Floor Statements

I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the Senate to proceed en bloc to consideration of the following calendar items: Calendar No. 389, H.R. 2467; Calendar No. 390, H.R. 2587; Calendar No. 391, H.R. 2654; Calendar No. 392, H.R. 2765; Calendar No. 393, H.R. 2778; Calendar No. 394, H.R. 2825; Calendar No. 395, H.R. 3052; and Calendar No. 396, H.R. 3106.

I ask unanimous consent that the bills be read a third time and passed en bloc; the motions to reconsider be laid on the table en bloc; that consideration of these items appear separately in the Record, and any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I understand that H.R. 2828 has been received from the House and is at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask for its second reading and then object to my own request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the majority leader, after consultation with the Republican leader, may turn to executive session to consider Executive Calendar No. 302, the nomination of Jennifer Walker Elrod to be a United States circuit court judge; that there be a time limitation of 1 hour for debate equally divided between Senators Leahy and Specter or their designees; that there be an additional 10 minutes each for debate for Senators Cardin and Specter; that at the conclusion or yielding back of time, the Senate vote on the nomination; that following that vote, the Senate then vote on each of the following nominations: Nos. 242, 293, and 294; that the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. President, also, let me say it is my intent--and I talked to Senator McConnell at some length about this--we will do these tomorrow. I talked to Senator Leahy. I am sure he has spoken with Senator Specter. It is time we did some of these, and we are going to do them tomorrow, the exact time of which I do not know, but they will be done tomorrow.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 9 a.m. tomorrow, October 4; that on Thursday, following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders reserved for their use later in the day, and there then be a period of morning business for 60 minutes, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the Democrats and the Republicans, with the Republicans controlling the first half; that at the close of morning business, the Senate then proceed to the consideration of H.R. 3093, the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act.

Mr. President, I would also say to all the Members, we are going to do our best to finish this bill tomorrow.

We are going to give it the old college try. I think we should be able to do it. It is an important bill. We are going to do our very best to do that.

I would also say that the next appropriations bill we are going to move to is the Labor-HHS bill, which is extremely important. Again, I have had conversations the last several days with the Republican leader, and we are now moving through the process. The bill to go to conference has not been held up by the Republicans. The Democrats have held themselves up. We have not been able to get the 302(b) allocations and the other things we needed to work out to be able to do that. Now we are in the process of being able to do that as of yesterday, so we expect to move very expeditiously on these bills so that we can get a bill or bills to the President as soon as possible.

My goal is to finish what we need to do here by November 16. It is easy to say that and it is hard to do, but that certainly is my timetable.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, today each side will have a half hour in morning business. The Republicans have the first half, the Democrats the final half. Following that, the Senate will begin consideration of one of the most important bills we do here every year; that is, the Defense appropriations bill. That will be led by Senators Inouye and Stevens. The Senate will recess today from 12:30 to 2:15 for the regularly scheduled party conference meetings. We want to finish this bill as quickly as possible and move to Commerce-State-Justice, which is also important, dealing with law enforcement. We also have some judges we would like to get rid of this week, if at all possible. We have a circuit court judge and a number of district court judges. We need to finish these items this week so that we can come back and start the Labor-HHS appropriations bill, which is extremely important. If we finish these two bills, we would have half of them done this year, which is good.

We have received tremendous cooperation from both sides to move through the bills. I hope we can continue to get that cooperation on this bill. I am confident there will be some amendments offered. Some of them will have points of order against them because of too much money and they are legislating on appropriations bills. Maybe those Senators won't offer them if they check with the Parliamentarian first. But we hope we can move through this bill very quickly.

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

Madam President, I appreciate the work of the managers on this important piece of legislation. I have conferred with the managers. After we have one vote sometime tomorrow morning, and if there is nothing more happening, I think we should move to third reading. Just to protect all of our military, in case something goes awry in the next 24 hours, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I would hope we can just totally avoid this. Of

course, the cloture vote would not occur, at the earliest, until Thursday anyway. I would hope that it will not be necessary that cloture be invoked. But we want to make sure that we are able to complete this legislation, including the managers' package on which these two veteran legislators have worked. I have spoken to staff, and the managers' amendment has not been cleared yet. It should be cleared. I hope we can finish this bill tomorrow afternoon early. This cloture motion is to protect us in case something goes wrong.

I think perhaps we shouldn't go into morning business right now. Someone might want to offer an amendment, and I want to make sure everyone has the ability to do that. It is 5 o'clock now. There will be no more votes today. Unless we have somebody here by 5:30 to offer an amendment, we will go into morning business.

amendment no. 3135

I ask unanimous consent that the prayer, the Pledge, and whatever remarks the two leaders make not count against morning business, that morning business be a full hour.

Mr. President, following the period of morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the Department of Defense authorization bill. Last week cloture was invoked on the substitute amendment. Approximately 200 amendments have been cleared or voted upon. There are lots of them still pending. Last week Senators Levin and Warner worked their way through some of these. I don't know how many votes we will have this evening on germane amendments, but we will know before long. Any amendments that might be offered have to be germane and have to be timely filed. Currently pending is a first and second-degree amendment relating to contracting. Any votes today will begin around 5:30. It is too early to indicate how many votes will take place. Once action on DOD authorization has been concluded, it is my intention to have the Senate consider the DOD appropriations bill, to be followed by the consideration of Commerce-Justice-Science. Then we have a circuit court judge and several district court judges we plan on working on this week.

We have a lot to do. Hopefully we can finish quickly. We have next week the work period at home. Because of our being here for the time we are, having the weeks sometimes longer than what we would like, I have a lot to do at home. I am sure all other 99 Senators have as well.

Freedom of speech is one of the country's most cherished values. Nothing sets us farther apart from the countries and regimes we oppose than our belief that everyone's opinion matters--everyone's--and that everyone has a right to express it. That is why when we hear things on the radio and other places that are offensive, by and large we tolerate them. But last week Rush Limbaugh went way over the line. While I respect his right to say anything he likes, his unpatriotic comments cannot be ignored. During his show last Wednesday, Limbaugh was engaged in one of his typical rants. This one was unremarkable and indistinguishable from his usual dribble which has been steadily losing listeners for years, until he crossed that line by calling our men and women in uniform who oppose the war in Iraq ``phony soldiers.'' This comment was so beyond the pale of decency we can't leave it alone. Yet he followed it up with denials and an attack on Congressman Jack Murtha, who was a 37-year active member of the Marine Corps, a combat veteran.

We have been debating the Iraq war in the Senate and throughout the country, not for months but for years. There are good, patriotic Americans who favor the war and good, patriotic Americans who oppose President

Bush's first getting us into war and the way he has handled the war. Neither party holds a patent on patriotism. I know all of my Republican colleagues would agree with this, or at least I hope so. Yet Rush Limbaugh took it upon himself to attack the courage and character of those fighting and dying for him and for all of us. Rush Limbaugh got himself a deferment from serving when he was a young man. He never served in uniform. He never saw a person in the extreme difficulty of maintaining peace in a foreign country engaged in civil war. He never saw a person in combat. Yet he thinks his opinion on the war is worth more than those who have been on the front lines. What is worse, Limbaugh's show is broadcast on Armed Forces Radio which means that thousands of troops overseas and veterans here at home were forced to hear this attack on their patriotism. Rush Limbaugh owes the men and women of our Armed Forces an apology.

This past Friday, many Democrats joined me in drafting a letter to the chief executive officer of Clear Channel, Mark Mays, that we will send out this week. Here is what we wrote:

Dear Mr. Mays, At the time we sign this letter, 3,801

American soldiers have been killed in Iraq, and another

27,936 have been wounded. 160,000 others awoke this morning

on foreign sand, far from home, to face the danger and

uncertainty of another day at war. Although Americans of

goodwill debate the merits of this war, we can all agree that

those who serve with such great courage deserve our deepest

respect and gratitude. That is why Rush Limbaugh's recent

characterization of troops who oppose the war as ``phony

soldiers'' is such an outrage. Our troops are fighting and

dying to bring to others the freedoms that many take for

granted. It is unconscionable that Mr. Limbaugh would

criticize them for exercising the fundamentally American

right to free speech. Mr. Limbaugh has made outrageous

remarks before, but this affront to our soldiers is beyond

the pale. The military, like any community within the United

States, includes members both for and against the war. Senior

generals, such as General John Batiste and Paul Eaton, have

come out against the war while others have publicly supported

it. A December 2006 poll conducted by the Military Times

found just 35 percent of service members approved of

President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, compared to 42

percent who disapproved. From this figure alone, it is clear

that Mr. Limbaugh's insult is directed at thousands of

American service members. Active and retired members of our

armed forces have a unique perspective on the war and offer a

valuable contribution to our national debate. In August,

seven soldiers wrote an op-ed expressing their concern with

the current strategy in Iraq. Tragically, since then, two of

those seven soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice in

Iraq. Thousands of active troops and veterans were subjected

to Mr. Limbaugh's unpatriotic and indefensible comments on

your broadcast. We trust you will agree that not a single one

of our sons, daughters, neighbors and friends serving

overseas is a ``phony soldier.'' We call on you to publicly

repudiate these comments that call into question their

service and sacrifice and to ask Mr. Limbaugh to apologize

for his comments.

Just as patriotism is the exclusive realm of neither party, taking a stand against those who spew hate and impugn the integrity of our troops is a job that belongs to both parties. I can't help but wonder how my Republican colleagues would have reacted if the tables were turned--if a well-known Democratic radio personality had used the same insulting line of attack against troops who support the war. The letter I read will be available on the Senate floor all day. During the votes, after the votes, colleagues on both sides of the aisle will have every chance to add their names to it. I encourage all to do so. If we take the Republican side at their word that last week's vote on another controversial statement related to the war was truly about patriotism, not politics, then I have no doubt they will stand with us against Limbaugh's comments with equal fervor.

I am confident we will see Republicans join with us in overwhelming numbers. ``Confident'' is the wrong word. ``Hopeful'' is the right word. I am hopeful we will see Republicans join with us in overwhelming numbers. Anything less would be a double standard that has no place in the Senate.

I ask my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, to join together against this irresponsible, hateful, and unpatriotic attack by calling upon Rush Limbaugh to give our troops the apology they deserve. I hope all will sign this letter.

Mr. President, the Senate will begin consideration shortly of the Department of Defense authorization bill. Last night cloture was invoked on the substitute amendment. Therefore, amendments in order need to have been timely filed and be germane.

There will be no rollcall votes today, but the managers will be here to process amendments. Senator Kennedy is here to talk about the first amendment.

The next vote will occur Monday beginning around 5:30 in the evening. This week has been a very busy week, and the Senate has successfully concluded action on a number of very important measures. Mr. President, next week we are going to, as soon as we finish this bill, the Defense authorization bill--which will be sometime Monday night--move to Defense appropriations. Senators Inouye and Stevens have been advised of that. They will start early Tuesday morning. We hope to complete that bill within a couple of days.

The next bill we will take up prior to our October recess will be the Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill. If we can finish those two bills, and I think we have a real opportunity to do that, we will have completed 6 of the 12 appropriations bills.

The House has completed all of theirs. I have had a number of conversations with Chairman Obey, with the Speaker, in an effort to get these bills--as many as we can, as soon as we can--to the President.

As you know, there is a controversy with the President over his threats to veto all of these bills. We hope he will see the wisdom of moving forward on these appropriations bills, as we hope he will on the Children's Health Insurance Program which passed overwhelmingly yesterday.

I would say that last year, for example, the President accepted bills from the Republican-dominated Congress that were $55 billion over what he suggested. This year we are at $21 billion and none of that is extravagant spending. Most of it are things he has cut out of the budget, so it would only keep up with inflation. For example, with the tremendous rise in crime we have all over America today--we have had a jump this last year like we have not seen in recent decades. Aggravated

crimes are up significantly, and we have a situation where we are putting in this legislation--I have talked about these appropriations bills--$1.5 billion to make up for what we took out of the COPS Program. We have 100,000 less police officers on the street than we did. That is a result of the cuts of the President. So we hope he will see the light and do the right thing in regard to the appropriations bills.

But I very much appreciate the cooperation we received from the Republicans with our appropriations bills to this point. We have not had great difficulty with those bills. We all know we should have gotten to them sooner, but we have had 48 filibusters we have had to deal with this year which have slowed things down significantly.

Mr. President, H.R. 2693 is at the desk and due for its second reading.

Mr. President, I would object to any further proceedings at that time.

Mr. President, this bill deals with something that has developed. We would never dream we would be working on it, but it appears to be very important. We have had a lot of deaths and people getting sick, the popcorn workers in America, which is a huge industry. We are going to try to see if we can set some standards so people do not get sick by virtue of working around popcorn.

Mr. President, I would refer my colleagues to my statement in yesterday's Record on the hate crime legislation.

Mr. President, it would seem to me what we should do is have a vote on the underlying Hatch amendment. I do not think we need to vote on cloture. So I ask unanimous consent that we have a voice vote on the amendment that is now before the body, we vitiate the cloture motion on the Hatch amendment, and have a rollcall vote on his amendment.

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

Mr. President, what is the matter before the Senate?

Mr. President, we yield back the remainder of our time.

Mr. President, before I discuss this legislation, I want to express my thanks to the distinguished minority leader, Senator McConnell, as well as the chairman and ranking member of the Finance Committee, Senators Baucus and Grassley, for their cooperation in facilitating consideration of this legislation. I also want to thank Treasury Secretary Paulson for his leadership.

We are taking up this legislation at the request of the Bush administration so that the Federal Government can meet its obligations and pay its bills. Secretary Paulson, in a letter to me earlier this month, indicated that it was essential that the Senate pass this legislation as soon as possible. This will be the fifth increase in the debt limit since President Bush came to office.

I find it distasteful and disturbing to increase the debt limit yet again, but the alternative is simply unthinkable. Eventually, some Social Security checks could not be sent. Government offices could close. Interest rates could rise. And the economic impact on our

country could be profound. As a practical matter, therefore, we have no choice.

Having said that, President Bush's failed policies put us in this box, and as we consider the pending bill, I hope my colleagues will focus on the importance of changing those policies. Over the past several years, the administration has completely abandoned fiscal discipline and dramatically increased our debt. Until we change the policies that led down this path, we will be back year after year, digging the hole ever deeper.

Let's review some history. When President Bush came to office, our Nation was running record budget surpluses and our debt was on the decline. In 2000, we ran a surplus of $236 billion, and the outlook was for continued surpluses for years to come. In fact, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve at the time, Alan Greenspan, was so optimistic about our fiscal condition that he thought we might quickly eliminate our debt altogether.

Unfortunately, once President Bush took office, our fiscal situation rapidly collapsed. In 2001, our debt was $5.8 trillion. Today, it's $9 trillion, an increase of more than $3 trillion. Compounding matters, all this new borrowing has come at the worst possible time, just as the baby boom generation is about to retire.

Not only has our debt exploded, but increasingly we are borrowing from foreigners. In fact, since President Bush took office, our debt to foreigners has more than doubled. Many of our creditors are in places like China and Japan. And as we borrow more and more from those abroad, we also become more dependent on them. It is a trend that cannot and must not be allowed to continue.

It's no mystery why debt has exploded. President Bush abandoned the pay-as-you-go rules that proved so effective in promoting fiscal discipline. He increased spending by 50 percent. And he approved massive tax breaks, disproportionately for multimillionaires and special interests.

Much of the spending has been for our disastrous occupation of Iraq. The war has already cost the lives of almost 4,000 Americans. But while our brave men and women in uniform bear, by far, the greatest burden, all American taxpayers are paying a price. We have already spent roughly half a trillion dollars on President Bush's failed policy. Now the President is asking for nearly $200 billion more.

How does the President propose to pay for all this new spending in Iraq? He doesn't. He just wants to keep putting it on the national credit card.

The same is true of the President's massive tax breaks for multimillionaires. Next year, President Bush wants to spend nearly $50 billion just to hand out tax breaks for those fortunate enough to earn more than $1 million a year. These lucky few will get a windfall worth an average of $130,000 each. Most hard-working, middle-class families would be grateful for a fraction of that.

And how will we finance all these lavish tax breaks for multimillionaires? Again, by putting them on the national credit card. In other words, our children will pay.

If only the President were as willing to provide kids with health care as he is willing to load them with debt.

As you know, the administration claims to have seen the light on fiscal responsibility, and has cited the need for discipline to justify their opposition to the children's health bill. But how much would the legislation add to the debt? $200 billion? $20 billion? No. The answer is: zero. Nothing. It is fully paid for.

In other words, the President is willing to borrow half a trillion dollars and more for Iraq. But he is opposing a children's health bill that won't add anything to the debt.

To put it mildly, those priorities are wrong. The American people know it. And most of my colleagues do, as well.

Clearly, we need to change course. And this debt limit bill is just another reminder of that.

Fortunately, the new Congress already has made real progress in the effort to provide a new direction. Earlier this year, we passed a budget resolution that balanced the budget without raising a penny of taxes. The budget put the middle class first and focused on America's needs here at home. All in a responsible way, while reestablishing strong pay-as-you-go rules to enforce fiscal discipline.

Our new budget was an important first step. But we have a long way to go to change fiscal policy to where it needs to be. Ultimately, it is going to take bipartisan effort, and I look forward to working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make it happen. Meanwhile, while it is not a pleasant task, we have no choice but to pay our bills.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that upon disposition of H.J. Res. 52, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 1585 and resume amendment No. 2999; that the amendment be modified with the changes at the desk, that there be 2 minutes of debate divided in the usual form; that upon the use of the time, the amendment be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; that the Senate then resume Coburn amendment No. 2196, and there be 10 minutes of debate prior to a vote in relation to the amendment; that no amendment be in order to the amendments in this agreement; that the time be equally divided and controlled between Senators Levin and Coburn or their designee; and upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the amendment; that immediately after disposition of the Coburn amendment, the Senate proceed to Menendez amendment No. 2972, and that after the amendment is reported by number, there be 6 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled between Senators Levin and Menendez, or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, without further action, the Senate proceed to vote with respect to the amendment; that upon disposition of the amendment, that the managers' package which has been cleared by the managers, be considered and agreed to; that the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on amendment No. 2011, the substitute amendment; that Members have until 8:15 p.m. tonight to file any germane second-degree amendments; that if cloture is invoked on the substitute, then all time postcloture be considered expired at 5:30 p.m. this coming Monday, October 1; that upon adoption of the substitute, the bill be read a third time, and without further action, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill; that the cloture motion on the bill be withdrawn; that upon passage, the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees.

Yes. The first vote will be Monday at approximately 5:30.