Floor Statements

Mr. President, I take the floor today to ask that we finally help the town of Conrad, MT continue its successful program of providing affordable housing for our seniors. I renew my commitment to making sure this occurs.

In the defense authorization act of 1994, the Air Force conveyed an unused 42-acre parcel of land to the city of Conrad, which then built a retirement home for Montana seniors. The home has been a great success, and the city of Conrad has begun the process of expanding the facility.

When the city proposed using the land as collateral for the home, it ran into a problem. In the quitclaim deed where we conveyed the land to the city, we included a customary reversion clause that would transfer the property back to the Department of Defense in the event that the land stopped being used for the purpose of housing or public recreation.

While the intent of this clause is and will continue to be met, a small city like Conrad must use the title to the land to secure construction loans, rather than issuing a municipal bond or some other measure to raise funds used by larger cities. The reversion clause prevents banks from using the land to secure the loan, as the city does not have clear title to the land.

Therefore, I ask the Senate to approve this modification to public law 103-160, section 2816 regarding the 42 acre site of the Blue Sky Villa, which removes the reversion clause for this

land, giving the city of Conrad clear title. I thank the Senate for it's consideration of this important matter for our senior citizens in Montana.

Mr. President, I take the floor today to ask that we finally help the town of Conrad, MT continue its successful program of providing affordable housing for our seniors. I renew my commitment to making sure this occurs.

In the defense authorization act of 1994, the Air Force conveyed an unused 42-acre parcel of land to the city of Conrad, which then built a retirement home for Montana seniors. The home has been a great success, and the city of Conrad has begun the process of expanding the facility.

When the city proposed using the land as collateral for the home, it ran into a problem. In the quitclaim deed where we conveyed the land to the city, we included a customary reversion clause that would transfer the property back to the Department of Defense in the event that the land stopped being used for the purpose of housing or public recreation.

While the intent of this clause is and will continue to be met, a small city like Conrad must use the title to the land to secure construction loans, rather than issuing a municipal bond or some other measure to raise funds used by larger cities. The reversion clause prevents banks from using the land to secure the loan, as the city does not have clear title to the land.

Therefore, I ask the Senate to approve this modification to public law 103-160, section 2816 regarding the 42 acre site of the Blue Sky Villa, which removes the reversion clause for this

land, giving the city of Conrad clear title. I thank the Senate for it's consideration of this important matter for our senior citizens in Montana.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to voice my support for the flag amendment.

The flag of the United States of America is a symbol of freedom. The flag of the United States of America

has been sanctified by the blood of thousands of U.S. soldiers who have fought across the world, and it must be protected from desecration. This proposed constitutional amendment would overturn the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling which held that laws banning desecration of the U.S. flag were unconstitutional infringements on free speech and therefore a violation of the first amendment.

I am proud of the first amendment right to free speech and will always ensure all Americans maintain that right. I am also proud of the American flag and the values behind it. The American flag flies over this great country as a symbol of liberty and patriotism. Desecration of the flag would be destruction of the core principles on which this great Nation was founded. I will continue to be an advocate on behalf of the American flag and the values the flag represents.

I encourage my colleagues to support this measure and join me in ensuring the everlasting integrity of the American flag.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to voice my support for the flag amendment.

The flag of the United States of America is a symbol of freedom. The flag of the United States of America

has been sanctified by the blood of thousands of U.S. soldiers who have fought across the world, and it must be protected from desecration. This proposed constitutional amendment would overturn the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling which held that laws banning desecration of the U.S. flag were unconstitutional infringements on free speech and therefore a violation of the first amendment.

I am proud of the first amendment right to free speech and will always ensure all Americans maintain that right. I am also proud of the American flag and the values behind it. The American flag flies over this great country as a symbol of liberty and patriotism. Desecration of the flag would be destruction of the core principles on which this great Nation was founded. I will continue to be an advocate on behalf of the American flag and the values the flag represents.

I encourage my colleagues to support this measure and join me in ensuring the everlasting integrity of the American flag.

Mr. President, today I voice my support for the Federal prison industries, FPI, reform bill.

This bill would level the playing field for small businesses and provide relief to all Federal agencies by amending the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to establish a Governmentwide policy requiring competition in certain executive agency procurements.

I understand the importance of keeping our Federal prisoners occupied, but not at the expense of our law abiding, American small businesses. As a Senator representing the great State of Montana, where small business dominates our economy, I have a vital interest in protecting business from unfair Government competition. Many times bids were requested from private firms that offered better pricing and more reasonable terms of delivery. I am for fair competition in the Government procurement process. Congress has a responsibility to ensure that no Government entity, such as FPI, has special status in the Government procurement process that forces Government agencies to buy from that entity. This contradicts one of the fundamental ideas in which this great Nation was founded upon, the ideal of competition. Accordingly, I provide my support to protect small business interests across Montana and America.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator Conrad, in sponsoring legislation to provide student loan forgiveness to educators who commit to teaching in our tribal colleges. This legislation will provide up to $15,000 in loan forgiveness--a strong recruitment and retention tool for tribal colleges which often can't pay the same salaries as larger institutions.

I am, and have been for years, a strong supporter of Montana's tribal colleges as well as tribal colleges nationwide. They contribute greatly to our Native American communities, providing the tools for our tribal children to succeed in the world of higher education. Graduates often continue their education at Montana State or the University of Montana and take this knowledge and expertise back to their communities. These students strengthen and improve both our tribal communities and our State as a whole. They add to the social, economic, political and cultural fabric that is unique to Indian Country.

I know how hard our tribal colleges work to achieve success and to maintain high standards. A talented faculty is key to those goals, but too often tight budgets for tribal colleges limit their ability to recruit and retain faculty. Our tribal colleges and their students deserve quality teachers, and providing loan forgiveness will help attract and keep good faculty in what can be very rural areas.

In addition to forgiveness for Perkins, direct or guaranteed loans, this legislation will also provide assistance for nursing faculty at tribal colleges. The nursing shortage is a nationwide problem, particularly in rural areas and specifically in Indian Country. Graduates of tribal colleges often stay near or return home, and that holds true for nursing graduates as well. Supporting nursing programs at tribal colleges addresses that shortage by training professionals who are familiar with the acute medical needs and cultural differences in rural areas and are often willing to stay and wage the battles. This legislation will provide nursing loan forgiveness to nursing instructors at tribal colleges and will help strengthen a valuable program in Montana and around the country.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator Conrad, in sponsoring legislation to provide student loan forgiveness to educators who commit to teaching in our tribal colleges. This legislation will provide up to $15,000 in loan forgiveness--a strong recruitment and retention tool for tribal colleges which often can't pay the same salaries as larger institutions.

I am, and have been for years, a strong supporter of Montana's tribal colleges as well as tribal colleges nationwide. They contribute greatly to our Native American communities, providing the tools for our tribal children to succeed in the world of higher education. Graduates often continue their education at Montana State or the University of Montana and take this knowledge and expertise back to their communities. These students strengthen and improve both our tribal communities and our State as a whole. They add to the social, economic, political and cultural fabric that is unique to Indian Country.

I know how hard our tribal colleges work to achieve success and to maintain high standards. A talented faculty is key to those goals, but too often tight budgets for tribal colleges limit their ability to recruit and retain faculty. Our tribal colleges and their students deserve quality teachers, and providing loan forgiveness will help attract and keep good faculty in what can be very rural areas.

In addition to forgiveness for Perkins, direct or guaranteed loans, this legislation will also provide assistance for nursing faculty at tribal colleges. The nursing shortage is a nationwide problem, particularly in rural areas and specifically in Indian Country. Graduates of tribal colleges often stay near or return home, and that holds true for nursing graduates as well. Supporting nursing programs at tribal colleges addresses that shortage by training professionals who are familiar with the acute medical needs and cultural differences in rural areas and are often willing to stay and wage the battles. This legislation will provide nursing loan forgiveness to nursing instructors at tribal colleges and will help strengthen a valuable program in Montana and around the country.

Mr. President, today I join in mourning the loss of Pope John Paul II. In my lifetime, he was the first Pope I can remember who could actually be put in the category of being an evangelist.

No other Pope ever traveled as much as this Pope did, and no man ever took the Word to the different corners of the world like this man did, and that is why he is so revered around the world.

(The remarks of Mr. Burns pertaining to the introduction of S. 696 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

Mr. President, 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 ask unanimous consent that following morning business today the Senate begin consideration of S. 600, the State Department authorization bill.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act with regard to the transfer of students from certain schools. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 includes a requirement that schools not meeting adequate yearly progress--the AYP--for 2 consecutive years must provide transfer within the school district, and if no such schools exist, make efforts to provide transfers between school districts to the extent practical. This is the school choice provision. However, the current law's guidance on school choice does not adequately define practicality or feasibility, and where definitions are provided, they are overly broad.

We have just come off the Easter break. We had an opportunity to talk to a lot of educators and students. We return to our work starting today to make some significant--maybe not significant changes, but little changes to No Child Left Behind to make it more practical and make it more common sense in States such as Montana.

When we start looking at these maps, and as the President pro tempore leaves the Chamber, he understands what rural is when he looks at his State of Alaska. We are not nearly as big as Alaska. However, when we look at the State of Montana--and for those who wonder about distances and sizes, from the Yak, which is up in the northwest corner of the State, to Alzada in the southeast corner, it is farther than it is from Chicago to Washington, DC. So there is a pretty fair chunk of land out here, and we have young folks who go to school in just about every part of the State.

These are the elementary schools I am going to talk about as I speak on No Child Left Behind and the legislation I am introducing today.

The bottom line is No Child Left Behind is not a one-size-fits-all legislation. We have some of the greatest teachers there are in the country, and we have some of the brightest minds to teach. Accordingly, it is imperative that Congress continues to hear the needs and concerns of America's rural education communities.

Just to give my colleagues an idea, I had a little bit to do with the passage

and the shaping of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. In that bill, we had a piece included called broadband. Back in those days, most folks had not heard of the Internet, broadband, or digital. There were not very many of us around here who were even computer literate. We are getting better. We are getting a little younger.

I can remember when we put the broadband section in the bill, primarily to do two things in my State: distance learning, allowing these smaller schools in rural areas to access the Internet and classes to be taught via a two-way interact from another location so that their curriculum could be broadened, just like a school, say, located in Billings, Great Falls, Missoula. Just because someone was born way out here and went to school in Jordan, MT, where we have a county the size of Rhode Island--it only has 1,800 folks and only one high school. It used to be a boarding school. I do not think it is anymore. But it used to be when you took your student to school on Monday morning, you did not see them until Friday night after the football game was over. So we deal in a little bit different kind of environment and situation.

The Federal law must recognize the significant differences between urban and rural school districts with regard to student transportation, school spacing, and, of course, the school-of-choice options. Although No Child Left Behind leaves the State of Montana in control of determining the feasibility of transfers between different school districts, it is much less flexible when it comes to transfers within the same school district.

My legislation would add to existing guidelines on the practicality and the feasibility of school choice that a school district would not be required to provide a student with a transfer option to another school if providing the option is impractical due to the distance to be traveled, a geographical barrier or hazard, the duration of the travel, or an unusually high cost of travel. However, if choice is not offered under the latter circumstances, students in affected schools will still receive valuable supplemental education services, and school districts will still have the option to provide students school learning choices through distance learning programs or virtual schools or several other options offered under current law.

We are pretty sparse in eastern Montana. From Miles City to Jordan is about 90 miles. I was talking about Jordan a while ago up on the big dry creek. You heard me say I have a lot of dirt between light bulbs out there. Well, we have a lot of land between schools out there also, and school districts can be quite large. The centers of Billings, Great Falls, Missoula, the Flat Head, or even Bozeman are grouped pretty closely. In eastern Montana, however, they are far apart. We have elementary schools not even on paved roads, still on gravel. I know one that is still on a mud road. If it rains real hard or during the spring thaw, they cannot get a car in there or a pickup truck or even a four- wheel drive vehicle, so they all ride horses, which is not a bad idea. It saves on gas, and as high as gas is, it probably isn't a bad idea at all. This is a map of the elementary schools to give an idea of where they are located way out there.

Now, I want to take a look at the high schools. There are not as many of them. What are you going to do if a school in Miles City is in need of improvement under the current law? Where are you going to send them? To Broadus? I don't think so. That is another 80 or 90 miles. Pretty soon the miles start adding up.

Right now the law requires the schools to pay for students to transfer them in the same district unless doing so is too expensive. In Montana, as with many rural schools in rural States, there are considerations greater than just cost. While the law makes sense in Billings, it does not work in districts where the schools are farther apart.

Take the Broadus County School District in southeastern Montana as an example. As we can see, there is a lot of distance between schools. There are not very many schools out there. These are high schools. These are not elementary schools but high schools. Some may take up to 2 hours one way to drive. It not only hurts the family life of the students, but it disrupts what they do and also has an adverse effect on their academic performance.

Sometimes this type of commute may be necessary. My legislation makes this decision a matter for rural States to decide instead of the politicians here in Washington, DC, or by a rule written into a law that just is unworkable in my State.

I realize No Child Left Behind had some built-in flexibilities, and I also realize that some States did not take advantage of some of those flexibilities. Now we are locked into a situation where it is almost impossible to change unless we change the legislation and reword it. My legislation simply clarifies what is feasible and practical for school choice transfers within school districts and gives the States, especially my State, the ability to treat schools in rural Broadus differently than it treats schools in more urbanized Billings, MT.

I would imagine the Senator from Florida who is new to this body and a terrific addition to this body has some rural areas in Florida. We think of Florida as more urbanized, but they have some rural areas too, just like Montana. That does not mean there are kids out there whose needs should not be addressed.

When we visit schools, we get all kinds of questions from the students. I was visiting a sixth-grade class the other day. They came up with all kinds of questions. Some of them were pretty good, some were not so good. I did have one that was just a little bit different. This young man stood up in sixth grade, and he said: Senator, what do you want written on your tombstone? My gosh, I never had that question before, and I did not know exactly how to handle it, so I just told him: He's not here yet. That is the only way I could answer him.

These young people are very bright. They like their schools in these areas with distance learning. And we have telemedicine. We are delivering medical care much differently now. We are doing it with broadband services. We have 14 counties that do not have a doctor. It is done by physician assistants and many other people.

The other day a student from our part of the country enrolled at Montana State University at Billings. He had taken enough courses in his senior year in distance learning from MSUB that he has a full semester completed. So when he goes away to school, he already has half a year done.

This is why we have the Telecommunications Act. This is why we have the No Child Left Behind Act. We have to look at schools and libraries and some of the kinks we have to work out in that law so that these smaller schools and libraries can get their moneys so they can offer this online education. This is just another part of tweaking the No Child Left Behind law to make it work in rural areas.

I urge my Senate colleagues, especially those from rural States, to join me in cosponsoring this bill because it is very important. If we are really dedicated to the program of No Child Left Behind, we cannot leave rural children behind either, and we have to make it work.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act with regard to the transfer of students from certain schools. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 includes a requirement that schools not meeting adequate yearly progress--the AYP--for 2 consecutive years must provide transfer within the school district, and if no such schools exist, make efforts to provide transfers between school districts to the extent practical. This is the school choice provision. However, the current law's guidance on school choice does not adequately define practicality or feasibility, and where definitions are provided, they are overly broad.

We have just come off the Easter break. We had an opportunity to talk to a lot of educators and students. We return to our work starting today to make some significant--maybe not significant changes, but little changes to No Child Left Behind to make it more practical and make it more common sense in States such as Montana.

When we start looking at these maps, and as the President pro tempore leaves the Chamber, he understands what rural is when he looks at his State of Alaska. We are not nearly as big as Alaska. However, when we look at the State of Montana--and for those who wonder about distances and sizes, from the Yak, which is up in the northwest corner of the State, to Alzada in the southeast corner, it is farther than it is from Chicago to Washington, DC. So there is a pretty fair chunk of land out here, and we have young folks who go to school in just about every part of the State.

These are the elementary schools I am going to talk about as I speak on No Child Left Behind and the legislation I am introducing today.

The bottom line is No Child Left Behind is not a one-size-fits-all legislation. We have some of the greatest teachers there are in the country, and we have some of the brightest minds to teach. Accordingly, it is imperative that Congress continues to hear the needs and concerns of America's rural education communities.

Just to give my colleagues an idea, I had a little bit to do with the passage

and the shaping of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. In that bill, we had a piece included called broadband. Back in those days, most folks had not heard of the Internet, broadband, or digital. There were not very many of us around here who were even computer literate. We are getting better. We are getting a little younger.

I can remember when we put the broadband section in the bill, primarily to do two things in my State: distance learning, allowing these smaller schools in rural areas to access the Internet and classes to be taught via a two-way interact from another location so that their curriculum could be broadened, just like a school, say, located in Billings, Great Falls, Missoula. Just because someone was born way out here and went to school in Jordan, MT, where we have a county the size of Rhode Island--it only has 1,800 folks and only one high school. It used to be a boarding school. I do not think it is anymore. But it used to be when you took your student to school on Monday morning, you did not see them until Friday night after the football game was over. So we deal in a little bit different kind of environment and situation.

The Federal law must recognize the significant differences between urban and rural school districts with regard to student transportation, school spacing, and, of course, the school-of-choice options. Although No Child Left Behind leaves the State of Montana in control of determining the feasibility of transfers between different school districts, it is much less flexible when it comes to transfers within the same school district.

My legislation would add to existing guidelines on the practicality and the feasibility of school choice that a school district would not be required to provide a student with a transfer option to another school if providing the option is impractical due to the distance to be traveled, a geographical barrier or hazard, the duration of the travel, or an unusually high cost of travel. However, if choice is not offered under the latter circumstances, students in affected schools will still receive valuable supplemental education services, and school districts will still have the option to provide students school learning choices through distance learning programs or virtual schools or several other options offered under current law.

We are pretty sparse in eastern Montana. From Miles City to Jordan is about 90 miles. I was talking about Jordan a while ago up on the big dry creek. You heard me say I have a lot of dirt between light bulbs out there. Well, we have a lot of land between schools out there also, and school districts can be quite large. The centers of Billings, Great Falls, Missoula, the Flat Head, or even Bozeman are grouped pretty closely. In eastern Montana, however, they are far apart. We have elementary schools not even on paved roads, still on gravel. I know one that is still on a mud road. If it rains real hard or during the spring thaw, they cannot get a car in there or a pickup truck or even a four- wheel drive vehicle, so they all ride horses, which is not a bad idea. It saves on gas, and as high as gas is, it probably isn't a bad idea at all. This is a map of the elementary schools to give an idea of where they are located way out there.

Now, I want to take a look at the high schools. There are not as many of them. What are you going to do if a school in Miles City is in need of improvement under the current law? Where are you going to send them? To Broadus? I don't think so. That is another 80 or 90 miles. Pretty soon the miles start adding up.

Right now the law requires the schools to pay for students to transfer them in the same district unless doing so is too expensive. In Montana, as with many rural schools in rural States, there are considerations greater than just cost. While the law makes sense in Billings, it does not work in districts where the schools are farther apart.

Take the Broadus County School District in southeastern Montana as an example. As we can see, there is a lot of distance between schools. There are not very many schools out there. These are high schools. These are not elementary schools but high schools. Some may take up to 2 hours one way to drive. It not only hurts the family life of the students, but it disrupts what they do and also has an adverse effect on their academic performance.

Sometimes this type of commute may be necessary. My legislation makes this decision a matter for rural States to decide instead of the politicians here in Washington, DC, or by a rule written into a law that just is unworkable in my State.

I realize No Child Left Behind had some built-in flexibilities, and I also realize that some States did not take advantage of some of those flexibilities. Now we are locked into a situation where it is almost impossible to change unless we change the legislation and reword it. My legislation simply clarifies what is feasible and practical for school choice transfers within school districts and gives the States, especially my State, the ability to treat schools in rural Broadus differently than it treats schools in more urbanized Billings, MT.

I would imagine the Senator from Florida who is new to this body and a terrific addition to this body has some rural areas in Florida. We think of Florida as more urbanized, but they have some rural areas too, just like Montana. That does not mean there are kids out there whose needs should not be addressed.

When we visit schools, we get all kinds of questions from the students. I was visiting a sixth-grade class the other day. They came up with all kinds of questions. Some of them were pretty good, some were not so good. I did have one that was just a little bit different. This young man stood up in sixth grade, and he said: Senator, what do you want written on your tombstone? My gosh, I never had that question before, and I did not know exactly how to handle it, so I just told him: He's not here yet. That is the only way I could answer him.

These young people are very bright. They like their schools in these areas with distance learning. And we have telemedicine. We are delivering medical care much differently now. We are doing it with broadband services. We have 14 counties that do not have a doctor. It is done by physician assistants and many other people.

The other day a student from our part of the country enrolled at Montana State University at Billings. He had taken enough courses in his senior year in distance learning from MSUB that he has a full semester completed. So when he goes away to school, he already has half a year done.

This is why we have the Telecommunications Act. This is why we have the No Child Left Behind Act. We have to look at schools and libraries and some of the kinks we have to work out in that law so that these smaller schools and libraries can get their moneys so they can offer this online education. This is just another part of tweaking the No Child Left Behind law to make it work in rural areas.

I urge my Senate colleagues, especially those from rural States, to join me in cosponsoring this bill because it is very important. If we are really dedicated to the program of No Child Left Behind, we cannot leave rural children behind either, and we have to make it work.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that privilege of the floor be granted to Rexon Ryu, a detailee with Senator Hagel's office, during consideration of S. 600, the State Department authorization bill.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the SPYBLOCK bill, along with my good friend Senator Wyden of Oregon.

The SPYBLOCK bill will help reduce one of the most damaging practices in the online world today--spyware, or computer software downloaded onto a computer without the user's permission or awareness--that then is often used to illicitly gather personal information, assist in identity theft, track a user's keystrokes or monitor browsing behavior.

It is hard to overstate the potential damage that Spyware can do in cyberspace if it is allowed to grow unchecked. It could cripple e- commerce, because consumers would be afraid to make their financial or other personal data available on-line. It could damage the activities of businesses large and small, by making their data or computer systems vulnerable to attack and abuse. It could fuel the growth of whole new categories of cybercriminals. The recent data theft incidents at ChoicePoint, Bank of America, and others only underscore the need for a much more proactive policing of cyberspace.

The SPYBLOCK bill will give Federal enforcement authorities additional tools to curb spyware. It also bans adware programs that conceal their operation or purpose from users, because every consumer should have a reasonable opportunity to consent to the installation of software that generates pop-up ads on his or her computer.

We have worked hard on this bill, and consulted extensively with industry and consumer groups to ensure all perspectives on this growing problem were heard. The issues are not new to the members of the Commerce Committee either, as this bill is very similiar to one we marked up toward the end of the last Congress.

I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Commerce Committee and the full Senate to ensure prompt passage of this important measure. I thank my colleague Senator Wyden again for his work on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the SPYBLOCK bill, along with my good friend Senator Wyden of Oregon.

The SPYBLOCK bill will help reduce one of the most damaging practices in the online world today--spyware, or computer software downloaded onto a computer without the user's permission or awareness--that then is often used to illicitly gather personal information, assist in identity theft, track a user's keystrokes or monitor browsing behavior.

It is hard to overstate the potential damage that Spyware can do in cyberspace if it is allowed to grow unchecked. It could cripple e- commerce, because consumers would be afraid to make their financial or other personal data available on-line. It could damage the activities of businesses large and small, by making their data or computer systems vulnerable to attack and abuse. It could fuel the growth of whole new categories of cybercriminals. The recent data theft incidents at ChoicePoint, Bank of America, and others only underscore the need for a much more proactive policing of cyberspace.

The SPYBLOCK bill will give Federal enforcement authorities additional tools to curb spyware. It also bans adware programs that conceal their operation or purpose from users, because every consumer should have a reasonable opportunity to consent to the installation of software that generates pop-up ads on his or her computer.

We have worked hard on this bill, and consulted extensively with industry and consumer groups to ensure all perspectives on this growing problem were heard. The issues are not new to the members of the Commerce Committee either, as this bill is very similiar to one we marked up toward the end of the last Congress.

I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Commerce Committee and the full Senate to ensure prompt passage of this important measure. I thank my colleague Senator Wyden again for his work on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. President, I thank my chairman, who has almost an impossible job on this budget.

I rise to discuss this resolution and its impact on agriculture. I ask the Senator, is my understanding correct that this budget resolution directs the Senate Agriculture Committee to contribute toward deficit reduction by reducing mandatory program spending by $2.8 billion over the next 5 years? Is my understanding correct?

I thank the chairman. I understand the challenges of attempting to reduce the budget deficit by reducing spending. I believe we have to get a budget resolution passed, and I know that the Senator has to make some difficult choices. I also note that $2.8 billion is a lot of money in Montana, especially given skyrocketing energy prices and the likelihood that this will be another drought year in Montana.

I ask the Senator, is it true that the House has asked their Agriculture Committee to reduce mandatory spending at a higher level than has been proposed by this budget resolution?

I thank the Senator. In a perfect world, I would prefer no reduction in spending for agriculture at all. As you know, the 2002 farm bill has already contributed significantly to deficit reduction. Over the past 3 years, farm programs spending has been about $17 billion less than projected. So a lot of my farmers in Montana feel like they already ``gave at the office.''

However, we must face up to the reality of our budget situation and address this deficit. In doing so, however, reductions in spending must be proportionate. I urge the chairman, in the strongest manner possible, to keep the final budget resolution from asking for a higher level of mandatory program savings from agriculture than the $2.8 billion that we have included in this budget resolution.

I thank the Chair.