Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to proceed to calendar No. 128, H.R. 1495, notwithstanding rule XXII.

Mr. President, I now move to proceed to calendar No. 128, H.R. 1495, and send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I now withdraw that motion.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call required under rule XXII be waived with respect to the three cloture motions filed today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 9:30 a.m., Friday morning, May 4; that on Friday, 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, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; further, that when the Senate completes its business Friday, it stand adjourned until 2:15 p.m., Monday, May 7; that on Monday, 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 until 4 p.m., with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; that at 4 p.m., the Senate resume consideration of S. 1082 and there be 2 minutes of debate prior to a vote in relation to the Cochran amendment No. 1010; that upon disposition of the Cochran amendment, there be 2 minutes of debate prior to a vote in relation to the Dorgan amendment No. 990, as amended, if amended; that upon disposition of the Dorgan amendment, there be 2 minutes of debate, then the Senate proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the substitute amendment, with all debate time equally divided and controlled in the usual form and with no intervening amendments or action in order prior to the votes covered in this agreement; that Members have until 3 p.m., Monday, to file any first-degree amendments.

I also ask unanimous consent that the vote after the first vote be a 10-minute vote rather than a 15-minute vote.

Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following treaty transmitted to the Senate on May 3, 2007, by the President of the United States:

Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, Treaty Document No. 110-2.

I further ask that the treaty be considered as having been read the first time; that it be referred, with accompanying papers, to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed; and that the President's message be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 188.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be

agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent we now proceed to S. Res. 186.

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

I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 187.

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

Mr. President, I understand there are two bills at the desk. I ask for their first reading, en bloc.

I now ask for a second reading and in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request, all en bloc.

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

Mr. President, the Senate will now begin a 60-minute period of morning business, the majority controlling the first half, Republicans controlling the final portion. Following the usage of all morning business, we will resume consideration of S. 1082, the FDA authorization legislation.

Yesterday, Senator Dorgan offered an amendment relating to drug reimportation. A cloture motion was filed on that last night. The cloture vote will occur tomorrow morning. Amendments in the second degree to the Dorgan amendment would have to be filed 1 hour prior to the cloture vote. I hope other Members who have amendments will file them as quickly as possible, to work with the managers. We have Senators Kennedy and Enzi who are handling the legislation. They have a good relationship. They have done a lot already on this complicated legislation.

Yesterday, I indicated to the staff on both sides of the aisle that it may be necessary to have votes as early as noon on Monday. I hope we can finish the FDA bill tomorrow. If we can, then likely there would be no votes and we would move to other legislation, which would be WRDA, which has passed the House overwhelmingly. It came out of committee under the guidance of Senators Boxer and Inhofe, and we should be able to finish that bill next week.

Immigration is still on line to come up in the last 2 weeks of this work period. Next Wednesday, a week from today, I will rule XIV legislation that will put us in line to move to this during the last 2 weeks of this work period. It is legislation that is badly needed. We have had numerous meetings of Democratic and Republican Senators that have been going on for about 3 months. Progress has not been as we anticipated on either side, but we are going to move to this. Something has to be done. If we don't complete this legislation over here, then it certainly won't be done this year. Next year, a Presidential election year will make it very difficult. The three areas, of course, that are of concern are border security, and it is necessary that we visit that to see what can be done; with temporary workers, a pathway to legalization for the 12 million people who are here with bad paper; then we have to finally make sure we do something to make sure the employer sanctions aspect of the law is meaningful. At the present time, it is not. We have a lot to do there. I have had conversations with Senator Kennedy, Senator Leahy, and a number of other interested Senators over the last several weeks, including Senator Kyl and others on the Republican side.

Mr. President, the President did veto the spending bill we sent him last night. It is unfortunate, but he did veto it. There will be a veto-override vote in the House tonight, it is my understanding.

The first piece of legislation dealing with another bill to send to the President will come to us from the House. I have had a number of consultations with Speaker Pelosi. At this stage, we are going to wait and see what happens at the White House today. The ball is in the President's court. He has to come forward with something that is satisfactory to Democrats and a significant number of Republicans.

There has to be some change of direction in the war. We find ourselves in

the middle of a civil war where hundreds and hundreds of people are being killed each week, where we are losing soldiers at a rate that is untoward even in this war. Last month was the highest casualty rate this year. In the 51 months of the war, it is one of the highest casualty rates. So it is something for which we have to carry the wishes of the American people into legislation and change this war and bring our troops home.

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

Mr. President, I had the good fortune of working with Senator Bill Frist for 4 years as a leader. He was a leader. There were times he and I had some political disagreements, and that is an understatement, but on a personal basis we had no misunderstandings. He was in public service for the right reason. He was a very fine, outstanding, nationally recognized transplant surgeon. He comes from a good family. He and I had many discussions, personal in nature. He was always available to anyone in the Senate. When there were any medical problems involved, he was always there to give advice and counsel. I went to him on many occasions about situations involving my friends and he would lay things out for me and head me in the right direction.

Senator Frist had a situation arise front page in many of the newspapers, problems with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Senator Frist comes from a family that has done well. They have been involved in health care for many years. He and I had conversations about this and he said at the time it was unfair. He had to spend a lot of money hiring lawyers and accountants and consultants.

This matter was closed yesterday, but the closing of this in the newspapers and on the news was certainly not the top story, not at the top of the newspaper. It was buried some place in the back. At no time during my conversations with Senator Frist or in my dealings with Senator Frist did I ever have any doubt about his integrity.

His wife Karen and my wife are good friends. They worked together on a number of activities that Senate spouses work on. They had to do things because Senator Frist and I were the two leaders of the Senate and they did them together based on our relationship.

I extend to Senator Frist my congratulations on getting this put behind him. I want the Record to be spread with the fact that I know this was a difficult time for him on occasion, but never at any time did I doubt his integrity, his honesty. I will long remember Senator Frist and I appreciate my dealings with him over these many years.

cloture motion

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

Mr. President, this is a cloture motion on Senator Dorgan's longstanding endeavor to allow Americans to go to other countries for the importation of cheaper drugs. We know people are going to Canada now from around the country who live on the border, and it works pretty well. But if you are someone who lives in Nevada, you certainly need these drugs as well as someone living in Minnesota, and it makes it much more difficult. Nevadans go to Mexico a lot of times for cheaper drugs. It is unfortunate.

Senator Dorgan is right. He has worked on this very hard for a number of years. This is an effort to bring this matter to a close. I hope the Senate votes to invoke cloture so we can have a vote on this amendment. It is important. I am confident it will pass if cloture is invoked. It is something that has been needed for such a long time to help in one way to lower the cost of medicine for the American public.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent there now be a period of morning business with Senators allowed to speak therein for a period of up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, last week I attended a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda to commemorate the 2007 Holocaust Days of Remembrance.

Fred Zeidman and Joel Geiderman, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, spoke eloquently about the horror and courage, the unspeakable tragedy and unimaginable heroism that even 62 years later we cannot begin to comprehend.

Sara Bloomfield, Director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, as well as my colleague, Senator Joe Lieberman, added their own powerful words.

I was privileged to sit beside Steven Schwarz. As we sat together, Steven listened silently, tears streaming down his face. Afterward, he told me his story.

Born in Poland, Steven lost both parents and a brother in the Holocaust. Forged with sheer willpower and blessings from God, he, his late wife Tina, and his brother Henryk managed to survive by hiding out in Poland. In 1953, they came to the United States and were welcomed with open arms. In the years that followed, Steven and his brother rose to become prominent and successful businessmen, overcoming great suffering to live the American dream.

Steven Schwarz embodies the grace and fortitude of all those who wrested triumph from despair. I am honored to have shared that day of remembrance with him and pleased to now pay tribute to his life story in the Record of the U.S. Congress as a powerful and poignant example of the unbreakable human spirit.

Mr. President, I wish to recognize several young people who were recently selected by the American Automobile Association to receive special awards for their work as school safety patrollers.

More than 560,000 students in 52,000 schools across the country participate in AAA's School Safety Patrol Program. These young people have taken on the important responsibility of making the streets around their schools safer for their classmates. Though their responsibilities are often routine, the patrollers on occasion must place themselves in harm's way in order to save lives. It is my honor today to recognize two students who were selected to receive the AAA Lifesaver Award for their selfless and heroic actions in fulfilling their duties as patrollers.

Taylor Pitzer and Caleb Jarrell participate in the AAA School Safety Patrol Program at Southdale Elementary in Kettering, OH. On November 8, 2006, Taylor and Caleb pulled a younger child to safety when a speeding van ran the red light at the intersection they were patrolling. The younger child was watching carefully for the ``walk'' signal. When the light changed, she began crossing the street and did not notice the oncoming vehicle approaching the intersection. Responding to an adult guard's ``hold back'' indication, Taylor and Caleb reacted quickly by locking arms so the child could not cross the street, which allowed the van to speed by without incident or injury to the child.

I would also like to thank AAA for making the school safety program possible. This program has helped save many lives over the years and has made our schools safer for our students, though, as the story of the Life Saver Award recipients demonstrate, the streets around our schools are not safe enough. That is why I worked to create the national Safe Routes to School Program, which was adopted as part of the Federal transportation bill on July 29, 2005. Funds for this program can help communities construct new bike lanes, pathways, and sidewalks, as well as launch Safe Routes education and promotion campaigns in elementary and middle schools.

I am pleased to commend this important program today before the Senate. I know I speak for every member of the Senate in expressing our gratitude for their valuable work in our communities.

Mr. President, I wish to honor the Northern Nevada Center for Independent Living, NNCIL. I am honored to congratulate this organization for their 25 years of dedicated service to the people of northern Nevada.

NNCIL has helped disabled citizens in Nevada in all aspects of their lives. They have empowered disabled citizens to become more independent and have given disabled people a stronger voice in matters that directly affect their lives. With the skills taught by NNCIL, disabled people who were benefactors of this program are now participating fully in the community by volunteering in the center and in other service agencies across Nevada.

NNCIL has helped disabled citizens thrive socially as well. The center has instituted ``recreation night'' that has helped disabled people form peer support groups. They have incorporated game night and movie night into their organization to build communities throughout Nevada.

The efforts of NNCIL have garnered broad respect and support from the community as a whole. NNCIL has incorporated multiple programs to educate the public concerning issues concerning disabled citizens. They have encouraged Nevada residents to get involved in their communities, and the citizens of northern Nevada have responded by volunteering in a home-modification program that has helped install ramps, handrails, and other improvements to make life easier for disabled people.

I would like to commend NNCIL for their many years of dedicated service to the people of Nevada. They have been an important part of improving the lives of disabled members of our community, and I wish them continued success.

Mr. President, I wish to recognize the 45th annual Reno Jazz Festival. Hosted by the University of Nevada, Reno, the Festival has grown into one of the largest of its kind in the United States, with over 10,000 people attending last year's event.

The competition portions are one the highlights of the festival. Musical groups and individuals from junior highs, high schools, and colleges from throughout the country are invited to participate. The festival winner and other highly acclaimed musical groups will perform at the festival's showcase on its concluding day.

Clinics will also be offered at the festival to help developing musicians improve their abilities and talents. Jazz students have a unique opportunity to meet with and learn from some of the most talented musicians and educators in the Nation.

Jazz has come a long way since I first listened to the music as a boy on the radio in Searchlight. This distinct musical form has developed from its humble origins in early 20th century New Orleans to touch music fans of all ages and backgrounds today. The personalities of the early days of Jazz continue to influence today's artists across the musical spectrum.

I wish the host and participants of the Reno Jazz Festival continued success in bringing Jazz to all members of the community.