Floor Statements

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the Chemical Weapons Working Group, CWWG, for receiving the Kentucky Environmental Quality Commission's 2003 Earth Day Award. Each year a dozen organizations in Kentucky receive this award for their outstanding commitment to the environment.

CWWG, under the direction of Craig Williams, has played a vital role in the demilitarization of chemical weapons at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky. I have worked with the CWWG on this important issue and I know how strongly many Kentuckians feel about disposing of these weapons in the safest and quickest manner possible.

Although it took some time, the public and political pressure from CWWG was instrumental in the Department of Defense's decision to use water neutralization, not incineration, to destroy the chemical weapons at Blue Grass Army Depot. CWWG's research efforts to demonstrate effective alternatives to incineration were beneficial to all parties involved in this important decision.

I ask my colleagues in the Senate to pay tribute to the Chemical Weapons Working Group for their role in protecting the environment and the thousands of Kentuckians that live near the Blue Grass Army Depot.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to one of Kentucky's finest law enforcement officers. Lexington Police Chief Anthany Beatty has been recognized as Eastern Kentucky University's Outstanding Alumnus for 2003 and was inducted into EKU's Hall of Distinguished Alumni.

Chief Beatty's commitment to excellence has not only honored the Lexington police force where he has served since 1973 but also his alma mater, Eastern Kentucky University. A 1978 graduate of EKU, Beatty credits his success in law enforcement to the undergraduate work he completed while majoring in police administration. The obstacles Beatty overcame as a student would prepare him for the challenges faced by the Lexington police force.

Included in the recognition to Anthany Beatty's rise to chief of police, which he was selected for in August of 2001, is his family. The relentless years of love and support that Anthany's wife Eunice and their two sons, Embry and Anthany, Jr., have shown provided Anthany with the stability and stature necessary to meet the high demands of police work. His family's support and his spirituality have made all the difference in his life and career.

Chief Anthany Beatty's example should be followed by law enforcement officers throughout Kentucky. The citizens of Lexington are fortunate to call Anthany Beatty one of their own. They should be privileged to be served by such a fine officer. Congratulations, Anthany. And may God bless you and your family.

Madam President, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to Mr. Ryan Quarles from Scott County, who was chosen as one of the 10 national winners of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency's sponsored writing contest for Future Farmers of America members.

Mr. Quarles was chosen from 140 entries from across the Nation. Contestants were required to write a 1,000-word essay on ``Risk Management For Setting Your Supervised Agricultural Experience Program.'' Mr. Quarles has shown a commitment to excellence deserving of such a distinguished honor. Mr. Quarles' essay is a shining example of what you can achieve if you work hard and pursue your goals. His example should be followed by students across Kentucky.

This young man has demonstrated his amazing comprehension of risk management principles and application of various risk management tools and strategies in his essays. I am proud of this young man's dedication to Kentucky agriculture, the Future Farmers of America, and his goals for educational excellence. The citizens from Scott County are fortunate to call Ryan Quarles one of their own. I also want to congratulate his advisor, along with his peers, faculty, administrators, and family for their support and sacrifices they've made to help him meet this achievement and make his dreams a reality.

Madam President, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to Mr. John Hendricks from Clark County, who was chosen as one of the 10 national winners of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency's sponsored writing contest for Future Farmers of America members.

Mr. Hendricks was chosen from 140 entries from across the Nation. Contestants were required to write a 1,000-word essay on ``Risk Management For Setting Your Supervised Agricultural Experience Program.'' Mr. Hendricks has shown a commitment to excellence deserving of such a distinguished honor. Mr. Hendrick's essay is a shinning example of what you can achieve if you work hard and pursue your goals. His example should be followed by students across Kentucky.

This young man has demonstrated his amazing comprehension of risk management principles and application of various risk management tools and strategies in his essays. I am proud of this young man's dedication to Kentucky agriculture, the Future Farmers of America, and his goals for educational excellence. The citizens from Clark County are fortunate to call John Hendricks one of their own. I also want to congratulate his advisor, along with his peers, faculty, administrators, and family for their support and sacrifices they've made to help him meet this achievement and make his dreams a reality.

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to the Pikeville High School Cheerleaders of Pikeville, KY. The squad won the freshman division of the Universal Cheerleading Association's National High School Cheerleading Championship earlier this year.

The 23 members of the Pikeville High School Freshman squad were awarded the top prize in the freshman division in Orlando, FL. This is no easy feat and the citizens of Pikeville should be proud to have the members of the Pikeville High School Freshman Cheerleading Squad living and learning in their community. Their examples of hard work and determination should be followed by all in the Commonwealth.

I would like to congratulate the following members of the squad for their success: Lora Cleary, Leann Clevenger, Amanda Combs, Stephanie Combs, Amelia Crum, Amanda Hall, Olivia Harris, Jessica Justice, Kristen Kendrick, Olivia Kinney, Chelsey Kurkowski, Colby Kurkowski, Collins Kurkowski, Chelsi Lawson, Mackenzie Lewis, Leigh Brittany Lynn, Griffin Myers, Jordan Shull, Taylor Stone, Ali Tucker, Bianca Vanhoose, Bridget Walsh, and Erin Wheeler. But also, I want to congratulate their coaches, Mrs. Lisa Wheeler and Ms. Kendra Hamilton, and choreographer, Mr. Hank Light, along with their peers, faculty, administrators, and parents for their support and sacrifices they have made to help meet those achievements and dreams.

Madam President, I would like to express my support for S. 476, the CARE Act. The bill before us today contains many important provisions that work toward a single goal of encouraging charitable giving in the United States. The bill does this by making it easier for individuals to deduct their charitable contributions from their incomes taxes, by allowing tax-free distributions from IRAs for charities and by encouraging donations of books, food inventory, and computers.

I particularly would like to thank the managers of this bill for including a provision in the Managers' amendment that I had discussed in the Finance Committee earlier this year. That provision which will be in effect for certain tax-exempt bonds issued 1 year after the date of enactment of this bill, is aimed at making it easier for non-profit nursing and elder-care facilities to gain access to tax-exempt bond markets which might not otherwise be available to it. The provision was crafted to address some of the affordable funding issues facing the non-profit agencies that are attempting to provide these important and much-needed elder-care facilities, particularly in underserved regions of our country.

As you well know, Madam President, with the aging of our population, the challenges facing the underserved community of the elderly will continue to grow. One way that we can contribute to the good work that these non-profit nursing homes are doing is by finding ways to help them gain access to affordable capital so that they can continue to serve this important segment of our population.

I thank Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Baucus of the Finance Committee and Mr. Santorum, the chief supporter of this bill, and their staffs for their assistance with this issue.

Mr. President, I would like to take a few minutes to talk to my colleagues in the Senate about the important relationship America has with our friends in Israel, and the crucial role that this relationship plays in the ongoing War on Terror.

As American and Coalition troops continue military operations to liberate the people of Iraq, it is important to recall that amidst all of the criticism in the world community for American actions, there has been at least one nation that has steadfastly stood by our side since September 11 and even before.

That nation is the State of Israel.

Americans awoke fully to the realities of terrorism on that fateful morning in September, 2001. But for the children of Israel, acts of terrorism are an all too common occurrence. Israel long ago learned all too well about the true nature of the threat we face, and their assistance in combating that threat has been invaluable to the American people.

American support for Israel was strong even before September 11, but I believe it is even stronger now. It is strong in the Congress, in the White House, and throughout America.

Israel is our greatest friend in a very troubled region. This is as it should be; Israel has suffered greatly, in blood and treasure, and deserves strong American support. Israel has been an island of stability in a turbulent Middle Eastern sea.

That is why I have strongly supported economic and military aid to Israel, including the $9 billion in loan guarantees and $1 billion in FMF funds now pending before Congress as part of the supplemental spending bill to pay for the War on Terror. And that is why I have signed a letter to President Bush urging him to remain true to his vision for peace between Israel and the Palestinians as stated in his historic June 24, 2002, Rose Garden speech.

Since September 2000, when Yasser Arafat rejected the Camp David offer put forth by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak--and the subsequent, even more generous Taba offer backed by President Clinton that would have granted the Palestinians a sovereign state on 97 percent of the West Bank and Gaza, removed the majority of Israeli settlements, and allowed for Palestinian control over the Temple Mount--Israel has faced an onslaught of organized terrorism against its men, women and children.

The Dolphinarium disco, a Sbarro pizzeria, the Moment Cafe, a Passover seder--all were targets of homicide bombers sent by Palestinian terror groups who have been permitted to operate freely within Palestinian society by Arafat's Palestinian Authority.

I actually ate once at that pizzeria. In 1999, I visited Israel and spent a week there so I could better understand its history and events. On one of our last nights, my wife, Mary and I, along with our friends decided to eat out at that restaurant. To later then actually see a place with which you are familiar destroyed in a senseless act of violence really helps to put these chillingly serious matters in perspective.

It is a perspective that Israelis live with every day, and it is a perspective more and more Americans are coming to understand.

On the surface, these acts of terrorism are barbaric. But, on a deeper level, they also represent the utter failure of Arafat to live up to his commitment to Israel and the United States,

made as part of the 1993 Oslo peace accords, and for which Arafat was ironically given the Nobel Peace Prize, to renounce violence and crack down on terrorism.

Let me be perfectly clear: there is no moral equivalence between those who send teenagers to blow themselves up in crowded Israeli cafes and a government that must utilize its armed forces in order to defend its citizens.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has no choice but to fight a war against the terrorist infrastructure in the Palestinian territories so long as Arafat's police forces are doing nothing to stop terrorism, and worse, aiding it.

President Bush was exactly right when in his June 24 Rose Garden speech he called on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders untainted by terror, to build a democracy, and to end the scourge of terror, if they truly wanted the United States to recognize a Palestinian state. And it is vital that any ``roadmap'' toward the establishment of a Palestinian state be based on Palestinian performance, not timetables. Further, this performance should be judged by the party most trusted by Israelis--the United States--and not the United Nations, France, Russia or others.

On September 11, 2001, Israelis spontaneously gathered on the streets to mourn for the victims of that day's brutal attacks. Israel immediately offered the United States whatever assistance it might need. Israelis know terrorism, but they will never become inured to it.

At a time when Israel is treated as a pariah by the U.N. and much of Europe, when American academics seek to have universities divest from Israel, when anti-Semitic language reminiscent of the worst days of Nazism are considered fair game, it is imperative that the United States stand in solidarity with its true friend and ally, the State of Israel.

Mr. President, last week I offered an amendment to S. 762, the fiscal year 2003 supplemental appropriations bill, expressing the sense of the Senate for the need of political reform in Egypt. While I withdrew my amendment, I do intend to pursue this issue when the fiscal year 2004 foreign operations appropriations bill is considered on the floor.

I know a number of my colleagues are similarly concerned with the lack of political reform in Egypt, and I hope we have productive discussions on the Senate floor on how U.S. assistance can be better used to promote the development of democratic institutions and practices in that country. It is in the interests of the people of Egypt--and the United States--that freedom of association and thought are promoted and protected.

I will have more to say on this matter at a later date, and I hope my colleagues will join me in addressing this important issue.

Mr. President, I rise today in the Senate to pay tribute to the nine employees of Lan-Cay Inc. in Carrollton, KY. This small business in northern Kentucky makes many products that help drive the American military machine.

Many Americans do not realize the important role that many small businesses play in military preparedness. The nine employees of Lan-Cay make parts for grenade launchers, survival tool pouches, equipment used to deactivate land mines, and other important products for all the branches of our military. Lan-Cay is currently making thousands of bayonets for M-16's one at a time.

The employees of Lan-Cay take their jobs very seriously because they know that the quality of their work may one day save a soldier's life. They do not hope for war, but they understand the importance of the nature of their jobs. The employees of Lan-Cay carefully inspect each of their finished products to ensure that it meets the military's strict guidelines.

I ask my colleagues in the Senate to pay tribute to the employees of Lan-Cay and the thousands of employees in many other small businesses across this great nation that produce the necessary products that enable the men and women of our military to perform their tasks as well and as safely as possible.

Mr. President, I was necessarily absent for rollcall vote No. 124 on the Kohl Amendment No. 455 and rollcall vote No. 125 on S. 762, and my position on both votes was left out of the Record.

Were I present for those votes, I would have voted in favor of both the Kohl Amendment and S. 762.

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Rossi Katherine Clark. The Kentucky Association for Gifted Education, KAGE, and the National Association for Gifted Children, NAGC, named Rossi the 2002-2003 NAGC Nicholas Green Distinguished Student in Kentucky.

A fourth grader from Floyd County, Rossi was chosen among many nominees considered by the Kentucky Association for Gifted Education. Rossi's love for the traditional music of East Kentucky, while actively pursuing new music, earned her the appreciation of some of Kentucky's better known fiddlers. Rossi has shared her love of the fiddle with fellow classmates and members of her community.

The NAGC Nicholas Green Distinguished Student Awards are named after a young gifted student named Nicholas Green who was killed at a young age. His parents, Reg and Maggie, donated his college savings to the National Association for Gifted Children.

Nominated by Linda Bartrum, Curriculum Resource Teacher, Floyd County Schools, Rossi has shown a commitment to excellence deserving of such a distinguished honor. Rossi's example demonstrates what you can achieve if you work hard and pursue your goals. I am convinced that Rossi will succeed as an outstanding musician and I am proud of her accomplishments.

Mr. President, today I pay tribute to the Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, KY. Their basketball team won their second straight Sweet 16 girls title last night.

Sacred Heart won their second straight Sweet 16 title after defeating Lexington Catholic 42-40. Sacred Heart is the first team in over 25 years to repeat as state champions. Their win last night was their 62nd straight victory against in-state competition.

The citizens of Louisville, KY should be proud to have Sacred Heart Academy basketball team living and learning in their community. Their example of hard work and determination should be followed by all in the Commonwealth.

I would like to congratulate the members of the basketball team for their success, along with Crystal Kelly for being named the tournament's MVP. But also, I want to congratulate their coach, Donna Moir, along with their peers, faculty, administrator, and parents for their support and sacrifices they've made to help meet those achievements and dreams.

Mr. President, I have the privilege and honor of rising today to recognize the United Parcel Service, UPS. Recently, the Women's Business Enterprise National Council named UPS an ``Elite Eight'' member.

Each year the Women's Business Enterprise National Council selects and recognizes the efforts of eight companies that actively seek business contacts with companies owned and operated by women. For the second consecutive year, UPS is the recipient of this distinguished industry award.

One element specifically praised by the council was UPS's Supplier Diversity Program. This exceptional program was formally launched in 1992 as a way of promoting business opportunities through UPS contracts to companies either owned by minorities or women. Contracts with the 25,000 businesses included in this program vary from legal services and advertising to computers and uniforms.

Late last year, UPS completed a $1 billion expansion of the UPS Worldport facility at the Louisville International Airport located in Louisville, KY. I am pleased that more than 40 Supplier Diversity Program participating businesses were involved in the completion of this project.

Since the creation of the company in 1972, UPS has received multiple recognitions for its commitment to community development and improvement. These numerous awards and distinctions are well deserved, and UPS should be commended for this commitment.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for approximately 10 minutes.

Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise today to comment on and express outrage over the recent actions and words of journalist Peter Arnett. In fact, I hesitate to even use the term ``journalist'' when referring to Mr. Arnett. This word implies a certain degree of objectivity and balance which this man knows absolutely nothing about. ``Traitor'' is a better word to describe Mr. Arnett.

This past weekend Mr. Arnett appeared on state-controlled Iraqi television. With a uniformed Iraqi anchor translating, Mr. Arnett told the Iraqi people that the American war plan had failed due to their continued resistance and that coalition forces were in the process of drafting new battle plans. To quote Arnett:

Clearly, the American war plans misjudged the determination

of the Iraqi forces.

Saddam Hussein couldn't have written his script any better.

Clearly, Mr. Arnett has no idea what he is talking about. This is the same man who reported in 1991 during the first gulf war that the United States had blown up a baby milk factory. Military sources confirmed that this target was in fact hit. The fact that Mr. Arnett conveniently left out was that this ``baby milk factory'' was actually a biological weapons plant.

I will never understand how and why Mr. Arnett always thinks he knows so much more than our military and intelligence officials. I am pretty sure our military leaders on the ground and civilian leaders in the Pentagon, who are briefed around the clock, know a whole heck of a lot more than Mr. Arnett. I hope Mr. Arnett is not getting his info from the same source who told him that U.S. forces used the nerve agent-- sarin gas--against villagers in Laos during the Vietnam war.

This story, reported in 1998 by Mr. Arnett, could hold no water and CNN rightly fired Arnett for his reckless words and actions. Now, 6 years after that bogus claim, Peter Arnett has once again found himself in search of employment.

Both National Geographic Explorer and NBC News have fired Arnett for this latest stunt by Peter Arnett on Iraqi-controlled television. I am trying to figure out why these entities even hired him in the first place with his pathetic track record of recent years.

We all firmly believe in the first amendment which protects the freedom of religion, speech, press and assembly. However, no U.S. citizen should be allowed to provide aid, and comfort, through false information, to the enemy during wartime.

Of course the media doesn't mention the word ``treason'' like many of us have over Mr. Arnett's comments. That would be an indictment of one of their own and a pock on their profession.

Mr. Arnett can apologize all he likes for being a ``useful idiot'' for Saddam and his barbaric regime, but that's not enough for me and it's certainly not enough for our soldiers and many Americans. I think Mr. Arnett should be met at the border and arrested should he come back to America.

I dare Mr. Arnett to take a good look at our soldiers in uniform and tell them they have failed in this mission and objective.

These men and women embody everything that is great about America and freedom. They come from small towns and big cities. They come from families both rich and poor. They come from all religions and races. The one thing all these Americans have in common is their love for America and freedom.

They love this Nation and cherish its very idea so much that they are willing to sacrifice their own lives to ensure that we can live in a country free of government tyranny like that under which those in Iraq have lived.

This war has lasted almost 13 days. Thus far we have lost about 50 U.S. soldiers and have 17 missing in action.

As I stand here today, our coalition forces are surrounding Baghdad and will bring about the demise of Saddam Hussein and his regime. We will help liberate the Iraqi people from deceit and hopelessness and tyranny.

Mr. Arnett, you need to retire or think about a second career as a fiction writer. I understand you are looking for work and that the socialist, anti-American Daily Mirror in the United Kingdom has already picked you up.

To those news organizations that have already picked up Mr. Arnett, and others that may hire him, I have two things to say: One, you have every right to hire him. Two, we have every right to call your news organization a joke and a sympathizer to traitors.

I believe it is about time we made an example of Mr. Arnett's lies and deceit and let the media know we are watching.

While we are giving the media top access and protection in this war, we must demand that they not hang out to dry our soldiers and Americans. If they do so, there should be consequences.

Some believe freedom of speech is an absolute right and that journalists have the right to say and report anything they want. I, and many others, do not believe this. I do not believe journalists should be allowed to lie and opine and aid our enemies in the time of a war.

There is a line journalists are not meant to cross, and Mr. Arnett crossed this line many years ago, and he continues to do so. It is time we held this man accountable for his actions.