Floor Statements

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, yesterday's House vote has come and gone, but the threat to our economy has not. Congress must still act swiftly and decisively to protect millions of ordinary Americans from a credit crisis that they had no hand whatsoever in causing but which obviously threatens to reach into every single household in our country.

Retirees are worried about their savings. Small business owners are panicked because the banks will not lend. Homeowners are watching the equity they have in their houses dry up.

I am hearing from towns and municipalities throughout Kentucky that cannot find the money to finance new schools and other civic projects and from farmers and small business owners who are suddenly being told by their banks that a long-term loan is due. Others are being pressured to pay more or well ahead of schedule. These are people with good credit.

I am hearing from people such as the retired school counselor in Anderson County who said she cannot afford to see her small retirement savings vanish. ``I have never written to any Senator or Congressman before now,'' she wrote. ``This is so important to our Government and its citizens.''

One small business owner wrote me about a company he started in his garage that now employs 100 people. He said that because of the credit crisis, the interest rate he is paying on his building jumped 400 percent. Speaking on behalf of all small business owners in his community, he had a simple message: ``Kentuckians need help now.''

Here is what a woman from central Kentucky wrote to me about the financial rescue plan the House of Representatives rejected yesterday. She said:

I hope you will not lose sight of the vast numbers of

innocent Americans who work tirelessly to create a better

future for our children and fellow Americans, who could be

financially wrecked by plummeting U.S. and overseas markets.

If the rescue plan fails, this woman added, she is afraid she will have to sell off part of her family's farmland.

The credit crisis is spreading. It has gotten too big to ignore, and it is too big for one party to solve on its own. Congressional leaders are assessing the legislative path forward, but one thing is clear: Any solution will be a bipartisan solution. Both sides have to work together, and we will stay until the answer is yes.

There was a lot of frustration around here yesterday which led to a lot of accusations and blame. Today we must move forward together. The voters sent us to respond to crises, not to ignore them, and if you fail the first time, you get back up and work with each other and you figure a way to get it done.

We know what we need to do and we know we need to do it quickly and we know that time is not the ally of millions of Americans facing a serious threat to their way of life. The majority leader understands this, and he and I are working together to find a way to get to yes.

Working together is the only way to get this rescue plan passed, and that is exactly what we intend to do.

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

Mr. President, let me just say this is one of the finer moments in the Senate. We have come together on a bipartisan basis and structured a way forward on an important rescue package for our country.

I commend the majority leader, my good friend, for his extraordinary work on this issue, as well as Senator Dodd and Senator Gregg, who have been the lead negotiators on this matter for the Senate.

This is an important accomplishment and a way forward to get a result we need to achieve for the American people.

I yield the floor.

Will the majority leader yield for a question?

I want to make sure I heard correctly, and my colleagues understand, that we would address the rescue package with a vote Wednesday night? A Wednesday night vote on the rescue package, is that what I heard?

Will the majority leader yield further?

It is the majority leader's feeling there simply would be no way to address the rescue package this afternoon before sundown?

I don't want to get into a big debate with the leader about this, but the House of Representatives, of course, is voting today, and they have not had the package any longer than we would have had it today. I know all of this is complicated by the holiday that is beginning at sundown. But this is a matter of extraordinary importance. Both sides realize it is important to the financial future of our country. I did at least want to raise the possibility one more time that maybe there would be some way we can vote on it today.

Mr. President, I rise today in support of H.R. 6849. This important piece of legislation would revise the 2008 farm bill and help thousands of Kentucky farmers.

As many of you may know, the farm bill prohibits producers from receiving certain commodity payments on farms of 10 base acres or less. Unfortunately, Kentucky has the greatest number of farms that will be impacted by this provision. According to the USDA Farm Service Agency and the University of Kentucky, one-fourth of Kentucky's farms are 10 acres or less, which indicates that approximately 20,000 of the Commonwealth's 80,000 farms could be affected by this provision. While I supported the farm bill, I opposed the inclusion of this program in the final legislation.

Last month, I wrote USDA Secretary Ed Schafer to express my concerns regarding USDA's implementation of this provision. I was concerned that USDA had interpreted the law in a way that disqualifies farmers with more than 10 base acres because that land is not located on a single, contiguous tract. As clearly outlined in the Joint Explanatory Statement of the Managers that accompanied this legislation, Congress intended that USDA allow for aggregation of farms for the purposes of determining the suspension of payments on farms with 10 base acres or less.

H.R. 6849 would remedy this issue by suspending this program for the 2008 crop year. I strongly support this provision since it could lessen the impact on my farmers and will perhaps provide encouragement to USDA to implement this provision in the manner that Congress intended.

Madam President, I just want to indicate to my Republican colleagues we will have a briefing in the Mansfield Room at 11 o'clock from Senator Gregg to bring everyone up to date on the status of the talks that are going on. Staff worked, as the majority leader indicated, through the evening, and this will be an opportunity to bring everybody up to date.

Madam President, I, too, had planned to speak about Senator Domenici and Senator Warner today, and I will check with them on their schedules because I certainly would like for them to be here on the floor of the Senate. Obviously, a better time to do that, if it were done today, would be after the vote, an hour and a half or so from now. But I will be conferring with them about that.

Mr. President, I did not hear all of my good friend's, the majority leader's, remarks, but I did hear the end of them, and I do want to underscore that he is entirely correct, that this crisis we face in the financial markets is about Main Street.

A good example of that is a community of mine that wanted to issue municipal revenue bonds the other day. These were highly rated bonds. There was no buyer. This is going on all across the country. It underscores the need to act responsibly and quickly, which we anticipate doing on Monday.

Mr. President, few Senators have meant more to this body than Pete Domenici, and few are more deserving of that praise. I am honored today to say a few words on the floor of the Senate about the good and humble man we all know around here as ``Uncle Pete.''

Pete is a classic American story that reminds us why America is so great. His parents were Italian immigrants who taught their five children the importance of faith, the rewards of hard work, the blessings of a big family, and an abiding love for their adopted country.

As an only son, Pete grew up fast, working in his father's wholesale grocery business, studying hard at St. Mary's High School in Albuquerque, and developing a good enough fastball to become a star pitcher at the University of New Mexico.

In a sign of his future success as a lawmaker, Pete put together an impressive 14-3 record his senior year in college. He was such a good pitcher, in fact, that he caught the attention of some major league scouts and soon earned a spot in the starting rotation of the Albuquerque Dukes.

Now, for most American boys growing up in the 1940s, being a minor league pitcher would have been enough. But not for the son of Alda and Cherubino Domenici. After earning his JD degree at the University of Denver, Pete became a lawyer. From there, he had the tools he would need to go to bat for the people of New Mexico for the next 5 decades.

Elected to the Albuquerque City Commission in 1966, he became mayor of Albuquerque the following year at the age of 35. It was there in the shadow of the Sandia Mountains that he got to know the needs and the ambitions of his friends and neighbors and seemingly everyone else.

Today, there is almost no one in New Mexico--from the high plains in the east, to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the north, to the high plateaus that cover much of the rest of the State--who does not offer a smile of recognition at the familiar name of Pete Domenici.

Five years after becoming mayor, the people of New Mexico sent Pete to Washington. It was one of the best decisions the voters of any State have ever made.

In six terms, Pete has built a reputation for honesty that is second to none. The undisputed leader on energy issues in the Senate for nearly four decades, Pete saw the need to secure America's energy future before it was cool, even writing a book on the promise of nuclear energy.

Thanks largely to his efforts, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission received its first application last year for a nuclear powerplant in 29 years.

Pete is the only American to be awarded the French nuclear society's highest award. He spearheaded efforts to pass the landmark Energy Policy Act of 2005, a comprehensive bill that has spurred the growth of renewable energy such as wind and solar and which has set America on a path of increased energy efficiency.

Pete authored the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006, a bipartisan bill that opened new areas of the gulf to oil and natural gas exploration. Long before people were calling on Congress to find more and use less, Pete was showing us that it could be done.

Pete's tenure on the Budget Committee earned him a well-deserved reputation as one of the strictest fiscal hawks in Congress. As chairman or ranking member for nearly 23 years, he coauthored the original Budget Reform Act of 1974, which started the modern budget process and established the Congressional Budget Office. He authored the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, leading to 4 straight years of surpluses.

There is no greater friend of the disabled in this country than Pete Domenici. A coauthor of the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, he has fought tirelessly to expand it ever since. And just this week, all that hard work paid off when the Senate approved full mental health parity as part of the tax extenders bill. After years of patient effort, Pete's vision for expanded benefits for millions of struggling Americans will--we hope--soon be the law of the land.

Pete's contributions to his home State are literally legendary. He helped protect and preserve New Mexico's breathtaking natural beauty by working to create nearly 1 million acres of wilderness throughout the State. In concert with the National Park Service, he authorized the Route 66 initiative to help preserve the look and the feel of this iconic American road.

He has helped bring water to rural communities through the water supply bill. He secured funding for the only major western dam project of the last decade. All of this is just part of Pete Domenici's legacy.

Fortunately, the people of New Mexico will be able to get the whole story thanks to an effort that was recently announced at New Mexico State University to study Pete's impact on public policy and contributions to the State in 36 remarkable years of service in the Senate.

The people of New Mexico are not the only ones who are grateful for Pete's service. He may not know this, but Pete has a lot of fans in Kentucky. Back in the late 1990s, when Kentuckians were beginning to learn the extent of the environmental and health damage caused by the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Pete offered a helping hand. Whether it was appropriating funds for the cleanup, making sure workers were screened for lung cancer, or compensating those who had been wrongfully injured, Senator Domenici has been a reliable partner to me and a great friend to the people of Paducah every step of the way, and we are grateful for his help.

A record such as this is not easy to achieve in the Senate. It takes vision, hard work, patience, and an ability to cooperate with Members on both sides of the aisle. One mark of Pete's skills in working with Members of both sides is the praise he has received not only from local media but the national press as well. Here is what the New York Times had to say about Pete in 2001:

If Mr. Domenici sounds like a serious man, he is. A

colleague once described him as having a case of terminal

responsibility. He is not cut from the same bolt as most

politicians.

Like most of us, Pete never could have done it alone. And he has not. Around the same time the minor league scouts noticed Pete, Pete noticed a young lady named Nancy Burk. And 50 years ago this year, Pete and Nancy were married. Fifty years of marriage is a remarkable achievement in itself, and it is well worth noting.

Apparently Pete and Nancy were both overachievers. Over the years, they raised eight children, which, of course, makes all the other accomplishments look a little less challenging.

They are a remarkable couple. They made the Senate a more friendly place. And I know my wife Elaine has enjoyed getting to know Nancy and working with her in the Senate Spouses Group.

The members of my staff are going to miss Uncle Pete a lot as well. They will miss his frequent visits and his stories about the old days and the way he lit up like a child whenever he talked about his faith, his children, his grandkids, and his beloved wife Nancy who, thanks to Pete's bragging, is known to everyone on my staff as a great cook.

They will miss his warmth, his good cheer, and his passion for the issues of the day. They will miss the same

things that his colleagues will miss: an honest statesman and a good man who made all of us proud to be Members of the same institution as him.

Whenever Pete is reminded of all that he has done for the people of New Mexico and for our country, he always says the same thing: It is an honor. Now we, his colleagues in the Senate, say the same thing about the time we have spent working alongside this good man.

Senator Domenici, it has been an honor.

Mr. President, I rise also today to pay my respects to another retiring Member of the Senate, the squire from Virginia, a longtime colleague of the occupant of the chair, and a truly remarkable man.

It is not a stretch to say that if most Americans were asked to conjure up in their minds the image of a U.S. Senator, the man they would see is the senior Senator from Virginia. To most people, John Warner seems as though he were born to be a Member of this body, and in a remarkable 30-year career, he has proven they were right. He has matched the image with the skill and, though it certainly never was, he made it look easy.

Virginians are very proud of their history. They are proud of their traditions. And John Warner has lived up to the best of them. Like our Nation's first President and Virginia's most famous son, he has always been a patriot first.

The son of a World War I field surgeon, John first heard the call to serve while still in high school, dropping his studies at age 17 and enlisting in the Navy in the closing months of World War II. The call to serve later led him to interrupt law school in order to join the Marine Corps in the Korean war. After that, it led him to fulfill his mother's dream by becoming Secretary of the Navy; to take charge of America's bicentennial in 1976; and, for the last three decades, to serve America and the people of the Old Dominion with distinction in the Senate. These are the deeds that define John Warner. They are the only things that can explain a career that has been as significant to the strength of our Nation--and as beneficial to the people of his State--as his.

John always balanced the interests of his State and the Nation masterfully. Virginians have honored him for it, sending him back to the Senate four times after that first election in 1978, and he has repaid them time after time.

Over the years, John has earned a reputation as one of the most knowledgeable, hardest working, respected Senators on Capitol Hill. He has distinguished himself among his colleagues on both sides of the aisle as a man of intelligence, deep humanity, and courage. The people of Virginia can be proud of his many years of service in the Senate. John's entire Senate career speaks of his skills as a legislator and his love of Virginia and country.

But any list of his legislative accomplishments would have to begin with the work he has done on behalf of the men and women in our military. He has vastly improved the quality of life for military men and women by fighting for substantial increases in pay, including increases in separation, hardship duty, and imminent danger pay.

He has played a central role in improving benefits for widows and survivors of fallen soldiers.

And many of us are not too young to recall John leading the fight for the 1991 gulf war resolution.

He played a major role in ensuring that America's missile defense system was built, and deployed.

On being named chairman of the Armed Services Committee from 1999 to 2001, and then for 5 more years from 2003 to 2007, he worked closely with Democrats and Republicans to ensure that the interests of American security and the interests of our servicemen and women were met.

As chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Senator Warner saw an emerging threat from radical terrorists that many others overlooked. And he acted on it by creating a new Emerging Threats Subcommittee on terrorism, chemical and biological warfare and cyberwarfare.

He pushed and succeeded in approving a major increase in the Nation's submarine fleet.

He has guided the annual Defense authorization act through Congress for years, using it in recent years to modernize our armed forces and to meet current and emerging threats in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He has been a firm supporter and a trusted friend to the brave men and women bravely serving the cause of freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Closer to home, Senator Warner secured major Federal funding to rebuild the Woodrow Wilson Bridge that connects Alexandria to Maryland, easing the commute for millions and improving the flow of commerce along the I-95 corridor between Maryland, Virginia, and the DC area.

He has worked hard to improve the water quality and to restore wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay. He has designated thousands of acres of National Forest as wilderness, expanded Virginia's National Wildlife Refuges and National Parks, and secured funds to demolish the Embrey Dam.

He led a 3-year campaign to preserve the Newport News shipbuilding shipyard in Hampton Roads--a show of grit and persistence that paid off with thousands of jobs for southeastern Virginia.

Senator Warner has been unafraid, at times, to part ways with his colleagues when he disagreed with them--but he has never lost their trust, their confidence, their respect, or their deep admiration.

In everything, he has been the consummate Senator, and always a gentleman. And the Senate will never be the same without John Warner.

On a more personal note, the entire Senate family shared John's happiness when he married Jeanne, not least of all because we all enjoy her company so much.

Elaine and I have valued their friendship over the past several years.

John, I know, is a proud graduate of Washington and Lee.

The school's motto--``Not Unmindful of the Future''--is meant to impress on graduates a sense of responsibility to the future, rooted in the past.

In a long career of service to the current and future good of his country, John William Warner has made that motto his own.

Virginia has produced some of America's greatest leaders. John William Warner is one of them.

His colleagues in the Senate are deeply grateful for his service, his friendship, and his many contributions to this body and to the Nation.

(Applause, Senators rising.)

Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Texas.

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to one of our bravest warriors who gave his life to defend us. U.S. Marine Corps CPT Eric D. Terhune of Lexington, KY, was conducting a security patrol in the Farah Province of Afghanistan on June 19, 2008, when he was killed by enemy small-arms fire. He was 34 years old.

For his heroism in service, Captain Terhune received several awards, medals and decorations, including the Strike/Flight Air Medal, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, two National Defense Service Medals and the Armed Forces Service Medal.

Those who knew Captain Terhune would describe him as a man committed to serving his country and proud to wear the uniform. In fact, as his uncle, David Terhune, puts it, since Eric was born in a Naval hospital in Quantico, VA, where his father was on active duty, ``Eric was born a Marine.''

Eric was also committed to his faith. When family members expressed worry about his dangerous job, he told them, ``If I live, it's wonderful. But if I die, it's absent from the body and present with the Lord.''

Eric was raised in Lexington, attended Tates Creek Presbyteria Church and studied at Wheaton Academy in Wheaton, IL. As a kid he was active in everything from Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting to soccer and Little League baseball.

Eric was also a competitive swimmer who loved to hunt and scuba dive. As a marine, he would dive to collect shells and sharks' teeth in the many places the Corps sent him.

Once on a sail boat trip with his family, when it was Eric's turn to do the dishes after dinner, he came up with a creative cleaning method--he threw them in the ocean, put on his scuba gear, and retrieved the dishes from the water.

Upon high school graduation, Eric enlisted in the same branch his father and grandfather had once served in, the Marine Corps. After 4 years as a noncommissioned officer and a reconnaissance sharpshooter, Eric dreamt of becoming a Naval aviator like his dad.

This required a college degree. So with some encouragement from his grandparents, Daniel and Joy Terhune, he used his GI bill benefits to enroll at Morehead State University.

At Morehead, Eric made the honor roll and competed on the varsity rifle team. ``There [was] no doubt . . . when Eric turned in his targets from a rifle match, who pulled the trigger,'' his uncle David says. ``He was an expert sharpshooter.''

Upon graduation, Eric received his commission as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He then spent a year at Naval Air Station Pensacola and earned his coveted wings of gold.

Eric flew the CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter during his first tour in Iraq. His friends in the Corps nicknamed him ``D-Ring,'' after the D- ring located overhead in the helicopters he flew to be pulled in case of emergency.

His fellow marines spoke highly of Eric. His commanding officer, LTC Richard D. Hall, says,

``D-Ring,'' as we all affectionately called him, and [as]

was his aviator's call-sign, was a Marine that everyone

liked; and I mean everybody. He had a gracious and kind

personality that was truly infectious; so much so, that I too

became infected by his wonderful persona.

MAJ Darby Wiler was Eric's staff platoon commander at The Basic School, where newly commissioned marine officers are sent for weapons, tactical, and leadership training. Major Wiler says, ``Eric's work ethic was unparalleled amongst his peers.

``Even in the midst of the most unpleasant circumstances that The Basic School had to offer, he was always upbeat, motivated, and ready to go,'' the major adds.

Eric volunteered for a second tour of Iraq, which he completed last November. When his ship, the U.S.S. Denver, arrived in Pearl Harbor, he was allowed to give one family member the honor of joining him and his crew for the final leg of the voyage home to San Diego. Eric chose his grandfather.

``That trip halfway across the Pacific Ocean together, eating together in the ward room, watching ships operations from the bridge, showing his grandfather how to shoot an M-16, how to shoot a .50 Caliber machine gun . . . this was the greatest of bonding experiences for both of them,'' says Eric's uncle David.

``Eric has told me many times what a blast it was to share those days with Dad. For Dad, it was an indescribable joy to see his grandson performing as a Marine and standing tall as a Christian officer.''

After his two tours in Iraq, Eric expected to return to training to requalify as a helicopter pilot. But then he learned the Marine Corps was short of forward air controllers--an important position, responsible for directing other aircraft in close air support and requiring substantial experience.

``He had a lot of conversations with his dad--`What do you think about this Afghanistan thing?' '' David recalls. ``His dad laid out the pros and cons, and Eric said, `Look, if you're in the Marine Corps, you don't duck the fight.'

Eric volunteered and was deployed to Afghanistan in April of this year with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Twentynine Palms, CA.

``We have heard numerous reports of him volunteering to take the place of some of his friends who had a wife and children,'' David says.

Eric brought the same work ethic he carried with him throughout his career to Afghanistan. CPT Carlos R. Cuevas who served alongside Eric in Afghanistan, remembers when he first met Eric.

``I believe the first thing he asked me was, `Hey, Captain Cuevas, can you tell me where the armory is and who I need to talk to get my weapon?' '' the captain remembers. ``As a fellow captain and Marine . . . I can tell you his professionalism and enthusiasm for his job was readily apparent,'' the captain says.

``He loved being a pilot, a Marine, and most of all serving alongside his fellow Marines.''

Eric couldn't write or call his family often from Afghanistan, but they were always happy when he did. On June 16 he sent what would be his final e-mail.

``He wrote and addressed each of his cousins by name, encouraging them, affirming them, giving advice to them,'' says David. ``And [he] expressed his longing to join us at our next family gathering.''

Three days after that e-mail, Mr. President, Eric was killed. And although nothing we say here today can alleviate the pain of his family, I know my colleagues join me in expressing our deepest sympathies to them for their tragic loss.

We are thinking of Eric's father and stepmother Paul and Carleen Terhune; his grandparents Daniel and Joy Terhune; his uncle and aunt David and Dotti Terhune; many beloved family members, including Dr. and Mrs. Oliver Jeromin, Dr. and Mrs. Richard Colquitt, David W. Terhune, Jr., Rebecca Joy Terhune, Bea Hansgen, and many others.

I will leave the final words to Eric's uncle David, who describes his nephew this way. Eric ``was, in the best sense of the word, an officer and a gentleman and a patriot,'' David says. ``I always admired his strength and his power, but he was also gentle at the same time.''

Mr. President, this U.S. Senate honors CPT Eric D. Terhune as an officer, a gentleman, and a patriot. We are grateful for his years of service to our Nation and his great sacrifice. And we send our profound thanks to the Terhune family for giving their country this heroic marine. It is only by men such as he that every American can stand tall and free.

Mr. President, this morning I pay tribute to a fallen soldier from my home State. SPC Sergio Abad was tragically killed in Wanat, Afghanistan, from wounds suffered by small-arms fire and rocket- propelled grenades fired by the enemy on July 13, 2008. Army records listed Morganfield, KY, as Specialist Abad's home, and he was 21 years old.

For his valor on the battlefield, Specialist Abad received several medals, awards, and declarations, including the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Army

Commendation Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device ``V,'' the Purple Heart, and the Bronze Star.

Specialist Abad's adoptive mother, Marilyn Popko, relates a tale of his heroism in his final moments that explains just how such a young man earned that many medals and more. At a memorial service for Sergio at Arlington National Cemetery, a friend and fellow soldier of Sergio's who was at the battle told her Sergio kept fighting even after taking hits to his arms and thigh. With his brother soldier there to reload his gun for him, Sergio kept firing until he finally succumbed to his wounds and could fight no more.

``It was his dream to be in the military, and he was living his dream when he was killed,'' Marilyn says.

Sergio was born and grew up in Florida. At the age of 7, he was removed from an abusive home and placed with relatives. By middle school, young Sergio had become part of not just one Florida family but two: the Popkos and the Pittses, both of whom already had children around his age.

``He would stay with us a while, then go to stay with Lori Pitts's family,'' Marilyn recalls.

Thanks to the support of the Popkos and Pittses, a child with an unhappy start in life received plenty of support and love. He called both Marilyn Popko and Lori Pitts ``Mommy.'' Paul Pitts and Stephen Popko were both ``Dad.''

Growing up, Sergio participated in Junior ROTC and studied karate at a local martial arts studio. Sergio ``was really athletic and could knock out hundreds of push-ups with no problem,'' says Marybeth Klock- Perez, who ran the studio where Sergio practiced. For someone who had ``been dealt really unfair cards in life, he was absolutely never bitter. He never used excuses or acted like the world owed him.''

COL Eddie Santana ran Sergio's Junior ROTC Program. He was ``an outstanding young leader--very disciplined and committed,'' the colonel remembered. ``He always knew what he wanted to do: join the Army.''

Sergio traded the Sunshine State for the Bluegrass State in 2005 when he came to the Earle C. Clements Center in Morganfield, KY, to earn his GED. After he received it, he entered basic training at Fort Benning, GA, and then was stationed in Italy for a year with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry.

``It was one of the best times he ever had,'' Marilyn Popko says. ``He went to Germany, Switzerland, France. And he loved jumping out of airplanes.''

Amidst all this adventure, Sergio also fell in love. He met Christina, and the two planned to marry in the summer of 2008. The wedding was to feature the music of Sergio's favorite singer, Frank Sinatra. Sadly, Sergio was killed before he could walk down the aisle and before he could welcome his and Christina's daughter, due this December, into the world. Christina ``legally changed her name to Abad so their daughter would have Sergio's name,'' Marilyn says. Sergio ``died without knowing they were having a girl--he always wanted a daughter.''

Sergio leaves behind many loved ones, and our thoughts are with them today. This includes members of both the Popko and Pitts families, including Marilyn, Stephen, and Catherine Popko, and Lori, Paul, Zachery, and Leo Pitts and Krystine Pitts Flagg, as well as Sergio's fiancee, Christina Abad, and their daughter, who will grow up knowing their father was a hero.

Everyone who knew and loved him should also know our Nation is honored to have men like SPC Sergio S. Abad defend our country. Today, this Senate honors him for his immense sacrifice and for his life of service.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, we are in morning business, right?

Mr. President, Senator McCain has just announced he is willing to suspend his campaign, set politics aside, and sit down with all sides to come to a solution to the looming threat to our economy. That is really an outstanding idea. The threat to Americans and their homes, savings, and retirements is really not a partisan problem, and it will not be fixed with a partisan approach. Americans want to know that their home values and college funds and retirement accounts are safe; in other words, that the problems on Wall Street are not going to spread to Main Street. So I appreciate my colleague's proposal, and I hope it will be given serious consideration.

My constituents are not calling and asking me to help their brokers. They are asking for help to protect their mortgages, their ability to grow their small businesses, their ability to send their kids to college. And they are worried about the security of their life savings. I am concerned that if we do nothing, their savings, their ability to buy a home or finance college, and their financial security are all at very serious risk.

These are not ordinary circumstances, and if this economic stabilization plan was nothing but a bailout for Wall Street bankers, I would not have anything to do with it.

The only reason to support this action is to save ordinary Americans from an economic disaster that they had absolutely no hand whatsoever in creating. And to say that I am more than a little mad at this situation--created largely by bad decisions of those in the subprime housing market--is an understatement.

But if we are to take action, then it needs to put Main Street ahead of Wall Street. This isn't about bailing out investment bankers; this is about keeping the U.S. economy from entering a downward spiral. To that end, any action we take must include the following: No. 1, limits on executive compensation; No. 2, debt reduction; No. 3, congressional oversight and transparency. And yes, of course, taxpayer protection.

With regard to executive compensation, if weak companies are seeking Government assistance, the taxpayers should expect no less than a firm limit on what kind of executive compensation might be possible for those involved in these distressed companies.

Debt reduction. Any proceeds that are earned from the Government buying these assets and then selling them in the marketplace must be used to reduce the national debt. These revenues must not be used to pay for unrelated and unnecessary pet projects.

Congressional oversight and transparency. Americans need to be able to see how their money is being used and that it is being managed wisely. We in Congress will watch where every dollar goes to ensure there is no waste and no funny business.

Taxpayer protection. Americans have a right to expect that there is no fraud or abuse. It is the taxpayer and the American economy we are protecting, and we must take steps to ensure they are protected first.

The American people who were not involved in creating this situation need to be protected from the mistakes of those who were. Main Street needs to be insulated from Wall Street. That is what this plan is meant to accomplish. But we must insist on the protections I have just enumerated.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Will the Senator yield for an observation?

I was listening carefully to Senator Gregg and the Senator from Tennessee, Mr. Alexander, and Senator Coburn and I see another of my colleagues here, Senator Domenici. Let me give a real- world example from my State, information just received. Here is what this particular company experienced today.

``We were informed''--I will leave out the name of the bank. ``We were informed that an''--I will leave out the name of the county-- ``industrial revenue bond issued last year could not be resold this week in the market because of the freeze of the credit markets.'' Today. ``These tax free bonds totaling $10 million were issued last year on a variable interest rate basis, secured by a full irrevocable letter of credit from one of the nation's largest and most well capitalized banks.''

No credit problem at all, but no lending--freeze credit. This crisis we are all talking about here is not about a bunch of people on Wall Street. It is about a bunch of people on Main Street, and whether we are going to act on a bipartisan basis to restore confidence, restore confidence in our country and to prevent what could be a major catastrophic event.

In addition to Senator Domenici, we have the ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee, I see, standing in the back. If it is all right with the senior Senator from New Mexico, I suggest that Senator Brownback go right ahead.

Madam President, I would like to take a moment to recognize one of our Nation's heroes from World War II. I am proud to say that he is a resident of my home State of Kentucky. His name is Ralph Rose. Mr. Rose is being honored in a Veterans Day ceremony in Hardinsburg, KY, this November for his heroic action in defense of our Nation and for his continued service to veterans in the local community.

Mr. Rose was born in Mystic, KY, in 1922. He entered the U.S. military at age 20. During his time in the Armed Forces, Mr. Rose served in General Patton's Army and fought the Germans in France. But on a fateful night, Mr. Rose and several of his fellow soldiers were captured by Axis forces. He was held as a prisoner of war for more than 8 months until the Allies occupied Munich.

Mr. Rose suffered unimaginable hardships at the hands of the enemy, but by all accounts, he does not dwell on them. In fact, he has said that if given the choice to serve in the Army again--even knowing what he would have to endure as a prisoner of war--he would have done the same thing.

As a true testament to his dedication to the Armed Forces, Mr. Rose continues to serve his country by helping and inspiring other veterans in the Commonwealth.

There is a special flag that honors our American heroes like Mr. Rose. It is called the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag, and it has a simple statement at the bottom: ``You are not forgotten.'' Just as surely as that flag sits outside my office each day, I can guarantee you that those whose lives have been touched by Mr. Rose will never forget the sacrifices he made to keep our Nation free and prosperous.