Floor Statements

Mr. President, today I honor Schoolcraft Learning Community, in Bemidji, MN, which will soon receive an Award for Excellence in Education for its exceptional and innovative achievements in educating children.

Schoolcraft Learning Community is truly a model of educational success. The school, which is designed according to the principles of ``service and compassion,'' uses learning through service as a supplement to scholarly study to deepen intellectual growth, build character, and contribute to the community in a meaningful way. The school views combining service with study as a powerful motivator for giving young people a purpose to learn. In the context of service work, students writing a letter, making a brochure, or creating a book are encouraged to perform at a higher level because the audience is a real one and because students have an authentic reason to communicate.

An integral part of the Schoolcraft culture is the weekly conflict management/resolution class, which teaches peacekeeping skills. A group of 29 students, part of a Students Teaching Attitudes of Respect-- STAR--team, visits other schools to promote conflict resolution skills.

Schoolcraft deepens educational opportunities through a half-year integrated unit of study during which a student conducts an in-depth investigation of a theme or topic through authentic research, projects, field work, service, and reflection.

The success of Schoolcraft Learning Community is reflected in the students' development into self-directed, lifelong learners who have the skills and knowledge to navigate confidently and compassionately in the world. The school's strong test scores have also been recognized by the Minnesota Department of Education; in 2006, Schoolcraft Learning Community received four stars in reading from the department.

Much of the credit for Schoolcraft Learning Community's success belongs to its director and superintendent, Scott Anderson, and the dedicated teachers. The students and staff at Schoolcraft Learning Community understand that in order to be successful, a school must go beyond achieving academic success; it must also provide a nurturing environment where students can develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for success throughout life. All of the faculty, staff, and students at Schoolcraft Learning Community should be very proud of their accomplishments.

I congratulate Schoolcraft Learning Community in Bemidji for winning the Award for Excellence in Education and for its exceptional contributions to education in Minnesota.

Mr. President, today I honor Delano Elementary School, in Delano, MN, which recently earned an Award for Excellence in Education for its exceptional and innovative achievements in educating children.

Delano Elementary School is truly a model of educational success. The school takes great pride in involving parents in their children's school experiences. Last spring, the rate of parents' participation at parent-teacher conferences was an impressive 99 percent. Parents contributed over 6,000 hours of volunteer services during the 2005-2006 school year.

The Partners in Education organization at Delano Elementary raises over $30,000 per year for student activities and supplies for teachers and classrooms. Recently, the organization contributed $8,000 toward the purchase of SMARTBOARD technology, an interactive, electronic blackboard system. The money was also used to install sound-field systems in a number of the primary grade classrooms.

Delano Elementary also offers several programs to challenge children of high potential. The school's Tiger's Tale publishing center allows children to turn their own creative stories into books that have a professionally published look. The math lab extends and enriches skills taught through classroom instruction.

An organized gifted and talented program, with a teacher of gifted and talented children, offers several opportunities for pupils beyond their classrooms, including Destination Imagination, Continental Math League, and other unique units of instruction, designed specifically for high-potential pupils.

Delano Elementary consistently receives five-star ratings from the Department of Education in both reading and math. Last year, 87 percent of Delano third-graders scored in the top three levels on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment Reading Test, and 93 percent of the third- graders scored in the top three levels in math.

Much of the credit for Delano Elementary School's success belongs to its principal, Darren Schuler, and the dedicated teachers. The pupils and staff at Delano Elementary School understand that, in order to be successful, a school must go beyond achieving academic success; it must also provide a nurturing environment where children can develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for success throughout life. All of the faculty, staff, and pupils at Delano Elementary School should be very proud of their accomplishments.

I congratulate Delano Elementary School in Delano for winning the Award for Excellence in Education and for its exceptional contributions to education in Minnesota.

Mr. President, today I honor Orono Intermediate School, in Orono, MN, which recently earned an

Award for Excellence in Education for its exceptional and innovative achievements in educating children.

Orono Intermediate School is truly a model of educational success, where students are advancing to a new phase in their educational experience. Exercising higher levels of responsibility and independence in their learning, students achieve within a challenging and caring environment. The dedicated staff at Orono work closely with students to foster personal and academic success. The staff are committed to providing students with rigorous academic curricula that challenge them to achieve higher standards. To this end, staff strive to develop an educational program that addresses each child's individual needs and allows all students to achieve to their full potential.

Orono Intermediate School is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, NCA. Accreditation is granted to schools that demonstrate a commitment to continued improvement and curriculum review.

Orono Intermediate School enhances educational opportunities through a variety of programs and policies, including: a concentration on small class sizes, field trips, computer/media labs, an aquatics program, a United Nations peace site, competitive academic teams, an artist-in- residence program, service learning projects, and world languages, taught before and after school.

The success of Orono Intermediate School is reflected in its test scores. In 2005, Orono Intermediate received five stars in both math and reading from the Minnesota Department of Education. In 2004, the school received four stars in math and five stars in reading.

Much of the credit for Orono Intermediate School's success belongs to its principal, Paula Martin, and the dedicated teachers. The students and staff at Orono Intermediate School understand that, in order to be successful, a school must go beyond achieving academic success; it must also provide a nurturing environment where students can develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for success throughout life. All of the faculty, staff, and students at Orono Intermediate School should be very proud of their accomplishments.

I congratulate Orono Intermediate School in Orono for winning the Award for Excellence in Education and for its exceptional contributions to education in Minnesota.

Mr. President, I thank my distinguished colleague from North Dakota, Mr. Conrad, who championed this cause of disaster relief for not only his farmers in North Dakota but across the affected areas, which certainly includes my State of Minnesota.

As others noted, this is a bipartisan effort. I see my friend and colleague, Senator Coleman from Minnesota, is here also. We stand together to make this a bipartisan effort on behalf of the farmers throughout our State who have been devastated by these natural disasters over the last few years and particularly the last 2 years to which this bill applies.

I regret that this has been passed by the Senate before. I commend this body for doing so, again, on a very strong bipartisan basis. Unfortunately, the administration has not been willing to allow this funding to go forward or even some part of it. This is long overdue.

It is unfortunate that we are now at the 11th hour, the 59th minute of this session in this year, and we haven't even addressed the disaster relief necessary for the last calendar year. This legislation would deal with that and also this year's relief.

This disaster has afflicted our State, and some of our counties have lost three-fourths of our crops. In fact, almost half the counties in Minnesota have already been declared disaster areas.

The crisis is real. The suffering is acute. As others said, we have a magnitude of disaster in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, but a disaster is a disaster. A complete disaster is as devastating to a family in northwestern Minnesota as it is to a family in New Orleans.

I urge my colleagues, once again, to support this measure, and I plead with the House and the administration to work out these differences so that these farmers and their farms can be saved, and their families can be saved. It is only simple justice and humanity.

Mr. President, I yield the floor and yield back the remainder of my time.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I ask unanimous consent that I be recognized to speak on the bill I believe is before the Senate, the Secure Fence Act, for up to 20 minutes.

Mr. President, will the Senator yield briefly?

I will be very brief.

I thank the Senator from West Virginia for those gracious words. I am deeply honored because they come from the mouth of one of the greatest Senators in the history of this country. And whatever I have learned to apply with my understanding of the traditions of the Senate, the integrity of the Senate, the dignity of the Senate, I heard first and foremost from the great Senator from West Virginia, who has been a mentor, a guide, a leader, for whom I have the utmost respect. And

when I did preside and listen to the Senator speak about such subjects as the United States Constitution, I learned more from his wisdom than I have learned in the previous 55 years of my life.

I was honored to stand with him, really behind him, when he led the public outcry against the war resolution. And I was honored to be 1 of those 23 Senators, and history has proven us also correct. For his incredible service to his State for which he was cited as the Greatest West Virginian of the last century, and I expect will be cited as the Greatest West Virginian of this century as well, and for that same quality of devotion to our country and incredible leadership to our entire Nation, we are all--all of the country men and women--in great debt to him. I am, again, deeply honored by his words.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent I might have 1 minute to respond.

Mr. President, I thank my friend, and I mean that sincerely, and my very distinguished colleague from Minnesota for those very kind words.

The Senator said we don't agree on everything, but we are not meant to agree on everything. That is part of the wisdom of the process here.

I have endless respect for the Senator from Minnesota. He was elected to the Senate by the people of our State under very difficult circumstances in the immediate aftermath of the tragic death of his predecessor. He handled that situation with great dignity and class, and he has continued to do so.

He represents our State with effectiveness, success beyond his young years. That is demonstrated by the high regard he is held in by most of the citizens in our State.

I thank him for his friendship. I thank him for the opportunity to work with him. I wish him continued success after I leave the Senate.

I yield the floor.

For the purpose of asking a question.

Mr. President, I rise tonight to address the legislation that is before the Senate, the legislation that would establish a fence along the southern United States border. I intend to support this legislation, despite its serious flaws. I agree that a physical barrier is necessary along some parts of our country's southern border.

Last month I visited southern border communities in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and I recognize the very serious need for additional security measures there. In El Paso, TX, for example, there is a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border for about half the city. But then that fence abruptly ends because, I was told, of lack of funding to extend it. That is nonsensical: A security fence that only covers about half of the city that it is supposed to secure.

The day before I toured this area, that one Border Patrol station in El Paso, TX had apprehended 268 people trying to enter our country illegally. That is unacceptable, and that is the reason I will support this legislation. But it is only part of the solution. I asked Border Patrol agents across the southern border, or the real experts about what is effective and what is not to protect our border and our citizens, whether a fence is a good idea. They replied that in some places it was and in other places it was not. They said it was one of several additional actions necessary for effective border control.

Yet this is the only measure contained in this legislation. It bears little resemblance to a comprehensive bill that the Senate previously passed to strengthen border security and stop illegal immigration. Its effectiveness, the border control experts told me last month, would be severely reduced by the absence of a comprehensive approach. It will further waste taxpayer dollars by mandating a fence where a fence will not be effective. In short, it suffers from the defects of being the hastily drafted, last-minute election ploy that it is, rather than the comprehensive, intelligent, and effective border security bill that our country needs and our citizens deserve.

Previous attempts to secure our Nation's southern border have failed for precisely this reason. They were only partial steps where only a complete solution will be successful. It is stupid for Congress to pass something that will fail, and shameful for Congress to do it for short- term political benefits rather than the long-term national interest. I have no doubt this legislation will pass and that it will be used by those it benefits between now and the November 7 election.

So I plead with my colleagues and with the House to finish this job when we return after the elections. Let's have the Homeland Security Committee on which I serve and other committees claiming jurisdiction to ask the border security experts themselves what else must be done to make this fence effective. Let's get the House to drop their political pre-election posturing and deal with the present and future realities of our illegal immigration problem by passing key parts of the Senate bill.

It is necessary to be tough on illegal immigration, but being tough and stupid is stupid. Let's challenge the House to get tough and smart about protecting our southern border, as President Bush has proposed and as the Senate has enacted. But let's not fool ourselves and let's not try to fool the American people that this legislation by itself will solve or even substantially reduce the very serious flood of illegal aliens crossing our southern border.

This bill is also incomplete and inadequate because it does nothing to strengthen our national security along our country's northern border, even though that border spans 5,500 miles and is over three times longer than our 1,800-mile southern border. Our northern border has not, as yet, experienced the same volume of illegal traffic as the southern border. Yet it is even more unguarded and thus unprotected. There are over 11,000 Border Patrol agents stationed along our 1,800- mile southern border. There are only 950 agents along our entire 5,500- mile northern border.

If you are what the Border Patrol agents call an economic immigrant, meaning someone who is coming into this country for a job, and you live south of the United States, you will probably try to cross our southern border. The Border Patrol agents with whom I talked last month in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona estimated that over 95 percent of the people crossing our southern border illegally are doing so for economic reasons.

The really dangerous illegal entries are by criminals trafficking people, narcotics, and other illegal activities--and most dangerously, possibly terrorists. Our northern border is just as much a target of those most dangerous criminals, and many of them are smart and sophisticated enough to know that their chances of illegal entry are increasingly better along our northern border than along our southern border.

Border security for our Nation is not one border or the other--it is both. Yet until now most of the attention, most of the policy, and most of the funding has gone only to southern border security. As I mentioned before, there are over 11,000 Border Patrol agents stationed along our southern border, and the major training facility for all of them is located in New Mexico. But there are only 950 agents along our entire northern border and no training facility is devoted to that specialized training.

So I am very pleased that the fiscal year 2007 Homeland Security appropriations bill directs 10 percent of its funding and 10 percent of the new agents hired to be committed to our northern border. That is almost $38 million and over 150 new Border Patrol agents, which is most of what my amendment that was adopted by the Senate would accomplish. It is a 15-percent increase in the number of northern Border Patrol agents. It is an essential first step in the right direction. However, it is only a first step. Much more must be done, and hopefully will start to be done when we return in November.

I also want to comment briefly on the military tribunal bill passed by the Senate last night, a bill that I voted against. I want to be tough against terrorists, as that legislation claims to be. But I also want to be smart about it, and that bill is not. Its worst provisions would be applied not only to known al-Qaida members, but also to almost 500 other detainees at Guantanamo who have been imprisoned without trials for over 4 years, and to over 1,400 Iraqi citizens who are now imprisoned indefinitely in that country.

Many of them will be eventually found innocent of anti-American activities and will be released. However, most of them, their families, and their friends, will hate the United States for the rest of their lives after being imprisoned for months or years, denied any due process, many of them tortured or abused, and most of their families refused information about their whereabouts or even whether they are still alive.

The recently unclassified National Intelligence Estimate concluded that the war in Iraq has greatly increased anti-American feelings throughout the Arab world and has created a new generation of terrorists. The barbaric treatment of thousands of Muslims has undoubtedly fueled some part of that growing hatred toward Americans and has added to the increased threat of terrorist attacks against us.

This legislation allows the continued torture of detainees, denies them the basic rights to challenge their indefinite incarcerations, and even strips from U.S. courts their constitutional authority to review this legislation and the treatment of detainees under it.

It is absolutely untrue--let me say that again--it is absolutely untrue that providing detainees with those rights would require their release from military prisons. Under the rules of the Geneva Conventions, even if an enemy combatant could not be prosecuted, or even if he were acquitted in a trial, he could still be held indefinitely as a prisoner of war until the President of the United States declared that the war against terrorism was concluded.

Finally, providing humane and just treatment to detainees protects our own service men and women and our intelligence operatives around the world. A great Republican Senator, Mr. McCain from Arizona, who was held prisoner in North Vietnam for 5.5 years and who was tortured by his captors, has said repeatedly that we cannot insist other countries abide by the Geneva Conventions and treat our citizens humanely if we do not do so ourselves. In other words, we must follow the Golden Rule:

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

I believe that legislation which we passed last night, which I opposed, will ultimately be considered one of the darker acts in our Nation's history, one that has been enacted only a handful of other times and, in every one of those instances, was regretted and repudiated later because it violates the values and the principles of this great Nation.

It is the attempt of terrorists and their desire to drive us away from those values and principles within our own country, and as we treat others around the world, so we then become perceived by others around the world.

We are the greatest Nation on this Earth. We are the most powerful Nation on this Earth. We are looked to by other countries around the world as the leader of this world. We need to be true to that requirement, and we need to be true to our own values and our history. I believe we failed to do so, tragically and regrettably, last night.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, may I ask how much time I have remaining?

Mr. President, I yield the remainder of my time to the Senator from New Jersey.

Mr. President, I have been asked by a Capitol employee, Mr. Albert Cary Caswell, to have printed in the Congressional Record a poem he wrote in memory of the late, great Minnesota Senator, Paul Wellstone.

Senator Wellstone was my friend of 22 years and Minnesota's senior Senator and my mentor during my first 2 years here. I have missed his conscience, his courage, and his eloquence in the Senate every day since his tragic death in an airplane crash nearly 4 years ago.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I want to say that I thank the Senator for his courtesy and for warning me about his intention here tonight. I salute him for his leadership on this legislation, which I support, so I am in a bit of an awkward situation, as he has recognized. But I guess I would ask the chairman, if my information is correct, there are actually 14 States that would lose funding under the revised formula.

As the chairman said the other day, there is a hold-harmless clause that is in effect, as I understand, for 3 years, and this is a 5-year reauthorization, so at that point these other States would lose funding.

Does the chairman find it surprising that Senators from those States are doing what I think I would do if I were in that situation? I am grateful the formula adds money for Minnesota, but I find it unsurprising that they are doing what any of us I believe would do, which is to protect our States.

My second question to the chairman is: Given that this is a $12.2 billion reauthorization over 5 years, what would it cost in additional authorization to give these States over the next 5 years the same amount of money as they receive presently?

Mr. President, I am reserving the right to object. I directed two questions to the chairman, if I may, Mr. President.

Mr. President, I haven't had my question answered.

If I may direct a question again to the chairman, how much would it cost in addition to the $12.2 billion for this 5-year authorization? What additional authorization would it cost to give those five States the same level of funding over the next 5 years that they would receive as of today?

Mr. President, I appreciate the answers of the chairman. I respect him very highly for what he has done. I must, however, object on behalf of my colleagues whom I believe are doing properly what they must and should do to protect their own States. So I do object.

Mr. President, I thank and commend my friend and colleague, the assistant Democratic leader from Illinois, Senator Durbin, for submitting the Senate resolution honoring the memory of the late Senator Paul Wellstone from Minnesota, my friend of 22 years, my colleague and mentor for my first 2 years in the Senate.

I also thank Senator Coleman, my present colleague, for his cosponsorship of this resolution and making it a bipartisan statement. I am proud to join as a cosponsor of the resolution.

It is hard to believe that it has been almost 4 years--it will be on October 25, 2006, when we will not be in session--since the terrible plane crash occurred that took the lives of Paul Wellstone, U.S. Senator from Minnesota, his wife and partner of 39 years, Sheila Wellstone, his daughter Marcia; the Democratic Party associate chair from Minnesota, Mary McEvoy; one of Paul's longtime valued Senate staffers here in Washington, Tom Lapic; and a young Minnesota aide, Will McLaughlin, as well as two pilots.

One of Paul's most important causes was that of mental health parity. The illness of a family member made this a very personal cause for him, as well as his compassion for those throughout this country who suffer from some form of mental illness and are unable to get the treatment they deserve and which is medically available because insurance companies will not pay for and treat mental illness with the same parity they do other physical health problems.

Senator Wellstone found a valuable partner in the distinguished Senator from New Mexico, Mr. Domenici. Together they worked on a bipartisan basis for several years against the fervent opposition of the medical insurance industry to pass mental health parity legislation.

In the aftermath of Senator Wellstone's death, then-majority leader of the Senate Tom Daschle succeeded in getting through the Senate the Wellstone-Domenici legislation, which passed the Senate but unfortunately hit opposition by the House of Representatives. And once again the medical insurance industry prevented one of Paul's legislative dreams from becoming law in 2002.

Despite assurances beginning in January of 2003 from the new Senate majority leadership that the Senate would act on successor legislation in honor of Senator Wellstone and pass mental health parity, despite the best efforts of Senator Domenici, who was then joined on our side of the aisle by Senator Kennedy and our own caucus leaders, Senator Reid and Senator Durbin, the Senate has neither considered as a body nor passed mental health parity in either the 108th Congress or the 109th Congress.

In other words, during the last 4 years following Senator Wellstone's terrible tragedy, the Senate has not acted to pass this legislation.

That is why Senator Durbin's resolution today is so timely and so important in these final days of the 109th session. It states that Senator Wellstone should be remembered for his compassion and leadership on social issues, and the Congress should act to end discrimination against citizens of the United States who live with a illness by passing legislation relating to mental health parity as a priority for the 110th Congress.

One of Paul's favorite quotes was that of a rabbi many years ago who concluded by saying: If not now, when? If not now, unfortunately, then at least in the 110th Congress, over the next 2 years, it is my fervent hope, although I will not be here, and even though my colleague, Senator Paul Wellstone, will not be here, his spirit will continue to carry this legislation forward, and with the leadership of Senator Durbin and others who have championed this cause in the Senate and with greater understanding perhaps on the other side of Capitol Hill in the House about the importance of this legislation to millions and millions of Americans, this would be one of Senator Wellstone's proudest moments. It would be one of the Senate's and Congress's great accomplishments, if mental health parity were to be made the law of this country for the millions of those who would benefit from it.

I again thank Senator Durbin.

I yield the floor.

I thank the Senator from Illinois. Senator Wellstone was an eternal optimist. I share the Senator's hope that something might be possible this year. If not, this resolution passing on that responsibility to the 110th Congress is very timely and appropriate. I am glad to cosponsor it.

Estate Tax

Mr. President, I object, not on my account but on behalf of some of my Senate colleagues who, I stress, want to join with the program.

I commend the chairman for his leadership on behalf of this legislation and the support of the reauthorization, but they object to the permanent reduction in funding for their respective States which would occur under the formula the chairman referenced. They share my hope, along with the chairman, that this issue can be satisfactorily resolved for all concerned before the expiration, September 30, so that this--I think we all agree--very important and valuable program benefiting all of our States can continue uninterrupted.

I do object on their behalf.

Mr. President, again, to make the record clear, I am not objecting on my own account but on behalf of my other Senate colleagues. I thank the chairman for that improvement in the funds that are going to Minnesota. I strongly support the program and intend to vote for it.

I thank the chairman again for his leadership and his continuing efforts to get this important legislation reauthorized.

Mr. President, I join today with many of my colleagues in expressing ``no confidence'' in Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and urging President Bush to replace him. I truly respect the Secretary's commitment to public service, and I recognize that he has one of the most difficult jobs here or anywhere in the world. He is a stand-up, tell-it-as-he-sees-it man, the kind we need more of in Washington. Unfortunately, the way he sees it has too often been wrong.

His disastrous failures in prosecuting the war in Iraq have left our courageous American troops mired in a quagmire there with no end in sight. And his shameful rhetoric last week comparing critics of his failed policies to the appeasers of Hitler was clearly a desperate attempt to divert attention away from his own failures.

Recent polls show the number of Americans who support the Administration's policies in Iraq is down to 39 percent compared to a high of 76 percent in April 2003.

That loss of public confidence has occurred not because Americans are appeasers--they most certainly are not--and not because Americans don't support our troops because they most certainly do support them and admire their incredible courage and patriotism as they persevere in the awful, deteriorating conditions there.

That loss of the public confidence in the Bush administration's war has occurred because Americans can tell the difference between success and failure. They can see that the President's policies are not succeeding in Iraq. They can see that the Iraqi Government and the Iraqi people are not winning against their own countrymen who oppose them. And the conditions in Iraq are getting still worse, not better.

All of the administration's rhetoric won't change their failed plans, policies, and practices that have created this mess.

Shortly before the invasion of Iraq, then-Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki testified before the Armed Services Committee that more than twice the number of U.S. troops that the Secretary was planning to commit to Iraq would be needed to secure the country after Saddam Hussein's overthrow.

For his foresight and his candor, General Shinseki was essentially dismissed by the Secretary, who preferred to believe the administration's favorite Iraqi exile, Ahmed Chalabi that the country would go back to work the day after Saddam's regime was toppled.

So when widespread looting and disorder occurred instead, the Secretary of Defense dismissed its significance. We now know that General Shinseki was right and President Bush, Secretary Rumsfeld, and Mr. Chalabi were wrong.

And that the initial civil disorder was a warning of much worse upheavals ahead, for which the Bush administration and its appointed Iraqi administrators were completely unprepared.

Even more tragically, they remain unprepared even today. Increasing violence, widespread corruption, nonexistent public services, failed improvement projects, delays, failures, and finger-pointing--those are the miseries that Iraqi citizens must endure today.

Democracy is a great thing, but democracy as we know means life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Most Iraqis today fear for their lives, more and more are losing them, and reportedly almost 1 million Iraqi citizens have fled their country.

The New York Times today has an article about Iraqi citizens who are changing their names, something that is almost forbidden in the Iraqi culture, because it is the only way they know to save themselves from being pulled out of their cars or their homes and murdered simply because of their identity. The story states, and I will quote in part:

Stories abound of Iraqi civilians being stopped at

checkpoints by militia men or uniformed men and having their

identification cards scrutinized. They are then taken away or

executed on the spot if they have a suspect name or a

hometown dominated by the rival sect. In Baghdad, Shiite

death squads, sometimes in police uniform, operate many of

the illegal checkpoints, Iraqi and American officials say.

The most infamous episode of this kind took place in July

when Shiite gunmen set up fake checkpoints and went on a

daytime rampage through the Jihad neighborhood of Baghdad,

dragging people from their cars and homes and shooting them

after looking at their identification cards. Up to 50 people

were killed.

Liberty, as we know, requires basic security, which the Bush administration and the Iraqi Government are failing to provide. And the chance to pursue happiness for many Iraqis is tragically even less possible now than it was under Saddam Hussein's evil regime.

This is the disaster for which over 2,600 heroic American soldiers have given their lives. Almost 20,000 have given their bodies, and for which Secretary Rumsfeld must accept responsibility--but won't.

Instead, what we are getting is another round of overheated and misleading rhetoric from the Secretary, the Vice President, and the President.

Last week was a repeat of some of the 2002 conventions where they first trotted out their overheated and misleading rhetoric to stampede Congress into supporting the Iraqi war resolution.

Saddam Hussein and his supposed weapons of mass destruction were then called urgent threats to our citizens' safety.

The Secretary of Defense, the Vice President, and the President all claimed proof positive that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons that would soon, if not already, present mortal danger to our national security.

Critics, skeptics, and even questioners were derided and dismissed as being appeasers of the then-Hitlerian menace of Saddam Hussein.

The administration offensive succeeded in persuading the majority of Congress and the American people. I was 1 of only 23 Members of the Senate to vote against the Iraq war resolution in October of 2002.

Yet even with bipartisan support for their war resolution, the President and others still used it politically to try to defeat Democrats in the 2002 midterm elections--just as they are now trying to do in this year's midterm elections.

Once again their rhetoric is misleading at best and blatantly wrong at worst.

Just yesterday the President repeated his claim that Iraq is the central battlefield where the war against terrorism will be decided.

There is no question that we must win the war in Iraq because we started that war, and once you are in it you must win it or suffer serious consequences.

But the worsening violence in Iraq, which the Bush administration and the Iraqi Government are failing to control or contain, is, by all rational accounts, primarily and mostly Iraqi-against-Iraqi sectarian violence.

To the extent that Al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations are operating in Iraq it is because of the openings and opportunities President Bush has provide them by creating a leaderless and lawless state.

Al-Qaida, as we have just witnessed, is not using Iraq as its central battlefield, but rather Heathrow Airport, or bombings in Spain, Jordan, and Egypt.

Osama bin Laden is by all accounts not masterminding his next assault against the United States from Iraq but rather from Pakistan or Afghanistan, where the al-Qaida allied Taliban is now resurgent due to other failed Bush administration policies, including their tragic and disastrous failures to meaningfully help rebuild that country.

Five years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is still alive, unscathed, and plotting against the United States because the Bush administration has failed to devote the military personnel, the resources, and the diplomatic efforts necessary to find him and eliminate him.

Given the administration's attempts to exploit next month's fifth anniversary of 9/11 to its political benefit, it is a disgrace to the Americans Osama bin Laden murdered and to their families--this terrible criminal remaining alive and free to operate against the United States.

Let me conclude with excerpts from public statements made recently by

two U.S. generals with firsthand experience of the situation in Iraq. The first are excerpts from an article in the Washington Post by GEN John Batiste, a retired Army major general who commanded the First U.S. Infantry Division in Iraq. He wrote on Wednesday, April 19, 2006:

I had the opportunity to observe high-level policy

formulation in the Pentagon and experience firsthand its

impact on the ground. I have concluded that we need new

leadership in the Defense Department because of a pattern of

poor strategic decisions and a leadership style that is

contemptuous, dismissive, arrogant and abusive . . .

We went to war with the wrong war plan. Senior civilian

leadership chose to radically alter the results of 12 years

of deliberate and continuous war planning, which was improved

and approved, year after year, by previous secretaries of

defense, all supported by their associated chairmen and Joint

Chiefs of Staffs. Previous planning identified the need for

up to three times the troop strength we committed to remove

the regime in Iraq and set the conditions for peace there . .

.

Our current leadership decided to discount professional

military advice and ignore more than a decade of competent

military planning . . .

We took down a regime but failed to provide the resources

to build the peace. The shortage of troops never allowed

commanders on the ground to deal properly with the insurgency

and the unexpected. What could have been a deliberate victory

is now a long, protracted challenge.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claims to be the man who

started the Army's transformation. This is not true. Army

transformation started years before this administration came

into office. The secretary's definition of transformation was

to reduce the Army to between five and seven divisions to

fund programs in missile defense, space defense and high-tech

weapons . . . the Army remains under-resourced at a time when

it is shouldering most of the war effort. Boots on the ground

and high-tech weapons are important, and one cannot come at

the expense of the other.

Civilian control of the military is fundamental, but we

deserve competent leaders who do not lead by intimidation,

who understand that respect is a two-way street, and who do

not dismiss sound military advice. At the same time, we need

senior military leaders who are grounded in the fundamental

principles of war and who are not afraid to do the right

thing, Our democracy depends on it. There are some who

advocate that we gag this debate, but let me assure you that

it is not in our national interest to do so. We must win this

war, and we cannot allow senior leaders to continue to make

decisions when their track record is so dismal . . .

Secondly, a statement in Time magazine on Sunday, April 9, 2006, by LTG Greg Newbold, who states:

From 2000 until October 2002, I was a Marine Corps

lieutenant general and director of operations for the Joint

Chiefs of Staff. . . . Inside the military family, I made no

secret of my view that the zealots' rationale for war made no

sense. And I think I was outspoken enough to make those

senior to me uncomfortable. But I now regret that I did not

more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a

country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat--al-

Qaeda . . . I am driven to action now by the missteps and

misjudgments of the White House and the Pentagon, and by my

many painful visits to our military hospitals . . .

What we are living with now is the consequences of

successive policy failures. Some of the missteps include: the

distortion of intelligence in the buildup to the war,

McNamara-like micromanagement that kept our forces from

having enough resources to do the job, the failure to retain

and reconstitute the Iraqi military in time to help quell

civil disorder, the initial denial that an insurgency was the

heart of the opposition to occupation, alienation of allies

who could have helped in a more robust way to rebuild Iraq,

and the continuing failure of the other agencies of our

government to commit assets to the same degree as the Defense

Department. My sincere view is that the commitment of our

forces to this fight was done with a casualness and swagger

that are the special province of those who have never had to

execute these missions--or bury the results . . .

The consequence of the military's quiescence was that a

fundamentally flawed plan was executed for an invented war,

while pursuing the real enemy, al-Qaeda, became a secondary

effort. . . .

So what is to be done? We need fresh ideas and fresh faces.

That means, as a first step, replacing Rumsfeld and many

others unwilling to fundamentally change their approach. The

troops in the Middle East have performed their duty. Now we

need people in Washington who can construct a unified

strategy worthy of them. It is time to send a signal to our

nation, our forces and the world that we are uncompromising

on our security but are prepared to rethink how we achieve

it. . . .

This debate is long overdue on the Senate floor, and I thank our Democratic leader for it.

This debate is about how to finally win in Iraq, how to bring our courageous troops home as safely and as soon as possible, with their victory secured by the Iraqi Government, the Iraqi military and police, and the Iraqi people.

Our heroic soldiers deserve better than the President's apologies, again defending the failures of the past and the continuing failures of the present. They deserve a new strategy to win victory in Iraq and a new leader to achieve it.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today I honor the Paynesville Area School District, in Paynesville, MN, which recently earned an Award for Excellence in Education for its exceptional and innovative achievements in educating children.

The Paynesville Area School District is truly a model of educational success. The district administrators, teachers, staff, and parents have remained focused on the District's mission: ``Success for Everyone Through Quality Learning.''

The commitment of the entire community to the education of its children has earned the Paynesville Area School District's high school a five-star rating in both math and reading, one of only seven percent of schools in the State that can make that claim. The elementary school also earned a five-star rating in reading. Paynesville is very proud of the fact that it is the only district in greater Minnesota that has five stars in reading for both its elementary and high schools.

Paynesville, a rural community, continually seeks new ideas to remain competitive in a progressive society while cherishing local history and tradition. Along with the fundamentals of reading, writing, and mathematics, the district also emphasizes respect as a basic value.

The Paynesville Area School District offers a number of innovative programs, including full-day kindergarten for everyone; children in kindergarten and first grade are grouped by ability; teachers in grades 2 and 3 remain with the same teacher for 2 years in a row; parents can view children's grades through the district's Web site; and College in the Classroom courses are available for fundamentals of college writing, rhetoric, and introduction to literature, allowing students to earn college credit in these subjects.

The Paynesville Area School District also offers a wide variety of cocurricular activities, including: an award-winning Future Farmers of America Program, a Future Leaders of America Program, and a Business Professionals of America Program. The middle school band has been rated ``Best Young Band,'' and the high school choir performed at candlelight processionals at Disney's Epcot Center in 2000 and 2004.

Much of the credit for the Paynesville Area Public School's success belongs to its superintendent, Mr. Todd Burlingame, and the district's dedicated principals, teachers, and staff. The students and staff at the Paynesville Area School District understand that, in order to be successful, a school must go beyond achieving academic success; it must also provide a nurturing environment where students can develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for success throughout life. All of the faculty, staff, and students at the Paynesville Area School District should be very proud of their accomplishments.

I congratulate the Paynesville Area School District in Paynesville for winning the Award for Excellence in Education and for its exceptional contributions to education in Minnesota.

Mr. President, today I honor Little Falls Community Middle School, in Little Falls, MN, which recently earned an Award for Excellence in Education for its exceptional and innovative achievements in educating children.

Little Falls Community Middle School is truly a model of educational success. Every year since 1997, its Language Arts Department has invited well-known authors to work with the students to help develop their writing skills. Students are assigned beforehand to read one or more of each author's books. This approach to teaching both an appreciation of reading and improved writing skills works very well in a middle school setting.

This year, Will Weaver was invited to work with the students. Some other authors who have participated are Will Durbin, Patricia Calvert, and Earl Fleck. The author spends 2 days teaching techniques for writing stories that allow the reader to ``feel'' what is happening. The authors discuss their favorite books, how they came up with the ideas for their books, how long it takes to write a chapter, and how they were able to get their first books published. Students come away from the experience believing that they, too, can become good writers.

Another program unique to the school is its annual Water Festival, which allows sixth-graders to travel each year to nearby Camp Ripley for hands-on experience learning about the significance of water in our environment. The festival offers children an opportunity to discover how important water is in their lives and how we ourselves affect water, positively or negatively. They learn about water purification techniques, invertebrates that live in the water, wetland habitat, the history of the Mississippi River, and the characteristics of a watershed. The school makes use of National Guard staff, Department of Natural Resources Specialists, and representatives from the Science Museum of Minnesota.

This year, Little Falls Community Middle School suffered a tremendous loss when one of its teachers, Mr. Lee Hochsprung, died suddenly. He had enjoyed spending time with his family, teaching at the middle school for 31 years in language arts, EBD, and social studies, hunting, fishing, camping, cooking, watching his children play sports, announcing wrestling matches, listening to all kinds of music, and reading history. He was a compassionate person, a motivator, and a loving husband, father, and loyal friend. The Little Falls community will remember Lee for his stories, jokes, great teaching skills, fabulous coaching ability, gift for connecting with students and parents, capacity for fun, and love for all children, especially for his own children, Laura, Paul, Phil, and Katie, and his wife Julie.

Much of the credit for Little Falls Community Middle School's success belongs to its principal, Dr. Maxine Strege, and the dedicated teachers. The students and staff at Little Falls Community Middle School understand that in order to be successful, a school must

go beyond achieving academic success; it must also provide a nurturing environment where students can develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for success throughout life. All of the faculty, staff, and students at Little Falls Community Middle School should be very proud of their accomplishments.

I congratulate Little Falls Community Middle School in Little Falls for winning the Award for Excellence in Education and for its exceptional contributions to education in Minnesota.

Mr. President, today I honor Johnsville Elementary School, in Blaine, MN, which recently earned an Award for Excellence in Education for its exceptional and innovative achievements in educating children.

Johnsville Elementary School is truly a model of educational success. The school has developed a wide variety of programs to meet the learning needs of all children. Unlike many elementary schools, which offer only three or four break-out curricula, Johnsville has built art, music, library, technology, and physical education into the school-day curriculum. A talent development program provides enrichment reading, math, creative writing, and science for the more advanced learners. A targeted services program offers extended-day instruction in reading and math for pupils who are struggling.

At Johnsville, those kindergarten children who have already begun to read and write can participate in an advanced reader program. In addition, for 2 consecutive years, a Johnsville kindergartner has won the Anoka Hennepin District's Anti-Bullying Kindergarten Poster Contest. This year's winner was Jake Taylor.

The school is also very proud of its choir programs, including an honors choir program, and its Fine Arts Festival, where everyone displays at least one project.

The Anoka-Hennepin School District has also established a teacher with outstanding performance, TOP, recognition program so that parents can nominate deserving teachers. Seven of Johnsville's teachers have received the award.

Parents' support for the school is reflected in the 98 percent parent participation rate in parent-teacher conferences. Johnsville also provides opportunities to involve parents in all aspects of the school day.

In the spirit of community service, this year Johnsville participated in a special fund-raiser for people affected by Hurricane Katrina, raising $2,700 for St. John's School in Louisiana.

Johnsville's principal, Mr. Patrick Murray, was recently recognized with a division leadership award from the Minnesota Elementary School Principals' Association.

In 2005, the school received a three-star rating in math and a four- star rating in reading. This is an improvement over the two-star rating in reading the school received in 2004.

Much of the credit for Johnsville Elementary School's success belongs to its principal, Mr. Patrick Murray, and the dedicated teachers and staff. The pupils and staff at Johnsville Elementary School understand that, in order to be successful, a school must go beyond achieving academic success; it must also provide a nurturing environment where children can develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for success throughout life. All of the faculty, staff, and children at Johnsville Elementary School should be very proud of their accomplishments.

I congratulate Johnsville Elementary School in Blaine for winning the Award for Excellence in Education and for its exceptional contributions to education in Minnesota.

Mr. President, today I honor Saint Anthony Middle School, in Saint Anthony Village, MN, which recently earned an Award for Excellence in Education for its exceptional and innovative achievements in educating children.

Saint Anthony Middle School is truly a model of educational success. The Saint Anthony and New Brighton communities, which are served by the middle school, place a high value on quality education for every student. The teachers and students have taken the initiative to establish an academic enrichment program, matching students and teachers with similar interests to participate in enrichment learning activities.

Saint Anthony Middle School has also developed curricula and teaching techniques to meet the needs of struggling learners as well as advanced students. Children who need greater support are given additional study time and assistance from paraprofessionals and high school tutors. Advanced students participate in special courses designed to move at a faster pace. The Connections Course, developed by the social studies teachers and language arts teachers, offers an advanced-level course integrating both subjects.

Recognizing that positive connections with middle school students are essential, teachers and staff work constantly to improve the educational experience. Teachers, who often go to great lengths to be sure that all students are connecting with the curriculum, helped the eighth-graders create a Colonial Day, on which community members facilitate workshops to help students to understand firsthand what it was like to live during colonial times. Among other things, students created cornhusk dolls, wove baskets, dressed in colonial attire, and ignited a fire using stones. The school is also exploring the possibility of adding an International Baccalaureate Program to the curriculum.

The success of Saint Anthony Middle School is reflected in student enrollment numbers: 42 percent of the students come to the school, through open enrollment, from neighboring districts.

In 2005, St. Anthony Middle School received a three-star rating in math and a four-star rating in reading from the Minnesota Department of Education.

Much of the credit for Saint Anthony Middle School's success belongs to its principal, Shirley Gregoire, and the dedicated teachers and staff. The students and staff at Saint Anthony Middle School understand that, in order to be successful, a school must go beyond achieving academic success; it must also provide a nurturing environment where students can develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for success throughout life. All of the faculty, staff, and students at Saint Anthony Middle School should be very proud of their accomplishments.

I congratulate Saint Anthony Middle School in Saint Anthony Village for winning the Award for Excellence in Education and for its exceptional contributions to education in Minnesota.