Floor Statements

I want to make a couple of other efforts here. The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act will help provide support services to women suffering from postpartum depression and psychosis and will also help educate mothers and their families about these conditions. It will support research into the causes, diagnosis, and treatments for postpartum depression. This is something Senator Menendez and others feel extremely strongly about. This matter passed the House of Representatives 382 to 3. Senator Coburn repeatedly blocked the Senate HELP Committee action on the Senate companion bill.

I ask unanimous consent that the HELP Committee be discharged of S. 1375; that the Senate immediately proceed to S. 1375; that all after the enacting clause be stricken and that an amendment at the desk consisting of the text of subtitle (d) of title I of S. 3297 be inserted in lieu thereof; that the amendment be considered, agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and a motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate.

The next bill I wish to seek unanimous consent on is the STOP Stroke Act. The Cochran-Kennedy STOP Stroke Act will help establish comprehensive systems of stroke care in health care settings and improve the education of first responders to ensure that patients presenting with signs or symptoms of a stroke will receive the highest quality care. The legislation was approved unanimously by the House in 2002. In the last year, it has been approved by voice votes in the Senate and House committees and on the House floor.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate HELP Committee be discharged of H.R. 477; the Senate immediately proceed to the bill; that the bill be read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and that there be no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, we are now moving to title II in the Advancing America's Priorities Act, which was a set of Judiciary Committee bills blocked by Senator Coburn and supported by the Republicans. The bills Senator Coburn blocked included the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, to help solve unsolved civil rights- era crimes; the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act; the reauthorization of the successful Drug Endangered Children Program, to help kids who are victims of the drug trade; the PROTECT Our Children Act, to stop dangerous Internet child predators, molesters, and pornographers.

Each of these bills passed the House with broad bipartisan support. Of course they have broad bipartisan support here. Procedurally, we have been blocked because of Senator Coburn, and being procedurally supported by his Republican colleagues. I hope we can pass some of these.

Let's talk about the child pornography prosecution bills. These bills will increase the penalties for child pornography and change the criminal law to make it easier to convict these people. It is amazing that they have been blocked for so long. Hopefully we can get them completed. We have combined them into a single bill to speed enactment. I hope we are clear on these.

I ask unanimous consent that H.R. 4120 be discharged from the Judiciary Committee; that the Senate immediately proceed to the bill; that all after the enacting clause be stricken and an amendment at the desk consisting of text of subtitles (d) and (e) of title II of S. 3297 be inserted in lieu thereof; that the amendment be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

This is not the PROTECT Act. These are on child pornography. This is not the PROTECT Act.

Another bill in the Judiciary Committee title package was a bill that reauthorized the Drug Endangered Children Program. There may be families who have not been affected by drugs in some way. It may not be their immediate family. It may be some distant family members, it could be neighbors. But my nephew died of a drug overdose. He had a problem from his time as a teenager until he died at the age of 38 or so. There is a terrible problem with illegal drugs; it leaves many victims. Many are innocent children who are found in homes, hotels, automobiles. My nephew died in a sleazy motel. Among those are innocent children who are found, as I have indicated, in homes, hotels, automobiles, and apartments where all kinds of illegal substances are produced.

The product that is causing so much problem now is meth, methamphetamine. This bipartisan bill would authorize the Department of Justice to award $20 million per year--remember, this authorizes it--in grants designated to improve coordination among law enforcement, prosecutors, child protection services, social service agencies, and health care providers to help transition these drug-endangered children into safe residential environments.

I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 1199 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; that the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; that there be no intervening action or debate.

One of the bills in this package that has been languishing for well over a year--and I think it is shameful that is, in fact, the case--is the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act.

Emmett Till was a 14-year-old boy from Chicago visiting his relatives in Money, MS, way back in 1955 when he was brutally mutilated and killed for whistling at a white woman. Remember, his courageous mother, wanting everyone to see the brutality of how her boy was killed, had an open casket. That open casket said it all.

The killers in this case, like so many others during that time, were never

punished for their violent, treacherous acts. However, by passing this Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act, the Justice Department will have the tools necessary to investigate and prosecute violations of the civil rights statutes in which the alleged violation occurred before January 1 of 1970 and resulted in death.

The bill has broad bipartisan support. I hope we can pass the House- passed bill. That way, the bill will be signed by the President immediately.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 237, H.R. 293, that the bill be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate.

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. McCaskill.) Is there objection?

That is right.

Madam President, again, as has happened during this long process where these bills have languished, we keep getting suggestions for changes. We make them, and it does not make any difference. And last night, again, Senator Coburn suggested a change. We certainly can go along with that. We will make the change, send it over to you, and take a look at it.

I want to take a minute to talk about another one of the 34 pieces of legislation that is so important. Its name is ``PROTECT Our Children Act,'' or the PROTECT Act. This bill seeks to increase the prosecution of individuals producing and trading in child pornography by providing funding to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

The Crimes Against Children Task Force has developed the ability to identify individuals in the online distribution of child pornography but lacks the manpower needed to pursue and prosecute the offenders. This bill would give the Crimes Against Children Task Force the resources it needs.

This bill would also help promote coordination and strategic planning of Government resources to catch child predators by requiring DOJ to develop and implement a national strategy to combat child exploitation.

This bill would go a long way toward rescuing the thousands of children who are being exploited by child predators. Studies show that 30 percent of the people identified by the Crimes Against Children Task Force are actively engaged in molesting a child. Yet, right now, of the over 500,000 known cases, we are investigating 2 percent of them because law enforcement does not have the resources to do more.

This legislation was introduced in October 2007 and passed the House about a year ago, 415 to 2. The Senate companion legislation passed the Judiciary Committee. The Senate bill Republican cosponsors include Senators Stevens, Hatch, Hutchison, and Murkowski. So it is the right thing to do to pass this bill.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 862, S. 1738, that a substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate.

That is right. The reason it doesn't--there are lots of reasons it doesn't, but we have a letter from the Justice Department. The Justice Department--Bush's Justice Department we all know about-- decided to take a look at that. Even the Bush Justice Department said this needs a lot more work. Keep in mind, I have described in detail what we are trying to do. The SAFE Act the Senator is talking about is a different piece of legislation, and it should not be tied into what we are trying to do with this child pornography thing. I would hope we would get this done. We will be happy to work with the Justice Department and everybody else to see if we can work something out on the SAFE Act. It is not yet ready for passage. We all agree there is a need to combat Internet pornography. But important questions about the text of Senator Coburn's proposed legislation must be answered. We have questions. I used the Justice Department as an example. It is not only us. It is the Bush Justice Department. While some version of the SAFE Act might pass, let's not fool ourselves. The SAFE Act will help develop leads, but right now only 2 percent of all cases are investigated because law enforcement does not have the resources. The SAFE Act does absolutely nothing to bolster law enforcement resources. The PROTECT Act fills the known hole that has resulted in 98 percent of existing leads on child predators to go uninvestigated.

The Judiciary Committee, the committee of jurisdiction, has not held a hearing on the SAFE Act. It has not been the subject of committee markup. I don't believe any Republican on the committee even formally asked for a markup. It is ironic that Senator Coburn, the self- designated champion of insisting that bills be scrutinized before passage, now wants to circumvent the legislative process for a bill he never even bothered to raise in committee.

The Justice Department has serious concerns about this act. In a six- page letter sent last year, DOJ made numerous suggestions for improving the text of the bill. Some of the suggestions were addressed in the House version of the bill but many were not. In addition, officials from the Internet service providers that would implement this new law have raised important practical questions. They are concerned about vague definitions and requirements in the bill. There is no point in rushing to pass a bill that will be ineffective or struck down by the courts as unconstitutionally vague.

Last week, I asked my staff to convene a group of Republican and Democratic staffers to try to revise the text of the bill in light of the concerns expressed by the Department of Justice and others. Senator Coburn's staff is part of that effort. I am hopeful we can reach bipartisan agreement on the SAFE Act. The staff negotiations are ongoing. We will continue to work in good faith to get this bill in shape, but we are not there yet. Meanwhile, we are there on the PROTECT Act. It is ready to go. It has been for a long time. We can pass it today and get it to the President's desk immediately.

It is interesting how my friend isn't interested in the authorization of money this takes. It is obvious from what we have heard from my friend, supported by his Republican colleagues, that these important pieces of legislation have been held up and are continuing to be held up. That is unfortunate. We have not a single piece of legislation today that has been approved. That is the way it is, this arrangement. I hope the Republicans accept what they have done. They have supported this. The Republicans have

supported Senator Coburn's blocking bills that have passed overwhelmingly in the House. They would pass overwhelmingly here, but Republicans are supporting his procedural blockage of these bills.

Another bill is the Runaway and Homeless Youth Protection Act. It would help combat youth homelessness and help protect vulnerable runaway youth. The prevalence of homelessness among young people is high. Recent studies have suggested that more than 2 million young people either run away or are thrown out of homes each year. Many of them become homeless. That this problem continues in the richest country in the world means we need to redouble our commitment and efforts to safeguard our kids.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 751, Calendar No. 2982; that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the text of subtitle (a) of title II of S. 3297 be inserted in lieu thereof; that the amendment be considered agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and there be no intervening action or debate.

One of the other bills is the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act. This bill was introduced by Senator Domenici, who has been a leading advocate throughout his Senate career on issues relating to people who are mentally and emotionally ill. This bill would help ensure that offenders who are mentally ill get the treatment they need. It would provide training and resources to State and local criminal justice systems. The House bill didn't even have a vote. It passed by voice vote, it was so overwhelmingly popular.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 622, S. 2304; that the bill, as amended by committee, be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, there is a homeland security bill in the package that Senator Coburn's office has objected to, being supported by his Republican colleagues. This legislation would establish two programs to assist African Americans and others in conducting genealogical and historical research. It would require the Archivist of the United States to establish, as part of the National Archives, an electronically searchable database and of historic records of servitude, emancipation, and post-Civil War reconstruction contained within Federal agencies. The bill would also require the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to provide grants to States, colleges, universities, libraries, museums, and genealogical associations to preserve records and establish databases of local records of such information. The bill passed the House 414 to 1.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of subtitle (b) of title VI of S. 3297, that we proceed to that, that the bill be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and there be no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, directing a question to my friend. He has indicated he is going to look at these. When should we come back and see if we can get some of them done?

One last thing, again, we have been told by our staffs that the ALS question you had has been all taken care of. I assume you will take a look at that and see if that, in fact, is the case.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Calendar No. 518, the ALS Registry Act, that all after the enacting clause be stricken and that an amendment at the desk, consisting of a compromise amendment based on the language of subtitle A of title I of S. 3297 be inserted in lieu thereof; that the amendment be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

Madam President, let me say, as Senator Coburn leaves the floor, he knows there isn't a single bit of my mind or body that has any ill will toward him. He does this. I disagree with his doing this. He has a right to do this. My objection is not with him. It is his colleagues who procedurally support him in this. I want him to know our relationship is very good. I like him. The fact that I like him doesn't take away from my ability to disagree with him. Again, I would hope that maybe later today we can come here and pass some of these other bills we have tried to do today.

Mr. President, if I could direct a question to my friend, the chairman of the Budget Committee. We already had this vote. Do we need another one? It is obvious it is not going to get it. I committed to the House we would have a vote. What purpose is there of this vote? We have already proven we cannot get 60 votes, so why do we need another vote?

Mr. President, for the benefit of all Members, we are going to shortly have our last vote of the evening. The work we have accomplished today is historic. This is the ninth time we voted on renewing and extending the renewable tax credits. We finally did it.

We are going to send over to the House a package that is remarkably good, a 2-year extension of the business tax extensions that are so necessary. For the first time in a long time, it is not 1 year, it is 2 years. The business community thinks this is extremely important, as do

I think I have covered everything we need to do before we leave. Again, I would say it is not a question of us leaving on a given day or time, but it is a question of being able to complete our work before we go, and we have an opportunity to do that.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session and that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from the following, and the Senate proceed to their consideration, en bloc: PN2053, Senator Bill Nelson, to be a Representative of the United States to the 63rd Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, and PN2054, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, to be a Representative of the United States to the 63rd Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations; that the nominations be confirmed and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, en bloc; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; that no other motion be in order; and that the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to a period for the transaction of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. As previously announced, there will be no rollcall votes today.

Last week, we were able to reach an agreement to consider H.R. 6049, the tax extenders legislation. Following morning business tomorrow, the Senate will consider three amendments to the bill, with limited debate and votes in relation to the amendments. Senators should expect the first amendment vote to occur prior to the caucus lunches and the remaining votes in the afternoon. One of the things to consider now is maybe not having morning business tomorrow to move this along more rapidly.

The Republican leader is seeking recognition, and when he finishes, I will give a few remarks.

Mr. President, I wish to make my statement before morning business starts.

Mr. President, this weekend the Bush administration sent to Congress its plan to address our country's growing economic crisis. All my Democratic colleagues in the Senate understand the need to take action to steady our economy, and we are prepared to act swiftly and responsibly to pass legislation that puts interest in the security of the American people first. We know, for example, that last year 2\1/2\ million Americans secured mortgages, and nearly half of all college students secured loans so they could go to school. The consequences of a broken banking system, devoid of loans for homes, college tuition, automobiles, and business investment would be devastating. We are prepared to do what is necessary to avoid these unacceptable consequences, but we will not let haste abandon good judgment in the process.

The Bush administration has called on Congress to rubberstamp its bill without serious debate or efforts to improve it. We can't let that happen. The legislation sent to the Congress by the Treasury Department recognizes the scope of the crisis the Bush administration created, a view that we share with Secretary Paulson. The Bush administration's bill is a starting point but by no means the final product.

Democrats believe there should be protection for the taxpayers who are footing the bill for this legislation. That begins with more oversight, more transparency, more accountability, and more controls to prevent conflicts of interest. Democrats believe there should be limits on compensation for company executives who benefit from this legislation so the American people don't see their tax dollars spent on exorbitant corporate pay and even golden parachutes. The American people earn their pay through honest hard work and so should CEOs.

What is a golden parachute? It is a method of compensating executives when they leave their companies. It would be wrong for these employees--these managers who are leaving their companies--to get huge amounts of money for simply leaving. This legislation should prevent that.

We believe that in exchange for shouldering the enormous burden of the Bush plan, taxpayers should reap any future economic rewards. That is what happened when we bailed out the savings and loans. It should happen here. That means this plan should not permit taxpayer money to purchase an asset at an inflated price exclusively for the benefit of private shareholders.

Democrats believe this legislation affects not just the American economy but the global economy, and we will call upon other nations to do their part. But one of the provisions suggested in this bill is that we would spend money to bail out foreign banks. I think we have to be very careful with that.

We believe this legislation should provide aid for Americans at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. As the law currently stands, the wealthiest Americans can seek mortgage assistance from a bankruptcy judge to help keep their second, their third, their fourth, their fifth, their sixth, even their seventh home, but working families can't seek mortgage relief from a bankruptcy judge for their first and only home--their primary residence. That makes no sense, and we should change it. Bankruptcy court should have the authority to reach mutually beneficial arrangements to allow families to keep their homes and prevent more foreclosures.

We believe it is not enough to fund a Wall Street bailout. We need an economic recovery plan to create jobs, provide better unemployment insurance, and invest in our country's infrastructure. Now, such a plan has to be voted upon before we adjourn, either as part of this legislation or separately. These steps will help catalyze long-term economic growth once the dust on Wall Street settles.

Democrats in Congress fully understand the severity of the situation and the need to pass legislation, but we are not willing to give President Bush a blank check. We are now seeing 8 years of reckless Bush economic policies come crashing down with unimaginable speed and severity. This crisis puts our economy and the well-being of the American people in serious jeopardy.

President Bush said on Friday we should assign blame later. What else is he going to say? Of course, he would say exactly that because he is the culprit of the crisis. What else would the culprit say?

The American people have a right to know what brought us to this grave economic danger. The answer is the President and a Republican Congress determined to repeal all reasonable oversight and accountability and ignore what they couldn't repeal and allow corporate greed and recklessness to saturate our economy. Democratic and Republican Presidents who served before President Bush all understood that demanding accountability from the financial sector is not somehow anticapitalist but the opposite: It maintains balance, protects taxpayers, and keeps our economy running smoothly.

The greed-fueled Bush-Cheney economy thought they knew better. They put cronies and idealogues in charge of our most critical regulatory agencies, people who disdain Government oversight of any kind and systematically put Wall Street ahead of Main Street. One example of this irresponsibility: The Bush administration refused to provide oversight of the mortgage industry to ensure the rules were followed. The result was massive fraud, predatory lending, and a practice of preying on American families with deceptive, dishonest loans.

Now, we all know the banking industry has been deregulated, and the few regulations left were not in force. But now we find an article written by Senator McCain in one of the health journals saying he thinks the health care industry should be deregulated just like the bank industry. How about that. It is in writing. President ``Wannabe'' McCain has written an article saying we should treat the health industry just like the banking industry. Now, that is enough said about how Senator McCain is going the take care of the problems of this country economically.

This hands-off, business-first, Bush-Cheney economic philosophy infiltrated nearly all aspects of the economy--from mortgages to consumer safety to the airline industry--and the people of America are now left to suffer the consequences. This morning, Monday, the first day of autumn, President Bush released a statement preemptively criticizing Democrats for working to improve his plan. If the President is serious about reaching an effective, bipartisan solution to the economic crisis he and his people created, he should join us in solving the crisis he created.

We Democrats in the Senate are not going to drag our feet. We will respond with the urgency of action this situation demands. But after 8 years of a fiscal dereliction of duty, it is time for accountability. It has taken 8 years of this dereliction of duty. Should we resolve the issue in 1 day? I think not.

Democrats understand the two primary responsibilities of Government are to protect the physical and fiscal well-being of the people. Whatever the ultimate cost of this legislation, we always remember these funds don't come from some nameless Government account. Every dollar comes directly out of the pocket of every American taxpayer; every dollar that should have been saved for someone's secure retirement, every dollar that could have been invested in health care for the uninsured or education for students or to fund a small business startup. We Democrats understand the value of each and every dollar spent on this plan because we know each and every dollar comes from the American people. We will work unending hours in a bipartisan manner to ensure this legislation doesn't just get done but that we get it done right. s