Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce legislation today that will reduce barriers to health care for millions of patients across the country, particularly those from medically underserved and minority communities. The Patient Navigator, Outreach, and Chronic Disease Prevention Act will create programs which direct individuals to affordable and accessible prevention, detection and treatment services for cancer and other chronic diseases. The bill will also establish patient navigator programs to assist patients make their way through the often complex health care system.

This year alone, more than 80,000 Texans will be diagnosed with cancer and nearly 35,000 Texans will die of the disease. Cancer is the most expensive illness in the United States. It cost Texas $13.9 billion in one year due to medical costs and loss of productivity in 1998.

Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in cancer and chronic disease prevention, detection, and treatment, not all Americans are benefitting. Cancer survival rates of those living in poverty are ten to fifteen percent lower than other Americans, and African American men have the lowest rate of cancer survival. Cancer and chronic disease continue to disproportionately impact minorities and medically underserved communities. The consequences of inadequate access to these services mean that diseases like cancer are often diagnosed at later stages when the illness is more advanced and options for treatment are decreased.

In my home State of Texas, ensuring access to health care is a profound challenge, particularly along the Texas-Mexico border. The problem is in part due to lack of insurance coverage, as forty-nine percent of the Texas Hispanic population does not have health insurance, but it is also attributable to an uneven distribution of health professionals and hospitals, inadequate transportation, and a shortage of bilingual health information and providers.

The legislation I am introducing today will eliminate barriers by cutting through red tape and increasing access to affordable prevention and care for people from all walks of life.

The bill accomplishes its goals by reaching patients in the communities in which they live--through community health centers, rural health clinics, community hospitals, cancer centers, tribal and urban Indian organizations, among others, and by ensuring that there is a doctor or nurse, who, while speaking in a language people can understand, will provide patients with prevention screenings and follow-up treatment.

Patients will be provided with a trained patient navigator from their own community, who can help with scheduling and keeping appointments and referrals for prevention and treatment. They can also ensure doctor's instructions are followed and funds to pay for treatment or arranging transportation to a specialist are obtained. They may also provide a service as simple as helping out with the paperwork.

This legislation is modeled after successful programs such as the Harlem Navigator Program at Harlem Hospital in New York City operated by Dr. Harold Freeman, and the local Washington, D.C. Hospital Cancer Preventorium directed by Dr. Elmer Huerta. Through implementation of the Harlem patient navigator program, diagnosis of breast cancer at an early stage has improved. In 1989, only 1 out of 20 breast cancer diagnoses were made at an early stage. Now, through the navigator program, 4 out of every 10 diagnoses are identified early. Furthermore, the program has reduced the time between diagnosis and treatment to ten days.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the critically important Patient Navigator, Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce legislation today that will reduce barriers to health care for millions of patients across the country, particularly those from medically underserved and minority communities. The Patient Navigator, Outreach, and Chronic Disease Prevention Act will create programs which direct individuals to affordable and accessible prevention, detection and treatment services for cancer and other chronic diseases. The bill will also establish patient navigator programs to assist patients make their way through the often complex health care system.

This year alone, more than 80,000 Texans will be diagnosed with cancer and nearly 35,000 Texans will die of the disease. Cancer is the most expensive illness in the United States. It cost Texas $13.9 billion in one year due to medical costs and loss of productivity in 1998.

Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in cancer and chronic disease prevention, detection, and treatment, not all Americans are benefitting. Cancer survival rates of those living in poverty are ten to fifteen percent lower than other Americans, and African American men have the lowest rate of cancer survival. Cancer and chronic disease continue to disproportionately impact minorities and medically underserved communities. The consequences of inadequate access to these services mean that diseases like cancer are often diagnosed at later stages when the illness is more advanced and options for treatment are decreased.

In my home State of Texas, ensuring access to health care is a profound challenge, particularly along the Texas-Mexico border. The problem is in part due to lack of insurance coverage, as forty-nine percent of the Texas Hispanic population does not have health insurance, but it is also attributable to an uneven distribution of health professionals and hospitals, inadequate transportation, and a shortage of bilingual health information and providers.

The legislation I am introducing today will eliminate barriers by cutting through red tape and increasing access to affordable prevention and care for people from all walks of life.

The bill accomplishes its goals by reaching patients in the communities in which they live--through community health centers, rural health clinics, community hospitals, cancer centers, tribal and urban Indian organizations, among others, and by ensuring that there is a doctor or nurse, who, while speaking in a language people can understand, will provide patients with prevention screenings and follow-up treatment.

Patients will be provided with a trained patient navigator from their own community, who can help with scheduling and keeping appointments and referrals for prevention and treatment. They can also ensure doctor's instructions are followed and funds to pay for treatment or arranging transportation to a specialist are obtained. They may also provide a service as simple as helping out with the paperwork.

This legislation is modeled after successful programs such as the Harlem Navigator Program at Harlem Hospital in New York City operated by Dr. Harold Freeman, and the local Washington, D.C. Hospital Cancer Preventorium directed by Dr. Elmer Huerta. Through implementation of the Harlem patient navigator program, diagnosis of breast cancer at an early stage has improved. In 1989, only 1 out of 20 breast cancer diagnoses were made at an early stage. Now, through the navigator program, 4 out of every 10 diagnoses are identified early. Furthermore, the program has reduced the time between diagnosis and treatment to ten days.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the critically important Patient Navigator, Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, will the Senator from Utah yield for a question?

Will the Senator from Utah yield for a question?

Mr. President, I ask the Senator from Utah, how many votes does it say in the Constitution are required to confirm a judge in the Senate?

That is my question. If the Constitution says 51 votes,

or a simple majority, I am asking if it would be an effort to go around the Constitution to filibuster a Federal judge. Is it even really seemly to filibuster a Federal judge nominee when the Constitution is very clear on this issue? Is it setting a new standard with Miguel Estrada that we are going to all of a sudden have the Constitution averted to start requiring 60 votes out of 100 to confirm a Federal judge, a nominee, which is the President's absolute right to make, his right and responsibility, and he has nominated these qualified judges?

I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.

Several Senators addressed the Chair.

Madam President, how many minutes remain for Senator Hatch?

I ask the Presiding Officer to notify me at 3 minutes.

Madam President, I am very pleased to speak on behalf of someone who I really know well and have a great deal of confidence in, and that is State Representative Rob Junell. Rob is being nominated, and hopefully confirmed today, to be the U.S. district judge for the Western District of Texas. He will reside in Midland.

This is a very important court. It has been designated as a judicial emergency by the Judicial Conference of the United States.

Rob is a native of West Texas and is currently of counsel to a San Angelo law firm. He served seven terms in the Texas legislature where he was chairman of the Appropriations and Budget Committees. I worked with him to try to make sure Texas had a limitation on State debt, and it was because of Robert Junell's absolute insistence we pass this legislation that we were able to do it in one session, and it has served my State of Texas well to have a limit on State debt. Rob Junell deserves credit for that.

Rob Junell earned a degree from the New Mexico Military Institute and from Texas Tech University. He also graduated from the University of Arkansas with a master's degree in political science and a law degree with honors from Texas Tech Law School.

Rob Junell has been a leader in the State of Texas. I have worked with him in many ways. I think he is one of the smartest people with whom I have ever worked. He also took time to be a part of his community of San Angelo. He served on the boards of the United Way of Concho Valley and the San Angelo AIDS Foundation. He is a lifetime member of the NAACP. He meets the high standards we set for Federal judges. I know he is going to be a really terrific Federal judge, because he knows the law and he knows what is fair. He has that sense about him of what is right and what is not. He also knows the place of a judge. Having been a legislator, he knows it is the elected representatives who should make law, not judges with lifetime appointments. So he will change his course now from being a legislator, elected by the people, and making very important laws for my State of Texas, to becoming a judge and interpreting those laws and trying to see what the legislature meant.

It is my honor to speak on behalf of Rob Junell and recommend him to my colleagues in the Senate for confirmation.

I thank the chairman, Senator Hatch, and the ranking member, Senator Leahy, for acting expeditiously on this nomination, and I especially thank Senator Hatch for reserving time for me.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I send a resolution to the desk on behalf of myself, Senator Nelson of Florida, Senator Frist of Tennessee, Senator Daschle of South Dakota, Senator Cornyn of Texas, and Senator Graham of Florida, and I ask for its immediate consideration.

I thank the Chair.

Mr. President, today I rise to honor the memory and the sacrifice of the seven astronauts whose lives were tragically cut short in pursuit of the newest frontier--space.

America is a word, a country, and a people. America is also a spirit, an indomitable spirit of adventure and courage, one that defies complacency and accepts challenge. The American spirit knows no bounds.

Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon also had that spirit, and so did Kalpana Chawla, who was born in India and made America her home. It is that spirit which President Kennedy harnessed in 1961 when he made the bold claim: Within a decade, America would put a man on the Moon and return him safely home.

That same spirit enabled us to fulfill a great mission and make space travel seem routine, although it was never routine.

It is that spirit which fueled the hearts and minds of those seven men and women who launched into the sky on January 6, 2003.

On Saturday, we were reminded of the high price we sometimes pay for reaching new horizons. Our thirst for knowledge led us to explore space. Our curiosity, sense of wonderment, and desire to improve life on Earth prompted us time and again to defy the odds. Those heroes did not take their task lightly, but they undertook it with joy.

Ilan Roman, the first Israeli astronaut, who was on that fated flight, wrote the following words from space:

The world looks marvelous from up here, so peaceful, so

wonderful and so fragile.

His serene vision came to a catastrophic end on Saturday morning, and that moment when the world awoke to the news that seven astronauts disappeared into the skies will be one etched in our collective memories forever.

In recent years, America has borne too much tragedy and experienced too much grief, but our collective loss still sears our souls and the pain is never easier to bear. Today, just 4 short days after they vanished into the crystal blue skies of Texas, we pause to remember them and thank them from our hearts: Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Ilan Roman, William McCool, David Brown, and Michael Anderson.

And though the families' loss cannot be diminished, their pain and grief is shared around the world and our prayers are with them.

Their sacrifice will never be forgotten. Their lives were not lost in vain. We will send more brave astronauts into the cosmos to learn and discover. We will continue to explore the vast sky that envelops the Earth and their names will forever be etched into the history of space flight.

Rick Husband, a spiritual man, a Texan, the commander of the Space Shuttle Columbia, often signed photos referencing Proverbs 3:5-6:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your

own understanding; acknowledge Him in all your ways and He

will direct your paths.

Throughout history, our young Nation has experienced great heartache and tragedy. Each time, we have overcome adversity with boldness and tenacity. We have come back stronger than ever.

With steely resolve and a firm determination, we rose from the ashes and embers of Ground Zero more resolute than ever before.

Christina Rossetti, the 18th century poet, wrote a poem called ``Remember.'' She could never have envisioned what this poem would come to represent, but it did bring me some solace in this time of tragedy in my home State of Texas. She wrote:

Remember me when I am gone away,

Gone far away into the silent land;

When you can no more hold me by the hand,

Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.

Remember me when no more day by day

You tell me of our future that you planned;

Only remember me; you understand

It will be late to counsel then or pray.

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember, do not grieve:

For if the darkness and corruption leave

A vestige of the thoughts that I once had,

Better by far you should forget and smile

Than that you should remember and be sad.

We will hold these seven souls in our hearts and eventually we will smile

again. We will rise from the ashes in the fields of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. The quest for space exploration will not end with this tragedy. It will live on, it will prosper, for it is our duty, our calling, and our destiny.

Yesterday, like so many Members of the Senate and House, along with the President of the United States and our First Lady, I attended a beautiful ceremony where we saw firsthand the families and the realization of their personal loss. We were uplifted by seeing the greatness of what these astronauts had done and what they are doing for the future of our country and our world. It is much bigger than just those seven astronauts, which I think their families and they themselves believed. They know this was a higher calling and that their sacrifices will lay the groundwork for a better space shuttle, a better space station, America staying preeminent in the world in national security and in medical research. I think they knew they were contributing to the future of our country.

The ceremony yesterday really began our time of closure, our time to pay the respects to those brave young men and women who were willing to make this sacrifice for their children and their future generations, and to say that America is going to renew our commitment. America is going to stay in the forefront, because we know if a country is static it will begin to fall behind. We know we have been the first to reap so many benefits from space exploration, which we have shared with the world. We know there are many more innovations to come and that America will be there to find those discoveries.

On behalf of myself and Senator Nelson of Florida, who is the only Member of the Senate today who has been in space, he will come later to also make a statement and then we will look forward to having a vote on the resolution.

I yield the floor.

I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to Senator Bennett from Utah.

Madam President, Senator Nelson and I attended, along with many other Senators, the beautiful service yesterday honoring these brave astronauts that we now know so much more about. Today the Senate is commemorating these Columbia astronauts and reconfirming the importance to our country that space research has been and will continue to be.

In the resolution we talk about U.S. Air Force COL Rick Husband, the mission commander, who was from Texas; U.S. Navy commander, William Willie McCool, the pilot; U.S. Air Force LTC Michael Anderson, payload commander, mission specialist; U.S. Navy CAPT David Brown, mission specialist; U.S. Navy commander Laurel Blair Salton Clark, mission specialist; Dr. Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; and Israeli Air Force COL Ilan Ramon, payload specialist. They were killed in the line of duty. The Senate is honoring them today.

Debris has been recovered in 38 counties of my State, spreading over a surface area of 28,000 square miles, an area the size of West Virginia. The Space Shuttle Columbia broke up 40 miles above the ground.

It is my honor to cosponsor this resolution with Senator Nelson, the only Member of the Senate who has actually been on a manned space flight, and Senator Glenn, of course, before him. He has been a great resource on the committee.

Before turning it over to Senator Nelson of Florida, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, it is my understanding we now have 1 hour from this minute under our control.

Mr. President, the President of the United States has an awesome responsibility. I don't think anyone in America would say that he does not realize what his responsibility is and that he is not working as hard as any person could to try to do the right thing for our country, in both our domestic agenda, our homeland security, and, of course, our national defense.

He has a heavy burden. He must do something that stimulates the economy, that puts people back to work, and at the same time he must spend everything that is necessary to secure the people in our country who live here and to make sure that our young men and women who are fighting the war on terrorism, who are fighting for our freedom and our country, wherever they may be in the world, have everything they need to do the job we are asking them to do.

I have been listening to a lot of the comments that have been made on the floor today. I would like to take each of the areas that have been mentioned and try to talk about what the President's agenda is and why he is trying so hard to beef up our economy, at the same time fighting a very long and, frankly, iconoclastic war on terrorism.

This is a new kind of enemy. It is not the kind of enemy that is one country or two countries. It is no particular country. It is not the kind of enemy we always have had one which wanted to kill or harm us but didn't want to hurt themselves. No, this is an enemy that is willing to blow itself up in order to harm Americans. It is even an enemy that would tell their children, teach their children, educate their children, that suicide, in order to harm Americans and freedom- loving people, is a good thing.

This is a difficult kind of war. Our President knows we are fighting on every front, that we are trying to find the enemy, no matter where they are. If they are in the caves in Afghanistan or if they are in Iraq or if they are in North Korea or if they are in our own country, the President is doing everything he can to execute this war and to tell the people of the United States we must stand together. We must stand together and keep the spirit of our country if we are going to have the patience and the resolve to beat this new kind of enemy.

That is what our President is trying to do. He doesn't want to make war. He doesn't want to make war on Iraq or anyone else. But he also knows that if we are going to keep another 9/11 from happening--God forbid a 9/11 with a nuclear weapon or biological or chemical weapon-- if he is going to prevent that from happening in our country, he is going to have to have the full support of the American people. That is exactly what he is trying to get, by talking about the problems in Iraq, talking about what Saddam Hussein is doing.

The people who have seen Saddam Hussein, who have seen the treachery of this despot, know he is someone we must not have in control of a country and with the potential of having a weapon of mass destruction.

I know the President tonight is going to talk about the war on terrorism and all the things he is doing and all the young men and women who are on their way to the Middle East to make sure we are negotiating from a position of strength. But I know this President's very last resort is war. It is not the 1st resort, nor the 2nd resort, nor the 3rd resort, nor the 100th resort. But he knows that unless Saddam Hussein knows we mean business--we will do what we say we are going to do--we are going to lose this war on terrorism. That is the leadership the President of the United States is showing.

The President, in addition to the burden of having to prosecute a war, also has the burden of having to make sure our domestic economy stays strong, because it will be very difficult to prosecute a war if our domestic economy continues to erode.

We passed a tax cut 2 years ago under the leadership of President Bush and with strong support from Congress. That tax cut has helped a lot of people. I believe that tax cut kept us from going into a deeper recession. Now the President is trying to stimulate the economy, and the President is looking at history, and what has happened when we have had tax cuts in history has been phenomenal.

In 1964, President Kennedy led the fight for tax cuts. In 1965--1 year later--the gross domestic product rose 8 percent. Over the next 5 years, it rose 48 percent. Unemployment fell from 5.2 percent in 1965 to 3.5 percent in 1969. Five years later, revenues had risen for the U.S. Government by 66 percent. There was a $5.9 billion deficit in 1965 but a $3.2 billion surplus in 1969. That was the effect of the tax cuts of 1964.

After the Reagan tax cut of 1981, the gross domestic product rose 4 percent the next year, 1982; 42 percent over the next 5 years; unemployment fell from 7.6 percent to 7 percent in 1986. Five years later, revenues had risen by 28 percent.

So it has been proven that tax cuts will give the economy the boost it needs.

We have seen a situation in America where corporations have been dissuaded, because of double taxation of dividends, from giving dividends. So people who are saving and investing in order to have retirement security have been getting fewer and fewer dividends because companies get nothing for paying the dividend. They have to pay taxes on the money first before they would issue a dividend. It is cheaper to go into debt. So we have seen debt financing rise, and dividends that go to shareholders that can help secure retirement have been going down.

Today in America, 50 percent of the people own stock and 50 percent of the people who get dividends are our senior citizens. These are people who have tried to provide for their retirement security, not looking to their Government but looking to themselves. That is what we want to encourage. That is

why the President is trying to eliminate the dividends' taxes.

So we are trying very hard to stimulate the economy.

How are we doing it? We are doing it, of course, by trying to eliminate the double taxation of dividends, trying to encourage corporations to give dividends and help people who want to have that income to live on, who need that income. But we are also doing something else. We are trying to lessen the burden of the marriage penalty. Why would we have a marriage penalty in our country? We don't need to tax marriage, but that is what we do. And the President is trying to eliminate that. I have introduced the bill in the Senate to eliminate the marriage tax penalty.

We are also trying to bring down the tax rate for every bracket--yes, every bracket. Mr. President, 35 percent of the small businesses in our country will get relief if we lower the upper bracket. Everyone will get relief under the President's plan--everyone who pays taxes will get relief, and especially the small businesspeople in our country who desperately need this tax relief and are trying very hard to make ends meet in these tough times. We want to help them.

I think the President is doing a great job. I am very proud that he is trying to stimulate the economy. He is very concerned about people who have lost their jobs, people who are worried about their retirement security, and he is trying to do something about it. At the same time, he is taking on a massive war on terrorism, to make sure that freedom reigns in the world, to make sure that our way of life--democracy, freedom, free enterprise, self-reliance--lasts in the world--not a way of life that says that suicide is a good thing if you can kill other people at the same time, not a way of life that says people will never have a chance to have a role in their own government. There will be no self-government in a world of terrorism. We cannot allow that kind of power to take over the world. That is what the President is trying to do.

I yield the floor.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce legislation today that will enhance and encourage charitable giving in the United States. The Charitable IRA Rollover Act will allow individuals to rollover assets from an Individual Retirement Account, or ``IRA,'' to a charity without incurring income tax consequences.

One of my priorities has been to promote charitable giving and expand the role charities and faith-based institutions play in addressing social problems in the United States. I hope this legislation moves us further in that direction.

Government alone cannot solve society's most serious problems. In fact, government social programs often fail in their missions. The old welfare system is a perfect example of what often goes wrong when government tends to throw money at a problem.

Under the old system, while trying to help people, government actually encouraged them to stay on welfare. It encouraged out-of- wedlock births and discouraged fathers from living at home. Many of these unintended consequences were addressed with the welfare reform bill, which will be reauthorized this year. The success of these reforms are evident in welfare rolls, which have now dropped by half across the United States.

But government is not the solution. Charities change hearts and lives and have a superior track record to the government in tackling social ills.

America's top charities address a broad range of problems. From the Salvation Army to the Boys and Girls Clubs, and the American Cancer Society to the Red Cross, each plays a role in improving America's health, education and welfare. Their success has been documented. It has been demonstrated that mentors in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program can cut drug abuse by 50 percent.

Charitable giving is an American tradition. Americans appreciate the role of charities and are actively involved in many philanthropic causes. Nearly half of all Americans volunteer in some capacity on a regular basis, including nearly 25 percent of Americans who are active volunteers in religious affiliated organizations. That is why it is logical to use faith-based organizations as a means of accomplishing objectives which can be more personal and tailored to the individual in need.

The legislation I am introducing today helps these organizations by making it easier for people to make charitable contributions. Individuals age 59\1/2\ and older will be able to move assets without penalty from an IRA directly to a charity or into a qualifying deferred charitable gift plan, such as a charitable remainder trust, pooled income fund or gift annuity. Current law requires taxpayers to first withdraw the IRA proceeds and pay taxes on them before contributing the remaining funds to a charity. While current law allows taxes on the withdrawal to be offset somewhat by the current charitable deduction, this ability is limited.

Americans currently hold more than $2 trillion in assets in IRAs, and nearly 40 percent of American households have IRAs. This bill would allow senior citizens who have provided well for their retirement to transfer IRA funds to charities without the government taking a slice. This will cut bureaucratic obstacles and disincentives to charitable giving and unlock a substantial amount of new funds that could flow to America's charitable organizations.

The time for promoting charitable giving has come.

This proposal benefits everyone involved. Individuals will be able to give more of their savings to charities of importance to them. Charities will benefit from increased philanthropy, enabling them to continue their important work. Those needing help will have increased access to services from these charities. And the government will have to take care of fewer of those in need as charities are better able to assume that burden.

This is not a partisan proposal. It is a common sense way to remove obstacles to charitable giving. Senators Durbin and Levin are original co-sponsors of this legislation. I look forward to working with them, the White House and many other colleagues to pass this bill. I hope the Senate will join in this effort to provide a valuable source of philanthropy for our nation's charities.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce legislation today that will enhance and encourage charitable giving in the United States. The Charitable IRA Rollover Act will allow individuals to rollover assets from an Individual Retirement Account, or ``IRA,'' to a charity without incurring income tax consequences.

One of my priorities has been to promote charitable giving and expand the role charities and faith-based institutions play in addressing social problems in the United States. I hope this legislation moves us further in that direction.

Government alone cannot solve society's most serious problems. In fact, government social programs often fail in their missions. The old welfare system is a perfect example of what often goes wrong when government tends to throw money at a problem.

Under the old system, while trying to help people, government actually encouraged them to stay on welfare. It encouraged out-of- wedlock births and discouraged fathers from living at home. Many of these unintended consequences were addressed with the welfare reform bill, which will be reauthorized this year. The success of these reforms are evident in welfare rolls, which have now dropped by half across the United States.

But government is not the solution. Charities change hearts and lives and have a superior track record to the government in tackling social ills.

America's top charities address a broad range of problems. From the Salvation Army to the Boys and Girls Clubs, and the American Cancer Society to the Red Cross, each plays a role in improving America's health, education and welfare. Their success has been documented. It has been demonstrated that mentors in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program can cut drug abuse by 50 percent.

Charitable giving is an American tradition. Americans appreciate the role of charities and are actively involved in many philanthropic causes. Nearly half of all Americans volunteer in some capacity on a regular basis, including nearly 25 percent of Americans who are active volunteers in religious affiliated organizations. That is why it is logical to use faith-based organizations as a means of accomplishing objectives which can be more personal and tailored to the individual in need.

The legislation I am introducing today helps these organizations by making it easier for people to make charitable contributions. Individuals age 59\1/2\ and older will be able to move assets without penalty from an IRA directly to a charity or into a qualifying deferred charitable gift plan, such as a charitable remainder trust, pooled income fund or gift annuity. Current law requires taxpayers to first withdraw the IRA proceeds and pay taxes on them before contributing the remaining funds to a charity. While current law allows taxes on the withdrawal to be offset somewhat by the current charitable deduction, this ability is limited.

Americans currently hold more than $2 trillion in assets in IRAs, and nearly 40 percent of American households have IRAs. This bill would allow senior citizens who have provided well for their retirement to transfer IRA funds to charities without the government taking a slice. This will cut bureaucratic obstacles and disincentives to charitable giving and unlock a substantial amount of new funds that could flow to America's charitable organizations.

The time for promoting charitable giving has come.

This proposal benefits everyone involved. Individuals will be able to give more of their savings to charities of importance to them. Charities will benefit from increased philanthropy, enabling them to continue their important work. Those needing help will have increased access to services from these charities. And the government will have to take care of fewer of those in need as charities are better able to assume that burden.

This is not a partisan proposal. It is a common sense way to remove obstacles to charitable giving. Senators Durbin and Levin are original co-sponsors of this legislation. I look forward to working with them, the White House and many other colleagues to pass this bill. I hope the Senate will join in this effort to provide a valuable source of philanthropy for our nation's charities.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

I thank the Chair.

Madam President, I thank Senator Cochran for all his amendment does to deal with the drought and the severe crises in the agricultural community in our country.

I want to specifically speak about a part of this amendment that affects my home State and thank him for the support he has given to the farmers who live in south Texas and who are suffering because Mexico has refused to meet its requirements under the 1944 water treaty with the United States.

Farmers, families, and communities in the Rio Grand Valley of Texas have suffered devastating economic losses due to Mexico's refusal to comply with this treaty. The treaty obligates Mexico to allow an average of 350,000 acre feet of water to flow into the Rio Grande River annually for the United States, while obligating the United States to allow an average of 1.5 million acre feet of water to flow to Mexico from the Colorado River.

Even during the hardest times, since 1944 America has strictly complied with its obligations under the treaty of 1944, but Mexico has accrued a deficit of 1.5 million acre feet. Mexico claims that drought conditions in Chihuahua prevented it from releasing Rio Conchos water into the Rio Grande. However, Mexico's agricultural production in Chihuahua has blossomed.

Recent reports by Texas A&M University's Extension Service, accompanied by NASA satellite photographs from the University of Texas, document Mexico's increased use of irrigation water to promote high value water-dependent crops such as corn, oats, forage, and vegetables in the state of Chihuahua. We can see from this satellite photograph the Madero Reservoir's water storage is at 14-percent capacity on June 25 of 2002. Even during the low 14-percent water storage, Mexico continued to irrigate its fields. However, two months later, August 28, 2002, the Madero's water storage has risen to 75 percent of its total capacity and we still couldn't get Mexico to comply with the treaty and fully deliver its water obligations to South Texas this year.

We cannot stand by and allow our farmers and ranchers to suffer because an international treaty is not being met. This satellite image clearly shows Mexico is holding the water it owes the U.S. While its reserves are full, Mexico only delivers the bare minimum this year. Furthermore, Mexico is making no effort to repay its debt. I find it incomprehensible that Mexico would not even comply this year when it clearly has the water available.

Mexico's domestic agricultural production is flourishing with U.S. treaty obligated water while the Rio Grande Valley in Texas is suffering from a decline of more than 100,000 acres of farmland, nearly a $1 billion net loss to the regional economy and 30,000 lost jobs.

Many agricultural operations have been forced to go out of business and many are expected to fail unless the United States can resolve this issue immediately. Agricultural production and its allied industries are the economic engines of south Texas. It is one of the few weapons that south Texas has to combat--unemployment and poverty. The United States cannot afford to stand by and allow Mexico's destruction of an American industry and the communities and people whose survival depend on it.

Mexico needs to change its water management practices. I have urged the President to press Mexico to immediately comply with its obligations, and the President has done so. He has repeatedly talked to the President of Mexico, as have I, and many others. If Mexico continues its refusal to comply with the 1944 water treaty, I think the United States must consider renegotiating this treaty with Mexico and taking into consideration the 1.5 million acre feet of water that we are sending to Mexico every year from the Colorado River.

Texas has suffered severe losses and the Rio Grande Valley's economic viability and livelihood depend on this water. The United States has a duty to either force Mexico to deliver the water to South Texas or compensate Texas families who are paying the price for this abrogation of the treaty.

Senator Cochran's amendment has $10 million that would be available for grants through the Texas Department of Agriculture----

To help these farmers stay in business. I thank the Senator for helping us get through this hard time while we try to make Mexico keep its commitments.

Madam President, how much time do I have?

Madam President, Senator Feinstein and I introduced this bill last session. Under the leadership of Senator Leahy and Senator Hatch, it went through in a remarkably short amount of time. Everyone could see the need for this bill, something that could be done on a volunteer basis, but with that Coordinator in the Department of Justice, we could really make a difference when a child is abducted in this country.

Unfortunately, the bill died in the House. So we have introduced the bill again. And this time, once again, through the leadership of Senator Hatch and Senator Leahy, it has gone through the committee in record time. I hope we can pass this bill and give the House plenty of time to also pass this legislation and send it to the President.

The President has asked for this bill. He knows we need legislation on the books to create this Coordinator and to help every abducted child have a chance to live.

A Department of Justice study shows that 75 percent of child homicides occur within 3 hours of abduction. AMBER Alerts have gone out within 17 minutes of an abduction. That means we are giving law enforcement personnel the help they need to find this person who takes a child and wants to do harm to this child.

Forty-three abducted children have been recovered with the assistance of AMBER Alerts. We now have 85 regional AMBER Alerts in this country, up from 53 when we introduced the bill last summer.

People like Joann Donnellan are running the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and have provided the technical assistance to States and local governments to help us find these children quickly.

In fact, this bill is named for Amber Hagerman of Arlington, TX, who was abducted in 1996 and found murdered. Her death had such an impact on the community that it was determined that if we could get the word out and try to find someone who had taken a child, that it would help save these children.

In fact, we have found that AMBER Alerts have been so effective that an abductor who saw an AMBER Alert sign in California went to the side of the road and let the child out because he knew he was going to be caught and that he was in trouble. So it is very effective.

What we want to do is have a Coordinator in the Justice Department who a local law enforcement official can call and not have to make 10 calls to contiguous States. He or she can make that one call to the AMBER Alert Coordinator in the Justice Department. That person will then be able to put the word out in contiguous States, without having to go through different call lists and wasting time.

We know that time saves lives in AMBER Alerts. When a child is abducted, if we can save time, we can give that child the chance to not be harmed or horribly murdered, as we have seen in so many instances with child abductions.

It is hard for me to understand how someone could prey on a defenseless child. It is the worst nightmare a parent would have to hear, that her child or his child has been taken by a stranger and you don't know what has happened. I have met with the parents of Elizabeth Smart, the wonderful couple from Utah, who have lost their child to an abductor and still have not heard from her. The agony they must go through every day is something no parent can imagine.

With this bill, we will put the coordinator in place. We will help set criteria for when an AMBER Alert would go out. We thank the National Association of Broadcasters and the local broadcasters associations because they voluntarily put the word out through radio and television in a community where this has occurred.

We want to make that go further and wider. We also want to try to help States with signage and help them know what works. For instance, the blinking signs on highways have been very effective.

This is a bill that will make a difference. We know that if we can find a child within 24 hours, we have the best chance for them to be recovered safely.

I thank Senator Feinstein, my cosponsor of this bill, and thank again Senators Hatch and Leahy for pushing this bill through the Judiciary Committee in record time because we know this bill needs to be on the books.

I yield the floor.