[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19602]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            SENATE BUSINESS

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I wish to follow up the statement by our 
minority leader, Harry Reid. It is time to get down to business. We 
will finish this afternoon, after the funeral of Chief Justice 
Rehnquist. I hope the Senate will return immediately, come right back 
to the Senate and not waste any time. Let's start moving on important 
legislation.
  The Department of Defense authorization bill was pulled from the 
calendar over 6 weeks ago by the Republican leadership so they could 
bring a bill sponsored by the gun lobby on the immunity of gun dealers 
from being sued in a court of law for wrongdoing. It was hard to 
believe we would take away from consideration a bill that dealt with 
our troops and our veterans, that tried helping, in the right way, the 
war in Iraq. We took that off the calendar so we could help a special 
interest group. Let's get back on the calendar to the Department of 
Defense authorization bill. That is something we can start this 
afternoon, and we should. Let's get it done this week, if we do nothing 
else, to make certain we are responsive to a very real concern we all 
share.
  We have lost 1,886 American soldiers, as of today, in Iraq. Over 
14,000 have suffered serious injuries. We need to get back on that 
bill, and then as soon as we finish that, focus on Hurricane Katrina.
  All are stunned to see on the television each night, and to read in 
the newspapers, the accounts of the suffering that continues. Some of 
it is not as acute as it was just a few day ago, but consider the 
circumstances. These poor families were yanked out of their homes--in 
many cases their homes were destroyed--and now have been cast into 
other communities, in my State and other States, to try to keep it 
together while they search the whereabouts of their loved ones, put 
their kids in school, try to get a roof over their head, and try to get 
back to a normal life.
  We need to do our part in Washington, DC, on a bipartisan basis, to 
deal with it. First, we need to provide the resources. The $10.5 
billion from last week will be gone quickly because this is such an 
expensive undertaking. Senator Harry Reid said yesterday, and I agree 
with him, let us not underestimate the cost of what this means: $100 
billion or $150 billion is not unrealistic when considering the gravity 
of this hurricane and the damage it did. I fear some do not want to 
mouth those words--$100 billion or $150 billion--because they reflect 
the reality of what this is going to cost.
  If we face the reality of the cost of Katrina, we are going to have 
to be honest about other decisions. How could we possibly turn to a 
reconciliation bill, another bill we consider in the Senate, and cut 
spending for food stamps, cut spending for Medicaid, the health 
insurance program for poor in America, in this time of great national 
need? Yet that is what is planned. How could we conceive of the notion 
of going to a bill that would cut taxes on the wealthiest people in 
America, when we are at war with our children losing their lives every 
day, and we are facing Katrina and its aftermath where hundreds of 
thousands of Americans are in distress? How could we turn at that 
moment and say our highest priority is to give a tax break to wealthy 
people? That is not what America is all about. That is not what our 
values are all about.
  For those who come to the Senate and speak in terms of their 
religious commitment, the basic reality is this: If you care for the 
least among you, you have to show it in your life's work. The Senate 
has that responsibility as well and more than others who do their work 
each day.
  Two things come out of this crisis with Katrina. First, we understand 
what E.J. Dionne wrote on September 2 of this year in an article for 
the Washington Post entitled, ``When Government is Good.'' He quoted a 
former Member of the Senate, Bill Cohen of Maine, who was also a 
Defense Secretary, and what he said was ``Cohen's Law.'' Cohen's Law 
was this: Government is the enemy until you need a friend.
  That is what we are learning with Katrina. We certainly learned it 
with September 11. We have learned it when it comes to the war on 
terrorism. Those who condemn Government and say, Let's keep shutting 
down agencies and Government employees right and left, have to 
understand the day may come, and soon, when we will need the American 
family working together as a government to do things that individuals 
cannot accomplish.
  The second part of this is Hurricane Katrina has opened a door which 
has remained shut for too long. It is a door which reflects the reality 
of being poor in America. This door is now open 24/7 for all to see 
through. The poorest among us in America were the worst victims of 
Hurricane Katrina. Many others suffered, too, but as a group the poor 
suffered the most. We have to be mindful and sensitive to our 
responsibility to make this a great Nation of opportunity for the least 
among us, as well as those who have been blessed with prosperity and 
wealth. It is important our agenda, in the closing months of this 
session, reflect that reality as well.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when 
Senator Boxer completes her remarks, our distinguished colleague, 
Senator Hatch, the former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, be 
recognized for remarks on Chief Justice Rehnquist's death.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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