Floor Statements

Mr. President, I first want to recognize the comments of the distinguished chairman of the Energy Committee. He is far too generous, but that is usually his nature. And I appreciate very much his thoughtful words.

I appreciate the comments of my friend from Missouri. I think they cut to the essence of what this issue is about, as well as the comments of our dear friend, the senior Senator from Missouri.

(Mr. DOMENICI assumed the chair.)

Mr. President, I am privileged to be part of this effort because I do not believe there is anything more important for the future of this country than to establish an energy policy that we can build upon; that does, in fact, move right to the core of our national security, our economic growth, and all of the elements that are interconnected for the future of this country.

So I come to the floor this morning to address briefly some of the elements of this amendment that will be offered and to, once again, register my strong support of the renewable fuels standard amendment to the energy bill.

I, like my colleagues who have spoken prior to me, wish to recognize and thank the leadership of Majority Leader Frist and Minority Leader Daschle for getting this amendment to the floor, and, of course, the distinguished chairman of the Energy Committee, Senator Domenici, for allowing us to have what many of us believe is a very important amendment to be the first amendment up on the energy bill, of which I am a strong proponent and supporter.

This amendment, as we have heard, would enhance air and water quality, reduce supply and distribution challenges in the gasoline market, and increase energy security by expanding the use of clean, domestically produced renewable fuels.

Specifically, this amendment follows the advice of the EPA's Blue Ribbon Panel on Oxygenates by repealing the Federal oxygenate mandate and phasing out the use of MTBE nationwide. It also contains a reasonable renewable fuels standard, which would gradually increase the Nation's use of renewable fuel to 5 billion gallons a year by 2012--all of this while protecting the environmental gains already made by the reformulated gasoline program.

This legislation mirrors the bipartisan fuels agreement in last year's Senate energy bill, of which it has been stated here this morning gained the votes of 69 Senators. This year, we have worked to build an even broader bipartisan coalition of cosponsors. Much has happened since the Senate passed its energy bill last year. The renewable fuels industry has expanded considerably to meet growing demand.

The ethanol industry opened 12 new plants last year, with 10 additional plants now under construction. Sixteen of these new plants are farmer owned--farmer owned--individually owned cooperatives.

By the end of 2003, annual ethanol production capacity is expected to exceed 3 billion gallons. In December, the ethanol industry wrapped up a record year--2.13 billion gallons in 2002, up by more than 20 percent over 2001.

Also, Chevron Texaco announced earlier this year it will switch from blending MTBE to blending ethanol in the southern California market, making Chevron the last of the large California refiners to make the switch to ethanol. This means that this year approximately 80 percent of California's federally reformulated gasoline will be blended with ethanol.

We should not forget that biodiesel, made primarily from soybeans, and still a developing fuel technology, has grown enough that it is now used in more than 200 State and Federal automobile fleets, using a 20- percent blend or higher.

Today, 16 States have already banned or are in the process of banning MTBE. With State MTBE bans will come increased challenges to fuel distribution and supply.

The national phase-down of MTBE proposed in this bill will help us meet these challenges. And a national renewable fuels standard with a credit and trading program--that makes sense, which is relevant, which has common sense--will ensure that renewable fuels are used where they make the most sense--not a mandate, where they make the most sense.

In fact, according to a recent analysis by the Department of Energy, enacting this fuels bill would even reduce refiner costs at least by .2 percent per gallon compared to current law.

The standard in this amendment is a fair and workable compromise we crafted over a year ago. My friend from Missouri, Senator Talent, referenced the compromise, referenced the organizations that came together over a long period of time to fashion a very workable alternative, built upon the good work of many you have heard referenced this morning: Senator Daschle, Senator Lugar, so many who have worked so hard for so many years, Senator Dole. It has not just come from corn and soybean-producing States. It has come from the leadership of individual Senators with a wider lens of understanding of national security issues, environmental issues, and economic issues, because they are all interconnected.

This effort was bolted together by many people who deserve much credit: The American Petroleum Institute, National Farm Bureau, the environmental community, Northeast air directors, agriculture groups from all over the country, DOE, EPA, and many others. Senator Daschle and I helped facilitate those talks last year, as well as a number of our colleagues who are here today and will most likely speak today.

Contrary to the opponents of this amendment, this is not a per-gallon mandate. It will not force a specific level of compliance in places where compliance may be difficult. In fact, the credit trading provision in this amendment will give flexibility to refiners who utilize ethanol or biodiesel where it is most economically attractive.

Our Nation needs a broader, deeper, and more diverse energy portfolio. Today less than 1 percent of America's transportation fuel comes from renewable sources. Under this amendment, renewable fuel would increase to approximately 3 percent of our total transportation fuel supply, tripling the amount of renewable fuel we now use. Today America imports nearly 60 percent of the crude oil it consumes. The Senator from Missouri defined in some detail the numbers. We continue to hold our economy, our national security, hostage to foreign oil.

This country consumes more than 300 billion gallons of crude oil a year. Of that, 165 billion gallons is refined into gasoline and diesel. This amendment says that by 2012, not less than 5 billion gallons of that 165 billion gallons shall come from renewable sources.

By enacting this legislation, we would replace 66 billion gallons of foreign crude oil by 2012, reduce foreign oil purchases by $34 billion, create more than 250,000 jobs nationwide, and boost U.S. farm income by more than $6 billion a year.

I join my other colleagues who have spoken this morning--and others who will speak today--to enthusiastically encourage all our colleagues to pay attention to the amendment, to be aware of its consequences, have some sense of why this is just not another renewable fuels amendment. It has dramatic implications for the future of the economy, for our national security, and our independence. It also helps America address the additional and important environmental challenges that lie ahead. This is an amendment about America's future.

I thank the Chair and yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to support the resolution ratifying the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, to include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria.

NATO has been the bedrock of international security since its establishment 54 years ago. Although the military dimension of the alliance was instrumental in containing the Soviet Union, NATO was always about more than military security. America's relationship with our NATO allies has symbolized the common values, as well as the common interests, of democracies united against those international actors who represent tyranny and aggression.

We live at a time of danger, unpredictability, and potential global instability. But we also live in a time of historic opportunity. Alliances are not absolved from the forces of change in world affairs. The ability to adapt to the challenges of this new era in world affairs--challenges from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction-- speak to the importance of NATO and other international institutions, including the United Nations, that have played such key roles in promoting and protecting our common interests since World War II.

NATO's decision in November 2002 to expand its current membership of 19 by inviting Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria to begin accession negotiations acknowledges the imperatives of change. I strongly endorse this action. Today, member and candidate countries are expected to do what they can to modernize their forces, including development of niche capabilities and the establishment of a NATO response force. But we know that the contributions of an enlarged NATO will not be defined solely by military capabilities. Expanding NATO also encourages a process of political and economic reform in candidate states.

There is a deep security dimension to an expanded NATO. The threats from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction cannot be handled by the United States or any country alone. Defeating terrorism requires unprecedented international cooperation in the diplomatic, military, law enforcement, intelligence, and economic areas. If our purpose in an expanded NATO is about defeating these threats to our common security, than bringing these seven new members into NATO is critical to our national security.

Although America's military power may be unprecedented in world history,

NATO will continue to play a vital role in American and global security. In Afghanistan, the German proposal for NATO to take charge of the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, represents a new and significant turn in NATO's mission. NATO may well play a role in maintaining security in postwar Iraq. At some point, when there is an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, NATO troops may be called upon to help guarantee that peace.

I believe NATO's next 50 years will be just as important for world peace as its first 50 years.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, the world has been watching images from Iraq, of the Iraqi people celebrating the end of a brutal tyranny, and of the American soldiers who have given the Iraqi people hope for a new beginning.

Over the past 3 weeks, the men and women of America's Armed Forces have shown a degree of precision and professionalism unprecedented in military history. Their commitment to their country builds on the expectations, traditions and character of those who have gone before them. It builds on the traditions of over two centuries of American courage and sense of honor, built by people such as Dan Inouye, Bob Dole, Charlie Rangel, John McCain and millions of other American veterans.

The end of Saddam's regime does not end our commitment in Iraq. It is only the beginning. America's soldiers will continue to face great risks in Iraq. Lives will continue to be lost.

Restoring order, peace-keeping, and rebuilding in Iraq are the tasks ahead, and our men and women in uniform will be asked to risk their lives to meet these challenges, as they have in bringing an end to Saddam Hussien's tyranny.

Among the many brave men and women who have sacrificed in Iraq, I would like to acknowledge the contributions and sacrifices of those men and women in uniform from my State of Nebraska.

Thousands of Nebraskans are on active duty in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. Their stories are the stories of America's courage, achievement, and sacrifice in Iraq.

On Monday, Army LTC Mike Presnell phoned his mother in Grand Island, NE. He placed the call on a reporter's phone from the gold-plated bathroom in one of Saddam Hussien's Baghdad palaces, now under coalition control.

Colonel Presnell told his mother about his historic experience and how proud he was of his colleagues.

Nearly 60 years after the first American landed at Omaha Beach, a courageous Omahan landed the first coalition aircraft at Baghdad International Airport.

Piloting an Apache helicopter disabled by enemy gunfire unable to radio for help, CWO 4 Greg Inman, Of Omaha, NEB, touched down shortly after U.S. forces staked claim to the airport. Warrant Officer Inman's landing was the standard for the courageous service that we have come to expect from our forces in Iraq.

CPT Travis Ford, a 30-year-old Marine from Ogallala, NE, lost his life in service to his country. Captain Ford was killed on April 4 when his Cobra helicopter crashed during combat operations near Ali Aziziyal, Iraq. He leaves behind a wife and 2-year-old daughter. He was, in the word's of his father-in-law, a ``Marine's Marine.''

I spoke to his mother and wife yesterday. His mother, Josie Ford said, ``Senator, Travis did something very important for his country. I'm proud of him.'' Mrs. Ford, we're all proud of him.

Our military men and women are the Nation's quiet heroes, for there is no glory in war.

Behind headlines and beyond breaking news, there is the human struggle and the human tragedy. Lives are risked and lost.

The experience of war reinforces the desire for peace. General Douglas MacArthur once said:

The soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he

must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.

Our sacrifices in Iraq, we pray, will make a better and more secure life for the people of America, Iraq and the world.

For their service, bravery and sacrifice, in this noble cause of defending freedom and making a better world, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing--in honoring--the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. They have always been America's quiet heroes. Upon their sacrifice and courage we are inspired to build a more noble and just world.

Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to the late Nebraska U.S. Senator Carl T. Curtis. Curtis represented Nebraska in Congress for 40 years, longer than any other Nebraskan. He began at an early age. A well-known anecdote depicts Curtis as a young boy near Minden, NE, delivering speeches to the animals on his family's farm, in the absence of more engaging company. Not that he always found it here in Congress.

Curtis's life was always about hard work, common sense, and accomplishment. He began his career by obtaining a law degree by ``reading the law'' on his own and passing the bar. In Nebraska politics, he was known as a giant-killer, defeating two incumbent Governors, one former Governor, one Governor-to-be, and two former House Members. He is the only elected official in Nebraska State history to win statewide office while losing both Omaha and Lincoln. Curtis remained determined and victorious in the Senate when, in 1975, he waged a successful battle against Senator Jacob Javits, R-NY, for the chairmanship of the Senate Republican conference. As the new chairman of the Republican conference, he changed its role to be that of a research body, providing Republican Senators with relevant information on emerging national issues. The function of the current Senate Republican conference began under Curtis's leadership.

During his 16 years in the House and 24 years in the Senate, Curtis served on the Finance, Agriculture, Rules, and Space Committees. He helped establish a blueprint for flood control and irrigation along the Missouri River. He worked tirelessly to enact the energy tax bill and the Tax Reform Act of 1976. Throughout his life, Curtis was an advocate for small business, agriculture producers, and social security reform. He was a selfless public servant who respected and lived traditional American values.

Outside of the Halls of Congress, Curtis actively supported his fellow Republicans. One of his political highlights came when he was asked by the late Arizona U.S. Senator, Barry Goldwater, to serve as his floor manager at the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco. With Curtis's help, Goldwater won the GOP Presidential nomination that year.

After Curtis finished his distinguished tenure in Congress in 1979, he went back to practicing law in Nebraska, while continuing to be an active voice in politics and an adviser to many Republican candidates and officials. He also filled his time writing his book, ``Forty Years Against the Tide,'' which highlighted his opposition to the welfare state. After Curtis retired, he spent many happy days in Nebraska with friends, family and his wife Mildred.

Curtis had a full political career, but the cornerstone of his life was his family and friends. His first wife, Lois Wylie-Atwater, championed him throughout his political career, along with their two adopted children. After Lois's death, Curtis found companionship in Mildred Genier Baker. They married in 1972. Curtis's journey came to an end on January 24, 2000, but his remarkable legacy lives on. Senator Curtis was a friend and political mentor to many of us. We will always appreciate his willingness to help each of us, his courtesies, his friendship and his integrity. Naming the new Park Service building in Omaha after Senator Carl T. Curtis is an appropriate

tribute to a legendary public servant and leader.

Mr. President, I also rise to express Lilibet's and my sympathy over the loss of a close friend, Mary Jane Ogilvie. As the wife of Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie, our Senate Chaplain, Mary Jane was a friend to many and always offered an attentive ear and an open heart to all of us in the Senate family. Her high spirit and quiet strength endeared her to all who knew her.

Mary Jane was a remarkable woman. Having battled cancer, she counseled others living with cancer. She devoted countless hours to raising awareness and funding for cancer research. She raised a magnificent family . . . which is her legacy. Lilibet and I cherished our friendship with Mary Jane. We will miss her, but we will be renewed and enhanced by the time we had with Mary Jane. Our thoughts and prayers are with Lloyd and the Ogilvie family.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, the passing of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan is a loss for all of us. Pat Moynihan committed his remarkable life to his country: serving four Presidents, representing our Nation as Ambassador to India and the United Nations, and representing the State of New York as a Senator. His deep intellect and unyielding candor will be missed.

As a junior colleague, I was struck by Senator Moynihan's generosity with his time and graciousness of spirit. I had the privilege of sitting next to Senator Moynihan on the trip to Rhode Island for the funeral of our colleague the late Senator John Chafee. As we traveled, I was out of my depth listening to him discuss different styles of architecture in between offering endearing stories about our departed colleague.

Of all his gifts, Pat Moynihan's ability to recognize great issues before they were commonly observed was his greatest. In public policy, he had an ability to appreciate and make sense of the larger picture rarely found in a politician. From the plight of broken families and inner cities, to the collapse of the Soviet Union, to the danger of ethnic conflict in the Balkans, to Social Security reform, Moynihan was prophetic. In one of his last public speeches, at last year's Harvard Commencement, Moynihan again offered words that carry far more weight today than when he delivered them less than a year ago:

Certainly we must not let ourselves be seen as rushing

about the world looking for arguments. There are now American

armed forces in some 40 countries overseas. Some would say

too many. Nor should we let ourselves be seen as ignoring

allies, disillusioning friends, thinking only of ourselves in

the most narrow terms. That is not how we survived the 20th

century. Nor will it serve in the 21st.

Senator Moynihan's wit and wisdom will be greatly missed. My thoughts and prayers go to Liz Moynihan and the Moynihan family.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, we will all miss our dear friend Dr. Lloyd J. Ogilvie. His distinguished service to the Senate has been an important part of this institution during this historic time. Since he was appointed Senate Chaplain in 1995, Dr. Ogilvie has offered guidance, support, and prayers to Senators, their staffs, and our families. He has greatly enhanced the Office of Senate Chaplain that was instituted at the Senate's first meeting in 1789.

Dr. Ogilvie's ministry has been a ballast and a bridge for Senators on both sides of the aisle. His spiritual leadership has been strong. His service has been selfless. As he takes up his work outside of the Senate, Lilibet and I wish to express our profound gratitude for the inspiration and wisdom he has shared with so many of us. We cherish our friendship with Lloyd and Mary Jane. May God bless both of them.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.