[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Pages 26980-26981]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          GETTING THE JOB DONE

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, there is a lot going on in Washington. The 
environment seems to be very partisan. When we look at the newspapers, 
we see the comments that have been made back and forth, but I have to 
take a couple of minutes and restate what I have mentioned and implied 
over the last several days; that in spite of all of that, in spite of 
the vitriolic comments that are being made, the Senate, this 
institution, is doing its work. It is governing in a way in which I 
think we can all be proud. If we look over the last 48 hours, one will 
see how our overall agenda of renewal and reform is being accomplished. 
We have had several legislative advances that do make America safer and 
more prosperous. As I mentioned, we will be continuing our work through 
today, tomorrow, and possibly Saturday, delivering these meaningful 
solutions to the real challenges and real problems that everyday people 
are having across this great country. It is important for people to be 
reminded of that.
  I think of four things that have been started in the last 48 hours: 
The Defense authorization bill, a very important bill that we spent a 
good amount of time on with a lot of amendments, but ultimately it 
underscored our absolute commitment to our troops overseas and to the 
goals that have been set out by this administration. So I am very proud 
that we did pass that bill. It gives our soldiers the resources, the 
training, the technology and the support they deserve and that they 
absolutely need to win the global war on terror. I refer to it 
occasionally--I actually put it on my Web site on the front page, the 
Zawahiri and Zarqawi letter which outlines what the intentions are of 
al-Qaida in this war on terror. The appropriate responsiveness of this 
body in this Department of Defense authorization bill speaks very 
importantly to the response that we need to give to these challenges. 
From cutting-edge technologies to the personnel protection systems, the 
bill keeps our military strong so that we absolutely will win this war 
against terror.
  We made the clear-cut statement in this bill that America is not 
going to cut and run, as some would have us do; that we are going to 
support and continue to train the Iraqi forces until they are strong 
enough to fight on their own. Also, we expressed our absolute support 
for this President and his policies through this bill.
  The second issue, along with defending our national security, we are 
strengthening America's retirement security. Ten days ago, people said 
there is no way this pensions bill is going to get through the Senate. 
Yet yesterday we passed it, and it spoke very loudly to the fact that 
the defined pensions benefit system is a ticking timebomb, that over 44 
million Americans who are legally covered by the American Government's 
guarantee are in jeopardy of losing their hard-earned retirement 
benefits. This bill makes it clear that promises made by employers are 
promises to be kept to their employees. So we passed that bill 
yesterday, again a major step forward.
  The third area, the vital function of Government. Yesterday, we 
passed the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill. Along with 
funding these Federal agencies, the CJS bill includes significant 
Katrina-related responses. As we all know, more than 350,000 families 
have been made homeless by the Katrina disaster. A number of us have 
participated over the course of this past week in a Habitat for 
Humanity bill project at the Capitol. It reminded me how important it 
is to marry the nonprofit sector, with the nongovernmental 
organizations, with what we on this floor have done in response to 
Katrina and the natural disasters that have struck both this country 
but indeed around the world. That CJS appropriations bill, in part, 
reflects the public response in that it provides Federal housing 
assistance for up to $600 per family per month for up to 6 months to 
help get those families back on their feet.
  This body continues and will continue with its commitment to assist 
this renewal and recovery from one of, if not the greatest, natural 
disasters this country has ever seen.
  Looking a little more globally, another bill that was passed last 
night that reflects America's compassion for neighbors around the world 
was a bill that means a lot to me personally. It is a bipartisan bill 
in this body called the Water for the Poor Act. This bill addresses the 
issue that 1.2 billion people in this world do not have access to what 
we have sitting on our desk as we are here speaking--clean water. Mr. 
President, 1.2 billion people do not have access to water they can look 
at and say it does not have bacteria or viruses in it that will make me 
ill.
  The lack of clean water kills more kids under the age of 6 than any 
disease in the world today, although most people don't pay a lot of 
attention to it, so this body passed a bill last night that addresses 
that, the Water for the Poor Act. We had bipartisan legislation on the 
floor of the Senate sponsored by myself and the Democratic leader upon 
which this bill is based. It establishes for the first time as a part 
of our foreign policy the development of water interests as we consider 
foreign development aid, this whole provision of safe, clean, renewable 
water for poor countries. It recognizes that unsafe water in developing 
countries kills a child every 15 seconds. Every 15 seconds a child dies 
because of lack of access to that clean water. It contributes to 
poverty, it contributes to unstable governments, and thus the 
importance of having clean water be a part of our foreign policy, 
foreign development assistance to these countries.
  In combination with the $200 million recently enacted for safe water 
in developing countries, this is a critical first step in beginning to 
solve what is a seemingly insurmountable problem but is a solvable 
problem. It looks at compassion, it looks at protection, it looks at 
accountability, all of which must be injected in our foreign policy 
when it comes to foreign aid.
  One last issue. In terms of progress made over the last 40 hours, the 
Banking Committee reported Tuesday the nomination of Ben Bernanke to 
succeed Alan Greenspan as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. I 
am pleased the committee has acted on Mr. Bernanke's nomination and 
that he has pledged to maintain the Federal Reserve's statutory 
independence while also maintaining stable, progrowth monetary 
policies.
  Chairman Greenspan's 18 years of service will not officially end 
until the end of January. Therefore, the full Senate will confirm Mr. 
Bernanke as one of its first actions beginning the second session of 
the 109th Congress.
  I have run through those five--I said four but five--legislative 
successes that do demonstrate this body continues to move along, 
responding to the needs and appropriate desires of the American people. 
At the beginning of the year we set big goals and every day on this 
floor we are working hard to meet them, and again we are being 
successful meeting each one of these benchmarks.
  Yes, we have had Katrina, we have had Rita, we have had the natural 
disasters--the tsunami in Pakistan, we have consistently supported our 
troops overseas, and in addition we are addressing the issues that, 
domestically, are on the minds of the American people. I look forward 
to completing our work this week. It is one of the reasons I outlined a 
few minutes ago the things we have to do before we leave for our 
Thanksgiving recess. When we do return to our States, there will be a 
lot we can point back to, responding to the needs of the American 
people, and we will be absolutely comfortable in looking them in the 
eye and saying, yes, we

[[Page 26981]]

are delivering meaningful solutions to your, the American people's, 
everyday challenges. Together we are moving America forward.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. WARNER. Will the Chair advise the Senate with regard to the 
allocation of time at this point?
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair is advised there is 30 minutes 
on each side. The first half of the half hour is under the control of 
the minority leader or his designee.
  I am corrected. It is 30 minutes, with the first 15 minutes under the 
control of the minority leader.
  Mr. WARNER. Would it be appropriate, then, for the Senator from 
Virginia to seek time at this point for about 8 minutes?
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. That is under the control of the minority 
for the first 15 minutes.
  Mr. WARNER. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Delaware is recognized.

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