it is over there. They say take the upper class, give them a lot of 
money back, and don't worry about those poor people or those who now 
have two jobs, who now find their purchasing power is substantially 
reduced, who now are worried about what it is going to cost for health 
care and who are worried about pensions.
  I was at a hearing the other day on the financial condition of the 
airlines. What they want to do is to get rid of their pension 
obligation. If you work 26 years for an airline, a factory, or a 
company, work 27 years, count on your pension, and wake up one day and 
find out it is not there, what do you do? You are 55, 60, 65 years of 
age. These are terrible blights. I hope we are going to see something 
of the truth.


                       Terrorist Bombing In Egypt

  Mr. President, I want to discuss another subject. I want to discuss 
the news we heard today of a raid in Egypt aimed at a bunch of Israelis 
who were there on vacation--brutalizing, suicide bombers, the whole 
thing. An Israeli official says maybe it was al-Qaida. Obviously it was 
some mad group.
  What I see lately is disturbing trends regarding the various 
criticisms of Israel. We have seen two prominent church bodies decide 
to take away their investments from Israel because of Israel's--maybe 
it is because Israel wants to defend itself, to keep its people alive. 
Maybe it is because Israel wants to live as any other country--in 
peace, without torture, without suicide bombers ripping up the society.
  The Israelis have lost over 1,000 lives since 2000. Think of it in 
terms of America and the numerical equivalents because their population 
is so much smaller. One thousand citizens of Israel would be the same 
as 48,000 Americans lost to terror. Heaven forbid it, but that is the 
truth of the matter.
  Israel has taken appropriate measures to defend itself against the 
terrorist threat it faces every day. Israel has made tough choices to 
defend her people. But now we are seeing these respected, mainstream 
church organizations contemplating divestment campaigns against the 
State of Israel. I wish they would talk about ending the violence that 
has been the pattern there for so long. There is so much violence and 
strife in the region, not dissimilar to that which we are facing in 
Iraq.
  There is a trend. You can see it in the talk of a divestment 
campaign--blame Israel first. The innocents killed by terrorists are 
ignored, but there is a disproportionate focus on civilian victims of 
Israeli military operations against terrorists. To blame Israel for the 
turmoil and violence in the Middle East is outrageous. Review some of 
the recent history in the Middle East, events that had nothing to do 
with Israel. Yet when I was in Syria with other Senators, we heard the 
President of Syria, President Assad, say all the problems that exist in 
the area are because of Israel.
  Millions died in the Iran-Iraq war. It had nothing to do with Israel. 
In Sudan, Arab Muslims are murdering thousands of Black Christians--
nothing to do with Israel. Iraq invading Kuwait in 1991 and threatening 
Saudi Arabia had nothing to do with Israel. The Taliban took control of 
Afghanistan and severely oppressed women and gave safe haven to 
terrorists--nothing to do with Israel. None of these events had 
anything to do with Israel, yet somehow or other the region's problems 
are Israel's fault.
  How much time do I have remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 4 seconds remaining.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, with that, I will close my comments 
and hope the world takes a look at what is causing the problems within 
Israel and her right to defend herself.
  I yield the floor.


                              Quorum Call

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll, and the following 
Senators entered the Chamber and answered to their names:

                          [Quorum No. 1, Leg.]

       Frist

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Craig). A quorum is not present. The clerk 
will call the names of absent Senators.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I now move to instruct the Sergeant at Arms 
to request the presence of absent Senators, and I ask for the yeas and 
nays on the motion.
  Mr. HARKIN. Parliamentary inquiry: Are we not in a quorum call?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. We have had a quorum call, and a quorum is not 
present.
  Is there a sufficient second on the motion?
  There is a sufficient second.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. 
Campbell), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss), the Senator from 
South Carolina (Mr. Graham), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mr. 
Sununu) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer), 
the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from Florida 
(Mr. Graham), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Hollings), the 
Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. 
Leahy),

[[Page 21969]]

and the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Lieberman) are necessarily 
absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Alexander). Are there any other Senators 
in the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 85, nays 4, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 205 Leg.]

                                YEAS--85

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Clinton
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Cornyn
     Corzine
     Craig
     Crapo
     Daschle
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Levin
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Miller
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Nickles
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Talent
     Thomas
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wyden

                                NAYS--4

     Allen
     Bennett
     Breaux
     Inouye

                             NOT VOTING--11

     Boxer
     Campbell
     Chambliss
     Edwards
     Graham (FL)
     Graham (SC)
     Hollings
     Kerry
     Leahy
     Lieberman
     Sununu
  The motion was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. A quorum is present.
  The majority leader.
  Mr. FRIST. What is the pending business?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Bingaman amendment has been set aside.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the two distinguished whips have done a lot 
of work on the resolution before us through yesterday, last night, and 
over the course of the morning. As people have been saying, we have 
come to a stall period, and we really do need to refocus on the 
resolution itself. We are down to a very few remaining amendments that 
were agreed to. The list was agreed to last night. I urge our 
colleagues to allow us to progress on the underlying resolution and on 
those amendments so we can progress with a lot of business that we have 
to do. But we cannot do the other business until we address these 
amendments.
  I understand everyone's rights, but I remind everybody that we are in 
a cloture period, and we invoked cloture. I believe the vote this 
morning was 88 to 3. Therefore, I urge us to stay on the business we 
are now on and to address the amendments. Once we complete the 
amendments, we will proceed to the cloture vote on the underlying 
resolution itself.
  We have just used a procedural vote. We have not had to use 
procedural votes very often over the last couple of years. I am 
disappointed to have to force Members to come back to the floor, but we 
do need to focus on the business at hand. We have other issues to 
address, such as the FSC/ETI bill and the Homeland Security 
appropriations that we are doing. We cannot get to those until we 
address the business at hand.
  Some people are saying we ought to go home or we should not do the 
Nation's business. We are talking about intelligence reform, the safety 
and security of the American people, and we need to address those 
issues now.
  We do have the FSC/ETI bill, the Defense authorization bill, and the 
Homeland Security appropriations, when they are available, and we will 
take those up. But we have to complete this bill first.
  On the business at hand, I have an amendment at the desk, which has 
been cleared on both sides. I do ask consent to call up a modified 
version of my amendment, which is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, again, this amendment was an amendment 
that, last night, we said we would be addressing today. We have Members 
who are trying to work on that business. Again, I plead with Members on 
both sides of the aisle to allow us to address the intelligence 
oversight of the Senate. The American people expect it. I know 
individual Senators have certain rights to put a block and to obstruct, 
but we are talking about the Nation's business.
  We are about ready to adjourn over the next hours, but it looks as 
though, because of the obstruction, it is going to be days now, but we 
are going to stay here. The American people deserve it. The 9/11 
Commission Report said act and we have acted, and now we are in that 
final few feet of this sprint, and we are there, but we are having this 
obstruction.
  The amendment I just asked to turn to is part of the underlying 
business. Again, we just heard another objection. So I am frustrated, 
but nevertheless we are going to stay here and we are going to complete 
the Nation's business.
  I am prepared at this juncture to yield the floor to allow business. 
I understand Senators have rights and can speak under rule XXII, but I 
do want to at least advise Members that we cannot just sit in a quorum 
call like we have for the last little bit throughout the afternoon. The 
American people deserve more. We are here to work. We are here to 
produce. We are here to address the safety and security of the American 
people. If Members want to debate this resolution, please come forward 
and do it. It is the resolution that is the business on the floor. We 
will have votes as necessary through the afternoon and through the 
evening, hopefully on substantive amendments. We will have procedural 
votes, if necessary, to bring people back to conduct the Nation's 
business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Will the Senator yield?.
  Mr. McCAIN. I have the floor. I would be glad to yield to the Senator 
from New Mexico for purposes of a discussion.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Yes, discussion of this bill. First, I want to say I 
have a little amendment pending, but believe me, I do not intend to 
delay things. I will offer it with Senator Bingaman, so I am not 
running to my office, and the Senator does not have to call me back 
with anything.
  I want to tell the Senator why things are taking so long. We have 
Senator Harkin. He has a legitimate point. I mean, the whole law of the 
land on big subjects that the conferees know nothing about in 
appropriations should not be changed. The Senator from Iowa can speak 
for himself, but I have a situation where the conferees on that 
subcommittee have not had a hearing on the huge program called the milk 
subsidy for America. They changed it. They extended part of it. They 
added a new subsidy and a new forward contract.
  Now, how do they know how that affects Oklahoma, California, or 
Texas? They do not, but there are enough people on the conference to do 
that, and Senators know about that.
  Now, I am a player, and there is nobody who has more respect for what 
the Senator is trying to do than I, but there comes a point where one 
cannot stand it anymore. People want this big bill to protect our 
country, Homeland Security, but they do not have to protect some cows 
along with it, do they? We are not here for a cow protection program; 
we are here to protect America.
  So if they do that--I do the rules, although not very often, but that 
bill has three perfect points of order in it. I say to the leader, they 
will be made, and they are all debatable. Unless they can get to the 
floor to make a motion to table, we will be here and then we can talk a 
little bit.
  So the great desire of the Senator to get out of here Sunday, I can 
tell the Senator that if he brings that bill out here with that on it, 
we are here until Wednesday.
  That is a cinch.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona has the floor.
  Mr. McCAIN. I thank the distinguished Chair, and I thank the Senator 
from New Mexico and respect always his opinion and his passion.

[[Page 21970]]

  Since the Senator from Iowa is in the Chamber, I would like to 
perhaps do something that may be pleasant for him, and that is I will 
yield to him for 5 minutes without losing my right to the floor, if he 
would like to describe his plans to the body. No?
  Mr. HARKIN. I thank the Senator from Arizona. I did not hear what he 
said.
  Mr. McCAIN. I said I would be glad to propound a unanimous consent to 
yield to the Senator for 5 minutes without losing my right to the 
floor, if the Senator would like to describe what he intends to do.
  Mr. HARKIN. I thank the Senator from Arizona. I did not hear what he 
said.
  Mr. McCAIN. I said I would be happy to propound a unanimous consent 
to yield to you without losing my right to the floor, if you would like 
to describe what you intend to do.
  Mr. HARKIN. I thank the Senator for that kindness.
  Mr. McCAIN. I ask unanimous consent to yield to the Senator from Iowa 
for 5 minutes and then regain my right to the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. HARKIN. The Senator asked what my plans are. My plans are to 
protect my farmers.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HARKIN. My plans are to fight for what we in the Agriculture 
Committee----
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, the Senate is not in order.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will be in order. The Senator from 
Iowa.
  Mr. HARKIN. I say to my friend from Arizona, my plan is to fight for 
an agreement that was hammered out in the Agriculture bill a couple or 
3 years ago that everybody signed up on, everyone agreed, the President 
signed it.
  It is not right. I tell my friends, it is not right to treat farmers 
in one area of this country different than the other. For the last 50 
years, this Congress has responded to disasters, whether they are 
earthquakes or tornadoes or floods or hail or fire or hurricanes. For 
50 years, we have responded, and not once, not once have we offset it. 
It has always been in emergency spending.
  Mr. NICKLES. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. HARKIN. Not once until 2 years ago they did it once, and that was 
corrected. Now they want to do it again. Once was once too many. Now 
they want to change the underlying structure of the farm bill. I am 
telling you, it is not right to do so.
  I thank the Senator from Arizona for giving me the time to explain 
why I am doing what I am doing. I thank the Senator.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona has the floor.
  Mr. McCAIN. I would like to do the same thing with the Senator from 
Arkansas in just a minute. I would like to make a point to my friend 
from Iowa and others. I don't think there is anyone else in this body 
who has been viewed in as many ways as one who is--maybe the word is 
obstructionist and disagreeable from time to time on issues with which 
I do not agree, but let me say I have never filibustered, nor have I 
ever tried to prevent the passage of legislation as long as I have been 
able to have my amendment, make my point, and get a vote and move 
forward.
  I say to my friend from Iowa, I think for the good of the body here, 
on Friday afternoon, I would be glad to vote on any amendment he would 
propose. I would be glad to debate and vote, because I just do not 
think it is good for the institution for us to stay here until Tuesday, 
basically doing nothing. I am not sure we satisfy our constituents by 
doing so.
  Now, if it is agreeable--I ask unanimous consent to yield 2 minutes 
to the Senator from Arkansas, without losing my right to the floor--
excuse me, Louisiana. My deep apologies. I do know the difference 
between Louisiana and Arkansas.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. I thank the Senator from New Mexico.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I thank my distinguished colleague for 
yielding.
  I am objecting also because of an issue that is of great concern to 
me and to the people of Louisiana. It is in this $137 billion tax bill 
that we have worked on very hard for 2 years. Our leaders in the Senate 
have done an excellent job under very difficult circumstances. It was a 
House committee, without the cameras rolling and without a real record 
of it.
  The only people taking bullets for us, who are the men and women on 
the front line in Afghanistan and Iraq--in this case the Guard and 
National Reserve--the only people taking the bullets were left out of 
the bill completely. They were not the top of the list, they were not 
in the middle of the list, and they were not in the bottom of the list.
  So I am slowing the Senate down until I can get this message out, and 
talking to as many reporters and others who will talk so I can tell 
them the truth and what happened. I can talk to my colleagues if we are 
going to stay here a day or 2 days or 3 days. They have been in Iraq 
for over a year and a half, 2 years, and another weekend is not going 
to hurt me. We need to talk about a plan to work through it. But I am 
not leaving them on the cutting-room floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona has the floor.
  Mr. McCAIN. I would like to say again to my colleagues, as one who 
has a reputation for disagreeing from time to time, I think we should 
let the body move forward and decide on these amendments. I believe we 
could work out agreements that would allow for amendments to be voted 
up or down on these very compelling issues.
  I share the concern and view of the Senator from Louisiana. I think 
that issue needs to be discussed and debated. I am not sure just 
holding up the body is the answer.
  Finally, I ask unanimous consent for my colleague from Oklahoma to 
speak for 3 minutes, without losing my right to the floor, and then the 
Senator from Massachusetts.
  I ask unanimous consent for 5 minutes to the Senator from Oklahoma 
without losing my right to the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The 
Senator from Oklahoma.


                Amendment No. 4027 to Amendment No. 3981

  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 4027.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Oklahoma [Mr. Nickles] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 4027 to amendment No. 3981.

  The amendment is as follows:

(Purpose: To vest sole jurisdiction over the Federal budget process in 
                      the Committee on the Budget)

       At the end of Section 101, insert the following:
       ``(e) Jurisdiction of Budget Committee.--Notwithstanding 
     paragraph (b)(3) of this section, the Committee on the Budget 
     shall have exclusive jurisdiction over measures affecting the 
     congressional budget process, including:
       (1) the functions, duties, and powers of the Congressional 
     Budget Office;
       (2) the functions, duties, and powers of the Congressional 
     Budget Office;
       (3) the process by which Congress annually establishes the 
     appropriate levels of budget authority, outlays, revenues, 
     deficits or surpluses, and public debt--including 
     subdivisions thereof--and including the establishment of 
     mandatory ceilings on spending and appropriations, a floor on 
     revenues, timetables for congressional action on concurrent 
     resolutions, on the reporting of authorization bills, and on 
     the enactment of appropriation bills, and enforcement 
     mechanisms for budgetary limits and timetables;
       (4) the limiting of backdoor spending devices;
       (5) the timetables for Presidential submission of 
     appropriations and authorization requests;
       (6) the definitions of what constitutes impoundment--such 
     as ``rescissions'' and ``deferrals'';
       (7) the process and determination by which impoundments 
     must be reported to and considered by Congress;
       (8) the mechanisms to insure Executive compliance with the 
     provisions of the Impoundment Control Act, title X--such as 
     GAO review and lawsuits; and

[[Page 21971]]

       (9) the provisions which affect the content or 
     determination of amounts included in or excluded from the 
     congressional budget or the calculation of such amounts, 
     including the definition of terms provided by the Budget 
     Act.''

                Amendment No. 4041 To Amendment No. 4027

  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 4041 to amendment 
No. 4027.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Point of order, Mr. President. Parliamentary inquiry: As 
I understood it, the Senator from Arizona yielded for points of 
discussion. I ask the Chair if he would not rule. I ask if he asked 
consent if he would be able to yield, for the point of discussion, to 
other Members here? As I understand it now, the Senator is offering an 
amendment. That is not discussion. I make a point of order.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator yielded for a specified period of 
time.
  Mr. KENNEDY. And not for discussion only?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Simply for a specified period of time.
  Mr. KENNEDY. What is the request now that is before the Chair?
  Several Senators addressed the Chair.
  Mr. McCAIN. What is the pending business?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma has the right to 
call up an amendment.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, what is the request?
  Mr. McCAIN. What is the pending business before the Senate?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has called up an amendment and has 
sent it to the desk, and a second-degree amendment as well, which is 
his right.
  The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I believe I was recognized.
  For the information of my colleagues, to help clarify, I believe I 
understood the underlying Domenici amendment was set aside.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I do not believe the pending amendment was 
set aside. It required unanimous consent.
  Mr. NICKLES. My understanding--I will ask the Chair, but it is my 
understanding the Domenici-Craig amendment was set aside. Under the 
unanimous consent agreement that was entered into yesterday, there were 
several amendments to be pending, that are in order. One of those 
amendments is an amendment I had, dealing with the budget office. I am 
just trying to get in, too.
  I have modified it at the request of the chairman of the Government 
Operations Committee. This is not a significant amendment, but it is an 
important one and I am trying to advance the movement of this bill, to 
have a pending amendment. I have now modified it. I have a second-
degree amendment pending to it, that Senator Kent Conrad and myself are 
cosponsoring.
  It now means that would be the pending amendment to the underlying 
bill when we go to the regular order on the bill. I would like for us 
to finish this bill.
  I know some people wish to speak at length because they happen to be 
upset about the Homeland Security bill. I may support them in their 
efforts. That remains to be seen. But I do think it is important we 
finish the bill that is pending, and there are four or five amendments 
that are out there. Maybe two or three of those amendments will be 
agreed to and we can finish the Homeland Security bill in a very short 
period of time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. McCAIN. Before I yield to the Senator from Kentucky--I mean 
Massachusetts----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the second-degree 
amendment.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Oklahoma [Mr. Nickles] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 4041 to amendment No. 4027.

  Mr. NICKLES. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  Mr. HARKIN. I object.
  The assistant legislative clerk continued with the reading, as 
follows:

       Strike all after the first word, and insert the following:
       ``Jurisdiction of Budget Committee.--Notwithstanding 
     paragraph (b)(3) of this section, and except as otherwise 
     provided in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the 
     Committee on the Budget shall have exclusive jurisdiction 
     over measures affecting the congressional budget process, 
     which are:
       (1) the functions, duties, and powers of the Budget 
     Committee;
       (2) the functions, duties, and powers of the Congressional 
     Budget Office;
       (3) the process by which Congress annually establishes the 
     appropriate levels of budget authority, outlays, revenues, 
     deficits or surpluses, and public debt--including 
     subdivisions thereof--and including the establishment of 
     mandatory ceilings on spending and appropriations, a floor on 
     revenues, timetables for congressional action on concurrent 
     resolutions, on the reporting of authorization bills, and on 
     the enactment of appropriation bills, and enforcement 
     mechanisms for budgetary limits and timetables;

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, it does not take consent to stop reading. I 
seek recognition. I ask unanimous consent to speak for 1 minute.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I want the attention----
  Mr. McCAIN. I have the floor, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona has the floor.
  Mr. McCAIN. Has the time of the Senator from Oklahoma expired?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator from Oklahoma has 
expired.
  The Senator from Arizona has the floor.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 1 
minute.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. McCAIN. The Senator from Massachusetts was waiting to say a few 
words. I ask unanimous consent to yield to the Senator from 
Massachusetts for 5 minutes for the purpose of discussion, followed by 
the Senator from Nevada for 2 minutes, with my right to regain the 
floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent to speak before Senator Kennedy for 
1 or 2 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I direct this to my friend from Oklahoma. I 
have the greatest respect for the Senator from Oklahoma. But it is not 
appropriate when neither manager is on the floor to send an amendment 
to the desk. It is not the way we do things around here. I ask 
unanimous consent that the action taken by my friend be vitiated. That 
is not fair. I say that with all due respect. We have been here for the 
last 3 or 4 days.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
  Mr. McCAIN. Once, shame on you; twice, shame on me. The Senator from 
Massachusetts was recognized.
  Mr. REID. My time is not up.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada has the floor.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the action 
taken by the Senator from Oklahoma be vitiated, and that we go back to 
where we started before he offered his amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. NICKLES. I have no objection.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, my friends and colleagues from Iowa, 
Florida, and Louisiana have outlined very briefly some of their 
concerns about how they felt the minority had been treated in an 
arbitrary way in the conference committee.
  I want to remind the Senate that we had a 78-to-15 vote in the Senate 
to tie the tobacco buyout with the FDA regulations, and that particular 
proposal came back. We had not asked that the tobacco buyout be in the 
tax bill. But, nonetheless, the House decided to put it in the bill. 
Then when it came back here, the decision of that conference was made 
to take care of the tobacco companies and give short shrift to the 
children of this country.

[[Page 21972]]

  I think it is going to be appropriate that many of us talk about that 
and make sure the American people understand that.
  Finally, we have also had the issue on overtime. Three times we saw 
the decision made in the Senate to repeal the administration's 
overtime--twice in the House of Representatives. This was given 6 
minutes in the conference committee.
  I think the working families of this country have a right to 
understand and know what is in that FSC bill. I for one intend to use 
my time to make sure that they do.
  I thank the Senator from Arizona for yielding.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I would like to say again I am not sure 
that the situation on Monday, or Tuesday, or midnight tonight, or 
Wednesday, or whatever, is going to be any different than it is now. I 
have been assured by the leader that we could have any amendment within 
reason considered, debated, and voted on in a reasonable length of 
time. I hope my colleagues will consider doing that.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mr. McCAIN. I would be glad to.
  Mr. DURBIN. If I am not mistaken, it is possible to amend the 
conference committee report which was sent to us for consideration on 
the floor of the Senate. The Senator suggested amendments several 
times. I ask if he would please clarify that.
  Mr. McCAIN. I think the Senator knows that conference reports are not 
amendable. But I would also respond by saying as frustrated as many of 
us are with conference reports, especially appropriations conference 
reports coming out with little things in them that we never 
anticipated, if you want to delay it 1 day, or 2 days, or a week, the 
result is basically going to be the same. I think we all know that.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mr. McCAIN. I would be glad to yield for a question by the Senator 
from New Hampshire.
  I am learning.
  Mr. GREGG. The Senator has spent some time there, and we appreciate 
it.
  Mr. President, I ask the Senator from Arizona if he would be willing 
to allow me to go forward with a unanimous consent request which the 
Senator from Massachusetts, Senator Kennedy, and I have agreed to which 
would extend the higher education bill and which would in addition 
allow us to save the taxpayers $100 million from money that is now 
being paid out to banks that are getting unconscionably high rates of 
return on student loans, and take that money and apply it so that 
teachers who go into underserved districts or in matters such as 
special education could receive a much higher forgiveness of their 
loans, raising their forgiveness from $5,000 to $17,000.
  I was wondering if the Senator would allow me to offer a unanimous 
consent request. I believe it has been signed off on by both sides.
  Mr. McCAIN. I would be glad to.
  I wonder why the Senator missed this one. What happened? Are we 
asleep at the switch? Everything else is in here.
  Mr. GREGG. That is a good point.
  Mr. McCAIN. There is all kinds of fun in that. I don't know why you 
missed that one. Of course, we have homeland appropriations coming 
down. That is loaded with pork. The Senator from New Mexico just 
mentioned they changed the formula on milk to the tune of about $2.4 
billion.
  Mr. DOMENICI. They haven't yet.
  Mr. GREGG. This is within the jurisdiction of my committee, and the 
Senator from Massachusetts and I have worked on this. We think it is 
important for existing students who are paying this ridiculous interest 
rate--the Government is paying this ridiculous interest rate--and use 
the money to help teachers who are going into underserved areas. Will 
the Senator allow me to do that?
  Mr. McCAIN. I would be glad to.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I am in strong support.
  Mr. McCAIN. I am happy to yield for a question by the Senator from 
Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Will the Senator agree with me that even though I might 
strongly support what the Senator from New Hampshire has stated, I 
would like to defer action because my friend and colleague Senator 
Harkin is not here at the moment. He may or may not object. He objected 
to it earlier. I hope the Senator will address this later on in the 
afternoon or evening.
  Mr. GREGG. Will the Senator from Massachusetts yield the floor at 
this time? At some time I would like to put the body on notice that we 
need to handle it today.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I appreciate the work of the Senator from 
New Hampshire and the Senator from Massachusetts on this issue. I have 
been reading a lot about it. I think it is disgraceful and outrageous, 
and I think every Member of this body agrees with it. I hope we can get 
this done today because it is as egregious as the Senator from New 
Hampshire described.
  I have little doubt about the outcome of this vote, but I will 
continue to remind my colleagues that the so-called reorganization 
resolution is a farce. The hypocrisy was bad enough when the resolution 
was laid down Wednesday evening. Since that time, Members' parochial 
interests have whittled away the little new oversight authority that 
would be transferred to the renamed homeland security and governmental 
affairs committee. The result is nothing more than a name change for 
the committee.
  I associate myself with the remarks of Senator Voinovich, who made 
some comments last night when he further exposed this sham for what it 
is. We should adopt this proposal to not rename the committee but keep 
it the Governmental Affairs Committee since we really are not making 
any substantive changes.
  In today's Washington Post, there is an excellent column by David 
Ignatius. David Ignatius says in the article:

       ``It's outrageous. The American people should be angry,'' 
     says former Senator Bob Kerrey, who was a Member of the Sept. 
     11 commission and for eight years served as a member of the 
     Senate intelligence committee. He argues that it would have 
     been better to drop the executive-branch changes if Congress 
     was not going to reform itself. ``These are secret 
     agencies,'' he explains. ``Unless you put in place strong 
     oversight, it isn't going to work.''

  In fact, Senator Kerrey and others argue with the consolidation of 
power we are making it more dangerous because there is no oversight. We 
may have not only remained in neutral here as far as increasing 
congressional oversight, but since we are consolidating power, what 
this proposal does is even more dangerous to America than the status 
quo.
  The 9/11 Commission in its report described congressional oversight 
of intelligence as ``dysfunctional.'' They did not say it needed 
improvement; they did not say the system could use a tweak here or 
there; they said it was dysfunctional and that it needed comprehensive 
change. So we in the Senate supposedly committed to doing just that. We 
formed a working group, held discussions--they were interesting 
discussions, by the way--committed to bringing a bill to the Senate, 
and now we are here.
  What have we done? Have we embraced comprehensive change? No, we 
haven't. We haven't even embraced a modicum of change. We have said 
that the status quo is fine with us, and as far as the Senate is 
concerned, September 11 never happened. It never happened, if you look 
at what is being done in the name of responding to September 11 and the 
recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.
  Now, we are tinkering with the oversight responsibilities of the 
Intelligence Committee but certainly nothing substantive. When I go 
home to Arizona and I say: My friends, we have really reformed 
intelligence; we have changed the Intelligence Committee from a B 
committee to an A committee. How do you like that? They are going to be 
overwhelmed when they hear that we have changed the Intelligence 
Committee from a B committee to an A committee. I can see the 
Scottsdale Rotary Club rising to their

[[Page 21973]]

feet in applause for this incredible change we have made in the way we 
carry out our intelligence oversight responsibility.
  I apologize for engaging in a little bit too much hyperbole.
  We took away from the new committee jurisdiction over immigration, 
then the Secret Service. I have to relate to my colleagues a funny 
story in case they missed it. I was on the Senate floor with the two 
sponsors of the amendment that would keep the Secret Service under the 
Judiciary Committee when they said: You know, the Secret Service really 
wants to be under the Judiciary Committee. I have encountered hundreds 
of Secret Service agents, and I have never had a single one come up to 
me and say: Senator, please put me under the oversight of the Judiciary 
Committee. Never. I guess I have not spoken to the right agents.
  Anyway, all that is remains of the committee on homeland security is 
the name. I wouldn't be surprised if someone objected to that on 
jurisdictional grounds.
  The new committee, as the Senator from Maine and the Senator from 
Connecticut will attest, the new committee will have responsibility 
over 34 percent of the budget and 3.9 percent of the employees. About 
all that it will be responsible for is FEMA and the Office of the 
Secretary. That is right, over 96 percent of the employees of the 
Department of Homeland Security will fall under the jurisdiction of 
other committees, not the committee on homeland security. So much for 
real reform.
  One of the recurrent themes has been the overload of the Department 
of Homeland Security because of the number of committees they have to 
testify before during the course of a year. The number, as I remember, 
is 88 different committees and subcommittees, et cetera. I hope the 
Senator from Maine will assert exactly how many committees and 
subcommittees under this revolutionary new reorganization the 
Department of Homeland Security will have to testify to.
  Now, a word about the Department of Homeland Security, the White 
House, and the administration. While we were trying in our amendment to 
move the TSA--a radical idea--to move the Transportation Security 
Administration under the new Department of Homeland Security, which I 
think garnered 22 of my colleagues' votes, along with myself, while we 
did that, we got these calls: Way to go, we are with you, we are with 
you. This is a great thing to do. You have to move the TSA into the 
Department of Homeland Security.
  I said: Fine, will you issue a statement saying that? No, no, no, we 
cannot do that. We cannot issue a statement saying we support such an 
amendment. We might make somebody mad.
  We saw the result of that outrageous attempt to move the organization 
called the Transportation Security Administration under the 
jurisdiction of the committee on homeland security. I will admit in 
retrospect I cannot imagine why anyone would assume that the 
Transportation Security Administration should fall under the committee 
on homeland security.
  Anyway, we aren't changing things here. We have decided the status 
quo is good enough, and we are sticking with it.
  I again quote from David Ignatius' article in the Washington Post 
this morning:

       Senators were patting themselves on the back yesterday for 
     passing some of the intelligence reforms recommended by the 
     9/11 Commission.

  I was one of those. I was praising the work that was done as far as 
executive reorganization. It was landmark legislation, the first major 
reorganization of Government since 1947. It was an incredible job.
  But behind the scenes, the legislative process has been an egregious 
example of congressional politics as usual.

       Legislators have embraced the commission's call for a 
     national intelligence director and a national 
     counterterrorism center that would, in theory, coordinate 
     intelligence efforts in the executive branch. But they have 
     ignored or gutted the commission's proposal for similar 
     reforms in the way Congress oversees intelligence.
       ``Of all our recommendations, strengthening congressional 
     oversight may be among the most difficult and important,'' 
     the commissioners stressed in their final report. They urged 
     that Congress give its intelligence committees control over 
     both authorizations and appropriations--so that the 
     committees would finally have the muscle to provide real 
     oversight.
       Why did the Senate bill scuttle these internal reforms of 
     what the commission called ``a dysfunctional'' system? 
     Because they would threaten the turf of powerful legislators. 
     To be blunt, the Senators put their own perks and 
     prerogatives ahead of the Nation's security.

  That is a pretty tough statement.

       ``It is outrageous. The American people should be angry,'' 
     says former Senator Bob Kerrey.

  By the way, Senator Bob Kerrey left part of his leg on the 
battlefield at Vietnam and received the Congressional Medal of Honor 
and was also a member of the 9/11 Commission and for 8 years served as 
a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

       He argues that it would have been better to drop the 
     executive-branch changes if Congress was not going to reform 
     itself. ``These are secret agencies,'' he explains. ``Unless 
     you put in place strong oversight, it isn't going to work.''

  Because the real power lies with the appropriations, the intelligence 
agencies know they can safely ignore pressure from the Intelligence 
Committee. Indeed, major contractors that do business with the 
intelligence community, such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and TRW, are 
said to spend little time lobbying the intelligence panels because they 
know the appropriators have the power of the purse. CIA Directors 
recognize the same reality. They can ignore the intelligence committees 
as long as they keep stroking the appropriators.
  We will have a status quo Intelligence Committee without combined 
authorization and appropriations power, a committee that handles only a 
tiny fraction of homeland security issues, and we will be right back 
where we started. So let's be honest with ourselves and with the 
American people. We aren't changing things here. We have decided that 
the status quo is good enough, and we are sticking with it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The assistant Democratic leader.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, no matter how many times you say something 
that is not true, it does not make it true. I am not going to belabor 
the point other than to say we have spent a lot of time doing what the 
9/11 Commission recommended. Did we do everything they asked? No, we 
did not. Did we do 90 percent of what they asked? The answer is yes, as 
I explained on the floor on more than one occasion with the charts 
where we checked off what they asked for and we did. Again, I repeat, 
it does not matter how many times you say something that is not true, 
it does not make it true.
  Now, people can minimize all they want. The committee on homeland 
security will be created as soon as we complete this cloture fiasco we 
are now involved in. As I read on the floor here yesterday evening for 
half an hour, only getting into two directorates, the homeland security 
committee that will be formed could hold hearings every day next year 
and still not complete all the policy decisions that are made regarding 
terrorism in this country. Yes, they may not have all the employees, 
but they have the policy that is important to make our country safer.
  We start out with the basic Government Operations Committee, and we 
do not change that one iota, and we add to that four directorates. For 
three they have total 100 percent responsibility, and for the fourth 
one they have partial responsibility.
  I repeat for the third time today, no matter how many times you say 
something that is untrue, it does not make it true. You cannot have it 
both ways. We have people telling us that we may establish nothing out 
of this committee, but yet we have people here grousing from 10 
different committees saying we gave them too much. You cannot have it 
both ways.
  Now, I know there is some disappointment on the part of the Senator

[[Page 21974]]

from Maine, and I have heard very little from the Senator from 
Connecticut. I know he has been away for religious observances, but I 
have kept in close contact with him. I think he realizes the glass is 
not half empty, it is half full.
  This committee is a good committee. It is going to be one of the most 
significant committees in this Congress. It is going to increase the 
brawn and muscle of the Government Operations Committee tenfold. We 
took jurisdiction from 10 standing committees and gave things to the 
new committee.
  Now, as an example, let's just take my committee. I have been 
chairman on two separate occasions of the Environment and Public Works 
Committee. We have wide-ranging responsibilities in that committee. But 
one thing we have that is most important is the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency. I have spent a lot of time on that committee.
  When I served in the House of Representatives, Congressman Al Gore 
was chairman of a committee called Investigations and Oversight, and we 
spent weeks doing investigations regarding FEMA. I know a little bit 
about it. It is a very powerful institution. The new government 
operations/expanded homeland security has complete jurisdiction over 
that, except for flood control. Flood control has always been with the 
Banking Committee. It took all day yesterday to work something out so 
that the new Government Operations Committee could still have that.
  So, Mr. President, when we complete our work on this--and we are 
going to complete it pretty soon--people will be striving to get on the 
committee that will be chaired, at least for the next couple of months, 
by Chairman Collins; after that maybe Senator Lieberman.
  But the point I want to make is I know people have been putting in 
the mind of the distinguished Senator from Maine that she got nothing. 
Isn't it terrible what they did to you? The fact of the matter is, I 
read only partially here on the Senate floor last night the 
responsibilities of this new committee. The responsibilities are 
terribly significant.
  We still have work to do on this resolution. I am disappointed that 
it has not been completed. I want the record to be spread with the fact 
that Senator McConnell and I did not do a perfect job, but we did the 
best job we could do, and we have worked for weeks trying to do 
something that was very hard to do; that is, change what this body 
does.
  Everyone hates change, as when I started my remarks, whether it is a 
change in your family relationship, as I explained when my daughter 
left to go to college, or whether it is a committee you feel strongly 
about.
  I talked to a Member of the Senate today, and he said: Today was a 
big change in my life. I said: What? And he said--I am not going to 
embarrass him and use his name; this happened at lunchtime--he said: I 
have been using the House gymnasium for 22 years. He said: I switched; 
today I started using the Senate gym. He said: You have no idea how 
hard that was for me to do because even though I am a Senator now, I 
have used that gym for 22 years.
  People hate change. They fight change. And I have to say, I have 
never changed; I still use the House gym.
  So I am sorry, because I have talked to her personally, and I am 
sorry the Senator from Maine is disappointed in the jurisdiction she 
has. I am sorry we could not give her more jurisdiction. But, believe 
me, she will do a good job, because there is so much to do. I have 
worked here with a lot of different Senators in the years I have been 
in the Senate, and I have found very few people as competent and as 
resourceful and who work as hard as the Senator from Maine. I know when 
she gets this committee, even though she feels slighted that she did 
not get more, she will have her hands full doing what she will be doing 
very competently.
  So the main point I want to make here, for the fourth time--and I am 
not going to apologize to anyone for the work I did on this. Not to 
anyone. I worked hard. It was hard to get where we are. And I repeat, 
if people think we did nothing, why have I been berated the last few 
days about: How could you do this? How could you take this from me? And 
I used, every time, the example of FEMA. FEMA is no insignificant 
matter. We took significant matters from 10 standing committees and 
have given them to the new government operations, expanded homeland 
security committee.
  I am going to continue to support the legislation. I have kept the 9/
11 Commission advised. This is not an end run we have done on the 9/11 
Commission. Oh, isn't it surprising? Why didn't Reid keep us informed? 
Reid kept them informed.
  Now, I wrote a book, published a history book, and people criticized 
my book. They can if they want. I defend what is in my book, and they 
defend what is in their report. The 9/11 Commission--I have said on 
this floor, not on one occasion, not on two occasions, I cannot count 
how many occasions I have complimented my friend, Congressman Lee 
Hamilton, and Governor Kean. I know Lee Hamilton very well. I have 
known him for 22 years. I do not know Governor Kean very well, but I 
surely like him. I know how competent he is. I know Roemer, who served 
there; Slade Gorton, an outstanding Senator whom I served with; Bob 
Kerrey, one of my good friends, whom I think the world of. They did a 
wonderful job.
  We have given the 9/11 Commission and the people of America, as I 
said, most everything the 9/11 Commission recommended. The 9/11 
Commission, by the way, did not tell us how to reorganize the Senate. 
What we are doing here does not take the President to sign off on. We 
do this on our own. This is what we are doing. This is one of the most 
significant changes in the history of this Congress.
  Now, people say: Well, big deal; it is not a very big change. I think 
it is a significant change. Remember, we got rid of a subcommittee on 
Appropriations. We created a new subcommittee. We gave a lot of muscle 
to the new Intelligence Committee.
  I checked off here yesterday all the things we gave to the new 
Intelligence Committee. We got rid of term limits, which they 
complained about for so long, increased staffing and made it 
bipartisan, so now it is not divided 3 to the minority and 23--I don't 
know the exact number, but about that--33 to the majority. It is now 
divided 60/40. That is the way it should be.

       Congress should create a single, principal point of 
     oversight and review for homeland security. Congressional 
     leaders are best able to judge what committee should have 
     jurisdiction over this department and its duties.

  This is not something I dreamed up. This comes directly from the 9/11 
Commission. Page 421 of the 9/11 Commission, what did they say? They 
said:

       Congressional leaders are best able to judge what committee 
     should have jurisdiction over this department and its duties.

  We did that. Now, is it in keeping with what my friend for 22 years, 
Senator McCain, thinks we should do? No. He thinks we should do things 
differently. But we made decisions he does not agree with. That does 
not mean we are all right, but that does not mean he is all right 
either. I mean, he is all right--not right on this issue. So we did as 
the 9/11 Commission said we should do.
  Again, it is not as if we were doing something that was significantly 
more important anyway. But I read yesterday all the many 
responsibilities that this committee has. I want to find this again. I 
am turning to my loyal staff here. This is directorate No. 1. The 
responsibilities are very significant. And for someone to say this is 
not important, I defy reason to say this is not important.
  This committee has jurisdiction over this: To access, receive, and 
analyze law enforcement information, intelligence information, and 
other information from agencies of the Federal Government--and it 
always says ``State and local''--to integrate such information in order 
to, A, identify and assess the nature and scope of terrorist threats to 
the homeland; B, detect and identify threats of terrorism against the 
United States; and, C, understand such threats in light of actual and 
potential vulnerabilities of the homeland.
  No. 2, to carry out comprehensive assessments of the vulnerabilities 
of key

[[Page 21975]]

resources and critical infrastructure of the United States, including 
the performance of risk assessments to determine the risks posed by 
particular types of terrorist attacks within the United States, 
including assessment of the probability of success of such attacks and 
the feasibility and potential efficacy of various countermeasures to 
such attacks.
  I say through the Chair to my friend from Maine, if you spent 6 
months of the next congressional session having congressional hearings 
on this, you would have your plate completely full just on this. But we 
didn't stop there. I have gone through two of the obligations, 
responsibilities they have. But there are 17 more, such as: To 
integrate relevant information--I am skipping a little bit--analyses, 
and vulnerability assessments in order to identify priorities for 
protective and support measures by the Department, other agencies of 
the Federal Government, State and local government agencies; to ensure 
the timely and efficient access by the Department to all information 
necessary to discharge the responsibilities.
  No. 5, to develop a comprehensive national plan for securing the key 
resources and critical infrastructure of the United States, including 
power production, generation, and distribution systems, information 
technology, telecommunications systems, including satellites, 
electronic, financial, property record storage, transmission systems, 
emergency preparedness communications systems, and the physical and 
technological aspects that support such systems.
  I say, these responsibilities may not be very glamorous. You may not 
be calling people in that are part of the 41,000 Transportation 
Security Administration, but it sure is important to my family and the 
people of the State of Nevada that we do some good work to find out 
about a national plan for securing our electricity, our satellites, our 
electronic and financial records storage and transmission systems. That 
requires some congressional hearings.
  If somebody is chairman of that committee and ranking member or a 
member of the committee, I think that is something they should focus 
on, at least for a little while.
  No. 6, to recommend measures necessary to protect key resources and 
critical infrastructure of the United States, in coordination with 
other agencies of the Federal Government.
  No. 7, to administer the homeland security advisory system, including 
exercising primary responsibility for public advisories related to 
threats to homeland security; to review, analyze, and make 
recommendations for improvements in the policies and procedures 
governing the sharing of law enforcement information, intelligence 
information, intelligence-related information, other information 
related to homeland security.
  No. 9, to disseminate information analyzed by the Department to 
Homeland Security, agencies of State and local governments, and private 
sector entities with such responsibilities to assist in the deterrence, 
prevention, preemption of, or response to terrorist acts against the 
United States.
  I think that is a pretty heavy responsibility. To say this is 
nothing, you haven't given us anything.
  No. 10, to consult with the Director of the Central Intelligence 
Agency--right now we still have a CIA Director--and other appropriate 
intelligence, law enforcement, or other elements of the Federal 
Government to establish collection priorities and strategies for 
information relating to threats of terrorism against the United States; 
to consult with State and local governments and private sector entities 
to ensure appropriate exchanges of information, including law-
enforcement-related information; to ensure that any material received 
pursuant to this act is protected from unauthorized disclosure; to 
ensure that any intelligence information is shared, retained, and 
disseminated consistent with the authority of the Director of the CIA.
  So for someone to say: What is this? You wasted all of our time here. 
We should not have done anything. It is an insult. I told people this 
is, if not the hardest thing I have ever done, one of the hardest in 
all the time I have been in Congress. For someone to stand and say, You 
didn't do anything, what I would suggest to the Senator from Maine, if 
she doesn't like this committee, turn it over to somebody else. I will 
bet a lot of people would like it. The ranking member right under her, 
I bet they would love to have this committee.
  To request additional information from other agencies of the Federal 
Government, State and local government agencies, and the private sector 
relating to threats of terrorism against the United States; to 
establish and utilize, in conjunction with the chief information 
officer of the Department, a secure communication and information 
technology infrastructure, including data mining, and other advanced 
analytical tools, in order to access, receive, and analyze data and 
information.
  Again, there are not a lot of employees involved in this, but if we 
depended on that--I don't know the number of employees we have in the 
Federal Government; it is over 2 million, millions anyway--how many 
employees were involved, you would just ignore the FBI. There are only 
11,000, only 11,000 out of approximately 2 million. I don't know that 
exact number, a very tiny percentage of what the FBI makes up of the 
overall workforce, but it is still real important.
  What I am talking about is, that is going to be the responsibility of 
this committee, and it is also important.
  I am still only through No. 13. We have six more to go in the first 
directorate. I have three more directorates to go through to show what 
this new committee that a small minority here think doesn't amount to 
much, I am saying it amounts to plenty. If this committee does its 
job--and I say without any hesitation that I know that Senator 
Lieberman and the distinguished Senator from Maine will do a good job--
they will have a lot to do. They make sure to listen in one ear about 
all they don't have to do, but let's also listen with the other ear 
about all they have to do. Some people like to denigrate anything we 
try to do about this institution. Some like to tear it down.
  No. 15, to ensure, in conjunction with the chief information officer 
of the Department, that any information databases and analytical tools 
developed or utilized by the Department are compatible with one another 
and with relevant information databases of other agencies of the 
Federal Government; B, treat the information in such databases in a 
manner that complies with applicable Federal laws on privacy.
  That is one of the biggest issues. I did a poll in Nevada a few years 
ago, and my staff, when they came to me, was stunned. In Nevada, the 
most important issue was not health care, it was not education, not the 
environment, not jobs--it was privacy. People in America are extremely 
concerned about privacy. We have all these electronic tools to do all 
kinds of things. And we want to make sure people's privacy is 
protected. One of the obligations of this committee is to see what can 
be done, with all the electronic apparatus we have for collecting 
intelligence and protecting the homeland, that it doesn't interfere 
with my family's privacy. That is a responsibility this committee will 
have when we complete it.
  No. 16, to coordinate training and other support to the elements and 
personnel of the Department.
  No. 17, to coordinate elements in the intelligence community with 
Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and the private 
sector, as appropriate; to provide intelligence and information 
analysis, and support to other elements of the Department.
  And who does this cover? Who does this committee look to, to gather 
information? One of their defined legislative responsibilities--it is 
in this Record right now, we are making legislative history with the 
jurisdiction of this committee, but this is also in the underlying 
amendment that is now before this body, covered agencies: The 
Department of State, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation, the National Security

[[Page 21976]]

Agency, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, the Defense 
Intelligence Agency, and any other agency of the Federal Government 
that the President considers appropriate.
  This is the legislative history that we are making to establish what 
this committee has to do. For someone to say their dealing with the 
CIA, FBI, NSA, and the DIA is not important, well, that is too bad 
because it is important.
  We also have another directorate, and I will only cover a couple 
because there are four. The fourth one doesn't have total coverage over 
that. That is the one where immigration--they only have part of that--
relating to security.
  The Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over immigration as it 
relates to policy matters, as I understand it. They have security 
matters. I may not have defined it as policy, but they don't have 100 
percent of the other directorate.
  One of the directorates they have is emergency preparedness and 
response. I already talked about FEMA being part of their 
responsibility--and a big responsibility FEMA is, Mr. President. It is 
one of the most important agencies we have in the Federal Government 
today. As we speak, they are doing gallant work in Florida, Alabama, 
and Georgia as a result of the hurricanes. We lend that agency to 
foreign countries because they are the best in the world when there is 
an emergency. I have learned over the years that the most important 
thing they work on is water-related emergencies across the country, 
with flooding and those kinds of things. Floods are caused by lots of 
different things. So what does the FEMA have to do? They do this:
  All functions and authorities prescribed by the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistant Act, which is carrying out its 
mission to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the Nation 
from all hazards by leading and supporting the Nation in a 
comprehensive, risk-based emergency management program--A, of 
mitigation, by taking sustained actions to reduce or eliminate long-
term risk to people and property from hazards and their effects; B, of 
planning for building the emergency management profession to prepare 
effectively for, mitigate against, respond to, and recover from any 
hazard; of response, by conducting emergency operations to save lives 
and property through positioning emergency equipment and supplies, 
through evacuating potential victims, through providing food, water, 
shelter, and medical care to those in need, and through restoring 
critical public services; of recovery, by rebuilding communities so 
individuals, businesses, and governments can function on their own, 
return to normal life, and protect against future hazards.
  Mr. President, I first became aware of the work that FEMA does when 
we had a disastrous flood in northern Nevada. We don't get much rain in 
Nevada, but we had a lot of snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We had 
early rain. That water came down without warning. And as I traveled to 
Gardnerville and Minden in Douglas County, one of my friends there, a 
farmer who had lived there for a long time, said: Look out here. A 
little river that a child could walk across most of the time was like a 
raging river. Cottonwood trees that were 100 years old were being 
thrown down the river path like toothpicks. By the time I got to 
northern Nevada, coming in a different airport because the regular 
airport was closed, FEMA had already set up operations and started 
life-sustaining operations, feeding people. They had already set up 
locations for businesses that had been devastated to come and make 
their claims.
  If we did nothing else other than transfer FEMA from the Environment 
and Public Works to the new homeland security committee, that is a 
tremendous new responsibility for that committee--in addition to the 
page after page of other stuff I read that is their responsibility.
  For the fifth time, people can come on this floor and keep saying 
what we have done is inconsequential and doesn't mean anything, but 
saying that doesn't mean it is true. I want everybody within the sound 
of my voice to understand some of the things we have transferred to 
this committee. Remember, this was already an A committee. It had lots 
of work to do. That is why some people around here are saying, What are 
people complaining about? It is already an A committee. They are 
getting a lot of stuff to do, other responsibilities from 10 different 
committees. What more do they want?
  Well, I guess they want more. I say the glass should be half full, 
not half empty. It may not be perfect, but it is certainly pretty good.
  We have to complete this legislation. There are six amendments, a 
couple maybe we can work out. Some of them probably we will not be able 
to work out, and a couple will be withdrawn. We are close to being able 
to finish. As I understand the parliamentary aspect, first of all, 
sometime tomorrow, if all time is used, we will vote on the amendment 
now before the body. After having completed these amendments, then we 
will vote on the underlying resolution--invoke cloture on that and, of 
course, there are 30 hours to run on that. When that is completed, this 
will be done.
  The Senate, without having to go to the House of Representatives or 
the President, will have made one of the largest changes in the history 
of this body by reorganizing the legislative branch of Government. So, 
again, we transferred matters from Agriculture, Armed Services, 
Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources, Environment and Public Works, 
Finance, Foreign Relations, and Judiciary, so I think we have done a 
good job.
  I am disappointed that my friend from Maine is apparently 
disappointed in thinking she is not going to have enough to do. I want 
her to know that the distinguished Senator from Kentucky and I did the 
best we could. Remember, this is not a dictatorship we have here, it is 
a legislative body. We cannot just suddenly decide what we want and it 
happens. It is a process that I talked about last night.
  Legislation is the art of compromise. That is why you don't see much 
reorganization in the legislative branch of Government, because it is 
hard to do. As the President said in the last debate: This is hard 
work. It is hard work what we have done.
  Again, I am disappointed that she is disappointed because I have the 
highest respect for her. I want her to know that I have only touched, 
this afternoon, on a very few things that she has to do. There are so 
many other things that this committee has. As I said, in years to come, 
what we have done this afternoon and what we will do on this 
legislation will be laid out before the Senate, so it will be easy for 
referrals and other things this committee will do.
  This is one of the directorates, emergency preparedness and response:
  The Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Emergency 
Preparedness and Response shall include: Helping to ensure the 
effectiveness of emergency response providers to terrorist attacks, 
major disasters, and other emergencies; coordinating other Federal 
response resources in the event of a terrorist attack or major 
disaster; aiding the recovery from terrorist attacks and major 
disasters; building a comprehensive national incident management system 
with Federal, State, and local government personnel, agencies, and 
authorities, to respond to such attacks and disasters; consolidating 
existing Federal Government emergency response plans into a single, 
coordinated national response plan; and finally, developing 
comprehensive programs for developing interoperative communications 
technology and helping to ensure that emergency response providers 
acquire such technology. So please do not tell me this committee does 
not have a lot to do. This committee will be one of the most important 
committees there is.
  I say, in closing, to my friend from Maine, when I first came to the 
Senate, I received a phone call from Howard Metzenbaum. Howard 
Metzenbaum said: We finished--I think it is called the Steering 
Committee--and you are going to the Appropriations Committee. I was so 
excited about that. He

[[Page 21977]]

said: You have a choice of two other committees you can go on--either 
Environment and Public Works or Government Operations.
  I said: Senator Metzenbaum, I am so thrilled about being able to be 
on Appropriations. You decide which one I should go on.
  He said: It does not matter. They are both great committees.
  He chose for me Environment and Public Works. One reason he chose 
that is because in those days--I don't know if it is still the same 
way--a member of the Government Operations Committee, even though you 
were a new member, you were entitled to a staff person, someone 
assigned to you. They figured they would give that plum to someone 
else.
  My point being, the Government Operations Committee has always been a 
good committee, but it is going to be a really good committee now. I 
think it will be on the par of Armed Services. I think it will be on 
the par with any committee we have. I will sleep well knowing that my 
friend, the distinguished Senator from Connecticut, Mr. Lieberman, and 
my friend, the distinguished Senator from Maine, Ms. Collins, will be 
the two leading that committee. I know they have the ability to do a 
good job in meeting all the responsibilities this new committee has, 
including all the responsibilities they had to start with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Fitzgerald). The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, as I was listening to the Senator from 
Nevada, it brought back memories of the night when he started reading 
from a book he wrote. I think it was about, if I remember correctly, 
Searchlight, NV. I was listening that evening to him, and much to my 
surprise, I actually got caught up in the story of Searchlight, NV. It 
was delightfully told, and although the Senator was clearly killing 
time that evening, I learned a lot about his upbringing and his talent 
in telling a story.
  This afternoon, I feel we have once again seen his talent in telling 
a story. I think it is unfortunate that the Senator from Nevada is 
personalizing this debate. This debate has nothing to do with the 
Senator from Maine. The authority over homeland security could have 
been given to a brand new committee or some other committee.
  What is important to me is that we try to address the recommendation 
made by the 9/11 Commission. I want to read that recommendation because 
it is very clear, it is very straightforward. It says:

       Congress should create a single, principal point of 
     oversight and review for homeland security.

  It goes on to say:

       Congress does have the obligation to choose one in the 
     House and one in the Senate. . . .

  It certainly says the congressional leaders are best able to judge 
which committee should have jurisdiction over this Department and its 
duties, but it makes very clear that it should be a single committee, 
and we have not come close to doing this.
  I admire the Senator from Nevada. He was extremely helpful to me when 
I was managing the intelligence reform bill over 10 days' time. I 
looked to him often for advice. I admire his experience and his 
knowledge, but the recommendation is very clear. It says ``a single, 
principal point of oversight.'' It says ``choose one.'' It does not say 
which one. It did not have to be Governmental Affairs. It could have 
been a new committee. It could have been some other committee. But it 
says ``choose one,'' and we did not choose one. This plan does not even 
come close to choosing one.
  We know that between the House and the Senate, the Department has to 
report to some 88 committees and subcommittees. Here in the Senate, I 
think it is around 26 committees and subcommittees. We reduced those by 
maybe one or two. We still have the Judiciary Committee with 
significant jurisdiction. We still have the Commerce Committee with 
jurisdiction over the two largest agencies within the Department of 
Homeland Security--the Transportation Security Agency and the Coast 
Guard. You can make a case that the Coast Guard has a lot of 
nonhomeland security functions, but certainly the homeland security 
functions of the Coast Guard should have been transferred to the new 
committee. And certainly the TSA, the largest agency within the 
Department of Homeland Security with 51,000 employees, should have been 
transferred.
  Under the proposal of the Senator from Nevada and the Senator from 
Kentucky, certain responsibilities were transferred from the Judiciary 
Committee, but those have been reversed in the course of this debate. 
In fact, the first amendment on the floor had to do with a Customs 
responsibility that had been transferred, and before either the Senator 
from Maine or the Senator from Connecticut were even given the courtesy 
of a phone call about that amendment, it was adopted by the managers of 
the bill. They immediately transferred away from the new committee some 
jurisdiction. Then they went on to suggest the adoption of other 
amendments as well.
  My point is this: This jurisdiction does not have to come to 
Governmental Affairs, but what it should go to is a single committee. 
We should not pretend we are fulfilling the recommendation of the 9/11 
Commission--the very specific recommendation of the 9/11 Commission--
that Congress should vest this responsibility in a single committee 
because we have not come close to that.
  That is the issue. The issue is not whether Governmental Affairs is 
the right committee. The issue is not whether Governmental Affairs has 
other jurisdiction. The issue is, are we going to try to follow the 
recommendation--the very strong recommendation--of the 9/11 Commission 
to consolidate oversight of the Department within one congressional 
committee. Are we going to follow the advice--no, the plea--of 
Secretary Tom Ridge that we consolidate jurisdiction so he and his top 
officials do not have to be constantly racing up to the Hill to testify 
rather than concentrating on the security of our country, because that 
is what this is about.
  This is not about turf battles--this should not be about turf 
battles. This should not be about power plays. This should not be about 
power grabs. It is about how we can best improve congressional 
oversight over a department that is critical to the security of this 
country, and that is the Department of Homeland Security.
  The Senator from Nevada referred to the Senator from Connecticut. 
Perhaps he missed some of the debate yesterday. He is extremely 
attentive to the floor, but at times did step out. The Senator from 
Connecticut could not have made clearer yesterday his disappointment 
with this resolution, and he argued against the amendments that even 
the modest transfers provided in the Reid-McConnell resolution.
  The staff of the Senator from Connecticut has told me they are 
certain the Senator from Connecticut would want me, since he is not 
able to be here today, to make very clear to his colleagues in the 
Senate that he shares, indeed he mirrors, my concerns.
  The Senator from Connecticut has worked very hard to make sure the 
major recommendations of the 9/11 Commission are implemented, and that 
is not what we are doing here.
  At best, we are taking a very modest step forward, but let's not 
pretend that we are in any way implementing the recommendations for a 
single congressional committee in the Senate to have jurisdiction over 
the Department of Homeland Security.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAIG. I ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business 
for a period of 5 minutes.
  Mr. REID. No objection, as long as the time continues to be counted 
against the 30 hours.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is 
so ordered.


                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 2823

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 711, S. 2823.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?

[[Page 21978]]

  (Several Senators addressed the Chair.)
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, you can see by my unanimous consent request 
the alarm I brought to the Senate floor just now. The reason that 
happened is because I was attempting to bring to the floor a very 
critical issue that this Congress and this Senate have refused to 
address this year. It is a bill called AgJOBS. It is a bill that has 
more than 60 Members of this body as cosponsors, and yet it is a bill 
that nobody wants to talk about right now and nobody wants to deal with 
in the final hours of this 108th Congress.
  The reason I brought it up now, and I worked it through the Rule XIV 
process over the last several weeks, is because when we talk about 
homeland security, we are talking about border security, we are talking 
immigration reform, we are talking about identifying 8 to 12 million 
undocumented foreign nationals in this country.
  We have seen this Congress, this Senate, toil mightily over the last 
2 weeks to try to address the 9/11 Commission's study and to reshape 
our intelligence community, to enhance our national security and 
homeland security. But this Congress has left one part of that effort 
unfinished.
  This year, we have refused to address one of the greatest problems in 
our country, and that is an immigration policy that has resulted in 8 
to 12 million undocumented workers.
  For the last 5 years, I and others have tried to deal with one small 
aspect of this issue, those foreign nationals who come to our country 
in agriculture. There are about 1.6 million individuals in our 
agricultural work force, and most of them are undocumented. Yet they 
come here to work and harvest our fields and to process our foods, to 
allow this great agriculture of ours to be the most abundant in the 
world, and yet we will not give them a reasonable and legal status so 
they can continue to work, continue to return home across our borders 
with a degree of fluidity, without fear to go to their families. The 
current system has effectively locked them inside this country, in the 
shadows.
  We have created for ourselves a monstrous problem, and the American 
public knows it. It is all about homeland security, and it is all about 
border security, and yet, oh, my goodness, we just could not get to it 
this year.
  I have worked for several years to produce the AgJOBS legislation. It 
is bipartisan. Senator Ted Kennedy is my primary cosponsor, and we have 
worked very hard to keep it bipartisan. The numbers on the same bill 
have grown rapidly in the House, because this is an issue whose time 
has come and yet somehow we just do not have time to get to it.
  So I thought it was important one more time, in the waning hours of 
the 108th Congress, to try to bring it to the floor and at least talk a 
little bit about it. When I risked bringing it to the floor, my 
goodness, papers flew and chairs tipped over as people rushed to the 
microphones to object. Is it a matter of timing? Is it a matter of 
opposition to reform? Oh, no, it is a matter of, gee, we just do not 
want to talk about this issue this year.
  Let me serve notice to the Senate right now--I do not oftentimes do 
this--but when there are more than 60 Members of this body who are 
ready to debate an issue and vote on it, we will get a vote. With a 
bipartisan coalition nationwide of more than 400 groups that have come 
together, from the American Farm Bureau to the United Farm Workers, 
saying, for goodness' sake, Government, get your act together, solve 
this problem, create a program that moves us forward, that gives a 
legal status for people to work in this country who do the kind of work 
that many Americans would choose not to do, we will get a vote. That is 
what the AgJOBS is about. It means the reduction of illegal immigration 
by a reasonable program that allows that kind of safe, productive, 
economically beneficial movement in our country.
  Of the nearly 12 million undocumented population, the vast majority 
do not create or even pose any threat. They are here, they are hard 
working, they work 12 and 14 hours a day, and they save their money, 
because they want to feed their families, they want a better life for 
their children, they want the same opportunity that has always beckoned 
hard working people to America. Some of them would like to be U.S. 
citizens; many would not. Many want to go home to their families across 
the border or overseas at the end of the work season. They are here to 
better themselves and to better their families, something all Americans 
can understand.
  By their presence, they better us. They make our lives better, and in 
this issue with American agriculture, there is no question, they help 
to produce the abundance on the supermarket shelves and the family 
tables of America.
  When I said ``serve notice,'' here is what I am serving: I will not 
give up on getting a vote on this bill and passing it. The bill is 
ready to move now. Its time has come. I have been trying to move it 
this year. If we don't move it this year, when we get back this next 
Congress, this bill will move. We will vote on this issue. If not the 
old Congress, then the new Congress will face this issue. They will 
face it in a variety of ways.
  Some will say, let us do a large, all-inclusive immigration bill. 
Fine, while the committees are spending the 10 or 12 months or 2 years 
to try to figure that one out, we are going to vote on this one because 
it is a small piece of a very large puzzle, but it is the right piece. 
It will show we can cooperatively do what we ought to do in a fair and 
responsible way to create an earned status so these folks can work here 
in a legal way and can move freely back and forth across the borders, 
dominantly between the United States and Mexico, but clearly with other 
countries of the world, too. We want to eliminate these human hazards 
of the kind that have been created along the Mexican-American border, 
where last year more than 300 people died, many of them in the deserts, 
in the hot sun, or being smuggled in the back of trucks, trying to get 
here to work, because we have a program that does not function.
  That is why I came to the floor, and I am sorry if I caused undue 
alarm on the part of some of my colleagues. I was quite confident that 
at some point someone would object because some would argue this 
issue's time has not yet come. It will come. It may be January, 
February, or March of 2005, but it will be on this floor for a full, 
constructive, and positive debate and a vote up or down, possibly with 
the opportunity for some amendments, because this is legislation that 
now demands our consideration.
  Americans want our borders controlled. They want undocumented foreign 
nationals identified in our country. This is a small step in the right 
direction of that effort to accomplish that goal.
  Amnesty is not the solution. It has been tried before and it has 
failed.
  The current system has not worked either, and opposition to amnesty 
should not be an excuse for tolerating a dysfunctional status quo.
  AgJOBS avoids the problems and limitations of past initiatives and 
other proposals. AgJOBS is the only proposal that addresses the problem 
for both the short term and the long term.
  In the long term, when willing American workers can not be found to 
work in our fields, that shortage would be addressed through a reformed 
H-2A program. The current program is so burdensome and costly that it 
now supplies only about 2 percent of our farm workers. It will take 
time to implement reforms that allow H-2A to meet our needs with legal 
guest workers.
  In the short run, while H-2A reforms are being implemented, the 
earned adjustment program in AgJOBS would stabilize our current 
agricultural work force. Trusted, proven workers who have already been 
working here in 2003 and 2002 and before would be allowed to stay and 
continue to work.
  A reformed H-2A program, made workable with the red tape cut out, 
would meet future work force needs

[[Page 21979]]

and mean the earned adjustment program would not have to be repeated.
  A realistic, workable guest worker program actually would reduce 
illegal immigration.
  The last time the United States had a substantial agricultural guest 
worker program, apprehensions of undocumented workers actually 
plummeted, from almost 900,000 in 1953 to a low of 45,336 in 1959.
  Whatever other aspects of this so-called ``bracero'' program were 
subject to criticism, history proved that its 500,000 farm workers 
entered our country legally, worked in jobs citizens did not want, 
obeyed our laws, returned home at the end of the work season, and 
dramatically reduced the demand for, and supply of, undocumented labor.
  Increased enforcement of our laws is part of the solution, and we've 
made progress.
  In the last decade, we have tripled the number of agents enforcing 
border and immigration laws.
  Worker identification checks have intensified.
  Apprehensions have skyrocketed above 900,000 a year and formal 
removals have increased sixfold.
  High-tech initiatives are coming online.
  We are poised to take up the FY 2005 Homeland Security Appropriations 
bill, which again increases resources in this area.
  However, more enforcement is only part of the answer.
  This is demonstrated by the fact that, despite more enforcement, over 
the last decade, the undocumented population has more than doubled.
  The self-described ``experts'' who say, ``Just round them up and 
deport them,'' are only proposing an excuse, not a solution, while the 
situation just gets worse. That is the cruelest amnesty of all.
  Instead, we must manage our borders and our immigration system 
better.
  AgJOBS is a critical part of doing just that--managing our borders 
better and improving our homeland security by bringing hundreds of 
thousands of individuals up out of the shadows and into a legal system.
  We can never neglect the humanitarian side of this, as well, that we 
should treat with dignity and humaneness those who labor to put the 
food on our families' tables.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. KENNEDY. It is a privilege to join Senator Craig today in urging 
the Senate to pass this important jobs bill for immigrants in 
agriculture. We have been struggling for decades to find a solution to 
the heart-wrenching problems facing so many farm workers for so long.
  The Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act--
AgJOBS--is an opportunity to correct these long-festering problems. In 
a landmark agreement, both the United Farm Workers and the agricultural 
industry support this solution. It gives farm workers and their 
families the dignity and opportunity they deserve, and it gives farm 
owners a legal workforce.
  The bill is a compromise, and it has 63 Senate sponsors, with almost 
equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans. More than 400 organizations 
across the country support it. They include advocates for farm workers, 
such as the United Farm Workers, the Farm Labor Organizing Community, 
and the Farm Worker Justice Fund. They include business groups such as 
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Council of Agricultural 
Employers, the American Nursery and Landscape Association, and the 
American Farm Bureau Federation. They include civil rights groups such 
as the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Latino organizations such 
as the National Council of LaRaza, the Mexican American Legal Defense 
and Educational Fund, and the League of United Latin American Citizens.
  It is a bill whose time has come. In fact, we should have passed it 
long before now, because the need is so great, and the current 
situation is so untenable. For economic, security, and humanitarian 
reasons, Congress ought to complete action on this legislation before 
we adjourn for the year.
  The AgJOBS bill is good for both business and labor. The Nation can 
no longer ignore the fact that more than half of our agricultural 
workers are undocumented immigrants. Growers need a reliable and legal 
workforce. Workers need legal status to improve their wages and working 
conditions. Everyone is harmed when crops rot in the field because of 
the lack of an adequate labor force.
  The AgJOBS bill provides a fair and reasonable process for these 
agricultural workers to earn legal status. It reforms the current visa 
program, so that employers unable to obtain American workers can hire 
the foreign workers they need.
  Undocumented farm workers are easily and unfairly exploited by 
unscrupulous contractors and growers. Their illegal status deprives 
them of bargaining power and depresses the wages of all farm workers. 
Our bill provides fair solutions for undocumented workers who have been 
toiling in our fields, harvesting our fruits and vegetables.
  The bill is not an amnesty. To earn the right to remain in this 
country, workers have to demonstrate past work contributions to the 
U.S. economy, and also make a substantial future work commitment. These 
men and women will finally be able to come out of the shadows, identify 
themselves, and provide evidence that they have worked in agriculture, 
so that they can continue to work hard and play by the rules.
  Hard-working migrant farm workers are essential to American 
agriculture. We need an honest agriculture policy that recognizes the 
contributions of these workers and respects and rewards their work.
  The legislation will also modify the current temporary foreign 
agricultural worker program, and it does so in a way that preserves and 
enhances key labor protections. It strikes a fair balance. It also 
benefits employers, by streamlining the visa application process and 
reducing paperwork for employers.
  This legislation will also unify families. When temporary residence 
is granted, a farm worker's spouse and minor children will be allowed 
to remain legally in the United States, but they will not be authorized 
to work. When the worker becomes a permanent resident, the spouse and 
minor children will also be granted that status.
  In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, we can no 
longer accept policies that fail to protect our borders. Congress has 
periodically invested millions of dollars to increase the number of 
immigration border patrol agents, improve surveillance technology, and 
install other controls to strengthen border enforcement, especially 
along our southwest border. Yet, almost everyone agrees that these 
steps have failed to stop illegal immigration. The proof is in the 
numbers--several hundred thousand people a year continue to enter the 
United States illegally, and a significant part of the workforce in 
many sectors of the economy, especially agriculture, is undocumented.
  One major unintended effect of our border enforcement strategy has 
been to shift illegal border crossings to the harsh desert and mountain 
terrains along the border, causing significant increases in deaths. 
According to the U.S. Border Patrol, since 1998 nearly 2000 people have 
died attempting to make the difficult journey across that border. 
Desperate migrants are being drawn into criminal smuggling syndicates, 
which increase the danger of violence to border patrol officers, border 
communities, and the workers themselves. As Stephen Flynn, an expert on 
terrorism, noted at a recent Congressional hearing, these ``draconian 
measures'' have produced chaos at our borders, which ``makes it ideal 
for exploitation by criminals and terrorists.''
  The AgJOBS bill will make legality the norm and reduce illegal 
immigration. It provides reasonable rules that are realistic and 
enforceable. It replaces the chaotic, deadly, and illegal flows at our 
borders with orderly, safe, and legal avenues for these farm workers 
and their families. A workable and legal program for foreign workers 
crossing our borders will strengthen our security, substantially reduce

[[Page 21980]]

crime and enable immigration enforcement authorities to focus their 
resources on terrorists and criminals trying to enter the country 
illegally. We need laws that recognize reality, so that legality is the 
rule, not the exception.
  In this post-9/11 world, we cannot afford to ignore the fact any 
longer that so much of today's agricultural workforce is undocumented. 
The AgJOBS bill enhances our national security and makes out 
communities safer. It brings undocumented farm workers and their 
families out of the shadows and makes it possible for them to pass 
thorough security checks. It shrinks the pool of law enforcement 
targets and enables law enforcement officers to give priority to 
terrorists and criminals. It will make our communities safer, because 
once immigrants become legal, they will no longer fear deportation if 
they report crimes to law enforcement officers.
  Reducing the size of the undocumented population also reduces the 
ability of suspected terrorists to hide. The half million or more 
undocumented farm workers eligible for this program will undergo 
rigorous security checks when they apply for legal status. Future 
temporary workers will be carefully screened to meet security concerns. 
Law enforcement resources will be more effectively focused on the 
highest risks.
  Opponents of this legislation offer no workable solutions to the 
serious problems of current law. Yet they have blocked our efforts for 
a genuine debate on the issue. We cannot be complacent any longer. I 
urge my colleagues to support this needed legislation. It is long past 
time to end these dangerous conditions, and to do it in a way that not 
only improves the lives and working conditions of all farm workers, but 
also enhances the security of our Nation. I urge my colleagues to 
approve this legislation, and I look forward to its enactment into law 
as soon as possible.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. Will the Senator yield for a unanimous consent request?
  Mr. ENSIGN. Yes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Senator from Nevada wishes to speak; 
also the Senator from Louisiana. Even though there has not been a lot 
of order here today, I wonder if we could attempt, at least for a short 
time--how much time does the Senator wish to speak?
  Mr. ENSIGN. I would like to speak for 10 minutes in morning business.
  Mr. REID. The Senator from Nevada, 15 minutes in morning business. 
The Senator from Louisiana, 15 minutes. So 15 minutes to the Senator 
from Nevada, Senator Ensign, followed by the Senator from Louisiana, 15 
minutes, and then we would return to a quorum. Is that appropriate? I 
ask consent.
  Mr. HARKIN. Reserving the right to object.
  Mr. REID. It is 15, 15, go back to a quorum.
  Mr. HARKIN. OK.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, I thank the senior Senator from Nevada for 
allowing us to cooperate to get some time to talk about a couple of 
issues that are related to what we are talking about today.
  I want to talk about the Duelfer report that has been reported widely 
in the papers are in our national news in the last several days.
  The Duelfer report proves one thing--Senator Kerry was right about 
the coalition of the bribed and coerced. They were the countries that 
opposed the war in Iraq. They were the corrupt members of the U.N. 
Security Council who were bought off by Saddam Hussein.
  Back in June, when I introduced the Oil-For-Food Accountability Act, 
I stated that I believed Saddam Hussein, corrupt U.N. officials, and 
corrupt well-connected countries were the real benefactors of the Oil-
for-Food program. I noted there was evidence that they profited from 
illegal oil shipments, financial transactions, kickbacks, and 
surcharges that allowed Saddam Hussein to build up his armed forces and 
live in the lap of luxury.
  The just-released 1,200-page CIA report confirms those allegations 
and details even more. The report states that some $10.9 billion, 
that's billion with a ``B'', was secretly skimmed from the U.N. oil-
for-food program for Saddam to use as he pleased.
  The report outlines how Saddam Hussein used lavish gifts of oil 
vouchers and contracts to secure the support of countries to lift U.N. 
sanctions on Iraq and oppose American initiatives in the Security 
Council. And this might be the most important point I make today--an 
Iraqi Intelligence report indicated that one nation--France--was bribe 
to use its veto in the U.N. Security Council againts any effort to use 
armed forces in Iraq, and France later threatened to do just that.
  France was not the only culprit in corruption. France was joined by 
Russia and China--also permanent members of the U.N. Security Council--
as the top three countries in which influential individuals, companies 
or entities received oil vouchers. According to the report, Russia 
received 30 percent of the vouchers, France 15 percent and China 10 
percent.
  The real ``coalition of the bribed and coerced'' is the three members 
of the U.N. Security Council that were bought and sold by Saddam 
Hussein. The three members of the Security Council that profited 
immensely as long as Saddam Hussen remained in power.
  The oil voucher system used by Saddam through the U.N. Oil-For-Food 
program was clever in that the vouchers were negotiable and could be 
resold to oil companies or other buyers at profits of 10 to 35 cents 
per barrel.
  A voucher for 10 million barrels could generate between $1 million 
and $3.5 million to the holder of those vouchers.
  The report notes that Benon Sevan, the former top U.N. Official in 
charge of the oil-for-food program was himself a recipent of Saddam's 
scheme. The report says that Mr. Sevan was allocated 13 million barrels 
of oil, of which 7.3 million were cashed in. There is also information 
about how Saddam's illicit oil profits were used to rearm Iraq. The 
report details how Saddam's deals with Chinese companies helped Iraq 
improve its missile capabilities. Russian companies provided barrels 
for antiaircraft guns, missile components, and missile-guidance 
electronics. French military contractors offered to supply Saddam 
Hussein with helicopters, spare parts for fighter aircraft and air 
defense systems. On the WMD front, Duelfer reports that using the Oil-
for-Food program, Saddam Hussein was making a point of procuring the 
resources and establishing the networks to start a massive effort to 
produce chemical-weapons production just months after sanctions were 
lifted.
  With Saddam's coalition of the bribed and coerced in place as three 
of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, no amount of 
coalition-building by an American president was going to preserve the 
sanctions on Saddam Hussein. No amount of diplomacy was going to get 
those countries to enforce Security Council resolutions by force. They 
were permanent members on Saddam's payroll. The CIA report notes that 
Saddam had succeeded: to the point where sitting members of the 
Security Council were actively violating resolutions passed by the 
Security Council.
  So when I hear talk about some kind of a global test, or the need for 
UN Security Council approval for the use of force this Senator turns 
away in disgust because, with the release of the Duelfer report, we 
have names, dates, and amounts of bribes to prove that our critics, 
including the UN, do not have the moral authority to judge our actions. 
They are not motivated by security interests, humanitarian needs or any 
other noble cause. They are motivated by greed. America's freedom to 
use force wisely and justly is truly the world's best hope for peace 
and security. God bless President George W. Bush for having the courage 
to stand by his convictions.
  He is doing his job. It is time, now, for the U.S. Senate to follow 
the 9/11 Commission's recommendations.

[[Page 21981]]

  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I think under the unanimous consent 
agreement that I am entitled to speak for the next 15 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.


                               TAX RELIEF

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, the Senator from Nevada makes some 
interesting points. I will have more to say about that specific issue 
later, as will other Senators from this side. But I am glad that he 
brought up the point of greed because it is actually something that I 
am going to speak about myself but as it relates to a different aspect, 
a different bill, and a different issue, but basically the same 
``sin,'' if you will.
  Unfortunately, it is not our allies who are committing this sin, it 
is us right here. We are debating now, over the course of the next 
several days, and have actually been debating for 2 years, a tax relief 
bill prompted by the World Trade Organization's decision that some of 
the things in our U.S. Tax Code were contrary to the free trade 
principles that most of us--not all of us but most of us--espouse. So 
that decision set in motion a very necessary effort to address that 
decision by changing some things in our Tax Code.
  Of course, anytime you open up the Tax Code there are many people 
interested in changing the words, the letters, the titles, the 
paragraphs, and the provisions. Sometimes a change in one word could 
mean a $1 billion windfall for a particular company, or millions of 
dollars of windfall for particular entities. There is a lot of interest 
every time this body opens up a tax bill.
  Two years ago when it came to the attention of some of us that a tax 
bill would be opened, and then as the 9/11 tragedy happened and as we 
saw men and women from our States going to the front lines to fight in 
Afghanistan and Iraq, and as we watched some of our health units, 
particularly in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, right here in 
Washington, DC, and Virginia respond to some very tough casualties that 
this country experienced, some of us began to think: What could we do 
in this tax bill to honor the men and women who are on the front lines?
  Not being on the Finance Committee, I wasn't aware of all the 
specific aspects, but I knew there would be maybe hundreds or thousands 
of entities, corporations, big and small, groups that thought they were 
entitled to some sort of tax break.
  For the life of me, I didn't think we would have any trouble at all 
when a group of us got together--Senator Boxer being one, Senator 
Mikulski, Senator Murray, Senator Daschle, Senator Reid, Senator Bond, 
the Senator from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham, and many others--and 
thought, having been to a lot of parades and flag-waving ceremonies for 
our troops, maybe there would be a way we could help them in this tax 
bill.
  I know it is not the focus, but we figured--or I thought--there would 
be lots of other people who were trying to get in. So why don't we try 
to get our troops in? The good part of this story is we did in the 
Senate, with the help of Senator Grassley, Senator Baucus, and many 
members on the Senate Finance Committee who worked long hours, many 
weeks, many months negotiating a bill that would correct the original 
problem that the World Trade Organization had, and provide some tax 
relief, according to their views and other people who wanted tax 
relief; we put in a tax benefit of $2 billion for the men and women who 
are actually on the front lines, the guardsmen and reservists who have 
become a larger and larger component of our fighting force, who leave 
their regular jobs, leave their families, and leave their regular 
civilian life, put on their uniforms and go to the front lines.
  We know from reports which we have read and from our own experience 
representing our Guard and Reserve in our own States that 40 percent of 
these men and women take a cut in pay to go to the front lines. Not 
only do they take the bullet, not only do their Humvees get blown up on 
patrols, but they also take a cut in pay to go.
  Some of us had the notion that maybe in this bill, whether it was 
going to be $350 billion or $75 billion or $100 billion, now it is $137 
billion--I would like to show you what that looks like. This is only 
part of it. This is what a bill looks like that has tax relief 
provisions of $137 billion. This is just part of it. I am going to get 
the rest of it because it is a lot of pages.
  Some of us had the foolish notion that maybe the Congress could find 
one page, one paragraph, one letter to include tax relief for American 
businesses that are doing the right thing, the patriotic thing, by 
filling the pay gap that these men and women are experiencing. When 
they leave their civilian life and they put the uniform on, and they 
pick up their paychecks from the Army, Air Force, or the Navy, they get 
a substantial cut in pay. Some of the employers are making them whole 
and doing the right thing, the patriotic thing. We thought surely in 
this tax bill we could give a tax credit to those small businesses 
because times are not good everywhere in some States and communities. 
Really, the whole economy is weaker than we had expected and these 
small businesses are struggling.
  But I don't know why Chairman Thomas from California who wrote the 
bill, and the House leadership of Congressman DeLay and Speaker 
Hastert, couldn't find one page or paragraph to include them. So they 
were left out. They weren't in the top of the list, they weren't in the 
middle of the list, and they were not at the bottom of the list. They 
are not on the list.
  We stand here and talk all weekend about our intelligence 
reorganization to secure ourselves. We talk about spending and the 
investment in our defense to secure ourselves. Let me just ask anyone 
who would want to come to this floor, or Chairman Thomas, if he is 
listening to me, what could we be thinking if we are not even keeping 
the paychecks of the men and women on the front lines whole? No bonus, 
no extra, just keep their paycheck whole, just to keep their house 
payments up, just to keep the car notes for their spouse who is at home 
so they can continue to work and transport the children, just keep the 
children's trust funds moving along so they don't have to make that up 
when they come home--what could they be thinking? They weren't thinking 
very well on the House side. They took it out.
  If we could afford $2.5 trillion in tax cuts in 2001, I think we 
could at least allocate one-tenth of 1 percent to our troops on the 
front lines who are protecting us today.
  I want to say another thing to the businesses that are in this bill. 
I have a lot of companies in Louisiana that are going to benefit from 
this bill. I have not a word to say about that. I am happy they are in. 
I am sure they have good reasons. I am sure it is going to help create 
jobs.
  But I have a word to say to the businesses in the United States of 
America. No business would be here, no business could operate, no 
business would have international trade, no business would have 
stockholders, no business would have a profit sheet, no businesspeople 
would be paying taxes on profits they made if it were not for the men 
and women in uniform who go to the front lines every time we have a 
conflict, a peacekeeping mission or a war to undertake to protect their 
commercial interests.
  I am confident that the businesspeople who are represented in this 
bill know that. I know they are not going to blame me for taking a few 
days to talk about it. I know they will say, Senator, you are right. We 
are grateful to the men and women in uniform. We are actually a little 
embarrassed because we are in the bill and they are not. It is not 
their fault. It is nobody's fault. But the House leadership who wrote 
the bill left them out.
  We have in this bill help for investors who want to invest in a 
subway system in Paris. I like NASCAR. Lots of people in my State go to 
NASCAR races. We have tax relief for NASCAR. We have tax relief for 
ceiling fan importers with Home Depot. I shop at Home Depot. I like 
Home Depot. But we left out the Guard and Reserve.

[[Page 21982]]

  I don't know. I am just starting to think that unless the cameras are 
on nobody remembers the truth. It is only the photo opportunities or 
the rallies or the parades that everybody goes to. We wear the pins and 
the flags, but when it comes to the budget and to the tax bill, we 
leave them out.
  I don't think our troops need a lobbyist. I thought we were their 
advocates. Mr. President, $137 billion and we could not allocate $2 
billion, not $1 billion, not half a billion?
  I will speak about this as often as possible for the next couple of 
days. I tell my leadership, I don't want to make people's lives 
miserable. I am happy to talk with our leadership and the Republican 
leadership about any time agreements that make people's weekends 
convenient, but I could not in good conscience not spend some hours--
whether it is 2, 5, 10, or 30--talking about the 5,000 men and women 
who have been deployed out of Louisiana, who are on the front lines, 
whose employers, whom I know personally, are making their paychecks 
whole.
  We had the chance to help out small business, to help our National 
Guard and Reserve. Somebody, somewhere, on the other side of this 
Capitol made a decision that is immoral, unconscionable, and most 
certainly not justifiable.
  I will present for the record some names of families. I will present 
some hardship cases so the record is clear about the kind of families 
we have turned our backs on and the kind of employers who are doing the 
very best they can. While they are hiring a replacement, because they 
obviously need the job done, and sending the paycheck overseas, the 
Government of the United States, which is supposed to be on their side, 
decides we do not want to help them because we have higher priorities.
  What higher priorities could we possibly have in the Tax Code at this 
time? If any one of my colleagues wants to explain to me and anyone 
else what could be a higher priority, I would appreciate it. If there 
is something else in here for the Guard and Reserve, for the military, 
to support our troops directly, please tell me. Maybe I didn't get to 
read the whole report.
  I was on the Armed Services Committee for several years. Eventually, 
I hope to be on Defense Appropriations where I can do more work along 
this line. I know one thing, last year the Guard and Reserve, despite 
the fact these are the most dedicated and patriotic men and women--they 
will go the distance. They do not complain. They do not even like to 
say what is wrong because they feel sacrifice is what they do. I 
understand that. They came 5,000 people short of their retention goals. 
Could it possibly be because, although the soldiers do not mind making 
the sacrifice, they are getting belly sick of their spouses and their 
wives and children making sacrifices more than the rest of us are 
making? Why can't we sacrifice and help them? Why do they have to 
continue to make the sacrifice? When we have the opportunity, we say 
no.
  Drastic pay cuts, bankruptcies, foreclosures--these aren't exactly 
the kinds of challenges members of the American military reserve signed 
up for when they volunteered to put their life on the line for us and 
for a country as great as this. For all of our pompous talk about how 
patriotic we are in this Congress, the least we can do is keep their 
paycheck whole.
  Let me talk about three families I actually know. I will be in the 
Chamber talking about more.
  Janet Wright is from Hammond, LA. Her husband Russell is in the 
Marine Corps. I have the Marine Corps pin on today in honor of our men 
and women. He makes $60,000 a year in the civilian world. He was 
activated and made only $30,000. He took a 50-percent pay cut. Mrs. 
Wright said that after a couple of months she started to put water in 
her children's cereal while her husband was gone because she had to 
count every penny. That is what happens when we give out $137 billion: 
We cannot help the Wrights. We don't have enough money to help the 
Wrights, so they have to put water in the children's cereal bowls.
  Scott is a Navy reservist from California. He lost his home when he 
was activated and he lost nearly $1,000 a month in pay because the Navy 
job was different than the civilian. People say, Senator, that is 
impossible. There is a law that protects people from losing their home. 
I know that. You cannot foreclose on someone's home when they are on 
the front line. But the problem is, the bills add up and when they have 
to come home, if they have not paid those monthly notes and they cannot 
pay it within a certain amount of time, the foreclosure happens.
  I don't understand how we don't have any money to fix it. How can I 
go home and tell my Guard and Reserve, I'm sorry, we didn't have any 
money, but here is $137 billion we gave out to everybody else? I am not 
going to do it. I can't go home. So I would as soon stay here because I 
don't have a thing I can tell them, not a thing I can say.
  I will tell more stories about real people. They are calling my 
office right now and sending letters. We are getting a lot of e-mails. 
I will come down here until I hear from Chairman Thomas. We are sending 
a letter to the President at 6 o'clock today.
  Let me say on the record I don't think the President of the United 
States knows they were left out. He has a lot on his mind. I understand 
that. And I know this is only one of a thousand things he has to 
consider, literally, weekly. But I am sending him a letter to let him 
know. I cannot amend this bill; it is beyond my power to amend it. It 
is against the rules. But the bill could be vetoed and this could be 
included. Or the President could send a message to his House leadership 
that says, you must have made a mistake; we should have included this. 
We obviously could afford it and he could promise to fix it.
  I hope that is a response we will get over the next couple of days. I 
don't know. I know he is very busy on many other things right now. 
There will be a big debate tonight, but this is something I had to 
bring to our attention.
  Over 410,000 members of the National Guard and Reserve have been 
activated since September 11. Secretary Rumsfeld has predicted that 
number may go up to 640,000. That is a lot of families dependent on us 
to make good decisions for them. This was not a good decision made by 
the House leadership. I will do everything in my power to get them to 
change their mind, to change the bill, or to promise they will put in 
this $2 billion or $3 billion--whatever it will cost to close this pay 
gap--so the men and women who leave your State of Illinois or my State 
of Louisiana or the Senator's State of Ohio or the Senator's State of 
Massachusetts, when the soldiers leave to go overseas, they have 
confidence that when we have a chance to help them keep their pay 
whole, keep their benefits intact, give them some support in the 
spousal support program we have established, we are there for them.
  I understand the Senator from Massachusetts will speak and I 
understand the Senator from Iowa will yield the time to make that 
possible. But if my colleagues are wondering why the process has slowed 
down, why we are having a hard time getting a schedule for the next 
couple of days, this is one of the reasons. This is the reason I am 
voting against the bill and will be speaking about it as the days go 
forward.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. REID. It is my understanding that the majority has people who 
want to speak. I know the Senator from North Carolina is here and 
wishes to speak for 10 minutes and the Senator from Massachusetts 
wishes to speak for up to 30 minutes. This would be as if in morning 
business. Senator Kennedy will speak for up to 30 minutes. Of course, 
the time counts against the 30 hours we are working under now. And we 
would ask that the majority be recognized for up to 30 minutes, to 
match that of the time for Senator Kennedy, with the first 10 minutes 
being for the Senator from North Carolina, and that time also be 
counted against the 30 hours. I ask unanimous consent that be the 
order.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Murkowski). Is there objection?

[[Page 21983]]

  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, while my good friend the Senator from 
Louisiana is in the Chamber, I commend her for the enormously 
persuasive case she has made and say I agree with her 100 percent and 
will certainly do everything I can to support her.
  The point is, we passed this underlying bill in June, and the 
conferees were appointed in July by the Senate of the United States. 
The House of Representatives did not even appoint their conferees until 
the end of last week, and did not have their first meeting until Monday 
of this week, and we are trying to jam this legislation through the 
Senate late in the afternoon on a Friday, and the cloture motion was 
filed the first thing this morning before there was 1 minute of debate 
on it.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Yes.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I say that both in terms of the substance, which is so 
powerful, and the process and the procedure in standing for the Guard 
and Reserve, I commend the leader. There is an arrogance among the 
chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Republican 
leadership that ends up and results in this kind of a situation where 
they say: Well, there won't be people over there who will stand for the 
Guard and Reserve. We will send it over there late either last night, 
which they would have done if they had been able to get these printed 
up, or we will have it over there on Friday morning, and they will all 
want to take off on Friday, so they will go ahead and pass it. That is 
the view.
  I commend the Senator from Louisiana for the substance and commend 
her for the process as well. And I will take the time not just at this 
moment but also to comment about the same legislation, how Chairman 
Thomas and the Republican leadership are prepared to take care of the 
tobacco companies but not take care of America's children. That was the 
choice. You could have done both. I would have supported looking out 
after tobacco farmers who are having difficulties on that. I would have 
supported having the tobacco companies pay for that particular bailout. 
But it should have included the protection of America's children, and 
the Republican leadership refused to do that.
  It refused to look out after American workers. We have passed--three 
times in the Senate, twice in the House of Representatives--a 
prohibition against this administration's repeal of the overtime 
provisions that affect 6 million of our fellow workers, primarily the 
first responders. Police and firefighters and nurses: They are three of 
the largest groups that were going to be affected. We passed that three 
times. The House of Representatives passed it twice.
  We had 5 minutes of discussion on it from the proponents of it in the 
same conference. I was there. So that is certainly one of the reasons 
that we speak and we are so concerned about those provisions. We will 
have a chance to address those matters. But I do want to speak to the 
Senate on two other matters briefly this afternoon.


                            Afghan Elections

  Madam President, one is the greatest intelligence failures in our 
history occurred on 9/11, and the seeds of that disaster were planted 
long ago in Afghanistan, whose people will participate tomorrow in the 
historic election to select their next President. I know my colleagues 
share my deep respect for the Afghan people and the many others who 
worked so hard in recent months to make these elections possible.
  The elections already have been postponed three times, and the 
parliamentary elections that were to be held this weekend have now been 
delayed until next year. President Karzai has shown tremendous courage 
and determination in the face of multiple assassination attempts. He 
and the vast majority of the Afghan people have demonstrated an 
impressive commitment to a free and democratic Afghanistan.
  Yet Afghanistan still faces fundamental threats to the casting of 
ballots on Saturday, let alone its long-term stability and prosperity. 
Elections are vitally important to the process of rebuilding a free 
country, but they are not a panacea for the myriad of problems that 
face the people in Afghanistan. Those problems will still be there the 
day after the elections, and the Bush administration, Congress, and the 
American people cannot afford to be distracted from the ongoing efforts 
that will be required to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan.
  We made that mistake once before in Afghanistan, in the aftermath of 
the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, and the result was a failed nation that 
became the breeding ground for the terrorists who attacked us on 
September 11, 2001. We cannot afford to allow Afghanistan to fall into 
chaos once again. Unfortunately, because of its misguided war in Iraq, 
the Bush administration may bring us perilously close to doing just 
that.
  In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, President 
Bush rightly spoke about the need to put Afghanistan on the right 
course. He welcomed then-Chairman of the Afghan Interim Authority Hamid 
Karzai to the White House in January 2002, and said:

       The United States is committed to building a lasting 
     partnership with Afghanistan. We will help the new Afghan 
     government provide the security that is the foundation for 
     peace.

  Instead of finishing the job, however, President Bush foolishly and 
recklessly diverted America's attention from the real war on terrorism 
in Afghanistan by rushing to war in Iraq, a country that had no 
operational links to al-Qaida terrorists.
  We now know that President Bush began planning the invasion of Iraq 
from the earliest days of his administration. Finding a rationale to 
get rid of Saddam Hussein was on the agenda from day one of this 
administration. Barely 3 months after the most vicious terrorist attack 
on America, the President already began concentrating on Iraq, not 
Afghanistan. On November 26, 2001, he said:

       Afghanistan is still just the beginning.

  And 3 days later, even before Hamid Karzai had been approved as 
interim Afghan President, Vice President Cheney publicly began to send 
signals about attacking Iraq. On November 29, he said:

       I don't think it takes a genius to figure out this guy 
     [Saddam Hussein] is clearly . . . a significant potential 
     problem for the region, for the United States, for everybody 
     with interests in the area.

  The shift was all but sealed by the time of President Bush's State of 
the Union Address on January 29, 2002. Karl Rove had told the 
Republican National Committee that terrorism could be used politically. 
Remember that speech, that terrorism could be used politically? That is 
Karl Rove in 2002: Republicans could ``go to the country on this 
issue.''
  In the State of the Union Address, President Bush unveiled his ``Axis 
of Evil''--Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Those three words forged the 
lockstep linkage between the Bush administration's top political 
advisers and the Big Three: Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz.
  What did President Bush say about bin Laden in the State of the Union 
Address that day? Nothing.
  What did he say about al-Qaida? One fleeting mention.
  What did he say about the Taliban? Nothing.
  Nothing about bin Laden, a fleeting mention of al-Qaida, nothing 
about the Taliban in that State of the Union Address.
  With those words, we lost our clear focus on the most imminent threat 
to our national security--Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. The President 
had checked the box on Afghanistan and was poised to use the 9/11 
attacks to advance his Iraq war agenda of a war on Iraq.
  The consequences of that decision have been severe for the security 
of Afghanistan and for the security of the American people. Without a 
doubt, the war with Iraq has distracted us from the hunt for Osama bin 
Laden.
  The administration botched the battle at Tora Bora in December 2001. 
By outsourcing the job to warlords in Afghanistan, he let Osama bin 
Laden escape. Instead of sticking with the job of capturing bin Laden, 
the administration launched a war with Iraq. Reports indicate that the 
Bush administration shifted special operations soldiers and

[[Page 21984]]

 Arab language specialists from Afghanistan to prepare for the war in 
Iraq. And it recently pulled the State Department's extraordinarily 
talented assistance coordinator for Afghanistan, William Taylor, out of 
Afghanistan and sent him to Iraq. Saddam Hussein is behind bars, but he 
did not attack America.
  Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden is probably hiding somewhere in the 
ungovernable tribal region between Afghanistan and Pakistan planning 
another attack on America.
  Security outside of Kabul is tenuous because we and our allies are 
overstretched in Iraq and cannot commit sufficient troops in 
Afghanistan. We have 140,000 troops in Iraq and our allies, another 
20,000. It was al-Qaida operatives who trained in Afghanistan who 
attacked America. Yet America has seven times more troops in Iraq than 
in Afghanistan.
  We obviously do not have enough soldiers to secure Afghanistan. It 
was the lowest troop-to-population ratio of any postconflict country 
during the past 60 years. President Karzai asked for 20,000 new troops 
for election security at the NATO summit last June. The U.N. reportedly 
estimated this summer that it would take somewhere between 5,000 and 
15,000 additional troops to secure this Saturday's election. Sadly, 
what NATO and the United States eventually provided fell far short of 
that requirement--3,000 troops total. Spain agreed to send a battalion 
to Afghanistan for election security only after the Government pulled 
its troops out of Iraq. Our allies can't meet NATO requests for a 
minimal increase in troops for Afghanistan because they too are bogged 
down in Iraq.
  This administration's lack of credibility with the international 
community has made it almost impossible to obtain the necessary troop 
commitments to win peace in Afghanistan. Because the international 
community is unable to provide adequate security in Afghanistan, the 
forces of the Taliban and al-Qaida continue to strike regularly. Most 
experts believe that elements of the Pakistani security services 
continue to support the Taliban and that Taliban forces are able to 
move freely between Afghanistan and Pakistan and can launch attacks on 
American and Afghan forces before retreating to their sanctuaries in 
Pakistan.
  The Bush administration's Ambassador to Afghanistan admits what has 
become the obvious truth on the ground: The Taliban ranks are growing 
in Afghanistan.
  Our Ambassador Zalmay Khalizad told reporters in September:

       With regard to Taliban, I have to say that there may have 
     been some growth in the numbers of their people that are 
     active. There has been some effort, obviously, at 
     recruitment, increased effort at recruitment in the refugee 
     camps and in the madrasas.

  Ambassador Khalizad also tells us that he still sees a ``strong 
link'' between al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Three years 
after our invasion of Afghanistan to deny al-Qaida its sanctuary under 
Taliban protection, the Taliban and al-Qaida still retain a strong 
relationship in Afghanistan. How did the Bush administration ignore the 
fact that America cannot be safe until Afghanistan is stable and al-
Qaida no longer has a haven there?
  As a result of the poor security, President Karzai still does not 
have full control over his country and is forced to negotiate with 
warlords who control private militias with forces numbering in the tens 
of thousands. A recent report by Human Rights Watch summarized the 
issue well:

       Political repression by the local strongmen is the 
     principal problem. Through the country, militarized political 
     factions . . . continue to cement their hold on political 
     power at the local level, using force, threats, and 
     corruption to stifle more legitimate political activity and 
     dominate the election process.

  Our inability to secure Afghanistan means that opium production is at 
record levels. Funds from the drug trade are being used to finance 
attacks against our troops and against the Afghan people. They are 
being used to operate the private armies of the warlords and rebuild 
the ranks of the Taliban. They are pouring fuel on the fire of 
instability and terrorism. Yet the administration failed to give a 
priority to shutting off the drug trade in Afghanistan, and the result 
has been predictably destructive.
  Two weeks ago, Robert Charles, our Assistant Secretary of State for 
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, painted an ominous picture 
in his testimony in the House International Relations Committee. He 
said:

       On the narcotics front, tied like a ball and chain to 
     security, justice and economic development, we stand in the 
     darkness of a long shadow . . . President Karzai and other 
     Afghan officials have said that drug trafficking and the 
     corruption it breeds may be the biggest threat right now to 
     Afghan's long-term security and democratic future.

  The CIA and the United Nations estimate that the crop of poppies for 
2004 will be 20 to 40 percent greater than last year. That means 500 
tons of heroin. No wonder Afghanistan now accounts for 75 percent of 
the worldwide production of opium.
  The long shadow that Robert Charles described is the shadow of our 
misguided war in Iraq. The forces and resources we are pouring into 
Iraq could have been used and should have been used to end the drug 
trade in Afghanistan, regain control of the country from the warlords, 
and dismantle their militias.
  Last month, LTG Walter Sharp of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the 
House International Relations Committee that less than half of the 
approximately 40,000 people targeted in Afghanistan for disarmament had 
actually been disarmed. The operations manager of the U.N. disarmament 
program on the ground in Afghanistan told the Financial Times that 
fewer than 10,000 of the targeted individuals had been disarmed. 
Clearly, the effort to dismantle the private militias has fallen 
drastically short with dangerous consequences for Afghan stability.
  In June, local militias killed five aid workers from Doctors Without 
Borders in a brutal attack. In July, that distinguished nongovernmental 
organization pulled out of Afghanistan after 24 years of helping the 
Afghan people. Their loss is a sad commentary on the continuing 
violence and the Bush administration's misguided handling of 
Afghanistan. The failure to crack down on the narcotics trade, the 
continuing domination of much of the countryside by warlords, and the 
inability of this administration to provide sufficient troops to 
stabilize the country are major setbacks to the war on terrorism. 
Clearly some progress has been made. I hope the elections tomorrow will 
proceed without incident. But if we had not rushed to war with Iraq, 
much greater progress could have been made and certainly would have 
been made in Afghanistan, and America would be safer today. Yet 
President Bush continues to deny this obvious reality. Incredibly, he 
told a campaign rally in Ohio last week that as a result of the U.S. 
military, the Taliban no longer is in existence.
  Representative Ron Paul, a Republican Congressman from Texas, does 
not agree. As he said on September 23:

       A picture of Afghanistan has been painted, I think, overly 
     optimistic. You read the newspapers, what you're talking 
     about doesn't even exist from the reports that I have read 
     about what's really going on. And when you hear about the 
     Doctors Without Borders leaving, after having been there 
     through the Russian occupation. The U.N. wants to leave. 
     Protection of the president is very precarious. We don't know 
     what will come of that.
       The airport's getting bombed. There's estimates that 90 
     percent of the country, at least a very large percent of the 
     country, is under the occupation of the Taliban and the 
     warlords. We have a serious disconnect here and we have to 
     be--as Americans and as members of Congress, we have to be 
     realistic and not hide from the realities of what is 
     happening.

  That is from a Republican Congressman from Texas. I couldn't agree 
more.
  In the aftermath of 9/11, it was clear that America had to deal 
effectively with Afghanistan as the highest priority for our national 
security. It was clear that America could not be safe if Afghanistan 
remained unstable. Instead of finishing the job, we rushed off to fight 
a different war, the war in Iraq. We squandered the tremendous 
worldwide good will that flowed to America after 9/11. We alienated 
longtime friends and leaders in other nations on whom we heavily depend 
for intelligence for support in the ongoing

[[Page 21985]]

war against terrorism. Distrust of America has soared throughout the 
world. We are especially hated in the Muslim world. The past 2 years 
have seen the steepest and deepest fall from grace our country has ever 
suffered in the eyes of the world community in all our history.
  All this is the heavy price our country has paid because of the war 
in Iraq that America never should have fought. We cannot afford to 
continue down this dangerous path of incompetence in foreign policy. We 
know that America has to do better.
  As I have said before, the only thing we have to fear is 4 more years 
of George Bush.
  Madam President, how much time do I have?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 3 minutes remaining.


                              Unemployment

  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, earlier today, the Department of Labor 
issued its report on the state of unemployment in the country. I want 
to just comment on this. It is official now that President Bush will be 
the first President since the days of Herbert Hoover and the Great 
Depression--over 70 years ago--to preside over a net loss of jobs 
during his Presidency.
  Today's job numbers show that only 96,000 were created last month, 
which is even lower than economists had predicted in order to keep up 
with population growth. Even worse, a third of the jobs created were in 
temporary positions. Another third were government jobs, which means 
the private sector job creation is far from recovering.
  The official unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, but the real rate of 
unemployment and underemployment is 9.4 percent. More than 400,000 
workers have stopped looking for work because they are so discouraged. 
They are no longer counted in the official rate. Another 4.5 million 
are working part time because they cannot find full-time jobs.
  Part-time workers and temporary workers earn less money than full-
time permanent employees and often do not even receive benefits. 
America's workers have been out of work for months. They have finally 
found a job, but it is part time or temporary, so they take a huge cut 
and have no health insurance. Temporary workers earn about 40 percent 
less a week than the rest of the workforce.
  Of the 8 million unemployed workers, nearly 22 percent are long-term 
unemployed; they have been out of a job for more than 6 months. This 
long-term unemployment rate has been over the 20-percent mark each 
month since October 2002, 2 consecutive years, which is the longest 
streak since this data has ever been collected.
  Despite these record highs in long-term unemployment, President Bush 
allowed the unemployment insurance program to expire last December. 
These workers have worked hard, played by the rules, and paid into the 
unemployment trust fund, which now has $20 billion in it. But the 
President had said no to extending unemployment benefits for these 
workers.
  Do we understand that, Madam President? You don't get unemployment 
compensation; you are not eligible unless you have worked and 
contributed to the fund. The reason the fund was set up was for just 
this kind of condition, where workers have been working, want to work, 
and need to work, but the economy slows down, so they receive 
unemployment compensation for a period of time, generally 26 weeks. It 
has been extended 13 weeks in particularly high unemployment areas. It 
is just enough to cover the mortgage and put some food on the table and 
put gas in the automobile. It is interesting that Bush No. 1 extended 
the unemployment compensation three times, when we never had the 
economic and adverse economic conditions we have at this time. But this 
President will not extend it to help these workers.
  The job situation is even worse for people of color. The unemployment 
rate for African Americans is more than 10 percent--almost double the 
national average--and for Hispanics, it is 7 percent. And women are not 
faring well in this economy. The income of low-income single mothers 
has gone down by 3 percent every year in the Bush economy--3 percent 
constantly down.
  But President Bush and the Republican Congress refused to raise the 
minimum wage, which would benefit primarily women--7 million of our 
fellow citizens, men and women of dignity, who work hard, clean out the 
great buildings where American industry is housed, help as assistant 
teachers, work in nursing homes--primarily women; and many of them have 
children, so it is a women and children's issue, a family issue. It is 
also a civil rights issue because so many of those who earn minimum 
wage are men and women of color. It is a civil rights, family, women 
and children, and a fairness issue.
  Americans believe if you work hard 52 weeks in the year, you should 
not have to live in poverty. Why is it that the Republican leadership 
has refused to let us have a vote on increasing the minimum wage? I 
offered to increase the minimum wage on the TANF bill. What did the 
leadership do? They pulled the bill. I offered it on the State 
Department reauthorization bill. They pulled the bill so the Senate 
could not vote. Here you see the results of that: no long-term 
unemployment compensation, no increase in the minimum wage.
  Now we hear, as I heard on the Joint Economic Committee, about how 
the hurricanes have really impacted things. We heard other testimony 
that because of the hurricanes more people are working to try to deal 
with the problems. All of this is against a background where those 
workers are facing the perfect storm: the lack of an increase in the 
minimum wage, lack of unemployment compensation, and the fact that this 
administration has put in the regulations to deny overtime for up to 6 
million American workers. So they are going to work longer and harder--
because that is the record if you don't have that protection--and they 
will make less.
  You have those three coming at you and, at the same time, you have 
college tuition going up 38 percent. Health care premiums are up 59 
percent. Gas, 40 percent.
  If you can believe it, milk, in Cape Cod, MA, last week was $4.05 a 
gallon. It is a little less in other parts of Massachusetts, maybe a 
little over $3. But it is $4.05 a gallon there, and we cannot get an 
increase in the minimum wage.
  So American families are working and working long and hard.
  What happens after all this? We have a proposal on the floor of the 
Senate called the JOBS bill--how much time remains?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 3 \1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. KENNEDY. The JOBS bill was meant to initially deal with the $4.5 
billion problem at the World Trade Organization. What has happened is 
the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives sent over a 
$143 billion program that benefited the tobacco companies at the 
expense of the children, and also increased financial incentives to 
drive more American jobs out of the country, rather than bring them 
home--outsourcing.
  My friend, the Senator from Florida, Bob Graham, will address this 
issue during the course of this debate. We see how this legislation 
disserves American workers even more.
  This is a fierce record and everybody on Main Street knows it. This 
economy is working fine for Wall Street. It works well for the elites, 
the elite corporations and the elite individuals. In this economy, we 
have had four tax breaks--at a time when we are fighting two wars--for 
the elite corporations and elite individuals. But for the working 
families on Main Street, they are suffering. Hopefully, they will have 
an opportunity to express themselves on election day.
  I yield back the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina is recognized.
  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, I wonder if the Senator will yield for a 
question.
  Mrs. DOLE. Yes.
  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, I understand the Senator from North 
Carolina is speaking as in morning

[[Page 21986]]

business under a block of time allocated to the other side by prior 
agreement.
  I ask unanimous consent that following the Senator from North 
Carolina--if nobody is on the floor--that I be recognized for 15 
minutes as in morning business, preserving the remainder of the 30 
minutes allocated to the other side. If other speakers on that side are 
here to follow the Senator from North Carolina, I suggest that I follow 
them at the end of the 30-minute period.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator 
modify his request that for whatever time he uses, the majority have 
equal time, subsequent time, and that the time the Senator from North 
Dakota uses and the time of the majority following him be charged 
against the 30 hours.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The 
Senator from North Carolina.


                  Connection Between Iraq And Al-Qaida

  Mrs. DOLE. Madam President, in our post-9/11 world, most Americans 
would agree that to defend our Nation and the freedoms we hold dear we 
must continue to succeed in the war on terror. As many of my colleagues 
and I have said, Iraq is the central battleground in the war on terror. 
The terrorists certainly know what is at stake, which is why they are 
pulling out all the stops to derail our efforts there. They know that a 
free and democratic Iraq is a serious blow to their interests.
  Collaboration of Iraq's former regime with terrorist groups and its 
funding of them have not been in question. Democratic cochairman of the 
9/11 Commission, former Congressman Lee Hamilton, told reporters that 
there were connections between al-Qaida, and Saddam Hussein's 
government. Still, few naysayers have passed up the chance to contest 
links between Iraq and al-Qaida, links that have existed for more than 
a decade.
  Charges have been made that Iraq was not a haven for terrorists 
before the war, this statement being made just days after terrorist 
followers of Zarqawi, arguably the most dangerous terrorist in the 
world today, kidnapped and beheaded American civilians in Iraq. Reports 
strongly suggest that Zarqawi himself committed the atrocities.
  He and his men trained and fought with al-Qaida for years. Not only 
was Zarqawi in Baghdad prior to Saddam's ousting, but nearly two dozen 
members of al-Qaida were there as well. One al-Qaida associate even 
described the situation in Iraq as ``good'' and stated that Baghdad 
could be transited quickly.
  Then there is Abdul Rahman Yasin, another terrorist who was in Iraq 
long before the war. Yasin was a member of the al-Qaida cell that 
detonated the 1993 World Trade Center bomb. Documents discovered 
recently by U.S. forces in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit show that Iraq 
gave Yasin both a home and a salary until the eve of the war in Iraq. 
When a Newsweek reporter interviewed Yasin's Baghdad neighbors, they 
told the reporter that Yasin was ``working for the government.'' Is 
this not a clear example of Iraq not only having a relationship with 
al-Qaida but also harboring and rewarding a terrorist, a person who was 
directly involved in a terrorist attack on our soil?
  What about a link between Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader 
himself, and Iraq? The 9/11 Commission Report states that Iraqi 
intelligence officials and al-Qaida members met in the spring and 
summer of 1998, and that an Iraqi official offered bin Laden a safe 
haven in Iraq. In its 1998 indictment of bin Laden, the Clinton 
administration asserted that al-Qaida and the Iraqi Government had an 
understanding that they would not work against each other, and on 
projects such as weapons development, they would work cooperatively. Is 
this not evidence of bin Laden and al-Qaida having a collaborative 
relationship with the Iraqi Government?
  In a recent interview with a French newspaper published August 29, 
2004, Hudayfa Azzam, the son of bin Laden's mentor, Abdullah Azzam, 
said the Iraqi regime and al-Qaida had worked together closely before 
the war. He said:

       Saddam Hussein's regime welcomed them with open arms and 
     young al-Qaida members entered Iraq in large numbers, setting 
     up an organization to confront the occupation.

  Azzam said that al-Qaida members came into Iraq from Afghanistan, 
across mountains in Iran, with the help of Kurdish militants. And once 
in Iraq, Saddam strictly and directly controlled their activities, 
according to Azzam. Here is yet another example of al-Qaida members 
infiltrating Iraq and being given safe haven prior to the entrance of 
coalition forces.
  Let me be clear, despite recent political criticisms and media 
reports that have clouded or even misrepresented the facts, there is 
ample evidence of terrorists operating out of Iraq prior to the war, 
and there is compelling evidence of a longstanding link between al-
Qaida and Iraq. The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report 
informs us of this, as does the bipartisan 9/11 Commission Report.
  Again, let me emphasize, Iraq is the central battleground in the war 
on terror. Recently, before a joint meeting of Congress, Prime Minister 
Allawi spoke of the challenges and continued progress in his country. 
He offered eloquent words of gratitude for America liberating the Iraqi 
people. I close today with a simple, but significant, statement that he 
made without much notice or fanfare. In talking about Iraq he said:

       We are fighting for freedom and democracy--ours and yours.

  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator from 
North Dakota has 15 minutes.
  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, I believe I asked for 15 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.


                               JOBS Bill

  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, I came to the floor because we are going 
to have a great deal of business in the final days of this legislative 
session. Some of the legislation will be very significant. This is one 
piece of tax legislation that originally came out of the Senate Finance 
Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. It rests on all of 
our desks. It is a large unwieldy piece of legislation dealing with, in 
some cases, arcane portions of our Tax Code.
  There is much in this conference report on what is called the FSC/ETI 
bill, which is the shorthand way we talk around here. Others call it 
the JOBS bill. There is much I commend, much that I support, and much 
that I think represents good work. But I want to talk a moment about 
some missed opportunities as well.
  I am mindful of what Mark Twain once said. It is always easy to be 
negative. Mark Twain once said, when asked if he would debate: Of 
course, if I can take the negative side.
  They said: We haven't told you the subject.
  He said: It doesn't matter, the negative side doesn't require 
preparation.
  I am mindful of that when I am trying to pick apart some pieces of 
this bill, but I think it is important to talk about missed 
opportunities at this late date.
  I am going to vote for this bill, but I will tell you what is not in 
it and should be.
  We are drowning in debt in this country. We have the largest budget 
deficit in the history of America, and add to that the largest trade 
deficit in the history of this country. We are neck deep in debt. We 
are spending money we do not have, in some cases on things we do not 
need. We send our men and women to war and say, by the way, we will not 
pay for that, we will have them pay for it when they come back. We are 
drowning in debt.
  One part of dealing with that debt in fiscal policy is to try to get 
the revenue into the coffers of the Federal Government that is owed by 
those who are required to pay taxes.
  Let me describe a couple headlines from recent days:

       House Negotiators Reject Tougher Tax Shelter Penalties.

  Those House negotiators said: No, we do not want to get tough to shut 
down tax shelters and tax dodgers. I am talking now about very large 
corporations

[[Page 21987]]

that make billions of dollars and decide they want to do everything 
they can do as an American citizen, except they do not want to pay 
taxes. They do not want the obligation of paying taxes.
  Madam President, $40 billion would have been raised as a result of 
the provision that was objected to by the House negotiators. That's $40 
billion saved in taxes that will not be paid by companies that should 
have been full taxpayers.
  October 7:

       How Big Tax Shelters with Cities Shortchanges the Federal 
     Treasury.

  This is about people buying a sewer system. Can you imagine someone 
wanting to own a sewer system? But cities are now selling their 
subways, city hall, and the sewer system. Why? Because if they sell it 
to a corporation, a corporation can depreciate it, and then they can 
each share in the tax writeoff because a city does not have a tax write 
off because it is not taxable. So we see these things being sold to 
private investors so that everybody wins, except the taxpayer loses, 
and our debt goes up and up because entities that should be paying 
taxes are not.
  Let me talk just for a moment about the issue of missed opportunities 
with respect to runaway plants and moving American jobs overseas.
  This morning there was an announcement about the number of jobs 
created in the last month. We need to create about 175,000 jobs a month 
just to keep pace with the increased population moving into the 
workforce. This month it was only 96,000 new jobs, far short of what is 
necessary just to keep pace with the new people coming into the 
workforce.
  Even as we struggled to create these new jobs, we have in place a 
provision in this country's Tax Code that says to a company: Guess 
what. If you will just decide to move your jobs overseas, we will give 
you a tax cut for doing it.
  We will give you a big fat tax cut if you move your jobs overseas. 
Now, I cannot think of a more pernicious, obscene thing to do than to 
say to American companies, move your jobs and we will give you a tax 
cut.
  If some tax concessions are going to be given, give them to the 
businesses that create jobs and stay here, not to the businesses that 
fire their workers and move their jobs to China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, 
and Indonesia.
  We voted on this provision and the Senate actually turned it down. 
Senator Mikulski and I offered an amendment that said let us shut down 
this pernicious tax cut that says to people, move your job overseas and 
we will give you a benefit. That, it seems to me, should have been a 
revenue raiser in this bill.
  Or how about the proposition of American companies that decide they 
want to have all the benefits that accrue to being an American citizen 
as a corporation--because in law we say a corporation is a citizen, 
artificial citizenship. It can sue and be sued; contract and be 
contracted with. It wants in some cases all of the opportunities of 
citizenship in this country except for paying taxes. That is why we see 
corporations that decide what they want to do is do their business 
through a post office box in the Cayman Islands. Why? Is that where 
they run their company, from a post office box? No. What they want to 
do is shelter their income from this country so they can have all the 
benefits our country has to offer them but avoid paying U.S. taxes that 
are required.
  Who then pays the taxes? Oh, it is just the working men and women who 
get up in the morning and dress and go to work all day. They do 
everything right, and at the end of the day they try to provide for 
their families and try to pay shelter and transportation, all the 
things that are necessary to send their kids to school, pay for health 
care, and then pay taxes as well.
  It seems to me this is a terrible missed opportunity to shut down 
aggressive tax shelters, to shut down the tax opportunities that have 
come from tax haven subsidiaries of U.S. corporations.
  I could go through a list of corporations. One corporation, for 
example, set up 441 entities in the Cayman Islands alone. Yes, an 
American corporation, an energy company, for example, set up 441 
subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands. Why? Because they do not want to 
pay taxes.
  The Halliburton Company has 17 tax haven subsidiaries, including in 
Liechtenstein--Panama, Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein. I would like to 
see these shut down. If you are setting up circumstances where you are 
doing business through a post office box in the Bahamas or the Cayman 
Islands or, yes, Liechtenstein, in order to avoid paying taxes, the 
next time you get in trouble maybe you should call out the 
Liechtenstein Navy to protect you, or the Bahamian Navy. Someone told 
me the Bahamian Navy has 20 people.
  These companies want all the benefits that can come to an American 
citizen, but they do not want to pay their fair share of taxes. Again, 
we have people who get up every morning in this country, they are good 
citizens, pay their bills, and they pay their taxes, because they want 
to send their kids to the best schools, and they want to be able to 
have affordable health care. They want to live in safe neighborhoods. 
They want grandma and grandpa to have access to health care. They want 
a good job that pays well. Instead, we have a tax system that says, oh, 
by the way, we will give you a tax cut to ship your job overseas and 
oh, by the way, it is fine for you to access, even if you stay here, 
tax shelters so that if you make money, you do not have to pay, but 
your workers do. Your workers should pay taxes, but you make $2 
billion, you do not have to pay. Do your business through a mailbox 
somewhere.
  These are enormous missed opportunities, and they are missed 
opportunities because, as this says--and this is why House negotiators 
reject tougher tax shelter penalties. What that means is a bunch of 
people come to this conference and say, no, we want to protect these 
special deals, we do not want to close these loopholes. The fact is, 
the American people deserve better. This country is drowning in debt.
  People ask, how do you get a handle on the fiscal policy? The first 
thing you do is you stop this sort of nonsense. You stop subsidizing 
jobs being exported overseas by American companies that are told by 
this Government, shut down your plant and we will give you a tax cut if 
you move your job overseas.
  Yes, we voted on that in the Senate and it was voted down. Closing 
that loophole was voted down in the Senate. My hope would have been 
with the deficit growing worse and worse, that perhaps in conference, 
working on this bill, we would have seen a conference that would have 
closed these loopholes, closed these shelters, closed off the 
opportunities that result in such a massive amount of lost revenue to 
the Federal Treasury at a time when we are deep in debt.
  At a time as well when our country is reliant on about 60 percent of 
our oil from others around the world, it seems to me that we also 
missed some opportunities to move aggressively in areas to make us more 
independent with respect to our oil supply. It seems to me that when we 
have a circumstance where we need additional energy and we reach for 60 
percent of that oil from troubled parts of the world, it puts our 
economy in great jeopardy. When we are talking about incentives for 
energy production in this country, we could have done and should have 
done much better. If we do not understand that the 60 percent reliance 
on Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and, yes, Iraq, Venezuela, and Nigeria is 
very troublesome to this country, then we do not understand very much.
  I happen to think we are going to always continue to use fossil 
fuels--coal, oil, and natural gas. I also believe we ought to move 
toward a hydrogen fuel cell future in which we stop putting gasoline 
through our carburetors; find an inexhaustible supply of energy such as 
hydrogen, which is ubiquitous and everywhere, and when you use a fuel 
cell hydrogen vehicle you put water vapor on the tailpipe, you have 
twice the power to the wheel. What a remarkable future.
  We will not get there because the energy companies, particularly many 
of

[[Page 21988]]

them that have a vested interest in what we are doing now, do not want 
to get there. There are some who are very excited about a new Apollo 
project in which this country describes a completely new energy future. 
I would hope some of those incentives would have been in this bill, and 
they are not.
  This legislation which is presented to us now over the weekend is 
legislation that has a number of things that I believe moves us in a 
good direction, a number of constructive things.
  I will make one other point on tax shelters. My colleague Senator 
Grassley, for example, announced some long while ago that he was going 
to put a stop these phony lease transactions between cities and 
companies. Yet, the way this conference report comes out they actually 
went easier on some of these transactions. The same is true with 
respect to inversions.
  Corporations that decide, we do not want to be American citizens 
anymore, we renounce our American citizenship, we want to become 
citizens of the Bahamas. Why? I do not know. Sun, sand, good food. I do 
not know. They want to become citizens of the Bahamas in order to avoid 
paying U.S. taxes so they do something called inversion, which is 
renounce your citizenship.
  There was a date set by my colleague Senator Grassley and his 
counterpart and they said, beyond this date, understand you are in 
jeopardy when you do this. Well, guess what. In this conference, they 
went a year forward from that date. I do not have the foggiest idea why 
they did that.
  By the way, this is not a criticism of Senator Grassley because he 
has been a leader in shutting down these abusive transactions. My 
assumption is that the House of Representatives came over once again 
and said, no, we cannot buy that.
  It is unbelievable that corporations that want to renounce their 
citizenship are given even an inch of ground by anybody in this 
Chamber, let alone anybody in that conference. We ought to say, you 
want to renounce your American citizenship in order to save on taxes? 
Shame on you. You are not going to get tax benefits or tax savings from 
this Tax Code, not from this Congress. You want to do what is called an 
inversion and renounce your American citizenship? Then this Congress is 
not going to give you one cent of benefits in the Tax Code.
  Yet regrettably, what has happened here is they have actually given 
another year's flexibility to the companies that did that, a year 
beyond the date in which my colleague--and good for him, Senator 
Grassley--said, here is the date.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mr. DORGAN. I am happy to yield.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Does it strike the Senator as odd and actually unjust 
that the same bill that would push the date back for companies to go 
register in the Bahamas--to give up their U.S. citizenship presumably 
because they think it is too hard for them to pay their taxes--in that 
same bill, the men and women who are protecting the right of those 
businesses to make a profit and to benefit from the great riches of 
this country were deprived of a tax credit? Does that strike the 
Senator as an odd way to either begin or end a session of the Congress?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator has expired.
  Mr. DORGAN. I ask unanimous consent for 1 additional minute to answer 
my colleague.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DORGAN. Let me answer my colleague from Louisiana by saying of 
course it is absurd. Let me say it seems to me the first obligation in 
this Congress is to make sure we are doing what we should do for those 
men and women who, when called, left their homes, left their families, 
left their jobs, and went to serve this country. It is unbelievable to 
me, some of the priorities that have been established around here.
  I heard the Senator from Louisiana make the case earlier today. She 
is absolutely right about that. The soldiers she is talking about 
should not be put at the end of the line. They ought to be at the front 
of the line when you talk about trying to do what is right in this 
bill. I appreciate the leadership of the Senator from Louisiana on that 
point.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. THOMAS. Madam President, I am a little surprised to hear my 
friend from North Dakota. This bill has been worked on for a long time 
here. It passed this Senate with a great amount of support. There are 
some things here that are very important that we are doing, and all I 
hear is talk about how bad it is. That is interesting.
  I think it has a little to do with politics. There are some things on 
here we ought to be talking about. Please remember why this bill was 
offered in the first place. We had a benefit that went to 
manufacturers, a 3-percent reduction if they shipped overseas. What 
happened is WTO, the World Trade Organization, said, That is not in 
keeping with our rules, and they started to levy a penalty, each month, 
that goes up to 17 percent. Something had to be done about that.
  The Senator didn't bother to mention that. He didn't bother to 
mention all the good things that are on here. I don't know whether that 
is politics or whether they are trying to talk a little bit about the 
facts. That would be a surprise.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Will the Senator yield for me to have an opportunity to 
try to answer that just briefly?
  Mr. THOMAS. Really, if you have a question, I will take that. 
Otherwise I think it is my turn to have the floor.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. OK. I would just ask the Senator, did he know that at 
least my remarks were not at all directed politically to this bill? The 
Senator is correct. Did he know that when the provision I spoke about 
earlier left the Senate floor, 100 percent of the Senators, including 
the leadership of Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus, sent our bill 
over to the House saying, please put our troops at the top of the list 
if we are going to give out $137 billion? Did the Senator know they 
didn't even come back in any part of the list? They are not on the 
list. I just wanted to ask the Senator if he remembered that that was 
something we sent over.
  Mr. THOMAS. Absolutely. There is no question. But this is the size of 
the bill. There are thousands of things in there.
  I am sorry. I agree with you. I was on the conference committee. We 
went through this process. But it is the House and the Senate both. 
When you go through a conference committee you come out with some 
things added and some things subtracted. I agree with the Senator and 
supported what she is talking about. But that is not the whole issue in 
this bill. This is a huge bill.
  The other thing that seldom is mentioned is that this is revenue 
neutral over 10 years. There are offsets to these expenditures which I 
feel very strongly about because I probably feel more strongly about 
the deficit than the Senator from North Dakota. But this is revenue 
neutral. They took enough things out, and that is one of the reasons 
some of the things are not in there that people would like in there, 
because they had to limit it to the amount of offsets they could find 
to make it work this way.
  But what happened then is they took off this 3-percent addition that 
went to manufacturers because the WTO opposed it and turned it around 
and gave that to all manufacturers, including people, for instance, who 
produce oil and who produce coal. It broadened the definition of 
manufacturers to where nearly every business in this country, then, 
receives it.
  We are talking about jobs numbers, which have grown pretty 
significantly. We are talking here about strengthening business to 
create jobs. Somehow we seem to forget that is where jobs come from, is 
by encouraging and giving incentives to businesses so they will invest 
and provide an opportunity to create jobs. That is what it is for. I 
don't quite understand where the Senator thinks jobs come from unless 
it has to do with businesses that invest and create those jobs.
  There are a great many things in there. Everyone could find something 
they don't like. I thought it was perhaps a little overdone, frankly, 
in

[[Page 21989]]

terms of some of the things that were there. I tried very hard to get 
the tax element of the Energy bill into the bill. We were not able to 
put that all in there. We did get some energy incentives here, however, 
which will help some. We all had some things.
  There are some things that are particularly useful, just little 
things that are kind of typical of the many issues that are in there.
  Mr. DORGAN. Will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mr. THOMAS. When you have medical providers who go to underserved 
areas, they are given financial incentives to go, and in the past those 
incentives which caused them to go there were taxable. We were able to 
take that taxable business out, so we will have more people willing and 
able to go to underserved areas--nurses, physicians, clinicians, and so 
forth.
  I will certainly yield.
  Mr. DORGAN. I think the Senator was not in the Chamber when I began 
my presentation. I did say I intend to vote for this. I said there is 
much in it that I commend and much that I support, including some of 
the energy provisions that I believe you just mentioned. I was speaking 
specifically only about the series of tax shelters representing, in my 
judgment, a missed opportunity.
  But I think the Senator from Wyoming missed the opening comments of 
this Senator. He probably missed that I did say there is much here to 
commend, and I was speaking about what I think is a gross abuse, which 
we call tax shelters, which we have to close, and I think most Members 
think at some point we will have to close them.
  Mr. THOMAS. I did not hear that. I continue to hear a lot of 
complaint and criticism when talking about spending when indeed it is 
revenue neutral, and the Senator didn't brother to mention that. 
Obviously in a bill this size there are a great many things you can 
talk about. Obviously no one is going to agree with all of the hundreds 
of issues that are there.
  There are some really good things, some things I thought were 
particularly good. For instance, ranchers who, because of the drought, 
had to sell their herd and cattle, they don't have to pay on capital 
gains now for 4 years. It gives them a chance to get back without 
having to pay for that.
  One of the fairness issues that is there is the idea that States that 
do not have State income tax, which is deductible from the Federal 
taxes, but indeed finance through sales taxes, can now deduct the sales 
taxes, which makes it fair. States can choose to either have income 
tax, they can have sales tax, they can have both, and then they can 
have one of the two of them deductible. In the past, sometimes, my 
State did not have a State income tax, but we had a sales tax and it 
was not deductible. It will be now. That is a real incentive for people 
to be able to save some of the money they have.
  We also had a provision in there that was put in that had to do with 
enlarging the loans that are available to small businesses from the 
Government. The limit was put in there in the 1970s. Of course, that 
has changed a great deal. Here again, the purpose is to encourage 
businesses to build up so they can, in fact, hire people, and we do 
something for jobs.
  There are a number of things here that are very good.
  As I said, we need incentives for the small production oil wells. If 
you have an oil well that does not produce a lot of oil, the fact is 
there is an incentive in here for marginal wells--to have a production 
tax credit for electricity produced by renewable sources--geothermal, 
solar energy, those kinds of things which we have been looking forward 
to in the energy package.
  Obviously, I think anyone in effect can find some things in here that 
wouldn't be their choice. On the other hand, this is a jobs bill. It is 
designed to encourage the economy and create jobs. That is what it is 
all about.
  I get a little concerned when we seem to direct more attention toward 
the election which is coming up. I will be happy when that is over so 
we can talk a little bit more about the merits of the issues. That is 
what we are here for. It would be a good idea if in fact that is what 
we do.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, is there a specific order under the 
unanimous consent agreement?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority has up to 30 minutes of debate.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. I ask unanimous consent to speak for the next 10 
minutes, if I am not interrupting anyone's time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, before the Senator from Wyoming 
leaves, I want to make a couple of comments regarding some of the 
things he said. While some Members of this Senate intend to vote for 
this bill, I am one who will not be voting for the bill. I would like 
to restate why.
  There is only one reason, one specific reason, and I think one 
compelling reason, that injustice was done in this bill after it left 
the Senate, and that injustice was that the one provision which would 
give direct tax relief to the men and women on the front lines, the 
Guard and Reserve fighting in Afghanistan, in Iraq, or whether it is 
North Korea, or South Korea, was left out of the bill.
  We have a lot of bills, and not all of them are this fat, this full, 
and this expensive. This is $137 billion.
  In 2 years, we negotiated between the House and the Senate. I know 
the Senator from Wyoming is aware of this because he helped to put it 
in. But there was only one provision in this entire bill that would 
have actually directed some modest tax relief to the men and women in 
the Guard and Reserve. But for some reason--I am not sure if it was 
politics, I am not sure if it was an election, I am not sure because I 
have not gotten an answer yet from anyone about why it was left out. 
Obviously, we had $137 billion to spend, and we spent it. We allocated 
it, but not for the Guard and Reserve.
  We send the Guard and Reserve to the front lines. According to 
Secretary Rumsfeld, we sent 640,000 men and women, 5,000-plus from my 
State of Louisiana, to the front lines. We can't even send them with a 
full paycheck.
  Some of us thought, gee, if we have this tax bill going through, we 
have to fix this problem with the World Trade Organization, and surely 
in the middle of this war at this time we could spend $2 billion to 
give tax credit. If we didn't have the $2 billion, I certainly would 
not have suggested that we spend it. But we have $137 billion in this 
bill.
  I am confused. My constituents are confused. The men and women in the 
armed services are confused and their families are wondering and are 
very puzzled: How could we possibly be giving away $137 billion to 
businesses here and abroad and leave them out?
  I am going to stand here for a couple of days and talk about it. I 
don't have an explanation for it. I don't want to go home because I 
don't know what I would tell them.
  When the Senator from Wyoming says it is politics involved in the 
opposition of this bill, I think that is a good question. I am not sure 
of the answer. But I would like to say it this way. Is politics in any 
way involved in the passage of this bill? This bill, $137 billion for 
every corporation, or many corporations that you could think of, big 
ones, little ones, ones that make ceiling fans, ones that operate horse 
racing--just go through it. I am not going to even comment about the 
benefits of that. I don't want the reporters and the people following 
this debate to say Senator Landrieu objects to anything in this bill 
except that the Guard and Reserve were left out. That is what I object 
to. I am not going to even talk about ceiling fans and horse racing, or 
shipbuilding, which happens in my State. There are lots of wonderful 
things in this bill. My only question is, How could we possibly have 
the nerve to pass a bill and leave the Guard and Reserve out?
  According to the GAO, the men and women in the Guard and Reserve on 
the front lines are taking a 41-percent pay cut.
  You may say to me, Senator, they knew it when they signed up. Let me

[[Page 21990]]

answer that. They knew there would be sacrifice. These men and women 
don't want a lot of pity or attention. They are happy to go. They want 
to go. They are proud to serve. I know many of them personally. I am 
proud of them. But I tell you what they did not know: They didn't know 
that we--when I say ``we'', I mean this President, the former 
President, and the leadership of the Armed Services Committee--would 
make a policy decision that would say that our Armed Forces, instead of 
relying mostly on Active and a little bit on our Reserve, decided 
because it is less expensive we are going to rely more on our Reserve 
and a little less on our Active.
  We didn't tell them that because they signed up 10 years ago and we 
have been making these decisions in the last couple of years. They sign 
up. They weigh the pros and cons. They want to serve their country. 
They are patriotic. They say, I will make the sacrifice. But then we 
changed the rules on them. It is not their job to fix that. It is our 
job to fix it.
  We had a bill coming along. It started 2 years ago. I thought: this 
is a perfect time to fix this situation. Here is the money. It is small 
businesses that are writing these checks to keep their pay whole, and 
surely this country would find money in this bill to do this, and then 
whatever else they want to do is fine with me. But, oh, no.
  Let me make another point about what the Senator from Wyoming said. 
He said something along the lines that jobs are created by tax cuts. We 
have to have tax cuts for businesses to grow. I think that is partially 
correct. I don't think just any tax cut at any time makes business 
grow, but I will give him that. But I will tell you what makes 
businesses in America grow. I will tell you what no business could 
operate without. I will tell you in large measure what this war is 
about. It is about economic freedom. It is about global trade. It is 
about peace in the world so people can make a profit. No business in 
this bill could possibly function without the men and women in the 
Active or Reserve units. They wouldn't exist. Yet we have this bill to 
help companies and businesses, and we can't help the men and women 
taking the bullets.
  I am not voting for a bill like that. I urge my colleagues, if they 
have decided how to vote, they might want to change their minds. I hope 
maybe people listening in their States, and maybe some of the families 
who have actually lost soldiers on the front lines might call their 
Senators, and say, Senator, if you do not mind, what Senator Landrieu 
is saying makes sense. Please don't leave me out of the bill. You put 
me in the war. Don't leave me out of the bill. You put me in the 
photograph, don't leave me out of the budget.
  I will say one more thing before my 10 minutes is up.
  I know something else about military families, and it is what I love 
about them the most. They never even want attention. I have had a 
little bit of a difficult time getting some of the families to call me. 
Do you know why? Because these men and women understand what sacrifice 
is all about. They didn't sign up to get rich. They didn't sign up to 
get an award. They don't really advertise their bravery every day, not 
like some people around here who cannot wait to show their awards off, 
et cetera. The men and women in uniform don't do that. So it is hard 
for them to ask.
  I want them to know it is my job as their Senator to ask for them and 
to fight for them. I don't blame them for not wanting to have their 
names used. They want to feel self-reliant. But I will be darned if I 
will sit here and watch this $137 billion get out of this Chamber and 
leave them behind.
  My colleagues, we are going to be here for a long weekend because I 
have a lot of things to say about this. My time now is up, but I am not 
going far. I don't live far from here. I am back and forth from 
Louisiana, and the house I live in when I am here is four blocks away, 
so I am not far away. I would stay here for many days to talk about it.
  Members in this Chamber feel very strongly about their Guard and 
Reserve. They know the sacrifices they are making and a mistake was 
made. Mistakes can be corrected.
  At 6 o'clock today I am delivering a letter to the White House. I 
will read it before 6 o'clock in the Senate. It is being delivered to 
the President. It is assumed in the letter that he didn't know about 
this personally, that it was just something that did not come to his 
attention. But he has the power as the President to fix it, and I hope 
that he will take that action.
  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. ALLARD. 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. HARKIN. Reserving the right to object, I hope the Senator's 
time--I make it clear that under the consent that the Senator's time, 
however much time he uses, be counted as running with the bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct, it is.
  Mr. ALLARD. I thank the Senator from Iowa for clarifying that.


                              The Economy

  We are here today at the end of the session. We have some important 
legislation yet to act on: this legislation that deals with the 
economic health of this country; it is legislation that deals with the 
security of this country. We have been working all session on these two 
issues primarily, with a plethora of other issues, but we do have some 
very important bills. The FSC/ETI bill is important, obviously, to 
sustaining and continuing the economic growth. We have the intelligence 
bill, the conference report. That is important for the security of this 
country. We have the Department of Defense authorization bill, which we 
are still waiting to get passed out of the Senate, the conference 
report to that. That is also very important.
  I will talk a little bit about our economy because today an economic 
report came out. When we look at this economic report with all that has 
been happening through 2004, I don't see how anyone can deny this has 
not been a good year for America's economy.
  I think back a little bit when President Bush was elected President 
and what kind of economy he inherited from the Clinton administration. 
The economy was going down. It was not doing well. As a result of that, 
the President decided to address the economic growth of this country 
and put in place tax cuts that did make a difference. There were 3 
years of tax cuts put in place that took the burden of government off 
of the people of this country, and they produced.
  The sector of this economy that produces more jobs than any other is 
the small business sector. I know because I came from that sector. As a 
veterinarian, I had my own veterinarian practice, my small business, 
and I know how taxes can impact the bottom line of the business and how 
it can affect whether you have any capital remaining to buy new 
equipment. A lot of new ideas, or creation, comes out of small 
business, and too much regulation has an impact.
  In some ways, with the security challenges this country has faced, we 
have had to put in rules and regulations for business to be able to 
sustain their growth and create jobs.
  The real choice we have is to do something about the tax burden. It 
has been working. I will share some of those figures that came out 
today.
  America's economy is doing much better than just good. It has been 
doing really good. Since August of 2003, more than 1.5 million jobs 
have been created; 1.3 million jobs in 2004 alone. The unemployment 
rate of 5.4 percent today is well above the average employment rate of 
the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. For the last 12 months, the 
American economy has grown faster than the economy of any major 
industrial nation.
  Today's Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics report, 
which, by the way, measures payroll--that is an important distinction 
that I

[[Page 21991]]

will talk about later--according to that report, the economy added 
96,000 new payroll jobs in September, continuing an upward trend in job 
creation. Employment gains over the last 4 months totaled more than 
405,000, and this year the economy has added an average of 170,000 jobs 
per month. Manufacturers have increased hiring in 6 of the last 9 
months and are responsible for more than 70,000 jobs so far this year. 
And we still have October, November, and December to go.
  Unemployment remains steady at 5.4 percent, exactly where it was when 
President Clinton was reelected in 1996. Unemployment peaked more than 
a year ago in June of 2003 at 6.3 percent, and the labor force has 
increased by almost 950,000. The overall number of unemployed has 
fallen dramatically by 1.2 million since June of 2003. The economic 
policy of this President, what we have been doing in Congress, has been 
working.
  I will take a little time and talk about the other survey that we 
have out there, the household survey. There are some remarkable things 
happening in the household survey. It has increased more than 2.2 
million since April of 2003. Those are fantastic figures. They reflect 
the self-employed. They reflect people who work on a part-time basis. 
They reflect people who work out of their homes for various reasons--
maybe they have a high-tech business and work through eBay to market 
some products that they have available, or perhaps they are real estate 
salesmen who have been working out of their home. This gets measured in 
the household survey.
  The household survey measures much more of our economy than just the 
labor payroll report. That is exciting. During those times when we had 
some layoffs in the high-tech industry and went through the high-tech 
slump, people who lost those jobs said, we are getting some bonuses 
because when they were asked to leave the company they frequently gave 
them a bonus and they took some of the money to start their own 
business.
  The most logical place to start a small business is out of your home 
if you can make it work. That is where most of them started their 
business. You keep your overhead down. You have a phone, you can hook 
it to the phone line. You can work out of there. What little money you 
earn you can put it back in the business or put it aside and hopefully 
buy more equipment and maybe move into a larger building at some point 
in time when that business takes off and begins to operate.
  So I think it is important to point out that the payroll numbers, as 
strong as they are, do not reflect the growth of self-employment. 
According to the household survey, employment has increased by more 
than 2.2 million, as I said earlier, since April 2003. Again, these are 
fabulous figures. It reflects the ingenuity of a small businessperson 
who decides he wants to go out there and apply the American dream. He 
wants to start his own business. He wants to be self-employed. He wants 
to be independent. And he wants to be his own boss.
  I think America is on the right track.
  Now, the National Bureau of Economic Research determined that the 
latest recession ended in November of 2001, well after this President 
was sworn into office. Today's numbers are further evidence that the 
doom and gloom of those challenging the policies of this President is 
simply unfounded.
  We have created and we are witnessing the impact of policies that 
encourage growth. What did we do? We lowered tax rates on personal 
income for all taxpayers. The top marginal rate was reduced from 39.6 
percent to 35 percent, and a 10-percent bracket was introduced. Where 
did the real impact of this fall? It fell on small businesses in this 
country. It helped them grow and prosper. It helped them create a lot 
of the figures you are seeing out of the household survey--favorable 
figures, fabulous figures, I might add.
  We lowered taxes on business investment, including a much lower tax 
rate, 15 percent, on dividends and on long-term capital gains. Of great 
importance is the tax cuts allowed businesses to more quickly deduct 
the expenses of their investments in machinery, computers, and 
software. American companies have responded by employing more people 
and investing more money in equipment and facilities. And in what part 
of the business sector will you see most of that happening? You will 
see it happening in the small business sector.
  Now, small businesses, they can be organized in a number of different 
ways. They can be organized as individual entrepreneurs. They can be 
organized as partnerships, various legal organizations. Family 
businesses will even incorporate. Professionals like myself, we have 
professional corporations that we organize in. So when we talk about 
separating business out into various sectors, no matter how you do it, 
somehow you are going to affect the small business community, where we 
see most of our economic growth.
  So we have to be careful about attacking corporations and attacking 
businesses in general because they do create the jobs in this economy. 
They create employment. They are what America is all about; that is, 
the principle of free enterprise and people holding their own property 
and being able to move themselves up in society.
  Another thing that happened to help keep our economy moving was the 
increased child tax credit from $500 to $1,000 per child. We also ended 
the marriage penalty. Married couples no longer pay higher taxes than 
equivalent singles, which eliminates a perverse incentive against 
marriage.
  We also repealed the estate tax. Probably the most unfair tax we have 
in this country is the estate tax because the estate tax has been taxed 
once already, and sometimes taxed twice, and then when you die it 
becomes a death tax and you have to pay again.
  When a family, a small business family in many cases, is struggling 
to try to get that small business to sustain itself during an untimely 
death in the family, then along comes the estate tax and whacks that 
family hard. Many times these are farmers and ranchers who have been 
struggling to try to save their farm or ranch. In States such as 
Colorado, where we are getting a lot of rapid growth, there is a demand 
for real estate, and many times these farmers and ranchers are forced 
to sell to developers or somebody else who is going to use that land 
for something else other than the production of crops and livestock. 
The end result is, we lose an opportunity to have an open space 
available in States like Colorado where there is a desire to have a 
considerable amount of open space.
  Home ownership is at an alltime high. I am pleased to be able to join 
with the President in putting forth the American Dream Downpayment Act, 
where we provide some well-deserved dollars to people, first-time home 
buyers, in this country. This is for people who have been paying rent 
who could be owning the same type of dwelling except that the only 
problem keeping them out of their own house, their own personal 
dwelling, is the fact that they cannot make the downpayment. So this 
piece of legislation was desired to help those individuals. By the way, 
many of them are minorities. As a result of that act, we are beginning 
to see a lot of growth in home ownership, and particularly among 
minorities it is getting much better.
  There are a lot of positive effects that happen with home ownership. 
The children tend to be better educated. They become better citizens in 
their communities. They tend to be more stable. They are not moving 
around as much. They care; they take an active role in what is 
happening in their community.
  Home ownership is another good story that is coming out of this 
administration. Sometimes I just do not think we talk enough about it, 
but it is important. It is important to communities, and it is 
important to families.
  So I summarize and say the good news today is something we need to 
work hard to sustain. It is important we draw this session to a close. 
We have some important pending legislation. We need to get that passed 
because it will help contribute to the continued growth of this country 
as far

[[Page 21992]]

as the economy is concerned. It will help to continue to make America 
more secure, and it will help because we need to have a strong defense 
for this country.
  Today's numbers, again, are good news, part of a healthy, steady 
trend of growth and prosperity.
  I yield back my time, Mr. President.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Burns). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Louisiana.


                               Tax Relief

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I thought I would take the next 15 
minutes or so to review a couple points about the tax relief bill we 
are considering adopting. There are three or four major pieces of 
legislation that the Senate is trying to finish in the next couple of 
days. One of them is the reorganization of homeland security and the 
Intelligence Committee. One of them is the tax relief bill that we have 
been working on for 2 years. There are other issues that this Congress 
is struggling to get finished in the next few days, but the most 
important issue to me and the one I would like to spend a bit of time 
talking about now is the tax relief bill that was put together by many 
of us, or tried to be put together by many of us, over the last 2 
years.
  That started out for a very good purpose and a very good reason 
because there was a trade decision made by the WTO that called into 
question the legitimacy of some part of our Tax Code relative to 
certain businesses.
  We had to take some action or our businesses would have been fined 
through the WTO because the European Union had prevailed in their 
argument. So our tax writers got busy and tried to fix that. We need to 
fix it. But what has happened is, we have done more than fix. We have 
really messed up some things. Unfortunately, inexplicably, and as a 
grave injustice, we didn't take care of our men and women in uniform. 
For the men and women who are taking care of us on the front lines and 
suffering pay reductions, we are letting pass the opportunity to make 
their paychecks whole. I am going to spend a few hours over the next 
couple of days talking about that. Before I do, let me share a fact 
that maybe some might not realize. We have always had men and women in 
our Guard and Reserve units supplemen-
ting our Active Forces. But never in the history of this country have 
we relied on the Guard and Reserve to the extent we are today.
  Let me share that in the Berlin crisis of 1961, we called up 148,000 
reservists; in the Cuban missile crisis, we called up 14,000; in the 
Vietnam war, we called up 37,000--for a total of almost 200,000 from 
1953 to 1989.
  You can see from this chart that just in the last 12 years, in the 
Persian Gulf War, the invasion in Haiti, the Bosnia peacekeeping, 
Operation Southern Watch, which is ongoing, the Kosovo conflict, and 
Iraq and Afghanistan--and this list is not completely up to date--we 
have called out 364,000 guardsmen and reservists to supplement our 
Active Forces, to protect this country, to defend this country. These 
troops have been willing to go at great sacrifice, but the least we 
could do is keep their paychecks whole. The least we could do, if we 
are giving out tax credits and tax cuts to other people, is include 
them in the bill. This conference report that this Senate is 
considering over the next couple of days, $137 billion, left them 
completely out.
  We talk about helping small business. This is a picture of one of our 
soldiers. We left them out but we put in ceiling fans. I know people 
are not going to believe this, because it is hard to believe. But the 
guardsmen and reservists and their employers who keep their paychecks 
whole while they are on the front lines so they can pay their 
mortgages, pay their car notes, continue to contribute to their 
children's college trust fund, or just keep their household together, 
the employers of this country, small employers and large employers, are 
doing the right thing, the patriotic thing, not mandated by the 
Government but out of their own good heart, digging deep, keeping those 
men and women on the front line with a full paycheck.
  We had the opportunity to give them a modest tax credit so they could 
keep that paycheck whole and hire a temporary worker to take the spot 
of that guardsman or that reservist who went overseas to protect us. 
And we couldn't find one line, one paragraph, not one word in a $137 
billion tax relief bill for every conceivable commercial, industrial, 
or manufacturing interest in the country, for our guardsmen and 
reservists.
  I want to show you the state of our Active Reserve. Sometimes 
pictures help us to understand. I know this subject can be complicated, 
but it is actually very simple. We just didn't put our Guard and 
Reserve in the $137 billion tax bill. We put everybody else in, but we 
left them out. I am going to stand here until I get an answer why.
  In 1940, at the height of the Second World War in the 1940s, this was 
the Army troop strength. This is where we had to go in the Second World 
War to defend. This is in the thousands, so it was 600,000 to defend 
our Nation. Because we, of course, won that war, won the Cold War, 
defeated communism, we have dropped the active strength force of our 
troops down to probably the lowest level since 1942. What fills this 
gap is our Guard and Reserve that are called up when we need them.
  When September 11 hit, we needed them and we called them. And they 
went. And 41 percent of them are going with a pay cut. Some of us got 
together, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate side, Chairman 
Grassley and our ranking member, Senator Baucus from Montana, and fixed 
that. Since we have a big, fat tax bill going through, couldn't we 
possibly give a little bit of money to the businesses that are keeping 
those paychecks whole, filling the gap, giving us extra strength, 
Active and Reserve, to protect us?
  But for some reason, once the bill left here and got over to the 
House Republican leadership, it got taken out.
  I know Senator Byrd is here to speak so I will wrap up my comments in 
just 5 minutes. I know he wants to speak, perhaps a little about this 
and other subjects. But I want to say a few things that the newspapers 
are saying about this bill.
  Let me be clear. I don't oppose this bill for any other reason other 
than the fact that the $2.4 billion tax benefit to employers for the 
Guard and Reserve to help keep their paychecks whole while they are on 
the front line was left out. There are other provisions of this bill 
that are questionable. There are other important issues that have been 
raised by the Senator from Iowa, Mr. McCain from Arizona, and the 
Senator from Massachusetts. Those are legitimate arguments as well.
  But leaving the Reserve and the Guard out and their patriotic 
employers is more than I can bear to be silent about.
  This is some of what some of our newspapers are saying about the 
general bill.
  The Washington Post, October 8:

       The bill is aimed at ending a transatlantic trade war by 
     scrapping certain illegal tax subsidies for U.S. exporters 
     that have brought on retaliatory action by Europe. But in the 
     version approved last night by the House, that modest goal is 
     largely overwhelmed in a preelection package of benefits for 
     dozens of constituencies, including NASCAR track owners and 
     mall builders.

  That is the opinion of the newspaper. Again, I don't know if the 
NASCAR track people are deserving or not. Many people enjoy NASCAR in 
my State. Maybe they are. But I can promise you that nobody in my State 
thinks NASCAR owners or investors or ceiling fan importers deserve a 
tax break more than the employers who are keeping whole the paychecks 
of our men and women on the front line. I can promise you that--not a 
one. I don't know of a business or a mall or a retail establishment 
that thinks they should get in line before the Guard and the Reserve.
  It was a long line. This is what I call a long line. This is not a 
thin bill. This is not a one-page bill. This is a lot of

[[Page 21993]]

lines and a long line. They didn't even get in the middle of the line. 
They didn't get in the end of the line. They didn't get in at all. It 
is a grave injustice.
  The New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, 
and the Las Vegas Journal have all editorialized against this bill for 
different reasons. I am hoping that many of these newspapers and others 
that are listening will begin to focus on this issue as to a reason why 
we should vote against this bill, send it back to conference, redo it.
  We all make mistakes. This was a big mistake the House Republican 
leadership made. I say basically this is a paycheck that we send to our 
soldiers. Their average pay is $30,000. According to our own report, 
these soldiers are getting a 41-percent pay cut. We could have done 
something to help them, but we chose not to. So I am going to vote 
against this bill. I know other Senators are joining me in letters 
being sent to the conferees, which evidently did not make an impression 
on them--at least not to the point where they kept our provision in. 
That was passed by 100 votes here, Republicans and Democrats, and it 
would be paid for with an offset. We didn't ask for this provision to 
be included without paying for it. It is even paid for. But they 
decided--the leadership, Chairman Thomas and, I guess, Congressman 
DeLay and Speaker Hastert--we could not afford it.
  Let me again say for the record that there is $137 billion in this 
bill. The bill started out as being a $50 billion fix over 10 years. 
That was the cost of fixing the problem we originally started to 
correct. It grew and grew and grew. Everyone, it seems, was added in, 
except the men and women who are taking the bullets morning, noon, and 
night.
  It is hard for me to go back to Louisiana and explain this. I am not 
sure I could explain it adequately to the 5,000 families who are 
currently serving on the front lines. Why should they pour a little 
water into the cereal bowl, as one woman wrote to me, trying to make 
ends meet? Why did some of them lose their houses because their notes 
pile up and they cannot pay the bill when they get home? What could we 
be thinking as to the justice of losing an automobile, losing their 
retirement, losing their college benefit, or having to make them 
stretch and sacrifice when we could help them? If we could not afford 
it, if we didn't have the money, that would be one thing. This is $137 
billion. Why could we not have given them $1 billion, or $2 billion, or 
half a billion? Or even if you could not give them the money, write 
something in the bill, for Heaven's sake, and tell them you understand 
they have a 41-percent pay cut and you are sorry you cannot fix it 
today, but when we get another bill, we will try later.
  Not even a comment.
  When they go off to war, they don't make a lot of comments to us 
either, other than I am going to my post, I am going to do my job; I 
will see you when I get back. Take care of my family. That is all they 
say to us. We could not even get a paragraph of gratitude in this bill.
  Senator Byrd is going to speak. I will speak a few more times this 
weekend about this. I am doing as many interviews as I can, explaining 
this to people and handing out material. I am still waiting for 
Chairman Thomas to either write me, send me a note, write a letter, 
make a comment in the newspaper, or meet me for a debate about why he 
took them out of the bill in the middle of the night, when the cameras 
were not on, and there is virtually no record of the discussion. I 
don't know. The people in my State would like to know.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia is recognized.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, how much time do I have?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has up to an hour under the 
cloture rules.


                   another white house excuse for war

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator who is 
presiding over the Senate with a degree of dignity, poise, collection, 
and composure, as it is so rare today. I thank Senator Burns.
  Mr. President, I thank the Senator who has been speaking, the Senator 
from Louisiana. She tells a story that many of my Guardsmen and 
Reservists and their families can also relate to. I compliment her on 
standing on the floor. She has courage and determination. When she says 
she is going to stay here until she gets some satisfaction from other 
Senators, she means that. I know that. I thank her for her kind 
reference to me.
  I will not speak longer than 15 minutes, after which the Senator may 
resume if she so desires.
  On Wednesday, October 6, the Senate Armed Services Committee received 
testimony from the top CIA weapons inspector in Iraq. The report of 
Charles Duelfer explains in precise detail the facts that the American 
people have long ago realized: that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of 
mass destruction, and that Iraq never posed an imminent threat to the 
United States. I said that at the beginning, before we voted on that 
nefarious resolution on October 11, 2002, to shift the power to declare 
war, which is set forth in the Constitution very clearly, as being 
reposed here in the Congress of the United States; instead, to shift 
that power to the hands of a President. How shameful. How shameful that 
we turned our backs--the Senate and House collectively--on the 
Constitution of the United States.
  The fact that weapons of mass destruction have not been found in Iraq 
is nothing new. Our military has been on the hunt for banned Iraqi 
weapons since March 19, 2003, when President Bush ordered the invasion 
of Iraq under his nefarious doctrine of preemption--preemptive war--a 
doctrine that squarely contradicts the constitutional powers given in 
the Constitution as having been reposed in this body and in the other 
body across the way. The CIA conducted its own extensive search for 
more than a year. Did anything turn up? No. No stockpiles of dangerous 
germs, no warehouses of poison gases, no nuclear weapons.
  They say, well, Saddam Hussein has used these on his own people. Of 
course, he had some years before. I can understand how many Senators 
were misled by the statements of the administration and, in particular, 
the statements of the President and the Vice President and others on 
the President's team.
  In fact, the CIA report finds that the truth on the ground in Iraq 
was almost the exact opposite of what the White House had claimed in 
the runup to the war. Contrary to the President's statement, the CIA 
report says that Saddam had no active WMD programs, and he didn't have 
even so much as a plan to restart them. Despite the Vice President's 
insinuations, the CIA found no secret plans for Iraq to attack the 
United States. Despite the National Security Adviser's warnings of 
mushroom clouds, the CIA found that Iraq's nuclear weapons program was 
dormant and decaying.
  Now, the White House is desperately trying to have their spin machine 
generate a new reason for the war. We have seen a litany of reasons as 
time has ensued following March 19, 2003--a litany of reasons. When one 
reason was shot down, when one reason proved to be wrong, the White 
House always came up with another reason, another reason, another 
reason we sent our men and women to war, the first war fought under the 
pernicious doctrine of preemption, the Bush doctrine of preemption. And 
regardless of how many times the President may seek to salve the 
conscience of his administration, the fact remains that Saddam Hussein 
was not an immediate, imminent threat to the security of the United 
States. I said so at that time. It was the wrong war at the wrong time 
in the wrong place, and I will say that again and again.
  The President, on his way to a campaign stop in Wisconsin, has tried 
to gloss over the collapse of his central reasons for a preemptive war. 
According to the Associated Press, the President said:

       The Duelfer report showed that Saddam was systematically 
     gaming the system, using the U.N. Oil for Food Program to try 
     to influence countries and companies in an effort to 
     undermine sanctions.


[[Page 21994]]


  So does the President mean to say he launched this war to stop waste, 
fraud, and abuse in a U.N.-run humanitarian program? Does the President 
mean to say that Saddam Hussein's greed was the reason that 225,000 
American troops were sent overseas, away from their families, their 
loved ones, and their communities, to attack Iraq? Are we to believe 
that the President now seeks, once again, to justify his war against 
Iraq because Saddam was cheating the Oil for Food Program? Is that the 
reason we sent our men and women to war? Mr. President, unbelievable, 
unbelievable, incredible. Too bad that the White House does not hold 
Halliburton to the same standard.
  The truth is that the President changes his reasons for the war more 
often than he changes his socks. On March 19, 2003, the day he sent 
American troops into battle--many of them never again to return to 
their homes, their families, their native soil--the President said:

       The people of the United States and our friends and allies 
     will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens 
     the peace with weapons of mass murder. We will meet that 
     threat now with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, and 
     Marines so that we do not have to meet it later with armies 
     of firefighters and police and doctors on the streets of our 
     cities.

  I have heard that so many times. The President did not say a peep--
not a peep--about the Oil for Food Program on the day he ordered our 
brave men and women to march on Baghdad. Talk about flip-flops. Yet 
despite all that has gone wrong in Iraq--the failure to find weapons of 
mass destruction, the failure to stabilize postwar Iraq, the failure to 
share the burdens of occupation with our allies, the failure to equip 
our soldiers with the body armor they need, and the deaths of 1,061 
American troops as of my last reading of the press the President 
maintains that he would do everything the same if he had to do it over 
again.
  Well, I hope not, and I hope the Senate of the United States would 
not do the same thing it did before if it had to do it over again. I 
spoke out against that nefarious, terrible action, sending our men and 
women to their deaths in Iraq, in a foreign land, spilling their blood 
in the hot sands of the Middle East. For what? For what?
  The President maintains he would do everything the same if he had to 
do it over again. Maybe he would. Surely he should learn from what has 
already happened. The American people might not stand again for that.
  Mr. President, the fog of war is beginning to lift and for the first 
time, the American people are beginning to see the war in Iraq on clear 
terms. As cruel as Saddam Hussein was to the Iraqi people, he was no 
imminent threat to the American people. That is why we went to war. 
That is why this administration led this country into a war against a 
nation that had not provoked us, had not attacked our country. That was 
the Bush doctrine, and it is the Bush war.
  Saddam Hussein had no links to the 9/11 attacks, and yet a majority 
of the American people I noticed in some polls not too long ago, 
believed at the time the polls were taken that many or, indeed, most of 
the attackers, most of the hijackers on 9/11 were from Iraq. That is 
not the case. Not one, not a single one of those 19 hijackers was from 
Iraq, and yet this administration would like to have the American 
people believe that it was otherwise.
  I guess they lie awake at night concocting new ways in case this 
fails, in case it is shown to be wrong: Where is the next fallback? 
What do we fall back on next? Iraq was not the central front of the war 
on terrorism until President Bush invaded and unleashed a firestorm of 
anti-American sentiment.
  The President's postwar strategy has been a failure. The President's 
handpicked envoy to run postwar Iraq, Ambassador Bremer, said there 
were never enough troops to stabilize Iraq. The President himself, in a 
rare acknowledgment of fallibility, admitted on August 27, 2004, that 
he had miscalculated the danger of postwar Iraq. Yet the President 
still has no exit strategy for Iraq. How long will the American people 
have to wait to hear from this President and this administration an 
exit strategy? How long will we have to wait for a plan from this 
administration to bring our men and women home with honor?
  The White House still refuses to acknowledge that Iraq has been 
turned into an international basket case due to an unprovoked and 
unjustified war. Instead, the White House has paralyzed our military, 
has paralyzed our diplomacy and our allies by maintaining we must 
continue to stay the course. Stay what course? Keep on with the same? 
Mr. President, 1,061 dead and counting, and we are supposed to stay the 
course? What our Iraq policy needs is change, not more of the same.
  The original rationale for preemptive war against Iraq has collapsed. 
The CIA's new report on the absence of weapons of mass destruction is 
the final nail in the coffin of the administration's prewar claims. How 
long will the American people be content with a President who refuses 
to acknowledge the disaster caused by his doctrine of preemptive war? 
How many more American men and women will have to shed their blood in 
the hot sands of the Middle East? How long will our troops struggle 
against a tide, the increasing tide of violent anti-Americanism that 
this terrible misbegotten war has spawned? How long will the United 
States of America be tied down in a Middle Eastern country while other 
threats at home--here at home--go unaddressed? How long, Mr. President? 
How long?
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.


                       Business is Doing its Part

  Ms. LANDRIEU. I ask unanimous consent to speak for 10 minutes. I see 
other colleagues on the Senate floor. I will take the 10 or 12 minutes 
I have remaining, if I might.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from West Virginia 
for the kind words he spoke before he made the very important points he 
has made this evening and throughout the course of actually the last 
few days. The challenge we face in Iraq is the most important issue 
before our country. I thank him for his kind words, and I want to thank 
him for his continued leadership.
  As we get toward these evening hours, I remind my colleagues--
  Mr. BYRD. If the distinguished Senator would yield, let me thank her 
for her most charitable comments concerning this Senator. She graces 
the Senate from the great State of Louisiana. She does her work. She is 
deeply dedicated. She is on the Appropriations Committee, on which I 
have had the good fortune to serve for many years. I thank her for what 
she is doing for her people. I thank her for what she is saying on the 
Senate floor. I thank her very much. I appreciate it. I appreciate the 
fact that she is my colleague and shares the concerns of my people in 
what she is saying today.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. I thank the Senator. My colleague is so right that the 
men and women of West Virginia have served so bravely and so willingly, 
as so many people from our States have served in the Active Forces and 
in the Reserve and the Guard and, as I said earlier in my remarks, do 
so without the expectation of fanfare. They do not want awards. They do 
not even want that special attention in their communities because they 
are so proud to serve and they are so willing to serve. That is what 
makes me want to stay on this Senate floor even more for them, knowing 
that about these families.
  I will read a few things into the Record during the 10 minutes that I 
have to build this argument and get out these facts about this 
important issue. One of the three or four important pieces of 
legislation we are trying to make decisions about in the last 2, 3, 4 
days of this Congress is whether this bill, which is called the FSC 
bill--it is a tax cut bill which modifies many sections of the Tax 
Code--should pass or if it should not. I am going to vote against it 
because the Guard and Reserve were left out. The people on the front 
lines taking the bullets, taking the cut in pay to serve us, and 
risking their lives were in the bill when it left the Senate, but 
because of the House leadership they were left out.

[[Page 21995]]

  This bill is $137 billion, and if we could not afford $2 billion of 
this $137 billion for them, then I do not know what we can afford 
because none of us would be here without them and none of the 
businesses benefiting from this bill would be able to actually operate, 
function, have a license, or have the freedom to function or enjoy the 
free enterprise system that has been created over 220 years without the 
men and women in the armed services.
  Some of us were silly enough to believe that in a bill that was $137 
billion, they could get in at the top of the list, but we were mistaken 
because they did not even make the cut.
  I ask unanimous consent that this article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                     [From the Officer, Dec. 2003]

                         Employer Support Grows

       ``I know of no other time in our nation's history when so 
     many employers have voluntarily offered this level of support 
     and benefits,'' Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld wrote 
     in September to employers of Reservists and National Guard 
     members called to active duty in the global war on terrorism.
       In his open letter of thanks and praise, Mr. Rumsfeld 
     expressed ``the deepest appreciation of this department and 
     the United States government for your unswerving support of 
     our nation's military.'' His letters were sent 29 September 
     2003 to directors of major employer associations and 
     government agencies who are asked to then distribute them to 
     their members.
       Many employers ``did more than was required by law by 
     voluntarily offering continued benefits, pay differentials, 
     and additional, creative forms of family support, which made 
     the period of separation so much easier to bear,'' Mr. 
     Rumsfeld noted. He said that without the continued support, 
     ``we could not maintain a strong military or sustain the 
     current effort to overcome the international terrorist threat 
     directed at our country, our citizens, and all who love 
     freedom.''
       In concluding, the Secretary of Defense wrote: ``You have 
     my deepest thanks. Your direct contributions and support are 
     another illustration of America's greatness as a nation.''
       Since 11 September 2001, that employer support has been 
     extended to more than 350,000 Reservists and Guard members 
     who have been mobilized and demobilized. This commitment is 
     documented in the charts on the pages that follow, 
     summarizing corporate policy for 185 of the Fortune 500 
     companies when Reservist/Guard employees are called to 
     emergency active duty. Replies represent 112 new responses 
     (compared with 91 last year) adn 73 repeats from previous 
     years. On the charts, as well as in this article, asterisks 
     indicate responses from last year or two years ago. For many 
     companies, policies represent upgrades since 9/11 and are 
     usually for implementation during the period of the terrorist 
     threat.
       Of the 185 companies listed, 19 provide full salary; 17 
     provide salary plus differential; 137 provide differential; 
     nine provide no salary or differential; and three reply 
     either vaguely or ``do not participate in surveys.''


                          companies that lead

       From among the 19 where full salary is provided, companies 
     that lead the way are #26 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., full 
     salary from 9-11-01 through 3-31-04; $69 American Express, 
     #179 MBNA, #187 *Schering-Plough, and #397 MGM Mirage, for 
     the duration; and #242 *First Data and #355 W.W. Grainger, 
     for one year.
       Among the 17 with a combination of salary plus 
     differential, companies with the most generous packages 
     include #235 General Mills, salary for one month and 
     differential for the duration, plus a $300 monthly Military 
     Leave Allowance; #51 *Dow Chemical, salary for two months and 
     differential for the duration, not to exceed five years; #199 
     United Services Automobile Assn., salary for one month and 
     differential for up to two years; #215 National City Corp., 
     salary for six months and half-salary for six months; #419 
     **Pacific LifeCorp., salary for six months and differential 
     for six months; #92 Coca-Cola, salary for three months and 
     differential for 275 days; #183 *AFLAC, salary for three 
     months, then one month of differential for each year employed 
     to equal annual salary; #5 General Electric, salary for one 
     month and differential for 11 months; #74 Georgia-Pacific, 
     salary until last day of month when employee reaches 30 days 
     of service and differential until 12th month is reached.
       In past surveys, where ``the duration'' or ``one year'' was 
     considered the ultimate in differential payment, that 
     standard has changed since 11 September 2001. The following 
     first five groups have continued to raise the bar for the 137 
     in this category, as they join with the duration and one-year 
     providers:
       Maximum of Five Years: #15 Boeing and #77 BellSouth.
       Three Years: #10 Verizon Communications, #56 Lockheed 
     Martin, and #141 Lucent Technologies.
       Two and One-half Years: #22 AT&T, #30 Sears, Roebuck, #54 
     Sprint (continues to be extended since 9/11), and #105 
     Raytheon.
       Two Years: #128 Wyeth, #315 *Eastman Chemical (two years at 
     80 percent of difference), and #335 Avaya.
       18 Months: #11 Altria Group (through 10 September 2004), 
     #50 ConAgra Foods, #80 *Electronic Data Systems, #116 
     **Xerox, #177 **Southern, #814 *Dominion Resources, #200 
     Pepsi Bottling, #224 Entergy, #301 Rohm & Haas, and #408 
     Hormel Foods.
       Duration: #3 **Exxon Mobil, #6 Citigroup, #8 
     **International Business Machines, #37 **Pfizer, #49 United 
     Technologies, #52 Marathon Oil, #72 Tyson Foods (retroactive 
     to 9-11-01), #79 *Bank One Corp. (salary offset by 5/7 of 
     military pay), #85 Caterpillar, #127 Household International, 
     #140 PG&E Corp., #156 **Union Pacific, #170 Pacificare Health 
     Systems, #211 Public Service Enterprise Group, #246 Calpine, 
     #270 *DTE Energy, #304 NCR, #381 **CDW Computer Centers, and 
     #486 New York Times.
       One Year: #7 Chevron Texaco, #12 ConocoPhillips, #32 
     *Freddie Mac, #35 Albertson's, #42 J.C. Penney, #43 United 
     Parcel Service, #45 Walgreen, #57 *Prudential Financial, #71 
     **Archer Daniels Midland, #84 Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins., 
     #99 Northrop Grumman, #100 Abbott Laboratories, #101 *Sara 
     Lee, #110 3M, #111 *Nationwide, #119 AT&T, #139 *Goodyear 
     Tire & Rubber, #163 *Edison International, #172 **Eli Lilly, 
     #196 Williams, #231 CSX Corp., #249 Mead-Westvaco, #285 
     KeyCorp., #302 Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, #303 Unisys, 
     #350 Mellon Financial Corp., #392 *Harley-Davidson, #393 
     Providian Financial, #399 *Energy East, #415 *Ball, #418 
     Ameren, #422 Adolph Coors, the two companies in #426 
     position, *Kerr-McGee and Wisconsin Energy, and #462 H&R 
     Block.

  Ms. LANDRIEU. This is from ``Citizen-Soldiers and the Fortune 500. 
Employer Support Grows.'' The article reads:

       ``I know of no other time in our nation's history when so 
     many employers have voluntarily offered this level of support 
     and benefits,'' Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld wrote 
     in September to employers of Reservists and National Guard 
     members called to active duty in the global war on terror.

  In his open letter of thanks and praise, Mr. Rumsfeld expressed the 
deepest appreciation of his Department and the U.S. Government for 
``your unswerving support of our nation's military.'' His letters were 
sent on 29 September to directors of major employer associations and 
Government agencies that were asked to distribute them to their members 
so their members would know of the good works and good words of 
Secretary Rumsfeld.
  His letter went on to say:

       Many employers did more than was required by law by 
     voluntarily offering continued benefits, pay differentials, 
     and additional, creative forms of family support, which made 
     the period of separation so much easier to bear, Mr. Rumsfeld 
     noted. He said that without the continued support, we could 
     not maintain a strong military or sustain the current effort 
     to overcome the international terrorist threat directed at 
     our country, our citizens, and all who love freedom.

  Those are beautiful words. My colleagues would acknowledge these are 
beautiful words. The problem is, they are only words, because when the 
administration that Secretary Rumsfeld works for and the House 
Republican leadership that follows his lead and his direction put 
together a $137 billion tax package, they did not think they could find 
the room, the time, the energy, or the concern to really thank the 
employers by giving them part of this tax cut. They decided to send 
them the brochures and the newsletters and the go-for-it 
congratulations kind of letters, but the real people who they wanted to 
help or the people they thought deserved the most help were actually in 
the bill.
  I think this is pretty clear evidence that the words that are 
sometimes written by leaders do not really convey what actually 
happens, that really what happens is what is in the budget. When one is 
in the budget, they know they matter, and if they are not, they do not. 
It is about as simple as that.
  I am going to submit a list of the employers--the National Committee 
for Employers supports the Guard and Reserve, outstanding employers. I 
have them all through my State. I am so proud of these small 
businesses, I do not know what to do.
  I had one of my mayors whose chief operating officer was called out 
of the city not once but twice, one of the most talented, remarkable 
public servants. The whole city sort of suffers

[[Page 21996]]

when one of these skilled folks goes off, and I have heard his story 
out of Lake Charles, LA. But they kept his paycheck going voluntarily. 
Many employers keep the paychecks going.
  I thought, silly me, we have a tax bill. Could we not acknowledge the 
patriotism of these thousands of employers in our country, big 
companies, small companies, local governments, fire departments and 
police departments that are digging deep? There are no line items in 
their corporate budgets to pay people who are not at work, but they do 
it anyway. We do not even mandate they do it; they are doing it 
voluntarily. They do not put a line item in their corporate budget: Pay 
people that are not on the job that are on the front line. But you know 
what. They do it. They do it for a good reason--because 41 percent of 
the Guard and Reserve are taking a pay cut to serve on the front line.
  I want to submit for the record some the patriotic employers.
  I ask unanimous consent to have some of their names printed at the 
conclusion of my remarks.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Unlike some of the leaders who just write these 
employers letters and tell them what a good job they do, I want these 
employers--Conoco and Chevron and Alcoa and All About Music and Allianz 
Life Insurance Company and American Electric Power, American Express, 
the American Stock Exchange, and I could go on and on, 250 Central, 
3M--there are pages of them--I want to tell them all that there are a 
few Senators, some Republicans and some Democrats, who are going to do 
more than send you a letter. We would like to send you a tax credit and 
we think you deserve it.
  You didn't really ask for it. We understand that because you are 
digging deep. But we are going to give tax credits out to everybody in 
the world, it looks like, because we have ceiling fan importers and 
NASCAR race investors; we have shipbuilders--many of which are in my 
State and they know I support them--but we can't find a tax credit to 
help these companies that are sending paychecks for the front line to 
keep our soldiers prepared to fight and defend our country when really 
it is the Federal Government's responsibility.
  If they said we didn't have the money, I would just sit down and say 
we just don't have it. We are running a deficit. We can't afford it. 
But for me to sit here and watch $137 billion fly through this Chamber 
and land in the hands of whomever, but not these companies, not our 
troops, not the people who are having a hard time paying their house 
note and keeping their household together, it makes me literally want 
to just get on my knees. I can hardly stand here. I really feel like 
just falling out.
  I want to read a couple more things into the Record. I only have a 
few minutes. This is from Kristin who called in today from Portland. 
Her husband is in the Army Reserve and has been in Iraq for about a 
month. She is anticipating a 50-percent cut in pay. Her husband was a 
private consultant project manager.

       We knew when he was activated that he was going to have to 
     be away, but to think that some in Congress aren't even 
     willing to do something to help employers continue to pay him 
     is hard to believe.

  Gwen from Minnesota, her husband spent a year deployed in Iraq as a 
reservist. He is a schoolteacher. He took a significant pay cut during 
deployment.
  Because I talked to Gwen, let me add a few things to this. Her 
husband has a doctorate degree. He is teaching school, in either high 
school or elementary school. He is a real double patriotic American 
because, even though he has a doctorate degree and could teach at a 
college or get some high-paying job, he feels compelled to give his 
life to help children.
  In his spare time he goes to the front line. So what does our 
Government do for Gwen and her husband? Send them letters in the 
newsletter to tell them how proud we are. Then, when they are not 
looking, in the dead of night, we pass a $137 billion tax cut and leave 
them out? I don't think so.
  Sue, from New Orleans, her husband has been activated for a year and 
a half but has not been deployed. Even so, her family is experiencing a 
60-percent pay cut during his deployment.
  Trish from Pennsylvania, her family is experiencing a one-third pay 
cut. He is on his second deployment. They may have to declare 
bankruptcy. Her husband is in the Air Force Reserve. He was deployed to 
Afghanistan last year and is headed to Iraq in the fall.
  We in Congress think we do a great job for these families by 
providing them financial counseling. Let me say one thing. Most of the 
people I know in the Army and Reserve do a very good job managing their 
money. They are happy for the help we could give them and they are 
happy for the counseling that they could sign up for, but I can tell 
you what they really want. They just want a paycheck and they want a 
solid paycheck. They don't want something to make them rich, not 
something to allow them to live in a mansion or drive around in a 
Lexus, but they would like a real paycheck. We could have helped them 
but we decided this Congress had other priorities.
  The last thing I want to submit for the Record is a letter to the 
President of the United States that I am sending right now. I am going 
to read it and then I am going to yield the floor to the Senator from 
Kansas.
  May I have order, please?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will come to order.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. The letter says:

       Dear Mr. President: I am writing to bring a grave injustice 
     to your personal attention. During Senate consideration of 
     the FSC-ETI legislation, the members of the Senate added a 
     modest provision to assist our troops. GAO studies have 
     concluded that 41% of our Guardsmen and Reservists called to 
     serve their country on the front line must take a pay cut to 
     do so. Fortunately, some companies around the country have 
     stepped up to the plate, and taken the patriotic step to make 
     up the pay gap of these brave men and women.
       The provision that we added in the Senate would have 
     provided a tax credit of 50% of these costs to companies who 
     make up that difference. In so doing, we hoped both to 
     acknowledge the patriotism of existing companies, and at the 
     same time encourage more employers to take this step.
       Mr. President, no doubt that as you have traveled the 
     country, you have confronted the same stories I have from 
     spouses and military families struggling to make ends meet. 
     We have had to ask an awful lot of our Guard and Reserves, 
     and they ask very little from us. So trying to take this 
     worry off the minds of our men and women on the front lines 
     seemed to be the least we can do.
       So it is with deep embarrassment for our government that I 
     must report that this very modest relief for our troops was 
     stripped from the conference report by Congressman Thomas and 
     the leadership of the United States House. While I am certain 
     that representatives of your administration participated in 
     this conference, I presume that you did not have personal 
     knowledge of the decision to cut support for our military 
     families.
       Regrettably, this decision has placed all of us in a 
     difficult position. While I endorse many aspects of the FSC-
     ETI bill, but I simply cannot support a measure that places 
     so many lesser priorities ahead of our military families.
       Mr. President, I respectfully request that your exert your 
     great influence to correct this injustice. Your willingness 
     to veto this bill, or your insistence that a free standing 
     bill be adopted, could redress this failure. Mr. President 
     our troops need your leadership on this matter. Let us not 
     disappoint them.

  I might add, our troops need our leadership. I am sending this 
letter. I am sending a similar letter to Congressman Thomas. I hope in 
the next 3 days that we are debating we may get an answer that tells us 
either why they were left out or what we could do to help them, because 
$137 billion is a lot of money and they deserve to be in the bill.
  I have ended my speech. I see the Senator from Kansas on the floor 
and I yield the floor.

                               Exhibit 1

    National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve


                         Outstanding Employers

       250 Central, 3M, 99th RRC, AMSA 113 (G), A.G. Edwards & 
     Sons, Inc., A.K. Steel/A.E.I.F., Abbott Laboratories, AC 
     Nielsen, Accenture, Accolades Awards and Trophy, Adelphia 
     Cable, ADT Security Services, Aerojet Ordnance Tennessee, 
     Aetna, Affiliated Computer Services, Inc/Riverside, AFLAC, 
     Ahold Information Services, Air Products and Chemicals, 
     Alabama Rural Water Association, Alchua County Sheriff 
     Qffice.

[[Page 21997]]

       Alameda County Sheriffs Office, Alamo Area Council of 
     Government, Albany, N.Y., Albertsons, Inc., ALCOA, Alion 
     Science & Technology, Alkermes Inc., All About Music, Allianz 
     Life Insurance Company, Allstate Insurance Company, Alpha 
     Industries, Altair Engineering, Inc., Alticor, Inc., 
     Amazon.com, Amber Mechanical Contractors, Inc., AMERESCO, 
     American Electric Power Company, American Express, American 
     Express Financial Advisors, American General Financial Group.
       American Heart Association, American Ink Jet Corp., 
     American International Group, American Medical Response, 
     American Postal Workers Union, American Recycling Systems, 
     Inc., American Standard, American Stock Exchange, AmeriGas, 
     Anderson County, Blue Mountain Energy, Blue Cross Blue Shield 
     of South Carolina, Bluefield Police Department, Bluefire 
     Partners, Blum, Shapiro & Company, P.C., BMC Software, BMW 
     Manufacturing Corp., Boeing Aerospace, Boeing Electron 
     Dynamic Devices, Inc., Boeing Satellite Systems.
       Boise Cascade, Boise Police Department, Booz-Allen & 
     Hamilton, Bose Corporation, Bradley-Morris, Inc., BRAVO! 
     Development Inc., Brighton School District 27J, Bristol-Myers 
     Squibb, Britton Engineering & Land Surveying, Inc., Brooks 
     Automation Inc., Broward County Sheriffs Office, Broward 
     County, Florida, School Board, Brown & Williamson Tobacco 
     Company, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Burlington 
     Northern Santa Fe Railroad, Burnet County Sheriff's Office, 
     CACI, Inc.--Federal, Caddo Parish Schools, La., Calamos Asset 
     Management, Inc., Canadian National Railroad.
       Canon Business Solution, Cantey & Hanger, Cape May County 
     Municipal Utilities Authority, Capitol One Financial, 
     Capsugel/Pfizer, CAREFLITE, CASAS International, Caterpiller, 
     Inc., Catholic Finance Corporation, CDW Computer Centers, 
     Cendant owns [Avis & Budget rent a car agencies], Cendant 
     Mobility, Cendant Mortgage, Cendent Corporation, Center of 
     Applied Technology North, Centex Rooney Construction, Central 
     Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, Central Connecticut 
     State College, Cerner Corporation, Cerritos College.
       Charles Schwab, Charter Consulting, Inc., Chautauqua and 
     Erie Telephone, Cheaptickets, Chesapeake Biological 
     Laboratories, Chesterfield County, Computer Sciences 
     Corporation, Comsewogue School District Board of Education, 
     Con-Way Central Express, Con-Way Western Express, ConAgra, 
     Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC), Conectiv Power 
     Delivery, Congentrix Energy, Congress Title, Connecticut 
     Light & Power Company, Conoco, Conoco-Phillips, Consolidated 
     Edison of New York, Cook County, III.
       Cooley Manion Jones LLP, Coors Brewing Company, Copperfield 
     LLC., Cornerstone Retirment Community, Corriher--Lipe Middle 
     School, Country Insurance & Financial Services, County of 
     Santa Clara, Environmental Resource Agency, Parks & 
     Recreation, Covance, Inc., Coweta County Sheriffs Department, 
     Cox Communications, Cranston Print Works Company, Crowley 
     Middle School, CSX Corp., Cummins, Inc., Curtiss-Wright 
     Corp., CVM, Inc., D. H. Griffin Company, D. Miller & 
     Associates, PA, Daimler Chrysler, Daphne, AL P.D. (and City 
     of Daphne).
       Dassault Falcon Jet--Wilmington Corp., Data Base Accounting 
     Solutions, Inc., Data Search Systems Incorporated, Davidson 
     County, Tenn., Davie Police Department, DeKalb County School 
     System, Delaware, Dell Computers, Delphi, Delta Faucet 
     Company, Department of Environmental Protection, Department 
     of Labor/Wage & Hour Division, Department of Military of 
     Affairs, Designer Checks, Deutsche Bank, DeVry Inc., Digital 
     Partners Inc., DirectEmployers Association Inc., Discover 
     Card Services, Discover Financial Services, Discover 
     Financial Services, District of Columbia (Washington, DC).
       FISI Madison Financial, Fleet Bank of Hartford, FIeetBoston 
     Financial, Fleming Companies, Inc., Flik International, 
     Florida Blood Services, Florida Power & Light Company, 
     Florida State Gov., FMC Technologies, Food Lion, Ford Motor 
     Company, Forensic Technology Inc., Forest Grove School 
     District, Forrest Exterminating Service Inc., Fort Wayne 
     Metals, FOX Broadcasting Company/News Corp., Fox Valley Tool 
     & Die, Frankfort Fire Department, Franklin County Sheriff's 
     Office, Columbus, Ohio, Freddie Mac.
       Freightliner Trucks, Frito Lay Corporation, Frontier 
     Telephone of Rochester Inc., Fujitsu Network Communications, 
     Full Association Business Service, Inc., Galileo 
     International, Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association, 
     GEICO Direct, Gen-Probe Incorporated, General Dynamics, 
     General Dynamics Land Systems, General Electric, General 
     Motors, George's Restaurant, Georgia Power Co., Georgia Power 
     Company, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Giant Food Inc., 
     Gilbane Building Company, Giles County Sheriffs Department.
       Glastonbury, Conn., Glaus, Pyle, Schomer, Burns & DeHaven, 
     Inc., Glendale, Calif., Globe Motors, Inc., Goldman Sachs, 
     Goodrich Corporation, Goodrich Corporation- Landing Gear 
     Division, Goodwill Industries--South Eastern Wisconsin, 
     Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Graco Minnesota Inc., Grainger, Grand 
     Traverse County, Grapevine, Texas, GrayRobinson, Great Salt 
     Lake Council Boy Scouts of America, Greater Baltimore Medical 
     Center.
       Jackson Township, Jacksonville Sheriffs Office, James City 
     County, Jamestown Public Schools, JCPenney Home Office, JE 
     Dunn Construction Company, Jedi Computing, Jefferson Parish 
     Sheriffs Office, JM Thomas Forest Products, John Peter Smith 
     Hospital, Johnson & Johnson, Jones & Carter, Inc., Jones Day, 
     JP Morgan Chase, JP Morgan Chase Custody Services, Inc., JSA 
     Inc., Kaman Aerospace Inc., Kaufman & Canoles, P.C., Kell 
     Container Corporation, Keller Police Department.
       Kennesaw State University, Kenton County Airport Board, 
     Kerr-McGee, Kessler sign company, Kettering City Schools, 
     Kettering, Ohio, Key Corporation, KeyCorp, KIC Chemicals, 
     Inc., Kocourek Chevrolet, KORYAK Consulting, KPMG LLP, KRA 
     Corporation, Kraft Foods-Maxwell House, Kronos, Inc., Kwik 
     Trip Inc., L G & E Energy (KY), L-3 Communications, Labor 
     Ready, Inc., Lake County Captains Professional Baseball.
       Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group, Landstar 
     System, Inc., Lang Wyatt Construction, Las Vegas City, NV., 
     Lauerman's #2 Saloon, Lawfirm of Sacks & Sacks, LD Clark 
     Excavating, Lebanon Township Committee, Leviton Manufacturing 
     Co. Inc. (NY), Liberty Mutual, Liberty Technology-Magnet High 
     School, Liorente Investigations, Lisle-Woodridge Fire 
     District, Live Oak Police Department, Lockheed Martin, 
     Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company.
       Miami--Dade County, Fla., Michelin North America, Micro 
     Vane (MI), Microsoft Corporation, Mid-States Ford Inc, 
     Mideast Aluminum Division of Indalex, Midlands Orthopaedics, 
     P.A., Military Resale Group, Inc., Miller Brewing Company 
     (WI), Mind & Media, Inc., Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky 
     and Popeo PC, Mirant, Mission Critical Linux, Mississippi 
     Board of Nursing, MK Diamond Products, Inc., Modesto City 
     Schools, Monster Worldwide/Monster Government Solutions, 
     Montefiore CMO, Montello School Department, Monterey Bay 
     Aquarium.
       Morgan Stanley, Morgantown (WV) Utility Board, Morrison & 
     Foerster LLP (CA), Morton Plant Mease Primary Care, Inc., 
     Motorola, Inc., Munhall Area Prehospital Services, Munters 
     Corporation, Mutual of Omaha, NASDAQ, Nashville, Tenn., 
     Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County, NY, National 
     Association of Securities Dealers, National City Bank, 
     National City Corp, Cleveland, OH, National Information 
     Consortium USA, National Park Service, NationsRent, 
     Nationwide, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
       Navy Engineering Logistics Office, Navy Federal Credit 
     Union, Navy Public Works Center, Nebraska Public Power, Neill 
     Corporation, Nestle Frozen Food Division, NetJets, Inc., 
     Nevada Highway Patrol, New Britain, Conn., New York City 
     Housing Authority, New York City Police Department, New York 
     Life Insurance, New York Stock Exchange, Nicor Gas, NiSource 
     Corporation, Nissan North America, Inc.
       Phillip Morris, Phoenix Metals Company, Phoenix Police 
     Department, Piedmont Natural Gas, Pilkington North America, 
     Pinellas County Government, Pittston, Plateau Valley School 
     District #50, PNC Bank, Police and Fire Financial Services, 
     Portion Pac, Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan, Inc., Post-
     Newsweek Stations, Inc. / The Washington Post Company, PPG 
     (Pittsburgh Plate Glass), Pratt & Whitney, Praxair, Inc., 
     Precision Castings of Tennessee, Inc., Premier Yachts, 
     PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, Prince Frederick Motors.
       Prince George's Fire and EMS Department, Prince William 
     County, Va., Principal Financial Group, PrivatAir Group, 
     Produer's Cooperative Association, Progress Rail Services, 
     Progressive Escrow and Closing, Provident Bank, Providian 
     Financial, Prudential Financial, PS Doors, Public Service 
     Company of New Hampshire, Public Services Group, Publishers 
     Printing Co., Quaker Oats, Qualex, Inc., Quiet Light 
     Securities, Quincy District Court, Qwest Communications, 
     Rainey, Ross, Rice & Binns.
       Raytheon, Raytheon Systems Engineering Project AUTEC, RCI 
     (resource communication), Regal Ware, Inc., REMEC Broadband 
     Wireless, Rentacom, Republic Airways, Reynolds & Reynolds, 
     Reynoldsburg Police Department, RHDonnelley, Rhodia, Inc., 
     Rich Township, Richard B. Russell Lake and Dam, US Army Corps 
     of Engineers, Richard Childress Racing, Richmonf Financial 
     Group, Riverside County Sheriffs Department.
       Skowhegan Savings Bank, Slidell Memorial Hospital, Smurfit 
     Stone Container Corporation, Sodexho, Solar Turbines Inc., 
     South Brunswick Township Police Department, Southampton 
     Sheriffs Dept., Southeast Missouri State University, Southern 
     California Edison, Southern Connecticut State College, 
     Southern Fabricators, Inc., Southern New England 
     Telecommunication Corp., SouthTrust Bank, Southwest Airlines, 
     Southwestern Bell Telephone, Space Gateway Support, 
     Spartanburg Forest Products, Speedway Motorsports, Sprint, 
     St. Charles County Ambulance District.
       St. Joseph's Medical Center, St. Onge Company, St. Vincent 
     Healthcare, Stabilus,

[[Page 21998]]

     Stanley County Sheriff's Office, Staples, Inc., Starcom 
     Worldwide, State Attorney, 8th Judicial Circuit, Florida, 
     State Farm Insurance, State of California, State of Maryland 
     (Patuxent Institution), State of New Jersey, State of New 
     Jersey OIT, Stockton Banking Center, Student Health Services, 
     UNCG, Subaru of Indiana, Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc., 
     Supervalu, Supreme Court of Guam, Survival Incorporated.
       Sweetwater Police Department, Sybase, Inc., SYColeman, 
     Synovus, Systems Research and Development, t.w.phillips Gas 
     and Oil, Tampa Preparatory School, TAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 
     Target, Target Distribution Center, Tarver Abstract Company, 
     TASC, Inc., Technology Concepts & Design, Teledyne Brown 
     Engineering, Tellabs Operations Inc., Tennessee Valley 
     Authority.
       UBS Wealth Management, Ulbrich Stainless Steel and Special 
     Metals, Inc., Unilever Bestfoods, Union County, North 
     Carolina, Union Hospital of Cecil County, Union Pacific, 
     Union Pacific Railroad, Unique Security--Silver Star 
     Security--Champion Security, Unisys Blue Bell, United 
     Cerebral Palsy, United Parcel Service (UPS), United Space 
     Alliance, LLC, United States Department of Agriculture, 
     United States Mint, United States Postal Inspection Service, 
     United States Postal Service, United States Probation Office, 
     Universal Forest Products, University Hospitals of Cleveland, 
     University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
       University of South Florida Foundation, UniversityCare, 
     University of Maryland Medicine, UPS Revenue Recovery 
     Englewood Hub, US Conec LTD, USAA, USDA Forest Service, 
     Curlew Job Corps, USI Inc, USPS Columbus Ohio, VA Medical 
     Center San Francisco, VAHR-EO, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., 
     Vanderbilt Medical Center, Ventera Corporation, Veridian, 
     VERITAS, Verizon, Verizon Washington D.C., Inc., Veronica 
     Connor Middle School, Victoria's Secret, Village of 
     Wellington.
       VISA, Visteon Corporation, Volvo Penta of the Americas, W. 
     W. Grainger, Wachovia Bank, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Wal-Mart 
     Stores, Inc--Private Fleet, Walgreen, Wallkill, NY, 
     Washington, Washington Mutual Bank, Washington State Prison, 
     Waste By Rail, Inc., Waste Management Inc., Wausau Imports, 
     Inc., We Energies.
       Webster Cantrell Hall, Weis Markets, Wellmark Blue Cross 
     Blue Shield of Iowa, Wells Fargo, Wesley United Methodist 
     Church, West Virginia, WestAM, Westar Energy Inc., 
     Westchester County, NY, Western Financial, Western 
     Massachusetts Electric Company, Western Oklahoma State 
     College, Westinghouse Electric Company, Westinghouse Savannah 
     River Company.
       Westport Fire Dept., Westvaco, Weyerhaeuser, Wilkes-Barre 
     City Police Department, Wisconsin State AFL-CIO LETC, Wizcom, 
     World Financial Group, Wright Express, WWBT NBC 12, Wyeth, 
     Xenobiotic Detection Systems, Inc., Xerox, Yankee Gas 
     Services Company, Yearout Mechanical and Engineering, Inc., 
     Yosemite Waters.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business and the time I use to be considered against the 
pending cloture motion.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. HARKIN. Will the Senator just amend his unanimous consent request 
to state that at the end his statement, whenever that might be, the 
Senate would be put back into a quorum call?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. BROWNBACK. No objection.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Kansas.


                                FSC/ETI

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I wish to address a couple of topics 
that have come up this afternoon, and then address a couple that are 
pending in front of us.
  No. 1, on the FSC/ETI bill, there are a lot of things in the bill 
that I think are very positive. There are some things I disagree with 
in the bill. One thing I am going to draw to the attention of some of 
my colleagues in this bill that is very helpful in my State is a 
particular provision extending the bonus depreciation allowance for 
civil aviation aircraft. That is something about which I know the 
Presiding Officer is interested. These are small manufacturers of 
airplanes. These are not the big airliners but general aviation 
manufacturers that have extended bonus depreciation.
  You may ask, what am I interested in that for? That bonus 
depreciation has brought back an industry that was on its knees, that 
was crushed after 9/11. They were selling no aircraft. By having the 
bonus depreciation in there, they started selling aircraft. In fact, 
they quadrupled their sales of aircraft, particularly Cessna, 
Bombardier, Learjet. This hits Raytheon, the whole industry, much of 
which is concentrated in my State but has fingers around much of the 
country. It is a fabulous industry, great productivity of workers. 
There are really good people associated with it. It was on its knees 
after 9/11. The bonus depreciation was put in the first tax cut bill 
that really revived it and brought it back. They started hiring people 
again instead of laying off workers, but then they were hitting up 
against the time deadline of that bonus depreciation, so their sales 
orders starting going back down again.
  With it in this bill and by passing this bill, we are going to be 
able to bring sales back to that industry. You can say that is a pretty 
narrow provision, that it doesn't cost anything, that it actually 
scored at zero, but the point being the reason this FSC/ETI bill is 
called a jobs bill is because it creates jobs. Here is a bill that 
creates a number of jobs. By doing this, there are going to be people 
working in Wichita, throughout my State, throughout the region, 
building general aviation aircraft products. The chairman has done a 
good job in working on this particular provision.
  Most of this bill contains provisions that create jobs so people can 
work. They can continue their work. They are not laid off from their 
work. There are provisions in it which I don't agree with. There are 
things which I wish we could have had more of in it.
  The Senator from Louisiana made a speech saying there was something 
that should have been in it. It would have been nice to be in it, but 
it didn't make it in. The bill has provisions in it that will create 
jobs and continue jobs, such as this bonus depreciation extension on 
general aviation manufactured products. This is a good thing that needs 
to happen. It is the right thing to do. It is the sort of thing we need 
for this country, particularly in these areas of manufacturing jobs 
which have so much difficulty and so much competition overseas for 
these jobs. Here is an area where we can do it. We need a little bit of 
benefit. It is in the bill.
  I applaud the Chairman, Senator Grassley, particularly for putting 
that provision in the bill.
  There is a second thing which hasn't had the notice and which 
happened this week. It is not in the bill, but it is another job 
creator. This week, the U.S. Trade Representative in the Office of the 
President announced that they will be withdrawing from the 1992 civil 
aviation agreement with the European Union. The issue here is that 
Airbus has stolen by Government subsidies a huge market share from 
Boeing and other manufacturers, primarily from Boeing and large-scale 
aircraft.
  Since 1992 when the agreement was entered into, Airbus has gotten 
somewhere between 8 to 15 percent of the market share. With Government 
subsidies, Airbus now has a majority of the market share in the large 
airline manufacturing business. It has gotten that through Government 
subsidies in Europe.
  What type of Government subsidies? It is a subsidy where the European 
Governments say to Airbus, you want to make this new airliner, you want 
to be able to sell it to United Airlines, you want to sell it to 
Lufthansa and other airlines around the world; we will provide you with 
the money. We will loan the money to create this new aircraft to sell 
to these major airlines. And if you sell the product and if it works, 
you will have to repay the loan. But if it doesn't work, if people do 
not buy the aircraft, you don't have to pay back the loan.
  There are a number of countries in the world that would love this 
deal. As such, you never have to bet the company on a new product. You 
can go out and say we think there is a market for a 600-seat airliner. 
If it makes it, great; you have to repay the loan. If it doesn't, the 
Government is going to pick up the tab.
  That is what is taking place, billions of dollars of direct subsidies 
on putting these aircraft into the manufacturing system that have 
subsidized the takeover of Airbus over Boeing and the majority of 
aircraft manufacturing in the

[[Page 21999]]

world today. If it were a fair competition between Airbus and Boeing, 
that would be another matter. But these sorts of subsidies are wrong. 
It is wrong for us to allow Europe to continue to do that.
  I am delighted that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is 
withdrawing from this 1992 protocol, saying to the Europeans we are 
going to start consultation and take this to the World Trade 
Organization to have you stop the subsidization of aircraft 
manufacturing and stealing jobs from America.
  What does that have to do with this bill? Again, it is about jobs and 
fighting for jobs. Boeing itself has lost nearly 60,000 jobs since 9/
11. We have been losing market share. We have had difficulty in the 
economy. Here is something to say we have to start fighting back 
aggressively, pull out of this agreement, start the consultation, bring 
the World Trade Organization into it, and if we have to subsidize to be 
able to get back into market share to compete on a dollar-for-dollar 
basis for Europe, I think we have to look at that as well.
  Here is the administration through the USTR fighting for 
manufacturing jobs that have been lost because of a bad agreement in 
1992 on airliners being subsidized and made by Airbus. I am delighted 
the administration is doing this. I wholeheartedly support it. I have a 
resolution which I put in here asking my colleagues to support, saying 
this is the right way for us to reclaim manufacturing jobs that are 
being stolen by Europe providing these subsidies to Airbus.
  Another issue which is coming up in some of the debate on the floor 
is the discussion about the war in Iraq. For all of us, this is a very 
sensitive issue. We have lost American lives. We have lost a number of 
American lives. We have lost a number of Kansans in this war in Iraq. 
They are fighting for freedom. They are fighting to spread democracy in 
a part of the world that has not known it. They are fighting against 
terrorists. They are fighting against a government that has harbored 
terrorists. They are fighting against a government that was identified 
by us for a number of years as being a state sponsor of terrorism--one 
of only seven countries in the world. Abu Nidal operated out of Iraq. 
There has been and continues to be, and was continued under Saddam 
Hussein, a connection between terrorism and his regime.
  It becomes quite fashionable, it seems to me, to criticize this war 
in Iraq. Certainly there are things there to criticize. But I want to 
caution my colleagues. When I visit with soldiers coming back from Fort 
Riley, or leaving from Fort Riley to go over, officers who have been 
over and back, and Fort Leavenworth, or I see them here, they want to 
know that America continues to support them. It gets to be a real 
dissidence for a lot of people. OK, I support the troops but I don't 
support this effort in conflict.
  I think a number of people look at this, saying what you mean is you 
don't support this conflict and does that mean we are going to be 
pulling out and are we not going to complete the job? Are we not going 
to make the turn to democracy in Iraq? This is a very difficult attempt 
we are making. Once it is done, it will spread throughout the region. 
But getting there is going to be very difficult.
  I want to caution my colleagues, when you are being critical of this 
war--and everybody has their right to put their opinion forward--how 
that is heard by our troops. I say that from the practical experience 
in talking with a number of troops who have come back to my State. They 
want to know and want to make sure that the country still supports 
them. People will have different opinions on the war, but they want to 
know they are supported. Once we are in, they want people to stand 
behind them and with them.
  I hope we let our troops know that, yes, we have not found weapons of 
mass destruction. It doesn't mean their efforts have been in vain, or 
what they have done has been wrong.
  We have spread a message of democracy and hope. We have pushed Libya 
to the point now where they have given up WMDs, and are opening up 
their society. We have pushed them to the point they opened up the Dr. 
Kahn nuclear network. That has made the world safer on nuclear weapons. 
We are not completely safe, but it has made us safer in the process. 
Their effort has not been in vain. They are opening their society, 
bringing schools and opportunity to people who have not known it.
  We have gotten rid of a mass murderer in Saddam Hussein. There are 
thousands of people buried in mass graves. That is not a vain effort. 
Yes, they are having difficulty. We are losing blood on a regular 
basis, but we have to continue and we need to speak strongly that we 
support the war and we support the troops.
  In our efforts to have vigorous political debate here, I don't want 
to take the wind out of the sails of our troops who fight so hard and 
who put their lives and their families on the line for our safety.
  Finally, I want to address an issue that we thought we were going to 
be able to get with the Department of Defense authorization bill; that 
is, raising of the fines for indecent material in public over-the-air 
broadcasts over the radio and television. We have had broad bipartisan 
support for this effort. There is the Janet Jackson bill, for lack of 
better terminology, at the Super Bowl last year in the event with her 
and Justin Timberlake. It spawned a lot of complaints going to the FCC 
about indecent material on public over-the-air broadcasts. I remind 
those watching, the issue is that the airwaves used by radio and 
television broadcast are public airwaves. They are licensed from the 
public to radio stations and must be used for the common good.
  There is a level of material that has been deemed as indecent if you 
have this license. It is not so much about the first amendment, 
although the first amendment is protected. It is about abiding by your 
license agreement to use public property. It is like going to a 
national park. A national park is owned by the public. Visitors have to 
abide by the rules in the national park when they go in. They cannot 
start a fire just anywhere in that national park. Everyone has to abide 
by the rules.
  If you are going to go into this, the property is owned by the 
public, and there are rules to follow. If you are going to use a 
license, the property is owned by the public, the airwaves, and you 
have to abide by the requirements. One of those requirements is you 
cannot put on indecent material. That has been defined.
  We have had several broadcast violations. As a matter of fact, the 
company that broadcast the Super Bowl was fined heavily for that Janet 
Jackson and Justin Timberlake episode. But their fine amounted to one-
fourth of the value of a 30-second ad on the Super Bowl. So the total 
fine CBS received was the equivalent of a quarter of the price paid for 
a 30-second ad at the Super Bowl. It was not even commensurate. It is 
the cost-of-doing-business type of fine.
  Within the bill that passed, the amendment that passed 99 to 1, was 
to increase these fines. We increased fines substantially so there 
would be a penalty to the companies broadcasting the indecent material. 
The FCC would be given the authority to fine up to $500,000 per 
violation with a $3 million cap per 24-hour period per station group. 
However, the FCC has to consider a number of factors in deciding 
whether to put that level of fine forward. Broadcasters do not make $2 
million per 30-second ad on every show, and many broadcasters in small 
markets, particularly in my State or in other States, do not make near 
that kind of money. So we give the FCC a top figure they can use in big 
instances, but we give them a series of factors to consider such as 
ability of the company to pay in assessing the fine.
  We also have included fines for performers. If it is the performers 
who choose to do this and the companies broadcasting did not have 
clearance ahead of time, then the performers

[[Page 22000]]

themselves need to be held responsible. That was included.
  We also required an annual report that the FCC would have to give to 
the Congress on what they are doing on indecency complaints and 
violations. This had broad bipartisan support. It was pulled out of the 
Department of Defense authorization bill because there were other 
issues associated with it, such as media ownership and a provision for 
family-hour viewing of violent television programming that had some 
controversy so it did not make it through.
  We brought this issue back and we have put it today in a House bill 
that is at the desk numbered 3717, the Broadcast Decency Enforcement 
Act of 2004, which we are attempting to move through the Senate in the 
final hours of this session so we can get what has been agreed to, what 
has been passed by this Senate 99 to 1, what has passed through the 
House by an overwhelming majority as well, and have it as a stand-alone 
bill. It is being held by some Members on the other side of the aisle.
  I am pleased my colleague, Senator Dorgan, in particular, is a 
cosponsor on this individual bill. We are trying to have it cleared. It 
has cleared the Republican side and has not cleared the Democratic 
side. It has bipartisan support. I am hopeful we can get any holds 
lifted from this particular bill. It is an important provision.
  The public is fed up with the amount of the indecent material on 
television, particularly during prime time when families are watching. 
They want the FCC to have tools that are real, that can be used against 
the broadcast companies willing to put forward this sort of material 
that families do not want in their living room.
  I applaud the FCC for fining CBS for the Super Bowl incident. But, my 
goodness, that fine wasn't much because that was the maximum amount 
they can be fined under the old fine structure. We need to get this new 
fine structure in place.
  We have this House-passed bill. It is at the desk. It is amended with 
a House-Senate agreement that was part of the Department of Defense 
authorization bill. We are hopeful to get through that, and we are 
working to get this through the Senate. The House stands ready to pass 
that if we can get it cleared through the Senate.
  The broadcast decency bill, the bill that is at our desk, sends the 
message that indecent and obscene material will not be tolerated on the 
public airwaves during the hours in which children might be in the 
audience. Along with licensed use of the public airwaves for a period 
of time comes a set of responsibilities that need to be taken 
seriously.
  I am hopeful, as we are here for a couple of days on these votes, 
that we can get this matter cleared to send it to the House, we can get 
it passed to the President and take care of something that has broad 
bipartisan support. I urge my colleagues if they are holding this bill 
to consider this is something that they have probably already 
supported. It would be important as a step forward in trying to present 
airwaves to the public the way the public wants them to be presented, 
as the public does own these airwaves.
  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. HARKIN. 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. HARKIN. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. President. Under the procedure 
we are under now, the Senator from Iowa has how much time to speak?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa is advised he has up to 
58 minutes.
  Mr. HARKIN. Under the bill?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. HARKIN. Then, I ask, as others have before me, unanimous consent 
to speak as in morning business but that the time keep running on the 
bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time would continue to run on the clock?
  Mr. HARKIN. Yes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HARKIN. I thank the Presiding Officer.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cochran). The Senator from Iowa.


                              Overtime Pay

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, tonight, in just a couple hours, there 
will be another Presidential debate between our colleague, Senator John 
Kerry, and President George Bush. The debate tonight will be with 
questions from audience members. I assume these are rank-and-file 
citizens of Missouri or maybe Illinois and Iowa. I do not know where 
they are coming from. It will be interesting to see. The moderator is 
going to pick and choose the questions that are asked of both President 
Bush and Senator Kerry. I understand they will cover a broad range of 
topics, but the basic topic tonight will be on domestic issues.
  Well, I hope there will be a number of questions asked of President 
Bush for him to explain why it is that he is so intent on taking away 
the overtime pay rights of over 6 million American workers.
  A year and a half ago, his Department of Labor issued proposed 
regulations to drastically--drastically--change who is eligible for 
overtime pay in America. After analysis by independent groups, I 
decided we had to do everything we could to stop these rules from going 
into effect and hurting the workers of America.
  So we have had debate on this issue over the last year and a half. 
The Congress has voted six times--four times in the Senate, twice in 
the House--each time voting to overturn and to stop these onerous new 
regulations from going into effect. Six times, the President has not 
listened to the elected representatives of the American people. Six 
times he basically said: I don't care what you want; this is what we 
are going to do.
  Now, keep in mind, when these proposed regulations came out in 
February of 2003, they were sort of put out in the middle of the night, 
so to speak a stealth attack. Not one public hearing was held on these 
proposed rules--not one. Congress was not involved in shaping or 
fashioning them. This simply came out of the heads--I wouldn't say the 
hearts because these are heartless kinds of regulations--but it came 
out of the heads of some people in the Department of Labor, I guess, 
and maybe in the White House.
  We have said time and time again they should not go into effect, but 
on August 23 of this year those rules went into effect. The new rules 
took effect on that date because House Republicans have been able to 
strip my amendment and its House companions in conferences. It goes to 
conference, they strip it out.
  Now, I want to be clear. And I want to clear up one misstatement that 
comes out of the administration's press releases all the time; and that 
is that somehow I am denying workers the right to get overtime pay 
because the base pay on which people are exempt from overtime--I should 
say not exempt from any overtime regulations--starts at about $8,000 
and goes up to $23,000 under these new rules. Every time I have offered 
my amendment, we keep that in there. The base ought to go up. But we 
say that no person who was eligible for overtime prior to August 23 
ought to lose overtime afterwards. They ought to still be eligible for 
it. That is what the White House has said time and time again. They 
say: Well, if people got overtime before, they are going to get it 
afterwards. I say: OK, why not pass my bill? That is all I say. Anybody 
who got it before ought to get it afterwards. But the White House has 
resisted that.
  As a result, employers will no longer have to pay more money for 
overtime work for millions of American workers. And most of these 
workers will be women, make no mistake about it. This is going hit 
women hardest. Why do I say that? Because women are in that class of 
employees out there who many times are salaried. They work at what 
might be termed white-collar-type jobs. They work with perhaps 
information systems. They are inputting

[[Page 22001]]

data in computers, many times working for small businesses.
  A lot of times they are working in jobs that are maybe their second 
job, for example, or they have entered the workforce later in life 
after their children have grown, and they are working at a job that 
does not pay a lot, but they are salaried.
  Well, right now, they might be eligible if they worked over 40 hours 
a week to get time and a half. But under these new rules, they will be 
reclassified. They will then be asked to work over 40 hours a week and 
will not get one dime of overtime pay.
  As one woman wrote me, who lives in Seattle, WA, she said: When I get 
home from work, my second job starts. I have to take care of my kids. I 
get dinner ready. I make sure they get to their afterschool events. 
Then we have homework. I put them to bed. And I have my laundry to do. 
But she said: That time with my family and that time at home is my 
premium time. If I am asked to give up my premium time to work longer, 
I ought to get at least premium pay for it.
  I have never heard it said better. Yet that woman will be asked to 
give up her time with her family, her time with her children, working 
longer hours, and not get one dime of overtime pay.
  If overtime pay is free to the employer, it is going to be overused. 
If employers no longer have to pay more money for overtime work, they 
will have no incentive to demand longer hours, no incentive to hire 
more workers. Workers will have less time to spend with their families.
  A study done by the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University 
showed that only 20 percent of the workers eligible for overtime worked 
more than 40 hours a week. In other words, of 20 percent of workers 
eligible for overtime, only 20 percent worked more than 40 hours a 
week, but 44 percent of workers who are exempt from overtime pay work 
overtime, so twice as many. In other words, if the employer doesn't 
have to pay you overtime, you are twice as likely to work over 40 hours 
a week than if they have to pay overtime. That is common sense. It 
stands to reason.
  When Congress enacted the overtime provisions in the Fair Labor 
Standards Act in 1938, Congress did so with the intent that a hard-
working America would not leave behind the concept of valuable family 
time. We believe that workers should be paid extra for the extra hours 
they work. Time-and-a-half pay accounts for some 25 percent of total 
income of those who work overtime, and the economic health of too many 
families is at stake. Congress has voted on this six times on a 
bipartisan basis to protect these American workers' overtime. Now they 
want to strip it out again, out of conference. In these tough economic 
times, why are we taking away families' rights to be fairly compensated 
in their overtime?
  During the first 3 years of the Bush administration, the typical 
household saw their real income fall by more than $1,500. Real wages 
have fallen while gas prices have gone up. Milk prices have gone up. 
Health care costs have gone up. More than 4 million people have been 
thrown into poverty since the beginning of the Bush administration. 
More than 5 million have joined the ranks of the uninsured. In this 
kind of economy, why would the President of the United States want to 
take money out of families' pockets?
  I hope this will be something that will be talked about tonight in 
the Presidential debate. I am sure the President will say they are 
expanding overtime pay because they are raising the base. They are 
raising the base with one hand, taking it away with the other. It is 
the old shell game. Yes, a worker who is making $15,000 or $18,000 a 
year will now be automatically covered by overtime. But guess what the 
administration did in the rules. They have suggestions to employers on 
how to get around it, how to get around paying the lowest income 
workers in America overtime.
  We have had examples of that. We had an example in The Detroit News: 
``Workers Agonize About Overtime Loss.'' Two managers out of 150 at 
metro Detroit Burger King franchises became eligible for overtime. 
Rather than make them hourly workers, the company gave them $20 a week 
raises to maintain their salaried status. They gave them a $20 a week 
raise so they would just be over that threshold, and they are not 
eligible for overtime. That means they have a $20 raise, and they to 
have work 3 or 4 hours' overtime. They are getting minimum wage or 
below even for working overtime. Two managers out of 150 eligible for 
overtime. So that is what is happening.
  The President might say tonight: Well, they raised the base. But they 
are already telling employers how to beat it. I hope the President will 
tonight respond and answer to the American people why he is so intent 
on taking away the right to overtime pay, to time and a half over 40 
hours of work.
  Please, Mr. President, tell the women of America why you are sticking 
it to them, the working mothers of America, why you are taking away 
their premium time from their families but not allowing them to make 
premium time by working overtime.
  Another issue I hope comes up tonight is the issue of job growth. The 
job report came out today. The economy created 96,000 jobs last month, 
less than two-thirds of the amount needed just to keep up with 
population growth. Only 59,000 were in the private sector, so just 
slightly over half in the private sector, and the rest were in the 
public sector. We have lost 1.6 million private sector jobs since 
President Bush took office.
  They may say: That is not quite right. There was an 813,000 job 
increase. Well, that is because of Government employment. The gap 
between total jobs and private sector jobs accounted for 813,000 jobs 
in Government employment. That is called socialism. I wonder what this 
is called now. President Bush is for socialism? We can't get jobs in 
the private sector. We will put them on the Government payroll. Shades 
of the Soviet Union. But the private sector jobs are not there.
  Total manufacturing jobs fell by 18,000 in September, the largest 
drop since last December. A total of 2.7 million manufacturing jobs 
have been lost since President Bush took office--the first President 
since Herbert Hoover to not have created one net new job in 4 years in 
office. What a record. I hope the President talks about how great that 
is for our country, that the only increase we are getting is in 
Government jobs.
  The unemployment rate is unchanged, 5.4 percent. It was 4.2 percent 
when the President took office in January of 2001. Eight million 
Americans were unemployed in September; 2 million more Americans 
unemployed today than when President Bush took office in January of 
2001--a 33-percent increase. That is a terrible way to say it, a 33-
percent increase in the number of unemployed in this country since 
President Bush took office.
  Let's talk about long-term unemployment. That is longer than 26 
weeks. That means you are out of work longer than 6\1/2\ months. Long-
term unemployment rose by 83,000 last month. It is now at 1.7 million 
people. It has increased by 1 million under President Bush. That is 
long-term unemployment. The long-term unemployed are now 21.8 percent 
of the unemployed. That share has nearly doubled. This is the economic 
record. Long-term unemployment more than doubled.
  In January of 2001, there were 680,000 long-term unemployed. 
September 2004, there are 1.75 million, a 160-percent increase in long-
term unemployed.
  That is it. I hope that the President will please talk about that 
tonight and how good this is for America and why things are getting 
better for America and for American families.
  As I said, he is the worst President since Herbert Hoover to face the 
voters, having lost jobs during his tenure. He will finish his term 
with the worst record since the Great Depression and finish his term 
having lost private sector jobs. While the economy has created jobs 
over the last year, the recovery has been modest, with a total of 1.7 
million jobs created, which is about 143,000 a month. This is below 
what is needed to keep up with population growth. A healthy labor 
market would be creating jobs at a more rapid pace.

[[Page 22002]]

  During the last economic expansion, the economy created 200,000 jobs 
per month, for a full decade, every year, and 236,000 jobs per month 
during President Clinton's two terms. I will repeat that. During 
President Clinton's two terms, the economy created 236,000 jobs per 
month. During President Bush's tenure, we have had 143,000 jobs created 
per month. In January 2001, we had 111,560,000 private sector jobs. In 
September 2004, we had 109,930,000, with 1.6 million lost during that 
period of time.
  So when the President says they are creating jobs, yes, they are 
creating jobs--mostly in the public sector, Government employment, but 
far fewer than is even needed to keep up with the population growth.
  The administration has billed its tax cuts as a solution. But its 
predictions of the impact of the tax cuts have been consistently wrong. 
In 2001, Congress passed the President's economic plan. Three years 
later, we still have fewer jobs than existed when the plan became law. 
In 2003, the administration predicted that passage of that year's tax 
cut would create 5.5 million jobs by the end of this year, 306,000 jobs 
per month. That target has only been reached in 2 months, and the total 
15-month shortfall is 2.9 million jobs behind the pace predicted by the 
administration. Job growth is roughly 7 million behind the 
administration's 2002 prediction of the impact of their economic plan.
  I know these are big numbers when you talk about 306,000 and 5.5 
million. Well, the fact is that has resulted in hitting our families 
hard. Here is what happened to families. Median household income: In 
2000, the median household income was $44,853. Today, it is $43,318. So 
it is down $1,500.
  I hope the President tonight talks about how this is good for 
America, how things are getting better, when family income is coming 
down. I hope the President will address himself to the huge increase in 
the cost of natural gas in the Midwest, and what that is going to mean 
to our farmers, our families, to the elderly who have to heat homes 
with natural gas, to our manufacturing concerns who use natural gas, 
and power companies that use natural gas to produce electricity.
  Yet, household family income is down. The price of natural gas is up, 
gasoline is up, and oil hit a new high yesterday at $53 a barrel. Great 
for Halliburton and the oil companies; not too good for our families 
who have to drive a car to work--maybe drive two cars to work if they 
have two people working at different times. That is the median 
household income right there.
  I hope tonight's debate will be about domestic issues. I hope they 
talk about the lack of job growth, the cut in median family income, the 
number of long-term unemployed; and, yes, I hope they talk about 
overtime pay and what is happening to people who work hard and are now 
going to see their rights to overtime pay taken away. Those are mostly 
women. So that is the economy.
  I want to talk about all of those who are going to be hurt by the 
rules on overtime. Employees earning between $23,660 and $100,000 a 
year are going to find themselves with their right to overtime 
restricted or taken away, including veterans, police, nurses, team 
leaders, journalists, cooks, financial services, computer workers, and 
many others--a lot of people. So someone earning as low as $23,661 a 
year will find that their rights to overtime will be taken away. They 
will be reclassified.
  As I pointed out, in Detroit, 2 out of 150 managers at a certain 
place of business were eligible for overtime--2 out of 150. What 
happened is the employer realized how to fix it. By raising their 
salary so it was $23,661, or $23,662--just over the $23,660--guess 
what. They don't have to pay them overtime anymore. I hope they will 
talk about that tonight. I hope we will also recognize that there are 
no excuses for this overtime being taken away.
  Three career employees of the Department of Labor who worked in this 
area under Presidents Reagan, the first Bush, Clinton, and this Bush--
so they have worked for various Presidents--all three of them basically 
said that in every instance where the Department of Labor has made 
substantive changes to the existing rules, it has weakened the criteria 
for overtime exemptions, thereby expanding the reach and scope of the 
exemptions. That means that in every instance where they have made 
substantive changes to these rules, it has made it easier for employers 
to deny you the right to overtime pay.
  So I hope the President again tonight will respond and tell us why he 
is intent on taking away the right to overtime pay. I also hope they 
will talk about health care and what happened to health care coverage 
in this country. We are now up to about 4.5 million more people who 
have lost health insurance under this President. Somewhere around 45 
million to 50 million people in America have no health insurance 
coverage--none. No health insurance coverage.
  As we have said, the rate of poverty has gone up in this country. We 
know that especially the elderly are cutting pills in half and going 
without medicine to pay their heating bills or their lighting bills or 
their rent. Well, I happened to listen to the Senator from Utah, my 
friend Senator Hatch, this morning go on and on. As I said, I like him, 
but he happens to be wrong on this issue, that's all. I don't know how 
anyone can stand here with a straight face and say that Medicare 
doesn't have the right to bargain down prices of drugs. In the Medicare 
prescription drug bill that we passed, which the President signed into 
law, there is an express prohibition against Medicare bargaining with 
the pharmaceutical companies to get a cheaper price. They are 
prohibited from doing this.
  The Veterans' Administration is allowed to bargain, and they get 
great prices. In fact, our veterans get the cheapest drugs anywhere in 
America through the Veterans' Administration. That is great for our 
veterans. Why shouldn't Medicare be able to do the same thing?
  John Kerry has a plan. He has a plan for better health care in 
America, and the first part of his health care plan is to take away 
that restriction on Medicare and to allow Medicare--not even to allow 
Medicare, to insist that Medicare bargain with the pharmaceutical 
companies to get a cheaper price for drugs for the elderly in this 
country. Now that would be meaningful prescription drug reform.
  The second part of the Kerry plan for having better health care for 
our people is to allow us to have free trade with Canada. One might say 
we have a free-trade agreement with Canada. Of course, we do. We have 
NAFTA. It allows free trade with Canada. We can have free trade in 
cars, clothes, shoes, glasses, paper, and I suppose anything you want 
to mention, except one item. We do not have free trade with Canada on 
prescription drugs.
  Go along the northern border of the United States and people are 
driving across the border every day to buy cheaper drugs. Sometimes 
they take a bus from Iowa, go up through Minnesota, buy prescription 
drugs, and come back.
  Why don't we have a free-trade agreement with Canada on drugs? Why 
not allow us to reimport drugs from Canada for our people in this 
country to get a cheaper price? It is time to do so. The Bush 
administration will not allow that to happen.
  For a lot of people in this country who do not have health insurance, 
they look at us. I have a really good plan. I have a health care plan 
that allows me to choose doctors and hospitals and covers me wherever I 
go. Every year I can change my plan. When our kids were little, we had 
one plan. Now that our kids are grown up and married, we have a 
different plan. I get to choose from about--I don't know, I didn't 
check last year--15, 20 different plans. It is a good plan. I have that 
plan. President Bush is under that plan. Vice President Cheney is under 
that plan.
  If it is so good, why don't we let the American people buy into this? 
Why don't we let them buy into the Federal Employees Health Benefits 
Plan? Senator Kerry says we ought to do that. President Bush says no. 
It is OK for us, but it is too good for the American people. I think it 
ought to be good enough for the American people. John Kerry says, yes, 
he wants to open up the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan to

[[Page 22003]]

allow the American people to buy in. That would be very meaningful, 
especially for small businesses and people who work for small business.
  The fourth part of John Kerry's comprehensive plan to have better 
health care for America is to allow better tax breaks for small 
businesses to cover their employees with health care. It is very 
meaningful to those of us who live in rural States. Most of our people 
who live in small towns and communities work for small businesses. 
Small businesses simply cannot afford any longer to cover their 
employees.
  John Kerry says we should provide up to a 50-percent tax credit to 
small businesses and to family farmers to allow them to purchase health 
care coverage for their employees. President Bush says no. But this is 
where we need to focus--on our small businesses. That is where most of 
the people work, and that is where most jobs are created. Yet small 
businesses simply cannot afford it any longer. John Kerry says, let's 
provide tax cuts to small businesses to get health care coverage for 
their employees.
  The fourth part of John Kerry's comprehensive health care program is 
to extend and make more comprehensive the SCHIP program; that is the 
Children's Health Insurance Program. One might say, the President says 
he is for that. At his convention in New York, President Bush announced 
a new $1 billion initiative to enroll millions of poor children in two 
popular Government health programs, but next week the Bush 
administration plans to return $1.1 billion in children's unspent 
health funds to the Treasury. A projected shortfall in Federal SCHIP 
funds reduced health care to more than 200,000 children.
  There you have it. A President Kerry would expand the SCHIP program 
and get every kid covered. Let poor families get into the SCHIP program 
and provide them the wherewithal to do so. Under this administration, 
fewer and fewer children are being covered under the SCHIP program.
  Lastly, in his comprehensive plan for health care reform, Senator 
Kerry has said that we need a real prescription drug benefit for the 
elderly, not a phony card. And that is what it is, a phony card. That 
is what the elderly get today, a card. I cannot tell you how many 
senior citizens have come up to me in Iowa and told me how worthless 
that card is. They say: I have two or three cards in my billfold or in 
my purse and some of those are better than the Government card. The 
card I got with this drug company, or an AARP card--whatever card they 
have; there are a bunch out there--are better than the Government card. 
So why should they buy yet another card?
  Senators were on the floor the other day saying we should not be 
denigrating; we should not be talking badly about this card for the 
elderly. We ought to be promoting it. Promoting it? Don't talk to me; 
talk to the senior citizens. Find out why they are not buying it. They 
are not buying it just because I got up here and said it is worthless. 
They know it is worthless. They are telling me it is worthless. But we 
are supposed to, I guess, be a cheerleader and get them to buy 
something that is not in their best interest, that is worthless. 
Senator Kerry says we need a real prescription drug plan for the 
elderly and not just a phony card.
  Lastly, I want to talk about education. I hope education also is a 
part of the debate tonight. The President can probably tout the fact 
that he got a bipartisan bill through called No Child Left Behind. I 
supported that bill. I am on the Education Committee. We had a lot of 
negotiations. I was sitting there, since I am a senior member of that 
committee, in the final negotiations, and the big holdup was how much 
money would we put into it. We agreed on a number, and President Bush 
agreed that in exchange for the States doing these things and the 
mandates we put on No Child Left Behind, in exchange for that, we would 
provide the funding necessary to meet these requirements, and we 
specified how much money that would be.
  What happened? The first budget year comes up, they get shortchanged. 
The second budget year comes up, shortchanged again, and once again 
this year.
  I believe we are now in the neighborhood of about $27 billion short 
in education from what we had guaranteed. If I am wrong, I will come 
back and correct that, but it is something like that. I know it is over 
20. The figure 27 sticks in my head. Even if it was $10 billion or $5 
billion, the fact is, we put a mandate on our schools. We said we were 
going to pay for it, and we have reneged.
  Now, do not take my word for it. I tell people, talk to your 
teachers. If you do not like that, talk to your principal or your 
superintendent. Talk to your school board members and see what they say 
about No Child Left Behind. Most of them will say, look, it is test 
after test. We can handle that, but we are not getting the supporting 
mechanisms we need because we do not have the funds to do it.
  I cannot tell my colleagues how many times it has happened to me in 
my State of Iowa that I have seen schools where, guess what, they have 
cut out art classes, they have cut out music classes, they have cut out 
PE. Why? Because they are pinched. They are strapped. They have to put 
the money in for No Child Left Behind. Why? Because we did not fund it, 
one of the largest unfunded mandates ever.
  President Bush has not asked for the money in his budget. He did not 
put it in there to fund No Child Left Behind. I think the President 
should be held accountable for that on education.
  The second largest unfunded mandate our schools have is special 
education. We promised 25 years ago that we would pay up to 40 percent 
of the additional costs of funding special education in America. I 
think we are now at about 18 percent of funding additional costs for 
special education. We promised 40 percent, and yet time and again we do 
not get the funds and we do not get the budget allocation to fund 
special education.
  So I hope these will be some of the issues that the President will 
talk about tonight, that I hope will be involved in the debate because 
these are the issues that affect families in their daily lives.
  Lastly, I will take a little bit of time to talk about why I have 
been involved in slowing down the process in the Senate today. There 
are a lot of press people who talked to me about that so I thought I 
might at least take this time to explain why I am doing it.
  The Senator from Arizona yielded me a couple of minutes to explain 
why I was doing it, and I have only one simple declarative sentence: I 
am doing it to protect our farmers. I am doing it to protect the 
jurisdiction of the Agriculture Committee. The occupant of the Chair is 
our distinguished chairman.
  When we pass bills that are multiyear bills, sometimes it takes a lot 
of debate and discussion and working things out. In the 2002 farm bill, 
that was true. It took many weeks. I can remember sitting in these 
conversations on Saturday, Saturday night, and Sunday working it out. 
These are tough negotiations. Agriculture is very diverse, but I have 
always believed the Agriculture Committee ought to represent all of 
agriculture; that we are all in this together.
  So we hammered out a farm bill and we passed it. There was give-and-
take. Now, I did not get everything I wanted. The Senator from Indiana, 
who was ranking at the time, did not get what he wanted. The House 
Democrats did not get all they wanted. The House Republicans did not 
get all they wanted. That is the art of compromise. But I thought we 
had a pretty good bill. We had one which was a true compromise, and 
everyone signed off on it. We passed it with big majorities in the 
Senate and the House, and the President signed it. I was there for the 
signing.
  I remember the President talking about how this bill was so strong on 
conservation. That was one of the reasons he was signing it. Yes, I am 
proud of the fact that the bill had an 80-percent increase in 
conservation, everything from the WHIP program, the Wildlife Habitat 
Incentives Program,

[[Page 22004]]

to the Waters Resources Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, CRP, 
Conservation Reserve Program, and a whole host of others, and a new 
program that we started called the Conservation Security Program, 
Farmland Protection Program, a lot of conservation programs.
  So we had a provision dealing with the Conservation Security Program, 
which was designed to be an uncapped program that entitled every farmer 
who met certain requirements to be eligible to get payments for 
protecting soil, water, and air, and being a good farmer. I have long 
believed that it was not right that we just pay farmers to take land 
out of production. What about all of those farmers who do produce our 
food supply and work hard every day, who are good stewards of the land? 
Should they not have some incentive to take care of the soil, to 
protect our water, to protect our wildlife? So that is what we hammered 
out in the Conservation Security Program, an incentive program for 
farmers, yes, to take better care of the land. It does not require one 
iota of land taken out of production.
  It is voluntary. It is not a mandatory program. No farmer has to 
participate, but if they will do certain things--there is a minimum 
level, a moderate level, and a higher level, and if they do these 
things they will get a payment. But they have to agree to do it for 
between 5 and 10 years by contract, and then they have to meet certain 
requirements from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. They sign 
an agreement that they will do certain things to indeed keep soil from 
running off, make their soil better, better tilled, protect the water, 
a whole host of things, all kinds of things, because what is considered 
good conservation practices in my State of Iowa may not be good 
conservation practices in the States of Mississippi, Colorado, 
Washington, or Pennsylvania. Different soil, different land, different 
crops, different ways. So we wanted to make it so it was adaptable to 
every part of the country; it was not some cookie-cutter approach.
  Well, everyone touted this as a new approach. It was signed off on by 
the Agriculture Committee, passed and signed by President Bush. Then 
what happened was the Department of Agriculture began to drag their 
feet. In the bill, we gave them 18 months to come up with rules and 
regulations to get this program implemented. We passed the law and it 
was signed by the President in May of 2002. So that is almost 2\1/2\ 
years ago, and the final rules still have not been promulgated by the 
Department of Agriculture.
  They put out the proposed rules finally after 2 years. So they have 
been dragging their feet. I guess they just did that for some reason.
  We finally got it going and then a couple of years ago for the first 
time in the history of this Congress we responded to a disaster, a 
drought, by providing for disaster assistance to hard-hit farmers, but 
for the first time ever we took it out of agriculture. We made 
agriculture pay for it. In the 50 years that we have been providing 
disaster assistance to farmers--or others--it has always been paid for 
as an emergency spending. Two years ago, for the first time, they took 
it out of agriculture.
  I warned at the time that they were reopening the farm bill, changing 
a program that was agreed upon and passed by an authorizing committee; 
that they were fundamentally changing the appropriations process--and I 
am on the Appropriations Committee, as is the occupant of the Chair. I 
said that they are fundamentally changing it; this is not right to do 
this.
  Well, it was an on an Omnibus appropriations bill. The House passed 
it, went home, the funding of the Government was in it, so we had to 
pass it. I entered into a colloquy with the chairman of the 
Appropriations Committee, the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, 
the Presiding Officer, the Senate majority leader, and Senate minority 
leader. In that colloquy we stated that we agreed, the chairman of the 
Appropriations Committee agreed that at the first possible time--I will 
get the exact language--we would put the program back so that we could 
assure that it would run as intended by the farm bill for the life of 
the farm bill, which would take us to 2007. Fine. That is OK. So it was 
put back.
  Because there was a lapse of time there, a gap in time, the 
Department of Agriculture issued some rules on how to implement this 
program, but they issued rules based upon the fact that it was a capped 
program and not eligible to every farmer. But the farm bill said it is 
eligible for every farmer in every State of this country if they meet 
certain requirements. They said they had to do that because it was 
capped.
  I said, Now it is not capped. We changed it back.
  The Department said, OK, we will have to change the rules to make it 
go back, and they said that. They said they were going to change it.
  I know this is a long story, but now it takes us up to today. Once 
again, we had a disaster. We had two hurricanes, three hurricanes that 
hit Florida and Georgia and the Carolinas so they are going to provide 
disaster assistance. I think we should. We always have. How are they 
going to pay for it? They are going to pay for it as emergency 
spending.
  But there is another disaster that has taken place in other States of 
the country. We have had tornadoes, mud slides, high winds, hail in 
other agricultural parts of the country. We want those disasters taken 
care of, too. The administration said: Yes, we will take care of those 
disasters, but agriculture has to pay for it, and guess what, it is 
going to come out of conservation.
  Strange. If you are a citrus farmer in Florida and you have an orange 
grove and there were tornadoes in this hurricane, if a tornado came 
through and ripped out your trees--and it did, by the way, in a lot of 
places--you will now get disaster assistance, crop-loss disaster 
assistance paid for under the hurricane bill, not taken out of 
agriculture. But if you are a farmer in Mississippi or Iowa and you had 
a tornado come through and take out your cotton crop or take out my 
corn crop, you might get compensated, but, guess what, they are taking 
it out of your other pocket. They are taking it out of agriculture.
  Why should our farmers be treated differently than the farmers in 
Florida, I ask. That is why I have slowed this up today. That is why I 
wanted to get the attention of the Senate. I have always believed 
farmers had to be treated the same no matter where they are. That is 
why this is so bad, what is happening. They are opening up the farm 
bill again. They are taking it out of conservation again. They say they 
are going to do it. It may be conservation today. Next year, it might 
be commodity payments, maybe payment limitations. I have fought on this 
floor to protect those things. Maybe that is what it is going to be 
next year.
  Look out. Once we in agriculture divide ourselves up and we say, No, 
that's all right, we will take it out of there; we will treat farmers 
someplace different than in another place. Now we opened the farm bill. 
Our baseline is going to be down. It is going to take it right out of 
the baseline of agriculture. I know that is sort of the inside game 
around here. That means agriculture is taking a hit.
  What makes this so terrible is that in the last 3 years we, 
agriculture--I should not say ``we''--the farmers of America saved the 
taxpayers of this country $15 billion that was allotted for them under 
the farm bill that they did not have to take. That was $15 billion that 
went back to the Treasury. You would think we would say: OK, if we 
saved $15 billion, that is where the disaster assistance ought to come 
from. We are talking about $3 billion or $2.8 billion. We have already 
saved $15 billion.
  But no, they are not going to count that. They are not going to count 
that. I am sorry to have to say this. We in the Senate passed an 
amendment to provide for disaster assistance that would be emergency. 
We did it here, but the House didn't. And the White House, OMB, is 
insisting, insisting that this $2.8 billion of disaster assistance for 
our farmers be taken out of agriculture but not the disaster assistance 
for farmers in Alabama or Georgia or the Carolinas or Florida. Please, 
someone tell me, what is the difference?

[[Page 22005]]

Maybe we are just not lucky enough to have the President's brother as 
our Governor, or your Governor.
  That is why I am so upset about this. It is just not right. It is not 
right what they are doing. They are fundamentally changing a program we 
agreed upon. They are taking it out of agriculture, even after we saved 
all this money. It is not right. I am going to stand here and I am 
going to fight.
  I told them I probably can't win. They have the votes and they have 
the White House. But I am going to fight for my farmers. I am going to 
stand here or sit here to the bitter end. If I do not win this time, I 
will be back.
  I told the majority leader. Majority leader, I said, I like you, I 
respect you. He is a fine guy and he has a tough job. But, I said, I 
have to fight for my farmers. I have to fight for my rural people. I 
have to fight to make sure they are not discriminated against. I said, 
Leader, if I get rolled here, I will be back. If we come back in 
October, I will be back then. I will be back in November, too. I will 
be back. I will be back.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.


                              Jurisdiction

  Mr. GRASSLEY. I would like to engage in a colloquy with the ranking 
member on the Finance Committee, Senator Baucus, regarding provisions 
in Senate Resolution 445 pertaining to the jurisdiction of the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. In particular, 
I wish to address the provisions that exclude from the jurisdiction of 
that committee oversight of matters relating to the customs revenue 
functions, and the commercial functions and commercial operations, of 
the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection--CBP--and the Bureau of 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement--ICE.
  Mr. BAUCUS. This is a very important topic. As the Chairman of the 
Finance Committee will recall, the issue of customs authority was a 
major one in the debate leading up to passage of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002. The Finance Committee held a hearing in July 2002, 
followed by a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the 
Governmental Affairs Committee. We stressed the importance of 
preserving the revenue collection and trade facilitation functions of 
the U.S. Customs Service, even as that agency moved into the Department 
of Homeland Security with an added national security focus. I would be 
pleased to engage in a colloquy on this topic with my good friend from 
Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I appreciate the Senator's recollection of our efforts 
on this issue. I would add that following the hearing and our letter, 
we worked closely with the Committee on Governmental Affairs and with 
the Administration to develop text that would keep intact the 
commercial functions of the Customs Service. Under the final 
legislation, authorities vested in the Secretary of the Treasury 
relating to customs revenue functions remained with the Secretary of 
the Treasury unless delegated to the Secretary of Homeland Security. By 
order of the Secretary dated May 15, 2003 Treasury Order 100-16), the 
Secretary of the Treasury delegated to the Secretary of Homeland 
Security general authority over Customs revenue functions, subject to 
certain exceptions that preserved Treasury's oversight of the Customs 
Service with respect to policy matters and the authority to issue 
regulations and determinations.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Yes, and I believe we can both agree that our efforts 
were successful in preserving the revenue functions, commercial 
functions, and commercial operations of the Customs Service, including 
oversight of those functions and operations within the Committee on 
Finance.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I concur entirely. And the Senator's last point-the 
importance of preserving oversight of the revenue functions, commercial 
functions, and commercial operations that are now delegated to CBP and 
ICE--leads directly to the main point of this colloquy; namely, the 
necessity of preserving the role of the Finance Committee as primary 
overseer of the customs revenue functions, the commercial functions, 
and the commercial operations associated with the customs duties now 
being performed by employees of the Department of Homeland Security. I 
want to thank my colleagues, Senator McConnell and Senator Reid, for 
working so constructively with me and Senator Baucus  to address this 
priority. Together, we have clarified the scope of jurisdiction for the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs as it relates 
to the commercial aspects of customs operations.
  Mr. BAUCUS. I concur in thanking our colleagues for their cooperation 
in addressing this important issue. For the benefit of the record, 
would the Chairman of the Finance Committee outline the clarifications 
that have been added to the resolution?
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I would be pleased to do so. To begin, I think it's 
important to appreciate the context in which the clarifications have 
been made. Commercial customs functions are one element of the 
comprehensive international trade agenda of the United States. The 
various elements of international trade and trade policy are woven 
together so thoroughly that effective oversight of the whole 
necessitates oversight of the individual elements of trade. Now, of 
utmost importance to our broader purpose here today, we agree that 
preservation of Finance Committee jurisdiction in this manner will not 
in any way diminish the effective oversight of Department of Homeland 
Security functions by the Committee on Homeland Security and al 
affairs. Consequently, the clarifications we've added serve only to 
enhance effective oversight by the United States Senate of both the 
homeland security interests and the international trade interests of 
the United States.
  Now, the provisions we've added specify that the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will have jurisdiction over 
matters relating to the Department of Homeland Security, except matters 
relating to the following: first, any customs revenue function, 
including but not limited to the customs revenue functions enumerated 
in section 415 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. For example, that 
would cover the assessment and collection of customs duties, 
antidumping and countervailing duties, duties imposed under the various 
safeguard provisions in our trade laws, excise taxes, fees and 
penalties due on imported merchandise. But these are only some of the 
many revenue functions associated with customs operations. I encourage 
my colleagues to refer to section 415 of the Act, and again I note that 
section 415 is illustrative and does not provide an exhaustive list of 
the customs revenue functions that will remain within Finance Committee 
jurisdiction.
  Second, matters relating to any commercial function or commercial 
operation of the Bureau of Customs and Border Patrol and the Bureau of 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be excluded from the 
jurisdiction of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs. That would cover, for example, matters relating to trade 
facilitation and trade regulation. But let's take a closer look at what 
that would mean. Last year I introduced the Clean Diamond Trade Act. 
That important legislation prohibits trade in conflict diamonds. Once 
introduced, it was referred to the Committee on Finance where we held a 
hearing and reported it to the full Senate with the benefit of 
committee's expertise. In the future, similar legislation to regulate 
imports or exports would also be referred to the Finance Committee.
  Mr. BAUCUS. That specific example is very helpful. Does the Chairman 
of the Finance Committee have any other examples in mind?
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Well, another example would be the Convention on 
Cultural Property Implementation Act, over which the Finance Committee 
would retain jurisdiction. That legislation authorizes the United 
States to enter into bilateral agreements to protect the cultural 
antiquities of a trading partner. Another example would include matters 
relating to the Automated Commercial Environment--or ACE--computerized 
entry system for imports. Again, the driving factor here is whether a 
matter is commercial or trade regulatory in nature; if so, the

[[Page 22006]]

Finance Committee would retain jurisdiction over the matter 
notwithstanding that the matter may fall among the duties assigned to 
an employee of the Department of Homeland Security.
  Mr. BAUCUS. I thank the Chairman. Are there any other matters that 
fall within the exception to transfer of jurisdiction to the Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs?
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Yes, in fact there is a third clarification that's been 
added. The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will 
have jurisdiction over matters relating to the Department of Homeland 
Security, except with respect to any other function related to the 
customs revenue functions or to the commercial functions or commercial 
operations that were exercised by the United States Customs Service on 
the day before the effective date of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. 
Now, the Homeland Security Act directed the Secretary of the Treasury 
to identify, within 60 days after the date of enactment of the Act, 
those authorities vested in the Secretary of the Treasury that were 
exercised by the Commissioner of Customs on or before the effective 
date of the act. By letter dated January 24, 2003, the General Counsel 
at the Department of the Treasury transmitted that report to the 
Finance Committee. I ask unanimous consent that the General Counsel's 
letter and attached report be printed in the Record, in order to 
provide further guidance as to what is covered by this third clarifying 
provision. As comprehensive as this report is, I note that it serves to 
provide illustrative guidance and is not an exhaustive list of the 
functions or operations encompassed by the third clarification we've 
added.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                   Department of the Treasury,

                                 Washington, DC, January 24, 2003.
     Hon. Charles Grassley,
     Chairman, Committee on Finance, Dirksen Senate Office 
         Building, Washington, DC
     Hon. Max Baucus,
     Committee on Finance, Dirksen Senate Office Building, 
         Washington, DC.
       Gentlemen: Under Section 418(b) of the Homeland Security 
     Act of 2002 (the ``Act''), Title IV, Subtitle B, Public L. 
     No. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135 (November 24, 2002), the 
     Secretary of the Treasury is directed to report to your 
     Committees any proposed conforming amendments to determine 
     the appropriate allocation of legal authorities described 
     under section 412(a)(2) of the Act. The Secretary of the 
     Treasury is also directed to identify those authorities 
     vested in the Secretary of the Treasury that are exercised by 
     the Commissioner of Customs on or before the effective date 
     of this section. This report is due not later than 60 days 
     after the date of enactment of the Act and is provided by 
     this letter.
       Treasury has identified no conforming amendments needed to 
     determine the appropriate allocation of legal authorities 
     described under section 412(a)(2) of the Act. Under section 
     412(a)(1), authority related to Customs revenue functions 
     that was vested in the Secretary of the Treasury by law 
     before the effective date of this Act under those provisions 
     of law set forth in section 412(a)(2), shall not be 
     transferred to the Secretary of Homeland Security by reason 
     of this Act. Rather, on and after the effective date of this 
     Act, the law provides that the Secretary of the Treasury may, 
     at his discretion, delegate any such authority to the 
     Secretary of Homeland Security and that the Secretary of the 
     Treasury shall consult with the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security regarding the exercise of any authority not so 
     delegated. Based on our review, we have identified no 
     barriers to the appropriate allocation of legal authorities 
     described under section 412(a)(2). As we work with the 
     Department of Homeland Security and others to implement the 
     act, we will notify you promptly if we determine that 
     currently unforeseen legal barriers pose a problem that 
     require a legislative solution.
       To complete this report, a chart is attached identifying 
     those authorities vested in the Secretary of the Treasury 
     that are exercised by the Commissioner of Customs on or 
     before the effective date of this Act. We are pleased to be 
     of assistance in this matter.
           Sincerely,
                                               David D. Aufhauser,
                                                  General Counsel.

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, the chart attached to the January 24, 
2003, letter of the General Counsel to the Chairman and Ranking Member 
of the Senate Finance Committee regarding the authorities vested in the 
Secretary of the Treasury that were exercised by the Commissioner of 
Customs prior to the effective date of the Homeland Security Act of 
2002 may be accessed at the Finance Committee Web site under 
``Legislation--January 2003''.
  Mr. BAUCUS. I thank the Finance Committee Chairman. There is one last 
point, I think, we should address. First, I would like to add that it's 
my understanding that the Finance Committee has had jurisdiction over 
customs for 188 years, and so I am glad to see today that the 
Committee's expertise will continue to be brought to bear on the 
customs revenue functions and the commercial functions and operations 
of our customs officials. As part of that longstanding oversight, I 
note that referral of nominees for the position of Commissioner of 
Customs has been to the Finance Committee. I ask the Chairman, does he 
anticipate that such referral will continue in the future?
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I thank the Senator. Under section 411 of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002, there is established a Commissioner of Customs, 
who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate. The Commissioner of Customs reports to the Under 
Secretary for Border and Transportation Security. The Commissioner of 
Customs shall oversee certain functions, including functions performed 
by the following personnel and associated support staff of the United 
States Customs Service on the day before the effective date of the 
Homeland Security Act: Import Specialists, Entry Specialists, Drawback 
Specialists, National Import Specialists, Fines and Penalties 
Specialists, attorneys of the Office of Regulations and Rulings, 
Customs Auditors, International Trade Specialists, and Financial 
Systems Specialists. Clearly, the responsibilities of the Commissioner 
of Customs encompass customs revenue functions, and commercial 
functions and operations, that are now assigned to employees of the 
Department of Homeland Security. So, in response to the Senator, I say 
yes, it is clear that referral of future nominees for the position of 
Commissioner of Customs, or any position or positions charged with 
responsibilities similar to those of the Commissioner of Customs, will 
continue to be made to the Finance Committee.
  Mr. BAUCUS. I thank the Chairman of the Finance Committee for his 
elaboration of the provisions that have been added to clarify the 
parameters of the jurisdiction of the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs, and for his description of illustrative and 
non-exhaustive examples of the types of jurisdiction that will remain 
within the Committee on Finance.
 Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on H.R. 
4520, the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004.
  This important legislation attempts to comply with the World Trade 
Organization, WTO, rulings on the Foreign Sales Corporation, FSC, 
Extraterritor-
ial Income, ETI, benefit in order to prompt the European Union to 
rescind trade tariffs currently placed on United States exporters. It 
would repeal an export provision in the United States tax code that has 
been ruled an unfair subsidy and therefore does not comply with the 
WTO. In addition this bill seeks to preserve jobs and production 
activities in the United States via the simplification of international 
tax laws and a mix of investment incentives. A $10 million tobacco 
buyout, minus the Food and Drug Administration's regulation, is also 
incorporated within this bill.
  This bill would replace the current export subsidy that has been 
ruled unfair by the WTO with a new $77 billion tax break on 
manufacturing income. Companies will also be able to exclude 9 percent 
of their manufacturing profits from taxation and multinational 
companies will receive $43 billion in a variety of tax cuts on their 
overseas income. These tax breaks and incentives are instrumental in 
our attempt to comply with the WTO while ensuring American jobs stay at 
home.
  Also included in this package is a landmark change. This bill 
contains provisions to terminate the Federal tobacco quota program. 
This tobacco

[[Page 22007]]

quota program was created during the 1930s and has provided controls on 
the production of tobacco for decades. And it has worked well. However, 
since 1998 tobacco quotas have been cut by over 50 percent leaving 
tobacco farmers with no where to turn. This package provides 
compensation for those farmers and quota holders who have lost over 
half of their assets through no fault of their own.
  Compensation of $7 to quota owners and $3 to producers based on the 
2002 effective quota level is provided in this package while at the 
same time it keeps producers free of potential burdensome regulations 
advocated by some in the industry. I am pleased that the funding for 
this buyout comes at no cost to the taxpayer without granting authority 
to the FDA to regulate tobacco and tobacco products.
  In terms of the economy, this legislation will have a significant 
impact on rural Georgia. Mr. President, $607 million will be provided 
over a ten year period. Additionally growers can continue to produce 
tobacco without government constraints and be competitive in the world 
tobacco market.
  I support the passage of this significant legislation because it will 
benefit the manufacturing industry in Georgia while ensuring American 
jobs are not lost overseas due to burdensome and unfair tax 
regulations. I also support the passage of this bill because of the 
unregulated FDA tobacco buyout provisions that compensate tobacco 
farmers for assets that have been plundered by the Federal Government.
  It is because of my son's wedding this weekend in Georgia that I 
regret that I will not be able to actually vote on this legislation. 
However, if I was in attendance and able to cast my vote on H.R. 4520, 
it would be in support of this bill.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I come to the floor to thank the 
chairman and ranking member of the Finance Committee for their 
assistance in getting my amendment on the Civil Rights Tax Review in 
the conference report to accompany H.R. 4520, the American Jobs 
Creation Act of 2004.
  The law with respect to the tax treatment of attorneys' fees paid by 
those that receive settlements or judgments in connection with a claim 
of unlawful discrimination, a Qui Tam proceeding or actions containing 
damages for non-physical injuries was unclear and that its application 
was questionable as interpreted by the IRS. It was never the intent of 
Congress that the attorneys' fees portions of such recoveries should be 
included in taxable income whether for regular income or alternative 
minimum tax purposes. The language contained in section 703 of H.R. 
4520, the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 is intended to clarify the 
proper interpretation of the prior law, and any settlements prior to 
the date of enactment should be treated in a manner consistent with 
such intent.
  The conferees are acting to make it clear that attorneys' fees and 
costs in these cases are not taxable income, especially where the 
plaintiff, or in the case of a Qui Tam proceeding, the relator, never 
actually receives the portion of the award paid to the attorneys. 
Despite differing opinions by certain jurisdictions and the IRS, this 
is the correct interpretation of the law prior to enactment of section 
703 as it will be going forward. In adopting this provision, the 
Congress in no way intends to prejudice the tax treatment of 
settlements or awards made prior to that time and the courts and IRS 
should not treat attorneys' fees and other costs as taxable income.

                          ____________________