[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 23497-23498]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TENNESSEE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, as we serve in a class of Senators, we have 
several roles. We wear several hats. Probably the most important one is 
to represent the people who elected us, and that is our constituents 
back home in our home States. That has been for me a real honor over 
the last 12 years, to serve the people of Tennessee.
  In addition to that, of course, we serve America as 100 individuals 
representing this entire country. That is a real privilege. If you are 
elected to leadership, you have other responsibilities.
  Twelve years ago, the people of Tennessee entrusted me with the 
responsibility to serve their interests in the Senate. I have done my 
best each and every day to meet the Volunteer State's needs and to 
serve the people of my home State with dignity and honor. What an honor 
it has been to follow in the footsteps of former Senators Howard Baker 
and Bill Brock. What a tremendous privilege it has been representing 
the interests of the people of Tennessee.
  And serving along side true statesmen such as Fred Thompson and Lamar 
Alexander--men who have dedicated so much of their lives to the people 
of Tennessee--has been a remarkably rewarding experience.
  When I first stood for election in 1994, I pledged to all Tennesseans 
that I would serve two terms in the Senate and then return to home to 
live under the laws I had helped enact.
  I made that commitment because I believe strongly in the concept of 
the citizen legislator--spending years developing real world experience 
outside the political arena as I did in medicine and then bringing that 
expertise to the legislative process for a period of time . . . only to 
make way for the next citizen with his or her fresh perspectives and 
new ideas.
  As the time comes to resume my private life in the Music City, I have 
spent countless hours reflecting on the milestones in my service to 
Tennessee from which I derive particular pride.
  I think about accomplishments such as establishing a prescription 
drug benefit that provides quality, affordable coverage for more than 
700,000 beneficiaries in Tennessee.
  I think about the State sales tax deduction, which I hope we will 
soon extend for 2 more years. Enacting that provision corrected a 15 
year inequity in the Tax Code by allowing Tennesseans to deduct their 
State sales tax expenses from Federal income tax returns--and it 
resulted in additional savings of nearly $500 in taxes for more than 
530,000 families across the State.
  I recall the hours spent combating methamphetamine, a drug epidemic 
that has plagued Tennessee and dozens of other States.
  I helped develop minimum Federal standards restricting access to the 
ingredients that produce methamphetamine, the drug our Nation's local 
law enforcement officials have ranked as our greatest problem.
  I also enjoyed working with other members of the Tennessee delegation 
to establish a statewide methamphetamine task force and develop a 
statewide crime tracking system--all in an effort to eradicate this 
devastating drug from our communities.
  During my time as majority leader, we also enacted a tobacco buyout 
that ended an outdated quota system that hurt Tennessee's farmers by 
providing fair compensation that will bring a total of $767 million to 
tobacco communities in the State over the next decade.
  And we passed my National Park Fee Equity Act, a law that provides 
the Great Smoky Mountain National Park with an additional $200,000 to 
$300,000 each year by allowing the park to keep 100 percent of the user 
fees it collects.
  I was also pleased earlier this year when the Senate confirmed the 
final member of a TVA board modernized by legislation I nursed through 
the legislative process over a 9-year period--legislation that resulted 
in the first African-American board member, the first west Tennessee 
board member, and the first chief executive officer in TVA history.
  In addition, we passed legislation I authored allowing TVA to 
refinance its debt at lower rates, thus saving roughly $100 million per 
year.
  These reforms will help increase accountability and oversight at TVA, 
which benefits both the utility and its ratepayers.
  I have also worked extensively with my colleagues on the HELP 
Committee to extended health care and support services to Nashville, 
Memphis, and

[[Page 23498]]

other emerging metropolitan communities disproportionately affected by 
HIV/AIDS through reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act.
  The CARE Act provides funding for low-income, uninsured and 
underinsured individuals affected by HIV/AIDS, but none of Tennessee's 
cities met the legislation's original criteria to receive support--a 
fact I knew we had to correct and one which we rightly remedied.
  I have dedicated significant energy to strengthening Tennessee's 
research infrastructure, and bringing both the Spallation Neutron 
Source project and the National Leadership Computational Facility to 
Oak Ridge demonstrates our State's leadership in advanced science and 
technology.
  I was also pleased to play a central role in the development of the 
Memphis Bioworks Foundation and the revitalization of the Central 
Medical District in Memphis by securing $8.1 million for these efforts.
  And to ensure that we encourage the bright young men and women of our 
State to pursue an education in these fields that are vital to 
America's competitiveness in the 21st century's global economy, I also 
created the SMART Grant program--a $3.75 billion initiative that 
provides financial assistance to students seeking degrees in math, 
science, engineering, technology, and foreign languages critical to 
national security.
  I have tried to encourage economic growth in other ways, however, 
working closely with communities throughout Tennessee to provide the 
Federal assistance that can often enable local governments to pursue 
opportunities that will benefit their citizens for generations.
  I secured $100 million to construct sections of Interstate 69 in 
Tennessee from Dyersburg to Memphis--a highway that will one day serve 
as an economic engine for much of West Tennessee.
  When community leaders in the Chattanooga area asked for assistance 
with the crumbling Chickamauga Lock and Dam, a structure providing 
access to hundreds of miles of waterway used for economic economy in 
East Tennessee, I helped ensure the authorization of a new 110 ft.-by-
600 ft. replacement lock.
  Construction funding for the replacement structure has been 
successfully secured in each year since 2003, and after a long period 
of hard work and difficult discussion, the White House agreed to 
include the project in its most recent budget request.
  Several years ago, violent tornados ravaged Jackson, and local 
leaders sought my assistance in rebuilding badly damaged neighborhoods 
and city infrastructure.
  I was honored to secure almost $11 million from the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development to rebuild public housing lost as a 
result of the devastating storms and an additional $2.1 million for the 
city's police department to improve communications during such 
emergencies.
  Nashville long sought a light rail system that could help alleviate 
the burden placed on its roadways and improve the flow of consumers 
into downtown--the heart of its economic marketplace.
  So I went to work and eventually secured $24.6 million in funding 
necessary to start and complete the Music City Star East Corridor 
Commuter Rail Project, which allowed Tennessee's first commuter rail 
passenger service to begin between the Riverfront Station in downtown 
Nashvil1e and the city of Lebanon in Wilson County just 3 months ago.
  And when the city of Memphis began redeveloping its riverfront, I 
lent my support to the cause and secured nearly $8.7 million for the 
Cobblestone Landing and Beale Street Landing projects.
  To help advance this work, I facilitated an agreement that will allow 
the University of Memphis Cecil Humphreys School of Law to relocate to 
the Postal Service Front Street Station in downtown Memphis--a move 
that will act as a cornerstone of riverfront redevelopment and reshape 
the law school's future.
  I have also tried at every turn to provide steadfast support for 
Tennessee's brave men and women in uniform as a sign of my gratitude 
and respect for their extraordinary efforts on behalf of our Nation.
  Because they deserve only the best facilities, I secured $32 million 
to construct a new headquarters facility for the Tennessee Army 
National Guard in Nashville and an additional $31 million to 
consolidate personnel previously located in 22 different buildings into 
a single, state-of-the-art command headquarters for the 101st Airborne 
and other units at Fort Campbell.
  Because they and their families deserve basic economic fairness, I 
helped secure passage of the Fort Campbell Tax Fairness Act, which now 
ensures Volunteer State residents working at Fort Campbell are spared 
from a State income tax like all other Tennesseans.
  I could spend many hours on the Senate floor recalling the countless 
ways in which I have worked to meet Tennessee's needs during my 12 
years as a Member of this body.
  But instead, I would rather thank the people of Tennessee for the 
opportunity.
  I will forever treasure the experience--and the many individuals I 
have had the privilege of befriending across our great State along the 
way.
  Electing me to serve two terms in the Senate is the greatest honor 
the citizens of Tennessee could have ever given me.
  No words could ever express my deep appreciation.
  I look forward to returning home and continuing my efforts to repay 
their generosity in the years to come.

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