Floor Statements

Mr. President, prior to this job as Democratic leader, I basically lived on the floor for 6 years. I was here from the time the Senate came into session until we went out every day. During that period of time, I got to know staff up here very well because I basically lived with them.

One of the people whom I certainly have gotten to know over that period of time is a man by the name of Jack Hickman. Since 1996, Jack has worked in the Senate Document Room, has been the executive communications clerk, and is now the morning business editor. When he is here, he sits at the table right in front of me.

Jack is physically a giant of a man, very big. He has a wonderful sense of humor and is very easy to get along with. He loves his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin. One of his sad times was when UNLV beat them once, which was unexpected in a lot of quarters. He follows Wisconsin basketball and all of their sports teams very closely.

Jack has two sons, Paul and Brian. His wife's name is Margaret, and he brags about her all the time.

I want the Record to be spread with the fact that it has been an enjoyable experience for me to be able to work with someone of Jack's caliber, to be able to joke with him and make fun of each other in a respectful way on some of our idiosyncracies.

Jack Hickman is going to retire. Tomorrow is his last day here. He and his wife had purchased a place in Florida some time ago. He has been going down there on vacation in our off times. Now he will live there full time.

Jack does, as do all of the Senate personnel, invaluable work for us. He makes sure what we say goes in the right place in the Record. He works with the court reporters and the rest of the staff. His work, even though it is not very noteworthy to the public, is essential to the Senate functioning properly.

I will really miss Jack a lot. He is someone with whom I have a real strong comfort level. I look forward, in the years to come, to being able to visit with him again and talk about some of the times we have had. We have spent many hours together on the Senate floor. During those years, I didn't control what we did; I was just here on the floor. We waited for long periods of time for the leader--whether it was a Democratic or Republican leader--to come and take us out at the end of the day. We complained to each other, saying, ``I wonder what they are doing.'' Well, since I got this job, I have a better picture of that. Even though it appears there is nothing going on out here, a lot of times, in the respective leaders' offices, a lot is going on.

Mr. President, I speak about Jack, but in the process I speak of all these people who do so much for us and make us look good.

I wish Jack good luck in his retirement.

Mr. President, the Senate will be in a period of morning business for 1 hour. The first portion is controlled by the Republicans, the final portion under the control of the majority.

Following this period of morning business, the Senate will resume debate on S. 761, the competitiveness bill. Under an agreement entered last week, Senator Coburn is to be recognized today to speak for up to an hour on the bill. I am also aware of other speakers who have indicated a willingness to speak on the legislation. We hope we can accommodate their schedules because there are a number of people who want to speak.

At noon today, we will switch gears and consider Executive Calendar No. 76, the nomination of a judge from Mississippi, Halil Suleyman Ozerden, to be a U.S. district judge. There will be up to 10 minutes of debate and then a vote on confirmation. This time will be controlled by the chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. Members can expect a rollcall vote today around 12:10. Once this nominee is confirmed, this will be the 16th district judge we have confirmed this year, 14 districts and 2 circuits. The Senate will recess for our regularly scheduled party conferences following the vote and will reconvene at 2:15 p.m. today.

Mr. President, this is the last vote this evening. I am glad to see the managers are moving this bill along. We are probably going to have a vote in the morning, around 11 o'clock. That will be the first vote.

Mr. President, today the time until 2:45 is equally divided, with the majority controlling the first portion of the time. Senator Casey is here and will be using that time to do a tribute. At 2:45 today, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 761, the competitiveness bill. While there are no rollcall votes today, I understand the managers are working on some amendments which could be offered today. Later this week, we expect to receive the supplemental conference report, and the Senate will act on that report prior to concluding business this week.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Kusai Merchant, a fellow in my office, be granted floor privileges during the consideration of S. 761 and any votes thereon.

Mr. President, today there will be a period for morning business for only 30 minutes. Senators are allowed to speak for 10 minutes each during this time. At 10:30, the Senate will begin consideration of S. 761, the America COMPETES Act. During today's session, consideration of the bill is limited to debate only. No amendments will be in order.

Our managers, Senators Bingaman and Alexander, are expected to be here at 10:30. The distinguished Republican leader and I will give our opening statements on the bill, and that will be followed by the two managers of this legislation.

As I previously announced, there are no rollcall votes today or on Monday, but on Monday we expect amendments to this bill. We hope people who believe it can be improved will offer amendments. There are no rollcall votes on Monday, as I have indicated, so that any amendments offered to this bill would occur Tuesday. I would like to complete those votes prior to the conference recess period, which starts at 12:30 on Tuesday.

Next week, the House will send to us the conference report on the supplemental appropriations bill. We hope to get that on Tuesday or Wednesday. I will continue to discuss Senate consideration of this matter with the Republican leader.

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

Mr. President, sometime last year, word was received that Senators Bingaman and Alexander had an idea. The idea was to do something about our country's educational slide the wrong way. I spoke to them on several occasions. They wanted to see what we could do to increase our competitiveness internationally. Their suggestion was, first, let's do a study and find out how bad it is; is it as bad as we think it is. These two fine Senators got other Senators to join with them in the idea. They received a study from the National Academy of Sciences to find out where we were internationally with our science programs. The information was not good. As a result of that, we have the legislation now before the Senate.

This legislation is not the know-all and cure-all, but it is certainly a major step forward, if we can do this, and there is no reason we cannot.

I am happy and pleased to speak about the America COMPETES legislation. America COMPETES comes from the words ``creating opportunities to meaningfully promote excellence in technology, education, and science,'' COMPETES. This is something we should do and are doing on a bipartisan basis. The bill is sponsored by both leaders and 50 Senators. That is a step in the right direction. Frankly, this is the way we used to do legislation here. There was so much that was done on a bipartisan basis. If we are able to complete this legislation, it will allow us to move forward on other meaningful legislation dealing with this subject generally.

The bill is the result clearly of a truly bipartisan effort. This legislation has been in the making for 2 years. I said last year. Time flies by. It was the year before last that these two Senators came to me to talk about this subject. They asked the National Academy to make recommendations on steps we should take as a nation to maintain our competitive advantage. The result was the Augustine report, ``Rising Above the Gathering Storm.'' The report warned that the Nation's traditional advantages are eroding at a time when many other nations are gathering strength and that decisive action is needed now.

We faced a challenge such as this before, one that occurred when I was in high school. In 1957, when the Soviets launched Sputnik, there was panic and concern. That panic and concern came about from our inability to do what they were doing to maintain our technological superiority. The Soviet Union clearly was ahead of us. Our great country responded to these threats quickly. The following year Congress passed, on a bipartisan basis, the National Defense Education Act, the sole purpose of which was to keep the United States ahead of the Soviet Union, to increase investment in math and science education. As a result of that bipartisan legislation, our country trained a whole new generation of engineers and scientists and ensured our preeminence in technology innovation for a generation.

The fact is, Federal investment in the basic sciences and research has long been a critical component of America's competitive dominance globally. Some economists have estimated that more than half of the country's economic growth since World War II has been a result of that technological innovation and dominance. Today, sadly, our position of dominance has been lost. We can debate where we are, but our dominance is not there--strong, of course, but dominant, no. We are challenged by emerging countries such as India and China where national investment in basic research, math, and science education continues to grow at a far greater pace than in the United States.

The Augustine panel cited many examples, but some statistics are striking. Consider that in 2005, more than 600,000 engineers graduated from institutions of higher education in China, 600,000; 350,000 in India; in the United States, 70,000--70,000 in the United States, 600,000 in China, and 350,000 in India. We can't keep up at that rate. China's population is more than the United States, of course, yet they graduate eight times the number of engineers even though they are only three times larger than the United States. The report also found that American 12th graders, seniors in high school, performed below the national average for 21 countries on a general knowledge of math and science.

Another study cited in the report had American 15-year-olds rank 24th out of 40 countries on a math assessment. I am embarrassed to tell the Senate and everyone within the sound of my voice Nevada students ranked 43rd out of 50 States in the Nation on math assessment.

As other countries become more competitive, it is clear we must refocus our energies on enhancing the Federal commitment to funding basic research in education.

My mind goes back to Paul Simon. The three of us had the opportunity to serve with him. Of course, Senator Alexander served with him in different capacities when he was part of the Cabinet. He was a wonderful man, uneducated himself, no college education, wrote more than 20 books. He was a newspaper publisher when he was 19 years old. He knew that education was important, even though he was uneducated. He wrote a book called ``The Tongue-Tied American,'' about our declining knowledge of languages and how it was hurting us internationally. I joined with him in legislation to give summer workshop programs sponsored by the Federal Government where we could pay math and science teachers on an elementary and secondary level so they could make more money than other teachers to keep up with math and science and keep them in the classroom. Paul Simon has passed away, but I am sure he is smiling on us today as a result of our trying to move forward on something that was his vision many years ago.

The America COMPETES Act addresses concerns of Paul Simon and the National Science Foundation. It is in effect a downpayment, a very modest first step in ensuring that America retains its competitive edge.

I extend my appreciation to Senators Bingaman and Alexander for authorizing the academy study. This study, along with a number of recent reports and books, brought a much needed sense of urgency to this issue. There are also chairmen and ranking members of committees who have expressed an interest in and support of what we are doing. Senators Inouye, Stevens, Kennedy, Enzi, Lieberman, Ensign, Mikulski, Hutchison, and Nelson of Florida have been instrumental in crafting this legislation. This legislation will double the Federal investment for the National Science Foundation over the next 4 years and for the Office of Science at the Department of Energy over the next decade. I personally think it should be more than five. I am happy if we can do this. I hope we can. I am confident we can.

The bill provides grants to States in order to better align elementary and secondary school curriculum with the knowledge and skills needed for the global economy. Nevada has a program recognizing where we are in the overall scheme. It is called a P-16 Council.

This Federal legislation we have introduced and are considering now will also strengthen our math and science teaching workforce--that was Paul Simon's dream--by recruiting and training teachers to teach in high-need schools and help improve math instruction at the elementary and middle school level, through Math Now grants.

I suggest to the two authors and the two managers of this bill we go back and look at the idea Senator Simon had--and I joined with him-- that we have summer workshop programs sponsored by the Federal Government for elementary and secondary teachers so they can update their math and science skills, get paid for doing that, and stay teaching. We have such a shortage of math and science teachers.

On the high school level, we have far fewer physics teachers than we have schools. Of course, the other reason for doing this is, with the collective bargaining agreements--I support them, and we have them in many of our schools, in most of our school districts--it makes it very difficult to pay math or science teachers more than you can pay a PE teacher. This summer workshop program would allow that to take place.

So I hope that is something Senator Alexander and Senator Bingaman will look at and see if we can come up with that. It is not only important to produce these math and science teachers but to keep them in the schools also.

America COMPETES will expand important advanced placement and international baccalaureate, IB, programs by increasing the number of math, science, and foreign languages AP and IB courses and preparing more teachers to teach these challenging courses. This is essential for all States. But take, again, Nevada, where only 6 percent of 12th graders took the AP calculus exam and only 7 percent took the AP science exam.

If signed into law, our bill will do much of what the Augustine Report recommended, but the truth is, in years to come we will have to do even more.

Although we make new and significant investments in research, we still must address our tax structure and make sure we do as much as possible to encourage investment in research and development.

In 1844, this Congress was approached by an individual who said he had a great idea. He could not raise the money in the private sector, but he had an idea that would revolutionize the communications of this country, and in 1844 Congress appropriated $40,000 for a man to build a telegraph line between Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD. It revolutionized--revolutionized--the communication industry, the telegraph.

The Federal Government is going to have to understand there are times when we have to advance moneys for research and development that cannot come from the private sector. I hope we will look to do it. We should start by finally making the R&D tax credit permanent.

We must also do more in education. The bill strengthens educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering, math, and critical foreign languages, but this, again, is a first step--but it is a big first step.

As an example, we must take a very hard look at our high schools. As Bill Gates has said, and often, our high schools were designed for a 20th century economy and often do not address the needs of the 21st century workforce.

Bill Gates and Melinda Gates now are giving money to schools, school districts, but they have a lot of strings on it. For example, recently they gave money to a New York school district, with this proviso: You can only use this money if you are going to make your schools smaller.

Nevada, again--we have high schools in Nevada that have more than 5,000 students. How in the world can students learn well--and try to make that basketball team--with 5,000 students? Some of the schools are not that big now, but we have many schools in southern Nevada that have over 3,000 students. So the Gates recognize this. We have to recognize this also as part of our problem. The average school in America is about 50 years old.

We should also realize that unless our most basic commitments to America's students are met--by properly funding title I and No Child Left Behind and making a college education accessible and affordable-- these efforts alone in this bill cannot prepare our students for the global economy.

The American COMPETES Act is a tremendously important step in maintaining this Nation's competitive advantage. I look forward to doing whatever I can to make this legislation a reality.

I express my appreciation to the Republican leader for joining in this legislation. This is something he and I have talked about now for 3 months since we have assumed our roles in this 110th Congress. We are going to work to make sure this legislation goes forward.

I say to everyone within the sound of my voice, for this legislation there is going to be no cloture motion filed.

We are either going to do this or not do it. This is something we need to do. We need to prove we can do things on a bipartisan basis. And if we cannot do this, Mr. President, we are in real trouble.

So I hope we can move forward on this legislation. I hope it sets a foundation for the first of many items we can do on a bipartisan basis to move this country forward.

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

Mr. President, yesterday I spoke to Governor Kaine, Tim Kaine,

the Governor of Virginia, a wonderful man. He is a public servant for all of the right reasons. He has been burdened as Governor of the State with this terrible tragedy at Virginia Tech.

He called me and made sure that we were involved in the decisionmaking he has. He has appointed a blue ribbon panel that is going to look into this situation. It is the right thing to do. He has also asked that the people around the country, at 12 o'clock noon, stand in a moment of silence in memory of the loved and lost in that terrible tragedy in Blacksburg, VA, at Virginia Tech University.

As a memento of that, many people around the country are wearing the colors of the Virginia Tech Hokies. I am proud to do that. In just a minute, Mr. President, we will stand in silence with the rest of the country in recognition of the tragedy in Virginia.

Will the Chair advise me when the hour of 12 noon arrives?

The Senate will stand in silence for 1 minute.

(Moment of silence)

Mr. President, thank you very much.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess subject to the call of the Chair.

Mr. President, we heard again this afternoon the same old story from President Bush about the war in Iraq. He claimed again that his new escalation strategy is working, that the signs of success are everywhere, and that victory is imminent. He also, once again, attacked those of us with the courage to ask the tough questions and tell the truth about Iraq.

In an effort to shift attention from this administration's failed policies--and I say that in the plural--the President and his allies have repeatedly questioned whether I and my fellow Democrats support our troops. No one wants us to succeed in Iraq more than Democrats. We have proven that time and time again since this war started more than 4 years ago. We take a backseat to no one in supporting our troops, and we will never abandon our troops in a time of war.

Given the White House spin machine that has been working overtime in an effort to defend its failed policies, it is important for me to repeat what I said yesterday afternoon in this Chamber: The longer we continue down the President's path, the further we will be from responsibly ending this war. I said it yesterday, I say it again: The longer we continue down the President's path, the further we will be from responsibly ending this war. But there is still a chance to change course, and we must change course.

Partisans who launched attacks on my comments are the same ones who continue to support the failed strategy that hurts our troops. Is this administration supporting the troops when it sends our brave men and women into battle without the necessary body armor; with vehicles that are not properly armored? I ask, is the administration supporting the troops when it fails to provide them the health care they have earned when they come home?

Our responsibilities end with these troops--never. They don't end when they leave Iraq. They don't end when they get back home. We have to continue to help them. That is what we have done.

Is the administration supporting the troops by threatening to delay their funding unless Congress continues to rubberstamp its failed policy?

I believe supporting our troops means giving them the funding they need and a strategy they deserve. It means stopping the partisan attacks. And it means spending time working together on a bipartisan basis to develop an effective strategy to successfully end this war.

I wish some of my detractors felt the same. An effective strategy is exactly what we are offering the President and our troops--no more, no less. Let's all understand, changing course in Iraq will increase America's security by bringing this war to a responsible end and permitting our troops to more effectively fight terror all over the world. This is precisely the strategy President Bush is vowing to veto.

We heard the same old story from the President today because his strategy calls for more of the same. It is a failed strategy for our troops in Iraq. It is a failed strategy for our security at home. It is dangerous that the President refuses to recognize the reality on the ground in Iraq.

For those who claim we are on the right path in Iraq, I ask them to look at this week's newspapers. I am only going to mention now a few things we find in this week's news.

The White House announced additional National Guard troops would be sent to Iraq; many, if not most, without the necessary training and equipment. The White House extended tours in Iraq for all active Army troops from 12 to 15 months. A week after the Iraqi Parliament was bombed in the Green Zone, which is the most secure part of Baghdad, almost 200 Iraqis lost their lives in that city on Wednesday. The bombings continue today. They will continue tomorrow. We are losing about four American troops every day this month.

I went to the White House this Wednesday with Speaker Pelosi to meet with the President and talk about a bipartisan way to craft an effective strategy in Iraq. We did so because we believe, as do the American people, that the lives of too many of our soldiers and too many Iraqis are on the line. The President refused to work with us.

How has the President responded? He has chosen to repeat his inflexible veto threats and continued to attack those who questioned his failed policies. Meanwhile, our troops and our national security are suffering.

It is painfully clear to me, the American people, bipartisan majorities in both the House and the Senate, military experts all over this country, and the Iraq Study Group, that the only way to succeed is to give our troops the strategy their sacrifices deserve. These groups all know there is no military solution in Iraq.

General Petraeus, the commander on the ground, has said so himself: 20 percent can be won militarily; 80 percent has to be won through our diplomatic efforts, politics, and economics.

I repeat, the only way to succeed lies through a comprehensive political, diplomatic, and economic strategy--so says the commander on the ground there, General Petraeus. Unfortunately, the only one to whom this is not obvious is our President.

The longer we continue down the President's path, the further we will be from success. But there is still a chance to change course, and we must change course. That is what we are offering the President in the supplemental we passed in both bodies with bipartisan support. We are offering a reasonable and attainable timeline to reduce combat missions and refocus our efforts on the real threats to our security. We are offering action, not just words.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Will my friend yield?

I certainly appreciate the Senator being here on the floor this afternoon. The Senator comes from the fourth most populous State, but soon to be the third, a State large in area with lots and lots of people moving there--thousands of people every month. It is a State that this good man has represented in so many different ways.

We first served together in the House of Representatives. If there were ever a person who served in Congress who served as a moderate, it would be the Senator from Florida. He is a person who is always looking for consensus, always trying to work things out, understanding that the art of legislation is compromise.

I so appreciate his brief statement today, and I apologize for interrupting it. I would just go back to more than 6 years ago when President Bush was elected. I, too, was so enthused about his coming here. He told me: I want to be a uniter, not a divider. I have been stunned by what has been going on. It started with Social Security; Medicare; the recent flap with the Attorney General, the Katrina situation, wiretaps, stem cells, Terry Schiavo, energy--on and on, with all these things that we, with rare exception, with a little bit of patience, with a President willing to work with us, could have done on a bipartisan basis. On the war, we have to resolve that on a bipartisan basis. This legislative body is reaching out. That is what we are doing.

I say to my friend, I appreciate very much not only his statement today but who he is, who he represents, and how he represents the people of Florida. We need more Bill Nelsons in this Congress of the United States.

Mr. President, I rise in recognition of Cover the Uninsured Week, which is being held this year from April 23 to 29. As many of us know, this nonpartisan initiative was created to focus the Nation's attention on one of the most serious challenges facing our health care system--ensuring access to quality, affordable coverage.

Since the first annual Cover the Uninsured Week was observed 5 years ago, the health care crisis has, unfortunately, worsened. At last count, nearly 46 million Americans lacked coverage, including 400,000 in my home State of Nevada. More than 100,000 of these uninsured Nevadans are children. The context for these numbers, which are staggering in themselves, is even more troubling. For too many, premium costs are escalating faster than they can manage while benefits are deteriorating. Being a hard-working American is also no longer a ticket to health coverage, as shown by the fact that 8 out of 10 uninsured people either work or are in working families. Even when they can find good health insurance, many families must shortchange other basic needs to afford out-of-pocket expenses or forgo necessary care altogether.

Every year we update these statistics and findings about the uninsured, but the same themes still ring true. The goal should be to ensure that all Americans can access and afford the health care they need, regardless of their income, age, employment, or health status. Sadly, we as a nation continue to fall short.

Cover the Uninsured Week is an opportunity to reflect on more than just this current state of affairs. It is also a time to call for a new direction on health care in America. Whether one is a Democrat or Republican, a Member of Congress or the State legislatures, we must all work together to heed the voices of the American people who are counting on us. So in honor of this year's Cover the Uninsured Week, let us all renew our commitment to improving our health care system. I look forward to a strong debate in the Senate on these vital issues, including the next step of updating the State Children's Health Insurance Program to better meet the needs of the Nation's children and families.

Mr. President, I yield to the distinguished junior Senator from the State of Arizona, Mr. Kyl.

Mr. President, the distinguished visiting Chaplain mentioned the Revolutionary War event, and that is memorable. Also, on this day I think it is important, to reflect on the Holocaust, that this day in 1943 was the beginning of the Warsaw Uprising at the Warsaw ghetto. As I recall, the Germans invaded Poland in 1939. They were, to say the least, brutal, especially against the Jews. In about 1941, as I recall, they cordoned off an area that was about 20 blocks by 6 blocks and ordered everyone out who was not Jewish and ordered all Jews from the whole large metropolitan area of Warsaw into that ghetto.

Word got out that the Jews had gathered some weapons, as they had done, minimal in number, and the German tanks came in on this day in 1943. Of course they were to wipe out the ghetto in 1 day, but these gallant Polish patriots, these Jews, held out for more than a month.

In the annals of history, it is one of the greatest acts of defiance against terrorism that exists. They did it with heroism and gallantry, and it is a day that we should recognize as being a day in the history of mankind where people stood up for what was right and against what was wrong.

Mr. President, this morning there will be a period of morning business for 60 minutes, Republicans controlling the first half and the majority controlling the last portion of the time. Following the period of morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 378, the court security legislation. Cloture was filed on the bill. Members have until 1 p.m. today to file any first-degree amendments to the matter.

I am confident and I am hopeful that we will finish that bill today and be able to move, either this evening or tomorrow, to the matter dealing with competitiveness. Everyone should be made aware of the fact that we have at least 50 cosponsors of that legislation, so there will be no cloture filed to move to it or after we are on it. This is a bill that we should be able to complete without any procedural blocks of any kind from either side. But we are going to finish the court security bill before we leave this week. That may take a little extra time, but I think it is something we all need to do.

Coincidentally, yesterday, as I indicated on the Senate floor, the head of the Marshals Service, Mr. Clark, came to see me. The meeting had been long since scheduled. It was not scheduled as a result of this matter being on the floor of the Senate. He indicated that violence against Federal judges was up 17 percent last year; that there were more than 1,000 open threats against members of the Federal judiciary last year. This does not take into consideration the many instances of threats and actual violence in the State courts. This legislation will not only make safer the people who work in the Federal courts, including the judges, but also has the ability to make our State courts safer.

We need not be reminded too often of what has happened in recent years. In Illinois, a crazed litigant waited in a judge's home. When the family came home--not the judge, just the family members--they were killed. In Nevada, a man who was dissatisfied with what a judge was doing shot the judge. We know what happened in Georgia, where violence took place and people were killed.

This is something we really need to do. Time is of the essence. I understand there are some amendments today, and that is fine. We will dispose of those just as quickly as we can. I hope we do not have to file cloture on the bill.

That is the next thing. I appreciate very much the Republican leader doing what was necessary so we could move to the bill immediately after cloture was invoked on the motion to proceed. This is important legislation, and we should finish it as quickly as we can.

I also want to acknowledge that all Judiciary Committee members are tied up in the Judiciary Committee today, Democrats and Republicans, because Attorney General Gonzales is appearing before them in his much anticipated hearing. As a result of that, we didn't have a manager of the bill. Sherrod Brown, a longtime Member of the House and new Member of the Senate, has agreed to manage this bill, and that will be done on this side. There are no excuses. We need to move forward. We have a manager. We will make sure everything is done in an appropriate manner.

We hope anyone who has amendments to offer will do so. There is nothing pending at this time, as I understand it. I say to the Chair, is that true, that this bill is open to amendment at the present time?

The bill is open to amendment. We hope if people, Democrats or Republicans, think this bill can be improved, they will offer amendments.