Floor Statements

Mr. President, today I take the opportunity to honor the Muhlenberg Career Development Center. Beginning with the groundbreaking in 1973, this institution has been working diligently to better the lives of all its students. This has been acknowledged by a four-star rating from the National Job Corps Association and by the National Job Corps Award for Excellence it received from the same association earlier this year. The Career Center also received a ``Top 50'' national ranking for Job Corps centers.

The Muhlenberg Career Development Center has a profound impact on the surrounding community. The center employs 135 men and women, making it the fourth largest employer in Muhlenberg County. The center also generates a substantial amount of revenue for the community through the contract it has with the Department of Labor. The standard of excellence set by the career development center is greatly appreciated by the 404 students who are currently working towards a GED and vocation there. The dedication exhibited by the Muhlenberg Career Development Center towards its students, county, State, and country deserves to be recognized and honored.

The citizens of Kentucky are proud to have the Muhlenberg Career Development Center as a part of their community. Their example of hard work and determination should be followed by all in the Commonwealth. The Muhlenberg Career Development Center has successfully found a way to bring out the best in its men and women. I personally thank the leaders and supporters of this great organization for continually producing strong and bright men and women committed to making Kentucky a better place to live.

Mr. President, I rise today in support of the FSC/ETI bill that will end tariffs on our manufactures. But also, it will finally bring much needed relief to the tobacco growers of my State.

The bill before the Senate today addresses many important tax issues that face American companies, both at home and abroad.

The many international provisions that are contained in the bill are important changes to a badly outdated part of the Tax Code.

The centerpiece of this bill, of course, is a provision to expand tax incentives to America's manufacturing sector. During debate on this bill, I was pleased that we adopted the bipartisan amendment that I offered with Senator Stabenow.

Under our amendment, America's manufacturing companies--small and large--will see their tax rate decline by almost 1.5 percent this year. That is compared to the rate cut this year of only one-third of 1 percent that was previously contained in the bill. It is imperative that we get this relief to our U.S. manufacturers as quickly as possible.

We were also able to include in this bill my amendment to extend the net operating loss period to 5 years rather than the 3-year period included in the original bill. This important provision, which will allow companies facing financial challenges to see increased cash flow to assist them in investing and hiring, is one that Senator Conrad and I have worked on together in committee.

The WTO ruling on the FSC-ETI regime authorized the European Union to start imposing sanctions of over $4 billion on U.S. exports. During the first month of tariffs we have seen products from apparel to paper hit with penalties approaching 10 percent. Many other products important to my State, such as horses, are on the initial retaliation list and will also face this tariff.

They have a list of over 1,600 U.S. products from nearly every part of the

U.S. economy that will be penalized because we have not repealed the FSC/ETI regime.

But most importantly, this amendment will help my tobacco growers.

Since Daniel Boone first came through the Cumberland Gap, farming has been both the economic and cultural backbone of the Commonwealth. The family farm is the basis of Kentucky culture and it has been based around tobacco.

For years we in Kentucky have tried to diversify from the tobacco crop.

We have had some success, vegetables, beef cattle, cat fish, corn, chicken and other crops have been quite successful, worm farms and other have not been as successful. But nothing brings as much as a return as tobacco.

Most of the tobacco farmers in my State are not full-time tobacco farmers. They either have an off-farm job, or primarily raise other crops or raise livestock.

But the money they get from tobacco, pays their mortgage, or puts their kids through school or allows them to keep farming. Outside of the western part of Kentucky, we do not have tens of thousands of acres of flat land. We need a crop that grows on rolling hills and that thrives in our climate. Tobacco does that.

But a number of things have conspired against tobacco in the last few years.

The previous administration declared war on tobacco and by extension, tobacco farmers. The Asian economic crises have hurt exports. The Master Settlement Agreement and State tax increase have dramatically raised the price of cigarettes. And although American tobacco is still superior, the companies have invested so much overseas that the gap has narrowed between American tobacco and cheap foreign tobacco.

As I am sure most of my colleagues know, there are no direct payments to tobacco farmers, but we do have a price support and production control program. Growers own quota which they can buy, sell, or lease. The government administers this program to make sure it runs effectively and that growers only sell what they are allowed to under the quota system. If you grow too much, you can't sell it.

But the quotas have lost 60 percent of their value since 1998. Not many businesses would be around if they lost 60 percent of their income in 5 years, and we have lost a lot of growers. We have many who are barely holding on. They need help, we can give that to them and get the government out of the tobacco business at the same time.

We don't have big tobacco in my State. The last big tobacco company pulled out a few years ago.

What we have is little tobacco. We have over 30,000 tobacco growers. We also have over 100,000 tobacco quota owners. Many of those are elderly who can no longer work their land, so they lease their quota and that income becomes a major part of their retirement security.

That quota is tied to the land. It has a direct effect on the property taxes Kentuckians pay.

Those taxes build and fund schools, provide clean water, pay for emergency services, pave roads and help fund every community in Kentucky. If we don't help my growers get relief, we face the very real prospect of having ghost towns in Kentucky.

The amendment we have before us today will buy out the tobacco program.

We will give our growers relief and end the federal price support program. We will also let many growers, whose average age is 62, retire and get out of the business. Dr. Will Snell, of the University of Kentucky, estimate 70-75 percent of tobacco growers will get out of the business with a buyout. We will allow growers to pay off their debts and enjoy their retirement.

The amendment also has FDA Authorization of tobacco. This is a dramatic increase in the regulatory authority of the FDA.

I am not comfortable with it. I do not want the FDA inspecting my growers' crop.

FDA regulation is a bad idea. My growers are in dire straits. They desperately need help. FDA regulation is a very steep price to pay for a buyout, but if it is the only way to get my growers relief, this Senator will vote for it.

Make no mistake about it, the program will end. The only question is whether we end it on our terms or big tobacco terms. Please, please support the tobacco growers in this country and give them an equitable solution for the little tobacco growers all across this country.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I pay tribute and congratulate Melissa Gayle Bridges of Mayfield, KY on being awarded the Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company scholarship from the Kentucky Farm Bureau Education Foundation. This academic scholarship will provide Melissa with $2000 toward her education.

Melissa has proven to be a very able and competent student by winning this prestigious award. She will represent the graduates of Graves County High School very well when she enrolls at Murray State University in the fall. She plans to study Education.

The citizens of Mayfield should be proud to have a young woman like Melissa Galye Bridges in their community. Her example of dedication and hard work should be an inspiration to the entire Commonwealth.

She has my most sincere appreciation for this work and I look forward to her continued service to Kentucky.

Mr. President, I thank the chairman for yielding. I rise to discuss probably the most important issue this body or I have ever debated on the floor of the Senate since I have been a member, 6 years.

Our Nation faces a potential disaster. I hope my colleagues in the Senate realize we have a responsibility to affirm the ideal of marriage and protect one of the most basic building blocks of our society: the family.

The first thing we have to understand is that Government did not create marriage or the union between man and woman. It is something much more fundamental than legislation or laws. Marriage is older than the Constitution of the United States. It is older than America. Marriage exists in every known human society, bringing men and women together to create and to provide for the next generation of society, and it is not the right of any government anywhere to undermine or destroy it. It is a shame that some of my colleagues in the Senate do not recognize the pressing need before us to safeguard a cultural institution that has served human beings so well for thousands of generations. We must act before it is too late.

In America today, we are facing a depressing situation, where unelected officials are attempting, because of their own arrogance, to redefine marriage. I do not know the reason why these judges believe they are so wise and how they cannot see the dangerous consequences of their actions. But they now threaten our way of life. It is up to us to act to ensure that the American people have the opportunity to decide what is right for the society in which they live.

Marriage matters to our society. Mothers and fathers both matter to children. Only a man and a woman have the ability to create children. It is the law of nature. No matter how much some might not like it or want to change it or push for technology to replace it, this law is irrefutable. It is upon this law that so much of our society and our cultural institutions are based--families, communities, work, schools.

When the families suffer, when they are undermined, we all suffer. We know that weak families lead to more poverty, welfare dependence, child abuse, substance abuse, illness, educational failure, and even criminal behavior. Failing to protect marriage will send the message to the next generation that we do not care about them and that we have thrown away a cultural institution that has served human beings throughout recorded history.

Traditional marriage has been central to the understanding of family in Western culture from the very beginning, and the central reason for marriage has been for the rearing of children. Children have the best chance to succeed when they are reared in stable, traditional families. A loving family provides the foundation children need to succeed, and strong families with a man and a woman bonded together for life always have been and always will be the key to such families.

Eight years ago, Congress tried to protect marriage by passing the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as the legal union between

one man and one woman as husband and wife. As a member at that time of the U.S. House of Representatives, I was proud to support that legislation. But since then, activist judges and some local officials have aggressively tried to circumvent the law and the will of the people in redefining marriage. These extremists have devised a clever strategy to override public opinion and force a redefinition of marriage on the Nation through the court system. Because they knew they could not make their case through elected legislatures, they decided to work through unaccountable officials in hand-picked areas of this country.

The liberals' effort started in Vermont when the State supreme court ordered the State legislature to legalize same-sex marriages or create same-sex civil unions. Then they moved to Massachusetts, where the supreme court forced the State to give full marriage licenses to same- sex couples. This happened even though the citizens of Massachusetts opposed the effort and no law had been passed to authorize it. Nevertheless, in Massachusetts, same-sex marriages became a reality.

The activists will not stop trying to impose their extreme views on all of the rest of us, and they have now plotted a State-by-State strategy to increase the number of judicial decisions redefining marriage without--I say without--the voice of the people being heard.

Under our Constitution, States are required to give full faith and credit to the laws of other States. While the Federal Defense of Marriage Act was once thought to be enough protection for States that did not want to allow same-sex marriages, it now is very clear that the liberals who have no respect for the law are pushing a strategy to completely undermine the Defense of Marriage Act. Now the only recourse left to those of us who want to follow the law and to defend our cultural institutions is to amend the U.S. Constitution.

I wish this were not the case. But States are profoundly threatened by these activist court decisions, and we have been backed into a corner. In the meantime, couples from all over the country have traveled to those States with same-sex marriages to receive their licenses and plan to return to their home States.

At least 42 States have statutes that define marriage as a union of a man and a woman, but because of the acts of a few extremists, all of these laws are threatened. In fact, at least 10 States currently face court challenges to their marriage laws, and 9 States, including my own, Kentucky, expect to have a constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall in efforts to protect traditional marriage. So we are facing a situation where our Constitution and our laws are going to be amended one way or the other--by the people's representatives or by unelected judges.

Those of us who defend traditional marriage were not looking for this struggle, but it has been forced upon us, and I feel we must do what we can to prevail. We believe there is little else left more important to our Nation and to our future. When a small handful of unelected activists take it upon themselves to rewrite laws and to try to overturn cultural institutions we have always relied upon, then we must use every tool at our disposal to defend what we believe is right.

I do not take amending the Constitution of the United States lightly. None of us in this body does. However, the only way to prevent this social misjudgment from being made by the courts is to allow the people to speak on the issue through a constitutional amendment process. It is the most democratic, grassroots, political mechanism available left to let the people speak. The people are the ones who live under the law. They should be able to decide if they want to make such a fundamental and drastic change.

I hear from constituents of the Commonwealth of Kentucky every day asking me, begging me, to support the Federal marriage amendment so they can be heard. In fact, I hear more about this than probably any other issue since I was elected to office. It is that important to that many people. And because it is such a critical issue--traditional marriage--any attempt to change something so fundamental should be ultimately left to all of the people and not a select few to decide.

We must act, and we must act now. I urge my colleagues to let the voice of the people be heard and act to save marriage. Please support this constitutional amendment to define what marriage is. It is the most important action we can take in this Senate.

I urge support, and I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I pay tribute and congratulate Lauren Amber Cook of Princeton, KY on being awarded the William R. Sprague Scholarship from the Kentucky Farm Bureau Education Foundation. This academic scholarship will provide Lauren with $4,000 toward her education.

Lauren has proven to be a very able and competent student by winning this prestigious award. She will represent the graduates of Caldwell County High School very well when she enrolls at Vanderbilt University in the autumn. There she plans to study chemical engineering with a focus on agriculture.

The citizens of Caldwell County should be proud to have a young woman like Lauren Amber Cook in their community. Her example of dedication and hard work should be an inspiration to the entire Commonwealth.

She has my most sincere appreciation for this work, and I look forward to her continued service to Kentucky.

Mr. President, I pay tribute and congratulate both Stephan Kathman of Covington, KY, and David Sheets of Lexington, KY, on being named two of the seventy-eight outstanding U.S. high school students to attend the 21st annual Research Science Institute (RSI). The Institute, sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology, will

take place this summer. Students in this program represent the upper one-percent of those in the United States who took the PSAT exam.

Science and technology is extremely important for the economic growth of this country, and we need to encourage young scholars to pursue careers of excellence and leadership in the field. These two young men and the others involved in this program are the future leaders of this country and deserve our recognition. These students are competitively selected to attend and, subsequently, are provided with assistance for the eight to ten years of their undergraduate and graduate studies.

So often we hear of failures of the U.S. educational system; however, students chosen for RSI are proof that good things are happening in our schools. Kentucky is doing its job to nurture some of the county's finest talent. I join my fellow Kentuckians to congratulate Stephan Kathman and David Sheets on their achievements and wish them luck this summer at the Research Science Institute.

Mr. President, I pay tribute and congratulate Allison Hammer of Summer Shade, KY, on being named a distinguished finalist for the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. This award honors young people in middle level and high school grades for outstanding volunteer service to their communities.

Allison Hammer has proven herself to be an ideal volunteer. While she is only 14 years old, she has already done more volunteer work than many people will do in their whole life. After two of her friends were killed in an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) accident, she took it upon herself to start a 75-person ATV safety camp for the youths of Monroe County. In this excellent effort she recruited volunteers and raised the funds to make this camp a success.

The citizens of Monroe County are fortunate to have a young woman like Allison Hammer in their community. Her example of dedication, hard work and compassion should be an inspiration to all throughout the entire Commonwealth.

She has my most sincere appreciation for this work and I look forward to her continued service to Kentucky.

Madam President, I rise to honor and pay tribute to the Kentucky Mountain Development Corporation, KMHDC, for receiving one of the Fannie Mae Foundation's 6 Maxwell Awards for Excellence.

The Maxwell Awards of Excellence program showcases the outstanding work of nonprofit organizations in developing and maintaining housing for low-income Americans. Each year the award is given to only 6 projects nationwide. The Kentucky Mountain Development Corporation is a church-related nonprofit established in 1973, that provides save, decent, affordable homes for low-income families in Southeastern Kentucky. The staff of nearly 30 works with volunteers to build and repair houses for low-income families and provide financing for families with income too low to qualify for any other housing assistance. KMHDC originates and services low-interest loans and provides jobs and promotes economic development through housing production in rural Appalachia.

The Kentucky Mountain Development Corporation is an outstanding example of how Kentuckians use their entrepreneurial talent, drive, and vision to create opportunities not just for themselves, but for others. In the last 30 years, they have provided 600 homes for low-income families and it has completed more than 400 home repairs to substandard owner occupied units.

Southeastern Kentucky is fortunate to have the Kentucky Mountain Development Corporation as a home-based business. I appreciate their loyalty to Kentucky and their community. The company is a shining example of leadership, hard work, and compassion. They are an inspiration to all throughout the Commonwealth.

Congratulations, Kentucky Mountain Development Corporation. You are Kentucky at its finest.

Mr. President, I pay tribute and congratulate Danielle Miller of Louisville, KY on being named a distinguished finalist for the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. This award honors young people in middle level and high school grades for outstanding volunteer service to their communities.

Danielle Miller founded a service organization called the ``National Awareness Committee'' to provide clothing, books, and other needed items to members of the Lakhota Sioux Nation living on a reservation in South Dakota. Danielle became aware of the Lakhotas needs during a school presentation by the Native American Support Effort--NASD--in the eighth grade, and became a volunteer. Although she was too young to go on a mission to the reservation, she realized she could accomplish a great deal in her community.

Danielle Miller planned and organized five collection drives at local schools and in nearby communities, and gathered enough clothing, blankets, kitchenware, bicycles and books to fill a 52-foot truck. She recruited volunteers to help sort, pack, and load the donations, and personally accompanied the shipment to the Rosebud Reservation in southern South Dakota. Danielle plans to make a documentary film that will be used to make even more people aware of the Lakhota situation.

The citizens of Louisville are fortunate to have a young lady like Danielle Miller in their community. Her example of dedication, hard work and compassion should be an inspiration to all throughout the entire Commonwealth.

She has my most sincere appreciation for this work and I look forward to her continued service to Kentucky.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Madam President, I rise today to offer an amendment cosponsored by Senator Bingaman and 16 other Senators including Senators Grassley, Clinton, Domenici, Kennedy, Stevens, Cantwell, Voinovich, Schumer, Alexander, Murkowski, Murray, DeWine, Talent, Durbin, Bond, and Feinstein.

This amendment will fix the problems with the Department of Energy's compensation program for sick and injured cold-war workers at Energy sites throughout the country.

Since the end of World War II, workers at Department of Energy sites across the country helped our Nation face threats from our enemies by creating and maintaining our Nation's nuclear weapons.

Many of these workers sacrificed their health and safety and were exposed to harms unknown at the time in their work to preserve our freedoms.

In 2000, as part of the DOD authorization bill, Congress enacted the Energy Employee Occupational Illness Compensation Act.

This act was intended to give timely and reasonable compensation to Department of Energy employees suffering from diseases caused by working in the nuclear weapons program.

This program was split into two parts.

Subtitle B of the program is run by the Department of Labor for those workers with diseases from radiation and beryllium; and

Subtitle D of the program is currently run by the Department of Energy for those workers made ill from toxic substances.

Subtitle B of the program has been running well. The Department of Labor has completely processed more than 95 percent of the 54,000 cases it has received.

Subtitle D of the program, however, is completely broken and the Department of Energy has done an abysmal job running it.

For almost 4 years now, the Department of Energy has failed to process and pay claims of workers who were made ill by their work.

The Energy Committee has held 3 hearings on this issue which revealed the DOE's failure at administering this program. I should note that both the chairman and the ranking member of the Energy Committee are cosponsors of this amendment.

GAO has also studied this issue and found the DOE's performance subpar.

More than 24,000 workers or survivors have filed claims with the DOE for compensation for their illnesses.

DOE has now received $95 million for this program from Congress and only four claims have been paid.

Further, the program under the DOE has an uncertain process for compensating workers. Even if a worker is found to have an eligible claim, DOE has not identified an entity for all claimants who will pay those claims and serve as a ``willing payer.''

DOE's miserable job with this program is particularly troubling because of the Kentucky workers at the Paducah gaseous diffusion plant, where the uranium shipped to sites throughout the country was refined.

Under DOE's program, out of almost 3,000 former Paducah workers who have filed for compensation for their illnesses. Zero workers have received any compensation for their illnesses.

The Department of Energy's current track record for slow processing of claims makes me believe that it lacks the capability to handle the compensation program effectively.

The amendment transfers subtitle D claims processing operations from the Department of Energy to the Department of Labor, who is currently handling thousands of similar claims under subtitle B of the program.

The Department of Labor is one of the largest and most efficient claims operations in the country.

Payments will be made directly by DOL to the worker or survivor. This solves the current issue of no willing payer for all eligible claims.

The funds continue to be subject to annual appropriations as they currently are today.

CBO anticipates only minor costs associated with the transfer of the program to DOL.

This amendment fulfills the promise that Congress made to DOE workers in 2000 to provide payment and benefits for their illnesses due to toxic substances.

Many of these workers are dying and should not have to wait any longer for the Department of Energy to get its act together to process and pay the valid claims in a timely manner.

The current DOE program's lackluster performance is not what Congress envisioned when it passed this act in 2000.

It is imperative that we protect those workers who risked their health and safety to help us win the cold war.

I urge you to support this amendment and I yield the floor.

I will, following the Senator from Iowa.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that my amendment be modified by the language currently at the desk.

Mr. President, I pay tribute and congratulate David Gruenwald of Owensboro, KY on being named a distinguished finalist for the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. This award honors young people in middle level and high school grades for outstanding volunteer service to their communities.

David Gruenwald has proven himself to be an ideal volunteer. While he is only 14 years old, he has already done more volunteer work than many people will do in their whole life. As a project to become an Eagle Scout, David started a book drive for inmates at the Daviess County Detention Center. He went above the call of duty and began to enlist his classmates at Owensboro Catholic Middle School. Soon they had increased the size of the facility's library from about 30 books to 2,900.

The citizens of Owensboro are fortunate to have a young man like David Gruenwald in their community. His example of dedication, hard work and compassion should be an inspiration to all throughout the entire Commonwealth.

He has my most sincere appreciation for this work, and I look forward to his continued service to Kentucky.

Mr. President, today I pay tribute to Kohrs Lonnemann Heil Engineers for being named the Kentucky Small Business Person of the Year.

Joseph R. Kohrs, Robert A. Heil, Robert A. Lonnemann are the leaders of Covington's Kohrs Lonnemann Heil Engineers, a mechanical and electrical engineering firm offering heating, ventilating, air conditioning, electrical, fire protection, plumbing and communication technology consulting engineering services. Being one of the few firms in the area offering this combination of services, today, it has carved its own sizable niche, providing excellence in engineering, design and field services to Kentucky.

Kohrs Lonnemann Heil Engineers is an outstanding example of how Kentuckians use their entrepreneurial talent, drive and vision to create opportunities not just for themselves, but for others. What began as a humble business almost 47 years ago is now a leading engineering firm that is a leader in giving back to the community.

Northern Kentucky is fortunate to have Kohrs Lonnemann Heil Engineers as a home-based business. But more importantly, it is fortunate to have Mr. Kohrs, Mr. Heil, and Mr. Lonnemann call Northern Kentucky home. I appreciate their loyalty to Kentucky and their community. The company has been a shining example of leadership, hard work, and compassion. They are an inspiration to all throughout the Commonwealth.

Congratulaions, Kohrs Lonnemann Heil Engineers. You are Kentucky at its finest.

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to the memory of our 40th President, Ronald Wilson Reagan.

Mary and I have deep sadness today and we send out our heartfelt condolences to Nancy and the rest of the Reagan family.

I didn't personally meet Ronald Reagan until 1983, but I wish I had known him before.

I will never forget how even though we hardly knew each other, he was there when I needed him.

This first happened when I was running for Governor of Kentucky in 1983. To be honest, not many people were helping me. I entered the race late to try to help the Republican party because we didn't have a candidate. Most people either weren't very interested or weren't giving me much of a chance. But I called President Reagan and he helped me and even came out to campaign for me. I'm sure some of his advisers told him not to, and told him there was nothing in it for him. But he came anyway.

At a time when not many other people believed in me, Ronald Reagan did. That was very special to me personally.

I didn't win that race, but President Reagan's faith in me and his support transformed me from someone who had merely watched him from afar to an appreciative admirer.

He had no reason to come and assist me other than to help because of the goodness in his heart.

I asked, and that was enough for him.

Later I was at the 1984 Republican Convention in Dallas when he gave the great speech about believing in America and how our Nation symbolized hope to the world as a shining city on the hill.

It was spellbinding and uplifting. Even though it was a political convention, I think his message of optimism and his belief in the goodness of America touched all Americans.

President Reagan believed in me again when I ran for Congress in 1986. To be honest, I wasn't really interested at first in coming to Washington. But when Ronald Reagan and his White House turned on the power of persuasion, it was almost impossible to say ``no.'' And with Ronald Reagan's support, I was fortunate enough to win and to come join him as a Member of Congress for his last 2 years in office. Again, he believed in me and I've never forgotten it.

I attended his last two State of the Union speeches as a Member of the House and they were spectacular performances.

I remember during his last State of the Union when he dropped a copy of the enormous continuing resolution spending bill Congress had passed in late 1987 and warned us that we'd better get our work done on time because he wouldn't sign another bill like that.

We knew he meant it and Congress listened and the next year we did get our work done on time.

I believe the secret to Ronald Reagan's appeal was that he had such strong and profound fundamental beliefs about the role of Government and he was so confident in his ability to communicate those beliefs in simple, but powerful ways that average Americans could understand.

People sensed that he was sincere in his own beliefs. They knew he was comfortable in his own skin and had a clear idea of the direction where he wanted to lead the country. Because he was confident in himself and believed in America and its people, the American people returned that faith. They believed in him and they listened to him. When he led, they followed.

They followed Ronald Reagan when it came to his staunch opposition to taxes.

They listened to him when he warned us about the evils of communism and asserted our moral superiority in the struggle between the East and the West.

Many in Washington criticized him when he warned that the old Soviet Union was an evil empire.

But Ronald Reagan understood that the Soviets were a moral threat to our way of life, and that we were engaged in a struggle that we had to win.

The naysayers said Ronald Reagan was dangerous, but the American people knew he was fundamentally right, and history will show him to be a visionary who probably saved our Nation and the world.

Like every other President, Ronald Reagan had his critics. And he made mistakes. But there is no doubt that the strong consensus among the American people is that Ronald Reagan was a great President.

He was an unusually strong and optimistic leader that we all want to emulate. That's why his passing has hit so many of us so hard.

Even his strongest critics will tell you that they liked Ronald Reagan the man and human being. They knew that even though he might disagree with their policies that he still liked them as people and that he would treat them with respect.

That was a hallmark of Reagan and another strength of his administration--he was always a gentleman and treated others with respect. He might not have won every policy and political argument, but he fought cleanly and conducted himself with civility and grace.

In the end, I believe that few of us will see another leader the likes of Ronald Reagan during our lifetime.

I believe that when he took office he set out to change not only the Nation but the face of the world. That is exactly what he did.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today I would like to take the opportunity to honor Mr. Harold O. Davies, a Seaman on the USS Yorktown in the Battle of Midway during World War II.

During the Memorial Day holiday, we have honored many of our service men and women who risked their lives for their country. We have especially honored what Americans call ``our greatest generation''--the men and women who fought in WWII--and Mr. Davies is an

extraordinary addition to this generation.

Mr. Harold Davies fought on the USS Yorktown at the Battle of Midway. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States' retaliation emerged in a grueling war of the Pacific. The Battle of Midway was the major turning point in the Pacific in which Japan lost all four aircraft carriers and all of the airmen and planes in the battle. On June 4, 1942, before the last Japanese aircraft carrier sunk, it struck the USS Yorktown, leaving the ship dead in the water. The crew worked diligently to repair the damage and returned the ship to fully operational. The USS Yorktown, also known as the ``Fighting Lady,'' launched fighters for three more days, gaining a major victory for the United States before sinking on June 7.

Mr. Davies never left his post during this battle. He remained courageous and loyal to his crew and duties. As the ship was sinking, he refused to board the lifeboat until all the wounded were aboard. After the ship sank, he remained in the water for two and a half hours before being picked up by a whaleboat. Mr. Davies was not injured in the battle. He lives today as a prominent member of his community and church in Hebron, KY and is able to share the story of the legendary Battle of Midway. This type of valor should not go unrecognized. Therefore, I join my fellow Kentuckians to honor Mr. Harold O. Davies and thank him for his service in the United States Navy.

Mr. President, I pay tribute today to the Frenchburg Job Corps Center in Frenchburg, KY. On June 24, 2004 this center will celebrate a milestone anniversary. For 30 years the Frenchburg Job Corps Center has taught a variety of skills to our Kentucky workforce, helping the men and women of Kentucky to improve their job skills and their general well being.

I am grateful for all the work that the Frenchburg Center has done over the last 30 years. Their contribution to the Commonwealth of Kentucky should not be underestimated. Through the work of this center many men and women have been enabled to become valuable pillars of their local and state economies.

The skills that these men and women learned range from the culinary arts to apartment maintenance. But all of these skills have been of inestimable value when it comes to doing one of the most important things in life, providing for yourself, your family and your community.

I believe the Commonwealth would not be the same without the dedication of these men and women and I thank the Frenchburg Job Corps for its 30 years of dedication to the workforce of the Kentucky.