Floor Statements

Mr. President, today I wish to recognize Akaska, SD. The town of Akaska will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding this year.

Since its beginning in 1907, Akaska has been a strong reflection of South Dakota's values and traditions. As they celebrate this milestone anniversary, I am confident that Akaska will continue to thrive and succeed for the next 100 years.

I would like to offer my congratulations to the citizens of Akaska on their anniversary and wish them continued prosperity in the years to come.

We are not in a quorum call?

Madam President, I wish to speak, if I may, to the amendment offered by my colleague from Oklahoma, Senator Inhofe. It is important that in this whole debate on the bill that we talk about the solutions that are important to this country's independence today on foreign energy and the need to get away from that and become energy independent and lessen our dependence on foreign energy and that we also talk about actions we can take that will lower energy costs for people in this country.

I appreciate the fact that the underlying bill has a number of provisions in it that are good. There are provisions in the bill I will be supporting. I have a series of amendments I will be offering that will improve the availability of renewable energy in this country.

I also wish to speak in support of amendment No. 1505 because I believe fundamentally it would greatly improve our Nation's stagnant oil refining industry, boost the development of coal-to-liquid technology, and accelerate the development of the next generation of biofuels.

As to the underlying amendment talked about by my colleague from California, first, there are no mandates in this bill. These are things the State can do. They can opt into this. Obviously, the incentives in this amendment do not go to oil companies, they go to State and local governments.

Frankly, this is an important point, that this is directed to areas that have been affected by base closures and also Indian reservations, which in my State are desperately in need of economic development. This is the type of economic development that will fit very well in a lot of places in South Dakota that qualify.

It is important this amendment be adopted. It does address a critical need in this country, and that is for more refinery capacity and the need in a lot of places, areas affected by base closure and Indian reservations, for economic development.

There are a lot of items this amendment would accomplish. It is important to point out that over the past 30 years, the petroleum industry has not added a single new oil refinery in the United States. The American public, I think, would find it startling that the largest petroleum consumer in the world hasn't seen one new refinery in the past three decades, which has created a devastating bottleneck in the delivery of transportation fuels to American consumers.

Fortunately, the Senate has an opportunity through this amendment to address that issue which is squeezing very hard the wallets of hard- working Americans across the country.

Amendment No. 1505, which is pending before the Senate, would enact important measures to boost domestic refining capacity and provide certainty for the industry and the public.

First, the amendment would set deadlines for refinery permit approval. For too long, proposed refinery projects have met slow deaths due to endless delays in the bureaucratic permit process.

Second, this amendment would provide States with much needed technical and financial resources to assist in refinery permitting. The process of refinery siting is time-consuming, complicated, and financially straining on State budgets that are already stretched thin.

This amendment also protects States rights by giving individual States the opportunity, as I said earlier, to opt in to a refinery permitting program. Contrary to what the opponents are saying, there are no mandates in this legislation. Participating States can voluntarily request the Environmental Protection Agency to coordinate all permits for construction or expansion of a refinery.

The importance of expanding refinery capacity to provide affordable and reliable supplies of transportation fuel cannot be overstated. I want to show a chart of something that was printed in BusinessWeek on May 3, 2007. This is what they said:

Because of high costs and a lack of public support,

refiners haven't built an entirely new plant since 1976.

While they have been expanding existing plants, the industry

isn't keeping pace with growing demand.

I would also like to show another chart of something that was printed recently in the Wall Street Journal, and it said this:

The causes of higher gas prices include $65 per barrel oil

caused by rising global demand and geopolitical tensions; a

record high U.S. gasoline consumption of 380 million gallons

a day; and refined gasoline shortages caused by Congressional

rules and mandates.

Now, my constituents know this problem firsthand. Inadequate refining

capacity has a real impact at the local level, and I will give just a little anecdotal evidence here from South Dakota.

For the past month and a half, several key gasoline terminals in my home State of South Dakota were literally out of gasoline for multiple days at a time. Widespread outages were reportedly caused by limited supplies due to refinery shutdowns and routine repairs in other parts of the country. The ripple effects of this gasoline supply disruption were felt throughout the entire eastern part of my State. As the pipes ran dry and terminals emptied, gasoline wholesalers were forced to travel great distances and manage logistical bottlenecks at the few pipeline terminals with available refined product. In the meantime, gasoline prices soared at the retail level across South Dakota, and consumers in my State were forced to pay more at the pump.

The recent events in South Dakota are a prime example of the need to increase refining capacity in the United States. These events also underscore the need to move beyond petroleum for our transportation fuel needs.

The amendment offered by Senator Inhofe moves our country toward greater energy independence by providing Economic Development Administration grants for infrastructure improvements to accommodate cellulosic ethanol refineries at Base Closure and Realignment Commission sites and Indian lands.

As my fellow Senators are all well aware, the underlying bill includes a renewable fuels standard of 36 billion gallons by the year 2022. In order to meet this goal, we need to enact policies that dramatically increase the development and production of cellulosic ethanol.

By providing EDA grants that support cellulosic ethanol production in communities in need of economic development, amendment 1505 provides targeted rural and economic development and places our biofuels industry on course to reach the strengthened renewable fuels standard.

In addition to the EDA grants for cellulosic ethanol refinery development, this amendment includes a first-of-its-kind provision that may greatly enhance private sector investment in renewable fuels. This amendment will begin to assess our Nation's renewable reserves of biomass cellulosic ethanol feedstocks so that the public and energy companies have a realistic understanding of total U.S. renewable reserves. Energy companies' stock prices rise and fall depending on their declared proven reserves. This process, which has been in place since 1978, provides tremendous incentives for exploration, investment, and development of new sources of traditional hydrocarbons.

This straightforward amendment builds upon these proven market incentives by directing the Securities and Exchange Commission to research and report to Congress on the establishment of a renewable reserves classification system for cellulosic biofuels feedstocks in the United States.

The idea of a renewable reserves classification system was first discussed during an Agriculture Energy Subcommittee hearing I held in Brookings, SD, earlier this year. An expert witness from Ceres, Inc., an industry leader in the development of transgenic switchgrass seed for cellulosic ethanol production, testified that a standard means for measuring renewable reserves on a per-barrel-of-oil basis would greatly incentivize private sector investment in the next generation of advanced biofuels.

The President of Ceres, Inc., Richard Hamilton, describes the renewable classification system as:

An independent metric by which energy companies, and the

market, may measure renewable reserves in barrel-of-oil

equivalents just as they measure proved reserves today.

He continues by stating:

A renewable reserves classification system could well be

the catalyst America's traditional providers of liquid

transportation fuels require to invest in cellulosic biofuels

technology and may be the Federal Government's least

expensive way to hurry the cellulosic biofuels industry to

maturity.

Certainly a proposal that could result in such a dramatic advancement in our biofuels industry is worthy of consideration by the Securities and Exchange Commission and is certainly worthy for inclusion in a bill that calls for a historic increase in renewable fuels production. If we are serious about advanced biofuels production, we must consider effective approaches, such as the amendment offered today by my colleague from Oklahoma, that would boost the production of advanced biofuels.

This amendment is important because, as I said earlier, it addresses a critical problem and shortage that we have in America today; that is, a lack of refinery capacity. We need more capacity. Now, frankly, it would be great if the folks I represent in South Dakota could get to their destinations by walking or riding bikes. Unfortunately, we have long distances to cover in my State. We have to drive automobiles, and we have to use fuel to power our automobiles. When you have a refinery problem like we have in America today, that limits the amount of gasoline that can be shipped through the pipeline to destinations in my State, and that drives the cost of gasoline higher and higher. Because of that shortage and because the wholesalers have to go to distant places to get it, it adds to the cost of our economy, and that affects the day-in and day-out lives of the people in my State of South Dakota and across this country who have to get to their destinations, whether it is to work or whether it is travel for recreation. The reality is that we cannot continue to abide $3.50 or $4 a gallon for gasoline, and we need to address what is causing that problem.

As I said earlier, I will be offering a number of amendments that will increase and advance the production of biofuels energy in this country because I believe so profoundly in its importance as part of our energy supply. But this particular amendment is critical as well because it addresses a fundamental problem that exists in America today; that is, a lack of capacity, refinery capacity, to make sure enough gasoline is making it to its destination, to places even as remote as South Dakota, so that the people who drive across my State can have access to affordable fuel to make sure they can get to the places they need to get to, and that the lack of affordable fuel does not choke our economy by continuing to force us to pay these exorbitant prices for gasoline.

So I support the amendment of the Senator from Oklahoma, amendment No. 1505, and I urge my colleagues here in the Senate to do so as well. It is important for a lot of reasons--because it brings economic development to areas that really need economic development, those areas which have been affected by base closures and Indian reservations--and because my State desperately needs that form of economic development and job creation. So I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

Madam President, today I wish to recognize Keith and Patti Jennings as they celebrate their ranch's 100-year anniversary. The Jennings family has the unique distinction of being one of the few functioning farm and ranch operations able to trace their roots back to family members who were the original homesteaders on the land. This is a truly impressive accomplishment for the Jennings family and the State of South Dakota.

This milestone celebration is a tribute not only to Keith and Patti Jennings but to their grandparents Robert and Lucille and their parents Darrell and Mary. The family can certainly take pride in the perseverance and fortitude that enabled three generations of Jennings to stay on and operate the same ranch for the past 100 years.

Keith and Patti Jennings should also be very proud of the contributions their children are making to the great State of South Dakota, Brian as executive director of the American Coalition for Ethanol, Barry as executive director of the South Dakota Beef Industry Council, Marla with the construction industry in Sioux Falls, and Byron as a student at South Dakota State University.

I would like to commend Keith and Patti for their 32 years operating the Jennings Ranch and for its 100 years of operation. South Dakota is fortunate to have the Jennings as lifelong residents. Families like theirs are the backbone of South Dakota's economy and future. I wish them continued success in the years to come.

Madam President, today I recognize Lake Norden, SD. The town of Lake Norden will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding this year.

Located in Hamlin County, Lake Norden is home to the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, the Lake Norden Historical Society Museum, and the Donald Christman Toy Museum. Lake Norden has been a successful and thriving community for the past 100 years and I am confident that it will continue to serve as an example of South Dakota values and traditions for the next 100 years.

I would like to offer my congratulations to the citizens of Lake Norden on this milestone anniversary and wish them continued prosperity in the years to come.

Madam President, today I recognize Henry, SD. The town of Henry will celebrate the 125th anniversary of its founding this year.

Located in Codington County in northeastern South Dakota, Henry was founded in 1882 and has approximately 300 residents today. Henry has been a successful and thriving community for the past 125 years and I am confident that it will continue to serve as an example of South Dakota values and traditions for the next 125 years.

I would like to offer my congratulations to the citizens of Henry on this milestone anniversary and wish them continued prosperity in the years to come.

Madam President, today I recognize Hayti, SD. The town of Hayti will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding this year.

The county seat of Hamlin County, Hayti was founded in 1907 by the South Dakota Central Railway as a stop on its line from Sioux Falls to Watertown. The town was named after the area's common practice of tying hay for fuel. Hayti has been a successful and thriving community for the past 100 years and I am confident that it will continue to serve as an example of South Dakota values and traditions for the next 100 years.

I would like to offer my congratulations to the citizens of Hayti on this milestone anniversary and wish them continued prosperity in the years to come.

Madam President, today I recognize Faulkton, SD. The town of Faulkton will celebrate its 125th anniversary this year.

Faulkton was founded in 1882 and named after Territorial Governor Andrew J. Faulk. Located in Faulk County, it has served as the county seat since 1886. Faulkton has been a successful and thriving community for the past 125 years and I am confident that it will continue to serve as an example of South Dakota values and traditions for the next 125 years.

I would like to offer my congratulations to the citizens of Faulkton on their anniversary and wish them continued prosperity in the years to come.

Madam President, today I recognize Wessington Springs, SD. The town of Wessington Springs will celebrate the 125th anniversary of its founding this year.

Located in Jerauld County, Wessington Springs was founded in 1882. It was named after a man named Wessington and also after the natural springs that flow through the town's hills. While Wessington's identity is not certain, there are a number of local legends about a trapper by that name who spent time in the area. Wessington Springs has been a successful and thriving community for the past 125 years and I am confident that it will continue to serve as an example of South Dakota values and traditions for the next 125 years.

I would like to offer my congratulations to the citizens of Wessington Springs on this milestone anniversary and wish them continued prosperity in the years to come.

Madam President, today I recognize Lemmon, SD. The town of Lemmon will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year.

Founded in 1907, Lemmon is located in Perkins County near the North Dakota border. It was named after George Edward Lemmon, who managed the largest fenced pasture in the world and is a member of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. The town of Lemmon is home to the world's largest petrified wood park, which was constructed by unemployed workers during the Great Depression. Lemmon has been a successful and thriving community for the past 100 years and I am confident that it will continue to serve as an example of South Dakota values and traditions for the next 100 years.

I would like to offer my congratulations to the citizens of Lemmon on their anniversary and wish them continued prosperity in the years to come.

Madam President, today I recognize Wessington, SD. The town of Wessington will celebrate its 125th anniversary this year.

Wessington is located west of Huron in Beadle County. Since its beginning, the town has been a strong reflection of South Dakota's values and traditions. As they celebrate this milestone anniversary, I am confident that Wessington will continue to thrive and succeed for the next 125 years.

I would like to offer my congratulations to the citizens of Wessington on this milestone anniversary and wish them continued prosperity in the years to come.

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

Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum and ask unanimous consent that the time be charged equally between both sides.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, could the leader tell us when amendments can be called up which were not on the list he just read, that have not been allowed to be called up today?

Mr. President, I thank the Senator.

Mr. President, today I rise to honor Senator Craig Thomas, who, very sadly, passed away Monday evening. As all of us in the Senate know, Craig was a respected Member of this body. A number of my colleagues have made very kind remarks on the floor about their relationship with

Craig. While I have not served as long in the Senate as have many of my colleagues who knew and worked with Craig over the years, I did have an opportunity to get to know him since being elected to the Senate in 2004.

I think one of the most important things we have all witnessed with Craig's passing is the outpouring of support and stories about the people he impacted in the Senate, in Wyoming, and across the country.

Without question, the Senate is a lesser place today without Craig's presence. One of the clearest indications of any politician's popularity is his or her support back home. Craig's leadership as the senior member of the Wyoming delegation was overwhelming--primarily due to the confidence he earned from his constituents back in Wyoming. That confidence was something he fought to keep since first being elected to Congress back in 1989.

Craig's battle with leukemia was very indicative of the way he led his life and how he worked on behalf of his State and our Nation. I also believe if his diagnosis hadn't been made public following his reelection last November, I doubt anybody would have known of the battle he waged as he underwent his chemotherapy treatments.

Craig did timeless work on behalf of the citizens of Wyoming and our Nation. His absence from the Senate will be greatly felt. Kimberley and I are deeply saddened by Craig's passing and extend our prayers to Susan and her family. Craig's hard work over the years on behalf of Wyoming and our Nation is a testament to his character and gives all of us something to strive for.

Craig Thomas was a man of the people. He was a Wyoming original. He represented the very heart and soul of the people of his State and of our Nation. He personified hard work and integrity. He was a ``what you see is what you get'' kind of a guy. Wyoming and America are a better place because of his service.

Mr. President, I also have a germane amendment that I have been trying for some time to get called up and get pending. I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 1174 be made pending. I am happy to set that aside or discuss it now. I would like at least to get it in the queue so at some point it could be voted upon.

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

Mr. President, the amendment I just tried to call up, amendment No. 1174, was objected to, and I hope at some point we can get agreement to allow it to be put into the pending status that will allow it to be voted on at some point. But since we are on the bill, I would like to speak to the amendment.

Amendment No. 1174 is a very straightforward and simple amendment. What it does is it removes a loophole in the underlying bill that allows noncriminal illegal immigrants to obtain immediate legal status before any of the border security measures set out in this bill are deployed and inserts language that prohibits probationary benefits from being issued to an illegal immigrant before the effective date triggers are implemented.

Despite what the proponents of the bill are saying, the immigration proposal before the Senate would give illegal immigrants immediate legal status upon enactment by providing legal immigrants with the opportunity to apply for a probationary Z visa or, as it is labeled in the bill, a ``Probationary Authorization Document.'' Illegal immigrants can obtain immediate legal status because of a huge exception set out in the very first sentence of this very large bill. This exception makes the trigger requirements of beefed-up border security and internal security irrelevant, in my view. It is an exception that I believe swallows up the rule.

This exception completely undermines what is supposed to be a key principle of the bill, and that is that no legalization of the illegal immigrant population in this country can occur until the border security and workplace enforcement provisions in the bill are certified as funded, in place, and in operation.

My amendment simply does away with this section by striking it from the underlying bill and inserting language that prevents any probationary benefit from being issued before the ``effective date triggers'' are implemented.

Not only does this bill provide for immediate legal status for illegal immigrants before any of the border security measures in the bill are deployed, it also provides that illegal immigrants will be able to maintain legal status in this country even if the border security measures in this bill are never deployed.

The very first sentence of the bill says the probationary benefits conferred by section 601(h) are exempt from the trigger requirements of 20,000 Border Patrol officers and 670 miles of vehicle barriers and fencing and other enforcement measures.

Section 601(h) says an illegal immigrant who files an application for a Z visa shall be granted probationary benefits in the form of employment authorization. The provision also says the illegal immigrant may not be detained, nor an unauthorized immigrant.

Once an illegal immigrant applies for the Z visa; provides evidence that they were in the country and employed before January 1, 2007; pays up to $1,500 in processing fees and a $500 State impact assistance fee, as well as a $1,000 penalty, that individual will receive a probationary authorization document if he or she passes all appropriate background checks or the end of the next business day, whichever is sooner. That means the illegal immigrant will legally be in this country before any certification that 20,000 Border Patrol officers have been hired and 670 miles of vehicle barriers and fence have been constructed.

Interestingly, illegal immigrants would not even have to pay the entire initial $1,000 penalty set out under this bill. They would have to immediately pay the $1,500 for a processing fee and a $500 State impact assistance fee, but these are merely fees, not penalties.

Another principle of this legislation is supposed to be that illegal immigrants are justly punished for breaking the law before obtaining legal status. The bill, in section 608, allows illegal immigrants to put 80 percent of the penalty on an installment plan, meaning that an illegal immigrant would only have to pay $200 initially in penalties when they apply for a probationary Z visa.

So an illegal immigrant could pay a paltry $200 penalty when they apply for a probationary Z visa and have immediate legal status conferred upon them by the next business day if nothing turns up in a background check. This does not amount to an adequate consequence for breaking our laws, nor does it put illegal immigrants at the back of the line. To make matters worse, no additional fence or other border security measures have to be deployed before this happens.

Mr. President, what makes matters even worse is that even if the triggers are never met, the probationary legal status never expires. As the bill states clearly on page 291, line 17, all of these things: The immediate legalization, the trigger mechanism being made pointless, and the never-ending probationary legal status occur because of this loophole in the very first sentence of the bill.

I would simply argue that loophole needs to be closed, and that is what my amendment would do. Those who have broken our laws to come here will be given immediate legal status, even before additional security fences are constructed or desperately needed Border Patrol officers are hired. This does not sit well with most of the people I represent in South Dakota from whom I am hearing every day on this issue. They are not happy with this bill as written.

My amendment represents an effort to ensure that the trigger requirements in the bill are met before any legalization occurs by eliminating the exception for ``probationary benefits'' and ensuring that no probationary benefit for illegal immigrants can be issued until the trigger mechanisms in this bill are implemented.

Mr. President, we are a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of laws. We should be rewarding those people who have followed our laws, who have played by the rules, and not putting those who have entered the country illegally in front of them. Before any effort is made to deal with the 12 million illegal immigrants in the country, we first must secure the border.

Despite claims to the contrary, the bill in its current form would give illegal immigrants immediate legal status before any further border security measure is deployed. My amendment would fix this flaw in the bill. I would hope, Mr. President--I would also add that Senator Grassley from Iowa is a cosponsor of this amendment.

I hope we will have an opportunity at some point to debate this, to vote on it, because I think this is a fundamental flaw in the bill that needs to be corrected. It is a loophole which I think completely undermines the whole intention of this bill; that is, to make sure that certain conditions are met before the legalization process is allowed to move forward. This, as I said, is a very straightforward, simple amendment, one that I think is very understandable to people across this country. Certainly I think it makes sense to people I represent in the State of South Dakota.

I hope at some point those who are managing this bill will allow this amendment to be called up, to be made pending, and ultimately to be voted on.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today I wish to recognize the Ipswich High School class of 1957 as they celebrate their 50-year class reunion.

The class of 1957 will celebrate this milestone occasion on June 8 to 10, 2007, in Ipswich, SD. Approximately 42 classmates plus spouses and guests are expected to attend the main banquet on June 9. This event is an important time to reflect on the many wonderful memories that the classmates have shared with one another over the years and to look forward to many more happy memories that they will create in the future.

It gives me great pleasure to rise with the Ipswich High School class of 1957 and to congratulate them on the celebration of this milestone anniversary.

Mr. President, today I recognize Castlewood, SD. The town of Castlewood will celebrate the 125th anniversary of its founding this year.

Located in Hamlin County, Castlewood was founded in 1882 when the Chicago and Northwestern railroad placed a turntable near the location of the present day town. According to the town's folklore, the first train that passed through had an engineer named Castle and a conductor named Wood, hence the town was named ``Castlewood.'' Since its beginning, Castlewood has been a successful and thriving community and I am confident that it will continue to serve as an example of South Dakota values and traditions for the next 125 years.

I would like to offer my congratulations to the citizens of Castlewood on this milestone anniversary and wish them continued prosperity in the years to come.