Floor Statements

Mr. President, when the Congress passed Public Law 106-50 in 1999, it was impossible to imagine the positive impact it would have on all veterans and, in particular, all those young men and women now returning from active duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Veterans Corporation, TVC, is a not-for-profit organization that amplifies business opportunities and the tools our veterans need to start and grow their businesses. Through unparalleled public and private sector business, and strategic partnerships with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Veterans Affairs Administration, the Small Business Administration, and the U.S. Department of Labor, veterans have the three main ingredients for success: access to capital; access to bonding, and the important educational, mentorship and program case work followup.

Today, more than ever, our Nation's veterans present an opportunity for entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship based on the skills and practiced discipline they embraced as part of their service to our Nation. Membership in TVC remains free to our veterans because the Congress invested wisely in this organization.

In partnership with the Surety and Fidelity Association of America, SFAA, we have a 50-State surety bonding program that includes a comprehensive education curriculum and a three-step process for veterans to secure the bonding they need on government contracts. Bonding is critical to service-disabled veteran entrepreneurs and to the Federal Government if the 3-percent goal, mandated by the President's Executive Order, is to be achieved. TVC's partnership with SFAA provides a complete solution to the mandate by fulfilling the needs for identification and qualification of service-disabled veteran- owned small businesses, along with casework followup as veteran entrepreneurs experience growth in their businesses.

Access to capital for both business start-up and infusion growth remains the number one need of veteran entrepreneurs. To address this issue, TVC has formed a strategic partnership with the National Economic Opportunity Fund, NEOF. Through this partnership, TVC is able to assist veterans in obtaining micro-loans of $500 to $25,000 through ACCION USA. PNC Bank has also begun accepting referrals from TVC and has already funded one veteran-owned business. In addition, TVC is in the process of finalizing partnerships with several banking institutions to provide veterans with larger loan programs for their increasing business needs.

TVC's leadership has made extraordinary progress in addressing the broad scope of issues facing veteran entrepreneurs. While embracing the existing community networks of the Small Business Development Centers, the Department of Labor's One Stop Centers, and the Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, PTAC, TVC has been able to develop programs that complement and enhance the resources already available to current and aspiring business owners. By doing so, TVC is now providing the programs and services most needed by the veteran community, including access to capital and bonding, and is more effectively meeting the real needs of veteran entrepreneurs.

TVC's strength is in its ability to bring together the best in public and private entities to leverage scarce federal dollars in effectively and efficiently assisting veterans, service-disabled veterans, and members of the National Guard and Reserves, who want to start or promote growth in small businesses. By benefiting from the strong resources already available from national business networks, and by eliminating duplication of efforts through strategic partnerships, TVC has the programming and the capacity to serve the needs of all veterans in 50 States.

TVC is working for our Nation's veterans and we have an obligation to continue funding programs that respond to all business entrepreneurial needs. We must build a solid transition from active military service to veterans' entrepreneurship. I am confident TVC is that investment.

Mr. President, I rise today to join my leader to honor the distinguished Senator from the State of Connecticut, and one who I was proud to call friend: Senator Thomas Dodd.

Senator Tom Dodd, the father of Connecticut's senior Senator, Christopher Dodd, would have been 100 years old today. I would like to take a moment to reflect upon his remarkable career.

Tom Dodd was, in many ways, the picture of a Senator. In a tribute shortly after his death in 1971, a colleague said:

His ability was outstanding and his appearance was

striking. With the dignity of his bearing and the gray of his

hair and his booming resonant voice, he made an impressive

figure on the Senate Floor.

But there was much more to Tom Dodd than style. Through a lifetime of service, he brought a dedication of fighting evil in all its forms: in racism, in greed, in sabotage, genocide, and tyranny. Few have piled up such an impressive record.

Tom Dodd began his career as an FBI agent tracking down some of our Nation's worst criminals. In a way, he had something of the FBI agent about him for the rest of his life. He was determined to give wrongdoers no quarter, in word or in action.

During the Great Depression, he led the National Youth Administration of Connecticut, putting thousands of his fellow citizens to work, and then he joined the Department of Justice as a prosecutor. He fought the Ku Klux Klan, long before any Americans saw its true nature.

In later years, he prosecuted union busters who kept workers from bargaining together for fair conditions. And when the Second World War came, he served with devotion on the home front, bringing prosecutions against German American Bundists, Nazi sympathizers who tried to sabotage the war effort.

When the Nazis had been defeated, his country called Tom Dodd to Nuremberg, Germany, to help lead the historic prosecution of Nazi war criminals. And Tom Dodd said yes because he knew that Nuremberg was America's chance to prove its commitment to the rule of law. If we simply gave in to vengeance, we would be walking in the footsteps of those we despised, and Tom knew intuitively that America stood for something more.

He was quickly promoted to executive trial counsel, second only to the lead prosecutor, Robert Jackson. Laying before the world indisputable proof of the Nazis' crimes, Tom and his colleagues succeeded. They had sacrificed the certainty of an execution for the uncertainty of a trial. The test was one of principle over power--and America passed.

Tom's lifetime of service was crowned with two terms in the House and then election to the Senate. He served in this Chamber--at the desk now occupied by his son Chris--for 12 years. In the face of enormous opposition, he passed America's first comprehensive gun control law. He fought drug abuse and juvenile crime and violence on television. He protected the homeland on the Internal Security Subcommittee and was one of our most eloquent voices in support of the International Genocide Convention. Tom Dodd said had it been in force in the 1930s, the crimes of Hitler might have been deterred.

For the rest of his life, Tom remembered what he had seen at Nuremberg. He had seen tyranny face to face; he had seen, as he put it, an ``autopsy of history's most horrible crime.'' And he remained an enemy of tyranny for the rest of his life. He knew, as one author put it, that the Nazis' ``corruption of spirit, the irresistible human addiction to power, were like first drafts of a terrible future.'' So he spoke out against that corruption wherever it showed itself, and against Communist tyranny above all.

One colleague remembered that Tom Dodd's many foreign policy speeches ``were memorable in the annals of the Senate for their scope and their scholarship, their philosophical consistency, and their nonpartisan nature.''

True, Tom's career did not end as he would have wanted it. In 1970, he ran for another term as an Independent and lost. He returned to his home in Connecticut, and shortly after passed away. But through those last, difficult months--and I remember it well even today--he held his head high.

Tom's steadfast example and his eloquent words remain with me still. In 1950, Tom Dodd said the following:

At Nuremberg, we laid down the doctrine that individuals

are responsible for some offenses. It always seemed to me

that it is the people who make up the government. Individual

people.

What holds true for the worst surely holds for the best. Behind all of Tom's achievements there was an indelible individual--passionate, strong, wise, and brave. I was privileged to call him among my friends. I have no doubt that he would be so proud of his children today.

Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to a member of my staff who retired from service to the Senate after dedicating 8 years to the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Margaret Spring, Democratic general counsel for the Commerce Committee, left the Senate for love. In doing so, she will be leaving behind a record of accomplishment that will be difficult for anyone to match. During her 8-year tenure on the committee, more than 10 major ocean and coastal initiatives, which she was heavily involved in drafting, have been enacted into law, including the National Sea Grant College Program Reauthorization, the Oceans and Human Health Act, Coast Guard Reauthorization Acts, the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act, the Tsunami Preparedness Act, and the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act. Probably most notable are the first and last pieces of legislation Margaret worked on. The first was the Oceans Act of 2000, and the final bill was the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act.

What is clear from the passage of all these bills is both Margaret's ability to successfully negotiate and work in a bipartisan fashion, regardless of whether she was in the minority or the majority, and her unwavering commitment to making the world we live in a better place for today and for the future. Her trustworthiness and constant striving for perfection provided a process where every staffer who worked with her believed the final product was a true reflection of negotiations and discussions, and the outside parties that had an interest in the legislation, whether environmental or industry groups, while not necessarily agreeing completely with the ultimate outcome, felt like their voices were heard. The best example of her abilities is the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which passed by unanimous consent with support from the fishing industry and environmental groups, a rarity in this day.

A hallmark of Margaret's legacy will be a cleaner and healthier environment for generations to come. The Oceans Act, which passed in 2000, created the Ocean Commission, consisting of this country's leading ocean experts. Without the legislation enacted though her efforts, Congress and the administration would be without a landmark blueprint. Margaret's work, in combination with efforts of other dedicated members and staff, has given us guideposts for what we must do to sustain the ocean environment for future generations.

While Margaret has left the Senate, she has not left her call to public service, to preserving the coastal environment, or to improving the planet for the next generation. While she and her new husband have decided to move to the West coast, she also decided to continue her passionate interest in the marine environment with a nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve environmental diversity through the protection of lands and waters. The Commerce Committee, the Senate, and this country have benefited from Margaret's dedication during the past 8 years, and while she will be missed, the country will continue to benefit from her commitment, dedication, and tireless efforts to improve the world we live in.

On the eve of Margaret Spring's wedding to Mark Bunter, we wish her well as she embarks on a new chapter of her life.

Mr. President, I rise today to support this bill addressing the need to extend a number of our temporary judgeships.

My colleagues and I share a common interest in ensuring that the American public is provided with the most efficient court system possible. However, across the nation many of our judicial resources are strained due to our growing population and an increase in the number of caseloads per judge. Hawaii is no exception, and this bill addresses our need to maintain our current number of judgeships. This bill offers a much needed relief to our over-worked courts.

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share with you my thoughts as to the importance of this legislation.

Mr. President, I rise today to support this bill addressing the need to extend a number of our temporary judgeships.

My colleagues and I share a common interest in ensuring that the American public is provided with the most efficient court system possible. However, across the nation many of our judicial resources are strained due to our growing population and an increase in the number of caseloads per judge. Hawaii is no exception, and this bill addresses our need to maintain our current number of judgeships. This bill offers a much needed relief to our over-worked courts.

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share with you my thoughts as to the importance of this legislation.

Mr. President, I rise today to support this bill addressing the need for a fourth permanent judgeship for the District of Hawaii.

Hawaii currently has four active District Court judges. However, if any of its four active judges either accepts senior status and retires, or becomes otherwise unable to serve, the District of Hawaii will not be able to replace that vacancy with another active judge. This will pose a problem for not only the active judges, as their workload will increase, but also for the public because an unfilled vacancy may have a disastrous effect on our court's caseloads. This bill ensures the continued efficiency of Hawaii's District court system.

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share with you the importance of this legislation.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to support this bill addressing the need for a fourth permanent judgeship for the District of Hawaii.

Hawaii currently has four active District Court judges. However, if any of its four active judges either accepts senior status and retires, or becomes otherwise unable to serve, the District of Hawaii will not be able to replace that vacancy with another active judge. This will pose a problem for not only the active judges, as their workload will increase, but also for the public because an unfilled vacancy may have a disastrous effect on our court's caseloads. This bill ensures the continued efficiency of Hawaii's District court system.

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share with you the importance of this legislation.

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

Mr. President, I believe that all Members of this body support the Defense appropriations section. The only area of concern and contention is that which refers to Iraq.

I think all of us agree that our forces today are bogged down in Iraq. They are caught in the middle of a civil war, and we need a change in plans. This war has dragged on too long and, incidentally, longer than our involvement in World War II. Staying the course is not working, and I, for one, am not convinced that it ever will.

The only way we can succeed in Iraq is if the Iraqis fundamentally change the dynamic. The language in the conference agreement embraces this idea of offering a new plan. This new plan eventually should allow for forces to be withdrawn from Iraq.

The proposal establishes a goal--and I repeat the word ``goal''--of redeploying most of our forces from Iraq by next March. It does not mandate that all the troops are removed. To the contrary, it allows that forces remain in Iraq to protect U.S. and coalition personnel. It also stipulates that U.S. forces can continue to train and equip the Iraqis so they can better defend themselves, and it directs that we may continue targeted counterterrorism operations in Iraq.

This is a balanced plan. It recognizes that we still have responsibilities in Iraq and will continue to do so even a year from now, but it will force the Iraqis to fight their own civil war if they insist on doing so.

We all know there are very few military objectives to be achieved in Iraq. We defeated the Iraqi Army 4 years ago. We should keep that in mind. I still recall the huge banner on the carrier that said: ``Mission Accomplished.'' Yes, the military mission was accomplished. We won that part of the war, the part the military can win. We failed in not preparing for the aftermath of direct conflict, and now we are enmeshed in an untenable position.

Our military has performed remarkably. They have achieved their military objectives. But the plan to rely on the military to achieve political objectives has not worked, and what we desperately need is a political solution. And in the end, how many truly believe we will emerge victorious with a Jeffersonian democracy on the banks of the Tigris River? What is victory? I have asked this question many times. What will constitute victory? And no one has answered that question. Or we can embrace a new plan that begins to reshape our forces in Iraq to provide those missions that our military is best suited for with a goal, not a mandate, but a goal of redeploying the remaining forces.

If Iraq is to succeed, it must assume responsibility for its own destiny. It must decide if it wants to stop the civil war. We cannot do that for them. This is a very modest proposal, but one that is caught up in the emotion of the debate. This conference report offers a plan, one that has much greater chance of success than staying the course.

May I have 30 seconds?

It does not mandate a timetable for ending our involvement in Iraq but provides a new way ahead which will ensure better protection for our forces and a greater chance for the Iraqis to succeed.

This is a good, balanced package. It includes the best from each of our bills. It funds the critical needs of our military and provides a way ahead for our forces in Iraq.

I urge all my colleagues to support this conference agreement.

I thank the Chair.

Mr. President, I wish to speak against this amendment. This amendment will increase the work of the inspector general because of its mandatory nature, but it will not add any additional results.

Secondly, it provides that audits be posted on the Web within 60 days without any safeguards for proprietary information that may be gathered as a result of the audit, and it provides no protections under existing information privacy laws.

Then there is the word ``conference,'' which I think is too broad and has implications for existing and future educational activities, which is the major part of the underlying bill.

For this reason, and many others, I am opposed to it.

I yield back my remaining time.

Mr. President, technological innovation is the lifeblood of U.S. economic growth and well-being. To achieve growth and success, the United States must continue to support the two critical components necessary during the early stages of the innovation ecosystem: education and basic research.

A pipeline of well-educated secondary school students feeds into the college ranks, which in turn feeds into the graduate schools. Graduate students engage in challenging and cutting edge

research led by principal investigators that often are funded by Federal grants. Many times the students and scientists will make a breakthrough discovery of innovation and attempt to commercialize it. If successful, they will have created the next great generation, great American company that sells the next great product, employing thousands of people and driving this economy's economic growth further.

The United States has the luxury of claiming many of the world's top scientific minds. These leading scientists either emigrate to the United States because we provide some of the best facilities and resources or they are home grown, having excelled through the U.S. educational system to reach the top echelons of their respective disciplines. However, this premier standing we have enjoyed in the past is in serious jeopardy. As a result, many believe our economic prosperity is at risk.

Today the Senate has a unique opportunity to respond to the Nation's defining economic challenge in the 21st century, and that is how to remain strong and competitive in the face of the emerging challenges from India, China, and the rest of the world. We have examined the expert reports and today the Senate is considering S. 761, the America COMPETES Act.

S. 761 is a bipartisan product of several committees including: the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; the Energy Committee; and the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. As chairman of the Commerce Committee, which was instrumental in developing Divisions A and D of the bill, I encourage my colleagues to support S. 761.

Many point out that the United States' declining scientific prowess is palpable. They cite, for example, the country's dismal proficiency scores: less than one-third of U.S. fourth-graders performed at or above a level deemed ``proficient'' and about one-fifth of eighth- graders lacked the competency to perform basic math computations. U.S. 15-year-olds ranked 22 out of 28 Organization for Economic Co-Operation Development, OECD, countries tested in mathematics. This is a troubling statistic. In math and science education our country is losing ground to the likes of Germany, China, and Japan. In the United States, only 32 percent graduate with college degrees in science and engineering, while 36 percent of German undergraduates receive degrees in science and engineering. In China it is 59 percent, and in Japan, 66 percent of undergraduates receive science and engineering degrees.

In 2004, China graduated over 600,000 engineers; India, 350,000; and the United States, less than 70,000. These statistics are alarming and will have dire consequences as the U.S. talent pipeline begins to dry up. To respond, the America COMPETES Act emphasizes science, education, and technology as the keystones of a comprehensive American competitiveness agenda.

We considered programs in several agencies. Within the Department of Commerce, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST, is charged with promoting U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology. The bill would continue NIST on a 10-year doubling path and promote high-risk, high-reward research within the agency.

Also within the Department of Commerce. the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, conducts significant basic atmospheric and oceanographic research, including climate change research. Its management decisions and operational programs rely on a strong scientific and technical underpinning. Some have argued that the ocean truly is the last frontier on Earth, and ocean research and technology may have broad impacts on improving health and understanding our environment. Toward this end, our committee included modest provisions on NOAA research and education, which we hope to strengthen during the course of debate on S. 761.

The bill also includes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the administration's competitiveness agenda. Like the oceans, space captivates the minds of our young people and can help attract them into a lifelong study of science.

America COMPETES continues the Senate's commitment to doubling the funding of the National Science Foundation. The Foundation is the Nation's premier investment in undirected, basic science. The bulk of its funding is distributed as competitive grants. The bill includes provisions to ensure all States, including small States like Hawaii, can share in important research funding. After all, good ideas know no boundaries. In order to be strong, we will need the ideas and leadership of researchers and entrepreneurs in every corner of the Nation.

I was pleased to work with my colleagues on the HELP Committee to develop the NSF education provisions. I am proud to have included programs to encourage women to have careers in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering.

In recent years, we have passed legislation affecting interagency research in nanotechnology, information technology, computer security, climate change, oceans and human health, earthquake research, wind research, and aeronautics research. The America COMPETES Act provides for a Science Summit to encourage interactivity and knowledge sharing between science, scientists, and industry.

I would like to end by noting that technology and innovation pervade many policy problems that the Commerce Committee and the Congress face. Changes in telecommunications policy are being driven by innovation. In particular, low broadband penetration is cited as a factor in the loss of competitiveness in many U.S. regions. Also, our transportation infrastructure would benefit from increased investment and deployment of new technologies, such as investment in technologies that can increase energy independence.

To succeed in a whole host of arenas, we need scientific discoveries and a technologically savvy workforce. If enacted, the America COMPETES Act can provide the first step for this country to get back into the global race. Many countries are looking to overtake us to claim technological and economic superiority. While we continue to lead, we cannot take this lead for granted. I fully support what we are trying to accomplish with the America COMPETES Act and I look forward to working with my colleagues towards its final passage.

Mr. President, working with Senators Stevens, Hutchison, other committee members, and members of other committees, we have developed a small package of amendments to the Commerce Committee sections of the bill. We took an expansive view of American competitiveness and wanted to ensure that the research agencies in our Government and jurisdiction could fully participate in interagency programs to address innovation and competitiveness.

This amendment is just the provisions regarding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to align them with those addressing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I hope we can agree to even stronger provisions to promote ocean education. The oceans, like outer space, hold such a lure for young people and can draw them into a lifelong study in key fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These students may someday invent products that keep our Nation economically competitive.

The amendment also strikes a provision related to the sale of standard reference materials by the National Institute of Standards and Technology that could have resulted in a million dollars of direct spending. With this amendment, the bill contains no direct spending.

The amendment adjusts the authorization levels for the National Science Foundation, so that the increase will not fluctuate but will be a consistent 15 percent annually.

As amended, the fiscal year 2008 level for NSF is $300 million over the President's requested level, reflecting the $302 million in new education programs authorized in the bill. In addition, the amendment changes the authorized funding level for NSF's education and human resources programs to $1.05 billion in fiscal year 2008, and for the experimental program for competitive research, to $125 million in fiscal year 2008. These programs would grow annually from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2011 at the same rate that NSF overall funding grows.

Finally, there are a series of technical changes to the bill that, first, add mathematics and engineering and technology in the Science Summit in section 1101; second, change the goal for increasing participation in two NSF fellowship and traineeship programs to a 4- year goal, matching the pendency of the authorizations in the bill; and third, on behalf of Senator Hutchison, we make a clarifying change to section 4006 regarding NSF priorities.

Mr. President, I appreciate all of my colleagues' help in improving the Commerce Committee section and look forward to adopting this modest agreement and amendment so that we can begin to debate S. 761 in earnest.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I agree wholeheartedly with my friend. We should not take the Chinese goal lightly. They mean business.

Will the Senator yield?

Mr. President, I commend my colleague, Senator Alexander, for his broad and very intricate history of the bipartisanship. If all of us in this body followed this process on all major legislation, this would be a historic session, and I hope it is so. This will be one of the first I can look back to and say we tried and we succeeded. And I think we are going to succeed. I thank the Senator from Tennessee very much.

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

Mr. President, on behalf of the distinguished chairman of the Energy Committee, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the pending amendment.

Mr. President, I am pleased to send to the desk a managers' package, which I described earlier, from the Commerce Committee.

I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

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

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to hold a hearing during the session of the Senate on Monday, April 23, 2007, at 3 p.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on S. 1115, a bill to promote the efficient use of oil, natural gas, and electricity, reduce oil consumption, and heighten energy efficiency standards for consumer products and industrial equipment, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Monday, April 23, 2007, at 2:30 p.m. for a hearing titled ``Protecting College Campuses: Best Practices.''

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Identity Theft

Prevention Act of 2007 with my colleagues Senator Stevens and Senator Pryor to protect Americans from identity theft.

The recent breaches of security that led to the loss of sensitive personal information remind all of us how vulnerable we are to thieves stealing our identity for criminal purposes. Identity theft is a growing threat to our personal security that must be met with new tactics and new laws in the information age.

We in the Congress and every consumer in America have seen the evolution of identity theft. The moment of greatest awareness was in February 2005 when ChoicePoint notified more than 145,000 people that their personal data had been accessed by unauthorized persons who used some of the information for identity theft. ChoicePoint was required to make these contacts under the California notification law, but this incident had nationwide effects. Since then, a number of data brokers, banks, universities and other entities that hold personal information have notified individuals that their personal information may have been compromised. The last major breach was made public in January 2007, when T.J. Maxx announced it had discovered a breach in the security of its customer payment data. As a result of hacker activity starting in 2005, information on more than 45 million credit and debit cards had been stolen.

The need to address this problem is long overdue. Every business that collects and stores sensitive personal information must ensure that the information is safeguarded. If a security breach occurs and the information could be used for identity theft, every affected consumer needs to be notified as soon as possible so they can best protect themselves and their families. The Identity Theft Prevention Act provides the Federal Trade Commission new enforcement tools to ensure businesses that hold a consumer's sensitive personal information use vigorous safeguards to prevent breaches from happening. The Act also requires businesses to appropriately notify consumers if their information is improperly released and could lead to identity theft. In addition, the Identity Theft Prevention Act provides consumers the ability to place a security freeze on their credit reports, so if they choose, they can eliminate the worry and the impact of an identity thief opening new lines of credit from stolen information.

Americans have demanded better protection for their sensitive personal information, and it is imperative that we respond to these demands effectively and expeditiously. I look forward to working with the other Members of the Senate to move this legislation forward.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Identity Theft

Prevention Act of 2007 with my colleagues Senator Stevens and Senator Pryor to protect Americans from identity theft.

The recent breaches of security that led to the loss of sensitive personal information remind all of us how vulnerable we are to thieves stealing our identity for criminal purposes. Identity theft is a growing threat to our personal security that must be met with new tactics and new laws in the information age.

We in the Congress and every consumer in America have seen the evolution of identity theft. The moment of greatest awareness was in February 2005 when ChoicePoint notified more than 145,000 people that their personal data had been accessed by unauthorized persons who used some of the information for identity theft. ChoicePoint was required to make these contacts under the California notification law, but this incident had nationwide effects. Since then, a number of data brokers, banks, universities and other entities that hold personal information have notified individuals that their personal information may have been compromised. The last major breach was made public in January 2007, when T.J. Maxx announced it had discovered a breach in the security of its customer payment data. As a result of hacker activity starting in 2005, information on more than 45 million credit and debit cards had been stolen.

The need to address this problem is long overdue. Every business that collects and stores sensitive personal information must ensure that the information is safeguarded. If a security breach occurs and the information could be used for identity theft, every affected consumer needs to be notified as soon as possible so they can best protect themselves and their families. The Identity Theft Prevention Act provides the Federal Trade Commission new enforcement tools to ensure businesses that hold a consumer's sensitive personal information use vigorous safeguards to prevent breaches from happening. The Act also requires businesses to appropriately notify consumers if their information is improperly released and could lead to identity theft. In addition, the Identity Theft Prevention Act provides consumers the ability to place a security freeze on their credit reports, so if they choose, they can eliminate the worry and the impact of an identity thief opening new lines of credit from stolen information.

Americans have demanded better protection for their sensitive personal information, and it is imperative that we respond to these demands effectively and expeditiously. I look forward to working with the other Members of the Senate to move this legislation forward.

Mr. President, I am a proud Democrat. Ted Stevens is a proud Republican. People have said, how can you two ever get together? Well, as the leader has indicated, we call each other brothers.

I know this is a violation of our party rules, but I have contributed to Ted's campaign, and he has contributed to my campaign. Last election was one of the most negative and partisan ones that I have ever experienced. The issue was Iraq, as it is today. Ted Stevens came up to me and said: You know, this election is sending a bad message to the fellows and the women in Iraq. We should send another message. So he proposed that we do our very best to pass the Defense appropriations bill in a timely fashion unanimously. The record will show that the subcommittee came out and voted unanimously for the Defense appropriations bill. The full committee responded by unanimously voting for it, and the Senate, for the first time in history, voted 100 to 0.

That is bipartisanship, Mr. President. We have demonstrated that it can be done, and it has been done many times. We have many things in common, but I think more things uncommon. He represents glaciers; I represent coconut trees. But we do have many things in common. We fought in World War II--he in China with the Flying Tigers, and I was in Europe fighting the Germans. We represented territories. So we came in as new Members of the Senate, and he and I have received the crown of being ``pork men of the year.'' We are No. 1 in add-ons in the United States Senate.

Mr. President, I am proud to call Ted Stevens my brother. I hope we can

continue this brothership for as long as we are here. We have just given him a new title: the Strom Thurmond of the Arctic Circle.

(Applause.)

I believe that I recently read about this issue in the press. I am concerned as well that the lack of regulation and oversight of these charter aircraft put our citizens at risk.

I agree that air transport safety of our citizens in Iraq and in Afghanistan is an important issue and I endorse your comments on this matter. We should work to take the steps needed to ensure the safety of our civilian contractors.

Geothermal Energy Research Funding