Floor Statements

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the ALS Registry Act.

Lou Gehrig brought Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, ALS, to the public's attention more than 65 years ago and his courage put a human face' on this terrible disease. Each of us has a Lou Gehrig back in our home State, someone who shows great tremendous courage and grace as they wrestle with ALS.

Over the years, I have worked closely with the Nevada ALS Association and have met with many Nevadans who have been touched by this devastating illness. One of these Nevadans was a man by the name of Steve Rigazio who was invited to testify before the Labor/HHS/Education Appropriations Subcommittee in May of 2000. Steve was at the height of his career when he was diagnosed with ALS. He worked through the ranks of the Nevada Power Company, the largest utility company in the State, for 16 years until he became president. He played semi-professional baseball. He also played and coached recreational hockey.

After his diagnosis, Steve continued to show up for work at 6 a.m. for as long as he could. Sadly just 20 months after he testified so movingly before Congress, Steve Rigazio died of ALS on December 27, 2001 at the age of 47. He left behind a family that included a wife, two children and hundreds of friends. The ALS Steve Rigazio Voice of Courage Award was named in his honor as a living testimony to the life of this special man.

Every year approximately 5,600 Americans will learn they have ALS. There is no cure for ALS and there is only one FDA approved drug to specifically treat ALS. That drug only works for 20 percent of patients, and even for them, it merely extends life for a few months.

ALS has proven particularly hard for scientists and doctors to tackle for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is there is not a centralized place where data on the disease is collected. Currently, there is only a patchwork of data about ALS that does not include the entire U.S. population and only includes limited data for specific purposes, such as to determine the relationship between military service and the disease. Perhaps the most obvious example of the limitations of current surveillance systems and registries is that we do not know with certainty how many people are living with ALS in the United States today. Over 136 years after the discovery of ALS, estimates on its prevalence still vary by as much as 100 percent, from a low of about 15,000 patients to as many as thirty 30,000.

The legislation I am introducing today would create an ALS registry at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, and will aid in the search for a cure to this devastating disease. The registry will collect data concerning: the incidence and prevalence of ALS in the U.S.; the environmental and occupational factors that may contribute to the disease; the age, race or ethnicity, gender and family history of individuals diagnosed; and other information essential to the study of

I move to proceed to calendar No. 144, S. 1348 and send a cloture motion to the desk.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote on the cloture motion occur on Wednesday, May 16, at a time determined by the majority leader, following consultation with the Republican leader, and that the mandatory quorum required under rule XXII be waived, and I now withdraw the motion to proceed.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the HELP Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 192.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 198.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate proceed to H. Con. Res. 71.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m., Tuesday, May 15; that on Tuesday, following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders reserved for their use later in the day; that 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 majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final portion; that at the close of morning business, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 1495, as provided for under a previous order; that on Tuesday, the Senate stand in recess from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m. in order to accommodate the respective party conference meetings.

Madam President, we have so much to do the next 2 weeks. As indicated with what is going on here today, we have to do our very best to complete WRDA. We have the most important supplemental to take care of the funding of the operations in Iraq and other things. Senator McConnell and I have spoken today about how to get from here to there. We do not have that totally resolved yet, but we have moved the ball down the road. We also have a budget conference to complete. That has not been done yet. And we have immigration.

So, Madam President, I want this to be the first notice--and we have done very well. We have not had to work many Fridays; certainly in the afternoons we have not had to. We have had a number of free Mondays, and we have had only one Saturday we have worked all year. But everyone should be on notice the next two weekends and the next few days and certainly next week, including Monday, people should understand--and people, if they have arrangements they have made, if they have things to do for which they cannot be here until later Monday, change that because we have to have votes--unless something comes up we do not understand--Monday morning. We have too much to do. We must complete the items I have talked about before we leave for our Memorial Day recess or we will have to delay that recess.

Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate today, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, today we are only going to be in morning business. There are no rollcall votes today, nor will there be on Monday. However, on Monday, Senators Boxer and Inhofe, the managers of the Water Resources legislation, will be here for Members to come to the floor and debate amendments.

It is my understanding that at least one Member on the majority side has agreed to be here Monday to discuss his amendment.

Yesterday, Senator Feingold discussed an amendment relating to Corps project prioritization. Senator Feingold is willing to have that amendment voted on Tuesday morning after a brief period of debate. Therefore, Members should expect a rollcall vote or multiple votes prior to the 12:30 recess on Tuesday morning.

If we are unable to have the debates arranged so we have the votes on WRDA Tuesday morning, we will have a Federal district judge vote Tuesday morning. So we will have a vote Tuesday morning.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, last night, the House of Representatives passed a new Iraq supplemental. So now it is our turn. We have to take the next step to pass our version of the bill that will go to conference. The House has done their job. We now have to do our job.

We all know reaching consensus on a new bill to send to the President will not be easy. That is what the Republican leader and I were talking about right here.

Passions run high on this issue--very high. But there is new reason this week to believe a bipartisan consensus in Iraq is emerging. It is what the American people want. A recent poll--in fact, it was from a couple days ago--shows 75 percent of Americans favor benchmarks and 60 percent favor a timetable for reducing combat forces. It is what President Bush's own military advisers say we need, including General Petraeus, who has said this war cannot be won militarily. It is what Democrats have stood for with firm resolve throughout these entire negotiations.

Now, in the last few days, we have seen our Republican colleagues move closer to our position. Over the weekend, the House majority leader, John Boehner, said:

By the time we get to September or October, members are

going to want to know how well this is working, and if it

isn't, what's Plan B.

That is a timetable. The President has objected to our timetables. He vetoed our bill with timetables in it. The Republican leader in the House--the No. 1 Republican in the House--has told the President if things are not OK in September or October, something else has to happen. That is a timetable.

Senator Lott said:

This fall we have to see some significant changes on the

ground.

And days ago, Leader McConnell echoed those sentiments as well.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday a broad coalition of Republican House Members expressed their dissent directly to the President. They went to the White House, spent an hour and 15 minutes with the President. One of them, Tom Davis of Virginia, called it their chance to confront a President who, as he put it, is in a bubble.

In the spirit of bipartisanship, I am inclined to agree with that assessment. The President is in a bubble. He is isolated.

Every day, the ranks of dissatisfied Republicans grow. But I wish my Republican colleagues--who now agree that President Bush's open-ended commitment has failed--would put some teeth behind their views.

We have courageous American troops in harm's way every day. We lost another Nevadan this week. There may be a State that has lost more than the Presiding Officer's State, but I do not know what State that would be. The State of Ohio has suffered significantly in the loss of life.

It is time for action. It is time to change course. It is long past due.

But I would say the shift we are hearing from the Republicans, even though a little bit quiet, each day is getting louder and louder and louder. It is a welcome shift, and it is very encouraging. It gives me hope that in the coming days, weeks, and months we will be able to work together with good faith and bipartisanship to give our troops and all Americans the new course they demand and deserve and the opportunity for our troops to come home.

We are going to do our very best to come up with something we can pass here in the Senate, send to the House, and confer, have a conference. We will do that to the very best of our ability. But, as I indicated earlier, it is not going to be easy.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, it is clear--we all agree--that the immigration system is broken and badly in need of a fix. We have 12 million immigrants, some of who live in constant fear. We have employers facing the quandary each day over who they can hire and who they cannot hire, while raids regularly disrupt and even shut down their businesses. Crops can't be harvested. Produce is dying on the vine because farmers cannot hire enough workers to harvest the crop. Under the current system, there are no winners but lots of losers.

Next Tuesday, right after our weekly party conferences, the Senate will have an opportunity to vote on whether to begin debate on the complex and critical challenge of immigration reform. The bill we debate and eventually pass will give us a chance to strengthen border security, put in place an effective and efficient employer verification system, design a new worker program to take the pressure off the border, and give those 12 million undocumented immigrants the opportunity to come out of the shadows and into the light of day.

Over the past several months, Senators from both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, have spent countless hours negotiating a bipartisan solution to this critical challenge. These Senators have been bargaining in good faith. I believe they are working hard to reach a compromise. I hope they can do that. But if they are not able to reach a new bipartisan agreement, we have an opportunity to move forward on a previous bipartisan piece of legislation. The bill I placed on the calendar is the same bill the Senate passed last year overwhelmingly with 23 Republicans voting in favor of the legislation. Last year's bill was far from perfect. Many of us had misgivings about it--this Senator included--but it is a solid, comprehensive package that will serve as a good start for this year's very important and vital debate. Several of my colleagues have said we should not move forward at this time; let's wait.

Over this weekend, there will be negotiations taking place--the rest of this day, Saturday, Sunday, and I hope Monday--to see if a compromise can be reached. If we put this off a week, the same thing would happen. People would be trying to work something out at the last minute. There has been ample opportunity for people to work out an arrangement. I have asked publicly and privately that the President be involved. Members have put so much time and effort into working on an immigration bill, they certainly should embrace a motion to start debate.

Those who have threatened a filibuster on the motion to proceed I hope will reconsider the threat and understand how illogical it would be not to allow us to proceed. A bill that passed this body last year with 21 Republicans voting for the legislation now saying they are not going to proceed does not make sense to me.

Let me be as clear as I can: By moving this bill, I am trying to make sure negotiations continue. There has been ample time for negotiations to bear fruit. The purpose of this legislation is to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform. I want this Congress to accomplish immigration reform, but we are running out of time to do it. We have set aside the next 2 weeks to do this. After that, we have 4 weeks, and then we have the July 4 recess. After that, 4 more weeks, and then we are into the August recess. There is no more time to do it. Today is the time. If we don't do it, starting next Tuesday, there will be no immigration reform this Congress. That would be a real shame.

The House is waiting for us to do this. As everyone knows, the schedule we have is so crowded. This next 2 weeks, in addition to doing immigration reform, we have to send a bill to the President for supplemental appropriations for the ongoing conflict in Iraq, the civil war in Iraq. We want to try to do our budget. We are going to finish WRDA. We have an energy bill we have to do. That is keeping in mind all the procedural hurdles that are always present in the Senate.

A vote to proceed is a vote to open debate, not shut the door on it. If a new agreement is reached, it can be offered as a substitute amendment to this bill on the floor at any time. If a new agreement is not reached, we can legislate the old-fashioned way--taking out what people do not like and putting in new stuff. We can offer amendments to the existing bipartisan bill to make it even better than the one we passed last year. Either path leads to progress that is long overdue.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to proceed to H.R. 1495 now be agreed to; that on Monday, May 14, at 3 p.m., the Senate begin consideration of the measure and the majority manager, Senator Boxer, then be recognized to offer an amendment.

If I could withhold that, Mr. President, and note the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, as happens so much, a lot of times it appears that we are not doing anything, but the work done this morning off the Senate floor has been invaluable. The distinguished Republican leader and I have had a number of conversations; the last one took place just a few minutes ago here on the Senate floor.

As I indicated in my prepared remarks today, there are a number of Senators, Democrats and Republicans, trying to work something out on immigration. Over the last week or so, they have taken a step forward and three-quarters of a step backward. Progress is being made, but it has been incremental, and it has been slow.

Some of the Senators believe there is a breakthrough that could take place, but they need all day on Tuesday to do that. Staff is going to be working over the weekend with some Senators.

So, reluctantly, but I think in anticipation of the greater good, the Republican leader and I have agreed it would be in the best interests of the Senate to put the cloture over on the immigration motion to proceed until Wednesday morning. Therefore, I will file cloture on Monday on the motion to proceed on immigration--not today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII, the majority leader, with the concurrence of the Republican leader, may turn to the consideration of H.R. 2206 at any time.

Mr. President, H.R. 2206 is the Iraq supplemental.

It was the one, I say to my friend, dealing with Iraq. I only indicated just for general information what we were going to do on the immigration matter. This is the House-passed version of the supplemental that we can move to when we decide it is necessary, in spite of the fact that we may be involved, but for this agreement, in the postcloture proceedings.

Mr. President, the prior statement before was to just alert those Senators who had called asking that we put the vote over that we are going to do that, and we will not vote on cloture on the immigration bill on Tuesday afternoon. We will be able to work all day on Monday and Tuesday on WRDA. Who knows, we may get lucky and be able to complete most of the work or all of the work on that.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to proceed to H.R. 1495 be agreed to; that on Monday, May 14, the Senate begin consideration of that measure, and that the manager of that bill, Senator Boxer, be recognized to offer an amendment.