Floor Statements

Mr. President, will the Senator modify his request so all of these votes will be 10-minute votes?

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a man who has had a tremendous impact on southern Nevada, my good friend, Manny Cortez.

I haven't known Manny for years; I have known him for decades. In the 1970s, when I was in State government in Nevada, he was elected to the Clark County Commission. Since those days our paths have crossed many times. He has served on the board of governors of the University Medical Center, the Las Vegas Valley Water District, and other local agencies.

For the past 21 years, he has been the driving force behind the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority--first as a member of the board of directors, and for the last 13 years as President.

It is no exaggeration to say that Manny Cortez is one of the visionaries who made Las Vegas what it is today--the convention and entertainment capital of the world.

In 1991, the year he assumed the leadership of the Convention and Visitors Authority, we had about 21 million visitors in southern Nevada. This year we are on track to almost double that number, with more than 37 million visitors. This is due in no small part to the brilliant promotional campaigns of the Convention and Visitors Authority.

Under Manny's watch at the LVCVA, our town has seen amazing changes. When he took the helm in 1991, the first of the new mega resorts, The Mirage, had just opened a few years earlier. We had about 73,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas.

Within the next few years we witnessed the completion of other major resorts, including the MGM Grand, Bellagio and Mandalay Bay. Today, we have 130,000 hotel rooms, along with three major convention centers.

When our Nation was attacked by terrorists on 9/11, the tourism industry took a serious hit. But Manny didn't panic, and under his steady leadership, Las Vegas bounced back.

Manny has been honored many times, by many groups. Travel Agent magazine named him as its Person of the Year in 1999, calling him ``one of the most astute marketers in the tourism industry.'' He was recently named to the U.S. Commerce Department's Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. But I think the recognition that means the most to Manny is the Clark County Elementary School that was named in his honor in 1999.

Manny has also been a leader of the Hispanic community in Las Vegas. His prominence in the city has sent a clear message that in southern Nevada a person can go as far as their dreams and their talent will take them.

Manny has lived in Las Vegas since 1944, when I was growing up down the road in Searchlight. I feel like I have known him all my life. So it is hard to believe he turned 65 a few months ago and that he is retiring at the end of this month.

It is true, though. Manny is leaving the LVCVB, but he is leaving it in good hands. He recently said that his biggest challenge over the last few years has been to stay out of the way of the great team he has assembled, so they could do their jobs. That is the kind of attitude that has made Manny Cortez such a beloved figure in our community.

I salute my old friend on his retirement, and I look forward to our paths crossing for many more years.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation for its strong commitment to preserving our Nation's artistic and cultural heritage.

Three years ago, as a gift to the Nation, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation generously made possible the acquisition of Gilbert Stuart's iconic ``Lansdowne'' portrait of George Washington for the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, which will reopen on July 4, 2006. In doing so, the Reynolds Foundation not only saved a national treasure but also provided a permanent home where future generations can appreciate this American masterpiece.

The Reynolds Foundation also made possible a 3-year, 8-city tour of the painting. This tour, which visited Las Vegas 2 years ago and is currently in Little Rock, has allowed millions of Americans to personally view a painting that is part of our national heritage.

By providing guides for teachers, newspapers for students, reproductions, reenactors, and history lessons about George Washington, the Foundation ensured an enriching educational experience for young people.

The exhibition of this painting at the Las Vegas Art Museum was not the first time that the generosity of the Reynolds Foundation enriched the lives of Nevadans. The Foundation has given millions of dollars to create the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, and the Donald W. Reynolds Student Services Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It has also supported medical research and health and human services programs.

It is my honor to recognize the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation's many charitable actions. Please join me in thanking the foundation for its generous gift to our Nation.

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to Stan Colton, a man who has dedicated his life to serving the people of Nevada.

Stan hails from my hometown of Searchlight. In fact, he lives there today, on the same property that his grandfather and father owned. He runs a little grocery store and he owns the town's original gold claim, the Duplex.

Stan has served the people of Nevada in many different capacities. He was administrative coordinator in the Clark County District Attorney's office, the Voter Registrar of Clark County, and the Nevada State Treasurer.

After he left the Treasurer's office, Stan worked with the Las Vegas--Clark County library district, where he managed the capital construction program that built 21 new libraries. He retired from that job but came out of retirement a few years ago to help the city of Henderson build a new library.

Stan has also been active in many civic groups, most recently as the President of the Henderson Rotary Club. He is stepping aside on Friday evening, and the members of the club will gather at that time to give him a good sendoff and share their stories about Stan.

Please join me in thanking Stan Colton for his service to the people of Nevada and the Henderson Rotary Club.

Mr. President, families are important to each of us. When you have children, one thing you wish for is that they will marry someone who will fit comfortably into your family.

My daughter-in-law Cindy is celebrating her 40th birthday. She has become such an important part of the close-knit Reid family that I can't imagine what our lives would be like if my son hadn't married her.

Cindy has been a loving and thoughtful partner to my son Rory, and a wonderful mother to my grandchildren, Ryan, Savannah and Mason.

She is an excellent teacher for her children, and a professional college teacher as well. She is a perfectionist of sorts, and when she sees a problem, she doesn't complain . . . she solves the problem.

Cindy's appreciation of literature is a goal I seek. And her opinions about food, music, movies and politics are always insightful.

One of the great blessings of having Cindy in our family has been the opportunity to become friends with her unique and wonderful mother, Helen, and her thoughtful and considerate father, Dean.

On this the celebration of two-score years, Landra and I wish Cindy a world of health and happiness, and the knowledge that she has our support and never-ending love.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Paul Thanos, a legislative fellow in the offices of Maria Cantwell, be granted the privileges of the floor during consideration of the Defense appropriations bill.

Mr. President, the legislation just passed has been 30 years in the making. It deals with Shoshone Indians in the State of Nevada. It is a fund that has grown to about $150 million. Thousands of Indians will benefit from this fund.

These people live in such desperate straits, many of them. Large numbers are on welfare. The places they live in are very difficult.

I want everyone who reads this Record at some subsequent time to know that every entity that is involved with this legislation will receive thousands of dollars. They should also know that we are ready, willing, and able to meet with each one of them. If they have any problem with their land claims, we will work with them. This does not shut down any of their ability to change in some way, claim anything they had relating to land in the future.

I know the time is late, but I must mention Larry Pifero. He is dead. He was on kidney dialysis and died. But he worked so hard on this legislation. Why? Because he wanted his family to wind up with something. And Larry now should know that his family will wind up with something. The other person is Nancy Stewart. She has spent months and months of her life trying to work this out. There were a few dissidents--for lack of a better way to describe them--people who wanted to do anything they could to upset this settlement. They did things that were wrong, but because 95 percent of the Shoshones in the State of Nevada wanted this approval, we had two votes, and they voted for approval.

This is so important. Thousands of Indians have waited. Some, like Larry Pifero, are gone. They will never receive the benefit of this legislation, only their families will. But the Shoshone Indians of Nevada are better off today than they were yesterday. They have the hope of receiving some economic gain from their dealings with the U.S. Federal Government.

I am so happy this has been done. This is a big day for thousands of Nevada Indians.

If the distinguished majority leader will yield, following the meeting with the President this morning, which I had the good fortune of being able to attend, the one message that came out of the meeting to me is that the hero today in Iraq is the Prime Minister of Iraq. He is a man of great courage who has had a number of assassination attempts on his life, even when he did not live in Iraq, because of the people who were trying to get rid of him, and I wish him well. He is a man of courage. To take on this responsibility knowing that the evil forces that are in that country are out to dispense with him says a lot about the kind of man he is.

Speaking personally of the meeting at the White House this morning, I repeat the one thing that came out of that meeting today is the forceful nature of the man who is leading that country as of next Wednesday.

Mr. President, we on this side want to finish this bill. In fact, last night, as we indicated, we agreed to shorten the time to the five amendments that are pending. We want to move forward. We feel we can finish this bill. One of the suggestions--and I have not had a chance to talk to the managers--but rather than having the votes after this stack, we can have another series of amendments when we

finish debate on these, so we would not be interrupted continually with votes.

We are going to do everything within our power to complete this bill as quickly today as possible. There has been this contentious issue raised dealing with delaying amendments. This is not going to hold up this bill. We believe we can dispose of these amendments in a relatively short period of time and go to final passage. The Leahy amendment should not hold up this bill. We have cooperated, we feel, immeasurably. We started out with about 300 amendments, and we have completed work on these. We are waiting to go. We hope the time is shortened, and we will move forward and do the best we can.

I apologize to my friend from Massachusetts. He has a question to ask.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, we on this side express our appreciation to the two managers for this arrangement. It will be most helpful to everyone, and it will help us see the end of this bill. We will have other amendments after we finish the Bond amendment.

No objection.

Madam President, reserving the right to object, I have spoken with the distinguished junior Senator from Michigan, Ms. Stabenow. She has some problems with the way this piece of legislation is written. She thinks there should be more attention focused on fruits and vegetables. She would like to have further discussion with the distinguished senior Senator from Mississippi.

As a result of that, I hope something can be worked out on this. I reluctantly note my objection on behalf of my friend from Michigan.

Could we have these votes, as are the votes preceding this, 10-minute votes?

We yield back our time.

I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, this is a 10-minute vote, is that right?

I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, for years, the plan for missile defense, which is placed in Alaska, provided for 20 interceptors. Suddenly, this year the administration asked for 10 additional interceptors. My amendment will simply fence the acquisition of these interceptors pending operational testing. These interceptors and their warheads have never been used in interceptor tests. They are virtually untested.

The underlying amendment would allow for the acquisition but would condition that on operational testing. I think we will learn a lot from operational testing. I think we should have operational testing. The question is, Why do we want to buy 10 additional interceptors until we learn what we must before we commit to this $500 million acquisition?

I hope my colleagues will support me in this effort.

I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) is necessarily absent.