Floor Statements

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

Reserving the right to object--and I will not object--I ask unanimous consent to be added as a cosponsor of the concurrent resolution.

I served for some time as chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative branch. During those years, there was an effort made to cut funding for the Library of Congress. I became an expert on funding for the Library of Congress. We were able to overcome the objections of those who thought the Library of Congress should be made different than it now is. But during that period of time, I met John Kluge. John Kluge is a man who has made lots of money in the free enterprise system of our country. But he has dedicated large amounts of his fortune to the Library of Congress.

I am so glad Senator Stevens submitted a resolution commemorating the birthday of this great American. Because of his being such a fine man and recognizing the importance of the Library of Congress, the greatest library in the history of the world, many people will benefit from his efforts.

I withdraw my reservation of objection.

Mr. President, I guard the nomination process as well as anybody. I have had difficulty with someone who we have tried to put on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a year and a half. I have recognized that by making sure that certain people the administration wants do not go through. But I have not held up what I think are nominations important to the national defense and welfare of our country, generally speaking.

We have a number of people, as indicated by the acting leader at this time, Senator Murkowski, being discharged from the Foreign Relations Committee. There is one person, though, on the list by the name of James B. Cunningham, a career member of the senior foreign service, to be appointed to the Atomic Energy Agency with the rank of Ambassador. There is a hold on this. This man would represent the United States on this most important entity.

The news in the last months has been dealing with Iran and what they are doing and not doing with their nuclear program. We need this man on a daily basis doing what he needs to do to protect the interests of not only the United States but the world with this burgeoning problem we have with nuclear materials.

There is a hold by the majority on this nomination. I think it is wrong. I will not mention the name of the Senator who has a hold, but it should be taken off. It is not good for the country or for the world.

Having said that, I have no objection to the request of the Senator from Alaska.

Mr. President, before the Senator from California yields back her time, may I be recognized?

I had some meetings this morning and was not planning on coming to the Chamber, but walking through the Senate today took me back to when I went to law school.

When I went to law school in a very large class at George Washington University, as I recall, we had two women in that very large class. When I took the bar in Nevada after having graduated from law school, I think we had one woman who took the bar.

It has been a while since I went to law school and took the bar but not that long, and the face of America has changed dramatically. Since I have come to the national legislature, the

face of the legislature has changed dramatically. The biggest change and I believe the most positive change that has taken place is women. Half the people going to law school today are now women. There are significantly larger numbers of women in the Congress than when I came here 22 years ago.

When I first saw this Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee, this big important committee, being chaired by two women, I was so impressed I gave a little speech at that time.

I cannot express my satisfaction of walking into this Chamber and seeing two women in charge of something as important as this Subcommittee on Appropriations. The legal profession--I have only picked that one area--and the second area I pick is the national legislature, are much better places as a result of women being involved, and there is no better example of that than these two wonderful human beings, the Senator from Texas and the Senator from California, who lead us on this committee.

I hope people watching understand what a message this sends. It is said young girls are shunted aside because they do not have proclivities to go into science; let them do other things; let them become teachers and nurses--they have different kinds of minds. They are not scientists.

One of the people I worked with, a brilliant man, told me women would never be able to be lawyers because their briefcases were too heavy. All of these old ideas are gone and these young girls who are hopefully watching or hear about this should focus on these two women who are leading us on this multibillion-dollar bill.

I am so, I guess, enthralled with it. Walking into this Chamber and seeing these women lead this committee, I know--and I say this wherever I go, if I have the opportunity--we do much better work as a result of women becoming more a part of our legislative body. As far as I am concerned, there are no two better Senators than these two women who are on the Senate floor today directing what we should do in spending for our military construction throughout the world.

Mr. President, I rise to commemorate an occasion that is becoming more important with every passing year.

In 1968, Congress designated the week of September 15 Hispanic Heritage Week. The celebration was subsequently extended to include the entire month from September 15 to October 15.

September 15 was chosen as the opening of Hispanic Heritage Month to honor the independence day of several Latin American countries including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The nations of Mexico and Chile also gained their independence on September 16 and 18, respectively.

Today, Hispanic Heritage Month not only recognizes and celebrates the important contributions that Latinos make to our Nation's cultural, economic, and political life, it also reminds us of the strength we draw from diversity.

People all over the world have flocked to America in search of freedom and opportunity. This has made us one of the most diverse countries on earth, and Latinos are an important part of that diversity.

Hispanics in the United States are not one monolithic, homogeneous group. In fact, they come from many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Latinos in the United States can trace their ancestry to more than 20 countries and territories, spanning an area of thousands of miles, from as far north as Puerto Rico to as far south as Argentina, and encompassing a wide array of cultures and histories.

The families of some Hispanics have been in this land since the 16th Century. Others are newcomers to our Nation, drawn by the same sense of hope that has always made America a beacon for immigrants.

Some Latinos speak Spanish. Others speak only English, and many are conversant in both languages.

But taken as a whole, Latinos in the United States reflect the diversity and breadth of Hispanic culture and history.

Today, Latinos are not simply a small isolated minority group in our country; rather they take part in every aspect of American life.

Many prominent American citizens are Latinos.

People like Cesar Chavez, founder of the United Farm Workers Association; Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico; Julia Alvarez, internationally recognized author of ``In the Time of the Butterflies;'' and John Leguizamo, actor and 2004 recipient of the Hispanic Heritage Award in the Arts have made great social, political and artistic contributions to this Nation.

Latinos are also active in every facet of business.

They are the entrepreneurs of family companies and the CEOs of large corporations. They are bankers and builders, manufacturers and marketers.

So there is no way to stereotype Hispanics, they are simply too diverse.

But beneath that diversity, I believe there are some strong values that are shared not only by Americans with Hispanic heritage, but by Americans of all backgrounds.

We all believe in opportunity.

Every person should have a chance to realize his or her dreams.

The power of that idea has propelled the United States from an upstart nation to the most powerful country on earth. And it is just as powerful today as it was 228 years ago.

We all believe in hard work. Every individual deserves an opportunity, but then it is up to the individual to make the most of that opportunity.

And we all know that our families are a source of strength and inspiration. The love of our families sustains us, and drives us to make the world better for our children and grandchildren.

Nevada has a particularly strong historical connection to Hispanic culture. Latinos have been in my State since long before the United States gained independence.

In fact, there were Mexicans working in some of the oldest mining claims in the State and they contributed greatly to Nevada's mining industry.

One of the richest silver mines in the world, the Comstock Mine near Virgina City, was first discovered by Ignacio Paredes from the State of Sonora in Mexico.

It was Sonoran miners who introduced the use of a pan for creek bed mining, and the process known as ``dry digging'' that facilitates mining in areas where water is scarce.

Hispanics also played a role in the early days of the hospitality industry in Nevada. A man of Mexican decent by the name of Bony Aguilar is considered one of the pioneers of the tourism and entertainment industry in my State.

Originally a miner, Bony Aguilar settled in Silver Peak Marsh in 1870, where he built a resort and saloon along with a bathhouse that utilized the natural hot springs at the site.

The resort prospered and people came from across the State to enjoy the hot springs, hear Mr. Aguilar's stories, and stay at the resort.

Mexican workers played an integral role in the construction of the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad that gave the city of Las Vegas its beginnings.

And Mexicans were among some of the first residents of Las Vegas.

Hispanics were also involved in early ranching in Nevada. The Altube brothers, although of Spanish decent, came to Nevada via South America.

They established the Spanish Ranch in northeastern Nevada and employed

many Mexican cowboys, who were known to be some of the best in the State.

The Spanish Ranch became one of the largest ranches in the history of Nevada, encompassing 60,000 acres.

The important role of Latinos in Nevada has continued right up to this day. In 1976 a small group of Cuban Americans established the Latin Chamber of Commerce in Las Vegas with the goal of promoting the economic advancement of the Latino community and the State of Nevada.

Since then the Latin Chamber of Commerce has played an important role in Nevada's Hispanic community. Its members have successfully advocated for educational equality and equal government hiring practices.

In the Reno area, the Northern Nevada Hispanic Chamber is also a strong force for progress.

These are just a few of the contributions that Hispanics have made to Nevada.

As you can see, Hispanics have been in Nevada since before it became a State, and they continue to play an important role today both in my State and throughout the country.

I would like to commend Dr. M. L. Miranda for his pioneering scholarship of Hispanics in Nevada. Without his original research, there would be little acknowledgement of the influence of Hispanics throughout Nevada's history.

I would also like to acknowledge the many Hispanics serving in our armed forces.

This is a critical time in our Nation's history, and our troops are deployed all around the world. Many Latinos have followed the call to service, and they risk their lives every day in defense of our freedom at home.

I am sincerely grateful to all those who leave their families behind to serve their country.

On this, the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, I am honored to have been able to share with you the stories of some of the Hispanics that helped establish the ``Battle-Born state,'' and to pay tribute to the diversity of this great Nation.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Alejandro Fernandez as one of Mexico's leading musical performers and a strong supporter of philanthropic causes throughout the world.

A Latin Grammy award winner, Mr. Fernandez is among Mexico's most famous balladeers. He has entertained sold-out audiences throughout the world and is performing in Las Vegas today in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Alejandro's musical talent is hardly surprising. His father, Vicente Fernandez, is a legend in Mexico as the undisputed king of the style of music called ``ranchera.''

Alejandro Fernandez has contributed tremendously to global music and culture and has also used his fame to support many charitable endeavors. He has worked with the Ronald McDonald House Foundation Charity to support the Hispanic American Commitment to Education Resources scholarship program, the Nation's largest scholarship program for Hispanic students. Mr. Fernandez also has been a strong supporter of World Children's Day, a global fundraising effort that benefits the Ronald McDonald House Foundation Charity and other children's organizations in over 100 countries.

I hope my colleagues will join me in thanking Alejandro Fernandez for sharing his tremendous musical talents with the citizens of Las Vegas today and for his efforts to support charitable programs throughout the world.

Mr. President, I think the work that we did this past several days on the Homeland Security appropriations bill should set the tone and the direction that we can take the next few weeks to complete any number of appropriations bills. If we continue with the same bipartisan spirit that we have had before--I know we have had a lot of extraneous matters, just dealing with the matters dealing with the appropriations bills as we started the Homeland Security appropriations bill with more than 200 amendments. We were able to work through those. I don't know how many votes we had, but we had a lot of votes. I would hope that next week we can make some serious progress on some of these appropriations bills before we get into the last 2 weeks of being here when we have to deal with the September 11 report and other such matters. We have the right to pat ourselves on the back for the work we have done the last few days in the Senate relating to this appropriations process.

And I say this, too: Senator Byrd and Senator Stevens did some good work in allowing Members to get to this work, along with you and Senator Daschle, so the whole body should be favorably inclined. This has been hard work. We read off a few words, but it is easier to read them than what it took to write this down. I personally appreciate the work of the two leaders of the Appropriations Committee and the Democratic and Republican leaders in their work.

Mr. President, the energy committee, Senators Domenici and Bingaman, are to be congratulated. I say that because usually the committee waits until the very last minute, and then we have a load of bills that can't be lifted. There are scores of them. This was a large number of bills, and they did them now.

Being from a public lands State where 87 percent of the land is owned by the Federal Government, the committee did the right thing. When we get ready to recess, there will be another big batch we will have to take a look at. But it will lessen the burden that we have in the waning hours of getting out of here trying to work through all of these bills. I didn't add them up, but there are probably over 40 bills we needed to dispose of to send them to the House tonight. The number is 44, I am told.

This is good work. The committee should be congratulated, and that is what I am doing now.

Mr. President, I personally appreciate the distinguished Republican leader having a pro forma session tomorrow and our being out on Friday. We don't recognize often enough publicly the great work that the staff does. These people around here work so hard, work such long hours. After we go, many of them are still around here making sure the journals are correct, and there are many other things they do. In addition, because of the terrorism threat, we have all these security people here. I personally appreciate the distinguished Republican leader not having a full-blown session tomorrow.

Will the Senator yield?

Mr. President, I am so gratified to hear the leader speaking on this topic.

Yesterday, we had a vote that took 45 minutes. I suggested to the floor staff maybe we should do away with the 15-minute limitation and wait until the last person shows up. It is unfair to this body. I don't think the leader should plead with people to come. They would come very quickly if we start cutting off the votes. It is unfair to this body to wait around here while somebody is finishing a phone call or a workout in the gym while the rest of us are waiting to get work done.

Also, if I could, through the Chair, we want to finish this Homeland Security appropriations bill. We have been working through these numerous amendments. We are at a point where I believe we could finalize this bill.

Finally, as the leader knows, we wanted to have a cutoff on this. I understand the leader decided yesterday to take a look at it to see if there is something we could do to help the situation in Florida through this bill. I said yesterday--and still say this--let's finish this bill. We want to help Florida as much as we can, but I think, by trying to tie these two things together, it is not going to work very well.

I respectfully submit to the leader, let's try to push forward and have a timeline when we can finish this bill. It is an important piece of legislation. We understand that. But it would set such a good tone if we could finish that prior to the holiday beginning tomorrow.

On behalf of Senator Daschle, I yield 10 minutes to the Senator from Illinois, and following him 15 minutes to the Senator from Massachusetts, Mr. Kennedy.

Will the Senator from Massachusetts allow the Senator from Michigan 2 minutes?

Senator Kennedy still has 15 minutes. The Senator from Michigan has 2 minutes.

Mr. President, I yield our additional 5 minutes to Senator Kennedy, for a total of 20 minutes.

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

Mr. President, Senator Schumer has asked for 5 minutes and I have no objection to that. The other Senator from New York may wish additional time.

The Senator from New York wishes 5 minutes.

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.

No objection.

Mr. President, I direct a question through the Chair to the distinguished manager of the bill. On this side, we still have every intention to try to finish this bill tonight. Unless something comes up we do not know about, it is my understanding that the manager also feels the same way. So if people have amendments--for example, I talked to a couple of my Senators this afternoon and they said, well, we will do it later. Everyone should know later is here. We are now at that time. Later is right now. This would be an appropriate time for someone to come over and offer an amendment as we speak. We would set what is pending aside, lay that down. It is my understanding the manager of the bill wants to move through these pending amendments as quickly as possible. We have several amendments after we finish this block of votes that are still outstanding. That is going to get us into the evening time. So if people still have amendments they want to offer, they should get over here and do that.

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.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Amendment No. 3629

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.

The ACTING PRESIDENT Pro Tempore. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote?

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

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Amendment No. 3649

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

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

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.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, could I ask my friend to withhold? We have a unanimous consent request that Members have been waiting on for a while.

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.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Will the Senator yield?

Mr. President, I ask that the unanimous consent agreement be amended so that all succeeding votes be 10 minutes in duration.

I thank the Chair.

Vote on Amendment No. 3656

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.

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.

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.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Amendments Nos. 3614, 3643, 3644, 3646, 3647, and 3648, En Bloc

Mr. President, amendment No. 3653 is at the desk. I send a modification to that amendment to the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

I move to reconsider the vote.

Will the Senator yield?

Mr. President, we worked real hard today. It is my understanding we will have no votes tomorrow.

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.