Protect Military Children Act of 2003

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Electricity Market Manipulation Prevention Act--legislation I believe is critical in ensuring our Nation's consumers will never again have to suffer from the type of energy price manipulation that has so devastated the economy of my home State of Washington. This bill is simple yet powerful in concept. In essence, it requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to do its job--protect consumers from energy price manipulation.

This bill says that where FERC gives companies the authority to charge market-based wholesale electricity rates, the Commission must also actively ensure that effective competition--the only kind of competition that benefits consumers and businesses--actually exists. It says that if FERC finds that an entity has attempted to manipulate power markets, the Commission will revoke or modify the company's ability to sell power at market-based rates, and the company will be on the hook to pay back revenues in excess of the average regional cost of generating the power. And lastly, it says that FERC will not be allowed to change the legal standard for

reviewing whether consumers deserve relief from market manipulation.

I first want to make a very important point about this legislation. In large part, it does not expand FERC's existing authority under the Federal Power Act. It simply articulates more explicitly how Congress intends for FERC to exercise its existing authority.

Now why is this an important point? As many of my colleagues may know, FERC--under sections 205 and 206 of the Federal Power Act--is already given the responsibility of ensuring just and reasonable wholesale electricity rates, and fixing those rates when market activity has gone awry. So why do we need clarification? Because despite overwhelming and undisputed evidence that any number of energy companies--Enron and its ilk--engaged in activities designed to manipulate power markets in the west, FERC has to date failed to take action on behalf of consumers.

While prices started skyrocketing out of control during the summer of 2000, it took the Commission nearly a year to step in and reign in those prices throughout the west. The provisions of this legislation that require FERC to perform annual reviews of how well markets are functioning would help ensure the Commission's active oversight, and prevent the type of price gouging from which consumers and businesses in my sate continue to suffer.

While the Commission did finally step in to cap prices--under intense congressional pressure, I might add--it has, almost 2 years later, failed to decisively act on the billions of dollars' worth of refund and long-term contract complaints resulting from the crisis. What's more, the Commission's Administrative Law Judges have taken every opportunity to throw additional hurdles in the path of the Northwest consumers, who have suffered more than any as a result of California's ill-fated restructuring scheme. That's why this legislation specifically articulates what legal standard should apply to the Commission's review of complaints for relief.

Even in the face of admitted market manipulation--in the most brazen of cases, where Enron has described its own schemes to drive up prices and Reliant's transcripts quote company traders explicitly voicing their plans to drive up prices throughout the west by withholding power--FERC has, more than two years later, failed to use all the tools at its disposal to send a message that such activities will not be tolerated, levying fines that are clearly inadequate compared to the economic devastation these activities have caused.

This bill makes the remedies for market manipulation far more transparent, doing away with the multiple years of arcane proceedings in which we are currently embroiled. The protracted cases resulting from the western energy crisis have yet to benefit anyone--certainly neither the industry nor consumers--except, perhaps, for energy attorneys.

This legislation tells energy companies that if they are going to attempt to manipulate markets, there will be harsh and immediate consequences. It says that if the commission finds that an entity has attempted to gouge consumers, it will revoke or revise its market-based rate authority, set a just and reasonable rate going forward, and order the refund of revenues collected above the average wholesale generation cost within the relevant regional power market. Concrete, explicit consequences--commensurate with the level of damage caused by marketplace shenanigans--should provide a powerful disincentive for companies tempted to engage in the types of behavior that have crippled the economy of Washington and other western states.

Now, I can already hear the outcry from some--but not all sectors--of the energy industry. They will claim that putting concrete remedies on the books--transparent mechanisms for consumer relief, and tangible penalties for companies that endeavor to gouge consumers--will breed too much uncertainty for participants in energy markets.

To those who would make that argument, I would simply say, it is absolutely absurd to suggest that energy companies can't make money unless they retain their legal rights to rip off the ratepayers of this country. Ensuring that FERC--which is supposed to be, in Chairman Pat Wood's own words, ``the tough cop on the beat''--takes swift and decisive action when energy companies attempt to manipulate markets is an issue of simple fairness and common sense. Afterall, it is our Nation's ratepayers--residential and industrial customers alike--who pay the price for FERC's inaction, and FERC is the only cop on the beat.

I have stood on this floor many times to speak of the economic train wreck created in my state by FERC's inaction in the face of the western energy crisis, which we now know resulted in large part from bad actors who decided to take advantage of a near-historic drought and tragically flawed market rules in California. Today, retail rates in many parts of my State of Washington have risen almost 50 percent, our unemployment is consistently among the top five in the nation, the demand for low- income energy assistance is at record levels, we are struggling to stave off yet another regional rate increase, and there is no end in sight--unless FERC takes long-overdue action.

This bill sends a clear signal to FERC: we expect you to right the wrongs from which consumers throughout the west continue to suffer, and we expect you to use your authority to ensure a repeat of the western energy crisis never occurs. There is no other competitively traded commodity aside from electricity--soy beans, wheat, pork bellies, metals--for which a prolonged price run-up can single-handedly cripple industries as diverse as aluminum smelting, microchip manufacturing, irrigated agriculture, paper production or aerospace. Clearly, the economic stakes are exceptionally high when it comes to electricity, and as such, Congress must demand a greater degree of accountability from both the industry itself and those who regulate it.

With this bill, we make Congress' intent perfectly clear: FERC must protect consumers; there will be swift and decisive action against those who endeavor to manipulate markets; and the deck will not be stacked against the consumers and businesses who are the victim of Enron-like schemes.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce--along with my colleagues Chairman Domenici, and Senators Bingaman and Murray--the Genomes to Life Research and Development Act.

This bill capitalizes on the enormous success of the Human Genome Project, and promises to take this important research to the next level. While the mapping of the human genome is an unparalleled accomplishment on its own, this new initiative will allow researchers to go beyond the science of description, and begin to explore the complex interactions of the elements within cells.

It is those intracellular dynamics that truly hold the key to finding solutions to some of our most difficult scientific problems--from detection of biological and chemical agents and nuclear waste clean-up to figuring out new and more efficient ways to produce hydrogen, so crucial in attaining energy independence for this Nation. Where the Human Genome Project has provided researchers with the range and description of musical notes, Genomes to Life will enable scientists to begin to understand the way these notes are arranged to produce music-- the essential process of life.

The Genomes to Life Act sets out an aggressive path for DOE, to make this area a high priority for the Office of Science. Of course, none of this would be possible without the successes of the Human Genome Project, and I want to acknowledge the vision of this legislation's other sponsor, Chairman Domenici, in making that a reality. As some of my colleagues may be aware, the senior Senator from New Mexico laid the foundation for the Human Genome Project with legislation he first introduced in 1987.

I am thus extremely pleased to be working with him on this bill, which I believe is the Human Genome Project's logical successor. Our legislation would authorize the Department of Energy to design and establish national research centers to investigate proteomics and genomics. Proteomics refers to the study of proteins, how they are modified, when and where they are expressed, how they are involved in metabolic pathways, and how they interact with each other. Genomics refers to the study of three-dimensional structures of thousands of proteins--all of the proteins produced by a species.

These are exciting research fields that combine the discipline of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and advanced computational and mathematical modeling. The Department of Energy's Office of Science has a long history of success in large scale, cross-discipline scientific research and is thus well suited to manage this program. In addition, a significant component of the Human Genome Project has been the transfer of technology to the private sector, which has in turn catalyzed the multi-billion dollar U.S. biotechnology industry and fostered the development of new medical applications.

The Genomes to Life Act that Chairman Domenici, Senators Bingaman, Murray and I are introducing today provides a coordinated and comprehensive plan for the next generation of biotechnology research facilities. The functions and dynamics of all living cells are determined by the complex interactions of the constituent proteins. We do not yet understand these interactions, but the Genomes to Life Act will give us the best tools to investigate these microscopic mysteries. Put in simple terms, teams of American scientists will try to answer the fundamental question, ``How do cells work?'' This bill will ensure that state of the art facilities, leading edge equipment, and the next generation of commuters are available to map and model these complex interactions, as we strive to answer this critical question.

The promise of biotechnology research is especially important to my state of Washington--home to many world-class research facilities. Washington has over 190 biotechnology companies employing more than 11,000 people. In 2001, the annual revenue of these companies exceeded $1.2 billion. Nearly one half of these companies were based on technologies developed at research and development institutions and over 40 percent of the companies have been established in the past six years.

This legislation's provisions--ensuring that research with its origins at the Department of Energy provides the science and technology basis for new industries in biotechnology, and that DOE continues to identify appropriate commercial applications--will help this important economic sector continue to grow in Washington state and across the country.

The Genomes to Life Research and Development Act that Sens. Domenici, Bingaman, Murray and I have introduced today will strengthen our national security and our national economy. Additionally, the integrative and predicative understanding of biological systems will improve our ability to respond to the energy and environmental challenges of the 21st century. The Genomes to Life laboratories will attract top researchers and push the envelope of present technologies. The Genomes to Life Act will help the U.S. to maintain our premiere position in the world in the fields of science and technology.

I look forward to working with my colleagues during this session to ensure passage of this legislation. I believe that the United States must continue to invest in scientific research to maintain our standing in the world and I am confident that this short-term investment will pay long-term dividends to our health, our security, and to our economy.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, Senator Lincoln has been coming here every morning on behalf of the Democratic side of the aisle, and I know Senator Hutchison and others have come on behalf of the Republican side. Senator Lincoln asked me to come down here to pay tribute to our young men and women. It is an honor for me to do this.

Very sadly, this morning I come down to pay tribute to five young Americans who were killed in the Iraqi war, all of them from California or based in California. I have done this before. We have lost an additional 10 to whom I have payed tribute already, and that is a very large proportion of those who have been lost.

As we pray for all of those in harm's way, I think it is important to put a human face on war, and therefore I come down to discuss the great loss we feel in our State.

First is Navy Hospital Corpsman Third Class Michael Vann Johnson, Jr., age 25, killed on Tuesday, March 25, in Iraq, while attending to injured marines. He was assigned to the Naval Medical Center, 3rd Marine Division Detachment, in San Diego, CA. Michael was born and raised in Arkansas and graduated from Parkview High School in Little Rock. He attended the University of Central Arkansas in Conway before joining the Navy in 1997. He is survived by his wife in San Diego, his parents, and his seven siblings. I send them my deepest condolences.

MAJ Kevin Nave, age 36, was killed March 26, in a vehicle accident in Iraq,

assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. His wife and his two children live in Oceanside, CA. He is from Union Lake, MI. He was on the football team and wrestling squad at Waterford Kettering High School in White Lake Township, MI.

LCpl William W. White, age 24, was killed in a vehicle accident on March 29, in Iraq. He was assigned to the 3rd Amphibious Assault Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. He was from Brooklyn, NY.

GySgt Joseph Menusa, age 33, from San Jose, CA, died on Thursday, March 27, from a gunshot wound. He was assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. He was born in the Philippines and moved to San Jose when he was just 10 years old. He served in the 1991 gulf war and was a marine recruiter in the San Francisco Bay area. His wife and his young son live at Camp Pendleton.

LCpl Jesus A. Suarez Del Solar, age 20, died Thursday, March 27, in combat action in Iraq. He is from Escondido, CA. He was assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. He moved from Mexico to the United States in the late 1990s with his family. He attended San Pasqual High School in Escondido and graduated from Escondido's Valley High School in 2001. He is survived by his wife and his 1-year-old son, as well as many family members in Los Angeles County, San Diego, and Mexico.

As I said, I have already read the names of 10 others into the Congressional Record:

CPL Randal Kent Rosacker, age 21; LT Thomas Mullen Adams, age 27; CAPT Ryan Beaupre, age 30; 2LT Therrel Shane Childers, age 30; LCpl Jose Gutierrez, age 22; CPL Brian Matthew Kennedy, age 25; SSG Kendall Watersbey, age 29; SGT Michael Bitz, age 31; CPL Jose Garibay, age 21; CPL Jorge Gonzalez, age 20.

So, Madam President, out of the 43 who were killed, 15 were from or based in the State of California. And my State mourns them. May these beautiful young Americans rest in peace. And may the war end soon.

I pray for the wisdom of those who send these young men and women on their mission.

The people of my State feel very strongly on both sides about this war. I say to them today that they have every right to express themselves for and against this war; that those are indeed the freedoms that are the basis of our Nation. I also say to both sides that however one feels about the policy of this war--people know how I felt--I voted for the Levin resolution because I did not want us to go it alone, or virtually alone, because I was fearful of what could happen; and I felt it was important to lead the world as a superpower. Whether you are for or against this war, this isn't about who loves the troops more.

These troops are our children. I am a mother. I am a grandmother. These troops are our children. Some of them are parents themselves. So let us not deal with who loves our young people more. The debate is about policy, and there will be much time to debate that policy as there was before this war. And anyone who has a feeling about that policy has a right--I would say a duty--to express that view regardless of what that view is because that is what makes our country strong, that is what makes us different from other places.

So that is my message to the people of my State: to respect each other's differences. This isn't a debate about who loves the troops more; it is about policy.

California is contributing mightily to the military effort in Iraq. I have read you the names of many who have died so far. Tens of thousands of military men and women have been deployed from my State.

One of them, Patrick Sailors, is a chief warrant officer in the Marine Reserves, and he is the brother of one of my most treasured staff members, Kelly Gill, who works out of my Fresno office. He is a member of the Marine Wing Communications Squadron 48, attached to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force that is now in Iraq.

Chief Warrant Officer Sailors has spent 17 years in the Marine Corps and is a second-generation marine. His wife Liz and their two children are awaiting his return to their home in Galt, CA. His parents, Delbert and Carol Sailors, live in California as well.

I pray that Patrick Sailors and all of our men and women are safely returned to their families as soon as possible.

Madam President, one of the things I have noticed--I am sure you have noticed--is that many of those who are losing their lives are parents. Before the vote on the resolution giving the President the authority to go to war without U.N. backing, I had a conversation with one of the most treasured Members of this body who had fought in World War II. He pointed out to me that so many of our people who are over in Iraq are members of the Reserves and the Guard. They have families. They have children. They have spouses.

I am very concerned about those families and about the children of those dual-military families. I am very concerned about deploying a mother and a father into a combat zone at the same time.

Two weeks ago I introduced S. 687 which would prohibit the concurrent deployment of both parents with minor children to a combat zone. I hope my colleagues will join me in this legislation.

In discussing education legislation back home, it has come to my attention that in school districts where there is a heavy population of military families, they are finding that the young children there are crying out for help during this time. Impact aid is something that we give to these areas to help them meet the needs of those families. Clearly, they need this help at this time.

There are two ways to help: One is to push forward with impact aid--I hope we will do that--and, secondly, to help me with this legislation which would say that two parents of a minor child cannot go to a combat zone at the same time.

Last week there was an editorial in the Washington Post entitled ``Mothers at War.'' The editorial calls on the Department of Defense to consider staggering the deployment of two parents so the impact on children is minimized. That is exactly what my legislation does. I hope I will get help with it.

It is a horror to lose one parent in a war and one that one never, ever gets over. To lose two parents in such a circumstance would be beyond devastation. The Department of Defense should work to ensure that the children of dual military families never have to suffer seeing both parents sent off to a combat zone at the same time. This is an issue whose time has come.

I ask, what is the order at this time?

Is it the understanding, further making a parliamentary inquiry, that the Democrats have until 10 or is that not determined?

I will continue until 10.

I wanted to make sure I was functioning under the rules. It is very important that we have a chance to pay tribute to the young men and women who are out there. The debate over what the expectations were in this war will go on for many weeks and months and years. I am not here to debate that. What I am here to say is that when all of us said that war is a last resort--and that was stated by everyone--I think we see daily why we said that. We see daily why we have to try everything short of war that we can.

In my own history in the Senate, I have voted to go to war twice. I voted

not to go twice. Each of us in our own mind makes this decision. Of course, our voters will decide whether we were correct or not. But regardless of the policy fights, what we have to continually remember, every single minute, is that we have our sons and daughters over there right now.

Unlike other wars, many of them are parents. So the tragedy of losing them cuts deeper and deeper than were they not, because the tragedy cuts to the parents and the grandparents and to the spouses and to the children. And for a child to really never know their father or mother cuts very deep.

I pray that this war ends soon. I pray that we don't see more of these deaths and casualties and POWs. I pray that the POWs are treated right--they must be treated right according to the Geneva Conventions-- that we find out more about them and that the Red Cross can get in there and see that they are OK. I pray that we won't see casualties to innocent children and women. I pray for a lot.

Today I pay tribute to my Californians who will never come back and see our beautiful State. I hope I won't have to come here in the days and weeks to come with more names.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 10 minutes.

Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to the more than 43 United States soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in the mission to liberate the Iraqi people and to disarm Saddam Hussein: The 16 who are missing, the 7 who have been captured, the 109 who have been injured, and all of those men and women on the ground, in the skies, and on the seas, who are so bravely supporting the cause of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

By now, we have all seen the images on our television screens, yet little can we truly comprehend the real nature of the dangers they face, and the courage they must summon. Let us then dedicate these days to the acknowledgment of their heroism, for how profoundly grateful and blessed we are that these men and women are committed to serving our Nation and the ideals for which it stands during this pivotal and tumultuous chapter in America's proud history.

In particular, I rise this morning to honor two Maine sons--Marine MAJ Jay Thomas Aubin and Marine CPL Brian Matthew Kennedy--who were among the twelve U.S. and British Marines killed Thursday, March 20 when their CH-46E Sea Helicopter crashed in Kuwait, just seven miles from the Iraq border. While I never had the opportunity to meet these two exceptional Marines in person, over the last week I feel I have come to know them, at least in some small but very meaningful way.

MAJ Aubin and CPL Kennedy embodied the Marine Corps values of honor, courage and dedication--no matter the odds, no matter the fight. They had the mental, moral and physical strength to follow the U.S. Marine decree to do the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons. Both men willingly and knowingly laid their lives on the line to support and defend the U.S. Constitution and protect our national security. Both men believed in their mission.

Marines are often described as a family. They are initiated en masse by boot camps and extreme conditions many of us cannot even begin to imagine. They train together day in and day out and understand each other's struggles, fears, and feelings of pride. And they fight together, bound by a common code and a calling, gallantly facing any enemy whose goal is the destruction of our way of life.

Indeed, they live by one simple truth, that risking American lives is sometimes necessary to defending America's freedom. This realization and their willingness to act upon it is what makes the sacrifice of MAJ Aubin and CPL Kennedy all the more poignant.

So we must celebrate their lives and memories as the extraordinary people

they truly were. I attended a service this past weekend in Winslow, ME, for MAJ Aubin. The day was made all the more special as CPL Kennedy's mother, Melissa Derbyshire, was also in attendance, and my heart goes out to both families brought together by sorrow in what for them is surely the most difficult of times. It is through remembrance that these two great Mainers will live on, so today and forevermore we will remember.

The eldest of three sons, MAJ Jay Thomas Aubin was a native of Skowhegan. As a young child, his undying first love was flight. His grandfather was an airplane mechanic and his father spent his spare time buying, selling and flying airplanes. His mother, Nancy Chamberlain, said Jay started flying when he was two years old. She recalls that his father, Thomas Aubin, had some two-seater planes and would take him flying from Norridgewock Airport. His brothers Joel and Jeffrey always considered him to be the ``overachiever of the family'', pointing out his ``student of the month'' and ``student of the year'' awards from Skowhegan Area High School and his participation in after- school activities, like band and wrestling. He even set up his own ``boot camp'' in his senior year so he would be in top physical shape.

Jay joined the Marines straight out of high school and was fortunate enough to meet the woman who would later become his wife, Rhonda who was also a Marine at the time. They were married and have two children, Alicia, 10 and Nathan, 7. Jay was in the Marines for 4 years, came home to Maine and enrolled in Southern Maine Technical College in 1989 and earned an associate's degree in applied science and, later, a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Southern Maine.

His love and dedication to the Marines was so strong that upon graduation Jay re-enlisted as an officer. A true testimony to his skill and leadership, he was invited to join the elite corps that pilots the Presidential helicopter, Marine One. But before he was able to assume this new duty, he was asked to become a ``Top Gun'' instructor in night flight for helicopter pilots. He, Rhonda and their children moved to Yuma, AZ, in June, 2002 to complete his latest mission and he remained there until he was called to go to Kuwait.

After his tragic death, his mother received a letter Major Aubin had mailed two days before his helicopter went down. It said, ``I want to thank you for everything over the years. You always tried your best to put us first at your expense.'' With that letter, it was as though his mother, Nancy, could hear her son's voice one last time--and what she heard was a message of undying gratitude and love.

In recent days, his friends and family have described him as ``genuine and friendly and always smiling'' and ``passionate about his job and his country.'' His alma mater held a memorial service to honor him and has established a scholarship in his name. This is a man who was well loved and who touched the lives of everyone around him, especially his family. His aunt, Rella Collins, describes him as ``the best of the best. He did us all proud.'' According to his mother in his last conversation before he departed, Jay was at peace with his mission, remarking ``If anything happens to me, just remember I'm happy and I'm doing what I love to do.''

The same has been said about Corporal Brian Matthew Kennedy, whose mother, Melissa Derbyshire, and stepfather, John Derbyshire, live in Port Clyde, Me. John's description of Brian gets to the heart of his character--``This man loved living and life itself. His greatest pleasures were cooking, eating lobster and mussels, his friends, lacrosse, rock climbing and doing his best at any task he was given to do--just as he did his job as a Marine crew chief aboard the CH-46 helicopter.'' Corporal Kennedy graduated from Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, IL with honors in 1995 and then attended Purdue University before transferring to Texas Tech. He enlisted in the Marines in 1999, according to his own words, ``because he thought he could do the best job.''

He had been a Marine for 3 years when he was lost to us in last weeks' helicopter crash. His family members speak of his sacrifice. His mother, Melissa, recalls him having to wait in line for 3 hours to just call home. Brian told his mother he would do his best to come home, but she says she ``was lucky enough to know him for 25 years'' and she remembers him ``always laughing and having a good time.'' Brian's father, Mark Kennedy, speaks of his son's time in the Marines, saying Brian was ``very pleased to be in Kuwait and was thrilled to have the assignment he had. He gave his life in an effort to contribute to the freedom of the Iraqi people.''

We will all agree that these brave young men did not die in vain-- indeed, in the words of Melissa Derbyshire, ``they died for all of us.'' The loss of life is the ultimate tragedy of war, but from it, we can hope, will come peace. It is the Jay Aubin's and Brian Kennedy's of our unique history that have enabled America to become the greatest democracy civilization has ever known. They are a constant reminder of the sacrifice of one generation for the next. It has been said we are the land of the free precisely because we are the home of the brave.

At the first national Memorial Day service, in 1868, General James A. Garfield, the future President, addressed the difficulty in speaking of fallen Americans. During a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Garfield said:

``With words,'' Garfield said, ``we make promises, plight faith, praise virtue. Promises may not be kept; plighted faith may be broken; and vaunted virtue may be only the cunning mask of vice.

``We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and virtue.''

James A. Garfield could not have said it better. The enormity of the contribution made by our military men and women overwhelms the words we have within our grasp to honor that contribution. The entire nation will be forever indebted to Major Jay Thomas Aubin and Corporal Brian Matthew Kennedy. The Aubin, Chamberlain, Kennedy and Derbyshire families are in my thoughts and prayers, and I hope all of the Senate will join me in honoring these two outstanding, exceptional, extraordinary Marines today.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Thank you, Mr. President. I rise today to speak on the Low Income Taxpayer Protection Act of 2003, which Senator Bingaman and I are introducing today. I thank Senator Bingaman for his leadership on this important issue.

The legislation that my colleague from New Mexico and I are introducing would provide the Department of the Treasury with the authority to regulate income tax refund anticipation loans, RALs, and prohibit excessive fees. The bill would also provide additional opportunities for low-income taxpayers to receive assistance with tax preparation and filing their taxes and thus, we are seeking to meet taxpayers' needs for assistance while attempting to discourage a predatory practice.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2001, the Earned Income Tax Credit, EITC, was responsible for elevating nearly four million people above the poverty line. This credit has helped and continues to help low-income individuals and families to meet their food, clothing, housing, transportation, and education needs.

However, while this tax relief is benefitting families who need it most, the EITC's impact is being unnecessarily limited. Earned Income Tax Credit benefits intended for working families are increasingly being diminished by often exorbitant tax preparation fees and the growing use of high-interest refund anticipation loans, which typically carry triple-digit interest rates.

In 1999, according to a report published by the Brookings Institution, an estimated $1.75 billion intended to assist low-income families went to commercial tax preparers and affiliated national banks for tax assistance, electronic filing of returns, and high-cost refund loans. Although tax preparation services are useful, when combined with refund anticipation loans and other fees, these services are overpriced. The report further stated that 39 percent of taxpayers who earned the EITC received their refund through a refund anticipation loan, while only

four percent of those who did not receive the EITC purchased a refund anticipation loan. Clearly, RALs were heavily marketed to a specific population of taxpayer. Forty-seven percent of all EITC dollars were distributed to recipients through these loans. In my state of Hawaii, in the Honolulu metropolitan statistical area, 27.7 percent of all EITC dollars were associated with refund anticipation loans. These loans take money away from the day-to-day, kitchen-table needs of the low- income families.

Furthermore, refund anticipation loans carry interest rates that range from 97.4 percent to more than 2,000 percent. The interest rates and fees charged on these products are not justified for the short length of time that these loans cover. The typical rapid refund loan length is two weeks. These loans carry even less risk because of the Debt Indicator program. The Debt Indicator program allows the Internal Revenue Service to inform the lender if the applicant for a refund loan has any outstanding Federal debts. The risk is further reduced because loan issuers share information about outstanding delinquencies that refund anticipation loan applicants owe and are able to collect debts for each other.

This bill would terminate the Debt Indicator program. In 1995, the use of the Debt Indicator was suspended because of massive fraud in e- filed returns with RALs. After the program was discontinued, RAL participation declined. The use of the Debt Indicator was reinstated in 1999. Remarks from H & R Block Chief Executive Officer Frank L. Salizzoni upon the reinstatement of the program state that the Debt Indicator ``is good news for many of our clients who opt to receive the amount of their refund through Refund Anticipation Loans. The IRS program will likely result in substantially lower fees for this service.'' However, according to a study conducted by the Consumer Federation of America and the National Consumer Law Center, that has not been the case for at least one of the major tax preparers. H & R Block and Household Bank's fees dropped for a year after the Debt Indicator was reinstated. The fees rose significantly from 2000 to 2001, which increased H & R Block's revenue from RALs by 49 percent. Per RAL revenue rose by 43.9 percent while RAL sales volume increased by only 2.7 percent. The expected outcome that RAL prices would go down as a result of the reinstatement of the indicator has not occurred. The use of the Debt Indicator should again be stopped.

Another important provision in the bill is authorization language for a grant program to link tax preparation services with the establishment of a bank account. There are still approximately four million EITC recipients that are classified as unbanked, and lack a formal relationship with a financial institution. It has been estimated that 45 percent of EITC recipients pay for check cashing services. These check cashing services reduce EITC benefits by $130 million. Having a bank account allows individuals not only to receive their tax refund check faster than waiting for a paper check, but also does not impose the excessive fees that check cashing services and refund anticipation loan providers assess. An account at a bank or credit union provides consumers alternatives to rapid refund loans, check cashing services, and lower cost remittances. In addition, bank and credit union accounts provide access to saving and borrowing services found at mainstream financial institutions. This grant program builds upon the First Accounts initiative which has funded pilot projects that have coupled tax preparation services with the establishment of bank accounts. An example of such a project is the partnership that has been established among The Center for Law & Human Services, Accounting Aid Society, ShoreBank, National Consumer Law Center, and Consumer Federation of America that is taking place in Chicago and Detroit. More of these programs are necessary to provide much needed tax preparation assistance and to encourage the use of mainstream financial services.

I encourage all of my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. President, I rise today to right a wrong. I am doing so on behalf of myself and Mr. Wyden, Mr. Allard, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Bond, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Miller, Mr. Nickles, Mr. Santorum, and Mr. Specter. For far too many years, Americans who have been murdered overseas by terrorists have not been receiving the full weight of equal justice under the law, a fundamental principle of our governance. This is happening while we are in the midst of trying to introduce the institutions of democracy, including the notion of a fair judicial system, to a skeptical part of the world. This is happening while we are in the midst of a War on Terrorism.

This double standard of justice sends out a pernicious, mixed message to would-be terrorists around the world. It suggests that we are weak in our resolve to prosecute certain terrorists who have murdered certain American citizens. It wrongly sends the message that certain American lives are more valuable and more worthy of justice than others. Or as the mother of Mathew Eisenfeld, a young Yale University graduate who was killed in 1996, together with his young fiance, Sara Ducker, a Barnard College graduate, put it, ``it makes me feel that my son's blood is less American than others.''

When our embassies were attacked in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998, then Secretary of State Albright and President Clinton said, ``You can run but you can't hide from the long arm of American justice. Anywhere an American is murdered around the globe, we will seek out that suspect and retrieve him to these shores to stand justice.''

However, since the signing of the Oslo Accords on September 13, 1993, thirty-nine American citizens have lost their lives at the hands of Palestinian terrorists alone. And how many indictments have there been in response to these thirty-nine murders? Zero. Notably, one can't find the term Palestinian on the State Department's web site for the ``Rewards of Justice'' program--the place where suspects are listed and rewards are described for their capture. That website rather contains only vague references to ``persons in opposition to the Middle East Peace Process.''

This is simply wrong. On the humanitarian level, it is wrong. When our own government fails to mete out justice with equal and due diligence for a particular victim, or a group of victims, this compounds the grief experienced by American families who have lost loved ones to terrorists: families such as that of 14 year old Abigail Litle, an American girl from New Hampshire, a young Christian who was among the fifteen people murdered in the recent terrorist attack on a bus in Haifa, Israel; families like those of Ted Burgon of Oregon and Rick Spier of Colorado, the two American teachers killed in August of 2002 in Indonesia. Murders for which there have been no indictments and no suspects named. FBI agents have underscored that until such time as they have full and unfettered access to witnesses and evidence in Indonesia, they cannot rule out terrorism, nor can they exonerate members of the Indonesian military who have been implicated in this heinous crime.

This is wrong as a matter of foreign policy. Anything less than 100 percent commitment to pursue all terrorists who harm or murder American citizens undermines our moral clarity and our War on Terrorism. it also serves to embolden would-be terrorists all over the world, ultimately putting us all at greater risk.

We have arrived at this unfortunate juncture because the State Department, whose major objective is diplomacy, has had primary purview over this issue. The State Department, it would seem, has simply not brought its full resources to bear when it comes to facilitating the investigation, capture and prosecution of those who have murdered Americans overseas. This is particularly true if those Americans have been murdered in Israel or in areas under control of the Palestinian Authority, or in countries whose support we are seeking or counting on in the War on Terrorism.

The major objective of the Justice Department, in contrast, is justice. The Justice Department recently scored a victory, when on February 20th, they issued indictments on several members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. That terrorist organization is believed to be responsible for the deaths of two American citizens, and dozens of other people in recent years. As we celebrate this substantial step toward justice, however, we cannot lose sight of the fact that there is much more work to be done.

We should not, and cannot, in good conscience allow the pursuit of justice to be suborned to diplomatic considerations and expediencies. This is why I am introducing the Koby Mandell Act of 2003. Koby was a 13 year old boy from Silver Spring, MD, who one day decided to do the Huck Finn thing, and skip school. However, the punishment did not fit the crime. His body was found brutally stoned and dismembered in a cave outside of Tekoah, Israel. His assailants remain at large in the Palestinian controlled areas.

This Act will create a watch-dog office within the Department of Justice to ensure that all terrorists who murder or harm American citizens overseas are pursued with equal vigor, irrespective of the nationality or current residence of the terrorist. This Act will work to ensure that no other American family who has suffered at the hands of overseas terrorism will have their grief compounded a lack of justice.

I urge you all to join me and my fellow senator from the State of Oregon, ron Wyden, by becoming a sponsor of the Koby Mandell Act, to put the issue of justice for American victims of overseas terrorism into the hands of the Justice department, where it truly belongs.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the Koby Mandell Act of 2003 be printed in the Record.