Floor Statements

Mr. President, in a short while I am going to call up an amendment, and I will move at that time to set aside the pending amendment to call up amendment No. 4759. I am not going to do it yet because I want the distinguished Republican manager of the bill, Senator Enzi, to have a chance to see what it is before I do. But let me describe it a little bit before I do call it up.

The amendment would reauthorize and extend the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program. This is a program that some may recall the former Senator from Colorado, Mr. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, and I began some years ago.

This morning, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing about this important grant program. We heard compelling testimony from an officer, Detective David Azur of Baltimore, whose life was saved in 2000 when he was shot at pointblank range in the chest. He said he had enormous pain and a huge bruise from it, but the bullet did not penetrate his vest. I said to Detective Azur from Baltimore--and I know his family; his father served as a police officer in Burlington, VT, when I was a prosecutor--at least he felt the bruise. Had he not had the vest on, he would not have felt anything. He would have died instantly.

We also heard from Vermont State police lieutenant Michael Macarilla. I know Lieutenant Macarilla very well. He spoke about the assistance Vermont law enforcement officers have received from the program.

This week, thousands of law enforcement officers from around the country have come to Washington to honor the men and women who have given their lives in service over the past year. One thing everybody in this Senate could agree on, all Americans could agree on: We should offer our gratitude to the officers and their families.

On Thursday, May 15--this week--Congress and the American people are going to pause to reflect upon the sacrifices too many have made, as we celebrate Peace Officers Memorial Day. This week, at the Police Officers Memorial, we will recognize and remember the 181 officers who were lost in the line of duty during the past year. Every death is a tragedy, but 181, Mr. President--that is the largest yearly total since the extraordinary losses on 9/11 and in its aftermath. Think of that: 181 officers lost, lost in the line of duty. It also means that a family lost a loved one: a spouse, a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister. We need to do all we can for the men and women who risk their lives protecting us and the public's safety every day.

The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program saves lives. It makes a real difference to our officers and their families. The officers who testified before the Judiciary Committee today have firsthand experience with the importance of armor vests. So I am grateful to Detective David Azur from Baltimore and grateful to Lieutenant Michael Macarilla from the Vermont State police for their willingness to share their experiences with the committee and the Senate and the Congress.

I was proud to initiate the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Act with Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 1998. Both of us relied on our own experience in law enforcement, experience both of us had in law enforcement before we came to the Senate. Between 1999 and 2007, our program has assisted in the purchase of an estimated 818,044 vests. We have taken a giant step away from the days in which law enforcement officers were required to purchase their own vests or go without the vest. Actually, I do believe the bulletproof vests should be standard issue equipment for law enforcement, just as we have standard equipment issuing a badge and a weapon.

In addition, as we were reminded at this morning's hearing, body armor is not effective forever. You buy it but it wears out. In fact, manufacturers offer only a 5-year warranty for these lifesaving vests. They have to be replaced periodically. In fact, for Detective Azur, his warranty was just about to run out when he was shot.

Despite the fact that the President's budget has repeatedly-- repeatedly--neglected to request authorized funding for this program, Congress has stepped up and recognized its importance and appropriated the funds needed to keep it strong. I hope Congress will do so again this year. It may be easy to just look at Federal grant programs as just numbers, and say: Here's a number we can cut. It is a good way to reduce Federal spending. But when it comes to the safety of law enforcement officers, I can think of no rational excuse not to fully meet Congress's determined levels of support for the men and women who protect us all. Look what we have done in Iraq. This administration has provided the Iraqi police forces with a virtual blank check over the past several years. American taxpayers have seen hundreds of millions-- some would say billions--of dollars sent to Iraq and misspent, this just on the police forces there. Large sums of cash and weapons disappear. We sent over thousands of weapons, and we didn't even know where they went until some of them showed up in the hands of the people trying to kill our own soldiers. If we can afford to pay for training and equipment for the Iraqi police, we ought to be able to afford bulletproof vests for the officers who protect Americans here at home.

There is money in the President's budget for the Iraqi police forces. I would like a little bit of money in the budget for American police forces. I worked with these police officers for 8 years when I was State's attorney. I think we ought to start paying a little bit of attention here at home.

State and local law enforcement officers assist Federal authorities in many areas, and this grant program should

be viewed in the spirit of this cooperation. In an era when State and local law enforcement are shouldering more responsibilities on the front lines in the name of national security or in cooperation with Federal authorities in fighting interstate crime, then the Federal Government owes it to them to provide them with some support. Much of our Nation's strength lies in our rule of law, and Congress should support the men and women who uphold the laws and protect our democracy.

The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act expires next year, so the amendment I filed would reauthorize this program for another 3 years. It is drawn from the bill that Senators Specter, Mikulski, Shelby, Hatch and I have introduced today. It also includes giving discretionary authority to the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance at the Justice Department to waive the matching requirement for jurisdictions experiencing financial hardship. That provision is drawn from the Leahy-Shelby bill, S. 2511. I think that in a narrow and tighter budget and a troubled economy, it makes sense to give the agency making these plans the authority and the flexibility to ensure that no jurisdiction is excluded from such critical assistance simply because it can't afford to meet the matching requirements.

Local law enforcement agencies don't have oil revenues. They don't have outside sources of revenue. If we are going to have the administration say send money to the Iraqi police force, which does have enormous oil revenues, and ask the American taxpayers to pay for it, let's pause and do something to help American police forces.

I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and call up amendment No. 4759.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I am proud to introduce a bill today to reauthorize the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act for 3 years, through 2012. This legislation has enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Congress since it was enacted in 1998, and I thank Senators Specter, Mikulski, Shelby and Hatch for joining me in today's introduction. I am also glad to be joined by Congressmen Visclosky who will introduce this bill in the House of Representatives today as well.

Since 1999, the Bureau of Justice Assistance at the Department of Justice has distributed $234 million to State and local jurisdictions. Those grants have resulted in the purchase of an estimated 818,000 vests. Since its enactment, over 11,900 State and local jurisdictions have participated in this program. Congress can be proud of the fact that this legislation has directly provided life-saving equipment to so many law enforcement officers. I know that when State and local jurisdictions receive the matching grants through this program, their budgets can go farther in fighting crime in their communities.

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the importance of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program. We heard from a law enforcement officer who was shot in the

chest at pointblank range during an auto theft investigation. He lived to tell the committee and others his story, thanks to the bulletproof vest he was wearing. In my home state of Vermont, the program has allowed the Vermont police to purchase over 350 sets of armor in the last 10 years. The program has had a tremendous impact on the ability of States and localities to give our law enforcement officers the protection they deserve while serving the needs of our communities.

As a Nation, we ask much of our law enforcement officers. Men and women who serve face constant and unknown risks, and too often make the ultimate sacrifice. During this week in Washington, law enforcement officers from around the country will remember those officers who died in the line of duty while protecting their fellow citizens. Unfortunately, an ongoing trend of rising violent crime in the U.S. underscores the continuing need of this program that has had such a positive impact on the safety of law enforcement officers. Reauthorizing and funding this program is the right thing to do, and it is something I hope all Senators will support. Every additional officer who is able to put on a vest today as a result of this grant program means that one more officer may survive a violent attack. Protecting the men and women who protect all Americans should be a priority for Congress and we have a chance to advance that priority with the continuation of this important program.

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

Mr. President, I am proud to introduce a bill today to reauthorize the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act for 3 years, through 2012. This legislation has enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Congress since it was enacted in 1998, and I thank Senators Specter, Mikulski, Shelby and Hatch for joining me in today's introduction. I am also glad to be joined by Congressmen Visclosky who will introduce this bill in the House of Representatives today as well.

Since 1999, the Bureau of Justice Assistance at the Department of Justice has distributed $234 million to State and local jurisdictions. Those grants have resulted in the purchase of an estimated 818,000 vests. Since its enactment, over 11,900 State and local jurisdictions have participated in this program. Congress can be proud of the fact that this legislation has directly provided life-saving equipment to so many law enforcement officers. I know that when State and local jurisdictions receive the matching grants through this program, their budgets can go farther in fighting crime in their communities.

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the importance of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program. We heard from a law enforcement officer who was shot in the

chest at pointblank range during an auto theft investigation. He lived to tell the committee and others his story, thanks to the bulletproof vest he was wearing. In my home state of Vermont, the program has allowed the Vermont police to purchase over 350 sets of armor in the last 10 years. The program has had a tremendous impact on the ability of States and localities to give our law enforcement officers the protection they deserve while serving the needs of our communities.

As a Nation, we ask much of our law enforcement officers. Men and women who serve face constant and unknown risks, and too often make the ultimate sacrifice. During this week in Washington, law enforcement officers from around the country will remember those officers who died in the line of duty while protecting their fellow citizens. Unfortunately, an ongoing trend of rising violent crime in the U.S. underscores the continuing need of this program that has had such a positive impact on the safety of law enforcement officers. Reauthorizing and funding this program is the right thing to do, and it is something I hope all Senators will support. Every additional officer who is able to put on a vest today as a result of this grant program means that one more officer may survive a violent attack. Protecting the men and women who protect all Americans should be a priority for Congress and we have a chance to advance that priority with the continuation of this important program.

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

Mr. President, it is my pleasure to pay tribute to someone who has touched the lives of millions not just in this country but across the world. This week, tenor Placido Domingo sings the title role in the new Washington National Opera production of Handel's ``Tamerlano.'' It is his 130th role, an unprecedented feat. He has made each of these parts into something alive and multidimensional. Tragic figures like Otello or Cavaradossi have come to life and, through their actions, have laid out time-honored truths about human emotions and how we live. Mr. Domingo's singing, marked by a clarion tone and natural sense of the shape of a musical phrase, can move us to great heights and the deepest depths. He is a positive force in the world and someone that everyone can celebrate.

Next year marks the 40th anniversary of his debuts at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the country's premiere opera house, the Metropolitan Opera. He frequently sings across the globe, gracing stages of esteemed European opera houses like London's Royal Opera and Milan's La Scala. He might be most widely known as one of the ``3 Tenors.'' His recording of grand productions and solo recitals fill store racks in my home State of Vermont, as well as the whole country. These are unheralded achievements for any tenor, undertakings that have led to numerous awards like several Grammy awards and his recent election by a respected British magazine as the ``King of Singers.''

Thankfully, his ego is not nearly as long or wide as that list of laurels. He is a deeply respectful individual, and he takes interest in others. He came be extremely kind. He paid me one of the nicest favors last year, when, at a special function, my wife Marcelle asked him to sing ``Happy Birthday'' to me. Rarely has the simple tune been heard with such color and finesse. It was a moment that I will never forget.

Even in that straightforward, if always sweet, tune that amazing sense of the inner workings of music was there. There have been other great tenors but few who have shown such a strong musical sense. The word used most often to describe Mr. Domingo's approach to each score is ``scrupulous,'' a word that means meticulous, fastidious, conscientious. That quality extends into his work from the podium as a conductor and from the boardroom as a general manager, not only of the Washington National Opera but also the Los Angeles Opera. He gets inside whatever he is doing--singing, conducting, administration--and makes it come out fresh, natural, and seemingly right.

He has literally lived and breathed opera throughout his life. As a child, he sang the popular Spanish operas known as zarzuela. The two companies that he directs have commissioned new operas, and it is new operas that make all the difference between a ``has-been'' and a living, breathing art form. Just 2 years ago, the Washington National Opera put on Scott Wheeler's ``Democracy.'' Its themes of politics, love, and Washington still resonate today.

Mr. Domingo spends a great deal of time in the United States, which has received him like the hero he often sings on stage. He knows New York, Washington, and Los Angeles like a native. He undertakes tours to sing across the Nation, sometimes bringing music to communities that may not have a major opera house. He is not an American citizen, but he embraces some of the best qualities of what it means to be an American, energetic and open, alive to life's possibilities. He has forged a special bond with the country, and for that we are all grateful.

As Mr. Domingo takes on his role this week at the Washington National Opera, I know the entire Senate joins me in congratulating and thanking him for his relentless work and his spectacular ability to move us to tears, laughter, and sheer joy.

Mr. President, today the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously reported S. Res. 537 to the Senate floor. In recognition of those officers who lost their lives in 2007, the full Senate has now passed this resolution. I thank Senators Specter, Kennedy, Durbin, Kohl, Feinstein, Schumer, Hatch, Whitehouse, Biden, Cardin, and Baucus for joining me in sponsoring this resolution. And I thank the full Senate for showing its strong support and appreciation of America's law enforcement officers by unanimously passing this resolution. It is something in which we can all take pride.

Last year, in 2007, 181 law enforcement officers died while serving in the line of duty. That is a regrettable and significant increase from just 1 year earlier. Tragically, it is the most line-of-duty deaths since 2001 and the losses from September 11 of that year. The magnitude of this loss should remove any doubts in Congress that it is necessary to give these men and women everything they need to stay safe, and to do their jobs as effectively as they can.

Currently, more than 900,000 men and women who guard our communities do so at great risk. Since the first recorded police death in 1792, there have been more than 18,200 law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice. There is lots of talk about the war on crime. Our law enforcement officers are all too often the casualties in that effort, and the officers who lost their lives in 2007 are a stark reminder that we must not let up in our support of those who work day- in and day-out in the service of their communities and fellow citizens.

I also take this opportunity to recognize that the names of 358 fallen officers will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial on May 13 during a candlelight vigil that will be held in their honor. These are officers from the past and present whose memory will be preserved at the memorial, ensuring that their bravery and sacrifice will not be forgotten.

National Peace Officers Memorial Day provides the people of the United States, in their communities, in their State capitals, and in the Nation's Capital, with the opportunity to honor and reflect on the extraordinary service and sacrifice given year after year by those members of our police forces. More than 20,000 peace officers are expected to gather in Washington in the days leading up to May 15, to join with the families of their fallen comrades. It is right that the Senate show its respect on this occasion, and I thank all Senators for joining me in honoring their service and their memory by approving this bipartisan resolution.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, today, I am pleased to introduce the bipartisan Runaway and Homeless Youth Protection Act of 2008 along with Senator Specter, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. This legislation would reauthorize and improve the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, RHYA. The programs authorized during the past 30 years by the RHYA have consistently proven critical to protecting and giving hope to our Nation's runaway and homeless youth.

The prevalence of homelessness among young people in America is shockingly high. The problem is not limited to large cities. Its impact is felt strongly in smaller communities and rural areas as well. It affects our young people directly and reverberates throughout our families and communities. That this problem continues in the richest country in the world means that we need to redouble our commitment and our efforts to safeguard our Nation's youth. We need to support the dedicated people in communities across the country who work to address these problems every day.

On April 29, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to focus the Senate's attention on these problems and to identify and develop solutions to protect runaway and homeless youth. It was the first Senate hearing on these matters in more than a decade. We heard from a distinguished panel of witnesses, some of whom spoke firsthand about the significant challenges that young people face when they have nowhere to go.

Our witnesses demonstrated that young people can overcome harrowing obstacles and create new opportunities when given the chance. One witness went from living as a homeless youth in his teens to earning two Oscar nominations as a distinguished actor. Another witness is working with homeless youth at the same Vermont organization that enabled him to stop living on the streets and is on his way to great things. Our witness panel gave useful and insightful suggestions on how to improve the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to make it more effective. We have included many of these recommendations in our bill.

The Justice Department estimated that 1.7 million young people either ran away from home or were thrown out of their homes in 1999. Another study suggested a number closer to 2.8 million in 2002. Whether the true number is one million or five million, young people become homeless for a number of reasons, ranging from abandonment to running away from an abusive home to having no place to go after being released from state care. An estimated 40 to 60 percent of homeless children are expected to experience physical abuse, and 17 to 35 percent experience sexual abuse while on the

street, according to a report by the Department of Health and Human Services. Homeless youth are also at greater risk of mental health problems. While many receive vital services in their communities, others remain a hidden population, on the streets of our big cities and in rural areas like Vermont.

The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act is the way in which the Federal Government helps communities across the country protect some of our most vulnerable children. It was first passed the year I was elected to the Senate. We have reauthorized it several times since then, and working with Senator Specter and Senators on both sides of the aisle, I hope that we will do so again this year. While some have tried to end these programs, a bipartisan coalition has worked to preserve and continue the good that is accomplished through them. I remember Senator Specter's efforts early in his Senate career to preserve these programs when he chaired the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and the programs it funds provide a safety net that helps give young people a chance to build lives for themselves, and helps reunite youngsters with their families. Given the increasingly difficult economic conditions being experienced by so many families around the country, it is time to recommit ourselves to these principles and programs.

Under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, every State receives a Basic Center grant to provide housing and crisis services for runaway and homeless youth and their families. Community-based groups around the country can also apply for funding through the Transitional Living Program and the Sexual Abuse Prevention/Street Outreach grant program. The transitional living program grants are used to provide longer-term housing to homeless youth between the ages of 16 and 21, and to help them become self-sufficient. The outreach grants are used to target youth susceptible to engaging in high-risk behaviors while living on the street.

Our bill makes improvements to the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act reauthorizations of past years. It doubles funding for States by instituting a minimum of $200,000, which will allow states to better meet the diverse needs of their communities. This bill also requires the Department of Health and Human Services to develop performance standards for grantees. Providing program guidelines would level the playing field for bidders, ensure consistency among providers, and increase the effectiveness of the services under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. In addition, our legislation develops an incidence study to better estimate the number of runaway and homeless youth and to identify trends. The incidence study would provide more accurate estimates of the runaway and homeless youth population and would help lawmakers make better policy decisions and allow communities to provide better outreach.

In my home State of Vermont, the Vermont Coalition for Runaway and Homeless Youth, the New England Network for Child, Youth, and Family Services, and Spectrum Youth and Family Services in Burlington all receive grants under these programs and have provided excellent services. In one recent year, the street outreach programs in Vermont served nearly 10,000 young people.

The overwhelming need for services is not limited to any one state or community. Many transitional living programs are forced to turn away young people seeking shelter. We heard testimony of an exemplary program within blocks of our nation's Capitol that has a waiting list as long as a year. This is unacceptable. The needs in our communities are real, and reauthorizing the law will allow these programs to expand their enormously important work.

These topics are difficult but deserve our attention. Finding solutions to this growing problem is an effort we can all support. I thank Senator Specter for joining with me and urge all Senators to support prompt passage of this bill.

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

Mr. President, today, I am pleased to introduce the bipartisan Runaway and Homeless Youth Protection Act of 2008 along with Senator Specter, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. This legislation would reauthorize and improve the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, RHYA. The programs authorized during the past 30 years by the RHYA have consistently proven critical to protecting and giving hope to our Nation's runaway and homeless youth.

The prevalence of homelessness among young people in America is shockingly high. The problem is not limited to large cities. Its impact is felt strongly in smaller communities and rural areas as well. It affects our young people directly and reverberates throughout our families and communities. That this problem continues in the richest country in the world means that we need to redouble our commitment and our efforts to safeguard our Nation's youth. We need to support the dedicated people in communities across the country who work to address these problems every day.

On April 29, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to focus the Senate's attention on these problems and to identify and develop solutions to protect runaway and homeless youth. It was the first Senate hearing on these matters in more than a decade. We heard from a distinguished panel of witnesses, some of whom spoke firsthand about the significant challenges that young people face when they have nowhere to go.

Our witnesses demonstrated that young people can overcome harrowing obstacles and create new opportunities when given the chance. One witness went from living as a homeless youth in his teens to earning two Oscar nominations as a distinguished actor. Another witness is working with homeless youth at the same Vermont organization that enabled him to stop living on the streets and is on his way to great things. Our witness panel gave useful and insightful suggestions on how to improve the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to make it more effective. We have included many of these recommendations in our bill.

The Justice Department estimated that 1.7 million young people either ran away from home or were thrown out of their homes in 1999. Another study suggested a number closer to 2.8 million in 2002. Whether the true number is one million or five million, young people become homeless for a number of reasons, ranging from abandonment to running away from an abusive home to having no place to go after being released from state care. An estimated 40 to 60 percent of homeless children are expected to experience physical abuse, and 17 to 35 percent experience sexual abuse while on the

street, according to a report by the Department of Health and Human Services. Homeless youth are also at greater risk of mental health problems. While many receive vital services in their communities, others remain a hidden population, on the streets of our big cities and in rural areas like Vermont.

The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act is the way in which the Federal Government helps communities across the country protect some of our most vulnerable children. It was first passed the year I was elected to the Senate. We have reauthorized it several times since then, and working with Senator Specter and Senators on both sides of the aisle, I hope that we will do so again this year. While some have tried to end these programs, a bipartisan coalition has worked to preserve and continue the good that is accomplished through them. I remember Senator Specter's efforts early in his Senate career to preserve these programs when he chaired the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and the programs it funds provide a safety net that helps give young people a chance to build lives for themselves, and helps reunite youngsters with their families. Given the increasingly difficult economic conditions being experienced by so many families around the country, it is time to recommit ourselves to these principles and programs.

Under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, every State receives a Basic Center grant to provide housing and crisis services for runaway and homeless youth and their families. Community-based groups around the country can also apply for funding through the Transitional Living Program and the Sexual Abuse Prevention/Street Outreach grant program. The transitional living program grants are used to provide longer-term housing to homeless youth between the ages of 16 and 21, and to help them become self-sufficient. The outreach grants are used to target youth susceptible to engaging in high-risk behaviors while living on the street.

Our bill makes improvements to the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act reauthorizations of past years. It doubles funding for States by instituting a minimum of $200,000, which will allow states to better meet the diverse needs of their communities. This bill also requires the Department of Health and Human Services to develop performance standards for grantees. Providing program guidelines would level the playing field for bidders, ensure consistency among providers, and increase the effectiveness of the services under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. In addition, our legislation develops an incidence study to better estimate the number of runaway and homeless youth and to identify trends. The incidence study would provide more accurate estimates of the runaway and homeless youth population and would help lawmakers make better policy decisions and allow communities to provide better outreach.

In my home State of Vermont, the Vermont Coalition for Runaway and Homeless Youth, the New England Network for Child, Youth, and Family Services, and Spectrum Youth and Family Services in Burlington all receive grants under these programs and have provided excellent services. In one recent year, the street outreach programs in Vermont served nearly 10,000 young people.

The overwhelming need for services is not limited to any one state or community. Many transitional living programs are forced to turn away young people seeking shelter. We heard testimony of an exemplary program within blocks of our nation's Capitol that has a waiting list as long as a year. This is unacceptable. The needs in our communities are real, and reauthorizing the law will allow these programs to expand their enormously important work.

These topics are difficult but deserve our attention. Finding solutions to this growing problem is an effort we can all support. I thank Senator Specter for joining with me and urge all Senators to support prompt passage of this bill.

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

Mr. President, one of the people who has done the most to protect so much in Vermont is Paul Bruhn. We Vermonters know that Paul, as the executive director of the Preservation Trust, has done an enormous service by leading conservation efforts to save the very best of our State.

I ask unanimous consent that the full article by Virginia Lindauer Simmon, from the April edition of Business People Vermont, be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, Marcelle and I have a good friend in Vermont named Cornelius Hogan, although everyone knows him as Con Hogan.

In our State, we have been fortunate to have people, of both political parties, who have given a great deal of themselves to serve the people of Vermont, and Con is an excellent example of that.

Recently, the newspaper the Times Argus published an excellent profile of him. I called Con and Jeanette to say how much I enjoyed it. I would like to share the piece with my fellow Senators, and ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today we are considering a bipartisan resolution to express the common sense of all in this Chamber that Senator McCain is a ``natural born Citizen,'' as the term is used in the Constitution of the United States. Last week the Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to report this resolution to the Senate. I urge Senators to come together to pass this bipartisan resolution without delay.

Our Constitution contains three requirements for a person to be eligible to be President--the person must have reached the age of 35; must have resided in America for 14 years; and must be a ``natural born Citizen'' of the United States. Certainly there is no doubt that Senator McCain is of sufficient years on this Earth and in this country given that he has been serving in Washington for over 25 years. ``However, some have raised the question whether he is a ``natural born Citizen'' because he was born outside of the United States.

John Sidney McCain, III, was born to American citizens on an American Naval base in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936. His father was serving in the Navy at that time.

It is possible that at the time of our Nation's founding, the Framers of our Constitution could not imagine how pronounced our commitments overseas would become but it would make no sense to limit the careers of children born to military families simply because they were stationed overseas. Similarly, it would not make sense to punish children born to foreign service families or Ambassadors stationed overseas or children born overseas to American missionaries. They are all American citizens at the time of their birth.

Numerous legal scholars have looked into the purpose and intent of the ``natural born Citizen'' requirement. As far as I am aware, no one has discovered any reason to think that the Framers would have wanted to limit the rights of children born to Americans abroad or that such a limited view would serve any noble purpose enshrined in our founding document. Based on the understanding of the pertinent sources of constitutional meaning, it is widely believed that if someone is born to American citizens anywhere in the world they are natural born citizens.

It is interesting to note that another previous Presidential candidate, George Romney, was also born outside of the United States. He was widely understood to be eligible to be President. Senator Barry Goldwater was born in a U.S territory that later became the State of Arizona. Certainly those who voted for these two Republican candidates believed that they were eligible to assume the office of the President.

Because he was born to American citizens, there is no doubt in my mind that Senator McCain is a ``natural born Citizen''. I recently asked Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, a former Federal judge, if he had any doubts in his mind. He did not.

Former Solicitor General Theodore Olson and Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe also analyzed the issue and came to the same conclusion--that Senator McCain is a natural born citizen eligible to serve as President.

Our bipartisan resolution would make it clear that Senator McCain, born in 1936 on an American Naval base to U.S. citizens, is a ``natural born Citizen. We should act today on a bipartisan basis to erase any doubt that Senator McCain is eligible to run for President because of his citizenship status.

I ask unanimous consent that the legal analysis of Theodore Olson and Laurence Tribe be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I am proud to submit today a bipartisan resolution to designate May 15, 2008, as National Peace Officers Memorial Day. Joining me in the submission of this resolution are Senators Specter, Kennedy, Durbin, and Kohl. We join in recognizing the sacrifices that law enforcement officers make each day for the American people.

This is now the twelfth year that I have been involved in offering this resolution to honor the sacrifice and commitment of those law enforcement officers who lost their lives serving their communities. For many years I submitted this resolution with my old friend and our former colleague Senator Campbell, a former deputy sheriff. Both Senator Campbell, and I, as a former prosecutor, know well the risks faced by law enforcement officers every day while they serve and protect the American people.

We do not thank our Nation's law enforcement officers enough for the sacrifices they make in order to protect all of us. State and local police officers and all of our first responders deserve our support and respect. Their role is crucial in upholding the rule of law and keeping our Nation's citizens safe and secure. They help make our democracy possible. They are our here-at-home, day-in-and-day-out, real-life heroes.

Currently, more than 900,000 men and women who guard our communities do so at great risk. Since the first recorded police death in 1792, there have been more than 18,200 law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice. There is lots of talk about the war on crime. Our law enforcement officers are all too often the casualties in that effort.

We are fortunate in Vermont that we rank as the State with the fewest officer deaths in history, with 19 recorded. But of course that is still 19 deaths too many. The pain and the suffering and the loss associated with every one of those is difficult for anyone to even imagine.

Last year, in 2007, 181 law enforcement officers died while serving in the line of duty. That is a regrettable and significant increase from 2006. Tragically, it is the most line-of-duty deaths since 2001 and the losses from September 11 of that year.

With crime having risen during the last few years after a decade of decline, and with law enforcement officers' deaths increasing, Congress must do more to strongly support State and local law enforcement officers and agencies. Federal programs can bolster police departments and their support for line officers. We should help provide greater access to bulletproof vests, state-of-the-art technology, improved training and advanced emergency medical care. I believe that there is strength in numbers when it comes to fighting violent crime, and Congress owes it to all Americans to support the men and women who are on the front lines keeping America safe.

I am proud of the work I have been involved in to help make it safer on the beat for our officers. Back in 1998, Senator Campbell and I authored the Bulletproof Vest Grant Partnership Act in response to the tragic Carl Drega shootout on the Vermont-New Hampshire border. Two Sate troopers who lacked bulletproof vests were killed. Since then, we have successfully reauthorized this program three more times: in the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2000, in the State Justice Institute Reauthorization Act of 2004, and most recently as part of the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005. It is now authorized at $50 million per year through fiscal year 2009 to help State, tribal and local jurisdictions purchase armor vests for use by law enforcement officers.

I hope all Senators will join me to ensure that the program is fully funded for fiscal year 2009, and will also join with me to reauthorize this important program again this year. Bulletproof vests have saved the lives of thousands of officers and are a fundamental line of defense that no officer should be without. Hundreds of thousands of police officers are counting on us.

National Peace Officers Memorial Day will provide the people of the U.S., in their communities, in their State Capitals, and in the Nation's Capital, with the opportunity to honor and reflect on the extraordinary service and sacrifice given year after year by our police forces. During the week of May 15, more than 20,000 peace officers are expected to gather in Washington to join with the families of their fallen comrades. I hope all Senators will join me in honoring their service by approving this bipartisan resolution.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join the bipartisan group of Senators on this bill who all recognize our obligation to help those Iraqis who have assisted the United States in Iraq. This legislation will remove obstacles encountered by the Departments of

State and Homeland Security in issuing the 5,000 special visas that Congress authorized in January for those Iraqi citizens.

As part of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress provided 5,000 special immigrant visas for Iraqis who had aided the United States as interpreters in the country. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I have supported these efforts. The Departments of State and Homeland Security seem stymied and unable to implement what Congress has provided. In our efforts to remove any impediment to fast implementation and address any excuse for further delays, we seek passage of this bill as well, to cut through bureaucratic stalling and technical requirements.

This administration has been woefully slow in recognizing its responsibilities not only to those Iraqis who have helped us, but to all Iraqis who have been displaced or have fled the violence still plaguing that country. The relative inaction by the administration with respect to those Iraqis whose lives are in grave danger due to their assistance of the United States is especially troubling. Action is needed now. The Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on this humanitarian problem more than 15 months ago. That hearing on the plight of Iraqi refugees was among our first, in January 2007. In the interim, the administration has continued to make promises it cannot, or will not keep with respect to the resettlement of Iraqi refugees in the United States.

The administration's failure to acknowledge the Iraqi refugee crisis is emblematic of its inability to address other serious human rights issues that are much of its own making. The injustice resulting from the administration's interpretation of the material support and terrorism related bars that were enacted following September 11, 2001, continues to deprive legitimate asylum seekers of our protection. The consequences of these laws continue to go unaddressed, despite the fact that Congress has now twice given the Department of Homeland Security the authority to alleviate the situation. While Secretary Chertoff is unwilling to use this authority to provide asylum to those who need our protection, he has repeatedly used the vast authority ceded to him by proponents of the REAL ID Act to waive landmark environmental laws in the course of constructing a border wall between the United States and Mexico.

This month, during the Judiciary Committee's oversight hearing on the Department of Homeland Security, I followed up by asking Secretary Chertoff about his Department's lack of progress on implementing the authority Congress has given to him to remedy the material support and terrorism bars. At that time, I challenged him to fulfill the goal of legislation I authored and Congress enacted to provide relief to individuals such as Saman Kareem Ahmad, who received a commendation from General Petreaus for his work on behalf of the United States in Iraq and instructs U.S military personnel in preparation for service in Iraq. Although Mr. Ahmad was granted asylum, his application for a green card was denied because the organization with which he had once served, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, was deemed a ``terrorist organization'' by DHS. I urged Secretary Chertoff to use the authority he has been given to ensure that individuals like Mr. Ahmad were not denied a place in the United States because of inflexible and expansive readings of the so-called ``material support'' bar. I hope the administration takes the opportunity Congress has given it to correct this wrongheaded policy and practice. It is long past the time for this administration to take action and acknowledge the severe humanitarian consequences of its policies, whether in Iraq, or at our shores where the persecuted are seeking refuge.

Providing for the safety of our Iraqi allies is only one aspect of an increasingly severe humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Refugees International recently reported that in the vacuum left by the failure of the Iraqi government to address the plight of millions of its internally displaced citizens, various non-state militias are providing assistance to those who are suffering. By the report's account, these militias are finding fertile ground for recruiting among this population, with the Shiite Sadrist movement now being the ``main service provider'' to displaced Iraqis. We have been pressing the administration for some time to acknowledge this crisis and to make increased efforts to assist those Iraqis who have been internally displaced or who have left the country. Now we learn that the dangers associated with the administration's failure to recognize the magnitude of this crisis go beyond the terrible human cost that has resulted and threaten to undermine any efforts to bring positive change to Iraq.

The bill the Senate approves today will be another effort to encourage this administration to fulfill its obligations to those who have sacrificed significantly to assist the United States. It is my hope that this will end the unacceptable delays and provide long overdue relief.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, I was concerned to learn from the newspapers last week that the Federal Government is getting ready to publish a rule sanctioning the collection of DNA samples from all citizens arrested for Federal crimes and from many people detained as illegal immigrants. These samples may even be kept permanently as part of the Government's DNA database even if a person is ultimately exonerated.

I have long supported the analysis of DNA evidence to catch the guilty and exonerate the innocent. In 2000, I introduced the Innocence Protection Act, which included the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Grant Program for defendants. This program, where appropriate, gave defendants access to the postconviction DNA testing necessary to prove their innocence in those cases where the system got it grievously wrong. As a former prosecutor, I was acutely aware that DNA testing could help prevent both the conviction of innocent defendants, and the criminal justice nightmare of the real wrongdoer remaining undiscovered and possibly at large.

In 2004, Congress passed the Innocence Protection Act as an important part of the Justice for All Act. Congress recognized the need for important changes in criminal justice forensics despite resistance from the current administration. The Justice for All Act authorized several other important programs to encourage the use of DNA evidence, which I strongly supported, notably including the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program to eliminate the nationwide backlog of rape kits and other evidence awaiting DNA testing in crime labs around the country. That important program has helped law enforcement to find the perpetrators of terrible crimes throughout the country and to ease the ordeal that crime victims go through.

But DNA testing, like any powerful tool--and particularly any powerful tool in the hands of the government must be used carefully. If abused, it can infringe on the privacy and civil liberties of Americans while doing little to prevent crime. I am concerned that the policy just announced may do exactly that.

When Senator Kyl proposed the legislation that formed the basis for this policy, I said that it raised serious privacy concerns. Right now, a person's DNA can be collected immediately upon arrest, and it can be used immediately to search the DNA indexes for a possible ``hit.'' But it cannot be added to the Federal index unless and until the person has been formally charged with a crime. This new policy allows DNA to be entered for those who have been arrested but not charged.

This change adds little or no value for law enforcement, while intruding on the privacy rights of people who are, in our system, presumed innocent. It creates an incentive for pretextual arrests and will likely have a disproportionate impact on minorities and the poor. This policy may also make it harder for innocent people to have their DNA expunged from government databases.

Since I first spoke out against this provision in 2005, we have only seen more examples of abuses of power by this administration, including the Justice Department's improper firing of prosecutors for political reasons and the FBI's abuse of national security letter power given in the PATRIOT Act. In this light, the added power to collect and keep DNA information from potentially innocent people gives even more cause for concern.

I will study the proposed rules and policy carefully, and the Judiciary Committee will perform careful oversight of its implementation. We must ensure that DNA evidence is used aggressively and efficiently to make us safer, but also that it is used in a careful and appropriate way that secures our rights and increases our confidence in our justice system.