Floor Statements

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the National Drought Preparedness Act of 2003. I want to start by thanking my colleague from Montana, Senator Baucus, for joining me as my lead cosponsor on this important legislation.

The National Drought Council will formulate strategies to alleviate the effects of drought by fostering a greater understanding of what triggers wide spread drought conditions. By educating the public in water conservation and proper land stewardship, we can ensure a better preparedness when future drought plagues our country.

Drought is a unique emergency situation; it creeps in unlike other abrupt weather disasters. Without a national drought policy we constantly live not knowing what the next year will bring. If we find ourselves facing a drought, towns could be scrambling to drill new water wells, fire could sweep across bone dry forests, and farmers and ranchers could be forced to watch their way of life blow away with the dust. We must be vigilant and prepare ourselves for quick action when the next drought cycle begins. Better planning on our part could limit some of the damage felt by drought. I propose that this bill is the exact tool needed for facilitating better planning.

The impacts of drought are also very costly. According to NOAA, there have been 12 different drought events since 1980 that resulted in damages and costs exceeding $1 billion each. In 2000, severe drought in the South-Central and Southeastern States caused losses to agriculture and related industries of over $4 billion. Western wildfires that year totaled over $2 billion in damages. The Eastern drought in 1999 led to $1 billion in losses. These are just a few of the statistics.

I am pleased to be following through on what I started in 1997 when I commissioned a taskforce to study the widespread effects of drought. As a result, the taskforce concluded that the development of a national drought council would be an important factor in proactively combating drought.

The bill that I am introducing today is the next step in implementing a national, cohesive drought policy. The bill recognizes that drought is a recurring phenomenon that causes serious economic and environmental loss and that a national drought policy is needed to ensure an integrated, coordinated strategy.

What the future holds is very uncertain but the continuing apathy in a national drought policy is not. The need for this act is now. We can ill afford to suffer the devastating after-effects of drought knowing that we could have prepared ourselves better.

Before I close I would like to give some information about the bill. The National Drought Preparedness Act of 2003 establishes a National Drought Council within the Department of Agriculture to improve national drought preparedness, mitigation, and response efforts. It also develops a cohesive strategy for national drought policy where none previously existed. Addressing these concerns should be of paramount importance as we enter into yet another year with predictions of continued drought.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the National Drought Preparedness Act of 2003. I want to start by thanking my colleague from Montana, Senator Baucus, for joining me as my lead cosponsor on this important legislation.

The National Drought Council will formulate strategies to alleviate the effects of drought by fostering a greater understanding of what triggers wide spread drought conditions. By educating the public in water conservation and proper land stewardship, we can ensure a better preparedness when future drought plagues our country.

Drought is a unique emergency situation; it creeps in unlike other abrupt weather disasters. Without a national drought policy we constantly live not knowing what the next year will bring. If we find ourselves facing a drought, towns could be scrambling to drill new water wells, fire could sweep across bone dry forests, and farmers and ranchers could be forced to watch their way of life blow away with the dust. We must be vigilant and prepare ourselves for quick action when the next drought cycle begins. Better planning on our part could limit some of the damage felt by drought. I propose that this bill is the exact tool needed for facilitating better planning.

The impacts of drought are also very costly. According to NOAA, there have been 12 different drought events since 1980 that resulted in damages and costs exceeding $1 billion each. In 2000, severe drought in the South-Central and Southeastern States caused losses to agriculture and related industries of over $4 billion. Western wildfires that year totaled over $2 billion in damages. The Eastern drought in 1999 led to $1 billion in losses. These are just a few of the statistics.

I am pleased to be following through on what I started in 1997 when I commissioned a taskforce to study the widespread effects of drought. As a result, the taskforce concluded that the development of a national drought council would be an important factor in proactively combating drought.

The bill that I am introducing today is the next step in implementing a national, cohesive drought policy. The bill recognizes that drought is a recurring phenomenon that causes serious economic and environmental loss and that a national drought policy is needed to ensure an integrated, coordinated strategy.

What the future holds is very uncertain but the continuing apathy in a national drought policy is not. The need for this act is now. We can ill afford to suffer the devastating after-effects of drought knowing that we could have prepared ourselves better.

Before I close I would like to give some information about the bill. The National Drought Preparedness Act of 2003 establishes a National Drought Council within the Department of Agriculture to improve national drought preparedness, mitigation, and response efforts. It also develops a cohesive strategy for national drought policy where none previously existed. Addressing these concerns should be of paramount importance as we enter into yet another year with predictions of continued drought.

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

Mr. President, I engage the distinguished Senator from

Mississippi and chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee in a discussion about the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center--or NISAC--and its importance to the overall mission of the Department of Homeland Security.

I understand the desire of the chairman to give the Department of Homeland Security the maximum flexibility to identify potential terrorist threats and to appropriately respond to them. However, there are ongoing programs that I believe deserve the Senate's support and that need to be put in place to assist with this important responsibility.

The National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center was established in fiscal year 2000 by Department of Energy national laboratories at Sandia and Los Alamos in New Mexico to model critical infrastructure in the nation to identify vulnerabilities to potential terrorist attacks, prepare for such attacks, and to mitigate and respond to such attacks if necessary.

Following the terrible events of September 11, NISAC was specifically authorized in the Patriot Act and received appropriations of $20 million in fiscal year 2002 to continue to implement the program.

The Patriot Act established NISAC ``to serve as a source of national competence to address critical infrastructure protection and continuity through support for activities related to counter terrorism, threat assessment, and risk mitigation.'' The Act defines the need for this modeling and simulation to evaluate ``appropriate mechanisms to ensure the stability of these complex and interdependent systems. . . .'' NISAC is being designed to understand the full consequences of disruptions of the nation's infrastructure, including direct consequences, lives lost, property destruction, contamination, secondary consequences, economic disruptions and national defense threats, and cascading consequences, infrastructure interdependencies and regional interdependencies.

For the current year, fiscal year 2003, $27.5 million has been approved for NISAC--$20 million in program funding and $7.5 million for a NISAC facility at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. These funds were provided in the Consolidated Appropriations Act enacted this past February.

NISAC has now been transferred to the Department of Homeland Security. First, I call on the Department of Homeland Security to release the fiscal year 2003 funding immediately so the NISAC program is not delayed. The Department is sitting on $15 million in program funding and $7.5 million for the NISAC facility in New Mexico, and Sandia and Los Alamos need these funds to continue to develop NISAC.

It is my understanding that the President's fiscal year 2004 budget request includes $23 million in the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate for continued development of NISAC, and that the President's request for NISAC funding is approved in this bill. May I inquire of the chairman if this is indeed the case?

I thank the Senator for clarification on this point.

Mr. President, NISAC fills a critical need in our work to secure the United States against terrorist attacks. By utilizing the modeling and simulation analysis capabilities at the DOE labs, NISAC is providing the Department of Homeland Security with science-based information and analysis to understand the full consequences of disruptions to the Nation's critical infrastructure. NISAC can assess infrastructure vulnerabilities, interdependencies, and complexities to help the department, industry and other government agencies protect and secure critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks.

NISAC is already at work to help protect the critical infrastructure of our Nation against terrorist attack. NISAC has looked at port security with specific demonstrations in the Pacific Northwest in Seattle and Portland. NISAC has supported the TOPOFF II exercise to help evaluate the impact of decisions made during an exercise simulating a biological attack. NISAC is being tasked to model critical industries and critical links in the nation's transportation network.

NISAC has developed an initial suite of modeling, simulation and analysis capabilities that address urban, regional, and national interdependent infrastructures that only the Federal Government has the resources to accomplish. This package can be adapted for new issues, new regions, and new infrastructures to help secure the Nation against future terrorist events.

Mr. President, I am excited at the work already performed by NISAC, and the development that is underway on NISAC to help the Department of Homeland Security address potential terrorist threats against the Nation's critical infrastructure. I encourage the Department to embrace the NISAC program and to fully utilize the talents and expertise of Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories who have developed NISAC. Would the Chairman join me in that message to the Department of Homeland Security?

I thank the distinguished Chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee for his recognition of this important component of the Federal homeland security effort.

national center for disaster decision making

Mr. President, I wish to discuss a very important homeland security project being developed in New Mexico.

Responding to our Nation's need for more sophisticated security, the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, NM Tech, and New Mexico State University, NMSU, are collaborating to create and operate the National Emergency Response Training, Research, and Development Center. This center would be located in Playas, NM.

Playas is a small town in Hidalgo County, NM, that was built in the late 1970s by the Phelps Dodge Mining Company to provide housing for 1,000 workers employed at its nearby copper smelting operation. The town includes 259 modern homes and 25 apartment units, a community center, restaurant, bank, gas station, post office, fire station, medical center and airstrip. It also has recreational facilities including a bowling alley, fitness center, rodeo arena, basketball courts, tennis courts, and swimming pool. Smelting operations were suspended in 1999 and currently the town is almost completely uninhabited.

NM Tech, a member of the Department of Homeland Security's, DHS, Office for Domestic Preparedness, ODP, National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, is currently in the process of purchasing Playas. If bought using ODP funds and properly developed by New Mexico Tech and then transferred to DHS, Playas could become a critical national facility for securing our Nation against future terrorist attacks. NM Tech and NMSU see it playing two critical roles, as an advanced training facility where our Nation's first responders can practice real world training scenarios and a place where biological, agricultural and environmental terrorism can be studied.

First, the center will provide standardized emergency operations training for our Nation's First Responders. Specifically, it will provide advanced

training for emergency operations personnel, emergency medical personnel, and physicians. This training would focus on teaching advanced skills that will dramatically increase the technical capacity of emergency response organizations to manage incidents involving chemical, biological, radiological, explosive, and environmental agents. Training participants would also learn how to increase public confidence and foster organizational cooperation among local, State, Federal, and private sector emergency responders. Relationships fostered by this training will help to increase communications among local, regional and national emergency response organizations regarding mutual aid, information sharing, emergency credentialing, equipment interoperability, security clearances, and secure communication systems.

Second, the center will focus on ensuring the biological security of our Nation's agricultural assets and natural resources. Playas will provide a secure environment where university researchers can work collaboratively with private sector companies to study our homeland security challenges and develop new tools for fighting terrorist activities. The center will allow our researchers to network with other scientists throughout the world to develop and maintain constantly evolving strategies for dealing with biological security threats or breaches. Initially, these research efforts will focus on food supply security including crops and livestock, pipeline security, and transportation system security.

New Mexico Tech will be the lead organization for this project and will provide the administrative, maintenance, and operations infrastructure needed to support this project. New Mexico Tech will conduct extensive research and training programs at this location. Its research efforts will be coordinated closely with programs currently offered on its Socorro campus and will include research initiatives regarding dirty bomb detection; suicide bomb detection; and oil and gas infrastructure protection. New Mexico Tech's training efforts will focus on providing advanced skills training for emergency personnel and will build on the first responder training currently offered by the university.

New Mexico State University will focus its efforts on conducting research and developing complementary programming that will protect our Nation's natural and agricultural resources from biological security breaches. Though significant natural biological security breaches have occurred in the past decade, current security trends indicate that in the near term even greater risks may be associated with breaches maliciously perpetrated by terrorist organizations. NMSU's research efforts would focus on securing our Nation's agricultural and biological environments that would include developing a state-of-the- art rural border crossing facility with testing and engineering facilities. This would include assessing our Nation's agricultural security infrastructure, preventative activities, training programs, and response protocols.

The Playas purchase would add significantly to the DHS infrastructure arsenal by providing a working town for real world training scenarios like those carried out at Hogan's Alley, a mock town used to train agents at the FBI's training academy in Quantico, VA. I believe that this could prove to be a very useful piece of property for the Department of Homeland Security. There are undoubtedly a number of possibilities as to potential uses for this land, including an infrastructure protection and training center. We all recognize that real world training for first responders and anti-terrorist organizations within our government will be of vital importance to accomplishing our mission. Because the entire necessary infrastructure is in place, this town could be used for training personnel charged with protecting our homeland. Furthermore, our Nation must be able to handle agricultural and biological outbreaks that could significantly harm our citizens and crate chaos in our agricultural sector. Playas is the perfect location to study and train against these problems.

I suggest that the Department of Homeland Security work with NM Tech to purchase this town. I am certain it could be a great training and research asset for the new Department.

first responder training

Mr. President, I express my concern about the Committee recommendation for the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, which is provided $140 million in the Senate version of the FY 2004 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill.

I understand the desire of the Committee to give the Department of Homeland Security the maximum flexibility to identify threats and appropriately respond to them. However, there are ongoing programs that I believe deserve the Committee's support and that need to be put in place to assist with this important responsibility.

The National Domestic Preparedness Consortium is one of those programs. I believe the consortium needs about double the amount in the current bill to meet the need to train our first responders--our firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical personnel.

The National Domestic Preparedness consortium was created with the able guidance and support of Senator Gregg following the 1998 Oklahoma City bombing tragedy. Senator Gregg has been the leader in the Senate in recognizing the potential threat of terrorism and providing direction and funding to prepare the nation to respond to this threat in his position as Chairman of the Committee, Justice, State, and the Judiciary Appropriations Subcommittee.

The consortium, which includes the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology as one of its training partners, has the expertise to train our first responders in conventional explosives.

New Mexico Tech alone has trained more than 6,000 first responders at its one-week advanced course, and more than 40,000 first responders in its general course.

The other consortium training partners--Texas A&M University, Louisiana State University, and the Nevada Test Site--have unique facilities and expertise to give our first responders the best training, and coordinated training that is so important during an emergency situation. The consortium is led by the National Preparedness Center at Fort McClellan, AL.

I firmly believe we need to support the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium with the funding needed to fully utilize its capacity and to train as quickly as possible the additional thousands of first responders who need training in a comprehensive and coordinated fashion.

The $20 million provided to each of the four training partners in the consortium is below the $30 million they each received in FY 2001 and FY 2002. It is an artificial level developed with the delay in enacting the FY 2003 appropriations bills that eventually passed as a consolidated bill this past February, nearly five full months into the fiscal year.

I hope as this bill moves forward that we will recognize this extremely valuable homeland security asset and will provide significantly more funding for the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium in the final bill so that we can train our first responders without delay.

Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry: Are we currently in morning business?

Mr. President, I want to first say to the distinguished majority leader that I was privileged to be here for part of the comments on the floor. As usual, today he brings to the floor of the Senate a tremendously difficult issue confronting the American people. What he spoke of in terms of spam and our kids is a tough one. We have to solve it. I believe his response to his own question about whether it can be solved is that it can be solved. It is going to be tough. I hope we can get some good Senators to put their shoulders to it and see what we can do about getting it stopped.

(The remarks of Mr. Domenici pertaining to the introduction of S. 1432 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, Democrats--not all, but some, predominantly those running for President of the United States--have questioned United States intelligence and war with Iraq based on 16 words. Republicans have made a comprehensive case based on facts, recent history, and protecting the American people. Democrats', in my opinion, politically motivated case, questions intelligence and a war with Iraq in the following words found in the address by the President:

The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein

recently sought significant quantities of uranium from

Africa.

The case for going to war was not made by those words.

No. 1, it was made on the proposition of protecting the American people.

On a September morning, threats that had gathered for

years, in secret and far away, led to murder in our country

on a massive scale. As a result, we must look at our security

in a new way, because our country is a battlefield in the

first war of the 21st century. We learned a lesson: The

dangers of our

time must be confronted actively and forcefully, before we

see them again in our skies and in our cities. And we set a

goal: we will not allow the triumph of hatred and violence in

the affairs of men.

That is from a speech President Bush made to the American

Enterprise Institute on February 26, 2003.

Possession of the world's most deadly weapons is the

ultimate trump card. . . . Should we take the risk that

[Saddam] will not someday use these weapons at a time and a

place and in a manner of his choosing . . . ? The U.S. will

not and cannot run that risk to the American people. That is

not an option, not in a post-September 11 world.

That is from the presentation Secretary Powell made to the United Nations Security Council on February 5, 2003.

The second reason to go to war was the refusal to disarm:

Saddam Hussein has been under a duty to disarm for more

than a decade. Yet he has consistently and systematically

violated that obligation and undermined U.N. inspections. And

he only admitted to a massive biological weapons program

after being confronted with the evidence.

That is from a radio address to the Nation President Bush made on December 7, 2002.

The third reason to go to war was the refusal to allow weapons inspections:

Iraq has undermined the effectiveness of weapons inspectors

with ploys, delays, and threats--making their work impossible

and leading to four years of no inspections at all.

That is from a press conference President Bush gave on November 8, 2002.

The fourth reason to go to war was the use of biological and chemical weapons:

Now, what makes him even more unique is the fact that he's actually gassed his own people. He has used weapons of mass destruction on neighboring countries and he's used weapons of mass destruction on his own citizenry.

That is from a press conference President George Bush gave on October 21, 2002.

The fifth reason for going to war--chemical weapons:

We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of

chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX

nerve gas. Saddam Hussein also has experience in using

chemical weapons. He has ordered chemical attacks on Iran,

and on more than forty villages in his own country. These

actions killed or injured at least 20,000 people, more

than six times the number of people who died in the

attacks of September the 11th.

That is from President Bush's Cincinnati speech on October 7, 2002.

Earlier today, I ordered America's armed forces to strike

military and security targets in Iraq. Their mission is to

attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons

programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors.

Their purpose is to protect the national interest of the

United States.

That is from a speech to the Nation by President Bill Clinton on December 16, 1998.

The sixth reason for going to war--biological weapons:

It was then that the regime was forced to admit that it had

produced more than 30,000 liters of anthrax and other deadly

biological agents. The inspectors, however, concluded that

Iraq had likely produced two to four times that amount. This

is a massive stockpile of biological weapons that has never

been accounted for, and capable of killing millions.

That is from President George W. Bush's Cincinnati speech on October 7, 2002.

Although criticizing the Bush Administration for its

``sudden burst of urgency'' to go after Saddam, he did not

dispute the Iraqi dictator's possession of prohibited weapons

and stated on September 23, 2001: ``We know that he has

stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons

throughout his country.''

That is from the Washington Times of June 4, 2003.

No. 7, concealed WMD production:

In 2001, an Iraqi defector, Adnan Ihsan Saeed al-Haideri,

said he had visited twenty secret facilities for chemical,

biological and nuclear weapons. Mr. Saeed, a civil engineer,

supported his claims with stacks or Iraqi government

contracts, complete with technical specifications. Mr. Saeed

said Iraq used companies to purchase equipment with the

blessing of the United Nations--and then secretly used the

equipment for their weapons programs.''

This came from ``A Decade of Deception and Defiance,'' a

briefing document to accompany President George W. Bush's

speech to the U.N., September 12, 2002.

No. 8, Saddam Hussein's atrocities:

The government continues to execute summarily alleged

political opponents and leaders in the Shi'a religious

community. Reports suggest that persons were executed merely

because of their association with an opposition group or as

part of a continuing effort to reduce prison populations.''

This came from ``A Decade of Deception and Defiance,'' a

briefing document to accompanying President George W. Bush's

speech to the U.N., September 12, 2002.

No. 9, links to terrorists:

Iraq shelters terrorist groups including the Mujahedin-e-

Khalq Organization (MKO), which has used terrorist violence

against Iran and in the 1970s was responsible for killing

several U.S. military personnel and U.S. civilians; the

Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), which is known for aerial

attacks against Israel and is headed by Abu Abbas, who

carries out the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille

Lauro; and the Abu Nidal Organization, an international

terrorist organization that has carried out terrorist attacks

in twenty countries, killing or injuring almost 900 people.

This came from ``A Decade of Deception and Defiance,'' a

briefing document to accompany President George W. Bush's

speech to the U.N., September 12, 2002.

No. 10, peace and stability in the Middle East:

And there is no doubt that his aggressive regional

ambitions will lead him into future confrontations with his

neighbors--confrontations that will involve both the weapons

he has today, and the ones he will continue to develop with

his oil wealth.

This was Vice President Cheney in a speech to VFW

convention, August 26, 2002.

No. 11, nuclear weapons:

The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its

nuclear weapons program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous

meetings with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group he calls his

``nuclear mujahideen''--his nuclear holy warriors. Satellite

photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding facilities at

sites that have been part of its nuclear program in the past.

Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes

and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are

used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.

This was President George W. Bush, the Cincinnati speech,

October 7, 2002.

On the nuclear question, many of you will recall that

Saddam's nuclear ambitions suffered a severe setback in 1981

when the Israelis bombed the Osirak reactor. They suffered

another major blow in Desert Storm and its aftermath.

This was Vice President Cheney in a speech to VFW

convention, August 26, 2002.

There is no doubt in my mind that these and many more are the reasons we went to war. These and many more are the reasons Americans supported the war. These and many more are the reasons they still support the war. These and many more are the reasons they hope this war ends in a successful peace. These reasons and many more, not the 26 words that are being argued about, are the reasons Americans supported our President in the war, supported our troops in the war, support both of them today, and support both in a genuine American hope that peace will ensue.

Already there are some fruits of this effort in the Middle East. We hadn't seen for a long time the meetings between the Israelis and the Palestinians that we have been seeing. This war had something to do with that. Let's hope it is the beginning of peace.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I want to talk about two things: One is strictly domestic and another is international.

First, I am introducing a bill today in behalf of myself, Senator Hagel, and Senator Bingaman.

I will start this discussion with a chart. The dark brown on this map are counties in these United States--you will note that they are predominantly in the West--with arsenic concentrations exceeding 10 parts per billion or more in the water sampling. The little bit lighter ones are counties with 5 parts per billion. The little bit lighter ones are counties with 3 parts per billion. And, the very light ones are counties with fewer than 10 parts per billion.

Arsenic is a very prevalent compound or chemical in the United States. Communities in the State of New Mexico and throughout the country are going to face, very soon, a very costly situation not of their own making. Beginning in the year 2000, Federal drinking water regulations established by the Environmental Protection Agency will require substantial reductions in the amount of arsenic present in water.

Today, the limit is 50 parts per billion. In 2006, it will become 10 parts per billion.

When I was referring a while ago to these colorations, this dark brown is parts per billion. Today the limit is 50. In 2006, it will become 10 parts per billion. Arsenic is indeed poisonous if used in large amounts. It is naturally occurring, however, in much of the ground water throughout the Nation.

That means there have been people living for as long as they have lived in areas that have naturally occurring arsenic in the ground water. Believe it or not, fellow citizens, they have been drinking that water.

What is so strange about it is that we don't have any evidence it has been killing them. We don't have any evidence it has been hurting them. But actually there are scientific tests on which the Environmental Protection Agency relied, I regret to tell you, that, in this Senator's opinion, are very meager in terms of their strength, and they predominate in foreign countries. However, the law has been interpreted to say that, in 2006, drinking water systems will be down to 10 parts per billion or they will be in violation of this Federal law.

In my home city of Albuquerque, which is shown on this second map I have put up--there is Albuquerque; you see there is the very dark brown--there are around 13 parts per billion. This illustrates the problem the new standard

will create. This bill recognizes that in some parts of the United States, and of my State, the burden will become so great that some communities just will not be able to bear it. They have to go through-- at least today--a whole new cleanup system for their domestic water. Whatever they have been doing, they must do it all another way.

Although our scientists are busy at work, No. 1, trying to figure an easier way to clean it up, we are also having some of them busy at work trying to offer us more evidence that it is not dangerous to have Albuquerquians drink the water that must be cleaned up and water in water systems in many other parts of my State and in other parts of America.

But this bill goes on to say that small communities may not have the resources to meet these standards and may need help, and it creates a grant program for the small communities to help them upgrade these systems and ensures them that not less than 20 percent of the grant moneys go to communities with fewer than 50,000 residents. And the bill authorizes appropriations of $1.9 billion for fiscal year 2004 and for each year through 2009.

In New Mexico, the geology, the make up of the rocks and dirt, results in relatively high levels of arsenic in the groundwater. However, over time, New Mexico residents have not experienced higher levels of diseases associated with arsenic. Be that as it may, many small communities throughout New Mexico and the west will not be able to meet the financial burden. Because of this, I believe it is important to aid communities in meeting the coming standards. The financial burden facing many communities and individuals is great.

The new standards could cost New Mexico communities between $370 to $440 million to improve treatment systems, plus $18 million a year in operating costs.

Albuquerque, alone, is looking at having to spend $150 million to come into compliance. Its sister city, right across the river, Rio Rancho--our second largest city--is facing $60 million in improvements. And many individuals in small communities throughout the West are facing increases in their water bills of $50 to $90 a month just to pay for the cleanup. Most people cannot afford such an increase.

This legislation will help these communities in upgrading their systems and training their people. We are forcing communities to comply with drinking water standards that many believe will not increase public health. The least we can do is help them meet the burden.

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

Mr. President, I want to talk about two things: One is strictly domestic and another is international.

First, I am introducing a bill today in behalf of myself, Senator Hagel, and Senator Bingaman.

I will start this discussion with a chart. The dark brown on this map are counties in these United States--you will note that they are predominantly in the West--with arsenic concentrations exceeding 10 parts per billion or more in the water sampling. The little bit lighter ones are counties with 5 parts per billion. The little bit lighter ones are counties with 3 parts per billion. And, the very light ones are counties with fewer than 10 parts per billion.

Arsenic is a very prevalent compound or chemical in the United States. Communities in the State of New Mexico and throughout the country are going to face, very soon, a very costly situation not of their own making. Beginning in the year 2000, Federal drinking water regulations established by the Environmental Protection Agency will require substantial reductions in the amount of arsenic present in water.

Today, the limit is 50 parts per billion. In 2006, it will become 10 parts per billion.

When I was referring a while ago to these colorations, this dark brown is parts per billion. Today the limit is 50. In 2006, it will become 10 parts per billion. Arsenic is indeed poisonous if used in large amounts. It is naturally occurring, however, in much of the ground water throughout the Nation.

That means there have been people living for as long as they have lived in areas that have naturally occurring arsenic in the ground water. Believe it or not, fellow citizens, they have been drinking that water.

What is so strange about it is that we don't have any evidence it has been killing them. We don't have any evidence it has been hurting them. But actually there are scientific tests on which the Environmental Protection Agency relied, I regret to tell you, that, in this Senator's opinion, are very meager in terms of their strength, and they predominate in foreign countries. However, the law has been interpreted to say that, in 2006, drinking water systems will be down to 10 parts per billion or they will be in violation of this Federal law.

In my home city of Albuquerque, which is shown on this second map I have put up--there is Albuquerque; you see there is the very dark brown--there are around 13 parts per billion. This illustrates the problem the new standard

will create. This bill recognizes that in some parts of the United States, and of my State, the burden will become so great that some communities just will not be able to bear it. They have to go through-- at least today--a whole new cleanup system for their domestic water. Whatever they have been doing, they must do it all another way.

Although our scientists are busy at work, No. 1, trying to figure an easier way to clean it up, we are also having some of them busy at work trying to offer us more evidence that it is not dangerous to have Albuquerquians drink the water that must be cleaned up and water in water systems in many other parts of my State and in other parts of America.

But this bill goes on to say that small communities may not have the resources to meet these standards and may need help, and it creates a grant program for the small communities to help them upgrade these systems and ensures them that not less than 20 percent of the grant moneys go to communities with fewer than 50,000 residents. And the bill authorizes appropriations of $1.9 billion for fiscal year 2004 and for each year through 2009.

In New Mexico, the geology, the make up of the rocks and dirt, results in relatively high levels of arsenic in the groundwater. However, over time, New Mexico residents have not experienced higher levels of diseases associated with arsenic. Be that as it may, many small communities throughout New Mexico and the west will not be able to meet the financial burden. Because of this, I believe it is important to aid communities in meeting the coming standards. The financial burden facing many communities and individuals is great.

The new standards could cost New Mexico communities between $370 to $440 million to improve treatment systems, plus $18 million a year in operating costs.

Albuquerque, alone, is looking at having to spend $150 million to come into compliance. Its sister city, right across the river, Rio Rancho--our second largest city--is facing $60 million in improvements. And many individuals in small communities throughout the West are facing increases in their water bills of $50 to $90 a month just to pay for the cleanup. Most people cannot afford such an increase.

This legislation will help these communities in upgrading their systems and training their people. We are forcing communities to comply with drinking water standards that many believe will not increase public health. The least we can do is help them meet the burden.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order that I speak for 1 minute with reference to the nomination of Robert C. Brack, which is currently going to be accepted by the Senate.

I didn't know you wanted to speak. I saw the calendar said that he was going to be accepted.

Mr. President, in a couple moments the Senate will approve Robert C. Brack for district court judge of New Mexico. It is not always easy to find somebody, when you recommend them and they have finished this process and received, as in this case, full approval of the Democratic Senator--the committee approved them rather quickly--it is not always easy to find that kind of person. And then secondly, it is not always easy to know that you have really got the right individual, that they are going to do justice to that terrific responsibility which is theirs for such a long period of time under our Constitution. But in this man's case, I am certain of both. I am certain he is as good as there is. Far be it for me to say he

is the very best in New Mexico. Who knows that? But he is very good at the law.

Secondly, after being good at law, he had a shot at being a judge, and he was a very good judge at the district court level where you have general jurisdiction. When you add all that together, you just feel good about it. And you can end up telling the Senate, thank you this evening in advance and the President, thank you for sending this man to New Mexico to become a district judge in our State.

I yield the floor. If I offended or sought precedence over the distinguished Senator, I did not intend to. I apologize.

Mr. President, on behalf of myself and Senators Bingaman, Craig and Akaka--colleagues from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources--I am pleased to introduce legislation recently transmitted by the Administration that would strengthen our Nation's relationship with two Pacific Island nations with which we have a special bond--the Federated States of Micronesia, FSM, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, RMI.

The United States has a long history of involvement in the islands of Micronesia in the Western Pacific--from 19th century voyages of Nantucket whaling ships, that inspired the literature of Herman Melville, to the development of nuclear weapons and missile defense systems that are cornerstones of our Nation's military strength. In 1947, following the bloody battles of World War II on the beaches of Kwajalein and Saipan, our nation's role changed fundamentally when the United States became Administrator of the region under the United Nation's Trusteeship system. As Administrator of the U.N. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the United States governed the islands for over forty years; not as an occupation force or as sovereign, but with the obligation to promote the political, economic, and social development of the inhabitants.

In 1986, the United States fulfilled its obligation to the U.N. with respect to the islands of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands following implementation of the Compact of Free Association. The Compact formally ended U.S. Administration and allowed these countries to achieve self- government and recognition as full members of the community of nations. However, and most significantly, the Compact also allowed the United States and these new nations to maintain the special relationship forged during the Trusteeship. For seventeen years now, the Compact has continued to provide for mutual defense as well as political and economic stability in a region of vital interest to the United States.

The legislation being introduced today is necessary to update and extend various provisions of the Compact, particularly the economic assistance provisions that are due to expire on September 30 of this year. Representatives of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and the United States have invested tremendous effort over the past four years in negotiating these amendments. We commend Al Short, Peter Christian, and Gerald Zackios, the U.S., FSM, and RMI negotiators, respectively, for their years of work to strengthen the Compact and the special relationship between our nations.

The agreements reached by the negotiators, as reflected by this legislation, would provide the resources needed to assure continued economic development and mutual security in the islands. Pursuant to those agreements, trust funds will be established to provide a mechanism for the eventual phase-out of annual financial assistance from the United States. The parties have also agreed to changes that will assure greater accountability and effectiveness in the use of U.S. financial and program assistance. Continued access to the vitally important Ronald Reagan Missile Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll is provided. The Compact's immigration provisions have been updated to reduce threats to our country's homeland security and to reduce the impact of migration on the neighboring islands of Hawaii, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. These changes are made while continuing to allow citizens of the FSM and RMI the opportunity to migrate to the United States as non-immigrants for education, employment, and residence.

Congressional consideration of this legislation comes at a time when the issue of nation-building is receiving increased attention. Our 60 years of experience of nation-building in Micronesia and the Marshall Islands underscores the importance of partnership, planning, adequate resources, and sustained commitment. The task in the former Trust Territory has turned out to be neither easy nor quick. However, virtually all who have examined the Compact agree that it has successfully met its objectives of promoting self-government, mutual defense and economic stability. There is also agreement that there is much more to be done. The FSM and RMI still have tremendous challenges in improving health and education and in further developing their economies so that they can provide health and education and in further developing their economies so that they can provide more resources to meet the basic needs of the people. This is a particularly daunting task given that each nation is dispersed over a vast area of the remote western Pacific Ocean.

We too face a considerable challenge given how little time we have to consider this package. The assistance provisions of the current Compact expire in just 11 weeks. While the negotiators have done an excellent job, it is our understanding that they, and the General Accounting Office, will present several issues to Congress for further consideration and we expect that there will be a need for fine-tuning the package.

We look forward to working with our colleagues in the Senate, House, and the Administration in trying to meet the demanding deadline, to consider these remaining issues, and to assure the continued success of the special relationship between the United States, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a friend and public servant of New Mexico, Dick Knipfing of Albuquerque.

A few years ago, a New Mexico research company conducted a statewide poll on the popularity of certain well-known people. My name was one of the most recognized, but I wasn't No. 1. The person best known and best liked by New Mexicans was Dick Knipfing.

He is not a politician. He has never been Governor, Senator, mayor, or on any city council. Dick is something more special to everyday citizens--he has been a nightly guest in their living rooms for 40 years.

In July 1963, Dick started as a reporter for the CBS affiliate in Albuquerque. He did it all. He shot and edited his own film, wrote his own scripts, and got to know some of the most influential people in New Mexico. Eventually, Dick became an anchor. Over the course of his career, he moved to the ABC affiliate, then to the NBC station, and back to ABC. This month, he celebrates his 40th anniversary in broadcast journalism at channel 13, the CBS station where it all started.

Since Dick returned to Channel 13, a station whose news had been in the ratings cellar, the station rapidly shot into head-to-head competition with other New Mexico news channels. There is one big reason--Dick Knipfing.

New Mexicans trust Dick as a veteran newsman. He is respected by his colleagues. He has been inducted into the Silver Circle Society by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, one of the organization's highest honors for a television journalist.

Dick Knipfing is revered by viewers because they easily discern that he is devoted to bringing them a comprehensive and accurate look at the day's major news events. Viewers have welcomed him into their homes, either as a reporter or anchor, because he has shown them that he cares very deeply for New Mexico and its people. Dick, and his wonderful wife, Charlene, have made Albuquerque and New Mexico their home, and integrated themselves into activities to make it a better place to live.

Like tens of thousands of New Mexicans, my wife Nancy and I have grown accustomed to Dick's face and his voice. As he marks his 40th anniversary in broadcast journalism, we hope there will be 40 more years of Dick Knipfing to represent the best in broadcasting.

Mr. President, I rise to congratulate the Office of Naval Research for the successful design review to begin development of the next great astronomical telescope. The Navy is the preeminent authority in the areas of Precise Time and Astrometry, and distributes Earth Orientation parameters and other Astronomical Data required for accurate navigation and fundamental astronomy. Now they are managing an international team to build the Magdalena Ridge Observatory, MRO, on a 10,000 foot mountain in central New Mexico. The Navy, along with the Air Force, Army, and a consortium of universities from the United States and the United Kingdom, will break ground on October 20 this year.

This month, the prestigious scientific journal, Physics Today, published a superbly written article that explains the MRO. The project will create a unique array of mirrors that can take pictures of bright celestial objects with a resolution equivalent to a huge telescope measuring 400 meters in diameter.

I ask that a copy of the article be printed in the Record.

The article follows.

New Mexico Plans Optical Interferometer and Fast-Slewing Telescope

How does a minor university land a major observatory? In

New Mexico Tech's case, it helped that the university has

access to a high, dark site, that the Magdalena Ridge

Observatory (MRO) will have national security applications,

and that the project has allies in Congress.

``We had a coalition of universities looking for an

observatory,'' says Van Romero, vice president for research

at New Mexico Tech (officially the New Mexico Institute of

Mining and Technology), which has around 1800 students and

110 faculty members. New Mexico Tech and its partners--New

Mexico State University, New Mexico Highlands University, and

the University of Puerto Rico--learned that the US Army's

neighboring White Sands Missile Range wanted better missile

tracking capability and the Air Force Research Laboratory in

Albuquerque was interested in developing adaptive optics.

``We seemed to have a critical mass--universities, along with

more than one military user,'' says Romero. Representative

Joe Skeen and Senator Pete Domenici, both New Mexico

Republicans, supported creating the MRO because the potential

for education outreach, adaptive optics research, and world-

class astronomy ``all came together in a happy confluence of

ideas,'' says Stephen Traver, a legislative fellow in

Domenici's office who used to work for the now retired

Skeen. Domenici led the way in winning a congressional markup

for the $48 million observatory.

The observatory's future home is on a ridge in the

Magdalena mountains near Socorro, about 130 kilometers south

of Albuquerque. Besides the clear skies and roughly 3200-

meter-high perch, the site's advantages include that it is

near both White Sands and New Mexico Tech, it has room for

the observatory to expand, and it has a road and other

infrastructure already serving ecological and atmospheric

studies and the university's lightning lab (see box).

The MRO will consist of an optical-infrared interferometer

with eight to ten 1.4-meter telescopes in a reconfigurable Y-

shaped array up to 400 meters long plus a single 2.4-meter

telescope. Groundbreaking is scheduled for 20 October.

stars and scuds

The MRO array will have a large number of bigger elements

distributed over a wider range of baselines than any other

optical interferometer in the works, says Chris Haniff, whose

University of Cambridge group is involved in the project.

MRO's angular resolution, he adds, ``will be a factor of a

hundred higher than the Hubble Space Telescope. That means

that for any class of astronomical object, you can see more

detail.''

``One of the exciting things we think we will be able to do

is to look at the central engines of active galactic

nuclei,'' says David Westpfahl, project scientist for the MRO

interferometer. ``All the models have a massive object at the

center, such as a black hole, and an accretion disk and polar

outflow, but the detailed shape and arrangement of these

things are still being worked on. We hope to be able to

resolve several of these objects and decide among the

models.'' The MRO interferometer will also be used to deduce

the relative rotational axes of stars in clusters, which

could shed light on the importance of turbulence in star

formation, and to study other aspects of star birth, as well

as star aging and planet formation.

Fast slewing is the special feature of MRO's single

telescope. It will be able to zip to a particular part of the

sky at 10 deg. per second. The slewing was initially

incorporated to accommodate the US Army. The MRO offers a

good look at target missiles fired from Fort Wingate in

western New Mexico, says Tomas C. Chavez, chief of test

technology at White Sands. ``We could collect phenomenology

data during the target's boost and coast phases to help home

in on the target with an interceptor.'' Adds Romero, ``This

is a match made in heaven. The army wants to use [the

telescope] during the day and early morning, we want to use

it at night.'' The 2.4-meter mirror was donated by the air

force. Originally intended for classified space-based

research, it has hardware added to keep it from sagging in

Earth's gravitational field.

Astronomers will take advantage of the fast slewing, too.

``One big use of the telescope will be `alert response to

transient astrophysical phenomema,' '' says project scientist

Eileen Ryan. ``An example would be to find the optical

counterpart of gamma-ray bursts.'' For that, the telescope

would automatically interrupt other observations when it

receives signals from Swift, a satellite NASA is supposed to

launch in December. The MRO telescope, Ryan adds, will be

bigger and will slew faster than other ground-based

telescopes currently hunting for GRBs (see Physics Today,

July 2002, pages 24 and 25). Mostly, though, the 2.4-meter

telescope will be devoted to studying ``small Solar system

bodies--asteriods, comets, and Kuiper Belt objects,'' says

Ryan. ``We want to use the telescope to ask how fast

asteroids are spinning. How big are they? What are their

shapes?

possible with pork

What with the MRO being funded directly by Congress, the

project often gets labeled as pork. Says Romero, ``Without

this type of funding, we would not be able to build it. But

we think this is a facility that funding agencies like NASA

and NSF will take the opportunity to fund research at.'' And,

unusual for a federally funded project, New Mexico Tech and

its partners will foot the running costs, estimated at $2

million a year. If all goes as planned, the single telescope

would see first light in 2005, and the interferometer could

be up and running a couple years laters.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The hearing will be held on Tuesday, July 15, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony regarding the Compact of Free Association with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send two copies of their testimony to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510-6150.

For further information, please contact Meghan Beal at 202.224.7556 or [email protected].

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The hearing will be held on Thursday, July 17, at 10 a.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

This is the second in a series of hearings devoted to the improved understanding of the governance of the Department of Energy laboratories and approaches to optimize the capability of those laboratories to respond to national needs.

The purpose of this second hearing is to contrast the management of science and technology resources by the Department of Energy with management of such resources in other agencies and in the private sector towards the goal of suggesting approaches for optimizing the DOE's management and use of its science and technology resources.

Because of the limited time available for the hearings, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send two copies of their testimony to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510-6150.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The hearing will take place on Wednesday, July 16, at 2:30 p.m. in Room 366 Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.

The purpose of this hearing is to consider the nomination of Suedeen G. Kelly to be a Member at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

For further information, please contact Judy Pensabene of the Committee staff at 202-224-1327.

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

Parliamentary inquiry: What is pending before the Senate?

The Senator from New Mexico desires to proceed as in morning business.

Mr. President, I was in my office and I regret that I was unable to be in the Chamber when the distinguished majority leader, Dr. Bill Frist, gave a rather elaborate, detailed, and enlightened discussion regarding illnesses, ailments, cures, and the evolution of diseases in this country and in the world.

I commend him for that. Had I been in the Chamber at that time, I would have taken the opportunity to present him with the first document that the Senator from New Mexico is having printed. It will be something that I choose to call ``The Hope-filled Senator.'' The hope- filled Senator is the story of America's future in terms of diseases, prescriptions, and cures. It is my own story of what I believe is going to happen to prescription drugs, to the medical profession, and to the delivery of health care over the next 30 to 40 years.

I am hoping that this very brief summary of the hope-filled Senator's thoughts will be of some help to Senators and people who are so worried about the costs of prescription drugs. Will it really work; will we really have enough money to do it or not?

Today, I will not repeat the contents of this hope-filled statement that I delivered as the Senator from New Mexico, calling myself a hope- filled Senator.

Suffice it to say that when one discusses a program of the magnitude of this prescription drug program, that it is absolutely imperative that it is looked at from more than one vantage point. One vantage point is to look at it as Senators did on the Senate floor, in the back rooms and in caucuses. We talked about the specifics of who is going to get the drugs, how much is it going to cost, will we have enough money, and are we going to be able to pay for it? We asked will America go bankrupt? Will Medicare really survive and will it be competitive? Are we really building into the system? We examined the ingredients that are so well known for bringing prices down. We examined competition for delivery and competition for business. All of that is one way to look at it.

One must look at it that way, but another way to look at it is to try to think of what is going to happen to health delivery and medical care during the ensuing 10, 20, 30, or 40 years. The hope-filled Senator is talking about those things as he looks at the next four decades.

By way of recapitulation of what was in my statement of a hope-filled Senator, there are three or four big things. We finished mapping the chromosomes of the human anatomy. We call that the genome system. That means that after years of mankind researching to try to find where in the chromosome of the human body was the aberration that caused multiple sclerosis, and years of research at various institutions to locate the gene, or the number of genes that caused, perhaps, schizophrenia--what we finally did in a record period was to take them all, map them and index them. We can say we know where they all are. We do not have to go looking for them anymore.

I do not mean to make this a big thing, because people sometimes think they do not have to worry about it. But this is a big thing. For years, even in our lifetime, we can remember reading a story that would leave the medical journals and be big enough to hit the newspapers. The story would say, ``Michigan State group of researchers discover the location on the genome system of a multiple sclerosis gene.'' Remember that? Boy, that was big time.

Soon, I am going to hand to the majority leader the first copy of a document called ``The Hope-filled Senator.'' I am going to have it encapsulated with gold print. It is the hope-filled Senator's other side of the story. It is the story of the delivery system of health care during the next 40 or 50 years as it most assuredly will impact on this prescription drug system.

I did not go bother a bunch of scientists in putting this document together. So, they may find this document lacking. But what I did, and I repeat it now because our leader is in the Chamber, I used four or five big things that are going to change. I started with the genome mapping, indicating that we have now located the aberrations on the chromosome system of the anatomy of every known disease from which mankind suffers.

Why is that important in the hope-filled Senator's dissertation regarding prescription drugs? Because there is no question during the delivery system that we tried so valiantly to find out how much it is going to cost. During that time many diseases for which we are spending huge amounts of money in prescriptions are going to be cured. Researches will know where where the illnesses are and they will be able to research how to fix them. And, they are going to fix many of them.

What does that mean? That means many of the expected costs that the Congressional Budget Office plugged into their estimates are going to be different. Indeed, there are going to be prescription drug breakthroughs that come from this genome mapping that are going to clearly indicate that there are different ways to do what we are doing today. We can achieve better results. So, as I said this will dramatically change the delivery system of health care.

I was foolish enough, as a hope-filled Senator, to predict that before the turn of 40 years the hospitals in America will not be the hospitals of today. I predicted that we would have hospitals that are going to be more concerned with genetics than with the individual curing of an ailment.

I did not dream that up. When I first started working on genomes, I had a magnificent, wonderful doctor who egged me on, and he was the inventor of Tylenol. He used to sit in my office and talk with me. He used to draw what he thought a hospital might look like in 30 or 40 years. I used to laugh and throw the drawings away. He drew a center where you would check your gene system and they would tell you, as you left, what was wrong with you and how they would fix you. Or if you got sick, that is what they would plug in. That would be the hospital.

He is still alive; he is currently practicing as a very old doctor. He joined up with doctors who are down in the South delivering health care to poor people free. He does this just because he wants to keep on being a doctor. He was so thrilled that he hooked me on this concept that we never lost contact.

In this hope-filled sermon, we start with that.

Then I said, the American economy is going to change so rapidly in terms of its productivity and, at the same time, produce new things because of nanoscience. I defined nanoscience as the newest science that is so unique, and so way out, that today's scientists are saying we will not recognize the products that humanity will be using because of nanoscience. They are practicing a science of changing the molecules that make up a substance. Imagine, compare that with making zinc by adding a couple of compounds. That science is today's industry. They will be changing the molecular makeup so things change and become something different.

It is predicted with the five centers that exist in America today on nanoscience, and many more to come, that the breakthroughs, once they start, will occur with such rapidity that the productivity in America and in the world will change. That means those who make medicine and cures will be part of picking up that change and those breakthroughs also.

The third that I am aware of, and there are probably some I am missing, is a most incredible science. For lack of better terminology it is called microengineering or the production of microengines.

I visited the Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico. They wanted to show me microengines. I thought, you have to be kidding; what kind of engines could there be that are so small they have now reached this level? They showed me. Microengines are so small. Now we have in the computer business a chip, and on the surface of the chip we can put these different things, and that is how we get these millions of megabytes. Now it is trillions and numbers we did not even used to use. They actually create engines that are so small they put them on a chip, but they can be synchronized and organized as engines on that little chip.

The engines look to me something like an oil patch when you see the drilling wells with the pumps. They are so small you could never see them unless you used an extremely powerful microscope.

What will happen with these engines? We do not know. But, they have a hypothesis. It is entirely possible that one of the first things we will do with these engines is organize them so well that we will be able to inject them in the human body. They will be directed to do some work, and they will do it like they are told. And, believe it or not, they possibly will go in and eat what you want them to eat. They will be able to go into the heart system to open up areas we worry are clogged. These little microengines will dissolve those clogs for you.

Those are engineers that can do that work. We will not even have to send patients over to Vanderbilt University to a bunch of scientists or heart specialists.

There will be huge numbers of breakthroughs if we add those three things to a vibrant American economy. We must not mess up by causing the American economic system to go to sleep. We must keep the economy vibrant, by doing the right things in terms of taxing the right things and not the wrong things. If we continue to fund the right research instead of the wrong things, and we keep on funding NIH but maybe we reach the point where 10 percent a year might be enough and maybe we move over and fund some physical science like the Energy Department

and a few other institutions of our Government that are doing basic science so physical science can catch up with the biological sciences. There will be huge numbers of breakthroughs.

My hope-filled delivery dissertation says: Don't be so worried about whether we will be able to deliver on what we promise. We may be able to deliver even more than we think we are going to deliver. And let's just watch out that in putting the system together--and I know the majority leader has been worried about this--that we don't just put bureaucracy in place where it inhibits the injection of these new things into the delivery system.

That is why HCFA, which this Senator personally as a young Senator found was such a terrible inhibitor to delivering appropriate care had to be changed. The management tool had grown so big that all we heard as Senators when we went home to our hospitals, to our doctors, to our clinics, to those centers that were taking care of people in shelters, all we heard was HCFA is messed up so badly that we are doing worse with their rules than if we did not have any rules. It was so bad once that I thought I would come back here and introduce a bill that recommended we experiment with 100 places where we will treat seniors with no regulations. We would look at them once every 6 months. And take a chance and see if they are not better run and the people taken care of better and cheaper than those who have to have someone checking off every time an apple was delivered to a senior that happened to have been decayed, if it was brown and faulty. At one time, you had to note that you delivered a bad apple, literally, to a senior.

Now, frankly, I know a lot about fiscal policy.

I know a lot of experts on this bill who are worried about whether we are going to have enough money to deliver under this system. But I chose to go over it and spend a little bit of time on it. Once I decided we were going to try this and to talk about this, I say to my friend, the majority leader--yesterday afternoon while he was still burdened, I sat down and wrote on a piece of paper what the score would be at whatever hour we voted last night. What I wrote down was the vote would be 78 yes, and 22 no. The vote turned out to be 76-21. I think I know what happened to one of them who would have made it 77, the Senator from Pennsylvania. But I think it became pretty clear to people like me that the Senate was ready. I had a hope they were ready, because even if they weren't, I had a hunch they had some hope we could get this done.

I am pleased to yield.

Thank you so much for your comments. I was very pleased to yield.

I just want to say, without hopes and dreams in these fields, there is no question we are overwhelmed. It is hopes and hope-filled ideas that keep us energized. But it does not mean we do not have a big job because, as a matter of fact, the hopes can truly be deenergized by systems that do not let it work. That is what we have to worry about.

In my opinion, the breakthroughs are going to be so rapid that the bureaucracy that manages the change is going to have to be looked at all the time by people who really know. The breakthroughs will occur, and it will make your 5-year example--of how long it took for the heart to go from being done to being accepted--it will make that example pale as compared to the breakthroughs that are going to be over and over and around here and over there. We think the new bureaucracy--which the Senator and others helped put together--will make that work better.

I do want to hold the floor. I thank the Senator.