Floor Statements

Mr. President, today I congratulate Rutgers University-Newark in honor of their 100th anniversary. From its roots as the New Jersey Law School, Rutgers-Newark has evolved into a premier urban research university with a tradition of outstanding scholarship and diversity.

Students from across New Jersey, the United States, and from all over the world come to Rutgers-Newark to work and study with a world-class faculty. Its global student body has earned it the designation by U.S. News and World Report as the most diverse national university in the United States for 11 consecutive years.

As Rutgers-Newark has grown, so has their commitment to the local community and the entire State of New Jersey. The expansion of Rutgers- Newark has added to the growing redevelopment of Newark. With the celebration of its first 100 years in Newark, plans abound for expanded development of the university and its connections and commitment to the great city of Newark.

The faculty, students and alumni of Rutgers-Newark have much to be proud of after a century of outstanding educational achievement. Rutgers-Newark is still dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of research and scholarship, educational opportunity, urban mission, and diversity. I applaud Rutgers-Newark for their ``Century of Reaching Higher'' and wish the university continued growth and success for many years to come.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter dated May 15, 2008, to Majority Leader Reid, Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Boehner.

Mr. President, I thank you. I will not take long.

Mr. President, today is a noteworthy anniversary. It is the anniversary of D-day, the day the largest invasion force in the history of man landed on the beaches of Normandy.

They came from across the world--133,000 brave soldiers, sailors, and airmen--from England, Canada, and the United States. On that particular day, more than 10,000 soldiers died, giving their lives so that their families, their

country, and the rest of the world could live in peace and be free.

The bravery and honor of those men has come to be known with three simple words: ``the greatest generation.'' Their sacrifice in battle and their continued service once they got home defined everything that was good and right about America. We honored their service and sacrifice with parades and public ceremonies and memorials to the fallen, but it was also honored in another way. We gave them the chance to go to college and pursue an education. We gave them the chance to build a better future for themselves and their families. Those of us who served in that terrible war got the chance to begin the innovation that drove America into the future. We received the GI bill for our service.

Many veterans of World War II have served in the Senate, many of whom were honored by medals of valor. We still have someone who served in World War II who earned the Medal of Honor--Senator Dan Inouye from Hawaii--for his incredible bravery in World War II, for his bravery under fire.

I am who I am today because of the GI bill. One of my dreams was to go to college--a dream that came true because of that bill, the GI bill. Eight of the sixteen million World War II veterans got an education because of that bill. It was paid for, and it even carried a small stipend for the expenses that one had as a college student. Now we need to start to build a new greatest generation. I want the veterans of the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan to have the same opportunity--an opportunity that enables them to contribute to their families and our Nation.

A college education is a key to that opportunity, but college costs have jumped so high--57 percent just in the last 6 years. The current GI bill does not cover those costs. So our brave veterans are forced to pay for their tuition and books out of their own pockets, watch their debts get worse and worse, and some cannot get to college at all.

We often say we honor our veterans, but now is the time to show them what we mean. That is exactly what our new GI bill does. Our bill closes the gap between the cost of college and the amount the veteran pays for their education. I am proud to be working with my colleagues. The occupant of the President's chair right now, Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, started this process--this bill--16 months ago. Others, including Senator Chuck Hagel, Senator John Warner, and I, and more than half of the Senate, are fighting to get them the benefits they earned. They deserve no less.

The Senate has voted. The House has voted. Now we plead with President Bush to join with the majority of the Congress, all of the leading veterans organizations, and the American public in support of our bill. Since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 1.5 million Americans have worn the uniform and served our Nation with honor and distinction. Now it is time for us to stand with our veterans who have served since 9/11 so they, too, can build a future for their families.

After D-day, Americans recognized the sacrifice our troops made and came together to honor that service. Now is the time for us to stop playing politics and come together once again.

Our veterans have earned a new GI bill. On this D-day anniversary, let's give them the respect and the benefits they deserve.

I close with once again commending our colleague, Senator Jim Webb, who has himself a distinguished military record and insisted from his earliest days that we take care of our veterans so they can take care of America and regain the leadership this country has lost and will retrieve.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I compliment the Senator from California for her leadership on the Environment Committee and on this important legislation. It is time to face up to it. One cannot find a more critical environmental issue facing this Senate, our country, or our world than fighting global warming. We need legislation that faces this problem head-on. Inaction here endangers our children, our grandchildren, and future generations who can never understand the opposition and unwillingness of the Senate to deal with this problem. Yet, as we stand here now, Senators on the other side of the aisle are filibustering this legislation. We are losing precious time. The patient is sick, and we have to start providing the meds. We have already lost over 7 years under a President who has ignored science and questioned the very existence of global warming. We have seen other Members of this body do the same thing, even calling global warming a hoax.

As we sit here and wait for leadership from our President and from this Congress, our world is literally paying the price. As temperatures rise, our world suffers. In the United States, the glaciers in Glacier National Park are shrinking. The park's largest glaciers are one-third of their 1850s grandeur. The oceans are being altered. Ocean levels are rising, threatening coastlines far across the globe and here at home, including, in my State, the New Jersey seashore, where the very survival of the State's residents is at stake. Defense experts see security risks from global warming. A Pentagon report says that large populated countries could become nearly uninhabitable because of rising seas. Megadroughts could affect the world's breadbaskets, such as America's Midwest, and future wars could be fought over the issue of mere survival in this new climate.

The American people sent us here to take real action and to confront these problems. We need to take some bold steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to match the research of the world's best scientists. This bill would be a critical step forward. It would reduce emissions by 15 percent by the year 2020 and by nearly 70 percent by the year 2050.

It will do so by placing a cap on our emissions and giving industry the flexibility it needs within a cap-and-trade system. We already know that a cap-and-trade system works. We used it in the 1990s to successfully combat acid rain, and we should be doing the same thing now to fight global warming.

I ask my colleagues, please join us in taking this landmark step forward, and do not let politics interfere with our obligation to protect our families.

As we move forward, we have to listen to those scientists who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of fact and truth, not raw politics. We have to make sure scientists in our country can freely do their work and tell the truth to the American people without having their research suppressed--suppressed--by a President and an administration with a political agenda.

President Bush, his administration, and many here in Congress have squandered precious years, ignoring the reality of global warming. Even worse, they hindered and outright suppressed, as I mentioned, the work of Government scientists who were sounding the alarm about global warming's effect on our planet and all of us who inhabit it.

The United States is expected to be a leader in the world. Yet, while the 2,500 scientists from 113 countries were collaborating on the most recent United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on global warming, the President of the United States was still unwilling to hear the truth.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report found that:

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal.

And human activity is to blame.

Beyond the importance of what the report said is the fact that the report relied on uncensored, unaltered science to say so. In contrast to the integrity and accuracy of the IPCC report, the Bush administration has censored the conclusions of the U.S. scientists to advance a political agenda. The administration has blocked or delayed the release of Government reports on global warming. It has deleted key words such as ``global warming'' from public documents. And it has denied scientists the ability to freely discuss their conclusions with the public.

Mr. Phil Cooney, the former Chief of Staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, was one of the architects of this campaign of scientific suppression.

Mr. Cooney--not a scientist--weakened or edited out scientific judgments from Federal climate change reports. These changes made the threat of global warming seem less serious. In the 2002 climate change report ``Our Changing Planet,'' the original text read, ``Earth is undergoing a period of relatively rapid change.'' Mr. Cooney changed that to, ``Earth may be undergoing a period of rapid change''--totally altering the significance of this statement. Mr. Cooney later left the administration to go to work for ExxonMobil.

In 2006, 13 other Senators joined me in asking the inspectors general of NOAA and NASA--both agencies--to investigate the Bush administration's suppression of science on global warming. The report from NASA just came out this week and found that political appointees in NASA's press shop had manipulated the work of scientists. The inspector general stated that political appointees at NASA had ``reduced, marginalized, or mischaracterized climate change science made available to the general public.''

It is incredible to believe. It is simply unacceptable for the greatest democracy in the world to stifle the findings of scientists for political and ideological reasons. It is common sense to listen to the best scientists in the world and to act on their research. And their research is telling us that global warming is getting worse and it is time for us to act.

It is disappointing beyond words that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are preventing us from moving forward with this bill. In this place--the Senate--and at this time, some Members of the Senate are putting special interests and politics ahead of the safety and well-being of our people. We have to act now, and this bill is the right place to start. We dare not let this time pass without action.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 750, S. 2482.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read for a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 755, H.R. 3913.

Mr. President, I further ask that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related to the measure be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 311, which was received from the House.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the measure be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 586, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I understand that H.J. Res. 92 has been received from the House and is at the desk.

I ask for its first reading.

Mr. President, I ask for its second reading and object to my own request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 9 a.m. tomorrow; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate immediately proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Boxer substitute, amendment No. 4825 to S. 3036, the climate change legislation; I further ask that the filing deadline for the second-degree amendments to the Boxer substitute be at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Mr. President, tomorrow, shortly after 9 a.m., the Senate will proceed to a cloture vote on the substitute amendment to the climate change bill.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, I wish to speak in favor of the amendment to the supplemental that focuses on our domestic priorities, which is the first amendment we will be voting on this morning. I encourage my colleagues to vote in support of this important package.

While President Bush is fixated on trying to get his next check for the Iraq war, we on the Senate Appropriations Committee under the leadership

of Chairman Byrd have brought to the floor important priorities for Americans here at home.

As our economy continues to struggle, more and more Americans find themselves without work and having trouble paying their bills. In April, the unemployment rate in New Jersey was 5 percent. That is up from 4.8 percent in March of this year and 4.3 percent in April of 2007. Not only are more people out of work, but they are staying unemployed for longer periods of time as they search for new jobs. These unemployed Americans are facing the prospect of losing their homes and fighting to afford the rising costs of food, gasoline, and health care. They need our help, which is why in this amendment we extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks in all States and an additional 13 weeks in States with the highest unemployment rates. This is the right thing to do, and we must do it now.

This amendment also includes a provision that I successfully offered in the Senate Appropriations Committee markup last week to delay a Bush administration policy that threatens the health care of hundreds of thousands of children across the country, including 10,000 in New Jersey. Last year, I supported and the Senate passed, an expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program that would have provided health insurance for an additional 4 million children nationwide. President Bush irresponsibly vetoed that bill twice--and then made matters worse by issuing a new policy that will actually take away health care from children who have it today. This is not only misguided--both the Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Research Service found that it violated Federal law. During these tough economic times, the last thing we should be doing is taking away health care from our children. My provision in this amendment would delay this policy until April 1, 2009.

As our veterans return home from overseas, we must show our gratitude for their service by improving educational benefits to help them afford to go to college. Our veterans are finding that the current G.I. bill has simply not kept up with the rising costs of college, and they are forced to either forego college entirely or face mounting debt to get a degree. The amendment now on the floor includes a provision based on the Webb-Hagel-Lautenberg-Warner legislation which closes the gap between the current G.I. bill and the costs of college by paying for tuition, books and housing at the most expensive public institution in the veteran's State. This update of the G.I. bill deserves our strong support.

The domestic package before us also includes $10 million to conduct oversight of American taxpayer dollars spent in Afghanistan. Our work in Afghanistan is critical to our national security and our fight against terrorism. But right now, we know too little about how billions of U.S. dollars in reconstruction and assistance funding are spent in Afghanistan and whether there is any waste, fraud, and abuse of these funds. In January of this year, President Bush signed into law my legislation to establish a Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, SIGAR, to root out waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer money in Afghanistan. The SIGAR funding we would provide today would bring us one step closer to better oversight and accountability, and to the beginning of SIGAR's work to uncover information about any corruption and mismanagement of U.S. assistance to Afghanistan.

Finally, we must help our States and local communities recover from and prepare for natural disasters, including floods. This amendment includes more than $8 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers to address the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other recent natural disasters. We have had our eyes opened to the massive devastation that can occur when we neglect our Nation's flood control infrastructure. In addition to gulf coast recovery, I am pleased that this amendment will also provide funding for emergency infrastructure needs in other areas, including my home State of New Jersey.

The Senate has an opportunity with this vote to honor our responsibility to our returning veterans and all those who are struggling in our country today. I implore my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to join us in supporting this critical amendment.