A resolution designating 2004 as "The Year of Polio Awareness".

Mr. President, I now turn to another subject; that is, a resolution to designate the year 2004 as the Year of Polio Awareness.

During the 1940s and the early 1950s, between 30,000 and 50,000 cases of polio were recorded annually in the United States, causing widespread fear and panic.

I recall as a youngster a public swimming pool in Wichita, KS, in which there was a total scare, wondering if going to the swimming pool would cause polio.

The polio virus damages nerves that control muscles which results in muscle weakness. In severe illness, the person could lose the ability to move both arms and legs, may be unable to breathe without help and they may die.

Of course, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the personal symbol for the incapacitation of someone with polio, although it was only physical. He was a magnificent President and a great leader of the United States during the Depression and World War II. A great physical toll was taken on President Roosevelt.

The year 2004 will mark the 50th anniversary of the successful nationwide trial to administer the injectable polio vaccine to children. The invention of injectable polio vaccines eliminated naturally occurring polio cases in the United States.

However, as few as 57 percent of American children currently receive the full dose of vaccines, including the polio vaccination. The need for continued diligence to protect this country's youth from polio is critical. Unfortunately, those who were stricken with polio before vaccines were developed have not received the proper help they need.

The year 2004 will also mark the 130th anniversary of the first diagnosed case of post-polio sequelae. Post-polio sequelae is a condition that may develop several decades after a person has had polio. It affects the muscles and nerves, causing weakness, fatigue, pain, and other symptoms.

Mr. President, I have sought recognition to offer legislation to halt Saudi Arabia's support for institutions that fund, train, incite, encourage, or in any other way aid and abet terrorism, and to secure full Saudi cooperation in the investigation of terrorist incidents. I offer this bill on behalf of Senator Collins, Senator Schumer, Senator Graham of South Carolina, Senator Wyden, Senator Graham of Florida, and Senator Bayh.

The activities of al-Qaida have shaken the world. They certainly shook the United States on September 11, 2001. Evidence has come to light that there has been enormous financing of al-Qaida, Hamas, and other organizations by the Saudis.

Hearings have been held by a number of committees, including the Governmental Affairs Committee presided over by the distinguished Senator who is presiding this evening, Ms. Collins. We made a detailed examination, in a hearing in which I participated along with Chairman Collins, to inquire into what the Saudis had done and to find details of Saudi backing of so-called charitable organizations, recognizing that those charitable organizations were, in large part, a front; that perhaps there was some charitable activity but a tremendous amount of funding went to terrorist activities.

The Saudis are a very wealthy nation. They are reported to have contributed as much as $4 billion to Hamas over the course of the latest intifada.

We have worked through the Governmental Affairs Committee, and also the Judiciary Committee on which I serve, to establish a basic point that anybody who contributes to an organization knowing it to be a terrorist organization is really an accessory before the fact to murder, and that when people contribute to Hamas knowing Hamas engages in suicide bombing, they are accessories to murder.

The Terrorist Prosecution Act, which I wrote back in 1986, authorizes prosecutions in Federal court of anyone who assaults, maims, or murders an American citizen anywhere in the world.

Many United States citizens have been murdered while visiting in Israel, and I have talked to Attorney General Rubenstein of Israel and Attorney General Ashcroft of the United States, trying to work out arrangements to bring those terrorists to the United States for trial where we have the potential to impose the death penalty.

We have been very lenient with the Saudis, in my judgment, over the years, really out of deference to the importance of Saudi oil. It is really an open scandal that we have not taken action to secure some independence from our reliance on Saudi oil.

In 1996, Khobar Towers was the scene of an attack by terrorists. I chaired the Intelligence Committee that year, during the 104th Congress. I made a trip to Khobar Towers and inspected what went on. A car bomb came very close, there was an enormous blast, and 19 airmen were killed and about 400 injured.

In that situation, the Saudis would not allow Federal investigators to talk to the suspects. I personally met with Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and asked him to allow our investigators--the FBI--to talk to those suspects. Crown Prince Abdullah said the United States should not meddle in Saudi internal affairs.

It was hardly a Saudi internal affair when 400 airmen were wounded and 19 airmen were killed.

Notwithstanding the efforts of FBI Director Louis Freeh, who made several personal trips there, and my efforts in talking to Crown Prince

Abdullah, they refused to allow the United States to have its representatives talk to those suspects.

Later indictments were issued. Iran was a named co-conspirator in the Federal indictment.

While there has not been proof, the background circumstances lend some consideration to the thought that those who were involved in Khobar Towers may well have been involved in September 11.

We recently passed the Syria Accountability Act. I believe in the overall scheme of operations in the Mideast that the Saudis are a much greater threat to U.S. interests, and there ought to be a very firm approach as to how we deal with the Saudis.

The bill which I am introducing today has detailed recitation of the findings by organizations which have studied the record of the Saudis. The United Nations Security Council resolution mandates that all states refrain from providing any foreign support, active or passive, to people involved in terrorist acts.

The Council on Foreign Relations concluded in an October 2002 report on terrorist finances:

For years, individuals and charities based in Saudi Arabia

have been the most important source of funds for al-Qaida,

and, for years, Saudi officials have turned a blind eye.

The Middle East Media Institute concluded in their July 3, 2003, report again characterizing the Saudis' activities as supporting terrorists.

The New York Times cited sources reported on April 17, 2003, that at least 50 percent of the current operating budget of Hamas comes from the people of Saudi Arabia.

This resolution would call on the Government of the United States to prohibit the export to Saudi Arabia of any defense articles or services listed in the Arms Exports Control Act and prohibit import to Saudi Arabia of any items within the Commerce Control List and to restrict travel of Saudi diplomats appropriately.

The President's certification would be present to relieve these sanctions under specified circumstances.

Madam President, I rise today to congratulate French President Jacques Chirac for having taken resolute steps to stop attacks on Jewish sites in France and, more broadly, to address some of the causes of anti-Semitism among Muslim youths in that country.

As you know, Madam President, France has a large Muslim minority population. In the past, I have been strongly critical of President Chirac, the French, and other Europeans for not having been sufficiently attentive to the cancer of anti-Semitism that still exists in Europe, and in the United States to some extent.

Some have ignored the insidious way criticism of some Israeli policies has been conflated into pure anti-Semitism. Others have shied away from meeting the problem head on because of fears of provoking more violence in Europe. Still others have refrained from speaking out for fear of alienating domestic electoral constituencies.

Whatever their motives, until recently, precious few European leaders have demonstrated very much leadership with regard to combatting anti- Semitism, which is on the rise.

Last Saturday, a Jewish school near Paris was destroyed by an arson attack. Two days later, President Chirac convened a meeting attended by Prime Minister Raffarin and other top officials to react to this latest outrage. The result of the meeting, as reported in the New York Times, was a package of measures including beefed-up policing and prosecution of anti-Semitic violence, and also an earmark of nearly $8 billion worth of investment in urban renewal to clean up neighborhoods that breed Islamic fundamentalism.

President Chirac was quoted as saying: ``Anti-Semitism is contrary to all the values of France,'' and that Jewish Frenchmen and Frenchwomen are at home in France just as are all other groups.

Last month, the Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing on anti-Semitism in Europe, which revealed the shocking extent of the problem. Recent public opinion polls in Europe have confirmed our hearing's testimony.

One of the most important weapons in the fight against anti-Semitism is political leadership. Or as Justice Holmes said: The best disinfectant is the light of day. The best disinfectant is light, and shedding light on the anti-Semitism in Europe, and criticizing it, can only be done effectively by Europe's political leadership.

France's measures are, to be sure, only a beginning of a long struggle to eradicate this disease from the European body politic. I have been critical in the past when European leaders have not responded. Now President Chirac should be complimented for having had the courage to forcefully show the way. He deserves credit, and I hope it is the beginning of a process.

(The remarks of Mr. Biden pertaining to the submission of S. Con. Res. 82 and S. Con. Res. 83 are printed in today's Record under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')

Madam President, I thank my friend from New Jersey. We use that phrase very loosely around

here, but he is my friend, and I thank him for his courtesy.

I yield the floor.

I thank the Senator.

(The remarks of Mr. Lautenberg pertaining to the introduction of S. 1882 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

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

I thank the Chair.

(The remarks of Mr. Specter pertaining to the introduction of S. 1888 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

(The remarks of Mr. Specter pertaining to the submission of S. Res. 267 located in today's Record under ``Submission of Concurrent and Senate Resolutions.'')

I thank the Chair. In the absence of any other Senator on the floor, Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, before the Senator from Delaware leaves the floor, I commend him for his arduous effort here on behalf of reminding the French Government that anti-Semitism is antithetical to a democratic society and to those with whom we have relationships.

Senator Biden has worked on this for several years, and he is a voice they will listen to. We commend him again for his thoughts and his remarks.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed to speak as in morning business for as long as I may require.