Floor Statements

I object.

I withdraw my objection.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I would like to spread on the record the fact that I want to congratulate the majority whip, Senator McConnell, for his elevation to this job. I look forward to working with him. We have worked together on a number of issues over the years, and I have found him to be a gentleman and a good legislator. There is so much we have to do this year in this Congress. A lot that happens will depend on how he and I manage the floor. I am very happy he is going to be spending a lot of time on the floor. I look forward to working with him. With his advocacy and the work that I hope I will be able to do, we should be able to move the legislation along, maybe better than it has in the past. So I look forward to working with Senator McConnell. He was in a meeting that I attended yesterday with the President, and it was clear that we have so much to do for the good of the country. I hope we can set aside partisan differences most of the time and look forward to accomplishing what the people in this country--those from Kentucky, Nevada, and Georgia--really need.

Senator Daschle and I pledge our support to do that and I hope we can do that in the months to come.

Mr. President, before the majority leader leaves, as the leader knows, we had a very productive meeting with the President yesterday. We left there with the feeling of bipartisanship that we should have with us today. We would hope, with the chairman of the very important Appropriations Committee, the President pro tempore of the Senate, being on the

floor today, that we can make it possible so he and Senator Byrd can lead us in completing that appropriations process.

So we look forward to working with you. Hopefully, we can get this done in the near future.

Mr. President, after the Chair announces the period of morning business, I ask unanimous consent I be recognized in morning business, and then the Senator from New Hampshire, Mr. Gregg, be recognized for up to 40 minutes.

Mr. President, we did have a meeting with the President yesterday. It was one where we talked about the things that need to be done. The people who were at the meeting are experienced and understand the legislative perils we face on a daily basis. But we also recognize there are things that need to be done for the country, and we have to work toward that.

I want to just briefly mention today that Senator Daschle introduced, on behalf of the Democratic caucus, bills that we believe are extremely important to pass. These are not necessarily in the order of importance, but the first bill introduced was S. 6, the Comprehensive Homeland Security Act.

Basically, this bill builds on legislative initiatives that were passed in the 107th Congress. It would authorize funding for important programs. We have big holes in our security blanket. We have to do something about chemical security, domestic nuclear plants. We have to do something about rail security, security of water treatment works, and border security efforts to combat terrorism generally. This legislation is, in my opinion, a must-do piece of legislation.

Prescription drugs has been talked about endlessly, with nothing having been done. It is so important that we pass legislation that makes Medicare a more meaningful, modern piece of legislation for our senior citizens.

When the Medicare legislation passed in 1965, there was really no need for prescription drugs because they were not used as they are today to make people more comfortable, to save lives, and to prevent disease. But now that is part of the basic treatment that seniors have.

The average senior has 18 prescriptions filled every year. As a result, they pay large amounts out of their pocket for prescription drugs. What we have to do is provide a prescription drug benefit as part of Medicare. We need to do that and also in the process preserve Medicare. Medicare is not a perfect program, but it is a good program. People are saying it is about to go broke. Medicare is not about to go broke. And always remember that Medicare is a pay-as-you-go program. We continually have to refund and figure out ways to finance Medicare. That is the way it is. It is different than Social Security.

So a prescription drug benefit is important for Medicare. Also, it is important we get ahold of prescription drug prices generally for everybody. Prescription drugs in this country are tremendously expensive, more expensive than in any other country, even though we develop and manufacture and produce most of them. It is not fair we spend more on prescription drugs than other countries. It is not fair they are cheaper in Canada and cheaper in Mexico than they are in the United States.

The Leave No Child Behind Act is something that is an important piece of legislation, but the problem now is that it is not funded. We have to provide full funding for this No Child Left Behind Act. We have to hold States accountable for ensuring that all students have access to educational resources.

We have to guarantee full funding of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.

The Senator from New Hampshire has been a loud advocate for doing something to fund that program. We have to, as part of S. 8, help communities modernize public schools, and there are other things we need to do included in S. 8 that we need to debate and pass this year.

S. 9 is the protection for pensions. This is a buildup of last year's corporate scandals and the 3-year stock market decline. They have simply highlighted the need to strengthen pension protections. That is what S. 9 is all about.

S. 10 deals with the more than 40 million people who have no health insurance. There are many other people who have inadequate health insurance. We have to do something to provide some way of these people getting decent medical care. Over 40 million people with no health insurance says it all. That is what S. 10 is all about.

As to the Equal Rights and Equal Dignity for Americans Act, we believe that we have to expand hate crimes protection, strengthen enforcement of existing civil rights laws, support legal representation for indigent Americans, and respond to the injustice of racial profiling. That is what S. 16 is all about. It is important legislation that needs to be passed.

Global warming is S. 17. There is no question, there is no debate-- sensibly, logically, intellectually--that global warming is taking place. It is. The question is, what are we going to do about it? That is the key.

We as Democrats talk about the minimum wage. We do it because most people have the stereotype that people who draw the minimum wage are kids flipping hamburgers at McDonald's. That is not the case. In fact, 60 percent of the people who draw the minimum wage are women; for 40 percent of those women, that is the only money they get for them and their families. So it is really important that we do something to increase the minimum wage. The minimum wage act would in two steps raise the minimum wage by $1.50: 75 cents when we pass the legislation; 75 cents after that. It is important we do that.

Many people who work two and sometimes three jobs, most of them part time, are paid the minimum wage. We need to increase that. That is the right thing to do.

I was very happy the leader included in his package of must-do legislation for the Democratic caucus this year the Veterans and Military Personnel Fairness Act. Among other provisions, this includes expanding full concurrent receipt of military retirement. We have made a little bit of progress over the last couple years. Last year we made the most progress, but we are still lacking.

If you retire from the military and have a medical disability, you cannot draw both pensions. Prior to last year, no one could. Last year we provided that people who are Purple Heart recipients basically can. We need to expand that. I was very happy the leader included this legislation that I authored and have worked on very closely with Senators Levin and Warner. It has taken years to get where we are now. We will continue to try to expand until people who retire from the military and have a disability can draw the same pension as somebody who retires from Sears and Roebuck and the Department of Interior and has the military disability. They should be able to draw the pension just the same. We want that to happen.

S. 21, the Emergency Disaster Assistance Act, addresses severe drought and floods, natural disasters farmers and ranchers face all over the country. We need to do more to take care of these desperate people. Time magazine had their pictures of the year. I looked at that last night before going to bed. It is interesting to note that a number of those pictures deal with the drought that has taken place. One picture is of a 67-year-old farmer. For the first time in his career, he has nothing. He said: Farmers know what to do when it rains; we don't know what to do when it doesn't rain.

That is what this legislation is all about. I hope in the spirit of what the majority leader talked about today and the President talked about at the White House yesterday we can work together to pass this legislation.

The majority has pieces of legislation that they believe are important to pass. What we should do is work together. They have pieces of our legislation. Maybe we can work together. That is what we should do to pass the legislation. I don't think there would be many who would disagree that this legislation is important. They may not agree with every part of it, but that is what legislation is about. Legislation is the art of compromise. I hope we can move forward and do some compromising and some legislating.

Before the Senator takes his 40 minutes, I would say to my friends on the Democratic side, prior to their arriving, Senator Gregg asked for 40 minutes of the hour that the Republicans have set aside. He will do that now. Do you want to lock in a time for the two Senators now?

You are entitled to 10. So following the remarks of the Senator from New Hampshire, the Senator from Arkansas will speak. The Senator from Minnesota?

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following the statement of the Senator from New Hampshire, the Senator from Arkansas be recognized for up to 10 minutes and the Senator from Minnesota for up to 15 minutes.

Will the Senator yield?

The Senator has outlined what we have required States to do as a result of Federal legislation. What if school districts decide not to do this?

On the Democratic side we have a number of Senators who have asked for a specific time. I ask unanimous consent on our side, and on an alternating basis if, in fact, there are Republicans who wish to speak, that Senator Boxer first be recognized for 5 minutes, Senator Schumer for 5 minutes, Senator Stabenow for 5 minutes, Senator Dorgan for 5 minutes, Senator Reid of Rhode Island for 5 minutes, Senator Murray for 5 minutes. That is a total, I believe, of 35 minutes, leaving 55 minutes for other Senators on this side of the aisle who wish to speak. The normal procedure is to alternate back and forth on the time evenly divided between now and 5 p.m.

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

Mr. President, we are going to have a vote in a short time. It is going to be a vote on adjourning the Senate. That is what the vote will be.

But in substance it is more than that. We have had a number of Senators here who have requested a vote on adjournment. The reason they have done that is because they believe they should be able to have a vote on unemployment benefits for the people who are not covered in the legislation we just passed. So let there be no mistake, even though this procedurally is a vote on adjourning the Senate, the substantive aspect of this vote is that people who vote to adjourn the Senate today at approximately 5 o'clock will be voting to not allow about 1 million people to have unemployment benefits.

That is what this is about. I have told my friend, my counterpart, that there are a number of people who believed a vote was inappropriate. There are people who have worked on both sides of the aisle not to have a vote today. But there are a number of people who believe the vote is important. I want to make sure, before that vote occurs at 5 o'clock, that people know what the purpose of the vote is.

Mr. President, if I could get the attention of my counterpart, the distinguished Senator from Kentucky, there are Senators here on the floor now. We will have the vote stay open for certainly past 15 minutes. I am wondering if we could go ahead and start the vote now. There is no other business to come before the Senate. There are Members in the Chamber from both sides of the aisle.

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

I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), and the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Kohl) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, prior to our taking a recess, we begged the administration to do something to allow us to pass unemployment benefits for the people we knew would be out of unemployment benefits. We in Nevada now have thousands of people who need those benefits. I heard my friend from New York say there are 150,000 people who need them in her State. I believe that is the figure she used. But regardless, there are thousands and thousands of people all over this country, adding up to a million, who need these benefits.

We on this side of the aisle believe we should do everything. I have to respectfully say to my friend, the majority leader, and his colleagues, the reason they are not going to allow us to vote is we would win the vote. We would win if we were allowed to vote to include all 2 million people who are desperately in need of these unemployment checks. We would win the vote.

I do not believe we should adjourn today until this matter is resolved. We want a vote. The people of America want a vote. The people we are leaving out are the ones who are in most need. There is no question the people we would help by passing this resolution need the help, but the million people are those who are chronically unemployed and are in desperate need of help.

We should not adjourn today until we are allowed to have a vote on this most

important resolution with the amendment that has been offered by the Senator from New York.

Mr. President, no Senator is in the Chamber from the State of Florida or the State of Ohio, but it does not matter who you favored in that game, I think it was one of the finest football games in the history of the world. So this resolution is something that is well done and necessary.