Floor Statements

Mr. President, I see that many of my colleagues have come to the floor, so I will try to be brief in my remarks. But I would like to assure my good friend from Tennessee that this is not a stunt. This is a very strong and clear and unwavering statement tonight that the President and the Republican leadership are leading this country in the wrong direction, and now is the time to change it.

I have not been to Hollywood too many times, but I have been there enough to know that there is a lot of glitter, fountains, big lights. I do not see any fountains or glitter on the floor of the Senate. I see hard-working Senators who are here to debate the most important issue.

And for our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to question our intentions is beneath the dignity of this body. Let me repeat again for the Senator from Tennessee, to the Senator from Kentucky, and all of my friends: This is not a stunt. This is an exercise in reality. And this is not Hollywood, this is the Senate, and this is exactly what people in the Senate do, debate.

And what we also like to do is vote. But we are not allowed to vote because the minority leader has decided that we are not going to have a vote. We have a majority of votes to change direction. I would argue with the other side that we are never going to get 80 percent or 90 percent of the Senate to move in one direction or another in a situation such as this. It is an impossible barrier to achieve.

But we may get a growing number, a majority of Senators who represent the majority of the population in America to say to the President that we want to go in another direction. So tonight is not a stunt. It is a statement saying it is time to allow us to vote.

No, I will not.

I also say to the Senator, I am a cosponsor of the Iraq Study Group legislation by Senator Salazar, on which he worked so hard and so honestly to build bipartisan support. But what happened when the President gave his State of the Union Address 2 years ago when things looked as though they were not going very well in Iraq? We had more deaths, more violence, and a bipartisan group did come together, some of the great minds on this issue. What did the President do? He dismissed the document.

I am not sure what the Senator from Tennessee thinks, maybe the President will wake up tomorrow morning and decide to read the report. But he hasn't read it for 2 years. It is not being implemented. That is what this debate is about.

I don't know how many more commissions we could commission. I don't know how many more experts we could gather. I don't know how many more Republicans and Democrats could come together to explain to this President it is not working. So I am not sure about creating another commission. We have already had many. He doesn't even read the recommendations. They are right here. Here they are, not implemented into law. But can we vote on this? No, because the minority leader says they don't want to have a vote on these recommendations.

I wish to say another thing about the role of the Congress and the President. I am so tired of hearing the other side say: Why does Congress have anything to say about this matter? Maybe because our Constitution says we should, maybe because the intelligence reports that are done are not just presented to the President and his military generals and leaders and war fighters. The intelligence reports are given to us. There was one delivered this morning I would like to read.

Before I read what it says, I wish to read the way it says it.

Since its formation in 1973, the National Intelligence

Council has served as a bridge between the intelligence and

policy communities, a source of deep, substantive expertise

on critical national security issues, and as a focal point

for Intelligence Community collaboration. . . . [It] provides

a focal point for policymakers . . .

That would be me, I am a policymaker. I ran for the job. I am elected. I am here to make policy, and I intend to make it.

. . . Warfighters, and Congressional leaders to task the

Intelligence Community for answers--

We sure need some important questions, such as how to win the war against terrorism.

They don't send this to the President and say: After you finish reading it, let us know what you want us to do. They send it to us, and today they sent us another one.

What it said in this report is:

Al-qa'ida is and will remain the most serious terrorist

threat to the Homeland, as its central leadership continues

to plan high-impact plots, while pushing others in extremist

Sunni communities to mimic its efforts and to supplement its

capabilities.

It is clearly saying, yes, there are some threats and activities in Sunni areas in Iraq, but there are also Sunni areas around the world. And so Osama bin Laden is still loose.

I brought his picture tonight so I could remind the President what he looks like. He is still on the loose, the leader of al-Qaida. This is his description. He is 6 foot 4 inches to 6 foot 6 inches, approximately 160 pounds. He is thin. Occupation unknown. We know now what he does. His hair is brown. His eyes are brown. His complexion is olive. And there is a reward--and thank goodness they let us have a vote on Byron Dorgan's amendment because now the reward is $50 million instead of $25 million. Maybe the President will veto that provision. I don't know. But I, frankly, think that was a good idea. Maybe we should raise it a little higher. I don't know what Congress is doing discussing what the reward should be for Osama bin Laden. Clearly, we have nothing to say about this issue. I am glad we voted to increase the reward. I would like to see if we can find him and

kill him. If we would stop spending $500 million a day, $35 million before breakfast every day in Iraq, maybe we could find him because he is not in Baghdad.

We, obviously, have disagreements about the way to proceed, but I can assure my colleagues this is not a stunt. This is a real debate that is taking place in a real place that is the real Senate of the United States. It is not Hollywood.

The President and the Republican leadership have made many mistakes. Nobody is perfect, and we all make them. But we have to change course. What we are doing is not working. He is still loose. The estimate today says that al-Qaida is as strong as it was on 9/11. If we are winning the war, I am not sure that 4 years after you engage, if your enemy is stronger than it was when you started, that is winning under any definition. But that is what the Republican leadership continues to tell people: despite the mounting casualties, the increased funerals, and the tremendous strains on our soldiers and their families coming home, that we are most certainly winning. The American people don't believe it.

Some people are asking to pull out. I am not asking that, but I am asking for a change of direction. I brought this picture to the floor today to remind everybody how we got here in the first place. Saddam Hussein did not attack the United States, Osama bin Laden did, and he is still alive, and now terrorism is around the world in places it was not before we started down this road. If we are not careful, we are going to spend all our money there, all the American people's patience there, and all their will there and still not find the guy we are looking for and the central intelligence of al-Qaida. I know he is not the only part of al-Qaida, but he is the leader, and we need to find him.

So however one feels about the issue, I don't think spending one night on the floor of the Senate, which is not a Hollywood set but the real deal, is too much to ask, since our soldiers have spent every night for 5 years on the battlefield around the world.

I will make one more point. I hope that nobody comes to my State or on the floor and accuses me of not supporting our troops in uniform because I will have several words for them. Every time we disagree about procedures, the ones who don't agree with the President are accused of not supporting our troops. We couldn't support them more.

So I hope we can get past that reasoning and perhaps we can find a better consensus. But the place we are going, the direction we are going is not right. We need to change course, and we need to fight smart, we need to fight tough, we need to go where the enemy is, and we need to protect America.

According to this intelligence report that was issued this morning, it doesn't look like we are doing that. That is what this debate is about. I look forward to continuing many nights into the future and days ahead.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, June 27, 2007, marks the 50th anniversary of Hurricane Audrey, which ravaged Cameron Parish in southwest Louisiana. It was the deadliest storm our Nation had ever experienced until Hurricane Katrina came ashore in 2005.

Hurricane Audrey was a hurricane like no one had ever seen before in south Louisiana. Some residents rode out the fierce category 4 storm in the Cameron Parish Courthouse, where a memorial service was held today. More than 400 lives were lost--men, women and children.

Don Kingery describes the wrath of Hurricane Audrey in today's Lake Charles American Press:

Cameron Parish residents swam, clung, gasped and prayed.

Those who reached cheniers--ridges slightly higher than the

surrounding marshes found fear-crazed water moccasins and

wild marsh animals snapping and striking at each other and at

humans.

But the people of Cameron Parish and southwest Louisiana are resilient. We rebuilt our homes, our schools, our churches, our communities.

In September 2005, Hurricane Rita, the third worst hurricane our nation has ever seen, struck this same coast. Once again, the people of Cameron have shown unbelievable resilience--again, returning to their homes and rebuilding, literally, from the ground up. The Cameron Courthouse again managed to survive a devastating hurricane and truly became a symbol of strength and hope for the Parish. Every Cameron resident who suffered through Rita is linked by family and community to Audrey's survivors and victims.

Today is an opportunity to look back and remember Audrey and the lives lost, but also to look forward to a better, more vibrant community in the years ahead. At the Cameron Courthouse today, survivors shared with the younger generation their many vivid stories. We will take these stories and lessons from Audrey, learn from them and grow from them.

Today, I want the Senate to recognize the National Guard, Civil Air Patrol and American Red Cross, all of which worked so bravely 50 years ago in the wake of Hurricane Audrey, helping to bring Cameron Parish back to its feet.

I would also like to recognize BG Robert LeBlanc, who spoke at the memorial service in Cameron today. He formed the first Louisiana National Guard unit in Abbeville. In the aftermath of Audrey, he helped command the evacuation. He is now the Vermillion Parish director of homeland security and emergency preparedness and was recently inducted into the Louisiana National Guard Hall of Fame.

For the record, I want to honor Cameron Parish President Darryl Farque and Sheriff Theos Duhon as well as their 1957 counterparts: Parish President Eraste Hebert and Sheriff O.B. Carter.

Nola Mae Ross and Cathy Post also deserve recognition today, as their books on Hurricane Audrey will ensure future generations will never forget that fateful June day in 1957.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak about an important issue that will determine the success of long-term recovery efforts in the gulf coast. As you know, the gulf coast was devastated in 2005 by two of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States in recorded history--Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We also experienced the unprecedented disaster of having a major metropolitan city--the city of New Orleans--under up to 20 feet of water for 2 weeks when there were 28 separate levee failures which flooded 12,000 acres, or 80 percent of New Orleans, following Katrina.

I strongly believe that the Congress can provide vast amounts of tax credits, grants, loans, and waivers, but all these benefits will not spur recovery if we cannot get people back into their homes. That is where recovery must start and end. In Louisiana alone, for example, we had over 20,000 businesses destroyed. However, businesses cannot open their doors if their workers have nowhere to live. Louisiana also had 875 schools destroyed. Again, teachers cannot come back to school and teach our children if they do not have a roof over their heads. So a fundamental piece of recovery in the gulf coast is to allow disaster victims to return home and rebuild.

Given the ongoing needs in the southern part of my State in regard to damaged housing, as well as all across the gulf coast, I was pleased that H.R. 1227, the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act, passed the House of Representatives on March 21, 2007. This legislation, introduced by Representative Maxine Waters and Representative Barney Frank, addresses many of the major housing-related problems in my State, in particular issues with the Louisiana Road Home Program and public housing. Since this legislation was received in the Senate, I have been working closely with Senator Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, to review H.R. 1227 for ways to strengthen this important legislation. To further this goal, we have consulted residents, community leaders, nonprofits, State/local officials, and other relevant stakeholders on areas where H.R. 1227 might require improvements.

Today, along with Chairman Dodd, I am proud to introduce legislation which is the product of these months of intensive consultations. This legislation, a Senate companion bill to H.R. 1227, is identical to the House bill in many places, and in others it really improves upon what was included in the House bill. For example, H.R. 1227 included $15 million for the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, NORA, to carry out a pilot program to purchase and bundle properties, then sell for redevelopment. These funds would allow NORA to initially acquire and redevelop properties in the New Orleans area. While I support this pilot program, which was included by my colleague from Louisiana, Representative Richard Baker, I believe that some additional funds were necessary to truly allow NORA to ``hit the ground running'' with this program. That is why our bill includes $25 million for NORA. Furthermore, before Hurricane Katrina, at approximately 40 percent, New Orleans had one of the lowest home ownership levels of any metropolitan area in the country. As we rebuild this vibrant city, increasing home ownership should be one of the tenets of the redevelopment process. With this in mind, our bill does its part to increase home ownership opportunities for low-income renters and public housing residents by including an additional $5 million for NORA to provide soft second mortgages. The bill also directs the Federal Housing Administration to convey properties to NORA for affordable resale to these residents.

In regard to the Louisiana Road Home Program, following passage of the House bill, we learned that the Road Home is facing a shortfall of billions of dollars due to various reasons. There is certainly more than enough blame to go around for the mistakes in the creation and management of the Road Home Program, and fixing them will be a shared responsibility. But a significant initial flaw can be found in the inadequate and unfairly distributed funding which represented all the administration was willing to commit toward Louisiana recovery. At this stage, the funding shortfall threatens to stall recovery in Louisiana and leave homeowners without the vital funds they need to rebuild their homes. To address this important issue, our bill includes an authorization of funds so that if the State of Louisiana puts up $1 billion toward the Road Home shortfall, additional funds necessary to shore up the program would be available.

The Louisiana Recovery Authority, LRA, and the State legislature approved a plan that allocates $1.175 billion dollars to be included in the Road Home Program and $217 million for traditional Hazard Mitigation Projects for use by local parishes and municipalities. In particular, the money allocated for use by local parishes and municipalities can be used for retrofitting structures, such as flood- proofing and elevating homes, acquisition and relocation of residential homes from disaster-prone areas. For the $1.175 billion, the State is seeking to use these funds for the Road Home Program, and HUD has approved it for these uses, but FEMA has so far refused to allow this change. For more than a year, the State of Louisiana and FEMA have met and attempted to work out the issues for applying the funds for the Road Home with no significant progress.

To address this issue, the House bill requires FEMA to accept the State's program structure for the Road Home, which provides incentives to people who choose to remain in the State. These provisions are helpful, but maximum flexibility for using HMGP funds must be provided, so that is why our Senate companion would allow Louisiana to use this more than $1 billion for mitigation activities in the Road Home Program according to more flexible HUD Community Development Block Grant Program rules. The bill also requires FEMA to send these funds to the State within 90 days so that they can quickly be utilized for the Road Home. Lastly, and most important for our impacted parishes in Louisiana, the Dodd-Landrieu bill requires Louisiana to send any future Katrina/Rita HMGP funds directly to the parishes and localities where these funds are badly needed. I believe this is a commonsense approach as we need to make fixing the Road Home a priority but also should recognize that the parishes certainly deserve additional funds which should become available in the coming months.

I am also aware that many Louisiana Road Home recipients have seen their housing recovery grants reduced by Federal agencies, citing ``duplication of benefits'' regulations. While I understand the need to ensure fiscal responsibility on Federal recovery spending, in addition to make sure that residents are not benefiting from these disasters, these Federal regulations are in many ways stifling recovery rather than discouraging fraud and abuse. This is because Louisiana homeowners in many cases had to wait months upon months for U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA, disaster assistance, Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, assistance, and many are unfortunately still waiting to see resolution on their insurance claims. The delay in delivery of this vital recovery capital, along with the immense damage in the region, has left many homeowners scrambling to cobble together enough funds for fully rebuilding their damaged homes. The Louisiana Road Home Program was created to further these ends but cannot allow residents to return home and rebuild if Federal regulations are requiring recovery funds to come back to Washington, not stay in Louisiana where they are needed. Let me clarify, though, residents should not benefit from these storms, but the Federal Government should ensure that they have the necessary resources to responsibly rebuild their lives. To these ends, H.R. 1227 included a provision to waive these ``duplication of benefits'' regulations for insurance and FEMA assistance so long as the household did not receive a windfall gain. While our bill includes a similar provision, we clarified that SBA disaster assistance is also included and that the regulation is waived so long as the household does not receive more funds than is necessary to repair/rebuild their home.

Following Katrina and Rita, there has been a great deal of emphasis placed on rebuilding gulf coast rental housing and owner-occupied housing, as there should be. The recovery of public housing, however, is one area that has not received much national press even though, prior to Hurricane Katrina, the Housing Authority of New Orleans, HANO, operated 7,379 public housing units, 5,146 of which were occupied in the New Orleans area alone. These residents, just like renters and homeowners, have a right to return home, so we must provide them the means and opportunity to do so. H.R. 1227 provides a process for returning these New Orleans public housing residents home. It includes a resident study to find out which residents want to stay where they are, which residents want to come back to public housing in New Orleans, and which residents would like to return to New Orleans with rental or section 8 voucher assistance. This study would guide redevelopment of public housing units in New Orleans. The House bill also specifies that HANO shall not demolish the 7,379 public housing units unless there is a plan in place to provide one-for-one replacement for the units. This particular provision ensures that all public housing residents who want to return home can return to affordable public housing units.

The Dodd-Landrieu Senate companion retains these provisions but strengthens them in a few ways. For example, just as in H.R. 1227, our bill sets out that all 5,146 pre-Katrina occupied units shall be replaced with 5,146 hard units. However, unlike the House bill, for the remaining units, this bill allows HANO to replace these with hard units or with project-based vouchers tied to units in low-income neighborhoods/areas undergoing revitalization. This is because some residents want to return to public housing units, but there are others who would like to transition to other types of units. This bill would allow them the choice.

Furthermore, in another improvement from the House version, our bill ties the dates for the survey and resident return to the enactment of the bill, to ensure residents have sufficient time to make decisions and to return home. Before the storms, almost 85 percent of these public housing residents were employed, and many are now employed in other cities, some with children in schools there. Although I know they want to come home as soon as possible, it would be somewhat unreasonable to require them to pull their children out of schools and leave their current jobs in such a short timeframe. The Senate bill gives these residents the time necessary to make relevant arrangements and move back within 120 days of enactment.

Another issue that was not addressed in the House bill is in regard to residents who were on a waiting list to get into public housing. With a shortage of affordable housing in the New Orleans area, these almost 6,000 residents are left without many options in pursuing suitable housing. Our bill also requires HANO, as part of its replacement plans, to contact individuals on the pre-Katrina waiting list and to give these residents consideration for any units not needed for returning residents.

As you may know, HANO has been a troubled agency long before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. It has been plagued by mismanagement and financial problems for years and is currently administered by HUD. Under normal circumstances, this may not warrant much congressional attention as HUD has taken over countless housing authorities nationwide to steer them in the right direction. However, at this important stage in rebuilding public housing in New Orleans, many in the city believe we need an independent partner overseeing the process. Although there may be the best intentions from administration officials running HANO, it is still HUD in Washington calling the shots, not local officials, residents, and other groups. There are also new and innovative public housing administration models from other cities, which incorporate both resident input and public-private partnerships.

Now, I realize that Rome was not built in a day and that it will take years, not months, to fully rebuild New Orleans. Along these same lines, no one expects HANO to be completely reformed overnight, especially given its years of problems and the need to not jeopardize ongoing development in any way. But there is a general consensus that the status quo for HANO must not continue. To these ends, our bill requires HUD to put HANO into judicial receivership within 30 days, which would start the process of turning HANO over to local control. We believe it is important to start this dialogue on the next steps for HANO, given how important its role will be in rebuilding public housing in the region.

In closing, let me reiterate that this bill addresses one of the most fundamental needs following a disaster: the need to return home. Whether residents live in million-dollar mansions, rental housing, or public housing, they all share a desire to return to their communities and, in particular, their homes. The House has done its part to help these residents, so I urge my colleagues to support this comprehensive recovery legislation as now these disaster victims are counting on the Senate for action.

I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record letters of support for the legislation.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak about an important issue that will determine the success of long-term recovery efforts in the gulf coast. As you know, the gulf coast was devastated in 2005 by two of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States in recorded history--Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We also experienced the unprecedented disaster of having a major metropolitan city--the city of New Orleans--under up to 20 feet of water for 2 weeks when there were 28 separate levee failures which flooded 12,000 acres, or 80 percent of New Orleans, following Katrina.

I strongly believe that the Congress can provide vast amounts of tax credits, grants, loans, and waivers, but all these benefits will not spur recovery if we cannot get people back into their homes. That is where recovery must start and end. In Louisiana alone, for example, we had over 20,000 businesses destroyed. However, businesses cannot open their doors if their workers have nowhere to live. Louisiana also had 875 schools destroyed. Again, teachers cannot come back to school and teach our children if they do not have a roof over their heads. So a fundamental piece of recovery in the gulf coast is to allow disaster victims to return home and rebuild.

Given the ongoing needs in the southern part of my State in regard to damaged housing, as well as all across the gulf coast, I was pleased that H.R. 1227, the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act, passed the House of Representatives on March 21, 2007. This legislation, introduced by Representative Maxine Waters and Representative Barney Frank, addresses many of the major housing-related problems in my State, in particular issues with the Louisiana Road Home Program and public housing. Since this legislation was received in the Senate, I have been working closely with Senator Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, to review H.R. 1227 for ways to strengthen this important legislation. To further this goal, we have consulted residents, community leaders, nonprofits, State/local officials, and other relevant stakeholders on areas where H.R. 1227 might require improvements.

Today, along with Chairman Dodd, I am proud to introduce legislation which is the product of these months of intensive consultations. This legislation, a Senate companion bill to H.R. 1227, is identical to the House bill in many places, and in others it really improves upon what was included in the House bill. For example, H.R. 1227 included $15 million for the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, NORA, to carry out a pilot program to purchase and bundle properties, then sell for redevelopment. These funds would allow NORA to initially acquire and redevelop properties in the New Orleans area. While I support this pilot program, which was included by my colleague from Louisiana, Representative Richard Baker, I believe that some additional funds were necessary to truly allow NORA to ``hit the ground running'' with this program. That is why our bill includes $25 million for NORA. Furthermore, before Hurricane Katrina, at approximately 40 percent, New Orleans had one of the lowest home ownership levels of any metropolitan area in the country. As we rebuild this vibrant city, increasing home ownership should be one of the tenets of the redevelopment process. With this in mind, our bill does its part to increase home ownership opportunities for low-income renters and public housing residents by including an additional $5 million for NORA to provide soft second mortgages. The bill also directs the Federal Housing Administration to convey properties to NORA for affordable resale to these residents.

In regard to the Louisiana Road Home Program, following passage of the House bill, we learned that the Road Home is facing a shortfall of billions of dollars due to various reasons. There is certainly more than enough blame to go around for the mistakes in the creation and management of the Road Home Program, and fixing them will be a shared responsibility. But a significant initial flaw can be found in the inadequate and unfairly distributed funding which represented all the administration was willing to commit toward Louisiana recovery. At this stage, the funding shortfall threatens to stall recovery in Louisiana and leave homeowners without the vital funds they need to rebuild their homes. To address this important issue, our bill includes an authorization of funds so that if the State of Louisiana puts up $1 billion toward the Road Home shortfall, additional funds necessary to shore up the program would be available.

The Louisiana Recovery Authority, LRA, and the State legislature approved a plan that allocates $1.175 billion dollars to be included in the Road Home Program and $217 million for traditional Hazard Mitigation Projects for use by local parishes and municipalities. In particular, the money allocated for use by local parishes and municipalities can be used for retrofitting structures, such as flood- proofing and elevating homes, acquisition and relocation of residential homes from disaster-prone areas. For the $1.175 billion, the State is seeking to use these funds for the Road Home Program, and HUD has approved it for these uses, but FEMA has so far refused to allow this change. For more than a year, the State of Louisiana and FEMA have met and attempted to work out the issues for applying the funds for the Road Home with no significant progress.

To address this issue, the House bill requires FEMA to accept the State's program structure for the Road Home, which provides incentives to people who choose to remain in the State. These provisions are helpful, but maximum flexibility for using HMGP funds must be provided, so that is why our Senate companion would allow Louisiana to use this more than $1 billion for mitigation activities in the Road Home Program according to more flexible HUD Community Development Block Grant Program rules. The bill also requires FEMA to send these funds to the State within 90 days so that they can quickly be utilized for the Road Home. Lastly, and most important for our impacted parishes in Louisiana, the Dodd-Landrieu bill requires Louisiana to send any future Katrina/Rita HMGP funds directly to the parishes and localities where these funds are badly needed. I believe this is a commonsense approach as we need to make fixing the Road Home a priority but also should recognize that the parishes certainly deserve additional funds which should become available in the coming months.

I am also aware that many Louisiana Road Home recipients have seen their housing recovery grants reduced by Federal agencies, citing ``duplication of benefits'' regulations. While I understand the need to ensure fiscal responsibility on Federal recovery spending, in addition to make sure that residents are not benefiting from these disasters, these Federal regulations are in many ways stifling recovery rather than discouraging fraud and abuse. This is because Louisiana homeowners in many cases had to wait months upon months for U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA, disaster assistance, Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, assistance, and many are unfortunately still waiting to see resolution on their insurance claims. The delay in delivery of this vital recovery capital, along with the immense damage in the region, has left many homeowners scrambling to cobble together enough funds for fully rebuilding their damaged homes. The Louisiana Road Home Program was created to further these ends but cannot allow residents to return home and rebuild if Federal regulations are requiring recovery funds to come back to Washington, not stay in Louisiana where they are needed. Let me clarify, though, residents should not benefit from these storms, but the Federal Government should ensure that they have the necessary resources to responsibly rebuild their lives. To these ends, H.R. 1227 included a provision to waive these ``duplication of benefits'' regulations for insurance and FEMA assistance so long as the household did not receive a windfall gain. While our bill includes a similar provision, we clarified that SBA disaster assistance is also included and that the regulation is waived so long as the household does not receive more funds than is necessary to repair/rebuild their home.

Following Katrina and Rita, there has been a great deal of emphasis placed on rebuilding gulf coast rental housing and owner-occupied housing, as there should be. The recovery of public housing, however, is one area that has not received much national press even though, prior to Hurricane Katrina, the Housing Authority of New Orleans, HANO, operated 7,379 public housing units, 5,146 of which were occupied in the New Orleans area alone. These residents, just like renters and homeowners, have a right to return home, so we must provide them the means and opportunity to do so. H.R. 1227 provides a process for returning these New Orleans public housing residents home. It includes a resident study to find out which residents want to stay where they are, which residents want to come back to public housing in New Orleans, and which residents would like to return to New Orleans with rental or section 8 voucher assistance. This study would guide redevelopment of public housing units in New Orleans. The House bill also specifies that HANO shall not demolish the 7,379 public housing units unless there is a plan in place to provide one-for-one replacement for the units. This particular provision ensures that all public housing residents who want to return home can return to affordable public housing units.

The Dodd-Landrieu Senate companion retains these provisions but strengthens them in a few ways. For example, just as in H.R. 1227, our bill sets out that all 5,146 pre-Katrina occupied units shall be replaced with 5,146 hard units. However, unlike the House bill, for the remaining units, this bill allows HANO to replace these with hard units or with project-based vouchers tied to units in low-income neighborhoods/areas undergoing revitalization. This is because some residents want to return to public housing units, but there are others who would like to transition to other types of units. This bill would allow them the choice.

Furthermore, in another improvement from the House version, our bill ties the dates for the survey and resident return to the enactment of the bill, to ensure residents have sufficient time to make decisions and to return home. Before the storms, almost 85 percent of these public housing residents were employed, and many are now employed in other cities, some with children in schools there. Although I know they want to come home as soon as possible, it would be somewhat unreasonable to require them to pull their children out of schools and leave their current jobs in such a short timeframe. The Senate bill gives these residents the time necessary to make relevant arrangements and move back within 120 days of enactment.

Another issue that was not addressed in the House bill is in regard to residents who were on a waiting list to get into public housing. With a shortage of affordable housing in the New Orleans area, these almost 6,000 residents are left without many options in pursuing suitable housing. Our bill also requires HANO, as part of its replacement plans, to contact individuals on the pre-Katrina waiting list and to give these residents consideration for any units not needed for returning residents.

As you may know, HANO has been a troubled agency long before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. It has been plagued by mismanagement and financial problems for years and is currently administered by HUD. Under normal circumstances, this may not warrant much congressional attention as HUD has taken over countless housing authorities nationwide to steer them in the right direction. However, at this important stage in rebuilding public housing in New Orleans, many in the city believe we need an independent partner overseeing the process. Although there may be the best intentions from administration officials running HANO, it is still HUD in Washington calling the shots, not local officials, residents, and other groups. There are also new and innovative public housing administration models from other cities, which incorporate both resident input and public-private partnerships.

Now, I realize that Rome was not built in a day and that it will take years, not months, to fully rebuild New Orleans. Along these same lines, no one expects HANO to be completely reformed overnight, especially given its years of problems and the need to not jeopardize ongoing development in any way. But there is a general consensus that the status quo for HANO must not continue. To these ends, our bill requires HUD to put HANO into judicial receivership within 30 days, which would start the process of turning HANO over to local control. We believe it is important to start this dialogue on the next steps for HANO, given how important its role will be in rebuilding public housing in the region.

In closing, let me reiterate that this bill addresses one of the most fundamental needs following a disaster: the need to return home. Whether residents live in million-dollar mansions, rental housing, or public housing, they all share a desire to return to their communities and, in particular, their homes. The House has done its part to help these residents, so I urge my colleagues to support this comprehensive recovery legislation as now these disaster victims are counting on the Senate for action.

I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record letters of support for the legislation.

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I wish to send my best wishes to the new Kazakhstan Secretary of State, Kanat Saudabayev. Before assuming his new position, Secretary Saudabayev served as the Kazakh Ambassador to the United States for almost 7 years. During this time, I have had the privilege of working closely with Secretary Saudabayev in strengthening the relationships between Kazakhstan, the United States, and particularly Louisiana.

On May 15, 2007, Ambassador Saudabayev was appointed to the position of Secretary of State for Kazakhstan. This elevation follows a two- decade career as a diplomat. His postings include such important nations as the United Kingdom and Turkey during the 1990s. In December 2000, Secretary Saudabayev was selected as the Ambassador to the United States.

Secretary Saudabayev has proven what a skilled diplomat can do in Washington. Representing a young nation with immense potential, he has built Kazakhstan's reputation as a reliable ally in the war on terrorism and a pro-American voice in Central Asia.

While Ambassador, Secretary Saudabayev helped arrange two White House meetings between President Bush and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, promoted massive U.S. investment in his country, and even turned a satirical movie about Kazakhstan into a promotional vehicle to attract tourists.

Additionally, I must express my personal thanks for Secretary Saudabayev and Kazakhstan's contributions to my home State of Louisiana. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Secretary Saudabayev presented $50,000 in donations to St. Bernard Unified School and education in New Orleans and made a significant donation to the Bush- Clinton Katrina Fund on behalf of Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan and Louisiana have a unique and unprecedented relationship. Through Secretary Saudabayev's dedication and hard work, Kazakhstan and Louisiana have executed a direct trade agreement, a conduit of business and ideas between my home State and Kazakhstan. In addition to this, Secretary Saudabayev has been working with Congressman Melancon and me to expand Louisiana's business presence in Kazakhstan. For example, we have been working toward opening Kazakhstan's energy markets to Louisiana companies.

Although Kazakhstan is a young nation, it has shown tremendous progress and occupies an enviable place in the international community. Secretary Saudabayev has made significant contributions to the establishment of strong and friendly relations between Kazakhstan and the United States, and I am confident that through his new role as the Secretary of State, he will continue to do so. Therefore, I would like to congratulate Secretary Saudabayev and look forward to working with him in his new capacity.

Mr. President, I had the great privilege of presiding this morning. I got to listen to my colleagues come to the floor to pay tribute to our friend, an outstanding Senator and a wonderful man, Craig Thomas from Wyoming.

So many things were said this morning, but I wanted to add a few more. First of all, as I sat in the chair to listen to the tributes, I want to give a compliment to the Senator from Wyoming, who spoke on behalf of his colleague. I have heard many tributes in the 10 years I have been in the Senate but, to me, it was one of the most beautiful tributes that a partner and colleague has made for another. Senator Enzi will continue to carry on the great traditions of the State, and I am sure he, as we all have, will be inspired by his friend that we lost. It was evident in his heartfelt and beautifully executed remarks this morning.

I wanted to rise as a Member who served with Senator Thomas on the Energy Committee, someone who worked fairly closely with him, although we are not of the same political party, to reiterate just a few things about his character.

This life we choose to live in public life is not the easiest life to live, and sometimes it is harder on our families than it is on us individually. It is a life that we choose because we want to serve our constituents. We believe we can do that job.

I heard so many of our colleagues rise to pay tribute to the Senator but

mention Susan, his wife, that I wanted to restate for the record how inspirational their relationship has been to me and to many of us. Not only did Susan wait for him, many times outside of this door, to greet him always with a smile or encouragement, they often were able to travel together as a couple, to share both the joys and the burdens of this life. I think it is a tribute to both of them and particularly to Craig Thomas, who shared his life in such a special way with his spouse, which stands as an inspiration to us all, and Susan to him.

I also wanted to say what a strong and steady voice, an unflinching champion for Wyoming he was, in fact, even in the twilight of his life, within the last few weeks, as was mentioned by some of us who were with him at the Prayer Breakfast, some of us who were with him at the bipartisan conference, and some of us who were with him in one of his last Energy Committee meetings. I recall the memory of his voice, although weak in body, strong in spirit, fighting for Wyoming, talking about coal, talking about a new energy policy, talking about how the country depended so much on the resources of Wyoming and how he was determined to continue to fight and provide that point of view on our committee. So on the Energy Committee we will miss him, always there, always on time, always steady, always strong, and never forgetting the State he came to represent and did so, so completely and so consistently.

Finally, some of us have mentioned the inspiration he has been to us in terms of his quiet and gentle spirit, knowing that he was facing a very difficult time, with his time perhaps not that long to be here. As many of our colleagues have said, however, he never complained. He always said how well he was feeling and how much better and how thankful he was for his doctors, for his family's support, and he was always thanking us for being there when we could.

I wish to mention the strength of his spirit in having come to terms and making peace in his life, that God was his friend. He had a great faith in God Almighty. It was evident by the way he walked, not agitated and not nervous, not anxious and not afraid, but basically the quiet confidence of a person who was at peace with God and with whatever God would have in store for him. I think those of us in the Senate family, for all we remember of him--as a cowboy, as a marine, as a Senator--we will always remember the last few weeks of that quiet confidence of a man who knew why he was born and where he was going. That was our good friend Craig Thomas.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I begin by thanking majority leader Harry Reid for his extraordinary work in helping to negotiate the full Katrina-Rita package that many of us worked on to try to accelerate and jump-start the recovery that is underway slowly, solidly in some places, and not so solidly in others along the entire gulf coast of this Nation, America's energy coast. Louisiana sits in the middle of this great coastline and was hit not by one but by two monstrous storms 18 months ago. But, as my colleagues have heard me say many times, it wasn't just Katrina and Rita that did so much damage, it was the collapse of a Federal levee system that should have held but didn't hold. In Louisiana alone, 200,000 homes were totally destroyed. In Mississippi, it was over 65,000 homes because of the surge that came out of the gulf.

It is hard for people to comprehend what that means. It is still difficult for those of us who live there to get a handle on the scope of the damage and devastation. We are grateful for the generosity of this Nation. We are grateful for the private contributions, the many church groups and people of faith who have come to help us, and we are excited about this package in this emergency supplemental.

When we began this journey 4 or 5 months ago, there were some on the opposition side that said we didn't need to include any of this; that this is for an emergency overseas. But I really want to remind everyone that we are still in a state of emergency on the gulf coast, and asking for $3.7 billion in a $120 billion bill is really not too much to ask for hard-working American taxpayers whose homes had never flooded before. Many of these home owners and business owners never had an inch of water in them, but they suddenly came home or woke up to 12 to 14 feet of water, up to their roofs, ruining everything they had worked for, sometimes everything their parents and grandparents had worked for.

Briefly, what we have done, in this last minute as I summarize, is to waive the 10-percent match, which is critical. It is not only the money that is helpful, obviously, to not have to put up that 10 percent, but mostly by waiving the match we are waiving 90 percent of the redtape that is keeping these hard-working people who are doing everything they can to rebuild their lives.

There were some in the administration who wanted to play games with the levees, and move levees from the east bank to the west bank and say we will fund it later. Well, there is no later for us. There is now, and we are going to build these levees and protect the people in south Louisiana. That has been done.

One other part that is very important to me, and a provision I objected to when it was first implemented 2 years ago, is the option for the forgiveness of loans, which had been taken away. I said, on behalf of the people I represent, we are entitled to the same response that other communities have received, and this bill gives us justice on the gulf coast.

In addition, there is some money for help for our criminal justice system that needs improvement, and to correct some of the teacher shortages as a result of the collapse and damage to many schools, and teachers who have had to move to higher ground but who want to come back to teach the children.

Finally, let me thank Senator Murray, who has been extraordinary in her efforts on our behalf. I also thank Senator Byrd, the chairman of our committee. They were not going to let this bill get through without Katrina and Rita being recognized and the hundreds of thousands of people who are depending on this Congress to keep fighting for them and to at least meet them halfway. We do not look for charity, we look for a hand up. We look for our Government to meet us halfway.

We can afford at least 10 to 15 days' worth of Iraq spending toward rebuilding the great energy coast of America.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to pay tribute to Joan McKinney--journalist, advocate for the free press and accomplished shag dancer--who turned 60 this week, for her outstanding contributions to the State of Louisiana and to our country.

Joan McKinney, originally of Greenville, SC, came to Washington in 1971 to work on the press staff of former Senator Fritz Hollings. As her career advanced, she chose to return to journalism, and she worked for papers in both Louisiana and South Carolina before coming back to work here at the Capitol, covering Washington for the Baton Rouge Advocate, a position she held from 1979 to 2003. I came to know and respect Joan in my many hallway meetings with her since I came to the Senate in 1997.

In her tenure as the advocate's congressional correspondent, Joan beat the Capitol's marble floors and came to be well respected by the Louisiana delegation. The Members from my State knew there was nothing, nothing that could get by her. She was so skilled at asking the right questions that she was able to draw from our elected officials

some truly famous zingers--such as when former Senator Breaux in 1981, while still a House Member, told her why he was voting for a particular plan President Reagan was putting forth. He said his vote could not be bought, but it was up for rent.

Joan's work as a reporter stayed true to the best tenets of journalism. She served the people of Louisiana for a quarter of a century by informing them about the personalities and policies of their elected representatives in Washington.

Through her work, Joan became an expert on the intricacies of the Senate and the Supreme Court. She has taken this knowledge with her into her current role as a member of the Senate Daily Press Gallery staff. Her Senate acumen on the institution and its procedure is of great value to the reporters roaming the gallery, cubs and veterans alike, who rely on her for deep insight about the Chamber they cover.

Joan, who has won reporting awards from the South Carolina and Louisiana press associations, is a longtime member of the 112-year-old, elite Gridiron Club of newspaper writers. She was one of the first women to become a member. Her storied career as a journalist, which earned her the respect of fellow members of the press and politicians alike, should be an example to all aspiring women journalists. And for those lucky enough to gain a spot in the valued turf of the Senate Daily Press Gallery, I know Joan will offer them a helping hand. The smart one will take it, and draw on the knowledge, experience and good heart, which has distinguished Joan among all who know her and the many more who have benefited from her years of believing in and serving the best ideals of our democracy.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak about a very important, and timely issue, for constituents all along the Gulf Coast, as well as coastal residents along the Atlantic seaboard, the need for accurate hurricane forecasting and tracking. This issue is particularly timely with the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane season beginning next week. According to the National Hurricane Center, 2007 is estimated to have between 13 to 17 named storms, 7 to 10 hurricanes, and 3 to 5 major hurricanes. When I hear ``three to five major hurricanes'' I have to admit it makes me and my constituents a little nervous because, in 2005, as the world is well aware, we had another active hurricane season with three major storms, Katrina, Rita and Wilma impacting the Gulf Coast States. Two of these powerful storms, Katrina and Rita, slammed into my State of Louisiana. We lost hundreds of lives and thousands of businesses as a result. To this day, the region is still slowly recovering, but by all accounts, the loss of life and property could have been much worse had we not had top notch forecasting and tracking of these storms. Accurate monitoring of these storms, from their development in the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean, until they slammed into the Gulf Coast, literally saved lives as thousands of residents were able to evacuate from the impacted areas. This accurate forecast, showing residents if they are in the possible ``danger zone,'' is provided by the experts in the National Hurricane Center but they cannot do their job without the necessary data. Such data is provided via buoys in the water, Hurricane Hunter Aircraft, radar stations on the ground, as well as satellites.

With recent advances in technology, I believe sometimes we take for granted these satellites, which are so far removed from our daily existence as to be ``out of sight, out of mind.'' However, they are a major part of our daily lives as satellites now provide us with our radio stations, give us driving directions, bring us our favorite television shows. These same satellites also give us views of distant galaxies/stars and allow us to see weather patterns days before they come through our towns. It is this use of weather tracking satellites of which I would like to highlight with the upcoming hurricane season. As Hurricane Katrina showed us, Federal and State response plans are not worth the paper they are printed on if you do not know where or when the disaster might strike. No amount of satellite phones or stockpiles of supplies are helpful if they are on the other side of the country when a disaster hits. Pre-positioning personnel and supplies ahead of a disaster, as well as efficient evacuations of residents from a possible disaster area depends just as much on accurate weather forecasting as it does on efficient planning. That is why these weather satellites are so key, they allow experts to say with some certainty that one area will be out of harm's way while another area is in potential danger.

One of these weather satellites is the Quick Scatterometer, or QuikSCAT satellite. QuikSCAT is an ocean-observing satellite launched in June 1999 to replace the capability of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scatterometer, NSCAT, satellite. The NSCAT lost power in 1997, 9 months after launch in September 1996. QuikSCAT has the objective of improving weather forecasts near coastlines by using wind data in numerical weather-and-wave prediction. It also was launched with the purpose of improving hurricane warning/monitoring as well as serving as the next ``El Nino watcher'' for NASA. This particular satellite was instrumental in accurate tracking of Tropical Storm, later Hurricane Katrina, as it provided NOAA experts with accurate data on the wind speed and direction for Katrina. It gives experts an estimate of the size of the tropical storm winds and the hurricane winds.

Given how important this satellite is for hurricane forecasting, many in Congress including myself are concerned as this essential satellite is currently 5 years over its intended 3 year lifespan and could fail at any moment. I am aware that there are ongoing discussions in terms of getting a replacement satellite for QuikSCAT but it is just that, discussions. As it stands today, there are currently no contingency plans in place should this satellite fail and no program in place to fast track a next-generation QuikSCAT. What would the impact be you ask if this satellite fails? Well, according to Bill Proenza, Director of the National Hurricane Center, without QuikSCAT, hurricane forecasting would be 16 percent less accurate 72 hours before hurricane landfall and 10 percent less accurate 48 hours before hurricane landfall. This loss of accuracy means a great deal for those impacted by future storms as experts would have to expand the area possibly impacted to fully ensure those impacted were properly warned. For example, a 16 percent loss of accuracy at 72 hours before landfall would increase the area expected to be under hurricane danger from 197 miles to 228 miles on average. With a 10 percent loss of accuracy at 48 hours before landfall, the area expected to be under hurricane danger would rise from 136 miles to 150 miles on average. Greater inaccuracy of this type would lead to more ``false alarm'' evacuations along the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast and, as a result, decrease the possibility of impacted populations sufficiently heeding mandatory evacuations. As someone who has spent my whole life in Louisiana and who has been through many hurricanes, I can tell you that if someone evacuates and then the storm turns or does not impact their area,

they are less likely to evacuate for the next storm. It is human nature and although Katrina has left many in my part of the country more attentive to evacuation orders, as time passes certainly people will not heed orders if inaccurate hurricane forecasts cause them to pack their belongings and rush away from their homes, only to have the storm hit another State. So it is essential to provide the National Hurricane Center and NOAA with the tools they need to get the forecast right and better prepare coastal residents for future hurricanes and storms.

With this in mind, I am introducing today the Improved Hurricane Tracking and Forecasting Act of 2007. I am proud to be joined on this legislation by Senators Kerry, Bill Nelson, and Martinez. My colleagues from Florida spend much time working on hurricane preparedness and I am honored to have their support on this bill, as well as the support from my friend from Massachusetts. This broad array of support from senators from both the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast shows how essential this particular satellite program is for our coastal residents. Furthermore, my colleague from Louisiana, Representative Charlie Melancon, introduced the House version of this bill along with Representative Ron Klein from Florida.

This is very straightforward bill as it authorizes $375 million for a new satellite. QuikSCAT is 5 years past its projected lifespan and a new replacement is needed so this bill fills the need. The funds would go to NOAA for the design and launch of an improved QuikSCAT satellite. This new satellite would take advantage of recent advances in technology and maintain continuity of operations for the current QuikSCAT weather forecasting and warning capabilities. To ensure that we are not left in another position like this, with an ailing satellite in space and no contingency plans for a replacement, this bill also institutes some reporting requirements for the new QuikSCAT satellite. When this satellite is launched, NOAA would be required to update Congress on the operational status of the satellite and its data capabilities. I believe this is a commonsense requirement which would put the Congress in a position in the future to fast track authorization or funding should it be necessary, rather than having to play catch up.

I strongly believe this bill is necessary to protect our coastal residents from future hurricanes. This is because, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, close to 53 percent of the U.S. population resides within the first 50 miles of the coast. You also have to take into account that although hurricanes usually hit the Gulf Coast or southern Atlantic Coast, hurricanes have and possibly will strike the more populous northeast Atlantic Coast. Hurricane Katrina devastated Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi but consider the same magnitude of storm striking heavily populated New York, Massachusetts, or Pennsylvania it would not only devastate the region but leave the Nation's financial and commerce centers in ruins. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation since it will help improve hurricane forecasting and will maintain continuity of operations for current hurricane forecasting and warning capabilities.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill and articles relating to QuikSCAT be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak about a very important, and timely issue, for constituents all along the Gulf Coast, as well as coastal residents along the Atlantic seaboard, the need for accurate hurricane forecasting and tracking. This issue is particularly timely with the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane season beginning next week. According to the National Hurricane Center, 2007 is estimated to have between 13 to 17 named storms, 7 to 10 hurricanes, and 3 to 5 major hurricanes. When I hear ``three to five major hurricanes'' I have to admit it makes me and my constituents a little nervous because, in 2005, as the world is well aware, we had another active hurricane season with three major storms, Katrina, Rita and Wilma impacting the Gulf Coast States. Two of these powerful storms, Katrina and Rita, slammed into my State of Louisiana. We lost hundreds of lives and thousands of businesses as a result. To this day, the region is still slowly recovering, but by all accounts, the loss of life and property could have been much worse had we not had top notch forecasting and tracking of these storms. Accurate monitoring of these storms, from their development in the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean, until they slammed into the Gulf Coast, literally saved lives as thousands of residents were able to evacuate from the impacted areas. This accurate forecast, showing residents if they are in the possible ``danger zone,'' is provided by the experts in the National Hurricane Center but they cannot do their job without the necessary data. Such data is provided via buoys in the water, Hurricane Hunter Aircraft, radar stations on the ground, as well as satellites.

With recent advances in technology, I believe sometimes we take for granted these satellites, which are so far removed from our daily existence as to be ``out of sight, out of mind.'' However, they are a major part of our daily lives as satellites now provide us with our radio stations, give us driving directions, bring us our favorite television shows. These same satellites also give us views of distant galaxies/stars and allow us to see weather patterns days before they come through our towns. It is this use of weather tracking satellites of which I would like to highlight with the upcoming hurricane season. As Hurricane Katrina showed us, Federal and State response plans are not worth the paper they are printed on if you do not know where or when the disaster might strike. No amount of satellite phones or stockpiles of supplies are helpful if they are on the other side of the country when a disaster hits. Pre-positioning personnel and supplies ahead of a disaster, as well as efficient evacuations of residents from a possible disaster area depends just as much on accurate weather forecasting as it does on efficient planning. That is why these weather satellites are so key, they allow experts to say with some certainty that one area will be out of harm's way while another area is in potential danger.

One of these weather satellites is the Quick Scatterometer, or QuikSCAT satellite. QuikSCAT is an ocean-observing satellite launched in June 1999 to replace the capability of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scatterometer, NSCAT, satellite. The NSCAT lost power in 1997, 9 months after launch in September 1996. QuikSCAT has the objective of improving weather forecasts near coastlines by using wind data in numerical weather-and-wave prediction. It also was launched with the purpose of improving hurricane warning/monitoring as well as serving as the next ``El Nino watcher'' for NASA. This particular satellite was instrumental in accurate tracking of Tropical Storm, later Hurricane Katrina, as it provided NOAA experts with accurate data on the wind speed and direction for Katrina. It gives experts an estimate of the size of the tropical storm winds and the hurricane winds.

Given how important this satellite is for hurricane forecasting, many in Congress including myself are concerned as this essential satellite is currently 5 years over its intended 3 year lifespan and could fail at any moment. I am aware that there are ongoing discussions in terms of getting a replacement satellite for QuikSCAT but it is just that, discussions. As it stands today, there are currently no contingency plans in place should this satellite fail and no program in place to fast track a next-generation QuikSCAT. What would the impact be you ask if this satellite fails? Well, according to Bill Proenza, Director of the National Hurricane Center, without QuikSCAT, hurricane forecasting would be 16 percent less accurate 72 hours before hurricane landfall and 10 percent less accurate 48 hours before hurricane landfall. This loss of accuracy means a great deal for those impacted by future storms as experts would have to expand the area possibly impacted to fully ensure those impacted were properly warned. For example, a 16 percent loss of accuracy at 72 hours before landfall would increase the area expected to be under hurricane danger from 197 miles to 228 miles on average. With a 10 percent loss of accuracy at 48 hours before landfall, the area expected to be under hurricane danger would rise from 136 miles to 150 miles on average. Greater inaccuracy of this type would lead to more ``false alarm'' evacuations along the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast and, as a result, decrease the possibility of impacted populations sufficiently heeding mandatory evacuations. As someone who has spent my whole life in Louisiana and who has been through many hurricanes, I can tell you that if someone evacuates and then the storm turns or does not impact their area,

they are less likely to evacuate for the next storm. It is human nature and although Katrina has left many in my part of the country more attentive to evacuation orders, as time passes certainly people will not heed orders if inaccurate hurricane forecasts cause them to pack their belongings and rush away from their homes, only to have the storm hit another State. So it is essential to provide the National Hurricane Center and NOAA with the tools they need to get the forecast right and better prepare coastal residents for future hurricanes and storms.

With this in mind, I am introducing today the Improved Hurricane Tracking and Forecasting Act of 2007. I am proud to be joined on this legislation by Senators Kerry, Bill Nelson, and Martinez. My colleagues from Florida spend much time working on hurricane preparedness and I am honored to have their support on this bill, as well as the support from my friend from Massachusetts. This broad array of support from senators from both the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast shows how essential this particular satellite program is for our coastal residents. Furthermore, my colleague from Louisiana, Representative Charlie Melancon, introduced the House version of this bill along with Representative Ron Klein from Florida.

This is very straightforward bill as it authorizes $375 million for a new satellite. QuikSCAT is 5 years past its projected lifespan and a new replacement is needed so this bill fills the need. The funds would go to NOAA for the design and launch of an improved QuikSCAT satellite. This new satellite would take advantage of recent advances in technology and maintain continuity of operations for the current QuikSCAT weather forecasting and warning capabilities. To ensure that we are not left in another position like this, with an ailing satellite in space and no contingency plans for a replacement, this bill also institutes some reporting requirements for the new QuikSCAT satellite. When this satellite is launched, NOAA would be required to update Congress on the operational status of the satellite and its data capabilities. I believe this is a commonsense requirement which would put the Congress in a position in the future to fast track authorization or funding should it be necessary, rather than having to play catch up.

I strongly believe this bill is necessary to protect our coastal residents from future hurricanes. This is because, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, close to 53 percent of the U.S. population resides within the first 50 miles of the coast. You also have to take into account that although hurricanes usually hit the Gulf Coast or southern Atlantic Coast, hurricanes have and possibly will strike the more populous northeast Atlantic Coast. Hurricane Katrina devastated Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi but consider the same magnitude of storm striking heavily populated New York, Massachusetts, or Pennsylvania it would not only devastate the region but leave the Nation's financial and commerce centers in ruins. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation since it will help improve hurricane forecasting and will maintain continuity of operations for current hurricane forecasting and warning capabilities.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill and articles relating to QuikSCAT be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, Senator Boxer is true to her word as a leader of this committee. She came down to Louisiana, along with 4 or 5 members of her committee, about 2 months ago at my request, to not only put her feet on the ground but also to get up in the air in a helicopter, if you will, to see the great wetlands and the outline and contours of the levees that protect not only the city of New Orleans but the parishes of Jefferson, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines, and to fly as far as we could to the western part of the State and see the entire southern part of our State, which, in large measure, depends on what this bill does, when it passes and what is in it because, as I have said many times, if we were talking about a desert bill, we would not be here. But we are talking about a WRDA bill.

It may be inconvenient to other States when this bill doesn't pass, but when WRDA doesn't pass for Louisiana, it is life and death. These projects authorize critical protection from Morganza to the gulf, which the President not too long ago threatened to veto. That is in this bill, and I don't believe this bill will be vetoed, but Morganza to the gulf is in there because of the work of this committee. They know that that project is critical to a large part of southeast Louisiana. We also have in this bill, at the request of myself and Senator Vitter, the closing of MRGO, the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, which has been part of the problem of the storm surge coming into St. Bernard to New Orleans east and parts of Orleans Parish. That is going to be closed because of the Senator's commitment and the recognition of the terrible environmental damage that has been caused to our region. In addition, there are many other projects. We do more than haul cargo and move cargo back and forth throughout our country, but we move it around the world. We also, as you know, produce a great deal of energy both on shore and offshore, and our energy ports contribute. The dredging, the channelization, the building of levees, closure of MRGO, and the expedited process for hurricane 5 levee protection, at my request, is in this bill.

So I appreciate the work of the chairman and the ranking member. Most importantly, 7 years have passed since a WRDA bill came this close to passage. I believe, under Senator Boxer's leadership, with Senator Inhofe's help, and our colleagues on the House side, that we can pass a WRDA bill. For Louisiana, it is the largest number of projects we have ever had. Senator Vitter, my colleague, serves on the committee and deserves a great deal of credit for this work. Before Senator Vitter got to the Senate, our office and Senator Breaux's office worked to help develop a lot of the foundations of this bill. It has been going on, as you know, for some time. It is a team effort, and it is a victory for Louisiana. There are things we need to improve as we go along, and we will continue to work on that. This project to secure south Louisiana is a decades' long project. It is stated that the total cost could be from $30 billion to $60 billion. Obviously, we are not going to get that money in this bill. But the authorizations that are in this bill for Louisiana coastal restoration and for individual projects are going to go a long way to lay the foundation, and with the passage of the Domenici-Landrieu Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act last year, which this Congress passed by an overwhelming vote, Louisiana has now an independent source of revenue to direct to these projects.

So again, I thank the chair and the ranking member and commend my colleague who serves on this committee for his excellent work. I am happy I was able to contribute as well to the amendments both on the floor, to the building of this bill over 7 years, and to its ultimate passage. There are other things we would have liked to have gotten done. We will continue to work on that through the conference committee.

I yield back the remainder of my time.

Mr. President, I come to the floor to speak for a few moments about probably one of the most important bills that this Congress will consider relative to Louisiana and our ongoing attempt to protect the 3 million people who live in south Louisiana and also to protect the great infrastructure we have in this country, in a vast and broad way, not just from the energy sector but the fisheries but, most importantly, transportation and commerce.

There was an excellent article in the Post this weekend that I would like to have printed for the Record, written by one of the most distinguished citizens of our State, John Barry, who is a renowned author who wrote the book ``Rising Tide,'' also a recent book about the influenza of 1917.

But he writes, in reference to the WRDA bill and to the amendments I am going to be offering to this bill, about the importance of acting now to save this great region of the Southern part of the United States, and the fact that this delta that we are attempting to save by building the right kind of levees, the right kind of gates and locks, the right kind of navigation channels, correcting some of our past mistakes that we made before we realized the damage that would occur by some of our own actions.

He writes about the importance of this Delta, that at one time it reached from Cape Girardeau, MO, all the way up the Mississippi River, down to the present mouth of the river, that the entire delta, that it was created over thousands of years, and it was maintained as the river overflowed its banks. As the river overflowed, it carried silt. It built the Delta.

But as we have channeled the delta, channeled the river and built levees up along the river, we have caused the natural building up of the delta to stop.

Then as we cut channels through this great and amazing land, that reaches from the east of New Orleans all the way to the Texas-Louisiana border, as we crisscross it with pipelines and navigation channels to tap into the extraordinary oil and gas reserves both on land and offshore, it exacerbates an already tough situation.

Then to level on top of that the dredging of the Mississippi River, to keep the sandbars out of the mouth, the channel as we have made the water move faster, that has an impact on the way this delta is now lowering itself, if you will, into the water.

There are other contributing factors, but the bottom line is we have to take corrective action to reverse this. We cannot correct everything that we did, but we most certainly can pass this bill, the WRDA bill, the Water Resources Development Act, which has--about 22 percent of the entire bill is dedicated basically to this purpose

It is right that a large portion of this bill be dedicated to this purpose because this delta, this Mississippi River, does not just serve the 4.5 million people who call Louisiana home but it literally serves the 360 million people who call the United States of America home. It serves Canada and Mexico as well, as well as ports around the world. So it is not just for the people of Louisiana whom we act today, it is in the national interest to do so.

In the underlying bill, which Senator Boxer and Senator Inhofe have so carefully crafted, the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration system has $1.133 billion. Morganza to the Gulf, a very important aspect of our protection of south Louisiana, is included in this bill at $841 million.

Some port work at the Port of New Iberia for Vermilion and Iberia Parishes, which are two of our larger southern parishes, has an authorization that is overdue and most certainly timely. There is an amount of money to help relocate facilities from the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, both private and public, so we can close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, which is also, hopefully, going to be part of this bill, some work on the western side of our State, the Calcasieu River and Pass and rock bank protection, and there is a lock project around the capital city, to mention a few.

The bottom line is, there is about $2.5 billion in this bill for Louisiana projects. It sounds like a lot, and it is. We are proud of the 8 years of work that have gone into building this WRDA bill, through past Congresses

and now this one. Under the leadership of Senator Boxer, she has committed to work with her colleague, Mr. Oberstar, on the House side to get a WRDA bill to the President's desk for him to sign. It doesn't do us any good to keep talking about a WRDA bill.

The only good that will come of this bill is if we can actually get it to the President's desk, get him to sign it, and get these projects underway. The people of Louisiana have waited for 8 years through any number of hurricanes, not the least of which in the last 2 years, we have had the unbelievable challenge of dealing with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the first and third largest hurricanes in terms of disaster and impact to ever hit this country. We are still fighting to rebuild and reeling from the damage of those storms. As I have said many times, it wasn't just the multiple levees that collapsed, it was really a Federal flood more than a hurricane that did us in. It was the multiple failure of levees that should have been maintained, should have been stronger, should have been higher, and were not.

It is also because of the loss of great wetlands. I would like to share what a healthy wetland looks like, with cyprus trees and land where you can do a little swimming and boating and fishing--not, of course, a lot of walking and building. This wetland stretches from east of New Orleans to the Sabine River pass, which separates Louisiana and Texas. This is a lot of what our coast looks like. This doesn't look like a Florida beach or the Biloxi beach or the North Carolina beach. We actually don't have any beaches in Louisiana. We actually only have two. That is a little bit of a fib. We do have two. One is 7 miles long, and it is called Grand Isle, and the other one is Holly Beach. The rest of our coast basically looks like this. You can't even get to it because there are only two roads, two lanes each. We don't have any interstate highways on our coast. We have two two-lane roads, one down the east side of our State and one down the west. They basically dead- end into swampland. This is not wasteland. This is beautiful land. It nurtures migratory birds. It is 40 percent of the nurseries of the gulf coast, extraordinary wetlands we are trying to preserve. Without this bill, it will be impossible.

I would like to show a poster. I see Senator Coburn here, and I will finish in just a moment. I will resume after his comments.

As Senator Boxer knows, because she came down and flew over these wetlands--I am so grateful to my colleague from California, the chairman of this committee, for coming to fly over these wetlands--we flew over New Orleans, which is right here, and out to the coast. We got to see some of these wetlands. This is the coast of Louisiana. The red spots are land loss just since Katrina and Rita, the land loss from the storm. A lot of it is St. Bernard Parish, lower Plaquemine Parish, and then over this way, which is where Hurricane Rita made landfall. So hurricanes exacerbate an already difficult situation. But because we have been putting navigation channels through these wetlands, we have been allowing for shipping, which is appropriate, but you have to have the right locks and dams and water control structures. Because mostly we have blocked the great Mississippi River, which is the largest river system on our continent, from naturally overflowing so that we could ship the grain out of the Midwest, so we could ship products from Canada down to the midsection of our country, this delta is starved for sediment. We don't have a choice.

I am going to end now by saying that this WRDA bill, as far as Louisiana is concerned, is the bill that is going to reverse this decline and start us on a path of safety for the residents, of protection for the environment, and of laying down the foundation for a great economy, which we need to do. We can't shut off this part of the Nation and call it quits. We can't shut down the refining capacity and oil and gas. We have to make it work. We can. It is going to take good science, long commitments, and more than this WRDA bill. But this legislation is a start.

In a few minutes, after Senator Coburn speaks, I will lay down an amendment that will lay the foundation for the category 5 protection we need. We do not expect, in Louisiana, this Congress to pick up the whole tab. We most certainly do not expect this Congress to pick up the tab in this bill. But we would like to lay the beginning foundation, knowing the people of Louisiana and Mississippi and Texas will pay our own way as well. The independent stream of revenue we now have from offshore oil and gas revenues can contribute to this project which is going to be several decades, and it will take anywhere from $30 to $50 billion. But there is no alternative. It is expensive, but the cost of doing nothing is even more.

Let me yield the floor for the Senator from Oklahoma who was scheduled before me. I will return to the debate at a later time.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, let me respond to my colleague. I want to begin by first thanking my colleague from Oklahoma for his time and focus. He has come down to our State. He has viewed the damage. As you can tell, Mr. President, he is most familiar with our situation. He is absolutely correct, we have a great deal of work to do.

This particular visitor center, like several others, is not just for extra recreation, I say to my colleague. This is the heart and soul of tourism in this region. We do not have big cities like New York and Chicago in this region. Maybe they are somewhat like the Senator's cities in Oklahoma. They are small communities, but they are important communities. Throughout the southern part of our State, as I have shown on the maps, we do not have large communities but communities of 15,000 or 10,000, for example, high up on a ridge, surrounded by levees.

We are proud of these great wetlands. We want people to come see them. So it is not just saving them for the birds and the fish, which is very important, but it is actually saving them for the benefit of the people who live there, who want to be able to recreate on them, and we want to share them with the world.

I say to the Senator from Oklahoma, we think the more people can actually get their eyes on this problem, the more support we can get for doing the right things to preserve them, to taper down on unnecessary and unwanted development, to scale up the investments in the right kinds of levees and structures, that will help us preserve it over time.

So while I know on first blush it may seem to the Senator as if this is a frivolous expenditure, I would say this is part of a very comprehensive approach Louisiana has to save the wetlands. I do not think--I will be happy to submit for the Record the total cost because I most certainly can get that for the Senator--it is going to amount to very much money, but it is an important aspect of our redevelopment that has to do with science, with engineering, with the environment, with the basic industries, and with tourism and the education of people about what wetlands are.

I say to the Senator, as I said, one of the difficulties Senator Vitter and I are having in trying to explain this to the Nation is there are virtually no other shores in the country like this. There are low-lying areas, of course, in South Carolina and North Carolina, and marshes, but there is virtually no other delta like this in the country. So people literally have not been able to see it.

When you see something like a beach in Florida, the wonderful coast in California, which many of us have been to, or to Long Island in the Hamptons, in New York, when you have seen that with your own eyes, you can appreciate it, and you can understand it. The only way to get to the coast of Louisiana is literally by boat or by air, except for those two little highways I spoke about: LA1 on the east side and Holly Beach Road on the west side.

So having this center--I would like to show you where it might be, if I can find a picture of the Atchafalaya. I am not sure I have one. Let me show you the original picture I started with. I will show it, not to make too much of this because it is just a small education center. The center would allow people to come down into this wetlands area and see some of the great Atchafalaya Basin that is sort of the last standing Cyprus swamp in the country. So again, it is a small item.

I object to the Senator taking it out of this bill, but I want him to know this is not because we do not think it is important to put people in housing and to build levees. We are doing all that and doing it as fast as we can, trying to reduce redtape, but we do think these educational centers which we are building serve a significant and important purpose. I do believe the State has already contributed in kind, as well as the local parish.

So I will leave my argument there and at the appropriate time come back to this subject.

I yield the floor, but I would like to speak sometime later this afternoon.

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

Madam President, it took me a few minutes to get the details I needed to respond to Senator Coburn. I am sorry for the delay. But I want to continue the debate we had just about 45 minutes ago on his amendment No. 1089 about which he spoke earlier, and we are prepared, I think, to vote on in the morning.

I am hoping my good colleague from Oklahoma will think about the possibility of withdrawing his amendment because I am going to submit some things for the Record that I think might have a bearing.

First of all, I think he offered his amendment in a way to be somewhat critical--although he was very respectful--somewhat critical that the Federal Government would be funding visitors centers before we build our levees and protections that we need for south Louisiana. I was a little puzzled by that. I went and found the facts.

Actually, we are not asking the Federal Government to spend a dime. What we are asking the Federal Government to do is simply to authorize a visitors center, type A as opposed to B, so we can be, as I said in the earlier debate, more interpretive--to have a real place where people can come and learn about the wetlands and the entire delta. The cost difference between B and A would be absorbed by Louisiana. So the Senator's main argument that it would cost the taxpayers of the United States, out of our budget, out of our money, is not accurate. I am not sure he understood that, but I think it has real bearing on the debate.

Again, in reference to Coburn amendment No. 1089, which is the Atchafalaya Basin Project, Eagle Point and Fosse Point Visitors Center, it is to simply authorize a larger type, more robust center, if you would, so we can have a kind of interpretive visitors center and education to go on in this part of the State, teaching not only ourselves in our State and the region but the country about the benefits and really extraordinary value of the wetlands.

Madam President, 8,000 visitors a month visit this center, which is already established. Again, it is at no cost to the Federal Government. I will speak with Senator Coburn in an effort to see if he can withdraw his amendment. If not, we will continue this debate tomorrow.

I ask unanimous consent to have this document printed in the Record.

In addition, Madam President, I referred earlier to a Washington Post article, an article written by John Barry. It was an opinion piece in Saturday's paper, May 12. I referred to it, but I am not sure that I technically asked for it to be printed in the Record. At this point I ask unanimous consent it be printed in the Record.

Finally, Madam President, I spoke earlier and read some items into the Record. I perhaps read the wrong list. So I am going to resubmit this so the Record is clear. The $3.3 billion in the underlying WRDA bill represents about 20 percent of the total bill. As I tried to explain to some of my constituents at home, if we were talking about a desert bill we would probably have zero money in this bill. But we are talking about a water bill, and Louisiana most certainly has a great deal of water--sometimes more than we need, more than we asked for, and more than we want. But this is Congress's major water development bill. Because we sit at the mouth of the greatest river system in the country, which is the mouth of the Mississippi River, and because we have some of the greatest and last coastal wetlands in the country, of course, this would have a great many projects for us.

We really appreciate, Senator Vitter and I, the cooperation of Republicans and Democrats in being particularly supportive of us as we struggle to get many of these protection projects in this bill authorized because, of course, of our recent tragic experiences with the storms.

The $3.3 billion in projects is significant, necessary, and essential to beginning to build a kind of barrier of protection that the people of south Louisiana, and I might add south Mississippi and part of south Texas, depend on to keep them safe.

We do not live right on the coast, as people do in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and actually in Texas. We are the only people actually moving from the coast. We are not moving to the beaches. There are no beaches to move to.

I ask unanimous consent the list be printed in the Record.

These are coastal wetlands. We are proud of that. It is a totally different environment and topography than exists in many other places. But we do have some very special and extraordinary needs, and I would be doing a great disservice to the people of our State if we didn't fight as hard as we could for the many projects in this bill--for the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration; the Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Protection Project, which we literally have been working on for 20 years; the Port of Iberia Navigation and Vermilion Parish Hurricane Protection Project; Jefferson Parish consolidation; Larose to Golden Meadow, which is a little community down here in Lafourche Parish, but it was the only authorized Federal levee that did not collapse in the last hurricane. But it has been shrinking. This will help us to build it up, to strengthen it, and to keep that wonderful community safe and dry, as the next storms approach.

We understand people cannot live in some areas. They are prohibited from development. We are doing much more strict zoning and planning and community planning and design. In fact, some communities are picking up and moving north. Some communities are not building any more in flood zones. We are with the program when it comes to keeping our people safe.

We can do more in that regard and we will. But without these fundamental earthen barriers and levees and locks, this job will never get done. It is not going to get done overnight, but it will be done, to protect the 3.5 million people who live in the southern part of Louisiana, as well as about 1.5 million people who live in Mississippi.

As you can see, these are the great wetlands of Saint Bernard and Plaquemines Parish Project, Gulfport, and some parts of Pascagoula, and Pass Christian. The storms come from the west. It gives a tremendous buffer to Gulfport and Pascagoula. Of course, if the storms come more from the east, they are more vulnerable as they lay bare to those storm surges and high winds.

For these wetlands to stay and to be restored by the actions of this bill is incredibly important and actually essential to the preservation of this great metropolitan area. This is more than New Orleans, which is 450,000 people, or was before the storm. It is now down to about 200,000. Jefferson Parish, which is part of the metropolitan area, our suburban sister parish, is 450,000. That parish could have just as easily gone under 4 to 12 feet of water had the levees broken on the other side of the canal that sits about right here.

In addition, north of the lake--this is Lake Pontchartrain--we have 700,000 people ringing the north side of this lake, and hundreds of thousands of people who are living down in these ridges.

There is a tremendous amount of population that needs to be saved and protected and sustained. But as I said earlier, it is not just the people who

are there, it is the economy, the infrastructure of the economy we are protecting and supporting. Whether it is fisheries, transportation, navigation, 10,000 miles of pipeline, to keep the lights on and provide gas and electricity and fuel to the rest of this country--that comes from here, as do petrochemicals that help to make many of the products that we manufacture in this country better and safer for human use. That happens along the southern part of this great delta.

That is why we fought so hard for this bill. I want to end by saying I commend Senator Boxer, my colleague from California, for making this a priority. I thank our leader, Harry Reid. It has been 8 long years since WRDA has passed and Louisiana cannot wait another month, let alone another year.

There is a hurricane season literally right around the corner in June. This is the middle of May. People are still on pins and needles wondering whether the levees that we have reconstructed and fixed are going to hold for this next hurricane season. They are most certainly looking with great anticipation, and some anxieties, too, if this Congress will act.

I know there are some amendments that are going to be laid down complaining about some aspects of this bill, but I thank Senator Boxer, and I thank Senator Inhofe for his attention to the needs of Louisiana, and I thank this Congress for responding so generously and so quickly. Senator Vitter and I do have several amendments we would like to discuss later tomorrow, which would improve some things from our perspective. But we most certainly understand and appreciate the great work that has gone into this underlying bill.

This bill needs to pass now. It lays a foundation for the long-term recovery and restoration of this great delta. Some expense will be borne by the Federal Government, which is absolutely appropriate since the benefits go all over the Nation from the river systems and the other infrastructure, economic infrastructure that exists. And some of the costs will be borne, as it should be, by the people who call Louisiana home and call Calcasieu Parish or Cameron or Vermilion or Iberia, Orleans, Plaquemines, Saint Bernard, Saint Tammany, et cetera, home.

We are happy to make our own contributions to this effort. We love our home. We love where we live. We have to make it safer, and we have to be able to restore these wetlands and build better levees that do not fail and do not break in the middle of these storms.

We cannot stop the storms, but we most certainly can mitigate against the damage and use better science, better engineering, and, frankly, better leadership in this Congress to make sure the tragedies that happen in Katrina and Rita do not repeat themselves.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Taking that advice to heart, Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 1004.

I would like to speak about that amendment now.

This amendment, I will discuss briefly at this time, and then according to the leaders on how they would like to go ahead and proceed with these amendments, it can be voted on at another time.

Mr. President, sometimes we offer amendments that affect large industries and millions and millions of people in large industries. Sometimes they are smaller industries but very important industries that we have to stand for as well.

One of them is a small, relatively small industry in my State. That is the industry of turtle farmers who grow and produce and trade and sell turtles to be used in a variety of different ways. One of the ways is by selling them for pets. In 1975, the FDA banned the sale of small turtles for pets domestically but allowed those sales to continue internationally.

So there is a group of farmers, turtle farmers, in Louisiana particularly, but I am sure there are others around the country, who have maintained their business by selling overseas. Recently, because of the competition and development of overseas markets, they are getting very constricted in what they can sell because they have now gotten competition from the countries in which most of these sales occur.

There has been a great deal of pressure to try to reopen the domestic market. That is what this amendment will do. It will open a domestic market again because the science has caught up with the regulations. We now have developed a vaccine, universally-tested and proven, that can keep those small turtles nearly free of salmonella, and with the right licensing procedures this amendment calls for and the right information that is required when these turtles are sold for pets, either to a wholesaler or retailer or to a family who might purchase them, I believe the safeguards are in place, as the science and technology have caught up with the problem.

There are many wonderful aspects about technology. Sometimes we can think our way through a problem. That is basically what has been done over the last 35 years. I am proud of the role that LSU, Louisiana State University, has played in developing these treatments. I am proud the industry survived through a very difficult time and proud they are now proposing very strict rules and regulations.

I might add that when this ban went into place for this particular reptile, there was no such ban for other reptiles that also can carry salmonella, which are still continuing to be sold on the domestic market. So on behalf of this industry, which is small but important, mainly in Louisiana, and I am certain there are turtle farmers in many places, I offer this amendment to repeal this 1975 ban in light of the new technology and new opportunities that are out there to give protection to our general public.

That is the essence of the amendment. I would like to set it aside now and speak to it at a later time when votes are scheduled.

Mr. President, the Senator is correct, because I understand, as I am learning more about this industry, it is more robust in the State of Louisiana than elsewhere. So I think our legislature has put the appropriate restrictions, licensing, information, as well as keeping the research going, that could develop the appropriate ways to treat these reptiles so we can maintain an industry, allow people to make a living, and keep our population safe as well.

Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Massachusetts.

Mr. President, today I wish to honor National Charter School Week. The role of charter schools has become increasingly important as these institutions have become one of the fastest growing innovative forces in education policy. The District of Columbia and 40 States have laws that allow charter schools. There are over 4,000 public charter schools serving more than 1.1 million students and there are many more students on waiting lists who want to attend.

As many of you know, I have been a part of that charter school growth, both here in Washington, DC, and in my home, Louisiana. Today, more than 30 percent of all DC public school students attend charter schools and are largely successful. These charter school projects are largely successful. These charter schools not only help to better educate students, but are also helping to build a better, stronger, more prosperous city.

In addition to having an impact in Washington, DC, charter schools are also helping to rebuild the school system in New Orleans. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita did not just wash away our levees--they also washed away our homes and schools. We must seize upon this opportunity and build a better, stronger school system for New Orleans and throughout Louisiana.

Charter schools are key players in this process by not only rebuilding our school system, but reinventing it. Every step in this process is based on what is best for our students, with the goal of delivering learning and achievement for all students. The new school system effectively eliminates the previous system of have and have- nots, allowing parents to choose from any school in the network, making quality school options available to all students and raising the bar for educators throughout the system.

The new Educational Network Model will organize schools, the majority of them charters, into small groups to provide support, foster collaboration and ensure accountability. This will shift the majority of money and decisionmaking to the school level, where it can be managed based on the needs of the students in each school. It will also create a lean district office focused on academic standards and performance monitoring, allowing more dollars to go to schools. Finally, it will migrate toward a single, aligned and highly-effective governing board that provides a stable leadership team with skills to oversee successful implementation of the plan.

Today, over 50 percent of our schools in New Orleans have reopened as charter schools. They have provided us with an expedient means to restart public education in New Orleans. It is my hope that we can continue this trend by utilizing the Educational Network Model for these schools and others nationwide by engaging community involvement and support through a shared services model.