Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now be in a period for the transaction of morning business for a period of a half hour, that the time be divided equally and I, of course, ask this time count against postcloture time on the FISA matter on which we are working.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, notwithstanding rule XXII, and the pendency of a motion, that a motion to proceed to Calendar No. 836, H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, be considered made by virtue of this agreement and there be 60 minutes of debate on the motion, with the time equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote on a motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed, with the mandatory quorum waived; that if cloture is invoked on the motion to proceed, then all postcloture time be yielded back, the motion to proceed be agreed to, and the Senate proceed to the consideration of the bill; that the bill be read a third time, passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, without further intervening action or debate; that if cloture is not invoked, then the motion to proceed be withdrawn and the bill returned to the calendar; that upon the disposition of H.R. 6331, the Senate then consider the message from the House with respect to H.R. 2642, the Supplemental Appropriations Act; that by virtue of this consent being agreed to, the motion to concur in the House amendments to the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment to the bill be considered made; that Senator Coburn be recognized to raise a point of order and that there be 15 minutes of debate, with 5 minutes each for Coburn and the majority leader and the Republican leader, or their designees; that upon the use of that time, a motion to waive the Budget Act be considered made and the Senate then vote on the motion to waive; that if the waiver is successful, the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to concur; that upon disposition of the motion to concur, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, en bloc, with no further motions in order; provided further, that if the motion to waive fails, then this agreement be null and void.

We would be happy to limit that--the supplemental appropriations bill we are talking about?

On Medicare. I say to my friend, I think Senator Hatch wants to finish his statement, Senator Durbin is here. I think we should do the 60 minutes.

There was no objection to the request; is that right?

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on Tuesday, July 8, at a time to be determined by the majority leader, following consultation with Senator McConnell, all postcloture time be yielded back and the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 827, H.R. 6304, be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and the Senate then proceed to the consideration of the bill; that once the bill is reported, the only amendments in order be the following: Dodd- Feingold-Leahy amendment to strike immunity; a Specter amendment which is relevant; a Bingaman amendment re: staying court cases against telecom companies; that no other amendments be in order; that debate time on the Bingaman amendment be limited to 60 minutes, equally divided and controlled in the usual form, and 2 hours each with respect to the Dodd and Specter amendments, equally divided and controlled, with 10 minutes of the Dodd time under the control of Senator Leahy; that upon the use or yielding back of all time, the Senate proceed to vote on the pending amendments; there be 2 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled in the usual form prior to each vote; that after the first vote in the sequence, succeeding votes be limited to 10 minutes each; that upon the disposition of all amendments, the bill, as amended, if amended, be read a third time and the Senate then proceed to vote on a motion to invoke cloture on the bill, with the mandatory quorum waived; that prior to the cloture vote, there be 60 minutes plus the time specified below for debate time, equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with 10 minutes under the control of Senator Leahy, with an additional 30 minutes under the control of Senator Feingold, with an additional 15 minutes under the control of Senator Dodd; further, that if cloture is invoked on H.R. 6304, then all postcloture time be yielded back, and without further intervening action or debate, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill, as amended, if amended; further, that it be in order to file the cloture motion on the bill at any time prior to the cloture vote, with the mandatory quorum waived, notwithstanding rule XXII, if applicable, and that if applicable, postcloture time be charged during this agreement.

Mr. President, I now send a cloture motion to the desk.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask that the Chair lay before the Senate a message from the House of Representatives with respect to H.R. 3221.

Mr. President, I move that the Senate concur in the amendments of the House striking titles VI through XI to H.R. 3221, and I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Cloture Motion

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote occur at 5 p.m., Monday, July 7, with the hour prior to the cloture vote equally divided and controlled between the chair and ranking member of the Banking Committee, and that no other motions be in order.

Mr. President, let me say this. I had one Senator come to me today and say: You know, why don't we spend more time here? We set out to accomplish certain things. We haven't been able to accomplish everything we wanted, but I say to everyone here, the procedures we just now went through would take, if we followed every step of the procedure of this body, well into late next week. So people should just be satisfied that we are going to be able to have whatever the action is on Medicare, whether it passes or doesn't. At least we are going to have final action on that now, we are going to be able to complete the supplemental, and we have a time set to complete FISA early next week, with people having all the opportunity they want to talk about how great it is and how horrible that bill is.

We also have a pathway so that Senators Shelby and Dodd can complete the housing bill. I think it is a good piece of work. Was it as smooth as I would like? No. As I said when I came here this morning, when I gave the example of going out with my dad as a boy and gathering wood, and we would get stuck in those washes and those back tires would spin and spin, that vehicle was going a thousand miles an hour but going nowhere; it was stuck in sand and nothing would happen, and we would work and put stuff under the tires and push it, and it took a long time but we always got it unstuck. Well, we would have gotten unstuck here; it is just a question of when, and the ``when'' is now.

So I say to the individual who asked me about this, is this something that is real pleasant to watch? Probably not. But for this country, the Senate has been doing this for 230-some-odd years, and that is how it works. We have heard a lot of times, as we watch the legislative process in action, that it is like watching the stuff they put into the hot dog: it is probably not too pleasant to watch, but it tastes pretty good when you chomp on it. That is what this legislation is all about.

I think we are going to have the ability to work on issues important to the

country. We know how important this supplemental is to lots of people in this country. We know how important the FISA legislation is. We know how important the housing bill is. And, of course, we know how important the Medicare bill is. Will they all wind up at a point where everyone in the Senate wants them? Probably not. But at least we have the opportunity to have finality on all of these.

So I extend my appreciation to the people on my side who have agreed to drop amendments and work toward a common goal. As Senator McConnell and I have said here on the floor on a number of occasions, these are difficult times. The Senate is divided 51 to 49. Although we are in the majority, it is a slim majority. And our will has been tested this past year and a half. As we remember very clearly, one of our Senators got very ill before we were even able to swear in the Presiding Officer and others of the nine Democratic Senators and one Republican Senator. But we worked our way through that.

We have worked our way through a lot of difficult issues, and I say to my friend the Republican leader, I know, frankly, that I get upset at him sometimes, but I always try to do it in a way that I hope brings dignity to this body. He has a job to do, I have a job to do, and we will continue to do that. I am happy we have been able to get to the point where we are today.

Mr. President, if the Republican leader has completed his statement, I would ask unanimous consent that the final 20 minutes--10 minutes for Senator McConnell and 10 minutes for me--be reserved for us. If other people want to come and use that time, we will use leader time, but prior to the vote we would ask for the opportunity to speak.

Mr. President, these are some of the organizations that support the Medicare bill now before the Senate. We have the American Association of Retired Persons, the AARP; Alzheimer's Association; the American Academy of Oncology; the American Academy of Audiology; the American Academy of Family Physicians; the American Academy of Opthalmology; American Ambulance Association; American Association of Nurses Anesthetists; American Cancer Society; American College of Cardiology; American Heart Association; American Hospital Association; American Medical Association, the AMA; American Medical Technologists; American Optometric Association; the American Osteopathic Association; American Psychological Association; American Society of Plastic Surgeons; Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids; Cleveland Clinic--to name a few institutions--National Osteoporosis Foundation; National Renal Administrators Association; National Rural Health Association; Parkinson's Action Network; Schizophrenia and Related Disorders Alliance of America; Society for Thoracic Surgeons; Suicide Prevention Action Network; Medical Rights Center; National Community Pharmacists Association.

I ask unanimous consent to print in the Record more than 200 organizations that want every Senator to vote to finish this legislation, to complete this legislation, to pass this legislation.

Mr. President, this bill has many items in it, one of which we call the doctors' fix, which prevents a 10.6-percent pay cut for physicians who participate in Medicare. It provides a payment freeze for 2008 and a 1.1-percent update for 2009. These are very important to the medical community.

The reason this legislation is important is, sure, the doctors should not have to take a pay cut. But the main thing is, this bill does not protect physicians; it protects patients because doctors have been dropping out of Medicare for a long number of years. There are many physicians in America today who will not treat Medicare patients because the payments are too low. But it is a spiraling effect. It is a snowballing effect. Many reimbursements through insurance companies and other organizations are based on what the Medicare reimbursement is. If this is low, then doctors all over the country will be affected. Patients will be affected. People, I repeat, will no longer be able to be treated by their physicians.

We know all these doctors' organizations that are part of this 200- plus organizations I submitted, the reason they are in favor of it is they want their physicians to treat Medicare patients. This will drive people out of Medicare.

We all recognize that President Bush does not like Social Security. He does not like Medicare. He wants them to go away. He wants to privatize Social Security, and he wants to do away with Medicare. This is his effort to do so. But it is the wrong thing to do. It is certainly the wrong thing to do.

This legislation will provide help for rural health care deliverers. Beneficiary investments are significant. Yet there are additional provisions in this legislation for pharmacies, dialysis patients, community health centers, ambulances, rural providers, e-prescribing, psychologist, social workers, and many others.

This is a fine piece of legislation. Remember, we already over here had an opportunity to do work on this bill. Every Democrat voted for it, and nine Republicans. Here is where we find ourselves tonight. Earlier this week, the House passed this identical legislation by a vote of 355 to 59. The Presiding Officer and I served in the House of Representatives. That is an overwhelming vote. It was a bipartisan vote. Democrats and Republicans voted for it. The legislation they passed would help, as I have stated, Medicare beneficiaries and head off looming cuts facing doctors.

Why is Medicare important? My first elective job was on a hospital board. We ran countywide in Clark County, Las Vegas. It was my first elective job. During the time that I was on that hospital board was a transition period. During the time I was there, Medicare passed back here and became the law all over the country. So for a part of my term, there was no Medicare for patients coming into Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital. The rest of the term, it was.

Prior to Medicare passing, 40 percent of the senior citizens who came to that hospital had no insurance. What happened is that wives, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, neighbors, friends would have to sign that they would be responsible for their bill. If they didn't pay the bill, we had an extremely big collection department. It was a county hospital. It was an indigent facility. We would go after those people who would sign that these people needed hospital care.

After Medicare came into being, 99-plus percent of the seniors who come into a hospital have health care through Medicare. It is a wonderful program. Is it a perfect program? No. But is it a program worth following President Bush over the ledge to destroy it? That is what is going to happen tonight, Mr. President. If the Republicans do not support this legislation, they are having Medicare go over the cliff. People will be devastated by what is happening.

We have all had people visit our offices, I hope, this week. They visited mine, talking about how devastating this would be--not to the doctors. The doctors are going to survive with a 10-percent pay cut, most of them. But they are going to drop out of the system. It hurts the patients, and that is what this is all about.

Medicare is an important program. It is part of the legacy of our country, and we know our health care delivery system is in trouble. Medicare is one of the strong parts of it. We should continue it, not destroy it. A ``no'' vote on this legislation tonight is destroying Medicare.

The House bill was very similar to a bill drafted by Senator Baucus and supported by every Senate Democrat and many Senate Republicans earlier this month. We all know the issue must be resolved by July 1. It must be resolved by July 1. Our Republican colleagues argue, there will be other opportunities to address this issue. That, using a term of the marketplace, is a ``loss leader.'' There is no other way to do this. We have to do it tonight or it won't be done. July 1 comes next week. We are out of session next week. The House is out of session now. If not, they will be shortly. There are no other opportunities to address this issue. Some ask for a 30-day extension. A 30-day extension requires passage by this body and the House. The House, if they are not adjourned, soon will be. Both Speaker Pelosi and the House majority leader have issued statements that could not be more clear.

Quoting Speaker Pelosi:

The House will not consider any further Medicare

legislation.

This means that the 30-day extension is not an option, a week extension is not an option, a 10-minute extension is not an option.

The bill we seek to proceed to represents the only chance for Congress to head off the cuts that doctors will face at the end of this month. This is a good piece of legislation.

Some Republicans also say the Senate should have more time to speak on the bill and debate it. Yet the same Senators who make those claims are the ones who voted against proceeding it 2 weeks ago. You can't have it both ways. We asked to proceed to this 2 weeks ago. It was objected to.

We have had an interesting situation in the Senate.

I have a chart I have asked to be brought out here. Obviously, no one is running very hard to bring it, but it should be here quickly.

We have had an unusual situation. This is, it appears, the 79th filibuster. That is too bad: to filibuster something to preserve Medicare? That is what this is all about. It is too bad. This is legislation that is important.

I say to everyone within the sound of my voice, there are no excuses. This is it. You go home and explain to your family physician: Well, I wanted to talk about it more or I wanted a 20-day extension; they would not give it to me.

We have had 79 Republican filibusters, and the sad part about it is, we are still counting. Remember, this is our Velcro chart. Remember, a short time ago, it was 78. We stuck on a ``9'' back there, and I guess when we come back after the recess we will have to peel that off and put on an ``8'' and a ``0.'' Seventy-nine filibusters: untoward. And people who refuse to vote to let this legislation pass are destroying Medicare in the near future--certainly during the next 6 months.

Senate Republicans are playing a dangerous game of chicken, I guess. They have the audacity to say there are other ways of doing this. But in this game of chicken, the only losers will be Medicare patients--old people. Doctors will lose.

The Republicans who choose to block this important bipartisan legislation are going to lose. If there was any doubt that Republicans will regret this path of blindly following on this legislation, one need only look at their own. One need only look at a Congressman by the name of Wally Herger. Wally Herger is a long-time experienced Congressman. He represents the Second District of California. Here is what he did when he realized how good this legislation was. He realized that by blindly following the Republicans--who he thought knew what they were doing in the House--he made a big mistake.

Congressman Wally Herger was one of 59 Members in the entire 435 Members of the House of Representatives--one of 59--to vote against this legislation. Now, this is not some new guy who made a mistake because he did not know what hole to punch in the deal over there. He voted, and as soon as dawn broke in the House, he was on the House floor saying: I made a big mistake. Help me out of the dilemma I am in.

In fact, he was so concerned about this, he sent a letter to all of his constituents in his congressional district. He said, among other things:

From my conversations with House Republican leaders, it was

my understanding that the bill--

The bill we are debating right here tonight; this bill--

voted on by the House was primarily a political exercise. . .

.

It was ``primarily a political exercise.''

And he said:

Clearly, the outcome of today's vote changed the dynamics

of the situation.

Now, this is a direct quote from someone in the House of Representatives, a couple days ago, who voted against this legislation. Here is what he said:

Clearly, the outcome of today's vote changed the dynamics

of the situation. . . . Had I known the process would play

out this way, I would have supported the House bill. And if

the bill comes back to the House for final approval, I intend

to fully support it.

Now, my friend, Wally Herger, whom I know--I used to see him in the House gym--recognizes he has made a big mistake, and he takes a full page and sends this letter to all his constituents saying: I made a big mistake. Forgive me.

So Senate Republicans do not have the luxury of changing their minds like Congressman Herger did because right now you have to make a decision, and you know what the facts are. Wally Herger learned them later. And I am sure the other 58 who voted ``no'' feel the same way. This was an overwhelming vote in the House of Representatives on a totally bipartisan basis to do the right thing for the American people. We must decide now whether to stick with President Bush as lemmings going over the cliff, or should we do the right thing and pass this legislation?

A ``no'' vote will wreak havoc on our health care delivery system in America. And who will it hurt the most? It will hurt the most senior citizens. And it would be too bad as we leave here for 10 days that this legislation will, in the vernacular, go down. It should not. This is legislation that is meritorious. As Wally Herger said, if he had understood the dynamics of this legislation, he would not have voted ``no.''

Mr. President, I believe it is time for the vote.

Cloture Motion

Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider the vote.

Mr. President, we have something that is long overdue. We have an agreement to take care of this. Nelson Mandela will soon be 90 years old, in a matter of days. The old organization he was a member of decades ago--and he is probably still a member, but I am not too sure-- the African National Congress is still treated as a terrorist organization. This takes care of that. We will eliminate that. So the people coming here from that great country, which has done so well for so long now, will be able to come in without being considered terrorists.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed

to the consideration of Calendar No. 852, H.R. 5690.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the matter be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object. We are seeing another partisan game being played on something that affects the American people.

I have laid out in detail what this legislation does and what will happen to the American people if it doesn't pass. Obviously, the Republicans in the Senate have done what they feel is appropriate and that is to wipe out Medicare as we know it today.

People can chuckle all they want, but the senior citizens in America today and the health care delivery system are not chuckling. This is very important.

What has happened in this legislation tonight is detrimental to the health care delivery system, which is precarious at best even now.

There are no winners in their game--the game of the Republicans. It is noteworthy here----

Mr. President, I am objecting, and I will use leader time to make a statement.

It is obvious that everybody can see there were 59 votes in favor of this. We needed 60. They have played this game before, going only to 59, and they are going to try to wiggle out of it some way. The only way to wiggle out of this is to accept this legislation.

My friend, the Republican leader, said he wants Ranking Member Grassley to lead us to a bipartisan agreement. We have a leader. He is called the chairman of the committee. He is the chairman of the Finance Committee, Max Baucus, one of the most experienced Members of this body. And he also has some experience in the other body. He led us to what is the right thing to do.

The majority of the Senate--in fact, 59 Senators--approved what we are trying to do today. I say to all my friends, even if this request were granted and I laid this out in some detail, the House would not be able to pass it.

I wish I could use a better term, but I did not graduate from Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. This is a phony excuse, this is a phony exercise and leads us only down one path--no help for patients and cuts for doctors.

By the way, I don't mean to disparage those schools. They are OK.

If my Republican friends truly wanted to prevent the physician fee cut from taking effect, they would have supported passage of this bill. In the record that is now before this body are more than 200 organizations that are begging that this legislation pass. This is the only bill we can send to the President in time to meet the deadline, the deadline that is established by law, July 1. The House did its work. They passed a bipartisan compromise by a 6-to-1 margin, 355 House Members to 59.

Moreover, even if the 31-day proposal could be passed, it does not solve any problems. It is an administrative nightmare. Medicare physicians and the beneficiaries they serve want the House-passed bill. They are not served by this false proposal.

I, of course, object, as I hope the record reflects, to this request and hope that my Republican colleagues will finally--one more, we only need one, one more Republican will do the right thing. I have said we are all here by virtue of being elected by our respective States. I had out here earlier today our Velcro chart, 79 filibusters. Is it any wonder that the House seats that came up during the off year--Hastert's went Republican, a Republican district that went Democratic; a seat in Louisiana that was a longtime Republican seat went Democratic. Is it any wonder that the State of Mississippi sent us a Democratic House Member? It is no wonder because they see what is going on over here.

I am very sorry for the people of our country that this legislation did not pass. But I want the record spread--Democrats to the number, every one of us, except Senator Kennedy, who is ill, voted for this legislation. If Senator Kennedy was not ill, he would have been here to vote. He would have been the 60th vote. We understand they probably would have peeled off 1 and it would have been 59.

The record should reflect that Democrats support this legislation because it is good for the American people. A majority of the Senate, 59 Members of the Senate, voted for this legislation. We will be back, and my colleagues will have another opportunity to vote for this bill. It will be led by the chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Baucus.

Mr. President, I am sure it was a Freudian slip--59 Democrats voted for this. But next year at this time, there will be 59 Democrats at least. We have a situation where we have a clear bipartisan piece of legislation. How bad could it be? Mr. President, 355 Members of the House of Representatives.

The Founding Fathers set up two equal branches within the legislative branch. The House is just as powerful as we are. They have every right to do what they think is right, as we do, and they, on a bipartisan basis, 6 to 1, passed this bill. We are not jamming anything down anyone's throat. The House of Representatives passed this on a bipartisan basis because it was the right thing to do. We have read into the Record the apology of one of the 59 who recognized he voted wrong, and he apologized.

In just a minute. A veto by the President? Gee whiz, who would be afraid of him? He has a 29-percent approval rating. How in the world could anybody be afraid of him vetoing a bill? I cannot imagine why anyone would care about that.

We have tried to pass tonight on the Senate floor a bill we received from the House of Representatives that was approved by Republicans and Democrats. It has been through the committee process over there and over here as a result of all the work that has been done. And to think at this late hour, recognizing the House is not going to do anything-- the Speaker has told us that. They passed a bill 6 to 1. Why would we even think they would take anything? The Speaker and the majority leader of the House said: We are not going to deal with this anymore.

We are going to have another opportunity--I want everyone over here, all my friends to understand that during the next 10 days, think about how you are going to vote on this the next time because you are going to have that opportunity. You go home and explain to all the 200-plus organizations whose names are in this Record right now, explain to them how you were doing the right thing because you were afraid

President Bush was going to veto a bill.

I will be happy to yield for a question.

Absolute truth.

I say to my friend and I say I don't know how many people are up here for reelection, but I am watching a few of them pretty closely, I say to all these people who are up for reelection: If you think you can go home and say, I voted no because this weak President, the weakest political standing since they have done polling, I voted because I was afraid to override his veto--come on.

Mr President, momentarily, the Senate will move to pass the domestic portion of the emergency supplemental appropriations bill.

After months of negotiation, I am confident that we will pass this legislation by an overwhelming bipartisan margin.

For our troops, for the unemployed, and for those who have suffered from natural disasters and economic hardship, this legislation is a long-overdue victory.

I am glad we have reached this point, but it has not come easily.

My colleagues will recall that when President Bush requested yet another supplemental war funding bill, he said to Congress--give me my war money and not a penny more.

He said that even after appropriating $660 billion for war, any effort by Congress to address our needs here at home would be met with a veto.

Some of our Republican colleagues said--why bother trying--why take the

time to legislate--when the President has made his veto plans clear?

Our answer then was it is our job to legislate.

The Constitution calls for three separate but equal branches of government.

A President's veto threat must not stop us from doing what we think is right.

So we did not blink or back down. We said that after $600 billion spent on Iraq, it is long past time to take care of some problems right here in America.

We did exactly what the Congress is meant to do: we legislated. We negotiated. We compromised.

And because we did, we now stand ready to deliver a major victory for the American people.

After months of inching ever closer--despite some Republicans who said it wasn't worth the cost--we are delivering a new GI bill to our courageous troops.

Some on the other side of the aisle started out opposing this effort. My Republican colleagues from Arizona, South Carolina, and North Carolina opposed it, apparently because they and others felt it was too generous to the troops who serve.

They pursued their own bill, which in my view was but a pale shadow of the GI bill we vote on tonight.

It would have fallen far short of providing our troops what they deserve. In the face of their opposition, we persisted.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the original GI bill into law 64 years ago.

He said at the time that the bill ``Gives emphatic notice to the men and women in our Armed Forces that the American people do not intend to let them down.''

Since President Roosevelt affixed his name to that historic legislation, nearly 8 million veterans have advanced their education, gotten better jobs, and blazed a path to a brighter future for themselves and their families.

Those 8 million men and women have gone on to become teachers, doctors, entrepreneurs and public servants.

Several of our colleagues are among them--Dan Akaka, Chuck Hagel, Dan Inouye, Frank Lautenberg, Ted Stevens, John Warner and Jim Webb.

I don't think it is presumptuous to say that each one of them would credit the GI bill as one reason for what they have achieved.

In his time, President Roosevelt promised to never let our troops down, and today we stand poised to renew and reinvigorate his pledge.

The new GI bill will increase educational benefits for all members of the military who have served on active duty since September 11, including reservists and National Guard.

The years since September 11 have seen our troops strained to a level not seen since Vietnam, so these benefits are hard-earned and well- deserved.

This new GI bill so covers college expenses to match the full cost of an in-state public school, plus books and a stipend for housing.

For those who have said it costs too much, I say our troops have more than earned it.

And every dollar we invest in educating our veterans today comes back to our economy seven times over.

But, new GI bill is not the only important investment this supplemental legislation makes.

It also extends unemployment insurance for all states by 13 weeks and an additional 13 weeks for States with the highest unemployment.

The Congressional Budget Office and many economists say that extending unemployment insurance is among the most effective steps we can take to stimulate the economy.

We have talked for months about the need to help struggling Americans keep their heads above water as our economy continues to flounder. We could have passed this extension months ago, but passing it today is an important step.

This supplemental appropriations bill also: Provides long overdue assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina with matching funds for levee construction, law enforcement, hospitals, homelessness and reconstruction projects in Mississippi; comes to the aid of victims of other natural disasters like floods and droughts that have devastated certain crops; rolls back the Bush administration's attempts to regulate Medicaid into oblivion by blocking six of seven administration regulations aimed at depriving children, the elderly and people with disabilities of critical services; and, this legislation invests in a variety of other critical priorities, including infrastructure repair, food and drug safety, and firefighters' assistance.

It is no secret that many Democrats--myself included--wish that there was no such thing as an emergency supplemental appropriations bill.

We wish that the urgent domestic needs of the American people had been addressed by President Bush and funded in the ordinary budget process.

And we wish that the $660 billion we have already spent on the war in Iraq could have gone toward eliminating our record deficit, and investing in schools, hospitals, roads, job training and public safety.

But despite the crushing weight of a war that will cost us well more than $2 trillion when all is said and done--it is our responsibility to always put the needs of the American people first.

This supplemental appropriations bill fulfills that responsibly. I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

Mr. President, I call to your attention today the contributions of three outstanding individuals who will be retiring from the U.S. Capitol Guide Service at the end of the week. Tom Stevens, Sharon Nevitt, and Jeannie Divine have served the Congress-- House and Senate alike--with a dedication to duty that allowed the guide service to fulfill the mission of providing our constituents with an educational and enjoyable experience while visiting our Nation's Capitol.

Tom Stevens first came to the guide service in March of 1985. Tom's contributions toward managing the expanded role of the guide service following the events of September 11, 2001, were instrumental in his selection as Director of the Capitol Guide Service in 2003. Tom's commitment to the employees of the Capitol Guide Service and the Congressional Special Services Office is well known. Under his leadership, this team has skillfully provided assistance to hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to the Capitol each year. Tom has been a mainstay in the effort to prepare for the operations of the Capitol Visitor Center. We recognize and appreciate his extraordinary contributions to the Capitol Visitor Center and indeed the entire Congress.

Sharon Nevitt, the Assistant Director of the Capitol Guide Service, came to the Service in 1977, working her way up through a number of management and supervisory roles. Her efficiency, quiet competence, and fierce loyalty to the employees of the guide service have been invaluable to the day to day operations of the Capitol Guide Service. Sharon has also contributed a wealth of time and effort to various working groups aimed at establishing operational procedures for the new Capitol Visitor Center. Sharon's efforts and her many contributions are recognized and appreciated.

Jeannie Divine has been a fixture here in the Congress since 1975. I would venture to say that each and every one of our offices has been assisted by Jeannie at one time or the other over her career. Jeannie is the one who takes all our calls and works with our staffs to accommodate the growing number of tour requests from our constituents who visit our Capitol each year. She handles each request with efficiency and courtesy. Her kindness and lighthearted nature have allowed her to form lasting friendships with people from both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Hill. Her efforts to help all of us are recognized and appreciated.

We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to this dedicated team whose combined tenure equals 87 years of exemplary service to the Congress of the United States. Please join me in wishing Tom, Sharon, and Jeannie never-ending success in their future endeavors.

Mr. President, following the remarks of the two leaders, the Senate will resume consideration of the House message to accompany H.R. 3221, which is the housing legislation. Yesterday, cloture was invoked on the motion to concur in the House amendment with the Dodd- Shelby substitute. We hope to dispose of the remaining amendments to the bill at an early time so we can complete this legislation.

Mr. President, it is my understanding there are two bills now at the desk due for a second reading.

Mr. President, I would object to any further proceedings with respect to these bills en bloc.

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

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

I ask unanimous consent the pending amendments be withdrawn.

Madam President, are we in a quorum call?

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

I ask unanimous consent that the previous order which was entered regarding the withdrawing of the amendments we vitiated.

I ask unanimous consent that the pending amendments No. 4987, Bond; No. 4999, Sununu; and No. 4988, Kohl, be agreed to, as modified, with the changes at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the Dole amendment be withdrawn.

Madam President, is the matter now the concurrence in the substitute amendment?

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate concur in the amendments of the House--this is on the housing bill-- striking titles VI through XI to the amendment of the Senate; and finally that the Senate then disagree to the amendments of the House adding a new title and inserting a new section to the amendment of the Senate to H.R. 3221, notwithstanding rule XXII; further that a managers' amendment which has been cleared by the managers and the leaders also be in order.

Madam President, regular order.

Madam President, I have been very patient while my dear friend, the junior Senator from Nevada, has talked about this. Here is the situation in which we find ourselves. Everyone knows we have an extenders package. I have a letter on my desk that has been spread on the Record previously--218 House Members have signed it--saying the House will not accept anything that is not paid for on the extenders. We have a letter that is now also a part of the Record, more than 400 companies, most of them Fortune 400 companies, say it is very important to pass the extenders legislation paid for. We also had a statement in The Hill newspaper yesterday, where the National Association of Manufacturers said: Why can't they pass this bill? It is very important to pass the extenders. It is the most important thing the manufacturers need in the country.

We have a situation where there was an agreement made on this bill, the housing bill. The agreement was that they would be related to housing. With all due respect, everyone knows the matter relating to the extenders that my dear friend from Nevada talks about has--you have to stretch a lot to have it related to housing. Why would we want to send something to the House and have them send it back to us? We have a situation on the housing bill that Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus are going to take care of--the pay-fors. That is all part of the deal, and everyone knows that.

This is a situation where Senator Shelby and Senator Dodd have worked very hard, and not only have they been working with the House, but they have been working with the White House on this housing bill.

Let's look at where we are. The Senate has turned this week to a number of issues. We have had four main bills: Housing, FISA--the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act--Medicare fix, which is important to do; and the supplemental appropriations bill. As of this minute, we haven't passed any of those because there have been continued objections from the minority.

Now, there is no need to whip out a Velcro chart about the number of filibusters we have had, but that is the reason we are in the position we are in today, because we have this great big funnel of legislation that needs to get done and now we have the little spout and that spout is the Fourth of July and it is hard to stuff everything into that. So we have a situation now where there is no reason why housing, the Medicare fix, the supplemental appropriations bill can't be passed in the next couple days.

We have all talked about FISA. I voted on the motion to proceed, not because I like the bill, but I think it is very important that there be an opportunity to offer amendments on it. Senator Bond and Senator Rockefeller recognize that and know they would also feel it appropriate to have amendments on this legislation, but right now it appears we are not going to have that opportunity. FISA enjoys support from both sides of the aisle. It, too, could be easily dealt with before the Fourth of July recess. All these bills are critical to the health, safety, and well-being of the American people.

With thousands of American families losing their homes every day-- 8,500 new foreclosures every day--and millions more facing the shockwaves of abandoned properties and falling equity--and sometimes rapidly falling equity--it is important we act quickly. This housing legislation raises limits on Federal home loans; it creates a privately funded program to help distressed homeowners; it modernizes the Federal Housing Authority to keep pace with the current housing conditions; and it provides foreclosure counseling moneys to families in need.

This housing legislation enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support. There is no reason we shouldn't pass this legislation.

On FISA, I recognize that Members of the House and Senate have worked hard for 3 months to come up with these improvements. Some of my Democratic colleagues will support a FISA compromise. I respect their decision. Even though I may disagree with the majority of the Senate, I have an obligation, as I said last night, to do everything I can to move this forward. We should be able to do that this week.

The Medicare bill, also known as the doctors' fix, passed by a stunning 355-to-59 vote in the House of Representatives--355 to 59. Republican leaders in the House openly supported this legislation or they wouldn't have gotten a vote such as that. This legislation will both help Medicare beneficiaries and head off the looming cuts facing doctors in many different ways. This bill was very similar to a bill drafted by Senator Baucus and supported by every Senate Democrat and nine Republicans in the Senate earlier this month. It represents the only chance this body has to head off cuts to doctors before they take effect at the end of the month. There is no reason we can't pass the Medicare doctors' fix this week.

Who supports this legislation? AARP, the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Hospital Association, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security, the National Council on Aging, and dozens more--dozens more.

I ask unanimous consent that a full list of the scores of other organizations be printed in the Record that support this Medicare fix-- fixing it now. It has to be done before the end of the month.

Madam President, it is legislation that every State in the Union is calling us about, their Governors and other representatives, to please take care of this. That is what we need to do. Are we doing this to take care of the doctors? Partially, yes, but the other reason we are doing it is we are doing it to preserve Medicare. If we do not do this, there will be more doctors who drop out of taking care of Medicare patients.

What does that mean? It also means there will be other people who are reimbursed by insurance companies and other health care providers who base their reimbursement on what Medicare pays. So we have to do this fix. It is not only to take care of the doctors, it is to take care of patients and Americans from one end of this country to the other.

Finally, we have a supplemental appropriations bill. I would hope we could pass that before the Fourth of July recess. It is an emergency supplemental. We know it funds the war fighting. No matter how people feel about the money that has gone to pay for this war, costing us in Iraq alone $5,000 every second, I would hope everyone understands we are not going to vote on the war funding in this measure that is before us now. But we have other things we have to vote on or the war funding would not come forward, and that is important issues such as the GI bill of rights and unemployment

compensation extension which States are drastically in need of.

It does other good things. There is money in here as a result of the floods that have taken place. That is important. There are Medicaid fixes. Out of the seven regulations that are causing a problem with every Governor in America, six of them will be repealed by this legislation. So there is no reason that we can't do this legislation.

I have said repeatedly we can pass all four of these bills this week. We can do them tomorrow, as a matter of fact. But as with everything else we try to accomplish around here in a closely divided Senate, passing them will require the cooperation of Members from both sides of the aisle.

The filibuster chart is now up to 78. Of course, this is an alltime record for obstructionism. I have said our Republican colleagues, on occasion, have acted Orwellian this year; they say one thing and do another. I guess today is an appropriate day to say this because it is George Orwell's birthday today. He would be 105 today.

So I would hope everyone understands there will be no going home tomorrow unless we complete the things we are obligated to the American people to complete. Now, some say, well, that may mean we are going to have to be here Saturday. Yes, it may mean we have to be here Saturday because that is the way it is, and if we can't complete our work by Saturday, then we can continue our work. It wouldn't be the first time in the history of this country that important legislation was worked on during a holiday. Now, the Fourth of July doesn't come until next Friday or Saturday, a week from the day after tomorrow. So we may have to work here. Everyone should understand that. Everyone has obligations. I do. I don't get to go home as much as a lot of people. I would love to be able to go home on Friday, but we may not be able to. We have to, in my opinion, complete the supplemental appropriations. That is extremely important. We have to complete the Medicare legislation before we go. If we can complete FISA, I am not going to stand in the way of that. I think we should do that too. It appears now, realistically, with this objection to the housing bill, it appears very clear to me that is going to take more time, and we will not be able to do it by the day after tomorrow, but we are going to complete it. We have gone too far to do that. I tell all those people who are objecting to our completing this housing legislation: We will complete it. It may not be tomorrow, it may not be Friday, it may have to wait until the first week we get back. I understand the procedural aspects of that. It could require two more cloture votes, but two more cloture votes would only bring us to 80. We have worked through more difficult things than that. We have a relatively short work period in July, and it is guaranteed that we will do--we will complete the work on the housing bill the first week we get back.

So that is the best I can do. I am not upset with anyone. It has been an interesting day, but it is a day that focuses attention on the work we need to do. I haven't even mentioned the FAA extension. We have to do that some way. We tried to do that, and that was objected to. We have this global AIDS bill the President wants to do. I had a good conversation with Senator Enzi a few minutes ago, and he said he had three people who were objecting to that. He has taken care of two of them today. He is going to deal with the other one tomorrow. I hope, in fact, that is the case. So there is a lot of work we need to do, and I hope we can do it. But everyone should understand we are not walking out of here at 2 o'clock tomorrow. If this means we have to stay until after midnight to file cloture on various things, we will do that. We have work we have to do for the American people.

Mr. President, it is my understanding that the business before the Senate is the postcloture time on the FISA legislation; is that correct?

Yes, that is the FISA legislation.

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