[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8188-8189]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             THE PAST MONTH

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, there are a few comments I will now make on 
the past month. Indeed, it has been a productive month in the Senate 
and I do want to thank all of my colleagues for their hard work and 
diligence over the course of the last several weeks. It has been an 
almost unbelievably eventful time on the world stage, first and 
foremost with the passing of Pope John Paul II. None of us will ever 
forget hearing the news of his death and feeling that we were in some 
way fortunate to be witnesses to a moment and to an era that will 
change and instruct history for generations. Nor will we ever forget 
our pilgrimage to the Vatican to pay our respects to the Pope and his 
extraordinary life. Millions of Catholics and non-Catholics alike were 
touched by this great man. He influenced more lives than kings and 
Presidents before him.
  I believe I speak for all in welcoming his successor, Pope Benedict 
XVI, the new leader of the Catholic Church. He is a man of great 
compassion and integrity, and I believe that, like John Paul before 
him, Pope Benedict will spread God's message of peace and be an 
inspiration to millions.
  We also witnessed on the world stage the historic withdrawal of 
Syrian

[[Page 8189]]

troops from Lebanon. Next week, I will be traveling there to see 
firsthand the changes that are being brought. Democracy is on the 
march. We are witnessing history in the making. After some months of 
difficult negotiation, the Iraqis have formed a new transitional 
government from the fruits of their first true elections. This is 
tremendous news. Prime Minister al-Jaafari deserves great credit for 
including a cabinet consisting of the great diversity of Iraq's 
population.
  The Iraqis are a brave and determined people. January 30 proved that 
truism vividly and beyond a doubt. My heart goes out to the Iraqi 
people as they give shape to that first true democracy in the heart of 
Arab Middle East. They are an inspiration to their brethren and to all 
of us who strive for freedom. These are perilous times, but they are 
hopeful times. The United States can stand proudly before the world for 
our efforts to spread freedom, our ideals, our principles, our efforts, 
and our blood to free millions of people the world over. And this body, 
the Senate, has been instrumental in advancing America's interests in a 
myriad of ways, concrete and symbolic, empowering and inspiring.
  This week, after 2 weeks of debate, we passed legislation to fund our 
men and women in uniform who are fighting for freedom, and to fund our 
humanitarian outreach to the December tsunami victims. We will continue 
to supply all necessary resources to keep our military strong.
  During this session, we also confirmed Ambassador John Negroponte as 
Director of National Intelligence. Mr. Negroponte will be responsible 
for overseeing the entire intelligence community. It will be his job to 
keep America safe by bridging the gap between our 15 intelligence 
agencies and improving information sharing between agencies. I am 
confident that, as our new Director of Intelligence, Mr. Negroponte 
will work hard to make the reforms necessary to help keep America safe.
  Tonight, we have approved the final two members of the President's 
Cabinet, Robert Portman to be USTR and Steve Johnson to the EPA. The 
President's Cabinet, as of a few minutes ago, is now complete.
  Of course, tonight we had the budget. I congratulate Chairman Judd 
Gregg. This, as I mentioned earlier this evening, is the fifth quickest 
conference report on the budget in history. The budget addresses 
spending head on. It is a strict budget from a fiscal standpoint. It 
addresses the short-term deficit by holding down discretionary 
spending, cutting the deficit in half in about 4 years. It addresses 
the outyear deficits driven by entitlements. It reinstitutes the 
enforcement mechanism that will discipline spending. It is a fully 
transparent budget that accounts for the true war costs over the next 
year.
  I look forward to returning to our work when we return from the 
recess. I am confident that with bipartisan determination we will get 
further work done. It has been an eventful month--a month of global and 
history-changing events. I am proud that under the leadership of 
President Bush, America has been at the forefront of freedom.
  Over the recess, I will have the opportunity to travel to the Middle 
East to witness many events and learn firsthand the challenges facing 
the region--more specifically, the progress of the Israeli and 
Palestinian peace process. We will meet with key Israeli leaders in 
Israel and travel to Ramallah in the West Bank to meet with President 
Abbas and members of his Government.
  We will also meet and listen to other voices in order to hear a wide 
range of views. Our goal is to listen and explore how we can help move 
the process forward and advance the cause of democracy.
  We will also be visiting Jordan and Egypt, two important players in 
the Middle East peace process. They have endorsed the roadmap to peace 
and have shown by example that Arab peoples can live side by side with 
Israelis. They are also close friends of the U.S. and are allies of the 
global war on terrorism. Both countries are also pursuing much needed 
reforms. More needs to be done, not just because it is in our national 
security interest, but because it is in their people's interest. 
Transparency, continued movement toward democracy, economic freedom, 
and prosperity should be the goals of all governments in the region.
  In all of these stops, we will meet with real, everyday people and 
see these cities and countries in action, whether it be visiting 
hospitals in Jerusalem or shopowners and business people in the West 
Bank.
  Finally, we will also travel to Beirut to meet with key opposition 
leaders and current government leaders. Our goal is to underscore our 
unwavering position that all Syrian intelligence and military personnel 
must leave Lebanon. Elections must be held on time and the Lebanese 
people must determine their own future through free and fair elections. 
The United States stands firmly behind the Lebanese people.
  In closing, I wish my colleagues a safe and productive recess and 
look forward to resuming our work when we return.

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