Floor Statements

Mr. President, I am proud to cosponsor S. Res. 182, recognizing the democratic accomplishments of the people of Albania and expressing the hope that the parliamentary elections on June 28 maintain and improve the transparency and fairness of democracy in Albania. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.

As Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, I am aware of what Albania has accomplished since its first multiparty elections in 1991, but I also know what a struggle it has been. Albania was under a ruthless and isolationist communist regime for decades. While not part of the former Yugoslavia, it was also impacted by the conflicts in neighboring and nearby Balkan countries in the 1990s, which was a setback for the entire region.

The promise of NATO membership did much to encourage progress in Albania in recent years. While problems relating to the rule of law and fight against corruption persisted, we supported Albania's NATO membership with the understanding that reforms will continue. The State Department in particular emphasized that other NATO members continued the reform process after joining the Alliance. That is our hope for Albania as well.

This resolution more actively expresses our hope as well as expectation that Albania live up to international standards it has accepted, in particular as they relate to the holding of elections. There are concerns about these elections, especially in regard to new voter identification cards and their distribution in time to allow citizens to vote. Even if Election Day does go smoothly, it is unfortunate that there was a delay in preparations--which causes confusion, frustration and suspicion among the Albanian electorate.

Albania is a good friend of the United States, and by passing this resolution we are investing in that relationship to make it grow. We want Albania to succeed, and this resolution will hopefully encourage Albania to hold successful elections on June 28. I believe the resolution is balanced, raising concern while noting progress and clearly favoring no particular political party. While those currently in power may have the additional responsibilities that come with governance, all parties have a role to play in order to make these elections meet international standards.

Mr. President, today I pay special tribute to the outstanding accomplishments of Salvatore M. Meringolo, vice president for development at St. Mary's College since 1997.

Mr. Meringolo leaves a remarkable record of accomplishment at St. Mary's College. He was hired 15 years ago as director of the library and information services and directed a comprehensive modernization effort that encompassed library partnerships with the University of Maryland System and raised $2 million for the library's endowment.

During his tenure as vice president for development, St. Mary's endowment has grown from less than $5 million to more than $24 million. Moreover, Mr. Meringolo pursued Federal funding strategies that have yielded more than $6 million for programs such as St. Mary's River Project and campus IT networking infrastructure.

For the past 3 years, Mr. Meringolo has served as secretary to the Board of Trustees. I had the honor of serving on the board from 1988- 1999. He has provided staff support to the board's development, governance, and executive committees.

Mr. Meringolo often represents the college in the local community, having served as vice president of the Patuxent Partnership, as a member of the Navy Alliance, and the college's representative to the Economic Development Commission of St. Mary's County.

When the college and Historic St. Mary's City joined forces to create the $65 million Maryland Heritage Project, Mr. Meringolo worked to ensure a compelling and timely application. The facilities of St. Mary's College were reshaped over the last decade as a result of the Maryland Heritage Project.

The challenge presented by St. Mary's small-scale and modest resources was largely overcome by the talents of this very thoughtful and experienced individual. The college has experienced enormous growth in the last 15 years and much of that growth can be attributed to Mr. Meringolo's leadership.

I ask my colleagues to join me in applauding the many accomplishments of Torre Meringolo and in wishing him success in his future endeavors.

Mr. President, today I pay special tribute to the outstanding accomplishments of Jane Margaret O'Brien, Ph.D. president of St. Mary's College since 1996. I was a member of the St. Mary's Board of Trustees and have known Maggie for many years. I have the utmost respect for her and what she has been able to accomplish at St. Mary's during her tenure.

During her 13 years as president, the College has distinguished itself as a premier honors college that excels at scholarship, research, creative thinking, community engagement, and an appreciation and commitment to world issues, cultures, and communities.

Dr. O'Brien provided critical guidance to the development of the college's external relations and fundraising efforts during its transition to the Honors College Curriculum. Fundraising during Dr. O'Brien's tenure has profoundly reshaped the college's scholarships, professorships, lecture and learning series, arts, athletic, and community programs.

I will provide two examples of Dr. O'Brien's wonderful legacy. The Center for the Study of Democracy, an advisory board on which I have had the pleasure of serving since 2002, was established with a $2 million National Endowment for the Humanities--NEH--grant and challenge matches. The center is a leading programmatic initiative between the college and neighboring Historic St. Mary's City. This relationship continues to flourish with the opportunity for students to serve as Maryland Heritage Scholars and for faculty from the college and the city to serve as Maryland Heritage Fellows.

The Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, where Dr. O'Brien will continue her work for St. Mary's, was founded in 1975 for two purposes: to establish in Oxford a permanent institute for the interdisciplinary study of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and to provide academic training for overseas students who wish to study at Oxford.

I ask my colleagues to join me in applauding Maggie O'Brien for her stellar leadership at St. Mary's College and in wishing her success in her continuing work on behalf of this unique institution.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. President, I take this time to share with my colleagues a problem--a worldwide problem--that we thought was left behind in the 20th Century--slavery. I am talking about modern slavery, the human trafficking that takes place around the world.

Yesterday, as Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Helsinki Commission, I was privileged to join Secretary of State Clinton at the State Department for the official release of the Ninth Annual Trafficking in Persons Report. This is a vital diplomatic tool. It is put out every year by the United States. We have been doing this now for almost 10 years. It lists every country and the current status of trafficking in their country. Some countries are origin countries, others allow trafficking through their countries, and other countries are receiving countries.

This report is an objective yardstick so that we know exactly what is happening in each one of these countries. It is a valuable tool for us to put an end to the trafficking in human beings used for slavery or sex or for other illegal type purposes.

It was interesting that the Secretary of State, Secretary Clinton, also released the Attorney General's Report to Congress: An Assessment of U.S. Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons. This is the first time we have had this report. This report talks about what is happening in our own country, in the United States. Because we think it is important, if we are going to lead internationally, that we lead by example of what we do in our own country in order to stop trafficking in human beings.

The Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking utilizes our vast network of embassies and consulates throughout the world to compile the most comprehensive report of its kind. It is an objective yardstick we should be using more and more to press every country in the world to do more to stop modern slavery. The United States has shown great leadership on this issue, and I commend Secretary Clinton for the incredible leadership she has demonstrated, making it a priority topic for the United States nationally and internationally.

When Secretary Clinton was Senator Clinton, she served on the Helsinki Commission and was one of our leaders in forming a policy within the United States-Helsinki Commission to raise the issue of trafficking in persons. As a result of the work of the U.S. commission and the leadership of our country, we were able to get the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, to make this a priority; To adopt policies within OSCE so every

member state, all 56, would adopt a strategy to first understand what is happening in their own country, to take an assessment as to where they are in trafficking; then to develop a strategy to improve their record, adopt the best practices as we know, what has worked and what has not worked; and then to make progress to root out trafficking in their own country. Again, whether they happen to be an origin country or whether they happen to be the host country or whether they just happen to be a transit country in which persons are trafficked through their country, they need to adopt a strategy that will help rid us of this modern-day slavery.

I am very proud of the role the United States has played, our government has played, and the Helsinki Commission has played. I wish to call this matter to the attention of our colleagues. I found the ongoing work of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking and the Trafficking in Persons Report extremely useful in engaging the 55 participating states of the OSCE. We use this document frequently when we meet with our colleagues or when they travel to the United States to meet with us, to say: What are you doing about this? This tells us you could do a better job in law enforcement. You need to recognize that those who are trafficked are victims. They are not criminals, they are victims, and you need to have a way to take care of their needs.

The report continues to function as a working document, frequently cited and invoked to promote adherence to numerous human rights commitments and the principles of the Helsinki Act.

Some of the most striking parts of this year's report--besides the staggering estimates by the International Labor Organization that there are at least 12.3 million adults and children in forced labor, bonded labor, and commercial sexual servitude at any given time--are the wrenching victims' stories themselves.

We know trafficking is connected to organized crime. We know that. This is not just isolated trafficking of people, it is also part of an organized effort, criminal efforts that we need to root out. But we sometimes forget that the women, children, and men who are trafficked are victims and we must treat them as victims, with respect and dignity. That is a success story. We have made progress. Tougher law are being adopted.

Take Xiao Ping of China. Now 20 years old, her testimony in the State Department report says that:

She spent most of her life in her small village in Sichuan

Province. She was thrilled when her new boyfriend offered to

take her on a weekend trip to his hometown. But her boyfriend

and his friends instead took her to a desert village in the

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and sold her to a farmer to

be his wife. The farmer imprisoned Xiao Ping, beat her, and

raped her for 32 months. . . . Xiao Ping's family borrowed a

substantial sum to pay for her rescue, but the farmer's

family forced her to leave behind her 6-month-old baby. To

cancel the debts, Xiao Ping married the man who provided the

loan. But her husband regarded her as `stained goods,' and

the marriage did not last.

Tragic scenarios like this will continue unless all countries-- whether a point of origin for the sex trade, a transit point for slaves whose criminal traffickers are undetected by law enforcement, or a destination for a forced child laborer, work together to increase prosecution of these crimes. In concert with the immense awareness raising efforts of the Trafficking in Persons Report, the exchange of U.S. policies and countertrafficking mechanisms throughout the OSCE region has resulted in a steady increase in the number of countries with enacted antitrafficking legislation. That is a success story. We have made progress. Tougher laws are being adopted.

Probably even more important, we are developing attitudes in countries that this cannot continue, it is not something you can just overlook. I must tell you, these reports that were issued, now for almost 10 years, have played a critical role. The United States should be proud of what we have been able to do to call world attention to this issue.

According to the State Department's report, a young woman from Azerbaijan, Dilara, had a sister who:

. . . had been tricked into an unregistered marriage to a

trafficker who later abandoned her when she got pregnant.

When Dilara confronted her sister's traffickers, she herself

became a victim. She ended up in Turkey, where she and other

abducted girls were tortured and forced to engage in

prostitution. Dilara escaped with the help of Turkish police,

who promptly arrested the nine men who trafficked Dilara and

her sister.

They were some of the lucky ones. Dilara and her sister found help from a local NGO, including job training, and now she works and lives her life as a free woman in Baku.

From some of these tragedies we have seen heroic actions taking place, some encouragement that we are making progress.

Prostitution is not the only form of involuntary servitude outlined in this latest report. It contains true stories like: a family in India that were bonded laborers at a rice mill for three generations until freed with the help of NGOs; young boys in the Democratic Republic of Congo abducted from their school by a militia group and tortured until they submitted to serving as soldiers; and an 8-year-old girl from Guinea given away as an unpaid domestic servant after her mother and brother died.

These are real people. These are real stories.

The U.S. is not immune from the problems of modern day slavery. The 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report highlights a young girl brought to California from Egypt by a wealthy couple who forced her to work up to 20 hours a day for just $45 a month. And earlier in June, more than a dozen Filipinos were rescued from hotels in Douglas and Casper, WY, where they were working with minimal pay and forced to live in horrendous conditions. Their ``employment agency'' purposefully allowed their work visas to expire so they would be trapped into servitude as illegal aliens. A Federal grand jury brought forward a 45-count indictment on racketeering, forced labor trafficking, immigration violations, identity theft, extortion, money laundering, and other related violations in Wyoming and 13 other States.

These are criminal elements. Fortunately we are starting to see prosecutions of people involved in these activities.

We want to end this modern day slavery--as human beings we need to end this slavery--in the United States and around the world. Involuntary domestic servitude, sex trafficking and forced labor should not be acceptable in any 21st century civilization.

The OSCE has a unique role in generating instruments that empower governments to end human trafficking. Each year, the OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings also prepares a report that outlines the trends and developments of counter- trafficking efforts in the OSCE region. This report has been instrumental in promoting the establishment of national rapporteurs, consistent data collection practices, and standardized law enforcement policies to ensure more robust cooperation to end modern slavery. It is used around the world so people can see how to better prepare their own country to identify trafficking and help its prosecution.

The OSCE efforts closely complement the Trafficking in Persons Report and demonstrate a close partnership with the efforts of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking. I truly hope this close partnership continues to flourish.

We were instrumental in getting OSCE to have the capacity to do this, and Congress was instrumental in getting the State Department to make these annual reports. Now we have the documents. Now we have the evidence. We know progress can be made. We have seen progress made. But until we rid our civilization of modern-day slavery, we have not accomplished our goal.

Let's take these reports, use these reports so we can bring this to an end and help those who have been victimized through traffickers.

Madam President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I am delighted the Senate is poised to consider and pass S. Con. Res. 23 in support of the goals and objectives of the Prague Conference on Holocaust Era Assets.

The Prague Conference, which will be held June 26 through June 30, will serve as a forum to review the achievements of the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust Era Assets. That meeting brought together 44 nations, 13 nongovernmental organizations, scholars, and Holocaust survivors, and helped channel the political will necessary to address looted art, insurance claims, communal property, and archival issues. The conference also examined the role of historical commissions and Holocaust education, remembrance, and research. While the Washington Conference was enormously useful, more can and should be done in all of these areas. Accordingly, the Prague Conference provides an important opportunity to identify specific additional steps that countries can still take.

The Holocaust left a scar that will not be removed by the Prague Conference. But this upcoming gathering provides an opportunity for governments to make tangible and meaningful progress in addressing this painful chapter of history. I commend the Czech Republic for taking on the leadership of organizing this meeting and welcome the appointment of Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat, former Treasury Deputy Secretary and former Department of State Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, to head the U.S. delegation to the Prague Conference. Ambassador Eizenstat is uniquely qualified to represent the United States at this historic gathering.

I would like to express my gratitude to Senators Kerry and Lugar, the chair and ranking member, respectively, of the Foreign Relations Committee, for cosponsoring and reporting this resolution expeditiously.

Mr. President, I congratulate Delegate Carolyn J. Krysiak on the occasion of her 70th birthday. Carolyn is a mother of five children whose husband Charles served with me in the Maryland House of Delegates and then as chairman of the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission. Carolyn became interested in public service to serve her community. She served on boards that worked to create jobs and to support and attract neighborhood businesses. She was a founding member of the Southeast Senior Housing Initiative and an active member of the Polish Women's Alliance and the Polish Home Club.

Carolyn was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1990. She has served her constituents in Baltimore City and the State of Maryland with distinction. As a member of the House Economic Matters Committee, she has provided leadership on subcommittees dealing with such diverse issues as health insurance, real property, unemployment insurance, property and casualty insurance, and business regulation. She has chaired the House Facilities Committee and the Worker's Compensation Benefit and Insurance Oversight Committee, as well as the Democratic Party Caucus.

I ask my colleagues to join me, Delegate Krysiak's colleagues, family, and friends in thanking Carolyn for her dedication and commitment to public service and wishing her a happy birthday.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to speak as in morning business.

Mr. President, as Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, which has had decades of experience monitoring election and promoting democracy and human rights, I would like to take a moment to speak on a troubling matter that has filled headlines around the world in the last few days.

We have all seen the images. Violence and mass protests are erupting across Iran following the hasty vote count of a deeply flawed presidential election process in that country. Yet another unfortunate chapter is unfolding before our eyes that reinforces Iran's record as a police state and totalitarian regime more concerned with keeping its tight grip on power than yielding to the will of the people.

I stand with President Obama calling for the government to exercise restraint and the violence to end. Regrettably, at least seven people have been killed and countless others injured. We may never know the true results of this election, given the lack of international monitoring. But what we do know is that in the last few days we have witnessed tens of thousands of Iranians raise their voices in protest to ensure that their vote meant something.

On Friday, voters in Iran lined up in unprecedented numbers to choose their next president. I, like many others, was dismayed on Saturday to hear the ruling clerics rush to announce that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won reelection by a large margin. Regardless of the limited official scope of his duties, President Ahmadinejad's consistent pattern of noxious remarks and his belligerent attitude inject understandable tension around the Middle East and beyond. He has used the presidential podium to instigate conflict with the international community, pursue acquisition of nuclear weapons, and spew hatred and intolerance toward Israel and the United States.

I cannot say and will not say what could have been or should have been if any other candidate was elected, but there is no doubt whatsoever as to Ahmadinejad's unfitness as a leader.

Equally troubling were the almost immediate reports coming from Tehran and elsewhere around Iran that there were deep flaws in this election. Elections do not equal democracy, nor do they guarantee that the will of the people will be reflected in their government. But this was not a free and fair election from the start.

In Iranian Presidential elections, only a select group of candidates approved by a 12-person Council of Guardians are eligible to run. The Iranian regime, headed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, continues to severely restrict civil liberties including freedom of speech, expression, assembly, and association. Freedom to discuss ideas without threat of oppression is a fundamental human right that is essential to a government truly reflecting the will of its people. This freedom is absent in Iran. Typically, Iranian elections and public expressions are

carefully monitored and manipulated by the ruling regime to prevent challenges to their authority.

The last few days seem somewhat different. The tens of thousands of people lining the streets of Tehran--in an incredible rebuttal to the ruling powers--want to know that the votes they did cast are counted properly. The deliberate lack of transparency in the vote tabulation and the blatant attempts to block mass communications among citizens, particularly youth, are too glaring to ignore. Even Supreme Leader Khamenei has been forced to backtrack on his immediate approval of the results and has called for at least the appearance of a recount in some disputed areas.

Americans know something about wanting to have their votes counted accurately. The difference between our two nations: when the results of a U.S. election were in dispute, the world spotlight shined bright on the process and the people involved in resolving the conflict-- peacefully. Transparency and openness is not a hallmark of Iranian elections.

Even before the presidential election took place, Iran's totalitarian regime blocked personal communications like texting and access to the Internet. Media have been confined to Tehran, if they haven't been asked to leave the country. The regime's ongoing attempts to curtail communication and silence protests--often with brutal force-- demonstrate the regime's fear of losing a grip on power.

Allegations of a fraudulent vote count are a symptom of a regime that has survived by an authoritarian power structure that oppresses its people. On June 12, the people of Iran did not vote for the Supreme Leader of their country. Under the current system, the Supreme Leader and his supporters will continue to dictate policy to the President of Iran, regardless of who that president is and whatever policy decisions the president is authorized to make.

The people of Iran want their voices to be heard and they should be assured that the world is listening. I urge those in power in Iran also to listen and implement the reforms necessary to allow the will of the people to be expressed.

I look forward to a future when the people of Iran have an opportunity for a free and fair election of leaders of their choosing. It is my sincere hope that one day this vision will be realized, and the voice of the Iranian people will truly be heard.

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

Mr. President, today I have submitted a resolution condemning yesterday's heinous, horrific act of violence at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

I want to offer my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns. Officer Johns, of Temple Hills, in Prince George's County, MD, died in the line of duty. He ably served as a guard of the museum for 6 years. He was just 39 and leaves behind a grieving family. He gave his life to save the lives of numerous others. We must perpetually honor that ultimate sacrifice. I also want to commend all the staff of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the authorities who responded to the scene for their bravery.

I have visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum many times with my family and friends. It is clear that the gunman's despicable rampage was intended to frighten and intimidate all people who care about equality and liberty.

I introduced this resolution to affirm my commitment to ending the bigotry and hatred that led to this heinous act. There is no place in our society for individuals who would harm or deny rights to others, especially based on religion, race, gender, or ethnic identity. It is heartening that each and every U.S. Senator has cosponsored this resolution.

Let there be no mistake about it, anti-Semitism and other hate crimes remain a pressing problem in our society. Anti-Semitism spawns from centuries of hatred, persecution, and the repeated attempts to destroy the Jewish people from their early days of slavery, through the Inquisition to the Holocaust and beyond. Hate crimes send a powerful message because they affect more than the individual victims; they are meant to intimidate and instill fear in entire groups of people. They create a sense of vulnerability and insecurity in others who may share characteristics with the victims. And that is precisely the intent of those who commit these crimes.

I am privileged to be chairman of the Helsinki Commission and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In those capacities, and as a U.S. Senator generally, I am afforded numerous opportunities to speak out against the scourge of anti-Semitism, racial bigotry, and ethnic hatred worldwide. Part of the battle is to publicize the intolerance and hateful activity. As Oliver Wendell Holmes remarked,

The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of an eye. The more

light you shine on it, the more it will contract.

This resolution is meant to be such a light and I am grateful that each and

every other Senator has seen fit to cosponsor it. We truly speak as one in our anguish at the tragic event yesterday and in our determination to root out its causes so that it will not be repeated.

Mr. President, I regret that the Senate was unable to reach an agreement with regard to consideration of the amendment which Senators Lieberman, Akaka, Collins, and Voinovich offered to H.R. 1256. The amendment, which was ruled nongermane, reformed several Federal employee retirement provisions. It made changes to benefit computation rules for certain Federal employees, including the ability to count sick leave and part-time service, and it authorized Federal agencies to reemploy Federal pensioners on a part-time basis.

I cosponsored this amendment. Its importance particularly resonates with me as a large number of Federal employees work and reside in my home State of Maryland. But that is not why I cosponsored it. I cosponsored the amendment because it was the right thing to do for all of America's Federal employees.

The Lieberman amendment would have extended to employees under the Federal Employees' Retirement System certain benefits which already apply to employees under the older Civil Service Retirement System. This bipartisan amendment had the potential to affect the lives of hundreds of

thousands of Federal employees who work hard every day, many at modest pay grades, only to find that their benefits do not mirror those of their colleagues in the same positions.

We had an opportunity to send an important message to America's Federal workers by bringing up this amendment. We had an opportunity to give them additional incentives to continue the missions they pursue on behalf of all of us, to demonstrate that Congress still cares about doing what is right and fair. I regret we were unable to consider this amendment because of the objections of a minority of Senators.

I commend Senator Lieberman and the other Senators who worked so diligently on this amendment. We will have other opportunities. I pledge my continued support for America's Federal employees, just as they continue to work for America each and every day.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mr. President, I am glad we are now engaged in the health care debate, but this debate is long overdue. I congratulate the Obama administration for taking on the tough issues. This is not an easy subject in order to reach the type of consensus necessary in order to pass major legislation. There are a lot of special interests that are going to make it difficult for us to move forward.

I am proud this administration is taking up this issue because we are in a health care crisis in America. I say that because the cost of health care is not sustainable. We spend twice as much as the next most expensive nation in the world per capita on health care--$2.4 trillion a year, 15 percent of our gross domestic product. Those numbers are increasing dramatically each and every year. The cost of health care is not sustainable.

We had a great deal of discussion here about fiscal responsibility and bringing our budget into balance. President Obama is correct. If we do not deal with the escalating cost of health care, it is going to make it virtually impossible for us to bring our budgets into balance in the future--whether it is a Medicare budget or Medicaid budget or a household's budget. We have to do a better job in reining in the cost of health care. America needs to be competitive internationally. We cannot be competitive internationally unless we find a way to bring down the cost of health care.

Family insurance premiums have gone up threefold in the last 8 years alone--much faster than earnings, three times as fast as earnings. The consequences for Marylanders is that they are going into bankruptcy. You have heard it said that we are only one health incident away from filing bankruptcy in America for many families. They have to make difficult choices: Should I really go see a doctor? Is it really that important, because do I really have the money to lay out? It is not covered by my insurance, or I don't have insurance, what do I do?

We have 46 million Americans today who have no health insurance, and it is very costly in the way they enter the system. They use the emergency rooms. They don't get preventive health care. They spend a lot of money. It increased 20 percent over the last 8 years.

In my State of Maryland, we have 760,000 Marylanders, 15.4 percent of our nonelderly population, without health insurance.

We need to reform our health care system. We need to build on what is right in our health care system and correct what is wrong.

What is right is that we have some of the highest quality health care in the world. I am proud that people from all over the world travel to my own State of Maryland to visit Johns Hopkins University or the University of Maryland Medical Center or NIH in order to get their health care needs met or to train their health care professionals. We want to maintain that edge in America, of leading-edge technology to keep people healthy. We have choice in our health care system. I believe that is good. You can choose the health plan in many cases. You certainly can choose your provider in many cases. That adds competition to quality of care in our system.

We have to correct what is wrong. The first thing we have to correct is the cost. We have to bring the cost down.

The first way to bring down the costs is for everyone to be in the system to deal with the uninsured. I congratulate our committee for coming forward with proposals that will include every American in our health care system. I think that is the prerequisite to health care reform.

Second, the proposals that are coming forward that recognize the advantage of preventive health care. In 1997 we amended the Medicare bill to include preventive health care services. Well, that has kept our seniors healthier, living better lives, and being less costly to the system itself by detecting diseases at an earlier stage. In some cases we can even prevent diseases by preventive health care.

That is what we need to do. It saves money. Preventive health care services cost in the hundreds of dollars. Surgery related to diseases not caught in the early stages are in the tens of thousands of dollars. It makes sense economically.

President Obama is right to invest in health information technology. That will save money. It also manages an individual's care in a much more effective way. So there are a lot of ways we can bring down the cost of health care. But let me talk about one issue that has gotten a lot of attention on this floor by some of my colleagues who seem to be opposing health care reform before we even have a bill before us, and that is the conversation about a public insurance option. I am somewhat bewildered by this discussion because I do not hear too many of my colleagues suggesting that the Medicare system should be done away with.

Now, the last time I checked, Medicare was a public insurance program. So let me differentiate because I think this point has been misleading on this floor.

When there is a government option, it does not mean the government provides the health care; it means it pays for the health care, as it does in Medicare. The doctors our seniors and disabled population go to are private doctors and private hospitals, as it should be. They have choice, as they should. The public insurance option just provides the predictability of a plan that will always be there.

My constituents in Maryland remember all too well the private insurance companies within Medicare who were here one day and gone the next day. Thank goodness they had the public option available to them in order to make sure they had coverage. Well, that is not true in Part D today. We do not have a public insurance option.

That was a mistake. We need a public insurance option, first and foremost, to deal with cost. We have to bring down the cost of health care. We have 46 million people without health insurance today. Are we going to let them try to

figure out what private insurance to go to without the controls on cost? That is going to add to the cost in this country, not bring it down.

We have to at least have a comparison on a fair competition between public insurance and private insurance. I favor private insurance. But I want to have a public insurance option because I want the people of Maryland and around the Nation to have choice, to be able to choose the plan that is best for them.

They can stay in the plan they have now if they are satisfied with it. We want them to, and we encourage them to. But we want them to have a choice. We want the market to work. That is why the public insurance option has become more and more important.

Let me point out the two programs that we recently changed. Medicare Advantage. Well, Medicare Advantage is the private insurance option within Medicare that our seniors have the option, voluntarily, to join.

Well, when Medicare Advantage started, Medicare Plus Choice, it was a savings to the taxpayers because we paid the private insurance company 95 percent of what we paid the fee-for-service companies within the public option, saving money for the system. It made sense.

Well, guess what. Today we are paying the Medicare Advantage plans, the private plans, 112 to 117 percent of what we pay those who are in the traditional public option in Medicare. In other words, every person who picks private insurance costs the system money.

The Congressional Budget Office, which is a nonpartisan objective scorekeeper, says the Medicare Advantage premium we pay over what we would pay if they were in fee for service costs the system $150 billion over 10 years. So the public option is not only to offer choice to the people of our country between a plan that they want and it is available to them, whether it is a private plan or a public plan--remember, the providers are going to be private. This is not who provides the benefits; it is who pays for it, who puts together the plan. It will save the system money.

Part D: There is no public option in Part D. Many of us raised that issue back then, that we could have saved taxpayer money and saved Medicare money if we at least tried to keep the private insurance companies honest by having a public plan where we know what is being charged and paid for prescription drugs. Most of it is the cost of medicine. Why can we not have transparency? Why do we have to pay the high overhead costs of private insurance without the competition of a model that could save the taxpayers money and save our system money?

This is not a government takeover, as some of my colleagues have said. Medicare was not a government takeover. Medicare pays for the private doctors and hospitals so the disabled and seniors can get access to health care in America. I think those who make the arguments, which are basically scare tactics, are not adding to the debate anything that is worthy of this issue. This is a very important issue to the people of our Nation. This is our opportunity to fix our system by improving what is right, building on it, and correcting what is wrong.

But let's strengthen the good parts of our system. Let's strengthen those coverages that people are happy about, the employers who are providing health benefits to their employees, where it is working. But let's correct the runaway costs in our system, and let's provide a reasonable way that those who do not have health insurance can get health insurance.

If we can work together, Democrats and Republicans, this is an American problem. This is about America's competitiveness. This is about American families being able to afford their health care. This is about balancing our budgets in the future so America can continue to grow as the strongest economy in the world. But it starts today in this debate about fixing one of the underpinnings of our economy that is out of whack.

We need universal coverage. We need to have options available that will keep health care affordable for all people in this country and provide quality care for each American. That is what this debate is about.

I applaud our committees that are working on this issue. I applaud all of the Members of this body and the House who are seriously engaging in this discussion.

I think we can all learn from each other. If we work in good faith, we can develop a health care reform proposal that will maintain quality but provide access and affordability to every family in America. That should be our objective. I hope we will all work toward that end.

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

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

Mr. President, I rise in strong support of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. This legislation has been a long time coming, and for millions of Americans affected each day by tobacco addiction and the hazards of secondhand smoke, for hundreds of thousands diagnosed each year with lung or throat cancer, it provides potentially lifesaving protections that are long overdue.

I wish to commend Senator Kennedy for his leadership of the HELP Committee in crafting this comprehensive bill. It will give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the legal authority to regulate tobacco products, curb sales to children, and restrict misleading tobacco advertising.

For many years, the Federal Government has known about the addictive nature of tobacco products and the damaging effects of cigarettes on smokers. We have seen the seductive and deceptive advertisements that have targeted children, women, minorities, and even smokers suffering from tobacco-related illnesses. We have read the evidence spelling out the numerous carcinogens added over the years to increase consumers' dependency on cigarettes. Despite overwhelming data showing the products' destructive effects, the industry's representatives, under oath, refuted well-documented scientific findings about the additives in their products and concealed their own internal research reports.

So far, the Federal Government has been powerless to effectively regulate the industry. The bill before us tackles this obstacle head-on and gives the FDA the power it has lacked in years past to make Americans aware of tobacco's dangers and to reduce tobacco use. It is a much needed and responsible approach to the epidemic of smoking addiction in this country.

The toll taken by tobacco use in our Nation is devastating. State data compiled by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids outlines the effects in my own State of Maryland. More than one in seven Maryland high school students smoke cigarettes, and each year 22,000 Maryland children try cigarettes for the first time. Of these, 6,600 become new daily smokers each year. Although the sale of cigarettes to those under 18 is illegal, 12.5 million packs of cigarettes are smoked by children in my State each year. It is clear that better tools and stronger enforcement of our laws are needed.

The mortality data shows why we must be alarmed by these numbers. More than 6,800 Marylanders die each year from their own smoking, and 780 nonsmokers die each year from exposure to secondhand smoke. For every person in Maryland who dies from smoking, approximately 20 more Marylanders are suffering from serious smoking-caused diseases and disabilities or other tobacco-caused health problems.

The Senate will begin to consider health reform legislation this month. A major goal of that effort will be to reduce health care costs in this Nation. Well, the legislation on the floor today is a good place for us to start.

It is estimated that the annual health care expenditures in Maryland that are directly caused by tobacco use totals almost $2 billion, and expenditures from secondhand smoke exposure another $79 million. Our State's Medicaid budget alone spends $476 million each year to address tobacco-related illnesses. We can save health care costs and save lives by passing a strong tobacco regulation bill and sending it to the President for his signature.

Perhaps the best case I can make for the passage of this bill comes from Ms. Geraldine Lloyd, who lives in nearby Frederick, MD. She is a courageous woman who has asked that her story be shared with Congress so we can take the necessary actions to protect the

American people. Geraldine started smoking at the age of 15 and became a pack-a-day smoker within the first year. Geraldine spent 15 years trying to quit smoking but was unable to do so.

Finally, Geraldine was diagnosed with throat cancer. After radiation and 17 surgeries, she has been left speechless and has to breathe through a hole in her neck. After 11 years of not smoking, she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2004. In her own words, this is her story:

I was born in 1943, into generations of smokers. Both my

grandfathers were North Carolina tobacco farmers, and my

mother's father was a lobbyist for Liggett & Myers Tobacco

Company. Although they died before I was born of heart

disease and lung cancer, they remained vivid symbols of my

roots, until four years ago, when I discovered that my

mother's grandfather coined the term ``I'd walk a mile for a

Camel'' and was paid royalties for the slogan until he died.

It was also the last cigarette I smoked.

I'm absolutely certain that I was addicted as a child to

secondhand smoke. I was constantly sick with chest infections

and spent the best years of my life coughing and struggling

to breathe. I loved sports, but never had the lung capacity

to participate because I was in a futile cycle of withdrawal.

I found no relief until I started smoking at the age of 15,

escalating to a pack a day within a year.

I didn't try to quit until my mother died in 1975 from

brain and lung cancer. But I couldn't. My father died four

short years later, from cancer of the throat and the lung.

They were both pack-a-day smokers.

Witnessing what smoking had done to them, I was determined

to stop. I spent the better part of 15 years trying to quit,

using every imaginable over-the-counter treatment as a way of

escape. I underwent hypnosis, therapy, acupuncture, patches,

gum, and could never remain abstinent for more than a few

weeks. Each and every time I quit and began again, the

addiction became more ruthless, leaving me less and less

capable of coping without them.

I was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1993, and through the

next four years I underwent radiation and surgery, and

sixteen subsequent surgeries to save my esophagus. Lengthy

stays in hospitals, and the stress of breathing through a

stoma (a hole in my neck), relieved me of the physical

addiction. Looking at myself in the mirror took care of the

rest.

Since then, I have been speechless, with the aid of

electro-larynx, and dedicated to helping children understand

addiction to nicotine. In 2004, after a lengthy recovery, and

11 years of not smoking, I was diagnosed with another cancer,

in the lung.

I'm in remission, but my life has been drastically changed.

The compromised life I lived while smoking was a vacation

compared to the life I've been forced to live since surviving

cancer.

The collective and unspeakable horror of allowing an

industry to run with a free license to kill is finally being

heard. We represent lives of freedom and happiness robbed

from nicotine addiction due to an industry that remains

unregulated, with rampant freedom to manipulate their product

to suit their greed. I have survived, but so many do not.

Sometimes survival is the cruelest joke against tobacco's

victims. The tobacco industry has been laying down a genetic map of pain, suffering, sorrow, and unconscionable human injustice for decades, and it is time for it to stop.

Mr. President, I want Geraldine Lloyd to know we have heard her message and we take it to heart. It is time to empower the Federal Government, through the FDA, to put an end to the tobacco industry's longstanding practices and to begin to eliminate the threat of tobacco- related illnesses that have taken so many American lives and harmed so many others.

I am proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support it overwhelmingly. We owe it to our children, we owe it to our Nation, and we owe it to Geraldine Lloyd.

With that, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, starting from his very first days in office, President Obama has taken bold action to demonstrate to the world that the United States will lead by example, particularly in the area of protecting and promoting human rights. I am especially proud that Congress is working with him to help restore faith in the United States as a friend, ally, and leader in the global community. I believe American leadership is still sorely needed in the world today. I am privileged to chair the Helsinki Commission, which is one of the key tools available to help this administration engage like-minded nations who have made a common commitment to promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

I want to make it clear that I fully support President Obama's decision to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In recent years, no other issue has generated as much legitimate criticism of the United States as the status and treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Having said that, I think the amendment offered by the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and the senior Senator from Oklahoma to strip the Guantanamo funding from the underlying bill makes sense. We are not ready to move forward just yet. Reviewing the status of and transferring or releasing the detainees is an extremely complicated matter. It wouldn't be appropriate for any Congress to give any administration the funding to do this absent a detailed plan on how to proceed. President Obama is working on such a plan

and I am confident he will provide it to Congress in a timely fashion, at which point I am optimistic Congress will indeed provide this administration with the funding it needs to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and begin to address the abuses and excesses of the previous administration and repair our badly damaged reputation abroad, which is critical to enlisting other nations in the continuing struggle against global terrorism.

Mr. President, I have known Gary Gensler for many years in both a personal and professional capacity and I believe he is an ideal choice to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC. He will draw on his many years of experience to help the President create a 21st century regulatory framework to ensure that an economic crisis like the one we are experiencing will not happen again. Today, we face a crucial time for the commodities markets, for our financial system, and for our entire Nation. The failure of the regulatory framework that governs our financial markets helped create the current economic crisis.

As we look forward to fixing the systemic problems in our Nation's economy, the CFTC Chairman will play a crucial role. We need someone with the tremendous depth and breadth of experience that Gary Gensler possesses. Gary served in the Department of Treasury from 1997 to 2001, first as Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets and later as Under Secretary for Domestic Finance. As Under Secretary of the Treasury, Gary was the senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and later to Secretary Lawrence Summers on all aspects of domestic finance. The office was responsible for formulating policy and legislation in the areas of U.S. financial markets, public debt management, the banking system, financial services, fiscal affairs, Federal lending, and government-sponsored enterprises. In recognition for this service, Gary was awarded Treasury's highest honor, the Alexander Hamilton Award. He subsequently acted as a senior adviser to Senator Sarbanes, who chaired the Senate Banking Committee, on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which reformed corporate responsibility, accounting, and securities laws. More recently, Gary led the Securities & Exchange Commission Agency Review Team for the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team.

Before Gary joined Treasury, he worked on Wall Street for 18 years at Goldman Sachs. He became a partner at the age of 30--at that time, one of the youngest partners in the firm's history. He joined the firm in the mergers and acquisitions department in 1979 and assumed responsibility for the firm's efforts in advising media companies in 1984. He subsequently joined the fixed income division in the mortgage department and then directed Goldman's fixed income and currency trading efforts in Tokyo during two record years. His last role was cohead of finance, responsible for worldwide controllers and treasury for Goldman Sachs.

Gary graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in 1978, with a bachelor of science in economics. He received a master's of business administration from the Wharton School's graduate division in 1979 and passed the Certified Public Accountancy exam. Gary is a member of the board of Enterprise Community Partners, the Park School, the RFK Memorial Foundation, and the Washington Hospital Center. He also serves as audit committee chair of Strayer Education, Inc., and WageWorks, Inc., and he serves on advisory boards for Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth and New Mountain Capital. He previously was treasurer of the Baltimore Museum of Art and The Bryn Mawr School, as well as a board member of East Baltimore Development, Inc., and the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

We all know that we face a grave time for our economy. But we also face a time of tremendous opportunity to learn from past mistakes and make certain they are not repeated. I know that Gary Gensler will draw on his many years of experience in the public and private sectors to help the new administration guide our economy through these troubled times to a stronger future.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, today I wish to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Jhpiego, an exceptional organization dedicated to helping the less fortunate in developing countries around the world.

Jhpiego is an international, nonprofit health organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University and is located in my hometown, the city of Baltimore. For 35 years, Jhpiego has empowered front line health care workers by designing and implementing effective, low-cost, hands- on solutions to strengthen the delivery of health care services for women and their families.

From their origins as technical experts in reproductive, maternal and child health, Jhpiego has grown to embrace new challenges, including prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, malaria and cervical cancer. The staff of Jhpiego have worked in 150 countries around the globe and currently run 60 programs in over 40 countries.

Scientific innovations are the cornerstone of Jhpiego's approach to reducing the preventable deaths of women. I particularly want to highlight their work combating cervical cancer. In 1990, Jhpiego established its Cervical Cancer Prevention--CECAP--Program. Working with colleagues and stakeholders, the CECAP program pioneered a unique, medically safe, acceptable and cost-effective approach to cervical cancer prevention for low-resource settings called the ``single visit approach.'' Hundreds of thousands of women have been spared the horrible death of cervical cancer as the result of this intervention.

Amid many areas of expertise and effort, Jhpiego has worked tirelessly in its efforts to call the world's attention to the second leading cause of death of pregnant women in developing countries, postpartum hemorrhaging. Today, through system wide changes from the home birth to the hospital, physicians, nurses, midwives and healthcare workers have training and strategies to address this preventable death. These interventions have saved countless lives around the world.

I commend the staff of Jhpiego for their dedication and commitment to improving the lives of women and their families around the world. They work some of our world's most remote, difficult and complicated regions. Day in and day out, they with nations to develop strategies that are sustainable, proven and effective to improve the lives of the most vulnerable sectors of society.

I ask my colleagues to join me today in congratulating Jhpiego on its 35th anniversary.

Mr. President, today I am introducing a resolution to support the goals and objectives of the Prague Conference on Holocaust Era Assets.

The Prague Conference, which will be held June 26 through June 30, will serve as a forum to review the achievements of the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust Era Assets. That meeting brought together 44 nations, 13 nongovernmental organizations, scholars, and Holocaust survivors, and helped channel the political will necessary to address looted art, insurance claims, communal property, and archival issues. The conference also examined the role of historical commissions and Holocaust education, remembrance, and research. While the Washington Conference was enormously useful, more can and should be done in all of these areas. Accordingly, the Prague Conference provides an important opportunity to identify specific additional steps that countries can still take.

I would like to highlight just a couple of examples that, in my view, underscore the need to get more done.

First I would like to mention the case of Martha Nierenberg's looted family artwork in Hungary. In a nutshell, Ms. Nierenberg's family had extensive property stolen by the Nazis, including some artwork. When the communists came along, they took additional Nierenberg family property, and the artwork found its way into the museums of the Hungarian communist regime.

Under the terms of a foreign claims settlement agreement between the United States and Hungary, the Nierenberg family received limited compensation for some, but not all, of the stolen property. That agreement provided that the Nierenberg family was free to seek compensation for or restitution of other stolen property.

In 1997, a Hungarian government committee affirmed that two Hungarian government museums possessed artwork belonging to the Nierenberg family. Unfortunately, to this day, it remains in these museums. As I have asked before, why would the Hungarian government insist on retaining custody of artwork stolen by the Nazis when it could return it to its rightful owner? It is entirely within the Hungarian government's capacity to make this gesture, and I still hope that they will do so--especially bearing in mind Hungary's own efforts to recover looted art from other countries.

Second, I deeply regret that the question of private property compensation in Poland is still a necessary topic of discussion. Poland is singular in that it is the only country in central Europe that has not adopted any general private property compensation or restitution law.

I know a draft private property compensation bill is currently being considered by the Polish Government. I also know that, in the 20 years since the fall of communism, Poland has tabled roughly half a dozen bills on this--all of which have failed. It would be great to see meaningful movement on this before the meeting in Prague, but this will not come about without meaningful leadership from both the government and the parliament.

Finally, when I was in the Czech Republic last year, I expressed my disappointment to Czech officials, including to Jan Kohout who was just appointed Foreign Minister on May, that the Czech framework for making a property restitution claim effectively excludes those who fled Czechoslovakia and received both refuge and citizenship in the U.S. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has repeatedly argued that this violates the non-discrimination provision of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This could be fixed, I believe, by re- opening the deadline for filing claims, as Czech parliamentarians Jiri Karas and Pavel Tollner recommended as long ago as 1999.

The Holocaust left a scar that will not be removed by the Prague conference. But this upcoming gathering provides an opportunity for governments to make tangible and meaningful progress in addressing this painful chapter of history. I commend the Czech Republic for taking on the leadership of organizing this meeting and urge President Obama to send a high-level U.S. official to represent the U.S. at the conference.

I am honored that the senior Senator from Indiana, who is the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is cosponsoring this resolution, as is the senior Senator from Florida.

Mr. President, earlier this month we marked World Press Freedom Day, a timely opportunity to draw attention to the plight of journalists and others involved in the press and media in the OSCE-- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe--region. While all 56 OSCE countries have accepted specific commitments on media and working conditions for journalists, the difficulty remains translating words on paper into deeds in practice. Today, many courageous journalists are working under tremendously difficult conditions, often at great personal risk, with some paying the ultimate price for their journalistic pursuits.

According to the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, nearly a dozen journalists and their colleagues have been killed in the OSCE region since last year's observance. Among those slain in Russia were Anastasiya Baburova, of Novaya Gazeta; Shafig Amrakhov, of RIA 51; Telman Alishaya, of TV-Chirkei; and Magomed Yevloyev, owner of the popular Web site Ingushetiya, who was killed while in police custody. Scores of journalists have been murdered in Russia alone since the early 1990s.

Others slain over the past 12 months included Ivo Pukanic and Niko Franjic, both of Nacional, in Croatia; and freelance journalists Alexander Klimchuk and Grigol Chikhladze, with Caucasus Images, as well as Dutch RLT TV veteran cameraman Stan Storimans, killed in the conflict zone during the war in Georgia last August. Besides war correspondents, victims often include investigative journalists covering politics, corruption, and human rights.

We are approaching the fifth anniversary of the slaying of American journalist Paul Klebnikov in Moscow. I call upon the Russian authorities to bring to justice all of those responsible in any way for his murder.

As chairman of the Helsinki Commission, I note the vital work undertaken by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, a tireless advocate for freedom of expression and the courageous journalists who pursue their profession, sometimes at great personal risk. The reports of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media are available at: http://www.osce.org/fom/. Freedom of expression, free media, and information has been selected as a special focus topic for the OSCE's annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, scheduled to be held in Warsaw, Poland, this fall.