Floor Statements

Mr. President, I am once again, and, if confirmed, for the last time, honored, privileged, and proud to address you as a Senator from the great State of New York; to stand in this Chamber; to be amongst my colleagues with whom I have won legislative victories, suffered defeats, and made lasting friendships; to serve my fellow New Yorkers; to speak amidst the echoes of historic and fiery debates which have shaped the destiny and promoted the progress of this great Nation for more than two centuries.

And I am gratified by the overwhelming support and vote of confidence from my colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and I look forward to working with them and continuing the conversation we began on Tuesday. And of course, I am so eager to continue working closely with my friend, and the Vice President-elect, Joe Biden.

I have loved being part of the Senate, working alongside public servants of both parties who bring to bear their expertise and enthusiasm to the difficult, painstaking, and occasionally contentious work of turning principle into policy and policy into law. And I assure you I will be in frequent consultation and conversation with my colleagues here in the Senate.

I also have been so fortunate to have what is, objectively, the best Senate staff, both in Washington and in New York that has ever been assembled, led and inspired by my Chief of Staff and friend, Tamera Luzzatto.

In outlining the purpose of the world's greatest deliberative body, the authors of the Federalist Papers wrote that in part the Senate's role would be to avert the consequences of ``sudden and violent passions'' and ``intemperate and pernicious resolutions.''

Well, I think each of us at times has wished that the Senate would be ever so slightly less ``temperate.'' But it is to the lasting credit and everlasting wisdom of our Founders that we come together, representatives of every State, members of both parties and neither party, in the hopes of finding common ground on which to build a stronger, safer, smarter, fairer, and more prosperous country for our children and our grandchildren.

As I look back on 8 years of service here, and as I have spoken with many of you in recent days about the challenges that lie ahead, I find myself reflecting on the work we have done as well as the work that remains at this moment of tumult and transformation.

I asked the people of New York to take a chance on me. To grant me their trust and their votes. In the years since, as our economy has grown more interconnected and the world more interdependent, and as New York has faced challenges amongst the greatest in our State and Nation's history, I have worked hard to keep faith with my fellow New Yorkers.

I remember when I first arrived in the Senate. There were a few skeptics. Many wondered what kind of Senator I would be. I wondered where the elevators were. But I believed my charge on behalf of the people of New York and the Nation was to devote myself fully to the task at hand. So I got to work.

No sooner had I taken office, 9 short months into my first term, the Nation was attacked on 9/11. The toll was devastating and New York would bear the heaviest burden. Nearly 3,000 lives were lost. The World Trade Center lay in ruins. A toxic cloud of debris and poison rained down over first responders, building and construction trades workers, residents, students, and others.

We all remember as citizens and Senators the sense of common purpose that arose as if to extinguish the hate and violence that took so many innocent lives. In particular, I want to point out the many kindnesses of my fellow members who offered their words, and deeds, in support of the people of New York.

In one moving gesture, Senators sent staff members to help answer the ringing phones in our office as New Yorkers struggled to track down family members and turned to our offices for help. I am also grateful to Senator Robert Byrd who said at my State's hour of need, ``Think of me as the third Senator of New York.''

I remember visiting Ground Zero on September 12th with my colleague, Senator Schumer, to personally survey the devastation and to thank the first responders who were working night and day, in danger and difficulty, on what would become known as ``the Pile.''

The air was acrid. Thick smoke made it hard to breath.

We knew then that there would be lasting health problems for first responders, volunteers, workers, and others who rushed to provide assistance following the attacks.

Two days later, Senator Schumer and I went to the Oval Office and secured a commitment from President Bush for $20 billion in Federal aid for New York's recovery. In the years that would follow, Senator Schumer and I would fight successfully to ensure that money was delivered as promised.

In this and every instance, I have been grateful to have had Senator Charles Schumer as a partner and ally. New Yorkers could not ask for a more effective and determined Senator to fight for them. And I feel fortunate that if I miss seeing my friend Chuck, I can turn on the television to catch his latest Sunday press conference.

Over the past 7 years, in a fight that continues, we have worked to bring business back to downtown and to secure funding for programs to provide health screening, monitoring, and treatment for all those suffering health consequences as a result of the attacks.

We have at times clashed with the administration while holding firm to our commitment to these efforts.

And I have developed close and lasting relationships with many of the families of the victims of 9/11 who in their grief have come together to fight for health monitoring and for smarter policies to prevent future attacks.

Together, we advocated for the creation of the 9/11 Commission and for the successful implementation of its findings, including funding based on threat assessments and better resources for first responders.

These efforts would become a model for finding common ground where possible, and standing your ground where necessary. For coordinating between Federal, State and local governments. For forging new partnerships between Government, academia, labor, and the private sector, and between members of both parties. A model for decisions based on sound evidence and solid facts, and for achieving results.

This is how we approached many of the economic challenges facing New York. So many New Yorkers have lost jobs, or have seen their jobs paying less and their benefits covering less than before.

I have met many who have lost health care or seen their premiums double. Who are unable to afford a college education or find good work, or pay rising mortgage bills. Who feel as though the hardworking middle class in this country experience the risk but not the reward of a global economy.

So I have worked hard to help make investments in New York's economy, by coauthoring a law to expand renewal zone tax incentives for new jobs across upstate New York; helping to raise the minimum wage; working to extend unemployment insurance; securing $16.5 billion in transportation

funding; and increasing funds for Amtrak and high speed rail.

We passed legislation to create training programs for green-collar jobs that will help New York workers fill 21st century jobs that will in turn help end our dependence on foreign oil and fight climate change.

And we prevented the closure of military installations and facilities, including the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, Rome Labs, and the Defense Finances and Accounting Service in Rome, which keep our Nation safe and employ thousands in New York.

Even when we have faced obstacles, we have never given up. We have often promoted what President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called ``bold, persistent experimentation.''

We helped expand broadband access across rural areas in the North Country.

We secured into law funding to retrofit trucks, school buses and other heavy vehicles with new clean diesel technologies developed in Corning and Jamestown.

In the Finger Lakes and North Country we partnered with eBay and local universities and companies to create 21st century co-ops that help small businesses get the micro-loans and training to reach global, not just local, markets.

In Rochester, we developed the first-ever Greenprint: a blueprint for how the city can harness its research institutions, innovative businesses, proactive local leaders, and talented workforce to become an even stronger clean energy leader.

We brought Artspace to Buffalo and secured funds for cultural centers like Proctors Theater in Schenectady, Stanley theater in Syracuse, and the Strand Theater in Plattsburgh, creating a model for urban revitalization and economic development centered on cultural projects.

I have worked to promote heritage tourism in places like Seneca Falls, home of the National Women's Hall of Fame and the site of the landmark Women's Rights Convention of 1848.

New Jobs for New York brought together more than 2,600 entrepreneurs, investors, and researchers across New York to obtain capital, share ideas, and grow New York businesses.

Farm to Fork created new markets for New York's agricultural producers in New York's restaurants, schools, and colleges. And our annual Farm Day here in the Capitol showcased New York farmers and vintners.

With investments in transportation to ease congestion and pollution on Long Island, in Westchester, and in the Hudson Valley, renewable energy and nanotechnology in the capital region's ``Tech Valley,'' biomedical research in Buffalo, Biotechnology in Syracuse, microcredit in the Finger Lakes, we have demonstrated to companies large and small that New York, with our talented workforce, world-class educational institutions, and affordable, safe communities, is a wonderful place to do business. In fact, as you know, I recently took a detour through many of my colleagues' States where I had the opportunity to brag about New York and the kinds of innovative strategies we are putting into practice.

Some 8 years ago, I first spoke on the Senate floor. The topic was, to no one's surprise, health care. And in the years since, I have continued my commitment to achieving quality, affordable health care for all Americans, no exceptions, no excuses. I was proud to be part of the bipartisan coalition which passed the ``Pediatric Rule'' into law, ensuring that drugs are tested and labeled for safety and effectiveness in children.

We have expanded newborn screening. We were able to thwart the Bush administration's attempt to undercut community health clinics and broker a compromise to keep tens of millions of dollars in HIV/AIDS funding in New York through the Ryan White CARE Act.

Because of our work, groundbreaking legislation now provides respite care for family caregivers; safety measures to prevent tragic injuries to children in and around cars; new resources for grandparents and other kinship caregivers raising children; and more affordable college for students, particularly nontraditional students who are studying while working or raising a family.

I have also been proud to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the first New York Senator to do so, and to be the only Member of the Senate asked to serve on the U.S. Joint Forces Command's Transformation Advisory Group.

With my fellow members of the committee, we have expanded access to TRICARE for all drilling members of the Guard and Reserve; improved health tracking for servicemembers, especially important in treating complex, invisible injuries like post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury; and we have passed the first ever expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act so loved ones can take 6 months of leave to care for family members injured in service.

I have visited with members of the Armed Forces at military facilities across the State, including 10 visits to Fort Drum, and I have met with our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as those recovering at Walter Reed and at the military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

From the firefighters, police officers, and citizens who responded on September 11, to the men and women of the 10th Mountain Division, known as the most deployed division in the army, New Yorkers have answered the call to serve. I have worked hard to honor the principle that we should serve those who serve us.

I am proud of the progress we have made, often against tough obstacles and even tougher odds, under the leadership of Senator Harry Reid who has led with intelligence and grit.

But of course there remains a long way to go.

The House has passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as well as the Paycheck Fairness Act on behalf of women and others seeking equal pay for equal work. I hope we can pass these bills into law. We have moved Health IT ever closer to the finish line, which holds so much potential for reducing waste, errors, and costs while creating whole new data sets for research and avenues for innovation.

I was dismayed when we were unable to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program to millions of uninsured children under the current President, though I am hopeful we will do so under the leadership of President-elect Obama. Providing health care for every single child, as we work toward coverage for every single American, is in our duty and in our reach.

There are so many other works in progress that I hope will be pursued by my fellow Senators. And I have spoken with many of you about taking on the mantle and continuing the work of legislation I have proposed over the past 8 years.

Finally, to my fellow New Yorkers, I want to express my profound gratitude. Thank you. I love being your Senator. Serving you has been the opportunity of a lifetime to continue the work of my life. To advocate on behalf of every single child's chance to live up to his or her God- given potential. To fight so that no one feels as though they are facing life's challenges alone, as if they were invisible.

And we have had fun. 8 State fairs, 45 parades, 62 counties, and more than 4,600 events across the State. But who is counting?

As I look back somewhat wistfully, and look forward hopefully, as I seek now to serve the country in a new role sustained by the same values that have motivated me for nearly four decades in public service, I am grateful to my colleagues in the Senate, to the superb Democratic staff, to my own staff here and across New York, to my supporters, and to the people of New York for this opportunity and responsibility that has meant the world to me.

I may not have always been a New Yorker. But know that I will always be one. New York, its spirit and its people, will always be part of me and part of the work I do.

I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in the Senate, albeit if confirmed, in a new capacity, through this challenging time, at this defining moment, always with faith in my fellow Americans and optimism for all that we can achieve by working together.

Mr. President, I am so honored to be here at the same time with my friend and colleague whom I admire so much and have such great affection for, the Vice President-elect, Joe Biden.

I listened with enthusiasm and a lot of sentiment to the speech he delivered

a few minutes ago. And the way he evoked the Senate and the relationships that are developed here and the work that is done on behalf of our country was as good as I have ever heard it.

So I am deeply honored and privileged to be here with him and to address this Chamber as a Senator from the great State of New York, perhaps, if I am confirmed, for the very last time, and particularly amongst colleagues whom I have come to respect and like so much, and whose work I believe is always in the best interests of their States and their country, even when we are not in agreement.

I am gratified by the support and vote of confidence I received earlier this morning from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And I am eager, should I be confirmed, to get to work with the President- elect and with the Vice President-elect and with all of you. I have loved being in the Senate working alongside public servants of both parties who bring their expertise and enthusiasm to the difficult, painstaking, and occasionally contentious work of turning principles into policy and policy into law.

I also have been fortunate during these past 8 years to have been served by what I objectively believe is the best Senate staff ever in Washington and throughout New York. This incredible group of people has been assembled, led, and inspired by my chief of staff and my friend, Tamera Luzzatto. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks the names of all of those with whom I have worked over the last 8 years, because I could not be standing here speaking to you were it not for them.

I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a catalog of the work and achievements which they have brought about.

In the Federalist Papers, we often hear the reference to the Senate's role, to avert the consequences of ``sudden and violent passions'' and ``intemperate and pernicious resolutions.''

Well, to the everlasting credit and wisdom of our Founders, we do come together in an effort to find common ground.

As I look back on my 8 years of service, I find myself reflecting on this tiny piece of Senate and American history. Some 10 years ago, I asked the people of New York to take a chance on me, to grant me their trust and their votes. In the years since, as our economy has grown more interconnected and the world more interdependent, I have worked to keep faith with my fellow New Yorkers.

I well remember, when I first arrived in the Senate, there were a few skeptics wondering what I would do and how I would do it. There were stalwart supporters and people such as my friend, Senator Barbara Mikulski, who kind of read me the rules of the road and set me on my way.

No sooner had I figured out the way around the Senate, actually had just moved into my office, which all of our new colleagues will eventually be able to enjoy, and had gone off on my first August recess. I never, when I was on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, understood why the Senate went on recess all the time. But after the intensity of the workload and the extraordinary pressure of both the work here in Washington and the constituency work in our States, I was thrilled and relieved to see that August recess roll around.

Shortly after we returned in 2001, our Nation was attacked on 9/11. The toll was devastating and New York bore the heaviest burden. Here I was, a very new Senator, and my city and my State had been devastated. Nearly 3,000 lives were lost, the World Trade Center in ruins, a toxic cloud of debris and poison raining down over our first responders and others.

I well remember the rallying of support and sense of common purpose that all of my colleagues and the citizens of all of the States represented here showed toward me personally and toward New York. Many of you offered not only kind words but specific deeds. Senators sent staff members to help answer the ringing phones in our office as New Yorkers struggled to track down family members or to seek aid.

I will never forget Senator Robert Byrd telling me at my State's hour of need, ``Think of me as the third Senator from New York.''

On September 12, my colleague Chuck Schumer and I went to New York. As you recall, the roads were shut down, there was no way in or out of Manhattan other than by rail. The skies were clear. So Chuck and I, in a plane provided by FEMA, were the only ones in the sky that day other than the fighters who were circling overhead.

We landed at La Guardia. We got into a helicopter to fly to the heliport on the west side of Manhattan, on the west side of the Hudson River. And then we proceeded, with the Governor, the mayor, and Federal officials to go toward the horror.

When we were circling in the helicopter above the World Trade Center site, we could see the smoke still coming up, because it was, of course, burning. And we could see the very fragile piles of scrap and steel teetering as firefighters, construction workers, tried to continue their search and rescue effort. That site was as close as I have ever seen to what Dante describes as hell.

It became known as ``the Pile.'' Chuck and I and our Government colleagues walked along one of the streets, and could not even see beyond the curtain of blackness, and occasionally breaking through would come a firefighter, totally exhausted after having been on duty for 24 hours, dragging an axe, knowing already that friends and even family members had been lost.

The air was acrid. The thick smoke made it hard to breath. It burned your throat and your lungs. I knew then there would be lasting health problems for everyone who was exposed over any period of time to that air that carried so much death and destruction.

Two days later, Senator Schumer and I went to the Oval Office and secured a commitment from President Bush for $20 billion in national aid for New York's recovery. In the years that would follow, he and I have stood side by side to fight for the successful delivery of that money as promised. In this and every instance, I am grateful to have had Senator Schumer as my partner and my ally. No one fights harder or is more determined, and even though I am leaving the Senate and we will no longer serve together, I know that whenever I am missing Chuck, all I have to do is turn on the television, especially on Sunday in New York.

Over the past 7 years, thanks to so many of you, Senator Inouye, Senator Cochran, and others on the Appropriations Committee--I see Senator Harkin and Senator Murray--you have been there with us as we have worked to recover.

I am very proud of the progress that has been made bringing New York back and securing funding for the essential programs to provide health screening and monitoring and treatment for all of those who still are suffering.

I have developed close and lasting relationships with many of the victims and the families of the victims of 9/11. I applaud and thank them for their courage and their fortitude in not only fighting for the health benefits that were so desperately needed but for the creation of the 9/11 Commission, for trying to do better on threat assessments, more resources for first responders, committed, despite their grief, to smarter policies to prevent future attacks on our Nation.

I see what we did together, and then quickly followed by that the anthrax attacks, and I remember with such incredible gratitude how we all came together. We should not only come together with that level of connection and commitment in time of disaster. This is an opportunity for us to pull together, with the new administration, to make a real difference, a lasting difference for our Nation. That is what I have tried to do as a Senator from New York.

It has been a privilege working to improve the upstate economy, working on behalf of the farmers of New York. I remember a short conversation one day with Kent Conrad, Byron Dorgan, Tom Harkin, and Max Baucus early after my arrival about how I wanted to help agriculture in New York.

They looked at me so quizzically and said, you have farmers in New York? I said, yes, in fact we do, about 30, 40 thousand family farms.

Kent Conrad looked at me and he goes, you know, I do not believe that at all. So I gave a speech one day with a picture of a cow and said that this is a cow that lives on a farm, and the farm is in New York. We had a lot of fun kidding each other but working hard together.

I am grateful for the incredible efforts we made to support the people who do the hard work in New York and America, who get up every day and do the very best they can.

In the Finger Lakes region in the North Country, we helped to expand broadband access and partnered with eBay to create a way for people to have a global marketplace, when before the market was limited to a very small region of our State.

We looked for ways to retrofit trucks and schoolbuses and other heavy vehicles with new clean diesel technologies developed by two great companies in New York, in Corning and Jamestown, to clean up our environment.

We created the first ever greenprint for Rochester--a blueprint, really, for how the city can harness its extraordinary research institutions and their business leadership and others to come up with a way to be a clean energy leader.

We worked across the State to target investments from Bioinformatics in Buffalo to cultural icons such as the Stanley Theater in Utica. I took special pleasure in working with tourism because New York is such a great place of historic culture that I believed it needed to be given more support. For me, going to Seneca Falls, the home of the National Women's Hall of Fame and site of the landmark Women's Rights Convention, the first in the world in 1848, was a labor of love.

There is a lot to look back on with great nostalgia and a lot of excitement, but I want to look forward now because we are at a turning point. I know that very well, as all of you do. Our challenge will be to come together, putting aside partisan differences and even, insofar as we can, geographic differences to meet the challenges of our time. I know our two leaders are struggling to do that as we speak. But I think this could be one of the golden eras of the history of the Senate. This could be a time when people will look back and say: You know, you never can count America out. Whenever the chips are down, we always rise to the occasion. We figure out a way forward and then we make life better for our people. We extend peace and prosperity and progress throughout the world. I am very excited about what can happen in the next 4 years. There is a lot of work ahead of us, but I know the people in this Chamber are more than up to it.

Finally, to my fellow New Yorkers, I wish to express my profound gratitude. I loved being your Senator. Serving you has been the opportunity of a lifetime. It gave me the chance to continue the work of my life, to advocate on behalf of every single child's chance to live up to his or her God-given potential, to fight hard for those who too often do feel invisible, to remedy wrongs, as I hope we will do either today or in the next few days to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as well as the Paycheck Fairness Act, to do what we know will give our fellow Americans a better shot at the kind of future that is within their grasp.

I have had a lot of fun: 8 State fairs, 45 parades, 62 counties, more than 4,600 events across the State. I look back wistfully, and I look forward hopefully. I now, if confirmed, will have the high honor of serving our country in a new role, but I will be sustained and directed by the same values that have motivated me for nearly four decades in public service.

So to my colleagues in the Senate, thank you. You have been wonderful teachers and mentors and very good friends. And to the superb Democratic staff and their Republican counterparts who keep this Chamber going day-in and day-out no matter how late we are here and how long the workload turns out to be and to my own staff here and across New York, to my supporters, and, most of all, to the people of the great Empire State, I may not have always been a New Yorker, but I know I always will be one. New York, its spirit, and its people will always be part of me and of the work I do.

I look forward to continuing my association with this body. We have much to do over in Foggy Bottom. We need your help to kind of clear up the fog, to give us a chance to operate on all cylinders with the direction and the resources and the improved management techniques I hope to bring to the job.

This is a challenging and defining moment, but I will always keep faith in this body and in my fellow Americans. I remain an optimist, that America's best days are still ahead of us.

(Applause, Members rising.)

Exhibit 1

List of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's Staff, Past and Present

Huma Abedin, Barbara Adair, Joshua Albert, Amanda Alcott,

David Alexander, Lily Alpert, Karl Alvarez, Erin Ashwell,

Kris Balderston, Brendan Ballard, Mary Catherine Beach,

Kathleen Beale, Eric Bederman, Yael Belkind, Suzanne Bennett

Johnson, John Biba, Nina Blackwell, Swathi Bojedla, Amy

Bonitatibus Crowley, Victoria Brescoll.

M. Tracey Brooks, Catherine Brown, Colleen Burns, Daniel

Burton, W. Case Button, Wendy Button, Gloria Cadavid, Emily

Cain, Cathleen Calhoun, Jonathan Cardinal, Brian Carter,

Joseph Caruso, Robin Chappelle, Dana Chasin, Bradford Cheney,

Pamela Cicetti, James Clancy, Sarah Clark, Jennell Cofer

Lynch, Elizabeth Condon.

Sean Conway, Sam Cooper, Theresia Cooper, Julie Dade

Howard, Heather Davis, Jenny Davis, Samuel Davis, Trevor

Dean, James Delapp, Amitabh Desai, Allison DiRienzo, Paula

Domenici, Karen Dunn, Eleanore Edson, Cleon Edwards, Diane

Elmore, Sarah England, Leecia Eve, Christine Falvo, Rebecca

Fertig.

David Garten, Ann Gavaghan, Sarah Gegenheimer, Gigi

Georges, Kate Geyer, Dayna Gibbons, Robyn Golden, Rebecca

Goldenberg, Stacey Gordon, Jennifer Hanley, Monica Hanley,

Beth Harkavy, Jennifer Harper, Jennifer Heater, David

Helfenbein, Luis Hernandez, Eric Hersey, Christina Ho,

Melissa Ho, Joe Householder.

Kara Hughes, Jehmal Hudson, Lucy Walker Irving, Lindsey

Katherine Jack, Kelly James, Tiffany JeanBaptiste, Irene

Jefferson, Lauren Jiloty, Keren Johnson, LaToya Johnson,

Michael Kanick, Jody Kaplan, Wendy Katz, Peter Kauffmann, Jim

Keane, Elizabeth Kelley, Michelle Kessler, Yekyu Kim, Heather

King, Joshua Kirshner.

Danielle Kline, Kathleen Klink, Benjamin Kobren, Justin

Krebs, Jennifer Kritz, Michelle Krohn-Friedson, Laura

Krolczyk, Grant Kevin Lane, Elizabeth Lee, Joyce Lenard,

Alexandra Lewin, Andrew Lewis, Rachel Alice Lewis, Susan

Lisagor, Eric Lovecchio, Jonathan Lovett, Frank Luk,

Tamera Luzzatto, Ken Mackintosh, Sharyn Magarian.

Mickie Mailey, Jamie Mannina, Jaime Martinez, Ramon

Martinez, Shalini Matani, Chelsea Maughan, Corinne McGown,

Lorraine McHugh-Wytkind, Michelle Dianne McIntyre, Luz

Mendez, Sheila Menz, Susan Merrell, Noah Messing, Lauren

Montes, Gillian Mueller, Timothy Mulvey, David Mustra,

Matthew Nelson, Ray Ocasio, Ellen Ochs.

Ann O'Leary, Alexis O'Brien, Kevin O'Neal, Sean O'Shea,

Mildred Otero, Erica Pagel, Andrea Palm, Costas Panagopolous,

Paul Paolozzi, Kathryn Parker, Mira Patel, Charles Perham,

Karen Persichilli Keogh, Joshua Picker, Kyla Pollack, Tyson

Pratcher, Alice Pushkar, Murali Raju, Jeffrey Ratner, Kathy

Read.

Philippe Reines, Robyn Rimmer, Brenda Ritson, Joleen

Rivera, Melissa Rochester, Miguel Rodriguez, Rose Rodriguez,

William Rom, Tracey Ross, Laurie Rubiner, Courtenay Ruddy,

Mark Saavedra, Susie Saavedra, Joshua Schank, Daniel

Schwerin, Kelly Severance Nelson, Ruby Shamir, Andrew

Shapiro, Geraldine Shapiro, Jessica Shapiro.

Jyoti Sharma, Debra Simpson, Basil Smikle, Jake Smiles,

Sarah Smith, Benjamin Souede, Phillip Spector, Joanna

Spilker, Aprill Springfield, Dileep Srihari, Anjuli

Srivastava, Warren Stern, Deborah Swacker, Elise Sweeney,

Sean Sweeney, Michael Szymanski, Neera Tanden, Lee Telega,

Gabrielle Tenzer, Megan Thompson.

Carrie Torres, Tam Tran-Viet, Leo Trasande, Lacey Tucker,

Dan Utech, Lona Valmoro, James Vigil, Lorraine Voles, Kristen

Walsh, Greg Walton, Enid Weishaus, Nicole Wilett, Joshua

Williams, Jeanne Wilson, Erica Woodard, Yajaira Yepez,

Maryana Zubok.

Mr. President, I am so pleased to join my fellow Senators to press for passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. In particular, I would like to salute Chairman Kennedy, a champion of equality for decades in this body, and Senator Mikulski, who has been a tireless leader in the effort to achieve equal pay for equal work and who is heading the effort to pass this legislation on the floor of the Senate.

This legislation would help us deliver on the promise of equality and fairness in the workplace--not just for women but for all workers, men and women, subject to discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnic background, age, and disability. That is why I have supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act so strongly--and will continue to support it until the Senate passes it and our new President can sign it into law.

In America today, women earn only 78 cents on the dollar for doing the same jobs as men--far less if they are women of color. And we still don't value or recognize some of the hardest and most productive work done in our society: caring for children, elderly parents, and the seriously ill--work that is largely done by women.

The disparities in income, just one important example, are not only harmful to women. It is not just a mother who suffers when she is denied equal pay for equal work; her children and family suffer too. Families earn an average of $4,000 less each year because of pay disparities. It is not just a wife who loses out when she is not valued for the hours she spends caring for a sick relative or a child in need; her husband and family lose out too.

The failure to defend the civil rights of women and men facing discrimination affects real lives. That is why this act is named for one such person--someone who didn't have a lot of money or a lot of options but believed, and still believes, that we all deserve a fair chance to defend our civil rights in the courts.

Lily Ledbetter was one of only a few female supervisors at a Goodyear Tire plant. She endured insults from her male bosses and shifts that ran to 18 hours. She kept her head down, worked hard in a traditionally male job.

Near the end of her 20 years at the factory, she discovered she was being paid less than all of her 15 male counterparts--a lot less. The male supervisors earned 25 to 40 percent more

than she did. And so she took her case to court, and a jury of her peers concluded that she had been paid less because of her gender in violation of the law, awarding full damages. But in a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court reversed the jury, overturned decades of bipartisan rules and judicial precedent, and told Lilly that she was entitled to nothing. The Court ruled that if you are discriminated in your salary, you only have 180 days to seek action even if that discrimination is ongoing--and even if you didn't know about it.

The legislation we will vote on tomorrow morning is simple: it will reverse the Supreme Court's decision in Ledbetter and take us back to the rule that prevailed for years, when women had a reasonable opportunity to sue if they were being denied equal pay. That is all this legislation does--restore us to the rule before 2007.

In fact, this legislation should just be a down payment on much- needed reform to close the wage gap. The House earlier this year passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation that I introduced in the Senate to close the pay gap. The bill takes critical steps to empower women to negotiate for equal pay, to close loopholes that courts have created in the law, to create strong incentives for employers to obey the laws that are in place, and to strengthen Federal outreach and enforcement efforts.

Our pay equity laws are replete with holes and lax enforcement that has prevented them from serving as a real check on pay discrimination. As a result, there has not been enough meaningful progress to close the wage gap. We need not only the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act but also the Paycheck Fairness Act, and I urge my colleagues to take up the Paycheck Fairness Act as soon as possible.

Throughout my lifetime of public service, I have been proud to join many in the fight to change laws to ensure fairness and equality for all of our citizens. We have achieved great progress, but great progress, especially for women, remains to be made.

This is part of the unfinished business of America, unfinished business that holds back all people, weakens our prosperity, and jeopardizes our progress as a nation. Now is the time to help end pay disparity and ensure that women earn equal pay for equal work.

Mr. President, I am proud to congratulate the Honorable Harriet Cornell on her historic selection as chair of the Rockland County Legislature for a fifth consecutive year. Harriet is the first chair of the legislature to hold the office for 5 consecutive years.

Harriet Cornell has been a member of the Rockland County Legislature since 1984. In her first year of office, Mrs. Cornell founded the Legislature's Commission on Women's Issues and invited community leaders to participate in the formulation of public policy. She is also the chair of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee.

Her long record of accomplishments led the Journal News naming her as one of 25 people who made the greatest impact on Rockland County during the 20th century. As chairwoman, Mrs. Cornell's priorities have included protection of our environment, enhanced educational resources, improved health services for women and children, homeland security, Rockland's transportation infrastructure, and smart land use planning. Under her leadership, she has brought together elected officials from every level of government in Summit meetings to collaborate on these issues.

I commend Mrs. Cornell for her many years of devoted public service to the citizens of Rockland County.

Madam President, I would like to take a moment to remember one of my constituents and a life-long New Yorker, Mary Sweeney of Niagara Falls. Seven years ago, it was my great honor to send congratulations to Mary and her husband John on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary. I know that her fighting spirit will live on through John and her children, Moira, John, Billy, and Brendan, and a large and loving family of grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

Born in the Great Depression, Mary exemplified the hopes and dreams of New York families whom I have had the honor and privilege of representing in the Senate these past 8 years. Mary had an ardent appreciation for public service and the political process, and she remained true to her strong convictions throughout her life. She was a loving wife and mother who worked every day to ensure opportunities for her children. In retirement she enjoyed her many grand-children and great-grand-children and she should be proud that the rewards of her commitment to her family, her church, and her community can be seen in the many accomplishments of her family and extended family and in the many loving tributes that have been shown to her since her passing.

Mr. President, as this session comes rapidly to a close, my colleague Senator Murray and I are introducing critical legislation to suspend the Bush administration's latest attempt to put ideology before women's health. The rule being proposed by the administration would limit patients' access to basic reproductive health care services and information.

The Protecting Patients and Health Care Act would prevent HHS from implementing this ill-conceived, midnight regulation.

As you know, Senator Murray and I have been speaking out against this rule since July. The rule, as it was then proposed in August by the Department of Health and Human Services, is a serious threat to patients' access to information and care.

Then in September, Senator Murray and I had a very frank conversation with Secretary Leavitt about how this rule could create a slippery slope leading to patients being denied access to contraception and other important information or care. However, despite the important concerns we raised to the Secretary, the New York Times reported this past Monday that in the coming days, HHS plans to release a final regulation that would undermine women's health.

I am hopeful that my Senate colleagues from both sides of the aisle will join me today in supporting this important piece of legislation to protect patients' rights and health care.

Mr. President, as this session comes rapidly to a close, my colleague Senator Murray and I are introducing critical legislation to suspend the Bush administration's latest attempt to put ideology before women's health. The rule being proposed by the administration would limit patients' access to basic reproductive health care services and information.

The Protecting Patients and Health Care Act would prevent HHS from implementing this ill-conceived, midnight regulation.

As you know, Senator Murray and I have been speaking out against this rule since July. The rule, as it was then proposed in August by the Department of Health and Human Services, is a serious threat to patients' access to information and care.

Then in September, Senator Murray and I had a very frank conversation with Secretary Leavitt about how this rule could create a slippery slope leading to patients being denied access to contraception and other important information or care. However, despite the important concerns we raised to the Secretary, the New York Times reported this past Monday that in the coming days, HHS plans to release a final regulation that would undermine women's health.

I am hopeful that my Senate colleagues from both sides of the aisle will join me today in supporting this important piece of legislation to protect patients' rights and health care.

Mr. President, in a time of rising prices and historic economic turmoil, single parents deserve our support more than ever. That is why I am introducing the Elimination of the Single Parent Tax Act of 2008. I am proud to join my colleague Congresswoman Gillibrand in introducing this important legislation to help single parents by suspending State fees to fund child support enforcement.

Many states, including New York, were forced to institute this fee after the Republican-lead Congress passed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which slashed funding for child support enforcement. The fee is expected to affect 170,000 families in New York alone. These single parents need every penny of their child support income to go towards food, medicine, and other important expenses. The Elimination of the Single Parent Tax Act ensures that hard-working single parents don't face an extra tax.

In September, I joined my Senate colleagues in urging the Senate Appropriations Committee leadership to increase funding for child support enforcement to stave off these deep cuts. And today, I encourage my colleagues to join me in sponsoring this critical measure to support single parents.

For too long, single-parent households have been ignored at a time when raising children has only become more of a struggle. Yet despite these challenges, single parents heroically soldier on. This bill is only a critical first step to a more comprehensive approach to supporting single parents raising children. I look forward to continuing to fight in the Senate to stand up for our most vulnerable children and our hardest-working families.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation to address the urgent need of our underserved urban and rural school districts

by creating a corps of principals who are well-prepared, supported, and effective in improving student academic achievement in high-need schools and ensuring our schools are provided the leadership they need to prepare our children to compete in the 21st century.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that nearly 40 percent of the 90,000 principals in this country are nearing retirement, and over half the Nation's school districts are facing immediate administrator shortages. This problem is particularly prevalent in urban and rural districts with large concentrations of high-poverty schools, where turnover rates can reach as high as 20 percent per year, and academic achievement is persistently low.

That is why I'm introducing the National Principal Recruitment, NPR, Act, which seeks to address the impending shortage by establishing a corps of principals who are well-prepared, supported, and effective in improving student achievement in high-need schools. This corps is created through the recruitment of results-oriented candidates who possess personal leadership and management skills, knowledge of effective instruction, and commit to serve in high-need schools for over 5 years. Once selected, these candidates would undergo a year-long principal residency program, and receive support and mentoring to help them develop and maintain a data-driven, professional learning community.

This bill leverages non-Federal dollars with targeted funding to performance-based work done in partnership with school districts. It also includes an evaluation to capture knowledge and best practices and creates a prototype of a performance-based Federal education program by tying funding levels to an evaluation of student achievement results.

An effective and capable school leader can make the difference in providing the tools and instructional support needed to foster the type of school environment conducive to student academic success. The NPR Act will ensure that our neediest schools have effective leaders, who are well-equipped and supported, to close the achievement gap and prepare our students to compete in a global economy.

I am hopeful that my Senate colleagues from both sides of the aisle will join me today to move this legislation to the floor without delay.

Mr. President, today, I am introducing the Health Professions and Primary Care Reinvestment Act in order to improve access to quality health care for all Americans. By significantly reinvesting in the training and education of our health professionals, we are reinvesting in our communities where care is most needed.

This bill reinvests in health professional training in three ways--by expanding the training our health professionals receive, by improving our efforts to recruit and retain health professionals, and by increasing incentives for health professionals who are serving in community settings, particularly in rural and urban underserved areas.

Most Americans prefer to get their health care through a personal physician operating as part of a team-based primary care practice, yet the number of health professional students entering these fields is decreasing. We need more workers in primary care at the front lines of the health care system. Primary care professionals can help to establish a ``medical home'' for patients, providing preventive care to help people stay healthy and provide coordination of care for those with multiple or chronic diseases. This bill would achieve this goal by providing incentives for training primary care professionals, by strengthening primary care departments at the school and community level, and by supporting improved infrastructure to assist those serving in primary care settings.

Minorities, disadvantaged and rural students are underrepresented in our health professional workforce. We need to increase their numbers in the medical fields, and provide incentives for them to return to underserved areas to practice. As an example of what can be done, one program targeting rural students has returned eight times the usual number of trained family physicians to rural settings. We need to train people from all backgrounds--from underrepresented minorities, from disadvantaged backgrounds, from rural and urban underserved communities. This bill helps to achieve this goal by strengthening pipeline programs, expanding loans and scholarships, and by increasing the availability of care in underserved communities.

We need health care where people live and work. Americans should be able to access care in communities that are located far from hospitals and medical centers, in the poorest neighborhoods of cities and isolated rural areas. We need to support the institutions that the most vulnerable rely on for care, like community health centers, local departments of health, and nursing homes. This bill supports new models of care for training, recruiting, supporting and retaining faculty to serve in underserved settings, and provides infrastructure support for training students in community settings outside of the hospital, where patients need care.

In addition to addressing primary care, the legislation also works to address other health fields which are often inaccessible to patients. Dental care in the United States has become a luxury that is unaffordable to many people. Dentists are often unable to sustain careers by teaching in dental schools training the next generation of professionals, or to work in communities where the need is greatest. This bill provides support for dentists to pursue academic teaching careers and to provide general care to both adults and children. It targets underrepresented minority dentists and those who will serve in communities where the need is greatest.

One impediment to good health for people with mental health problems is lack of care coordination. Too often the psychological problem goes undiagnosed or untreated, because our health care system operates in silos. Patients are often asked to go one place to meet physical health needs and another place to meet mental health needs. This bill provides support for training and care where the health professionals work together to co-manage mental health and physical health problems toward better overall health.

We, as a nation, are getting older. As we age, our health concerns change. Many seniors take multiple medications which need to be coordinated by a team of doctors, pharmacists, and other caregivers. The Health Professions and Primary Care Reinvestment Act reinvests in our geriatric training programs by expanding opportunities for doctors, pharmacists, psychologists, dentists and others to work with patients in rehabilitation centers, at home, in nursing homes or other settings where people live or work.

Our public health and preventive medicine professionals respond to crises like SARS, anthrax, and other infectious disease outbreaks. But they also work to educate the public about ways to stay healthy, and prevent chronic diseases. They contribute to the health care safety net with services like adult and childhood vaccinations. This bill helps to support these efforts by reinvestment in training for prevention. It links schools of public health with local and State departments of health in order to train professionals to work and serve in settings where they are most needed.

Finally, and very importantly, we must better understand the demands that will be made upon our health professional workforce. This bill provides authorization for the formation of a national and multiple regional health workforce analysis centers, along with an advisory committee comprised of administrative and health professional leadership. These entities will assess, review and oversee health professional workforce needs so that we can plan and prepare a new generation of health professionals in our schools and communities.

The Health Professions and Primary Care Reinvestment Act addresses the multiple challenges facing healthcare workforce development in our country.

It will invest in primary care, expand the number of health professionals truly representative of the communities they serve, and improve the availability of care in places where Americans need it most. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate on the many issues of our health care workforce, and I would urge their support of this legislation.

Multiple organizations, including Advocating for Family Medicine, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Physician Assistants, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, American College of Preventive Medicine, American Dental Association, American Dental Education Association, American Geriatrics Association, American Osteopathic Association, American Psychological Association, Association of Departments of Family Medicine, Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, Association of Minority Health Professions Schools, Inc., Association of Schools of Public Health, Hospital Association of New York State, National AHEC Organization, National Council for Diversity in the Health Professions, North American Primary Care Research Group, Society of General Internal Medicine, and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine have endorsed this legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that letters of support be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, in a time of rising prices and historic economic turmoil, single parents deserve our support more than ever. That is why I am introducing the Elimination of the Single Parent Tax Act of 2008. I am proud to join my colleague Congresswoman Gillibrand in introducing this important legislation to help single parents by suspending State fees to fund child support enforcement.

Many states, including New York, were forced to institute this fee after the Republican-lead Congress passed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which slashed funding for child support enforcement. The fee is expected to affect 170,000 families in New York alone. These single parents need every penny of their child support income to go towards food, medicine, and other important expenses. The Elimination of the Single Parent Tax Act ensures that hard-working single parents don't face an extra tax.

In September, I joined my Senate colleagues in urging the Senate Appropriations Committee leadership to increase funding for child support enforcement to stave off these deep cuts. And today, I encourage my colleagues to join me in sponsoring this critical measure to support single parents.

For too long, single-parent households have been ignored at a time when raising children has only become more of a struggle. Yet despite these challenges, single parents heroically soldier on. This bill is only a critical first step to a more comprehensive approach to supporting single parents raising children. I look forward to continuing to fight in the Senate to stand up for our most vulnerable children and our hardest-working families.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation to address the urgent need of our underserved urban and rural school districts

by creating a corps of principals who are well-prepared, supported, and effective in improving student academic achievement in high-need schools and ensuring our schools are provided the leadership they need to prepare our children to compete in the 21st century.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that nearly 40 percent of the 90,000 principals in this country are nearing retirement, and over half the Nation's school districts are facing immediate administrator shortages. This problem is particularly prevalent in urban and rural districts with large concentrations of high-poverty schools, where turnover rates can reach as high as 20 percent per year, and academic achievement is persistently low.

That is why I'm introducing the National Principal Recruitment, NPR, Act, which seeks to address the impending shortage by establishing a corps of principals who are well-prepared, supported, and effective in improving student achievement in high-need schools. This corps is created through the recruitment of results-oriented candidates who possess personal leadership and management skills, knowledge of effective instruction, and commit to serve in high-need schools for over 5 years. Once selected, these candidates would undergo a year-long principal residency program, and receive support and mentoring to help them develop and maintain a data-driven, professional learning community.

This bill leverages non-Federal dollars with targeted funding to performance-based work done in partnership with school districts. It also includes an evaluation to capture knowledge and best practices and creates a prototype of a performance-based Federal education program by tying funding levels to an evaluation of student achievement results.

An effective and capable school leader can make the difference in providing the tools and instructional support needed to foster the type of school environment conducive to student academic success. The NPR Act will ensure that our neediest schools have effective leaders, who are well-equipped and supported, to close the achievement gap and prepare our students to compete in a global economy.

I am hopeful that my Senate colleagues from both sides of the aisle will join me today to move this legislation to the floor without delay.

Mr. President, today, I am introducing the Health Professions and Primary Care Reinvestment Act in order to improve access to quality health care for all Americans. By significantly reinvesting in the training and education of our health professionals, we are reinvesting in our communities where care is most needed.

This bill reinvests in health professional training in three ways--by expanding the training our health professionals receive, by improving our efforts to recruit and retain health professionals, and by increasing incentives for health professionals who are serving in community settings, particularly in rural and urban underserved areas.

Most Americans prefer to get their health care through a personal physician operating as part of a team-based primary care practice, yet the number of health professional students entering these fields is decreasing. We need more workers in primary care at the front lines of the health care system. Primary care professionals can help to establish a ``medical home'' for patients, providing preventive care to help people stay healthy and provide coordination of care for those with multiple or chronic diseases. This bill would achieve this goal by providing incentives for training primary care professionals, by strengthening primary care departments at the school and community level, and by supporting improved infrastructure to assist those serving in primary care settings.

Minorities, disadvantaged and rural students are underrepresented in our health professional workforce. We need to increase their numbers in the medical fields, and provide incentives for them to return to underserved areas to practice. As an example of what can be done, one program targeting rural students has returned eight times the usual number of trained family physicians to rural settings. We need to train people from all backgrounds--from underrepresented minorities, from disadvantaged backgrounds, from rural and urban underserved communities. This bill helps to achieve this goal by strengthening pipeline programs, expanding loans and scholarships, and by increasing the availability of care in underserved communities.

We need health care where people live and work. Americans should be able to access care in communities that are located far from hospitals and medical centers, in the poorest neighborhoods of cities and isolated rural areas. We need to support the institutions that the most vulnerable rely on for care, like community health centers, local departments of health, and nursing homes. This bill supports new models of care for training, recruiting, supporting and retaining faculty to serve in underserved settings, and provides infrastructure support for training students in community settings outside of the hospital, where patients need care.

In addition to addressing primary care, the legislation also works to address other health fields which are often inaccessible to patients. Dental care in the United States has become a luxury that is unaffordable to many people. Dentists are often unable to sustain careers by teaching in dental schools training the next generation of professionals, or to work in communities where the need is greatest. This bill provides support for dentists to pursue academic teaching careers and to provide general care to both adults and children. It targets underrepresented minority dentists and those who will serve in communities where the need is greatest.

One impediment to good health for people with mental health problems is lack of care coordination. Too often the psychological problem goes undiagnosed or untreated, because our health care system operates in silos. Patients are often asked to go one place to meet physical health needs and another place to meet mental health needs. This bill provides support for training and care where the health professionals work together to co-manage mental health and physical health problems toward better overall health.

We, as a nation, are getting older. As we age, our health concerns change. Many seniors take multiple medications which need to be coordinated by a team of doctors, pharmacists, and other caregivers. The Health Professions and Primary Care Reinvestment Act reinvests in our geriatric training programs by expanding opportunities for doctors, pharmacists, psychologists, dentists and others to work with patients in rehabilitation centers, at home, in nursing homes or other settings where people live or work.

Our public health and preventive medicine professionals respond to crises like SARS, anthrax, and other infectious disease outbreaks. But they also work to educate the public about ways to stay healthy, and prevent chronic diseases. They contribute to the health care safety net with services like adult and childhood vaccinations. This bill helps to support these efforts by reinvestment in training for prevention. It links schools of public health with local and State departments of health in order to train professionals to work and serve in settings where they are most needed.

Finally, and very importantly, we must better understand the demands that will be made upon our health professional workforce. This bill provides authorization for the formation of a national and multiple regional health workforce analysis centers, along with an advisory committee comprised of administrative and health professional leadership. These entities will assess, review and oversee health professional workforce needs so that we can plan and prepare a new generation of health professionals in our schools and communities.

The Health Professions and Primary Care Reinvestment Act addresses the multiple challenges facing healthcare workforce development in our country.

It will invest in primary care, expand the number of health professionals truly representative of the communities they serve, and improve the availability of care in places where Americans need it most. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate on the many issues of our health care workforce, and I would urge their support of this legislation.

Multiple organizations, including Advocating for Family Medicine, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Physician Assistants, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, American College of Preventive Medicine, American Dental Association, American Dental Education Association, American Geriatrics Association, American Osteopathic Association, American Psychological Association, Association of Departments of Family Medicine, Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, Association of Minority Health Professions Schools, Inc., Association of Schools of Public Health, Hospital Association of New York State, National AHEC Organization, National Council for Diversity in the Health Professions, North American Primary Care Research Group, Society of General Internal Medicine, and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine have endorsed this legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that letters of support be printed in the Record.

Yes.

Mr. President, I appreciate very much the extraordinary work that has been done with respect to the rescue package, led in a bipartisan fashion, which has certainly produced significant changes in the original request that came to the Congress from the Treasury Department. Tonight we will vote on legislation none of us wish we were considering and none of us can afford to see fail.

The costs of inaction are far too great. We are already seeing the consequences of a freezing credit market that will only worsen. I hear across my State of New York that small businesses are struggling to find affordable loans to keep their doors open and their inventories stocked. Even larger businesses are being pushed to the breaking point. Throughout the country, the impact of this credit crisis is beginning to be felt with students who are seeing the sources of student loans dry up, interest rates on car payments are rising, families who had saved up and acted responsibly are seeing higher mortgage rates shrinking their dream of home ownership.

Our economy runs on credit. Underlying that credit is trust. Both the credit and the trust is running out. Essentially, what we are doing in an intangible way is restoring trust and confidence, and in a very tangible way helping to restore credit. Banks will refuse to lend to businesses and even to one another; investors continue to withdraw to the safest investments: Treasury bills, even cash. Tens of thousands of jobs in New York have been lost. A study this morning projected that New York alone would lose at least 120,000 jobs.

I think we are here in some respects because we failed to tackle a home mortgage crisis. Now we are facing a market crisis. If we fail to tackle the market crisis, we risk an even deeper economic crisis. I do not think any of us want to see irresponsibility on Wall Street compounded by ineffectiveness in Washington.

That is why we must act, even as we do so with regret and reservations, because we have little choice. The proposal we are considering is far from perfect, but it is a far cry from the original plan sent over by the Treasury Department that instilled virtually unlimited powers in the hands of the Treasury Secretary. As I said when we first examined that original three-page proposal, we needed a plan that included checks and balances, not a blank check.

Thanks to the leadership in the Senate and in the House, we have negotiated through the Congress, on a bipartisan basis, a better alternative that instills taxpayer protections, asserts oversight, and maintains greater accountability.

As is the case very often in effective compromises, no one is happy. But we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good--or in this case, the enemy of what is necessary. But as we vote for this proposal tonight, we must do so considering what steps we will take next.

On the floor at this moment are three of the leaders who shaped this plan under the very able leadership of Chairman Dodd, and the chief Republican negotiator, Senator Gregg, and, of course, the chairman of the Finance Committee, Chairman Baucus. But I think we all recognize this is not the end but the beginning of what we must do. I believe there are three big goals we will have to address even after we pass the rescue package tonight in the Senate and send it over to the House.

First, we must address the home mortgage crisis. For 2 years, I and others have called for action as wave after wave of defaults and foreclosures crashed against communities and the broader economy. We are not yet through the woods. Millions of mortgages are underwater or under the specter of adjustable rates set to rise.

I am proposing what we are calling the Home Owners Mortgage Enterprise,

an acronym obviously spelling ``home,'' to rewrite mortgages and homes so that creditworthy, responsible families can keep their homes and keep making affordable payments. Through such a HOME program we would also be able to consider freezing adjustable mortgage rates and even placing a short-term moratorium on foreclosures.

When our country enacted a similar program in the Great Depression, we saved 1 million homes without costing the taxpayers a dime. In fact, the program ended with a surplus. Only by rewriting the terms of the debt held by families whose mortgages can be salvaged will we recoup a great deal of the value of the debt we are purchasing from Wall Street firms.

I also believe we need to consider a real tax credit for home buyers to jump-start the housing market. This has been an effective tool in the past, and it can be an effective tool again. We have too much supply and too little demand. Getting the liquidity that will be injected into the credit markets to work its way through the entire economy will take time. I think we need not only a supply of liquidity but an increasing demand, particularly in the housing market.

Second, we must be vigilant on behalf of taxpayers, putting in place safeguards so the Treasury is maximizing the value of the assets purchased with taxpayer dollars.

We need to have the flexibility to ensure we are not just subsidizing investors and executives, but we should tie this debt relief to strong recapitalization requirements and greater accountability.

I also want to be sure that companies do not take undue advantage of this program and sell securities to the Treasury with one stroke of the pen and claim a deduction for the losses on those assets--in essence, double dipping, dumping their bad assets on taxpayers and getting a tax break as well.

I am proposing we build on a very creative provision in the bill before us and establish an e-TRUST program. That will stand for Transparent Rules Used to Safeguard Taxpayers. In the bill there is a provision that transactions be put on the Internet. I wish to ensure that the assets bought and sold by the Treasury Department are reported online in real time so any American can log on and see how their tax dollars are being spent. All assets bought and sold must be available on a publicly accessible Web site that discloses the buyers, sellers, and values of these assets. The American people are buying these securities, and so the American people must have easy access to their portfolio.

It is also important to the American people to understand that lying behind these complex transactions with all kinds of long names that you read in the newspaper--collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps and all the other words that are used to in some way explain the complex financial transactions that brought us to this place--are real assets. There are real homes owned by real people on real land in real communities across America.

So we want to know how those securities that stand in for these real assets are being traded, bought and sold, and we want to be sure we realize for the taxpayer the benefits of these transactions.

Third, I think there is general agreement we must pursue a broader reform. That is one of the lessons of this turmoil. I know Chairman Dodd and others will be holding hearings to try to untangle how we got to where we are. We know we have to rein in executive compensation by giving shareholders a greater role in and eliminating loopholes that allow boards to conceal the value of salary packages. We have to end the quarter-by-quarter mentality in which long term prosperity is subverted by short-term stock valuations. Obviously, we have to end the culture of recklessness in our financial markets endorsed by an ideology of indifference in Washington.

If the American people invest in these companies, I think we should ask the companies to invest in the American people. I think we should consider requiring financial institutions participating in this Treasury plan to create an American priorities fund, to be part of their portfolio, to invest in clean energy, infrastructure, mass transit, manufacturing, education and other public goods and goals that would be well served by greater private investment.

Along with the rescue package will be a number of tax credits that will be passed by the Senate tonight. Again, Chairman Baucus has done yeoman's work getting these tax credits put together. The Senate supported them before. In it is a fix for the alternative minimum tax and an energy production tax credit.

In fact, we will be stimulating the economy for Main Street while we pass this rescue package for our credit markets. I think that is the right combination. But we need to do more. Instead of toxic securities that nobody can understand, are so complex and lack all transparency and accountability, banks should be investing in clean energy facilities in Buffalo or new auto manufacturing plants in Detroit to build more fuel-efficient cars.

We should be repairing our bridges, our roads, our tunnels. We should be investing in high-speed rail and making sure Amtrak is not a second- class railroad but competes with the best anywhere in the world.

I think the agenda before the Congress is a very important one for our country. We cannot continue to shuttle from crisis to crisis. This is a sink or swim moment for our country. We cannot merely catch our breath. We must swim for the shores and we must do so together, not only as a united Congress but as a united country. There is so much work to be done in America, so many investments that make us richer and stronger and safer and smarter that will enable us to look in the eyes of our children and grandchildren and tell them we are leaving our country in as good, in fact, better shape than when we found it.

At this moment, we cannot say that. But I am absolutely sure, based on the bipartisan cooperation we saw on this bill, in responding to a real crisis, that we will see more of that in the months ahead.

Our new President will certainly demand it of us, but we should be demanding it of ourselves and demonstrate to the American people that the Congress will lead the way into a much more confident and optimistic future for America.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, reforming the healthcare system is a top priority for me. I have been on the frontlines in the fight for healthcare for every single American for as long as I have been in public service. And every passing day, and year, the task becomes both more urgent and more difficult--success more expensive and failure more costly.

The United States spent about $2.1 trillion on healthcare in 2006, twice what we spent 10 years ago, and half of what we're projected to spend 10 years from now. Preventable and chronic diseases are this century's epidemic. The number of people with chronic conditions is rapidly increasing and it is estimated that if we do not intervene now, by 2025 nearly half of the population will suffer from at least one chronic disease.

The wellness gap also affects health care costs. About 78 percent of all health spending in the United States is attributable to chronic illness, much of which is preventable. Chronic diseases cost the United States an additional $1 trillion each year in lost productivity, and are a major contributing factor to the overall poor health that is placing the Nation's economic security and competitiveness in jeopardy.

Unlike some health care challenges, proven preventive services and programs exist. If effective risk reduction were implemented and sustained, by 2015 the death rate due to cancer could drop by 29 percent. Improved blood sugar control for people with diabetes could reduce the risk for eye disease, kidney disease, and nerve disease by 40 percent. Similarly, blood pressure control could reduce the risk for heart disease and stroke by 33 to 50 percent. Yet, only half of recommended clinical preventive services are provided to adults. About 20 percent of children do not receive all recommended immunizations, with higher rates in certain areas. Nearly 70 percent of people with high blood pressure do not now control it. And racial disparities in the use of prevention exist.

The country faces low use of preventive services because of the low value placed on prevention, a delivery system bent toward fixing rather than preventing problems, and financial disincentives for prevention. Insurers have little incentive to invest in preventive services today that will benefit other insurers tomorrow. This is especially true for those preventive services that reduce chronic diseases that develop over a period of several years or decades. The costs of prevention are incurred immediately but most of its benefits are realized later, often by Medicare. The United States spends only an estimated 1 to 3 percent of national health expenditures on preventive healthcare services and health promotion.

In addition, the workforce to deliver prevention is also insufficient. The supply of providers who are trained to emphasize prevention is shrinking. Between 1997 and 2005, the number of medical school graduates entering family practice residencies dropped by 50 percent. There is an acute shortage of community health workers. Between 25 and 50 percent of the existing Federal, State and local public health workforce is eligible for retirement in the next 5 years. Today, more than 75 percent of the existing public health workforce has no formal public health or prevention training. There is no national, uniform credentialing system for public health or prevention workers that would ensure that these workers are trained in the basics of preventive care.

A system that promoted full use of high-priority prevention could save lives and reduce costs. For example, complete, routine childhood vaccination could save up to $40 billion in direct and societal costs over time. Promoting screenings and behavioral modifications in the workplace can lower absenteeism and, in most cases, health costs to firms. Preventive health care services could reduce government spending on health care. If all seniors recommended to received a flu vaccine did, health costs could be reduced by nearly $1 billion per year. Over 25 years, Medicare could save an estimated $890 billion from effective control of hypertension, and $1 trillion from returning to levels of obesity observed in the 1980s.

So today, I am pleased to introduce The 21st Century Wellness Trust Act. This legislation is a critical part of the broader effort we will undertake next Congress to cover every single American and bring reforms to our delivery system that make it more efficient and improve health outcomes.

The 21st Century Wellness Trust Act would create a Wellness Trust at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the Department of Health and Human Services to refocus the efforts of our healthcare system on prevention and wellness. Through the Trust Fund Board, the Wellness Trust will become the primary payer for priority prevention services, as well as ensure an adequate and appropriately trained and credentialed prevention health workforce. The Trust will also serve as a central source of prevention information and ensure the inclusion of prevention and wellness in the development of a nationwide, interoperable health IT infrastructure.

We cannot afford to wait any longer and I am proud to introduce The 21st Century Wellness Trust Act which will be an important part of the solution. We must undertake reforms that move us from a system of sickness to a system of wellness. From a system that is tilted towards institutional and emergency care to one that not only covers everyone, but is designed to promote prevention of disease and wellness.

Mr. President, reforming the healthcare system is a top priority for me. I have been on the frontlines in the fight for healthcare for every single American for as long as I have been in public service. And every passing day, and year, the task becomes both more urgent and more difficult--success more expensive and failure more costly.

The United States spent about $2.1 trillion on healthcare in 2006, twice what we spent 10 years ago, and half of what we're projected to spend 10 years from now. Preventable and chronic diseases are this century's epidemic. The number of people with chronic conditions is rapidly increasing and it is estimated that if we do not intervene now, by 2025 nearly half of the population will suffer from at least one chronic disease.

The wellness gap also affects health care costs. About 78 percent of all health spending in the United States is attributable to chronic illness, much of which is preventable. Chronic diseases cost the United States an additional $1 trillion each year in lost productivity, and are a major contributing factor to the overall poor health that is placing the Nation's economic security and competitiveness in jeopardy.

Unlike some health care challenges, proven preventive services and programs exist. If effective risk reduction were implemented and sustained, by 2015 the death rate due to cancer could drop by 29 percent. Improved blood sugar control for people with diabetes could reduce the risk for eye disease, kidney disease, and nerve disease by 40 percent. Similarly, blood pressure control could reduce the risk for heart disease and stroke by 33 to 50 percent. Yet, only half of recommended clinical preventive services are provided to adults. About 20 percent of children do not receive all recommended immunizations, with higher rates in certain areas. Nearly 70 percent of people with high blood pressure do not now control it. And racial disparities in the use of prevention exist.

The country faces low use of preventive services because of the low value placed on prevention, a delivery system bent toward fixing rather than preventing problems, and financial disincentives for prevention. Insurers have little incentive to invest in preventive services today that will benefit other insurers tomorrow. This is especially true for those preventive services that reduce chronic diseases that develop over a period of several years or decades. The costs of prevention are incurred immediately but most of its benefits are realized later, often by Medicare. The United States spends only an estimated 1 to 3 percent of national health expenditures on preventive healthcare services and health promotion.

In addition, the workforce to deliver prevention is also insufficient. The supply of providers who are trained to emphasize prevention is shrinking. Between 1997 and 2005, the number of medical school graduates entering family practice residencies dropped by 50 percent. There is an acute shortage of community health workers. Between 25 and 50 percent of the existing Federal, State and local public health workforce is eligible for retirement in the next 5 years. Today, more than 75 percent of the existing public health workforce has no formal public health or prevention training. There is no national, uniform credentialing system for public health or prevention workers that would ensure that these workers are trained in the basics of preventive care.

A system that promoted full use of high-priority prevention could save lives and reduce costs. For example, complete, routine childhood vaccination could save up to $40 billion in direct and societal costs over time. Promoting screenings and behavioral modifications in the workplace can lower absenteeism and, in most cases, health costs to firms. Preventive health care services could reduce government spending on health care. If all seniors recommended to received a flu vaccine did, health costs could be reduced by nearly $1 billion per year. Over 25 years, Medicare could save an estimated $890 billion from effective control of hypertension, and $1 trillion from returning to levels of obesity observed in the 1980s.

So today, I am pleased to introduce The 21st Century Wellness Trust Act. This legislation is a critical part of the broader effort we will undertake next Congress to cover every single American and bring reforms to our delivery system that make it more efficient and improve health outcomes.

The 21st Century Wellness Trust Act would create a Wellness Trust at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the Department of Health and Human Services to refocus the efforts of our healthcare system on prevention and wellness. Through the Trust Fund Board, the Wellness Trust will become the primary payer for priority prevention services, as well as ensure an adequate and appropriately trained and credentialed prevention health workforce. The Trust will also serve as a central source of prevention information and ensure the inclusion of prevention and wellness in the development of a nationwide, interoperable health IT infrastructure.

We cannot afford to wait any longer and I am proud to introduce The 21st Century Wellness Trust Act which will be an important part of the solution. We must undertake reforms that move us from a system of sickness to a system of wellness. From a system that is tilted towards institutional and emergency care to one that not only covers everyone, but is designed to promote prevention of disease and wellness.

Mr. President, I rise today to discuss an issue that is very near and dear to my heart: the importance of mentoring. A good mentor can make all the difference in the world, serving as friend, role-model and advocate for children who need it most. We should be rewarding those young people who commit to public service, including mentoring at-risk children, and offering incentives to encourage wider participation.

I am proud to introduce the Supporting Mentors, Supporting Our Youth Act, which would forgive $10 of student loans for every hour of mentoring with a minimum commitment of one year of service. I'm pleased that my friend and colleague, Congressman Jim Crowley, is introducing this legislation in the House of Representatives.

I have long been an advocate for mentoring and for supporting mentoring programs like the ones you run across the country. Last year, I joined my colleague Senator Kerry in introducing the Mentoring America's Children Act, which built upon the Mentoring Program in No Child Left Behind. This legislation will help reach the 15 million young adults who could use mentor--esspecially young people in foster care and other young adults who could benefit the most from a role model, advisor, and advocate. I've long been a champion for mentoring and for supporting mentoring programs like the ones you run across the country.

Public service is the lifeblood of our communities and mentoring at- risk children is particularly important. Tomorrow, September 27th, is the National Day of Action and I could not think of a better way of supporting the thousands of communities who will mobilize across the country then by introducing this legislation to encourage more people to serve.

Earlier this month, I joined Senators Kennedy and Hatch in introducing the Serve America Act. The legislation would build a new service corps focused on addressing areas of national need such as education, energy and the environment. The bill would increase opportunities to participate in service for Americans of all ages by encourage students to make service a part of their lives, establishing tax incentives for employers who allow employees paid leave for service, and structuring service opportunities for seniors and retirees.

I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in the Senate and the House to stand up for our most vulnerable children, while making college more accessible and more affordable.