Floor Statements

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, the recent shortage of H-2B nonimmigrant visas for ernporary or seasonal non-agricultural foreign workers is a matter of great concern to many small businesses in my home state of Maine, particularly those in the hospitality sector that rely on these seasonal workers to supplement their local employees during the height of the tourism season.

On January 4, a mere three months into fiscal year 2005, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, CIS, announced that it would immediately stop accepting applications for H-2B visas because the annual statutory cap of 66,000 visas had been met. In other words, many employers who require temporary workers in the spring, summer, or fall will be unable to hire such workers because all 66,000 H-2B visas already will have been issued within the first few months of the fiscal year. Once again, Maine's employers will be left out in the cold, disadvantaged by the simple fact of their later tourism season.

Without these visas, employers will be unable to hire enough workers to keep their businesses running at normal levels. Last year, unable to locate enough American workers willing and able to take these jobs, and without temporary foreign workers to fill the gap, many business owners were forced to initiate stop-gap measures that were neither ideal nor sustainable in the long term. Many of these businesses fear that, this year, they will have to decrease their hours of operation during what is their busiest time of year. This would translate into lost jobs for American workers, lost income for American businesses, and lost tax revenue from those businesses. These losses will be significant, and they can be avoided.

Today, I am pleased to join Senators Mikulski and Gregg, along with several other of my distinguished colleagues, in introducing the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2005. Similar to legislation that I cosponsored last year, as well as legislation that I have introduced in the current Congress, this bill would exclude from the cap returning workers who were counted against the cap within the past 3 years. This legislation also seeks to address the inequities in the current system by limiting the number of H-2B visas that can be issued in the first 6 months of the fiscal year to no more than 33,000 visas, or one half of the total number of visas available under the cap. By allocating visas equally between each half of the year, employers across the country, operating both in the winter and summer seasons, will have a fair and equal Opportunity to hire these much-needed workers.

In addition, this legislation includes important new anti-fraud provisions that will strengthen our ability to detect, prevent, and deter, fraud by those who would seek to abuse the H-2B program. These include sanctions for employers who are found to have misrepresented II If facts on an H-2B petition, and the creation of a Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee of $150 for each H-2B petition. Similar to anti-fraud fees charged in other visa categories, funds raised from this fee will be placed in an account with the U.S. Treasury and made available to the agencies involved in processing H-2B visas--CIS, the Department of Labor, and the Department of State--to educate and train employees to recognize and protect against fraud in the visa applicant process.

I believe that this anti-fraud fee serves a worthy goal, and that the government agencies should have the resources they need to ensure the integrity of the H-2B visa application process. However, I am concerned about the impact that a fee of this size, in addition to the filing fees that employers already pay, may have on many smaller businesses. I intend to examine this issue further in order to ensure that smaller businesses are not unfairly impacted by this provision.

We must act quickly on this legislation, or we will be too late to help thousands of American businesses that need our help now. We cannot be content to say: ``It's too late for this year; maybe next year.'' It is true that comprehensive, long-term solutions may be necessary, but we have immediate needs as well. This problem demands immediate solutions.

In my home state of Maine, the economic impact of this visa shortage will be harmful and widespread. When people think of Maine, what often comes to mind is its rugged coastline, picturesque towns and villages, and its abundant lakes and forests. Not surprisingly, tourism is the state's largest industry. Temporary and seasonal workers play an important role in this very important industry.

Unfortunately, there are not enough American workers willing and able to fill the thousands of jobs necessary to provide the level of service that Maine's visitors have come to expect. Over the years, seasonal workers have filled this gap, becoming an integral part of Maine's tourism and hospitality industry. In Fiscal Year 2003, the last time Maine's employers were able to fully utilize the H-2B program, Maine employed more than 3,000 seasonal workers. The majority of these individuals worked in the State's resorts, inns, hotels, and restaurants. Many are people who have returned to the same employer summer after summer.

Let me emphasize that employers are not permitted to hire these foreign workers unless they can prove that they have tried, and failed, to locate available and qualified American workers through advertising and other means. As a safeguard, current regulations require the U.S. Department of Labor to certify that such efforts have occurred before CIS will process the visa applications. In Maine, as in other States, our state Department of Labor takes the lead in ensuring that employers have taken sufficient steps to try to find local workers to fill the positions. Unless and until more H-2B visas are made available, many seasonal jobs will remain unfilled and American businesses will suffer.

A similar situation faces Maine's forest products industry, which contributes approximately $5.6 billion annually to Maine's economy. In 2003, more than 600 temporary workers--mostly from Canada--were employed as forestry workers in Maine. Many work in remote areas of the state where there are not enough Americans able to take these jobs. By some estimates, these foreign workers account for as much as 30-40 percent of the wood fiber that supplies paper and saw mills throughout Maine and the Northeast. This number represents roughly 4.8 million tons of wood annually. With an already significant shortage in the wood supply, the loss of these temporary workers poses a serious threat to the industry and to Maine's economy. With fewer workers available to bring wood out of the forest and into mills, supplies will dwindle, prices will continue to rise, and mills may be forced to curtail production, or even temporarily discontinue operations. If this happens, it is American workers that may lose their jobs.

The effects of the H-2B visa shortage are not limited to the tourism and forest products industries, however. It will also be felt by fisheries and lobstermen, junior league hockey and minor league baseball teams. It win affect small businesses and large, visitors and locals, young and old, from Maine to Maryland, to Wyoming and Alaska.

Mr. President, the shortage of nonimmigrant temporary or seasonal worker visas is a problem that must be addressed, and soon. I believe that this legislation offers a workable short-term solution, and I urge us to move forward. We must resist the tendency to let this problem, and the people who are affected by it, become entangled in the larger debate about our Nation's

immigration policies. This is not about the number of immigrants we should allow to come to the United States each year, or what to do with those who violate our immigration laws. It is about temporary workers who, for the most part, respect our laws, go home at the end of their authorized stay, and in many cases, return again next year to provide services that benefit our Nation's economy. It is about American businesses that rely on these workers to take jobs that many Americans do not want. It is about the economic impact that will be felt across the Nation if these businesses are unable to hire temporary workers. We need to solve this problem now, before it is too late and our economy is harmed and jobs lost.

Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I rise in support of the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act being introduced by Senator Mikulski today. This legislation offers a measured approach to provide needed relief to the many small businesses that have been struggling to find enough employees to operate during seasonal spikes in workload. Small businesses that are seasonal often need a large number of employees for a short portion of the year, but cannot afford to retain the same number of people as full-time, year-round employees. They instead must rely on temporary workers to fill the gap in their high season. In my home State of Maryland, for example, our seafood processors are busy in the summer and early fall, but have very little work in the winter. To accommodate this changing need, they hire college students and local residents as extra workers in the summer. But even with those workers they often find themselves short-staffed. So they turn to temporary employees who are willing to leave their home countries for a few months to come to the U.S. and work.

Specifically, the bill being introduced today will allow anyone who has had an H-2B visa for one of the last 3 years to return this summer or next if an employer petitions for them to do so. Importantly, employers still must demonstrate that they have tried and failed to find available, qualified U.S. citizens to fill these jobs before they file an H-2B visa application. In addition, the bill would ensure that our summer employers are not disadvantaged by allowing no more than half of the 66,000 visas to be allocated in the first half of the year. Finally, the bill imposes antifraud fees on employers who willfully misrepresent any statement on their H-2B petition and requires the Department of Homeland Security to file reports on the demographics of those utilizing the H-2B program.

Any changes to our immigration laws must balance the interests of U.S. citizens and our economy while providing a fair, legal framework for those seeking to come to our Nation from other countries. For example, our current immigration laws already contain several general reasons an alien seeking admission into the United States may be denied entry: security and terrorist concerns, health-related grounds, criminal history, public charge, i.e., indigence, seeking to work without proper labor certification, illegal entry and/or immigration law violations, lack of proper documents, ineligibility for citizenship, and previous removal. Ensuring the safety of our country requires preserving these categories.

This legislation would leave this existing framework intact. It simply provides a fair and equitable means of distributing a very scarce number of visas so that all employers who require extra assistance during one season of the year may obtain that assistance. We must resist the temptation to let the H-2B situation and the small businesses affected by it become entangled in the larger debate over immigration reform. Workers who use H-2B visas come to the U.S. for a temporary period of time and are required to leave when that time period has run. These workers respect our laws, work hard, provide services that benefit our economy, and then return to their families at the end of the season. For their sake and that of the small, seasonal businesses that rely on them, we need to resolve this H-2B crisis soon.

Without this fix, our seafood processors cannot operate at full capacity. That becomes a problem for the rest of the seafood industry, including our watermen, who will be forced to curtail their fishing because of an insufficient number of locations to process their catches. In the end, the people who suffer are not the seafood processors or the temporary workers but the watermen who cannot feed their families. This bill provides the assistance necessary to keep our watermen, seafood processors, and a number of other industries such as landscapers, pool operators, and summer camps working at full capacity this summer. I urge my colleagues to support its passage.

Mr. President, the recent shortage of H-2B nonimmigrant visas for ernporary or seasonal non-agricultural foreign workers is a matter of great concern to many small businesses in my home state of Maine, particularly those in the hospitality sector that rely on these seasonal workers to supplement their local employees during the height of the tourism season.

On January 4, a mere three months into fiscal year 2005, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, CIS, announced that it would immediately stop accepting applications for H-2B visas because the annual statutory cap of 66,000 visas had been met. In other words, many employers who require temporary workers in the spring, summer, or fall will be unable to hire such workers because all 66,000 H-2B visas already will have been issued within the first few months of the fiscal year. Once again, Maine's employers will be left out in the cold, disadvantaged by the simple fact of their later tourism season.

Without these visas, employers will be unable to hire enough workers to keep their businesses running at normal levels. Last year, unable to locate enough American workers willing and able to take these jobs, and without temporary foreign workers to fill the gap, many business owners were forced to initiate stop-gap measures that were neither ideal nor sustainable in the long term. Many of these businesses fear that, this year, they will have to decrease their hours of operation during what is their busiest time of year. This would translate into lost jobs for American workers, lost income for American businesses, and lost tax revenue from those businesses. These losses will be significant, and they can be avoided.

Today, I am pleased to join Senators Mikulski and Gregg, along with several other of my distinguished colleagues, in introducing the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2005. Similar to legislation that I cosponsored last year, as well as legislation that I have introduced in the current Congress, this bill would exclude from the cap returning workers who were counted against the cap within the past 3 years. This legislation also seeks to address the inequities in the current system by limiting the number of H-2B visas that can be issued in the first 6 months of the fiscal year to no more than 33,000 visas, or one half of the total number of visas available under the cap. By allocating visas equally between each half of the year, employers across the country, operating both in the winter and summer seasons, will have a fair and equal Opportunity to hire these much-needed workers.

In addition, this legislation includes important new anti-fraud provisions that will strengthen our ability to detect, prevent, and deter, fraud by those who would seek to abuse the H-2B program. These include sanctions for employers who are found to have misrepresented II If facts on an H-2B petition, and the creation of a Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee of $150 for each H-2B petition. Similar to anti-fraud fees charged in other visa categories, funds raised from this fee will be placed in an account with the U.S. Treasury and made available to the agencies involved in processing H-2B visas--CIS, the Department of Labor, and the Department of State--to educate and train employees to recognize and protect against fraud in the visa applicant process.

I believe that this anti-fraud fee serves a worthy goal, and that the government agencies should have the resources they need to ensure the integrity of the H-2B visa application process. However, I am concerned about the impact that a fee of this size, in addition to the filing fees that employers already pay, may have on many smaller businesses. I intend to examine this issue further in order to ensure that smaller businesses are not unfairly impacted by this provision.

We must act quickly on this legislation, or we will be too late to help thousands of American businesses that need our help now. We cannot be content to say: ``It's too late for this year; maybe next year.'' It is true that comprehensive, long-term solutions may be necessary, but we have immediate needs as well. This problem demands immediate solutions.

In my home state of Maine, the economic impact of this visa shortage will be harmful and widespread. When people think of Maine, what often comes to mind is its rugged coastline, picturesque towns and villages, and its abundant lakes and forests. Not surprisingly, tourism is the state's largest industry. Temporary and seasonal workers play an important role in this very important industry.

Unfortunately, there are not enough American workers willing and able to fill the thousands of jobs necessary to provide the level of service that Maine's visitors have come to expect. Over the years, seasonal workers have filled this gap, becoming an integral part of Maine's tourism and hospitality industry. In Fiscal Year 2003, the last time Maine's employers were able to fully utilize the H-2B program, Maine employed more than 3,000 seasonal workers. The majority of these individuals worked in the State's resorts, inns, hotels, and restaurants. Many are people who have returned to the same employer summer after summer.

Let me emphasize that employers are not permitted to hire these foreign workers unless they can prove that they have tried, and failed, to locate available and qualified American workers through advertising and other means. As a safeguard, current regulations require the U.S. Department of Labor to certify that such efforts have occurred before CIS will process the visa applications. In Maine, as in other States, our state Department of Labor takes the lead in ensuring that employers have taken sufficient steps to try to find local workers to fill the positions. Unless and until more H-2B visas are made available, many seasonal jobs will remain unfilled and American businesses will suffer.

A similar situation faces Maine's forest products industry, which contributes approximately $5.6 billion annually to Maine's economy. In 2003, more than 600 temporary workers--mostly from Canada--were employed as forestry workers in Maine. Many work in remote areas of the state where there are not enough Americans able to take these jobs. By some estimates, these foreign workers account for as much as 30-40 percent of the wood fiber that supplies paper and saw mills throughout Maine and the Northeast. This number represents roughly 4.8 million tons of wood annually. With an already significant shortage in the wood supply, the loss of these temporary workers poses a serious threat to the industry and to Maine's economy. With fewer workers available to bring wood out of the forest and into mills, supplies will dwindle, prices will continue to rise, and mills may be forced to curtail production, or even temporarily discontinue operations. If this happens, it is American workers that may lose their jobs.

The effects of the H-2B visa shortage are not limited to the tourism and forest products industries, however. It will also be felt by fisheries and lobstermen, junior league hockey and minor league baseball teams. It win affect small businesses and large, visitors and locals, young and old, from Maine to Maryland, to Wyoming and Alaska.

Mr. President, the shortage of nonimmigrant temporary or seasonal worker visas is a problem that must be addressed, and soon. I believe that this legislation offers a workable short-term solution, and I urge us to move forward. We must resist the tendency to let this problem, and the people who are affected by it, become entangled in the larger debate about our Nation's

immigration policies. This is not about the number of immigrants we should allow to come to the United States each year, or what to do with those who violate our immigration laws. It is about temporary workers who, for the most part, respect our laws, go home at the end of their authorized stay, and in many cases, return again next year to provide services that benefit our Nation's economy. It is about American businesses that rely on these workers to take jobs that many Americans do not want. It is about the economic impact that will be felt across the Nation if these businesses are unable to hire temporary workers. We need to solve this problem now, before it is too late and our economy is harmed and jobs lost.

Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I rise in support of the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act being introduced by Senator Mikulski today. This legislation offers a measured approach to provide needed relief to the many small businesses that have been struggling to find enough employees to operate during seasonal spikes in workload. Small businesses that are seasonal often need a large number of employees for a short portion of the year, but cannot afford to retain the same number of people as full-time, year-round employees. They instead must rely on temporary workers to fill the gap in their high season. In my home State of Maryland, for example, our seafood processors are busy in the summer and early fall, but have very little work in the winter. To accommodate this changing need, they hire college students and local residents as extra workers in the summer. But even with those workers they often find themselves short-staffed. So they turn to temporary employees who are willing to leave their home countries for a few months to come to the U.S. and work.

Specifically, the bill being introduced today will allow anyone who has had an H-2B visa for one of the last 3 years to return this summer or next if an employer petitions for them to do so. Importantly, employers still must demonstrate that they have tried and failed to find available, qualified U.S. citizens to fill these jobs before they file an H-2B visa application. In addition, the bill would ensure that our summer employers are not disadvantaged by allowing no more than half of the 66,000 visas to be allocated in the first half of the year. Finally, the bill imposes antifraud fees on employers who willfully misrepresent any statement on their H-2B petition and requires the Department of Homeland Security to file reports on the demographics of those utilizing the H-2B program.

Any changes to our immigration laws must balance the interests of U.S. citizens and our economy while providing a fair, legal framework for those seeking to come to our Nation from other countries. For example, our current immigration laws already contain several general reasons an alien seeking admission into the United States may be denied entry: security and terrorist concerns, health-related grounds, criminal history, public charge, i.e., indigence, seeking to work without proper labor certification, illegal entry and/or immigration law violations, lack of proper documents, ineligibility for citizenship, and previous removal. Ensuring the safety of our country requires preserving these categories.

This legislation would leave this existing framework intact. It simply provides a fair and equitable means of distributing a very scarce number of visas so that all employers who require extra assistance during one season of the year may obtain that assistance. We must resist the temptation to let the H-2B situation and the small businesses affected by it become entangled in the larger debate over immigration reform. Workers who use H-2B visas come to the U.S. for a temporary period of time and are required to leave when that time period has run. These workers respect our laws, work hard, provide services that benefit our economy, and then return to their families at the end of the season. For their sake and that of the small, seasonal businesses that rely on them, we need to resolve this H-2B crisis soon.

Without this fix, our seafood processors cannot operate at full capacity. That becomes a problem for the rest of the seafood industry, including our watermen, who will be forced to curtail their fishing because of an insufficient number of locations to process their catches. In the end, the people who suffer are not the seafood processors or the temporary workers but the watermen who cannot feed their families. This bill provides the assistance necessary to keep our watermen, seafood processors, and a number of other industries such as landscapers, pool operators, and summer camps working at full capacity this summer. I urge my colleagues to support its passage.

Mr. President, Brunswick Naval Air Station, which is in my own home State of Maine, is a facility of great importance to our Nation's military. While I could reflect today upon the bravery and tenacity of the P-3 Orion pilots at Brunswick who have supported the global war on terrorism, today I share with my colleagues the significant benefits and strategic advantages that Brunswick Naval Air Station offers our efforts in the areas of homeland defense and maritime interdiction operations. As we look toward the future, and develop new tools to address future threats, we must ensure that these tools are located in facilities where their advanced capabilities can be fully utilized. Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that a white paper, authored by Ralph Dean, one of Brunswick's great advocates, entitled Homeland Defense and Maritime Interdiction Operations, be printed in the Congressional Record. The white paper provides significant insight on the great advantages that Brunswick Naval Air Station offers.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Medicare Rural Home Health Payment Fairness Act to extend the additional payment for home health services in rural areas for 2 years. This 5 percent add-on payment is currently scheduled to sunset on April 1st of this year.

Home health has become an increasingly important part of our health care system. The kinds of highly skilled--and often technically complex--services that our Nation's home health caregivers provide have enabled millions of our most frail and vulnerable older and disabled citizens to avoid hospitals and nursing homes and stay just where they want to be--in the comfort and security of their own homes. I have accompanied several of Maine's caring home health nurses on their visits to some of their patients. I have seen first hand the difference that they are making for Maine's elderly.

Surveys have shown that the delivery of home health services in rural areas can be as much as 12 to 15 percent more costly because of the extra travel time required to cover long distances between patients, higher transportation expenses, and other factors. Because of the longer travel times, rural caregivers are unable to make as many visits in a day as their urban counterparts. The Executive Director of the Visiting Nurses of Aroostook in Northern Maine, where I am from, tells me her agency covers 6,600 square miles with a population of only 73,000. Her costs are understandably much higher than other agencies' due to the long distances her staff must drive to see clients. Moreover, her staff is not able to see as many patients in one day as she would like.

Agencies in rural areas are also frequently smaller than their urban counterparts, which means that their relative costs are higher. Smaller agencies with fewer patients and fewer visits mean that fixed costs, particularly those associated with meeting regulatory requirements, are spread over a much smaller number of patients and visits, increasing overall per-patient and per-visit costs.

Moreover, in many rural areas, home health agencies are the primary caregivers for homebound beneficiaries with limited access to transportation. These rural patients often require more time and care than their urban counterparts, and are understandably more expensive for agencies to serve. If the extra rural payment is not extended, agencies may be forced to make decisions not to accept rural patients with greater care needs. That could translate into less access to health care for ill, homebound seniors. The result also would likely be that these seniors would be hospitalized more frequently and would have to seek care in nursing homes, adding considerable cost to the system.

Failure to extend the rural add-on payment will only put more pressure on rural home health agencies that are already operating on very narrow margins and could force some of these agencies to close their doors altogether. Many home health agencies operating in rural areas are the only home health providers in large geographic areas. If any of these agencies were forced to close, the Medicare patients in that region could lose all their access to home care.

The bipartisan legislation that I am introducing today with Senators Feingold, Lugar, Bond, Landrieu, Burns, Murkowski, Thomas, Cochran, Santorum, Lincoln, Jeffords, Conrad and Leahy will help to ensure that Medicare patients in rural areas continue to have access to the home health services they need. I urge all of our colleagues to join us as cosponsors.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Medicare Rural Home Health Payment Fairness Act to extend the additional payment for home health services in rural areas for 2 years. This 5 percent add-on payment is currently scheduled to sunset on April 1st of this year.

Home health has become an increasingly important part of our health care system. The kinds of highly skilled--and often technically complex--services that our Nation's home health caregivers provide have enabled millions of our most frail and vulnerable older and disabled citizens to avoid hospitals and nursing homes and stay just where they want to be--in the comfort and security of their own homes. I have accompanied several of Maine's caring home health nurses on their visits to some of their patients. I have seen first hand the difference that they are making for Maine's elderly.

Surveys have shown that the delivery of home health services in rural areas can be as much as 12 to 15 percent more costly because of the extra travel time required to cover long distances between patients, higher transportation expenses, and other factors. Because of the longer travel times, rural caregivers are unable to make as many visits in a day as their urban counterparts. The Executive Director of the Visiting Nurses of Aroostook in Northern Maine, where I am from, tells me her agency covers 6,600 square miles with a population of only 73,000. Her costs are understandably much higher than other agencies' due to the long distances her staff must drive to see clients. Moreover, her staff is not able to see as many patients in one day as she would like.

Agencies in rural areas are also frequently smaller than their urban counterparts, which means that their relative costs are higher. Smaller agencies with fewer patients and fewer visits mean that fixed costs, particularly those associated with meeting regulatory requirements, are spread over a much smaller number of patients and visits, increasing overall per-patient and per-visit costs.

Moreover, in many rural areas, home health agencies are the primary caregivers for homebound beneficiaries with limited access to transportation. These rural patients often require more time and care than their urban counterparts, and are understandably more expensive for agencies to serve. If the extra rural payment is not extended, agencies may be forced to make decisions not to accept rural patients with greater care needs. That could translate into less access to health care for ill, homebound seniors. The result also would likely be that these seniors would be hospitalized more frequently and would have to seek care in nursing homes, adding considerable cost to the system.

Failure to extend the rural add-on payment will only put more pressure on rural home health agencies that are already operating on very narrow margins and could force some of these agencies to close their doors altogether. Many home health agencies operating in rural areas are the only home health providers in large geographic areas. If any of these agencies were forced to close, the Medicare patients in that region could lose all their access to home care.

The bipartisan legislation that I am introducing today with Senators Feingold, Lugar, Bond, Landrieu, Burns, Murkowski, Thomas, Cochran, Santorum, Lincoln, Jeffords, Conrad and Leahy will help to ensure that Medicare patients in rural areas continue to have access to the home health services they need. I urge all of our colleagues to join us as cosponsors.

I thank the Chair.

(The remarks of Ms. Collins pertaining to the introduction of S. 300 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

Mr. President, the recent shortage of H-2B nonimmigrant visas for temporary or seasonal non-agricultural foreign workers is a matter of great concern to many small businesses in my home State of Maine, particularly those in the hospitality sector that rely on these seasonal workers to supplement their local employees during the height of the tourism season.

On January 4, a mere 3 months into fiscal year 2005, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, CIS, announced that it would immediately

stop accepting applications for H-2B visas because the annual statutory cap of 66,000 visas had been met. In other words, many employers who require temporary workers in the spring, summer, or fall will be unable to hire such workers because all 66,000 H-2B visas will already have been issued within the first few months of the fiscal year. Once again, Maine's employers will be left out in the cold, disadvantaged by their later tourism season.

Without these visas, employers will be unable to hire enough workers to keep their businesses running at normal levels. Last year, unable to locate enough American workers willing and able to take these jobs, and without temporary foreign workers to fill the gap, many business owners were forced to initiate stop-gap measures that were neither ideal nor sustainable in the long term. Many of these businesses fear that, this year, they will have to decrease their hours of operation during what is their busiest time of year. This would translate into lost jobs for American workers, lost income for American businesses, and lost tax revenue from those businesses. These losses will be significant, and they can be avoided.

This is why I am today introducing the Summer Operations and Seasonal Equity Act of 2005. Similar to legislation that I cosponsored last year, this bill would exclude from the cap returning workers who were counted against the cap within the past 3 years. Ths legislation also seeks to address the inequities in the current system by requiring that no fewer than 12,000 visas be made available in each quarter of the fiscal year. By holding back a limited number of visas for use in each quarter, we will ensure that employers across the country, operating in all four seasons, have a fair and equal opportunity to hire these much- needed workers.

We must act quickly on this legislation, however, or we will be too late to help thousands of American businesses that need our help now. We cannot be content to say: ``It's too late for this year; maybe next year.'' It is true that comprehensive, long-term solutions may be necessary, but we have immediate needs as well. This problem demands immediate solutions.

In my home State of Maine, the economic impact of this visa shortage will be harmful and widespread. When people think of Maine, what often comes to mind is its rugged coastline, picturesque towns and villages, and its abundant lakes and forests. Not surprisingly, tourism is the State's largest industry. Temporary and seasonal workers play an important role in this very important industry.

This is because, unfortunately, there are not enough American workers willing and able to fill the thousands of jobs necessary to provide the level of service that Maine's visitors have come to expect. Over the years, seasonal workers have filled this gap, becoming an integral part of Maine's tourism and hospitality industry. In fiscal year 2003, the last time Maine's employers were able to fully utilize the H-2B program, Maine employed more than 3,000 seasonal workers. The majority of these individuals worked in the State's resorts, inns, hotels, and restaurants. Many are people who have returned to the same employer summer after summer.

Let me emphasize that employers are not permitted to hire these foreign workers unless they can prove that they have tried, and failed, to locate available and qualified American workers through advertising and other means. As a safeguard, current regulations require the U.S. Department of Labor to certify that such efforts have occurred before CIS will process the visa applications. Therefore, unless and until more H-2B visas are made available, many of these jobs will remain unfilled and American businesses will suffer.

A similar situation faces Maine's forest products industry, which contributes approximately $5.6 billion annually to Maine's economy. In 2003, more than 600 temporary workers--mostly from Canada--were employed as forestry workers in Maine. Many work in remote areas of the State where there are not enough Americans able to take these jobs. By some estimates, these foreign workers account for as much as 30-40 percent of the wood fiber that supplies paper and saw mills throughout Maine and the Northeast. This number represents roughly 4.8 million tons of wood annually. With an already significant shortage in the wood supply, the loss of these temporary workers poses a serious threat to the industry and to Maine's economy. With fewer workers available to bring wood out of the forest and into mills, supplies will dwindle, prices will continue to rise, and mills may be forced to curtail production, or even temporarily discontinue operations. If this happens, it is American workers who may lose their jobs.

The effects of the H-2B visa shortage are not limited to the tourism and forest products industries, however. It will also be felt by fisheries and lobstermen, junior league hockey and minor league baseball teams. It will affect small businesses and large, visitors and locals, young and old, from Maine to Maryland, to Wyoming and Alaska.

The shortage of nonimmigrant temporary or seasonal worker visas is a problem that must be addressed, and soon. I believe that this legislation offers a workable short-term solution, and I urge us to move forward with this solution. We must resist the tendency to let this problem, and the people who are affected by it, become entangled in the larger debate about our Nation's immigration policies. This is not about the number of immigrants we should allow to come to the United States each year, or what to do with those who violate our immigration laws. It is about temporary workers who, for the most part, respect our laws, go home at the end of their authorized stay, and in many cases, return again next year to provide services that benefit our nation's economy. It is about American businesses that rely on these workers to take jobs that many Americans do not want. It is about the economic impact that will be felt across the Nation if these businesses are unable to hire temporary workers. We need to solve this problem now, before it is too late and our economy is harmed and jobs lost.

Mr. President, the recent shortage of H-2B nonimmigrant visas for temporary or seasonal non-agricultural foreign workers is a matter of great concern to many small businesses in my home State of Maine, particularly those in the hospitality sector that rely on these seasonal workers to supplement their local employees during the height of the tourism season.

On January 4, a mere 3 months into fiscal year 2005, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, CIS, announced that it would immediately

stop accepting applications for H-2B visas because the annual statutory cap of 66,000 visas had been met. In other words, many employers who require temporary workers in the spring, summer, or fall will be unable to hire such workers because all 66,000 H-2B visas will already have been issued within the first few months of the fiscal year. Once again, Maine's employers will be left out in the cold, disadvantaged by their later tourism season.

Without these visas, employers will be unable to hire enough workers to keep their businesses running at normal levels. Last year, unable to locate enough American workers willing and able to take these jobs, and without temporary foreign workers to fill the gap, many business owners were forced to initiate stop-gap measures that were neither ideal nor sustainable in the long term. Many of these businesses fear that, this year, they will have to decrease their hours of operation during what is their busiest time of year. This would translate into lost jobs for American workers, lost income for American businesses, and lost tax revenue from those businesses. These losses will be significant, and they can be avoided.

This is why I am today introducing the Summer Operations and Seasonal Equity Act of 2005. Similar to legislation that I cosponsored last year, this bill would exclude from the cap returning workers who were counted against the cap within the past 3 years. Ths legislation also seeks to address the inequities in the current system by requiring that no fewer than 12,000 visas be made available in each quarter of the fiscal year. By holding back a limited number of visas for use in each quarter, we will ensure that employers across the country, operating in all four seasons, have a fair and equal opportunity to hire these much- needed workers.

We must act quickly on this legislation, however, or we will be too late to help thousands of American businesses that need our help now. We cannot be content to say: ``It's too late for this year; maybe next year.'' It is true that comprehensive, long-term solutions may be necessary, but we have immediate needs as well. This problem demands immediate solutions.

In my home State of Maine, the economic impact of this visa shortage will be harmful and widespread. When people think of Maine, what often comes to mind is its rugged coastline, picturesque towns and villages, and its abundant lakes and forests. Not surprisingly, tourism is the State's largest industry. Temporary and seasonal workers play an important role in this very important industry.

This is because, unfortunately, there are not enough American workers willing and able to fill the thousands of jobs necessary to provide the level of service that Maine's visitors have come to expect. Over the years, seasonal workers have filled this gap, becoming an integral part of Maine's tourism and hospitality industry. In fiscal year 2003, the last time Maine's employers were able to fully utilize the H-2B program, Maine employed more than 3,000 seasonal workers. The majority of these individuals worked in the State's resorts, inns, hotels, and restaurants. Many are people who have returned to the same employer summer after summer.

Let me emphasize that employers are not permitted to hire these foreign workers unless they can prove that they have tried, and failed, to locate available and qualified American workers through advertising and other means. As a safeguard, current regulations require the U.S. Department of Labor to certify that such efforts have occurred before CIS will process the visa applications. Therefore, unless and until more H-2B visas are made available, many of these jobs will remain unfilled and American businesses will suffer.

A similar situation faces Maine's forest products industry, which contributes approximately $5.6 billion annually to Maine's economy. In 2003, more than 600 temporary workers--mostly from Canada--were employed as forestry workers in Maine. Many work in remote areas of the State where there are not enough Americans able to take these jobs. By some estimates, these foreign workers account for as much as 30-40 percent of the wood fiber that supplies paper and saw mills throughout Maine and the Northeast. This number represents roughly 4.8 million tons of wood annually. With an already significant shortage in the wood supply, the loss of these temporary workers poses a serious threat to the industry and to Maine's economy. With fewer workers available to bring wood out of the forest and into mills, supplies will dwindle, prices will continue to rise, and mills may be forced to curtail production, or even temporarily discontinue operations. If this happens, it is American workers who may lose their jobs.

The effects of the H-2B visa shortage are not limited to the tourism and forest products industries, however. It will also be felt by fisheries and lobstermen, junior league hockey and minor league baseball teams. It will affect small businesses and large, visitors and locals, young and old, from Maine to Maryland, to Wyoming and Alaska.

The shortage of nonimmigrant temporary or seasonal worker visas is a problem that must be addressed, and soon. I believe that this legislation offers a workable short-term solution, and I urge us to move forward with this solution. We must resist the tendency to let this problem, and the people who are affected by it, become entangled in the larger debate about our Nation's immigration policies. This is not about the number of immigrants we should allow to come to the United States each year, or what to do with those who violate our immigration laws. It is about temporary workers who, for the most part, respect our laws, go home at the end of their authorized stay, and in many cases, return again next year to provide services that benefit our nation's economy. It is about American businesses that rely on these workers to take jobs that many Americans do not want. It is about the economic impact that will be felt across the Nation if these businesses are unable to hire temporary workers. We need to solve this problem now, before it is too late and our economy is harmed and jobs lost.

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

Mr. President, I rise today in support of the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to be Attorney General of the United States.

Judge Gonzales's story is truly inspirational. A man from humble beginnings--Humble, TX, to be precise--he grew up in a modest home built by his father and uncle where he lived with his parents and seven brothers and sisters with no hot water and no telephone. His parents were migrant workers who never even finished elementary school, but they believed in the American dream. They worked hard to give their children an education and to instill in them the American values of personal responsibility and hard work.

At the age of 12, Alberto Gonzales had his first job selling soft drinks at Rice University football games where he dreamed of one day going to college. Through determination, intelligence, and hard work, he achieved his dream. He graduated from Rice University, the first in his family to earn a college degree, and went on to excel at Harvard Law School.

Alberto Gonzales is a dedicated public servant. He has served his country in many capacities, including his service in the U.S. Air Force, as a judge on the Texas Supreme Court, and as Texas secretary of state. Judge Gonzales knows well that holding a public office involves a bond with the American people.

He has proven himself as a man of integrity and with the highest professional qualifications. That is why Judge Gonzales has broad support from groups and individuals across our country. His nomination is supported by the Hispanic National Bar Association, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Fraternal Order of Police, the National District Attorneys Association, and the FBI Agents Association, to name just a few of these groups.

He also has bipartisan support from those who know him best, including leading Democrats, for example, Henry Cisneros, who served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Clinton. Mr. Cisneros, a former mayor of San Antonio, writes:

In the 36 years that I have voted, I have supported and

voted for only one Republican. That was when Alberto Gonzales

ran for election to the Texas Supreme Court. I messaged

friends about this uncommonly capable and serious man [and] I

urged them to support his campaign. . . . He is now President

Bush's nominee to be Attorney General of the United States

and I urge his confirmation.

I have had the personal opportunity to meet with Judge Gonzales to discuss many issues over the last few years on many different occasions. I have always found him to be a man who honored his commitments, who kept his promises. I know he is a leader who is dedicated to protecting America, to following the Constitution, and to applying the rule of law.

The position of the Attorney General is as challenging a job as ever given the post-9/11 environment, but I am confident that as our Nation's chief law enforcement officer, Judge Gonzales will continue the progress we have made in fighting the war against terrorism, in combating crime, in strengthening the FBI, and in continuing to protect our cherished civil liberties.

As Judge Gonzales himself said regarding his nomination:

The American people expect and deserve a Department of

Justice guided by the rule of law, and there should be no

question regarding the Department's commitment to justice for

every American. On this principle there can be no compromise.

Alberto Gonzales, the man from Humble, is committed to ensuring justice for each and every American. He is committed to the rule of law. He deserves our confirmation, and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for his confirmation.

I thank the distinguished senior Senator from New Mexico for allowing me to precede him.

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Abrupt Climate Change Research Act of 2005. This bill would authorize $10 million per year for the next six years for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in partnership with universities across the Nation, to conduct research on abrupt climate change.

The subject of climate change remains controversial. Nevertheless, I believe there is one issue on which almost everyone can agree: A great deal more scientific research is necessary in order to better understand the potential risk of abrupt climate change.

Understanding and predicting climate change are enormous scientific challenges. The challenges are made even more difficult with the recognition that the climate system is capable of dramatic and abrupt changes. Scientists have determined that past global temperatures have swung as much as 20 deg. F within a decade, accompanied by drought in some places and catastrophic floods in other places. An abrupt climate change triggered by the ongoing buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would also likely result in the redistribution of atmospheric moisture and rainfall, with substantial impact on the world's food supplies. Unfortunately, we have no satisfactory understanding of what triggers abrupt climate changes.

Both the National Academy of Sciences and the Administration's Strategic Climate Change Science Plan identify abrupt climate change as a key priority for additional research. In a 2002 report, the National Academy of Sciences stated that ``Large, abrupt climate changes have repeatedly affected much or all of the Earth.'' Furthermore, the report stated that ``abrupt climate changes are not only possible but likely in the future, potentially with large impacts on ecosystems and societies.'' The report noted that we're not doing nearly enough to identify even the threat of abrupt climate change. My bill would lay the framework and provide the funds for the United States to understand and address abrupt climate change.

One reason this funding is so urgent is that we're rapidly losing one of the greatest sources of information: Ice cores from glaciers. The University of Maine's Climate Change Institute has one of the best abrupt climate change research programs in the world. The Climate Change Institute uses ice cores from glaciers and ice sheets around the world to make discoveries that change the way we think about climate change. Unfortunately, numerous glaciers around the world are melting; and

when they go, we lose the very record that has given us so much of this critical climatic history.

I recently had the opportunity to see for myself how scientists are able to use glaciers and ice sheets to understand climate change. In August, I traveled with Senators McCain, Sununu, and others to the northernmost community in the world. We visited Ny-Alesund on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. Located at 79 degrees north, Ny- Alesund lies well north of the Arctic Circle and is much closer to the North Pole than to Oslo, the country's capital. It has even served as a starting point for several polar expeditions, although thankfully, Senator McCain did not include an attempt to reach the North Pole on our itinerary.

The scientists we met with told us that the global climate is changing more rapidly now than at any time since the beginning of civilization. They further state that the region of the globe changing most rapidly is the Arctic. The changes are remarkable and disturbing.

In the last 30 years, the Arctic has lost sea-ice cover over an area 10 times as large as the State of Maine. In the summer, the change is even more dramatic, with twice as much ice loss. The ice that remains is as much as 40 percent thinner than it was just a few decades ago. In addition to disappearing sea-ice, Arctic glaciers are also rapidly retreating. In Ny-Alesund, Senator McCain and I witnessed massive blocks of ice falling off glaciers that had already retreated well back from the shores where they once rested.

The melting of glaciers and sea ice, the thawing of permafrost, and the increases in sea levels resulting from warming are already beginning to cause environmental, social, and economic changes. Indeed, the social and economic disruption resulting from climate change is already evident in a number of regions throughout the Arctic, including Alaska. Some coastal communities in Alaska are facing increased exposure to storms and coastal erosion as a reduction in sea ice allows higher waves and storm surges to reach shore. In other areas, thawing ground is disrupting transportation, buildings, and other infrastructure. Some indigenous communities are already facing the prospect of relocating. If these changes were to be compounded with an abrupt climate change on the scale seen in our climatic history, the result could be devastating.

I know that my colleague, the chairman of the Commerce Committee and senior Senator from Alaska, is very concerned about how Arctic climate changes are affecting his State. I know he recognizes that more research funding is necessary in order to understand future climate changes. I look forward to working with Chairman Stevens, Ranking Member Inouye, and other members of the Commerce Committee to address this extremely important issue in the 109th Congress.

I am grateful to my cosponsors, Senators Cantwell, Snowe, Murray, Jeffords, and DeWine. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues over the coming months in order to address this important issue.

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Abrupt Climate Change Research Act of 2005. This bill would authorize $10 million per year for the next six years for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in partnership with universities across the Nation, to conduct research on abrupt climate change.

The subject of climate change remains controversial. Nevertheless, I believe there is one issue on which almost everyone can agree: A great deal more scientific research is necessary in order to better understand the potential risk of abrupt climate change.

Understanding and predicting climate change are enormous scientific challenges. The challenges are made even more difficult with the recognition that the climate system is capable of dramatic and abrupt changes. Scientists have determined that past global temperatures have swung as much as 20 deg. F within a decade, accompanied by drought in some places and catastrophic floods in other places. An abrupt climate change triggered by the ongoing buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would also likely result in the redistribution of atmospheric moisture and rainfall, with substantial impact on the world's food supplies. Unfortunately, we have no satisfactory understanding of what triggers abrupt climate changes.

Both the National Academy of Sciences and the Administration's Strategic Climate Change Science Plan identify abrupt climate change as a key priority for additional research. In a 2002 report, the National Academy of Sciences stated that ``Large, abrupt climate changes have repeatedly affected much or all of the Earth.'' Furthermore, the report stated that ``abrupt climate changes are not only possible but likely in the future, potentially with large impacts on ecosystems and societies.'' The report noted that we're not doing nearly enough to identify even the threat of abrupt climate change. My bill would lay the framework and provide the funds for the United States to understand and address abrupt climate change.

One reason this funding is so urgent is that we're rapidly losing one of the greatest sources of information: Ice cores from glaciers. The University of Maine's Climate Change Institute has one of the best abrupt climate change research programs in the world. The Climate Change Institute uses ice cores from glaciers and ice sheets around the world to make discoveries that change the way we think about climate change. Unfortunately, numerous glaciers around the world are melting; and

when they go, we lose the very record that has given us so much of this critical climatic history.

I recently had the opportunity to see for myself how scientists are able to use glaciers and ice sheets to understand climate change. In August, I traveled with Senators McCain, Sununu, and others to the northernmost community in the world. We visited Ny-Alesund on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. Located at 79 degrees north, Ny- Alesund lies well north of the Arctic Circle and is much closer to the North Pole than to Oslo, the country's capital. It has even served as a starting point for several polar expeditions, although thankfully, Senator McCain did not include an attempt to reach the North Pole on our itinerary.

The scientists we met with told us that the global climate is changing more rapidly now than at any time since the beginning of civilization. They further state that the region of the globe changing most rapidly is the Arctic. The changes are remarkable and disturbing.

In the last 30 years, the Arctic has lost sea-ice cover over an area 10 times as large as the State of Maine. In the summer, the change is even more dramatic, with twice as much ice loss. The ice that remains is as much as 40 percent thinner than it was just a few decades ago. In addition to disappearing sea-ice, Arctic glaciers are also rapidly retreating. In Ny-Alesund, Senator McCain and I witnessed massive blocks of ice falling off glaciers that had already retreated well back from the shores where they once rested.

The melting of glaciers and sea ice, the thawing of permafrost, and the increases in sea levels resulting from warming are already beginning to cause environmental, social, and economic changes. Indeed, the social and economic disruption resulting from climate change is already evident in a number of regions throughout the Arctic, including Alaska. Some coastal communities in Alaska are facing increased exposure to storms and coastal erosion as a reduction in sea ice allows higher waves and storm surges to reach shore. In other areas, thawing ground is disrupting transportation, buildings, and other infrastructure. Some indigenous communities are already facing the prospect of relocating. If these changes were to be compounded with an abrupt climate change on the scale seen in our climatic history, the result could be devastating.

I know that my colleague, the chairman of the Commerce Committee and senior Senator from Alaska, is very concerned about how Arctic climate changes are affecting his State. I know he recognizes that more research funding is necessary in order to understand future climate changes. I look forward to working with Chairman Stevens, Ranking Member Inouye, and other members of the Commerce Committee to address this extremely important issue in the 109th Congress.

I am grateful to my cosponsors, Senators Cantwell, Snowe, Murray, Jeffords, and DeWine. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues over the coming months in order to address this important issue.

Mr. President, President Bush made an excellent choice in nominating Dr. Condoleezza Rice to be America's next Secretary of State. She has both the professional experience and the personal integrity to make a great Secretary of State.

I cannot think of a candidate more qualified to be Secretary of State than Condoleezza Rice. Dr. Rice's experience and expertise are truly multi-facted. She is a distinguished public servant and has led one of our country's most distinguished universities. She has 25 years of experience in foreign policy, having served three Presidents as a key advisor.

She has led the President's national security team with strength and expertise. A short list of her many accomplishments include developing six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program, helping to design the President's landmark emergency AIDS relief package, and strengthening relations with Russia and China. In her capacity as National Security Advisor, Dr. Rice has developed personal working relationships with international leaders and governments that will enable her to nurture alliances and conduct effective diplomacy around the world. She was instrumental in developing the administration's response to 9/11 and a new framework for United States policy in the Middle East.

Most important, Condoleezza Rice has the trust and confidence of the President. She has served the President as a loyal and trusted advisor. When she speaks to foreign leaders as Secretary of State, they will know that Dr. Rice is speaking on behalf of the President.

I have had the honor of working closely with Dr. Rice on many occasions over the past 4 years. In particular, Dr. Rice's support was extremely helpful to me and to my colleague Senator Lieberman as we undertook the Herculean task of reforming our intelligence community in the last Congress. Dr. Rice helped us overcome the obstacles we faced to ensure the bill became law, and for that, she has my gratitude.

Having a strong foreign policy vision is critical to success in the war on terrorism. Condoleezza Rice is the right person for the job. Dr. Rice will make an outstanding Secretary of State, and I look forward to working with her in the coming years.

Mr. President, the world pauses this week to observe the 60th anniversary of an event that calls for the deepest solemnity and reflection. In early 1945, as American and British armies closed in on the Third Reich from the west, Soviet forces were on the march through Poland. On January 27, they came to a place called Auschwitz.

In the Nazi death industry, Auschwitz was its most productive factory. It is estimated that some one and a half million were murdered there. The victims were Poles, Slavs, Russians, Gypsies, but the majority were Jews. They died from disease, starvation, exposure and exhaustion, on the gallows and in front of the firing squads, but mostly they were marched into the gas chambers. From the camp's establishment in 1940 until its liberation, the ovens of

Auschwitz operated around the clock, their smokestacks spewing the stench of inhumanity across the countryside.

The Holocaust is a story of incomprehensible inhumanity, of an act of enormity that passed all moral bounds and entered the realm of pure evil. It also, however, is a story of incredible heroism, of men and women who risked their lives, many who sacrificed their lives, for others--not just family and friends, but often total strangers.

Some of these heroes are well known to us: Raoul Wallenberg and Oskar Schlindler, to name just two. Some are less known, but equally deserving of mankind's gratitude. The American journalist Varian Fry, the beneficiary of a privileged childhood and an Ivy League education, risked his life repeatedly spiriting 2,000 Jews out of occupied France through the network he created of black-market funds, forged documents and secret escape routes. In 1941, in retaliation for an escape by others, a group of Auschwitz prisoners was lined up before a firing squad. At the last moment, the Roman Catholic Priest Maximillian Kolbe voluntarily stepped forward to take a father's place.

The names of some heroes will never be known to us. In the weeks before the liberation, the Nazis began dismantling the machinery of death at Auschwitz in order to hide their crimes. The gas chambers and crematoria were dynamited, the mass graves were disguised, and the infamous March of Death began. Nearly 60,000 prisoners, already weakened by hunger and illness, were driven on foot across the harsh winter countryside to camps within the Reich. The penalty for failure to keep up was summary execution.

That also was the penalty for the people who offered food, water, and--whenever the opportunity arose--escape when this sorrowful parade passed through their villages. One survivor of the March of Death, Jan Wygas, tells of a villager who approached his column of prisoners with a bottle of water:

``Let them drink,'' she said in German to the SS guards.

``They are people, too.'' She gave the water to one of the

prisoners. The SS man yelled at her to move back. As she

turned to walk away, he shot her in the back of the head. I

saw this with my own eyes.

And yet, despite this brutality heaped on top of brutality, the people of the villages continued to offer aid, in Poland, in Silesia, even in Germany itself.

Indeed, there are stories of those within the regime who resisted in whatever way they could. In his inspiring Holocaust memoir, ``Anton the Dove Fancier,'' Bernard Gotfryd tells of the time in 1944 when he was sent as a slave laborer to a German aircraft plant. Like his co- workers, Gotfryd did his best to be the worst worker possible, turning out defective parts and causing his machine to break down constantly. His stern German supervisor, known only as Herr Gruber, seemed not to notice this widespread incompetence, despite being under constant pressure to increase production.

Once, Gotfryd sprained his ankle so severely he could not walk and could barely stand. In most cases, this disability would have earned a prisoner a spot on a train to a death camp. Again, Herr Gruber seemed not to notice.

In the summer of 1944, Gotfryd discovered a treasure in the pocket of his work overalls: a sausage and a slab of real bread wrapped in newspaper. The rare and delicious food nourished his body. The newspaper nourished his soul, for it told of the Allied invasion of Normandy. The meaning of this message was to hold on, salvation was on the way. Gotfryd knew the messenger could only have been Herr Gruber.

From where does this courage, this compassion, this self-sacrifice for total strangers come? None of us can say with certainty, but we all are blessed by its presence.

On the other hand, the source of the hatred that led one of Europe's greatest powers to enact blatantly discriminatory laws, then to revel in a night of shattered windows, and finally to commit mass murder is known to us all too well. It is that particularly virulent and persistent form of mindless bigotry called anti-Semitism.

One would think that the stories of Holocaust survivors, the irrefutable evidence before our eyes for the last 60 years, the memorials at such places as Auschwitz, and the debt we owe 6 million victims would be more than enough to eradicate this scourge. Tragically, Mr. President, that is not the case.

Earlier this month, our State Department released a Report on Global Anti-Semitism. This report is the result of the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004, introduced by my distinguished colleague from Ohio, Senator Voinovich. I am proud to have been a co-sponsor.

To say that the findings of this report are discouraging is a gross understatement. In country after country around the world, there has been a sharp increase in both the frequency and severity of anti- Semitic incidents in the first years of the 21st Century. Clearly, the lessons of the first half of the 20th are in danger of being forgotten.

These incidents are not just the random vandalism of Jewish cemeteries or synagogues, or the occasional incident of harassment or assault, and the perpetrators are not just neo-Nazis or skinheads on the fringe of society. The new strain of this disease combines ancient anti-Jewish prejudice with a new demonization of the State of Israel and unbridled anti-Americanism, replete with Nazi comparisons and symbolism. In this new anti-Semitism, the extreme right and the extreme left have gone around the bend so far that they now have joined forces.

We see evidence of this new anti-Semitism all around us. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is cited with increasing frequency in the Middle East press, instead of being consigned, along with its ideological sequel, Mein Kampf, to the ash heap of literary history. In some areas of Europe, the swastika replaces the letter ``s'' in anti- Israel and anti-American posters, bumper stickers and buttons. There is the absurd rumor that Jews in New York City had advance warning of the September 11 attacks. The Holocaust itself, when not being denied, is at least being diminished.

The answer is not to silence these despicable ideas but to respond to them. We all have an obligation to history and to humanity to speak out, loudly and without exception, to this perversion of the truth and this degradation of civilization.

Julia Skalina is an Auschwitz survivor, a native of Czechoslovakia who now lives in my home State, in the city of Portland. She is a frequent speaker at schools in Maine. These are her words: ``I learned what hatred can do, what people driven by hatred can do. I wish any future generation should never have to live through what we lived through.''

That wish will come true only if we--all of us--make it so. The horror of the Holocaust and the magnificence of the human spirit that it revealed demand this of us.

Mr. President I rise with my good friend Senator Carper to offer the Homeland Security Grant Enhancement Act in order to streamline and strengthen the way we help our States, communities, and first responders protect our homeland.

Three years ago, the Senate spent nearly three months on the Homeland Security Act, yet the law contains virtually no guidance on how the Department is to assist State and local governments with their homeland security needs. In fact, the 187-page Homeland Security Act mentions the issue of grants to first responders in but a single paragraph. The decisions on how Federal dollars should be spent or how much money should be allocated to whom were left for another day. That day has come.

During the 108th Congress, Senator Carper and I introduced similar legislation to more than double the proportion of homeland Security funding distributed based on risk, while also helping all States achieve a baseline level of preparedness and an ability to respond. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held three hearings at which first responders, State and local officials, and Secretary Ridge all testified that the grant distribution system needs fixing. The 9/11 Commission also urged that the system be changed. It is therefore time for Congress to finally address this critical issue.

The bill that we introduce today is identical to legislation that passed the Senate by voice-vote as an amendment to the Intelligence reform bill at the end of the last Congress.

That measure was supported by Senators from big States--like Michigan and Ohio--and small States like Maine, Delaware and Connecticut. The wide breadth of support in the Senate is indicative of the fact that this bill takes a balanced approach to homeland security funding.

It recognizes that threat-based funding is a critical part of homeland security funding. It also recognizes that first responders in every State and territory stand at the front lines of securing the homeland.

This legislation will also coordinate government-wide homeland security funding by promoting one-stop-shopping for homeland security funding opportunities. It would establish an information clearinghouse to assist first responders and State and local governments in accessing homeland security grant information and other resources within the new department. This clearinghouse will improve access to homeland security grant information, coordinate technical assistance for vulnerability and threat assessments, provide information regarding homeland security best practices, and compile information regarding homeland security equipment purchased with Federal funds.

Establishment of these programs will mean first responders can spend more time training to save lives and less-time filling out paper work. The inflexible structure of past homeland security funding, along with shifting federal requirements and increasing amounts of paperwork, poses a number of challenges to State and local governments as they attempt to provide these funds to first responders.

The legislation would provide greater flexibility in the use of those unspent funds. It would give the Department of Homeland Security flexibility to allow States, via a wavier from the Secretary, to use funds from one category, such as training, for another purpose, such as purchasing equipment.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will act promptly to mark-up and report this important measure to establish a streamlined, efficient, and fair method for homeland security funds to get into the hands of first responders.

Mr. President, I rise today to join Senator Jeffords and Senator Lieberman in introducing the Clean Power Act of 2005. This bill closes the loophole that has allowed the dirtiest, most polluting power plants in the Nation to escape significant pollution controls for more than 30 years.

Maine is one of the most beautiful and pristine States in the Nation. It is also one of the most environmentally responsible States in the Nation. Maine has fewer emissions of the pollutants that cause smog and acid rain than all but a handful of States. It also has one of the lowest emissions of carbon dioxide nationwide.

Unfortunately, despite the collective environmental commitment of both its citizens and industries, Maine still suffers from air pollution. Every freshwater lake, river, and stream in Maine is subject to a State mercury advisory that warns pregnant women and young children to limit consumption of fish caught in those waters. Even Acadia National Park, one of our most beautiful national parks, experiences days in which visibility is obscured by smog.

Where does all this pollution come from? A large part of it comes from a relatively small number of mostly coal-fired powerplants that exploit loopholes to escape the provisions of the Clean Air Act. Coal- fired powerplants are the single largest source of air pollution, mercury contamination, and greenhouse gas emissions in the Nation. A single coal-fired powerplant can emit more of the pollutants that cause smog and acid rain than all of the cars, factories, and businesses in Maine combined.

As the easternmost State in the Nation, Maine is downwind of almost all powerplants in the United States. Many of the pollutants emitted by these powerplants--mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide--end up in or over Maine. Airborne mercury falls into our lakes and streams, contaminating freshwater fish and threatening our people's health. Carbon dioxide is causing climate change that threatens to alter Maine's delicate ecological balance. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides come to Maine in the form of acid rain and smog that damage the health of our people and the health of our environment.

A single powerplant can emit nearly a ton of mercury in a single year. That's equivalent to incinerating over one million mercury thermometers and is enough to contaminate millions of acres of freshwater lakes. In contrast, Maine has zero powerplant emissions of mercury. This bill would reduce mercury emissions from powerplants by 90 percent.

Powerplants are also one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. In fact, powerplants account for 40 percent of our carbon dioxide emissions, which scientists believe are the primary cause of man-made global warming.

I recently had the opportunity to view firsthand some of the dramatic impacts of global warming. In August, I traveled with Senator McCain and several other Senators to the northernmost community in the world. We visited Ny-Alesund on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. Located at 79 deg.N, Ny-Alesund lies well north of the Arctic Circle and is much closer to the North Pole than to Oslo, the country's

capital. It has even served as a starting point for several polar expeditions.

Scientists tell us that the global climate is changing more rapidly than at any time since the beginning of civilization. They further state that the region of the globe changing most rapidly is the Arctic. The changes are remarkable and disturbing.

In the last 30 years, the Arctic has lost sea-ice cover over an area 10 times as large as the State of Maine. In the summer, the change is even more dramatic, with twice as much ice loss. The ice that remains is as much as 40% thinner than it was just a few decades ago. In addition to disappearing sea-ice, Arctic glaciers are also rapidly retreating. In Ny-Alesund, Senator McCain and I witnessed massive blocks of ice falling off glaciers that had already retreated well back from the shores where they once rested.

The Clean Power Act takes an important step in addressing global warming by reducing powerplant emissions of carbon dioxide to 2000 levels by the year 2010. Although doing so will not solve the problem of global warming, it is an important first step. In light of the rapid warming in the Arctic and the significance that this warming portends for the rest of the planet, reducing carbon dioxide emissions is a step that we can no longer afford to put off.

I am pleased that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will be considering clean air legislation in the 109th Congress. The Jeffords-Collins-Lieberman bill does more to reduce smog, acid rain, mercury pollution, and global warming than any other bill. Our bill provides more public health and environmental benefits than any other serious proposal, and it provides those benefits sooner.

I believe it is time to stop acid rain, free our lakes from mercury pollution, reduce global warming, and eliminate the smog that drifts in to obscure Maine skies and jeopardize our health. I look forward to working with the administration and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to provide cleaner air.