Floor Statements

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.

From the days of the earliest settlers, wilderness has always been a defining part of our national heritage. Simply put, the American wilderness helped shape the American values of freedom, opportunity and independence.

As it did in 1964, Nevada still contains many of the wildest and least traveled places in the lower 48 States. The remote and untamed areas of Nevada represent a reservoir of challenges and opportunities for hunters, fishermen, birdwatchers, photographers, and other outdoorsmen.

We all play a stewardship role, and I am proud of the job our nation has done and continues to do in upholding these uniquely American values.

In particular, I would like to recognize four individuals from my home State of Nevada who are true wilderness heroes.

Marge Sill has advocated protecting wild places for more than 4 decades. She worked to pass the 1964 Act, as well as every Nevada wilderness bill since then. Marge helped establish the Friends of Nevada Wilderness, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and has mentored multiple generations of wilderness advocates.

Hermie and John Hiatt have been leaders in Nevada conservation efforts for more than 2 decades. Their tireless advocacy for wilderness and environmental protection particularly in southern and eastern Nevada serves as inspiration for many. Their interest in and knowledge of the science behind conservation serves Nevada well.

Finally I would like to recognize Roger Scholl, who played a key role in the development of the 1989 Nevada Wilderness Protection Act. In a quiet but effective and reasonable manner, Roger has consistently sought to develop consensus wilderness proposals. From Mt. Moriah and the Schell Creek Range in White Pine County to Mr. Rose and High Rock Canyon in Washoe County, Roger's work on wilderness issues has benefited Nevada and our Nation. His counsel has served me well.

Through the work of these Nevadans the number of Nevada wildernesses has grown from one, the Jarbidge Wilderness, to more than 40 in 40 years. I commend them for their work on behalf of Nevada and the Nation.

As President Lyndon Johnson said upon signing the Wilderness Act, ``If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning.''

With stewards such as these four great Nevadans, If know that our Nation's great wilderness heritage will be secure for generations to come.

Mr. President, would the Chair indicate, there are still two additional amendments that are pending?

I understand the unanimous consent request talks about one amendment, but if we dispose of that amendment, there would still be two amendments pending.

I would hope that following Senator Stevens's statement, we could make arrangements to vote on those two as early as possible this afternoon and move on to other matters on this bill. All of these matters have been debated thoroughly. I would hope that after that, the majority leader can arrange a time to vote on these amendments. We are ready over here. No objection.

Will the Senator yield?

Is the Senator aware that on at least five different occasions we have had votes on the Senate floor where we have asked for increased funding for homeland security and the Bush people have turned it down through various ways? I amplify that by saying these are all set forth in Senator Byrd's best-selling book. Is the Senator aware we tried to get money for real homeland security--not security in Iraq but security for the American people--and this has been turned down; is he aware of that?

Being more specific, is the Senator aware we have tried to address rail security and Amtrak security? Turned down. On several occasions, port security, turned down. Is he aware we have tried to get specific money to first responders? Turned down. The Senator is aware of this and other measures--for example, hazardous chemicals security, which Senator Corzine has pushed so much. The Senator is aware of each of these, and we have had votes and have been turned down on the floor by the majority on all requests.

I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Akaka), the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, will the Republican leader yield?

Mr. President, Senator Daschle announced in our caucus that he was in agreement with the majority leader. In conjunction with the Republican cloakroom, we are going to hotline this and tentatively have 9:30 or 10 o'clock in the morning--whenever the two cloakrooms agree they can get their work done, we will have a time for Members to let us know what amendments they might want to offer.

Senator Daschle is always very cautious to make sure we have ample time to offer amendments, but this is an extraordinary piece of legislation, and Senator Daschle agrees with the Republican leader that we should set a time shortly thereafter, either tomorrow evening--or I assume tomorrow evening, when Members will actually have to file their amendments.

The concept of the majority leader is certainly one with which Senator Daschle agrees. So we are ready to have our hotline go out, and theirs. We will look at amendments in the morning and find out what the universe of those amendments is, and then those people are going to have to step forward and offer amendments at a later time and enter into a consent agreement if at all possible later on tomorrow.

Reserving the right to object, if the leader can withhold for a minute, unless there is something that would cause us to vote at 4:30 p.m., we might be able to get that done a half hour earlier.

No objection.

Mr. President, if the distinguished majority leader is finished, Senator Nelson is here and wishes to be recognized for 5 minutes to talk about the situation in Florida. Is that all right with the two managers?

I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Akaka), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Corzine), the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I rise today to submit a resolution that would designate the second Sunday in December as ``National Children's Memorial Day.''

The resolution would set aside this day to remember all the children who die in the United States each year. While I realize the families of these children deal with the grief of their loss every day, I would like to commemorate the lives of these children with a special day as well.

The death of a child is a shattering experience for any family. I have had constituents share their heart-wrenching stories with me about the death of their son or daughter. I have heard heroic stories of kids battling cancer or diabetes, and tragic stories of car accidents and drownings.

Each of these families has had their own experience, but they must all continue with their lives and live with the incredible pain of losing a child. Establishing a day to remember children who passed away will lend encouragement and support to bereaved families as they work through their grief. It is important for these families to know that they are not alone.

I say through the Chair, Senator Daschle has met with Senator Frist on more than one occasion today. These are extraordinary times. Not only do we have a Presidential election, but these are extraordinary times because of the threat facing our country.

This legislation, the two leaders believe, should be expedited. It deals with that very threat. Everyone should listen very closely to what the majority leader said. That is, we have to take a look at Friday, weekend, Monday. This is for real. We are running out of time. The two leaders agree that we have to work very hard to complete the agenda we have ahead of us, which is a lot in a very short period of time.

Mr. President, the Republican leader and the Democratic leader appointed Senator McConnell and this Senator to work on the legislative aspects of the 9/11 Commission. If the cooperation among Members is as good as Senator McConnell and I have had, we are going to be able to move forward on this bill, I think with bipartisanship. And we need to move forward. I think the 22 of us who serve on this task force feel that way.

We have to understand how much there is to do these next few days. There is a lot to do. We had a very productive last 2 weeks when most people expected a tremendous amount of partisanship this last little bit before we break for the elections. But from my observation it has been the opposite. There has been cooperation, and we have gotten a lot done. The next 2 weeks are important.

Also by virtue of the schedule we will have a difficult time this week because Tuesday we have an event for retiring Senators. That has been scheduled for months and there is no way out of that. That is Tuesday evening. Then, of course, Thursday is the first Presidential debate. It makes a lot of sense to me that we be in tune with that. I know there are some Senators who have events related to that. We will have to keep those things in mind.

I hope we can move forward on these matters which the leader has talked about. There is an opportunity to get a few things done with a limited time agreement. During the time we are working on this matter, we should go ahead and do that to prevent a lot of backlog next week before we head home before the recess.

I appreciate the leader's comments. I hope my observation is a correct one. We have been doing very well in spite of what some of the political prognosticators have said. This isn't a time for meltdown. This is a time for accomplishing a lot.

When the Chair announces morning business, we have two on the Democratic side who wish to speak, Senator Harkin and Senator Nelson of Florida.

Mr. President, when the Senate goes into morning business, I will yield 10 minutes on behalf of the Democratic leader to the Senator from Florida, Mr. Nelson, followed by 20 minutes to the Senator from Iowa, Mr. Harkin.

Mr. President, I am wondering if we could have a delay of a few minutes so Senators on both sides will have a full 30 minutes.

I ask that be amended to the chairman and ranking member.

Mr. President, we have two Senators on our side who wish to speak: Senator Wyden for 10 minutes and Senator Dorgan. On behalf of Senator Dorgan, I ask unanimous consent that he be allowed to speak for up to 40 minutes.

Mr. President, I rise today for myself and Senator Ensign to introduce the Nye County Higher Education Campus Conveyance Act. This bill would transfer 280 acres of federal land in Nye County, NV, to the University and Community College System of Nevada for a much- needed college campus.

As you may know, southern Nevada is one of the most rapidly growing regions of the country. For some time now, growth has been progressing out of Las Vegas, over the mountains, and into nearby surrounding areas. The Pahrump Valley in Nye County is one such area that is growing. However, Nye County does not have a single institution of higher learning to serve its now more than 33,000 residents.

This bill would set the stage to change that. The land conveyed by this bill would become the home of a college campus with facilities shared among the Community College of Southern Nevada, Nevada State College, and the Nye County School District.

In other States, educational systems can acquire land to accommodate growth relatively easily. In Nevada, where the Federal government owns 87 percent of the land, even a new college campus requires an Act of Congress.

The college campus that this bill would enable will become an exceptional asset not only to the citizens of Nye County, but to all Nevadans and ultimately to the Nation as a whole.

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

Mr. President, I rise today for myself and Senator Ensign to introduce the Nye County Higher Education Campus Conveyance Act. This bill would transfer 280 acres of federal land in Nye County, NV, to the University and Community College System of Nevada for a much- needed college campus.

As you may know, southern Nevada is one of the most rapidly growing regions of the country. For some time now, growth has been progressing out of Las Vegas, over the mountains, and into nearby surrounding areas. The Pahrump Valley in Nye County is one such area that is growing. However, Nye County does not have a single institution of higher learning to serve its now more than 33,000 residents.

This bill would set the stage to change that. The land conveyed by this bill would become the home of a college campus with facilities shared among the Community College of Southern Nevada, Nevada State College, and the Nye County School District.

In other States, educational systems can acquire land to accommodate growth relatively easily. In Nevada, where the Federal government owns 87 percent of the land, even a new college campus requires an Act of Congress.

The college campus that this bill would enable will become an exceptional asset not only to the citizens of Nye County, but to all Nevadans and ultimately to the Nation as a whole.

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

Mr. President, I have spoken with the two leaders. I ask unanimous consent that following the 15 minutes in morning business for the Republicans, which has already been allotted, there be a half hour of additional morning business equally divided between both sides. There will be no who is first. It will be whoever gets the floor during that time. An additional half hour, and each side will get 15 minutes.

Mr. President, will the Senator withhold just for a brief unanimous consent request?

Mr. President, morning business expires in how much more time?

Mr. President, I am wondering if we should extend the time until 12:30. I ask unanimous consent that be the agreement, and that it not be evenly split. Whoever comes here should be able to speak.