A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that legislative information shall be publicly available through the Internet.

Mr. President, on Saturday, May 29th, we will dedicate a national memorial to the more than 16 million men and women who served from December 1940 to August 1945 in our Army, Army Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines, as well as the 400,000 men and women who gave their lives during World War II.

The memorial is a fitting tribute to all who served and contributed to the war effort at home and abroad. When visitors enter the memorial, they are greeted with an inscription that puts the memorial, its placement on the National Mall and its importance to our nation into perspective: ``Here in the presence of Washington and Lincoln, one the 18th century father and the other the 19th century preserver of our nation, we honor those 20th century Americans who took up the struggle during the Second World War and made the sacrifices to perpetuate the gift of our forefathers entrusted to us: a nation conceived in liberty and justice.''

The memorial, composed of bronze and granite, has a memorial plaza and a rainbow pool as its main features. These features symbolize the totality of the war effort, both at home and overseas. Its two arches depict the two theaters of the war--the Atlantic and the Pacific. The fifty-six pillars represent every state and territory that committed men and women to the effort. A ``freedom wall'' with 4,000 sculpted gold stars commemorates the more than 400,000 Americans who died while serving in the armed forces during the war.

I hope that for generations to come, this memorial, will etch into the collective memory of all Americans who visit the sense of duty, patriotism, valor and sacrifice of the millions of citizens--men and women, from all walks of life, from America's farms and cities, made up of all races, religions and ethnicities--who served and who answered their nation's call in a time of great need.

This memorial is truly a shrine to democracy. World War II was a test of our Nation's democracy, against the forces of fascism and totalitarianism, which threatened to engulf the globe. Americans combated this evil as citizens of the world's bastion of democracy. It is only fitting that around each memorial flagpole--flying the symbol of a free and democratic people--is inscribed, ``Americans came to liberate, not to conquer, to restore freedom and to end tyranny.''

America's spirit was captured by President Franklin Roosevelt when he said of his countrymen, ``They have given their sons to the military services. They have stoked the furnaces and hurried the factory wheels. They have made the planes and welded the tanks, riveted the ships and rolled the shells.'' It was through the collective contribution of millions of Americans that victory was ultimately achieved.

At war's end, General Douglas McArthur said it best when accepting the surrender of the Japanese in Tokyo Bay, ``Today the guns are silent. The great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won. The skies no longer rain death--the seas bear only commerce--men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace.''

I hope that when Americans visit this memorial and pay tribute to the millions of veterans who served to preserve our freedom, they will realize there was a time when the mission was clear, the cause was just and righteous and Americans were united in their quest for victory. As a nation, we honor the memory of ordinary Americans who were asked by their country

to perform extraordinary feats, rose to the challenge and will forever be remembered.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, that would resolve it to be the sense of the Senate to express the grateful thanks of the nation to the more than 16 million veterans who served in the Army, Army Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine in World War II and to the millions of Americans on the home front who contributed to the war effort during World War II and to recognize the dedication of the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, the District of Columbia, on May 29, 2004, as an occasion to acknowledge and pay tribute to the duty, sacrifices and valor of all members of the Armed Forces of the United States who served in World War II, a group known collectively as the ``Greatest Generation.''

Mr. President, today, along with Senators McCain, Feingold, Cornyn, Leahy, and Bingaman, I am submitting a resolution designed to make it easier for the American people to get information about Congress from the Internet.

Almost 10 years ago, the Library of Congress started the THOMAS website, which was one of the first electronic references for the public to get up-to-date information about legislation. The

Library did a tremendous job getting THOMAS ready, and I commend their hard work in maintaining it over the past 10 years. However, THOMAS recently has begun to show its age. Although there have been some improvements over time, the Library has been unable to devote the resources necessary to keep THOMAS up to the level the public expects for today's websites. One reason is that the Library has never been formally told by either Chamber of Congress that it has a responsibility to maintain a website for public access to legislative information.

In contrast, the Congressional Research Service was given a mandate to maintain a legislative information website for Members of Congress and their staffs in the 1997 Legislative Branch Appropriations conference report. The Legislative Information System that Congress uses is vastly superior to THOMAS, both in terms of functionality and ease of use. For example, LIS users are able to search across multiple Congresses to find information about bills; THOMAS users must search each Congress individually. In LIS, links to committee reports, if available, are provided along with the basic information about a bill. In THOMAS, a user must make a separate search to find the report. In LIS, the names of bill sponsors can be clicked on to find other bills sponsored by that Member; that feature is not available in THOMAS. And anyone who has used both LIS and THOMAS has seen that the LIS site is much more attractive and usable, and has benefited from continual improvements that have not been matched on THOMAS. When it comes to obtaining the public legislative information of Congress, there should not be such a significant difference between what we use and what the public uses.

Obviously, the American people have the right to see all the public documents of Congress. And, if we are to be true to our nation's democratic values, this information should be as easy to find as possible. It is not sufficient that those who are truly interested can make the extra effort necessary to find what they need; we should be encouraging people to become interested. Americans should be able to easily go to the Internet and get legislative information directly from Congress, instead of having to rely on what they see and hear from others. We can facilitate this by creating a visually appealing, helpful, useful, and accessible public portal to the United States Congress.

Although THOMAS was a good start, it badly needs to be improved. This resolution will tell the Library of Congress that the Senate is paying attention, and that we will insist on that improvement.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution and help ensure we have a public legislative information website we can be proud of.

Mr. President, government transparency is fundamental to democracy. This well-known truism is a staple of every sermon about democracy. We sometimes take it for granted, but we shouldn't-- especially today. For one thing, the world is watching if and how we practice what we preach. For another, during this most partisan of political times, it is essential that citizens be able to judge us not only on what we say, but on what we do.

Therefore, I am particularly pleased to join today with Senators Corzine, Cornyn, Feingold, Bingaman and Lieberman to submit a resolution that will provide citizens with expanded and more easily accessible information about legislation and the legislative process.

In particular, we are calling on the Library of Congress to improve its public website, called ``THOMAS,'' in order to provide as much legislative information as is reasonably practical. In addition, because Internet technology continues to advance so rapidly, we are asking the Library to maintain THOMAS in a manner that reflects current standards of accessibility and usability.

In December of 2003, together with Senator Corzine and others, I wrote to Dr. James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, and asked him to redesign THOMAS to provide, as much as possible, information to the general public that is already available to congressional staff through the congressional Legislative Information System. Dr. Billington and his staff agreed to work with us to improve THOMAS, and the resolution we introduce today is a result of this constructive process. I would like to thank Dr. Billington and his staff for their cooperation and their appreciation of the importance of this effort.

The Library of Congress has a well-known and well-deserved reputation as a source of reliable, unbiased, and comprehensive information. Our resolution will harness the power of the Information Age to allow citizens to see more public records of the Senate in their official form, in context, and without editorial comment.

The taxpayers of this country, who pay millions of dollars a year to fund the Library of Congress, as well as to fund Congress itself, deserve speedy access to this public information. They have a right to see that their money is being spent well. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, ``Information is the currency of democracy.''

Mr. President, I rise today to submit legislation designating August 14, 2004, as National Marina Day to honor America's marinas for their many contributions to local communities. This year's celebration will be held in Georgia on Lake Sidney Lanier, one of the largest U.S. Army Corps of Engineer lakes in the nation, and home to 10 marinas. National Marina Day was created by the Marine Operators Association of America to educate civic leaders, government leaders, and the public about the important role that the marina industry plays in cities and towns across America as family-friendly gateways to boating and outdoor recreation.

Georgia's Lake Lanier consists of 39,000 acres of water and 692 miles of shoreline. The lake was originally authorized by the United States Congress in 1946 for the purposes of power production, flood control, downstream navigation, and fish and wildlife management. Over the years, recreation has become a major factor in the lake's attraction to 8 million visitors each year. According to a recent study commissioned by the Metro Atlanta Marine Trade Association, Lake Lanier generates nearly $5.5 billion in annual economic impact from jobs created on and around the lake, restaurants, hotels and resorts, camping and recreation, real estate sales, boat and marine dealers, and marinas.

National Marina Day will be held for the third year in a row, is set to have its most successful year yet, in no small part by the tireless work of the President of the Marina Operators of Lake Lanier, Kirby Cay Scheimann, State Representative Stacy Reece of

Gainesville, Georgia, the President of the Marina Operators Association of America, Bill Anderson, and the President of the International Marina Institute, Gregg Kenney. I am grateful for all the hard work that everyone involved has contributed to making National Marina Day a huge success.

I ask unanimous consent the Rules Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 360, and it be placed directly on the calendar.