Floor Statements

Mr. President, I thank my friend from Montana for yielding.

There was a lot of talk before the election about potential October surprises. Perhaps there should have been more talk about potential November surprises, for that is what we are presented with this afternoon.

There was a great deal of rhetoric during the campaign about cutting our Nation's budget deficit in half. There was too little straight talk, however, about the reality that our debt continues to rise.

We have heard a good deal of talk since the election about mandates, voters' mandates and fulfilling campaign promises. If the majority in Congress is seeking a mandate for its economic policies, they would not have withheld the results of those policies until after the election.

As far as campaign promises go, I do not recall anyone promising in this year's campaign that Congress's first act after the election would be to approve an increase in our Nation's indebtedness to more than $8 trillion. That is exactly what Congress is about to do this afternoon before the sun sets in Washington, DC.

As the most profligate Presidential term and the most profligate session of Congress in our Nation's history draw to a close, the bills, meanwhile, are coming due. Bills, like facts, are very stubborn things. No amount of rhetoric can make them go away. While it was inappropriate to hide from the public the true extent of our Nation's growing indebtedness until after the election, it is somehow fitting this vote would come today. There is a symbolism in the fact that one of the last acts of the 108th Congress will be to place this country deeper in hock to our creditors around the world. There is also significance in the fact that this act will be undertaken just a day before the opening of the Clinton Presidential Library in Arkansas.

The opening of the Clinton Library reminds us that when Bill Clinton left office 4 years ago, America had a budget surplus. That surplus was sufficient to secure the future solvency of Social Security and Medicare and to put our country on course to be completely debt-free for the first time in any living person's memory.

That is the legacy of President Clinton. I am sorry to say the legacy of the 108th and the 109th Congresses will be one of undoing in 4 short years the decade of work and sacrifice that went into balancing our Nation's books and strengthening our Nation's finances for the 21st century.

Let me say, credit for the budget surpluses that we were beginning to generate as a country 4 years ago is not entirely due to one President or to one party. But the fact is that he did provide a strong measure of the leadership that helped get us to the place we were just 4 short years ago.

As a result of that rapid unraveling of fiscal restraint, our financial position is far more precarious than it was just 4 years ago. With a large and growing budget deficit, we are stretched thin in our capacity to meet the great challenges that inevitably confront us as a great people. New terms and new Congresses are times for new beginnings--and for those of you who know me, I am an eternal optimist. I have no desire to dwell on the past. I, like most of us, am determined to look forward. My hope is that given the opportunity for a new beginning, we will chart a new course in the new year to come.

In truth, we have no other choice, at least no other good choice. Sustaining a protracted global war on terrorism requires discipline. Keeping the promise of Social Security and Medicare entails responsibility. Ensuring that these challenges do not exhaust our capacity so that we are still in a position to improve our schools and invest in our children and their future demands sacrifice. Discipline, responsibility, sacrifice--these are values that are familiar to families in small towns across Delaware and across America and, frankly, in big towns, too. They are the values by which our families live each and every day, or at least attempt to. Our State and local governments share the values of our people when it comes to handling their people's money because, unlike the Congress, our State and local governments are required to share those values. Our State and local governments are required to live by two simple rules: Live within your means and pay as you go. We used to live by those rules here in Congress, but we have literally let those rules expire.

In hindsight, it is clear that by letting these simple rules expire, and with them the values of discipline, responsibility and sacrifice, we have unleashed a frenzy of spending and borrowing. It is equally clear that this laxity in Congress now threatens America's economic vitality and even our national security.

Personally, I do not believe pundits who say fiscal recklessness is inevitable. Nor do I believe those who say bitter and polarizing partisanship is inevitable. They may be inevitable, but I don't believe it. I am ready to meet in the middle with anyone from the other side who is interested in bringing responsibility and discipline to the Halls of Congress and the part of America outside the Congress that is within this beltway. I am interested in working with any and all of my colleagues who want to work to reform and to improve the budget process in a way by going back to the future, going back to some of those values and some of the practices that got us to a place where we had a balanced budget, including the notion that if a Senator wants to increase spending, he has to come up with an offset--lower spending someplace or to raise revenues someplace.

If we want to cut the revenues from the Treasury, we have to come up with an offset. Either raise revenues someplace else or cut spending to offset the loss to our Treasury from our tax cuts. Surely we can find a common cause and make sure the decisions we make in Congress truly represent the values by which those we represent live their lives. We can do this. We should begin by restoring the old rules that require us to live within our means and, as I said earlier, pay as we go.

If we do that, perhaps we can save ourselves the embarrassment we feel today. Perhaps we can save ourselves from standing once again on the precipice of adding another billion, another hundred billion, or another trillion dollars to the debt we are loading on the backs of our children and on future generations of Americans.

Sitting here before me today are young people. They are pages. They come here to this Capitol when they are juniors in high school. They are the same as our oldest son. Someday somebody is going to have to pay for the debt we, the Congress, are accumulating at the request of the administration, the debt load whose ceiling we will raise later today. We do not just print money when we run deficits around here, we borrow money. We don't just borrow money from people who buy savings bonds, we don't just borrow money from people who buy Treasury securities, notes and bonds, we borrow money from people all over the world.

We have become a huge debtor to some unlikely nations: China, Japan, South Korea, and a number of others. I am not talking about deficits of a couple of billion dollars or even tens of billions of dollars, but hundreds of billions of dollars. They expect to be paid interest on that debt. We have to pay

interest on that debt or default. Eventually they are going to want to be repaid the principal of the money they have loaned to us.

My friends, if we are not careful, we are going to reach a tipping point where the amount of our indebtedness becomes so great, so significant, so alarming to other nations around the world they are going to be reluctant to loan us more money unless we show some ability to better manage our finances.

When they see the threat to our ability to repay our debt go up and we become a riskier investment, those other countries around the world are going to ask us, if we want to be able to get credit, to pay more interest on our debt and to raise the interest rates. If we don't want to do that, we are not going to be able to roll over--renew--our debt.

On the other hand, if we pay the higher interest rates which we are going to be inevitably faced with, that has a dampening effect on our economic recovery.

Someday these young pages, along with my children and their generation, are going to have to repay these debts. It is not fair to them.

I will close with this. Does anybody in the Chamber have an idea of what the interest payment on our national debt is today? About $1 billion. Just 1 day--not 1 week, 1 month--just 1 day. It is not principal, it is just interest. And we have to pay it today, tomorrow, and the day after that. In raising our debt ceiling today, that $1 billion interest payment is not going to go down, it is going to go up.

We can do better than this. Beginning in January we have to. With that having been said, I yield my time and thank my colleague from Montana for yielding to me.

Mr. President, later this morning, I will introduce legislation, along with Senator Biden, calling for a feasibility study by the Department of the Interior for establishing a National Park Service unit in a State that has never had a national park.

Believe it or not, the State that started the Nation, the first State to ever ratify the Constitution, has no national park.

The State in which the first Swedes and Finns came to America and landed on what is now Wilmington, DE, calling it New Sweden, has no national park.

The State where John Dickinson grew up, who is a coauthor of the Great Compromise creating a bicameral legislature, has no national park.

I could go on.

The heritage of our State and the history of our State together create a fabric which, in a sense, is the tapestry of America. Senator Biden and I thus call on the Department of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study to see if maybe a wonderful idea that has evolved from a committee led by Dr. Jim Soles, a professor at the University of Delaware, might win favor with the Department of the Interior and maybe with our colleagues in the year to come.

What is being proposed is a Delaware national coastal heritage park.

It would weave together many of the elements and attractions along the coast of our State, which include the Atlantic Ocean, the Delaware Bay, and the Delaware River.

For the last year or more, a wonderful group of Delawareans has worked together with the Delaware State Division of Parks and Recreation, with the National Park Service, with the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs to develop what we believe is a unique and innovative concept, a concept that would include four hubs. The major hub would be in Wilmington, DE, at the rocks where the first Swedes and Finns came ashore in 1638 to America to establish what is now the longest living active Episcopal church, Old Swedes Church, in North America.

That hub would be almost like the hub of a wheel, with spokes emanating to historic sites, natural areas, recreational opportunities, and other attractions in the area. There would be three other similar hubs up and down the State of Delaware as well.

Later today, when I have more time, I welcome the opportunity to share with my colleagues a bit more about this proposal. I have

I thank the minority leader for yielding to me.

I thank the Chair.

(The remarks of Mr. CARPER pertaining to the introduction of S. 2899 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

Mr. President, a few minutes ago, I was recognized and I spoke about the first State. The first State is Delaware. Delaware became the first State December 7th, 1787, when we ratified the Constitution. For 1 week, Delaware was the entire United States of America. We opened things up for the rest of the country, and Pennsylvania came in, New Jersey, and others. For the most part, we are pleased the way it turned out.

It is ironic that the State that helped start this country, the State whose history is part of the fabric of this country's history, has no national park to celebrate our place in the founding of this country and the growth of this country over the last 200-some years.

A couple of years ago, my family and I were planning a vacation. We were trying to decide where to go. We were thinking about going to Alaska. We actually got on the National Park Service Web site to see about the national parks in Alaska. They have terrific national parks. We went up there and had a wonderful visit. Before we did that, we looked at that National Park Service Web site to see what other attractions there are in the other 49 States. There is a unit of the National Park Service in 49 States in this country, but we found nothing for Delaware.

For years gone by and for the immediate future when families like ours are deciding where they are going to go on their summer vacation in 2005 or 2006, they will have the same choices as they had in 2004 and the years before this, businesses, one of the most enduring businesses, large or small, in the United States.

There are other attractions. The Underground Railroad literally runs the length and breadth of our State. Many slaves found their freedom crossing the Christina River into northern Delaware not far from where the first Swedes landed just down the river.

A second hub would be located in the southern part of New Castle County along the Delaware River. Not far from where the hub would be is Fort Delaware. During the Confederate war, tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers were held prisoner at Fort Delaware, in the middle of the Delaware River. From that hub, Port Penn, along the Delaware River, will emanate to the spokes that lead to attractions, including Fort Delaware.

A third hub is Kent County, DE. Kent County, DE, is home of the Golden Fleece Tavern. On December 7, 1787, a band of several dozen men decided, after studying and debating the Constitution that had been sent out from Philadelphia, from the Constitutional Convention, they decided to ratify at the Golden Fleece Tavern on that cold December morning.

Not far from that is a place called John Dickinson Mansion. That mansion was home of a Delawarean who participated in the Constitutional Convention. At that Constitutional Convention, he worked with folks from Connecticut to develop the compromise that makes it clear that every State gets two Senators today and that all the States have representatives in the House of Representatives right down that hall in coordination with the size of the population of that State. That is just one of the many and those choices will not include a national park in Delaware or a unit of National Park in our State.

Senator Biden, a couple of years ago, tried to address this problem. For a while, the idea of creating a national park gave some thought to creating a national park in the Great Cyprus Swamp in the southeast corner. Those familiar with Bethany, Rehoboth, and Lewes may or may not know there is a huge swamp where the last of the bald cyprus in North America are. We thought of designating the Great Cyprus Swamp as a national park. The idea ran into some disfavor in southern Delaware and was abandoned.

I am delighted Senator Biden has joined in introducing today our legislation to call on the Department of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study to see if what we think is a great idea developed by our park committee in Delaware, led by Dr. Jim Soles over the last year, might find favor with the Department of the Interior, the Congress, and with the President.

The committee has envisioned four wheels, four hubs, starting in the northern part of our State in Wilmington, DE, where the first Swedes

and Finns came in 1638. They landed at Port Christina and established the colony of New Sweden. That hub will serve as a gateway through which visitors might come.

Think of a hub as a bicycle wheel with spokes emanating from the hubs, and the spokes would lead to attractions throughout the northern part of our State. One is the Hagley Museum, where the first powder mills were built along the banks of the Brandywine River providing support for what became the DuPont Company that has endured for over 200 attractions that would lead from the hub down to the spokes that people who come to the central part of our State might visit.

Further south in our State is a place called Lewes. It was settled by the Dutch back in the 1600s. It is a place that had been literally raided, attacked by Indians, wiped out, and came back to be a thriving, prosperous community. The history of early Lewes is captured in the Swaanendael Museum. Not far away is a beautiful State park, Cape Henlopen State Park, which a lot of people visit every year.

We have wildlife refuges in the southern and northern part of the State. There are tens of millions of birds that stop and feed on the way either to the southern hemisphere in the winter or on the way back up North in the spring.

Our State has a lot to offer. Our heritage is one that is rich and reflects the tapestry of our country we have had on the coastal regions of our State over the last 200 years. We do not want to keep it just to ourselves but share it with the rest of the country and the rest of the world.

We are excited to work with the Department of the Interior, our colleagues, and the administration, present or future, to establish a coastal heritage park for the State of Delaware so a year or two from now, when people sit with their families, turn on their computers, and go to the National Park Service Web site to see what is available around the country to visit, they will find a lot of good things about the other 49 States, but they will find some very special things in Delaware, too.

I thank Senators for the time to introduce this with my colleague, Senator Joe Biden.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Delaware National Coastal Special Resources Study Act. I am pleased to be joined in introducing this bill by Senator Biden. This bill authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to study the feasibility of establishing a National Park Service unit in Delaware.

Delaware is first in so many ways. Yet we are the only State without a National Park. Last year, I wondered whether Delawareans agreed with me that we should have a unit of the National Park Service. Through surveys and town meetings, I polled Delawareans on this question in 2003. The answer was a resounding and nearly unanimous ``yes.''

However, folks were less unanimous on where the park should be located and which aspect of Delaware it should feature. So I formed a 12-member committee representing communities throughout the State. They discussed many fine ideas, and narrowed them down to four proposals with a common thread. In one way or another, each proposal related to Delaware's coastal region.

The committee recommended joining these proposals. The result would be a national park highlighting America's history, cultural heritage, commercial progress and natural beauty. The Delaware National Coastal Heritage Park will reveal that the various threads that together make up the fabric of Delaware are an ideal microcosm for the tapestry of America.

To understand our proposal, first let me ask you to stop thinking about Yosemite or Yellowstone or Shenandoah. This proposal is not like those big, traditional national parks. Ours is a different, more innovative and creative way of thinking about a park. Delaware's coastal region is rich in historical sites, museums, parks, and wildlife areas. Together, these sites highlight the threads of history, heritage, commerce, and nature.

A series of four gateway hubs, or interpretive centers, located along the coast will guide visitors to the many existing attractions in the coastal communities that underlie the park. Connecting these attractions through the National Park Service will allow us to tell our unique story to the Nation.

And, as I'd like to demonstrate for you, our story is worth telling.

The history of America, beginning well before the first European settlers, is seen in the Lenni Lenape and Nanticoke Native American tribes. They settled and prospered in the area in and around Delaware thousands of years before the first European settlement in the early 1600s. Members of the modern Nanticoke Indian Association and the Lenape Tribe of Delaware trace their ancestry to the earliest inhabitants of Delaware's coastline. A visit to the Nanticoke Museum brings our early history to life.

Delaware's shores were explored by the Swedes, Dutch and English. Our small State was the subject of competing claims for its territory from the beginning of European settlement. The earliest colonial settlement in Delaware, known as Swaanendael, was established in 1631 in what is present day Lewes. The settlement ended in tragedy when it was wiped out in a clash with the local Native American population. The Swaanendael Museum in Lewes illustrates Delaware's Dutch roots.

The Swedes established the first permanent European settlement in the Delaware Valley. The Kalmar Nyckel, a replica of the ship that carried Swedes to our shores, is docked in Wilmington and currently hosts visitors from around the world.

Founded in Wilmington in 1638, Fort Christina was the earliest lasting bastion in the region. However, as a main line for coastal defense in America, Delaware boasts forts throughout the State. Forts displaying various methods and philosophies of coastal defense can be found along the Delaware River from Fort Delaware and Fort Dupont in New Castle County to Fort Miles in Sussex County. Delaware was the site of military action in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. And at the onset of World War II, the U.S. Army established a military base at Cape Henlopen. You can still see the bunkers and gun emplacements that were camouflaged among the dunes along with the concrete observation towers that were built to spot enemy ships.

Delaware's pivotal role in America's fight for independence culminated in Caesar Rodney's legendary ride to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence. The Golden Fleece Tavern in Kent County was the meeting place where, on December 7, 1787, it was unanimously decided that Delaware would ratify the Constitution, giving us the distinction of being the First State.

Transportation was dominated by water. New Castle thrived as a port town, second only to Philadelphia. Additional ports in Wilmington and Lewes provided harbor for ocean-going vessels in the export trade. A walk through old New Castle is like stepping back in time.

Delaware historically holds the distinction of being one of America's most prosperous industrial, economic and commercial centers. Some of the Nation's leading ship and rail building establishments were located in the State, as were textile and papermaking companies. Frenchman Eleuthere lrenee duPont founded a gunpowder mill on the banks of the Brandywine River near Wilmington. The history of the DuPont Company is captured at the scenic Hagley Museum.

Delaware's role in the Underground Railroad is too important not to tell. There are documented Underground Railroad sites all over the State. Underground Railroad historians believe that Harriet Tubman made numerous trips through Delaware after her own daring escape. Tubman- Garrett Park in Wilmington overlooks the spot where escaping slaves swam across the Christina River as part of their journey. Wilmington and Camden in Kent County were considered safe stations on the way to freedom. Through the Delaware National Coastal Heritage Park, more Americans could come to understand the historic road to freedom traveled by thousands of enslaved Africans.

Delaware is not only rich in history. It is also famed for its natural refuges and conservatories. William Penn proclaimed that Cape Henlopen and its natural resources were for the common

usage, thus establishing some of the Nation's first ``public lands.'' Some of America's earliest beach resorts sprouted up along the Delaware Bay and coastline during the mid-to-late 19th century. They remain in use to this day. The Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge is an important link in the Atlantic Flyway, a trail of wildlife refuges used by migrating birds each year. This makes Bombay Hook a must-see for bird watchers and nature lovers. The Little Creek Wildlife area is a 4,500 acre mecca for crabbers and fishermen.

This is just a taste of the scenic beauty, ethnic heritage, and historical significance that greet visitors to Delaware's coastal shores. The national park selection committee realized that these events and places are threads of human and natural activity that create the very fabric of our society. And the committee realized that a park unit that helped local residents and visitors alike recognize and understand these threads would be a very appropriate and fitting addition to the National Park system. Our national park would demonstrate that coastal regions like those found in Delaware are a vital part of America's past, present, and future.

But the committee also felt that the park itself should be very different from traditional parks. Instead of a large landmass, the park will be structured much like a series of four bicycle wheels, each with a hub and spokes. The hubs will be interpretive centers located strategically along the coastline. Local residents and tourists would learn about how our coastline has contributed to the development of our State and our Nation. These centers would provide information and guidance about the many, many existing historic sites, natural areas, recreational opportunities and other attractions that are part of our coastal region. The spokes will be the multitude of attractions and sites that demonstrate the threads of America's history and scenic beauty.

The gateway hub will be located at the 7th Street Peninsula at the site of the original Fort Christina. There are various attractions within a short walking distance related to the coastal theme of the park. This site would also provide information, advice and directions about other sites in the Wilmington area. It might also include a visitor's center, park headquarters, perhaps a replica of the original Fort Christina.

A second hub would be located along the Delaware River in southern New Castle County. It would provide information on attractions such as Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island, Fort DuPont and the renowned historic district in the old city of New Castle as well other related attractions in New Castle County.

The third hub would be located in Kent County, also along the coast of the Delaware River. It would provide information on the existing preserved natural areas and on the myriad other attractions in Kent County including the John Dickinson Mansion, Dover's historic Green and others.

A Sussex County hub would be located in the Lewes area and would provide information on the numerous historic sites and natural areas that have made Sussex County's coastal region so pivotal to Delaware.

Together, these four interpretive centers would direct visitors to the many existing attractions that would help our guests understand and appreciate the many threads of Delaware's Coastal Region--threads that help make up the fabric of America.

Every year, millions of Americans plan their vacations around our Nation's national park system. They log onto the Park Service website and search for ideas for their family vacations. Right now, that search will turn up nothing for Delaware. With a national park unit here in Delaware, that will change.

In the future, those families will be considering a trip to Delaware to visit our Coastal Heritage Park. Those trips will be a significant boost to our economy--they will create jobs and economic activity that can only be good for our State.

Just as important--or maybe even more important--these additional visitors will bring more attention to our existing historic sites and other attractions. That additional attention will help guarantee they are preserved for future generations.

By encouraging more Delawareans themselves to visit these wonderful places, a National Park unit will help enrich our own understanding of our own history.

I have described to you today a vision resulting from the hard work of many dedicated Delawareans. Today, I take the next step in making their vision a reality.

The bill I've introduced today--the Delaware National Coastal Special Resources Study Act--authorizes the National Park Service to conduct a ``Special Resource Study'' to make recommendations as to the feasibility of this proposal. The study itself would take from 1 to 2 years to complete and would include estimated costs of implementing the proposal.

I believe this is an exciting proposal and one that, when incorporated into the National Park System, will become an important element in preserving the wonderful human and natural history presented by our coastal region.

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

Mr. President, a few minutes ago, I was recognized and I spoke about the first State. The first State is Delaware. Delaware became the first State December 7th, 1787, when we ratified the Constitution. For 1 week, Delaware was the entire United States of America. We opened things up for the rest of the country, and Pennsylvania came in, New Jersey, and others. For the most part, we are pleased the way it turned out.

It is ironic that the State that helped start this country, the State whose history is part of the fabric of this country's history, has no national park to celebrate our place in the founding of this country and the growth of this country over the last 200-some years.

A couple of years ago, my family and I were planning a vacation. We were trying to decide where to go. We were thinking about going to Alaska. We actually got on the National Park Service Web site to see about the national parks in Alaska. They have terrific national parks. We went up there and had a wonderful visit. Before we did that, we looked at that National Park Service Web site to see what other attractions there are in the other 49 States. There is a unit of the National Park Service in 49 States in this country, but we found nothing for Delaware.

For years gone by and for the immediate future when families like ours are deciding where they are going to go on their summer vacation in 2005 or 2006, they will have the same choices as they had in 2004 and the years before this, businesses, one of the most enduring businesses, large or small, in the United States.

There are other attractions. The Underground Railroad literally runs the length and breadth of our State. Many slaves found their freedom crossing the Christina River into northern Delaware not far from where the first Swedes landed just down the river.

A second hub would be located in the southern part of New Castle County along the Delaware River. Not far from where the hub would be is Fort Delaware. During the Confederate war, tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers were held prisoner at Fort Delaware, in the middle of the Delaware River. From that hub, Port Penn, along the Delaware River, will emanate to the spokes that lead to attractions, including Fort Delaware.

A third hub is Kent County, DE. Kent County, DE, is home of the Golden Fleece Tavern. On December 7, 1787, a band of several dozen men decided, after studying and debating the Constitution that had been sent out from Philadelphia, from the Constitutional Convention, they decided to ratify at the Golden Fleece Tavern on that cold December morning.

Not far from that is a place called John Dickinson Mansion. That mansion was home of a Delawarean who participated in the Constitutional Convention. At that Constitutional Convention, he worked with folks from Connecticut to develop the compromise that makes it clear that every State gets two Senators today and that all the States have representatives in the House of Representatives right down that hall in coordination with the size of the population of that State. That is just one of the many and those choices will not include a national park in Delaware or a unit of National Park in our State.

Senator Biden, a couple of years ago, tried to address this problem. For a while, the idea of creating a national park gave some thought to creating a national park in the Great Cyprus Swamp in the southeast corner. Those familiar with Bethany, Rehoboth, and Lewes may or may not know there is a huge swamp where the last of the bald cyprus in North America are. We thought of designating the Great Cyprus Swamp as a national park. The idea ran into some disfavor in southern Delaware and was abandoned.

I am delighted Senator Biden has joined in introducing today our legislation to call on the Department of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study to see if what we think is a great idea developed by our park committee in Delaware, led by Dr. Jim Soles over the last year, might find favor with the Department of the Interior, the Congress, and with the President.

The committee has envisioned four wheels, four hubs, starting in the northern part of our State in Wilmington, DE, where the first Swedes

and Finns came in 1638. They landed at Port Christina and established the colony of New Sweden. That hub will serve as a gateway through which visitors might come.

Think of a hub as a bicycle wheel with spokes emanating from the hubs, and the spokes would lead to attractions throughout the northern part of our State. One is the Hagley Museum, where the first powder mills were built along the banks of the Brandywine River providing support for what became the DuPont Company that has endured for over 200 attractions that would lead from the hub down to the spokes that people who come to the central part of our State might visit.

Further south in our State is a place called Lewes. It was settled by the Dutch back in the 1600s. It is a place that had been literally raided, attacked by Indians, wiped out, and came back to be a thriving, prosperous community. The history of early Lewes is captured in the Swaanendael Museum. Not far away is a beautiful State park, Cape Henlopen State Park, which a lot of people visit every year.

We have wildlife refuges in the southern and northern part of the State. There are tens of millions of birds that stop and feed on the way either to the southern hemisphere in the winter or on the way back up North in the spring.

Our State has a lot to offer. Our heritage is one that is rich and reflects the tapestry of our country we have had on the coastal regions of our State over the last 200 years. We do not want to keep it just to ourselves but share it with the rest of the country and the rest of the world.

We are excited to work with the Department of the Interior, our colleagues, and the administration, present or future, to establish a coastal heritage park for the State of Delaware so a year or two from now, when people sit with their families, turn on their computers, and go to the National Park Service Web site to see what is available around the country to visit, they will find a lot of good things about the other 49 States, but they will find some very special things in Delaware, too.

I thank Senators for the time to introduce this with my colleague, Senator Joe Biden.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Delaware National Coastal Special Resources Study Act. I am pleased to be joined in introducing this bill by Senator Biden. This bill authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to study the feasibility of establishing a National Park Service unit in Delaware.

Delaware is first in so many ways. Yet we are the only State without a National Park. Last year, I wondered whether Delawareans agreed with me that we should have a unit of the National Park Service. Through surveys and town meetings, I polled Delawareans on this question in 2003. The answer was a resounding and nearly unanimous ``yes.''

However, folks were less unanimous on where the park should be located and which aspect of Delaware it should feature. So I formed a 12-member committee representing communities throughout the State. They discussed many fine ideas, and narrowed them down to four proposals with a common thread. In one way or another, each proposal related to Delaware's coastal region.

The committee recommended joining these proposals. The result would be a national park highlighting America's history, cultural heritage, commercial progress and natural beauty. The Delaware National Coastal Heritage Park will reveal that the various threads that together make up the fabric of Delaware are an ideal microcosm for the tapestry of America.

To understand our proposal, first let me ask you to stop thinking about Yosemite or Yellowstone or Shenandoah. This proposal is not like those big, traditional national parks. Ours is a different, more innovative and creative way of thinking about a park. Delaware's coastal region is rich in historical sites, museums, parks, and wildlife areas. Together, these sites highlight the threads of history, heritage, commerce, and nature.

A series of four gateway hubs, or interpretive centers, located along the coast will guide visitors to the many existing attractions in the coastal communities that underlie the park. Connecting these attractions through the National Park Service will allow us to tell our unique story to the Nation.

And, as I'd like to demonstrate for you, our story is worth telling.

The history of America, beginning well before the first European settlers, is seen in the Lenni Lenape and Nanticoke Native American tribes. They settled and prospered in the area in and around Delaware thousands of years before the first European settlement in the early 1600s. Members of the modern Nanticoke Indian Association and the Lenape Tribe of Delaware trace their ancestry to the earliest inhabitants of Delaware's coastline. A visit to the Nanticoke Museum brings our early history to life.

Delaware's shores were explored by the Swedes, Dutch and English. Our small State was the subject of competing claims for its territory from the beginning of European settlement. The earliest colonial settlement in Delaware, known as Swaanendael, was established in 1631 in what is present day Lewes. The settlement ended in tragedy when it was wiped out in a clash with the local Native American population. The Swaanendael Museum in Lewes illustrates Delaware's Dutch roots.

The Swedes established the first permanent European settlement in the Delaware Valley. The Kalmar Nyckel, a replica of the ship that carried Swedes to our shores, is docked in Wilmington and currently hosts visitors from around the world.

Founded in Wilmington in 1638, Fort Christina was the earliest lasting bastion in the region. However, as a main line for coastal defense in America, Delaware boasts forts throughout the State. Forts displaying various methods and philosophies of coastal defense can be found along the Delaware River from Fort Delaware and Fort Dupont in New Castle County to Fort Miles in Sussex County. Delaware was the site of military action in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. And at the onset of World War II, the U.S. Army established a military base at Cape Henlopen. You can still see the bunkers and gun emplacements that were camouflaged among the dunes along with the concrete observation towers that were built to spot enemy ships.

Delaware's pivotal role in America's fight for independence culminated in Caesar Rodney's legendary ride to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence. The Golden Fleece Tavern in Kent County was the meeting place where, on December 7, 1787, it was unanimously decided that Delaware would ratify the Constitution, giving us the distinction of being the First State.

Transportation was dominated by water. New Castle thrived as a port town, second only to Philadelphia. Additional ports in Wilmington and Lewes provided harbor for ocean-going vessels in the export trade. A walk through old New Castle is like stepping back in time.

Delaware historically holds the distinction of being one of America's most prosperous industrial, economic and commercial centers. Some of the Nation's leading ship and rail building establishments were located in the State, as were textile and papermaking companies. Frenchman Eleuthere lrenee duPont founded a gunpowder mill on the banks of the Brandywine River near Wilmington. The history of the DuPont Company is captured at the scenic Hagley Museum.

Delaware's role in the Underground Railroad is too important not to tell. There are documented Underground Railroad sites all over the State. Underground Railroad historians believe that Harriet Tubman made numerous trips through Delaware after her own daring escape. Tubman- Garrett Park in Wilmington overlooks the spot where escaping slaves swam across the Christina River as part of their journey. Wilmington and Camden in Kent County were considered safe stations on the way to freedom. Through the Delaware National Coastal Heritage Park, more Americans could come to understand the historic road to freedom traveled by thousands of enslaved Africans.

Delaware is not only rich in history. It is also famed for its natural refuges and conservatories. William Penn proclaimed that Cape Henlopen and its natural resources were for the common

usage, thus establishing some of the Nation's first ``public lands.'' Some of America's earliest beach resorts sprouted up along the Delaware Bay and coastline during the mid-to-late 19th century. They remain in use to this day. The Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge is an important link in the Atlantic Flyway, a trail of wildlife refuges used by migrating birds each year. This makes Bombay Hook a must-see for bird watchers and nature lovers. The Little Creek Wildlife area is a 4,500 acre mecca for crabbers and fishermen.

This is just a taste of the scenic beauty, ethnic heritage, and historical significance that greet visitors to Delaware's coastal shores. The national park selection committee realized that these events and places are threads of human and natural activity that create the very fabric of our society. And the committee realized that a park unit that helped local residents and visitors alike recognize and understand these threads would be a very appropriate and fitting addition to the National Park system. Our national park would demonstrate that coastal regions like those found in Delaware are a vital part of America's past, present, and future.

But the committee also felt that the park itself should be very different from traditional parks. Instead of a large landmass, the park will be structured much like a series of four bicycle wheels, each with a hub and spokes. The hubs will be interpretive centers located strategically along the coastline. Local residents and tourists would learn about how our coastline has contributed to the development of our State and our Nation. These centers would provide information and guidance about the many, many existing historic sites, natural areas, recreational opportunities and other attractions that are part of our coastal region. The spokes will be the multitude of attractions and sites that demonstrate the threads of America's history and scenic beauty.

The gateway hub will be located at the 7th Street Peninsula at the site of the original Fort Christina. There are various attractions within a short walking distance related to the coastal theme of the park. This site would also provide information, advice and directions about other sites in the Wilmington area. It might also include a visitor's center, park headquarters, perhaps a replica of the original Fort Christina.

A second hub would be located along the Delaware River in southern New Castle County. It would provide information on attractions such as Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island, Fort DuPont and the renowned historic district in the old city of New Castle as well other related attractions in New Castle County.

The third hub would be located in Kent County, also along the coast of the Delaware River. It would provide information on the existing preserved natural areas and on the myriad other attractions in Kent County including the John Dickinson Mansion, Dover's historic Green and others.

A Sussex County hub would be located in the Lewes area and would provide information on the numerous historic sites and natural areas that have made Sussex County's coastal region so pivotal to Delaware.

Together, these four interpretive centers would direct visitors to the many existing attractions that would help our guests understand and appreciate the many threads of Delaware's Coastal Region--threads that help make up the fabric of America.

Every year, millions of Americans plan their vacations around our Nation's national park system. They log onto the Park Service website and search for ideas for their family vacations. Right now, that search will turn up nothing for Delaware. With a national park unit here in Delaware, that will change.

In the future, those families will be considering a trip to Delaware to visit our Coastal Heritage Park. Those trips will be a significant boost to our economy--they will create jobs and economic activity that can only be good for our State.

Just as important--or maybe even more important--these additional visitors will bring more attention to our existing historic sites and other attractions. That additional attention will help guarantee they are preserved for future generations.

By encouraging more Delawareans themselves to visit these wonderful places, a National Park unit will help enrich our own understanding of our own history.

I have described to you today a vision resulting from the hard work of many dedicated Delawareans. Today, I take the next step in making their vision a reality.

The bill I've introduced today--the Delaware National Coastal Special Resources Study Act--authorizes the National Park Service to conduct a ``Special Resource Study'' to make recommendations as to the feasibility of this proposal. The study itself would take from 1 to 2 years to complete and would include estimated costs of implementing the proposal.

I believe this is an exciting proposal and one that, when incorporated into the National Park System, will become an important element in preserving the wonderful human and natural history presented by our coastal region.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Nancy Nadel, recipient of the Delaware School Nurse of the Year award. Nancy has dedicated her life to her family and to the thousands of school children whose lives she has touched.

Nancy was born in Wilmington on September 16, 1952. She graduated from John Dickinson High School in 1970 and received her bachelor's degree in school nursing in 1974 from the University of Delaware. During college,

Nancy joined the U.S. Army after graduation and was assigned to Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, CO. She retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1996 from the United States Army Reserve. In 1979, Nancy received her master's degree in school nursing and her Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Certificate from the University of Colorado.

Nancy returned to Delaware in 1983. Three years later, she became the school nurse for the Baltz Elementary School and remained there until 1995, when she went to Forest Oak Elementary School. At Forest Oak, she is known as a nonassuming person, who has a ``quiet way about doing what she does best--being a school nurse.'' She is kind to the children and always looking out for their best interests.

In 2002, Nancy started a fitness program at Forest Oaks Elementary. Having been inspired by a talk on obesity at the National School Nurses Convention, she submitted a grant application, and was awarded $3,300 from the State of Delaware to implement her program. The program promotes increased physical activity and healthy nutrition in first to fourth graders. Nancy hopes to expand the program to also include students in kindergarten and fifth grade and to teachers and staff.

Nancy has also helped coordinate a bike safety program and helmet program, taught open airways classes to empower students with asthma in self care, collaborated with the school guidance counselor and psychologist to meet the emotional and educational needs of students and presented staff education programs in diabetes, asthma and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Nancy is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the international nursing honor society, the National Association of School Nurses, the Delaware School Nurses Association, DSNA, and was a member of the DSNA Continuing Education Committee from 1990-1995. Nancy also serves on the Red Clay Nurse Liaison Committee, is the computer representative for the Red Clay School nurses, and is a member of the revision committee for the school nurse technical assistance manual.

Nancy is married to Joe Nadel, a psychologist and teacher at Wesley College. She has four children, Katie, Carolyn, Dan, and Susan, and three stepchildren, Joe, Ian and Mike. In her spare time, she volunteers at Mary Mother of Hope House II by sponsoring food, linen and gift drives at their shelter.

Nancy is an amazing human being. She has been and remains deeply committed to her family, her students, and her community. She has helped shape the lives of thousands in the halls of the institutions she served, and in the hearts of those who have been lucky enough to call her their friend. I rise today to honor and to thank Nancy for her selfless dedication to the betterment of others. She is a remarkable woman and a testament to the community she represents.

Mr. President, before the chairman of our committee and Senator Lieberman head for their meeting, I want to say in plain view of everyone how proud I am of the leadership they have provided to our committee. At a time when much of Washington, DC, was taking the month of August off, they made sure that our committee did not. At a time when most Senators were scattered around the world, the country, and back in their own States, they made sure we were here, and not just for any purpose but to participate in a series of excellent hearings.

I believe, and correct me if I am wrong, we have had a total of eight hearings thus far in the last month on this subject, from all kinds of people within the CIA, folks who have been National Security Advisers, Secretaries of Defense, Secretaries of State, Secretaries of Homeland Security. We have heard from the Commissioners themselves, the cochairs of the Commission, and from their senior staff. It has been an extraordinary education. It has taken me a while to get my arms around these issues. As we finished our markup, I said to both Senator Collins and Senator Lieberman that a lot had not been clear to me as we went through the course of those hearings, but as we went through the course of the markup a number of issues, questions that had not been in focus for me, came into focus.

I thank you for providing this extraordinary month and a half for us to prepare to offer this package to our colleagues in the Senate. You have done really good work. We are proud of you.

I am happy to yield.

Mr. President, the record should show those words should not be directly attributed to me. They are actually the words of a recently departed minister, Methodist minister from our State, Brooks Reynolds, who would have been 89 years old on election day. He used to give the opening prayer at the Delaware General Assembly. We would convene every January. Among the things he would say to all of us who would gather there in Dover in the legislative hall:

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

With respect to the underlying legislation, we have done a good job of doing that. What we have come up with is legislation that I think is well designed to ensure that key decisionmakers--be it the President or the President's Cabinet, those of us who serve in the House and Senate, those who serve in the intelligence communities themselves--that we have the information we need to have, we have it in a timely way, and that we have the information objectively. That will enable us to better protect this country from terrorism in the 21st century. That is the main thing, and I believe the legislation before us today really does help us keep the main thing the main thing.

I wish to say a word or two, if I may today, about the amendment Senator Collins and I have offered. It seeks to address the issue of how to allocate funds to first responders, and to also enable the system of distribution that we have to move forward with a little less difficulty, a bit more smoothly, and maybe somewhat more efficiently.

First, I wish to say how much I have enjoyed working with Senator Collins. We have worked on it well over a year, and to express thanks to my staff and especially to John Kilvington on my staff for the great work he has done with me and with Senator Collins's team.

What we seek to do with this amendment before us today, I say to my colleagues, is to make a series of much needed reforms to the state of the Homeland Security Grant Program. As many of my colleagues are aware, funding under the State Homeland Security Grant Program today is distributed somewhat arbitrarily. Much of the money that is made available for grants each year is distributed on a per capita basis. It is based on a formula that is actually included in the PATRIOT Act.

Some have criticized our current homeland security grant formula saying it shortchanges larger States such as New York that are at the most risk for attack. I agree. No one here, though, disputes the fact that States such as New York and California deserve the biggest share of Federal funds.

But let me say clearly that funding should not be based on population alone. This may come as a surprise to some of you from big States such as Minnesota or Wyoming, but my home State of Delaware is not very big but we still have major vulnerabilities. We have a significant port on the Delaware River, the Port of Wilmington. Through that port, frankly, more bananas come than any other port on the east coast--grapes, Chilean fruit, and steel. Delaware has been known through its history as the chemical capital of the world, home to major companies such as DuPont and Hercules and others. We have a number of plants that dot the landscape. Delaware is a financial center for our country, in downtown Wilmington, DE.

A lot of people go through Delaware. If you do, you probably know I- 95 passes through Delaware, one of the busiest highways in the country. Interstate 495 does as well. The Northeast corridor for Amtrak passes through Delaware. Both freight railroads, CSX and Norfolk Southern, two of the busiest railroads in America, pass through Delaware.

To our east, we have the Delaware River, a heavily trafficked river with some cargo, including some hazardous cargo that goes through our States, between our State and New Jersey on that river. On the other side of the Delaware is New Jersey and there is a nuclear powerplant in Summit, NJ. All of these factors tend to make our State a not unattractive target for terrorists.

We need to make sure that whatever we do, we protect States such as Delaware that may not be the most populous but do have real safety and security concerns. I believe--I might be wrong, but I believe with this amendment we have found a way to do that without shortchanging our sister States around the country.

The 9/11 Commission rightly pointed out that the current grant formula simply does not direct the Federal Government's scarce homeland security resources to the States and localities that need it the most. They called on Congress to create a new formula based on an assessment of threats and vulnerabilities that take into account real risk factors such as population density and the presence of critical infrastructure.

Our amendment does just that. The formula we have crafted ensures that the majority of Federal first responders' aid each year goes to the States most vulnerable to attack. In my judgment and the judgment of my colleagues, our cosponsors, the formula is a fair one. It would ensure that big States such as New York and California and smaller, less populated States such as Delaware, or less populous States such as Wyoming or Minnesota, receive our fair share of Federal homeland security dollars.

Large States will do much better under this formula in the amendment than they do under current law. This is especially true for States with large, densely populated cities or those that are located along an international border. It is my hope that this amendment will also better account for needs in States such as Delaware that have small populations but are located in risky parts of the country and have other significant vulnerabilities.

In addition, our amendment gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to distribute a portion of each year's grant funding directly to large cities such as New York or Washington, DC, where we are gathered today, to help them meet their unique security needs.

We do all of this while preserving the small State minimum set out in current law. This will ensure that small States such as ours will continue to receive the resources they need, that we need, to protect our citizens from potential terrorist attack.

In addition to these important formula changes which have been alluded to by both Senator Collins and Senator Lieberman, our amendment makes this Homeland Security Grant Program much more user friendly.

I don't know if our Presiding Officer or my colleague from Minnesota talked to their Governors recently or their mayors. Senator Coleman was once a mayor so he could be talking to himself on this one, I suppose. But any of us talking to our Governors or mayors or first responders over the last couple of years know how inefficient this program can be and how frustrating it can be to deal with. Under the current system, anyone seeking a grant is faced with, believe it or not, a 12-step application process--12 steps. Once this process is complete, first responders then have to sit around and wait, sometimes for months, before they see that first dime.

Our amendment dramatically streamlines this process; shortening the 12-step application process to 2 steps, requiring that States pass grant funds down to the local level within 60 days of receipt. Our amendment also ensures that cities and local governments are involved in their State's planning and application process. Our amendment also includes an important provision giving States significant new flexibility to use first responder aid they receive to meet their most pressing security needs.

Under the current system, States are given funding in four categories: No. 1, planning; No. 2, training; No. 3, they can use this money for exercises, and, No. 4, for equipment purchases. The States must spend a certain amount of money in each category, even if their homeland security plan calls for a different spending plan.

We propose, on the other hand, to give States the ability to apply for a waiver that would allow them to use unspent training money, for example, to purchase needed equipment, if that is where their needs were to lie or, frankly, the converse could be true.

Finally, our amendment creates a one-stop shop within the Department of Homeland Security. That one-stop shop would enable applicants to obtain grant information and other assistance. It also lays the groundwork for future reforms by authorizing a major review of all existing homeland security-related grant programs.

As part of this review, an interagency committee will look at planning, will look at application and paperwork requirements in an effort to ensure that the different programs are coordinated and do not impose duplicative requirements on applicants. The committee would then make recommendations for changes aimed not at eliminating programs but at making sure all of those programs work together in a coordinated fashion with as small an administrative burden on applicants as possible.

In conclusion, this amendment is based on bipartisan legislation reported out of the Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously this past June. It is a product of more than a year of debate on that committee about how we could better serve our first responders. The amendment enjoys the support of Democrat and Republican Senators from both large States and from small States, and when we have the opportunity to vote on this amendment, I will certainly urge our colleagues to vote for its adoption.

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

Mr. President, will the minority leader yield?

I thank the Senator.

The minority leader has spoken about the injustice done to the Dakota over a century ago, and we are endeavoring this year in this Congress to address another injustice; that is, the injustice where people are sick and dying from asbestos exposure and are not getting the money they and their families need. People who are not sick are drawing off money that should be going to those who desperately need it. We have companies going bankrupt, with people being displaced and losing their jobs. It is a bad situation, a terrible situation. We can fix it.

I thank my leader for his extraordinary courage in pushing forward a proposal to further narrow our differences with our Republican colleagues. If you think about all of the areas of progress, we have agreed there should be a trust fund, we have agreed there should be a trust fund, and on how it should be administered; we have agreed on how much money should go into the trust fund; we have agreed the money should be fully allocated to meet the claims out there; we have agreed on medical criteria; we have agreed on 10 different levels of impairment. We have basically agreed on the claims. While there are several areas in which we still have some differences to agree on, we have made extraordinary progress.

I commend Senator Daschle for his leadership in getting us close to this point. I have urged Senator Frist, who has left the floor, to invite Senator Daschle to sit down and resolve the remaining differences between the two leaders.

This can be done, and it should be done this year, and we should not leave here without completing this job.

Mr. President, I thank Senator Feinstein for yielding to me at this time. I wish to express my appreciation on behalf of everyone at Dover Air Force Base for project funds that are included in this bill.

Is this an appropriate time for me to make that statement?

I will proceed. Dover Air Force Base has been in existence a half century or more. The oldest control tower on any Air Force base in America, as far as I am aware, is at Dover Air Force Base. There has been a request for a number of years to try to replace that tower and put in new technology to provide better safety control of our aircraft on the Delmarva Peninsula.

The committee sought to include that project last year and was unable to do so for the 2004 funding cycle. Senator Feinstein has been terrific in making sure it was included in the funding for this year. I express my gratitude to her and to Senator Hutchison for that inclusion.

The importance of airlift today is great. We have, as my colleagues know, operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting our personnel in Nigeria, Haiti--all over the world. The importance of airlift is only going to grow in the years ahead because of the redeployment of our forces, as we bring folks home and the need in the future to deploy them through airlift, and if we want to do it quickly, airlift is the key. Bases where we provide airlift today will only be more critical to our Nation's military security. There are a lot of Air Force bases. I do not know of any base on the east coast that does more in terms of providing the lift for our men, women, troops, materiel, and equipment than Dover Air Force Base.

Within a few weeks, we are going to be breaking ground at Dover Air Force Base for a new aerial port. This is a new huge modernized cargo warehouse through which equipment will move from ground transportation, truck and rail, onto aircraft to be shipped all around the world, and, in other cases, off the aircraft to the port, and distributed through this country. It is a huge project. It was funded in the 2004 budget, and we break ground in a few days. We are excited about it. And we are finally seeing the oldest control tower in the Air Force being replaced by a modern, technologically current tower.

There are 5,000 people who work at Dover Air Force Base. Many are families. A lot of their loved ones are abroad. Today they are all over the world. Their housing is not especially good. I believe there is some money in this Military Construction bill to help us on the housing side as well.

For all of that and for all the families at Dover Air Force Base, for those of us who know how important the base is to our military readiness, we say our heartfelt thanks.

Mr. President, speaking not only for myself, I know I speak for Senator Biden as well, for both of us.

Mr. President, before Senator Boxer leaves the Senate floor, I want to thank her for her tenacity and leadership on this issue. I think we have come to a conclusion.

I see my senior Senator, Senator Biden, has joined us as well. This is an issue he has worked on longer than I have been in the Senate. I want to say to my friend, job well done.

I say to Senator Cochran and his staff on the Senate floor, and Senator Byrd as well, thank you very much for working with us in writing a very good compromise. A number of us have expressed concern upon learning that as money was added to this bill for transit security, there was an inability--in fact, no ability--for us to access these dollars to enhance security for inner-city passenger rail, on rails principally Amtrak, and to enhance the safety and security of freight railroad operations.

As it turns out, the Northeast corridor, which runs from Washington, DC, up to Boston, MA, is owned by Amtrak. Not only do Amtrak trains ply these corridors from here to Baltimore to Wilmington to Philadelphia and New York, on to Boston, but you can stop in Providence, the State of the Presiding Officer. Also, a lot of freight rail use these tracks. The tracks themselves, the overhead wires, the tunnels through which these trains go, the bridges over which they cross are owned and operated by Amtrak. The commuter trains that use the tracks from here to New York City and on up to Boston in many cases are owned and operated by Amtrak. For us to have passed legislation here today which attempts to promote rail security at least by giving money through State and local governments to transit operations without allowing Amtrak to have any access to those moneys I believe would be very shortsighted.

With the addition of this language which we have worked out on the Republican and Democratic side, we have actually a larger pot of money than we started with. That is good. With the addition of this amendment, we have the ability to enhance the safety and security of inner-city passenger rail operations and freight rail operations, too.

When I go home later this week, I will probably take the train. There is a tunnel that runs under this Capitol in which we work that is about 100 years old. There are concerns about the safety and security of trains that go through there. There is a tunnel under Baltimore that is about 130 or 140 years old. There are six tunnels that are about 100 years old which go in and out of New York City and under the rivers. They have problems with respect to ventilation, lighting, surveillance, and all kinds of safety concerns. They need to be addressed, and they can be addressed at least partly with money made available here.

Not all enhancements to safety and security for rail need to be as expensive as fixing old tunnels. Some of them can be as inexpensive as adding dollars for an old technology--the ability of our K-9 corps to detect bombs and explosives. It is as good today as it was 20, 30, or 40 years ago. With this money, those folks who are running our inner- city passenger rail will be able to better use K-9, if that makes sense, for detecting and ensuring our trains don't end up with explosives on board.

Again, in conclusion, we have come to a good place. This is not an amendment that, frankly, asks for more money. It is an amendment that actually enables us to use some common sense in allocating the moneys that have been added to the bill. It will allow us to enhance the safety and operation of our commuter operations, whether it be commuter trains or buses. Hopefully, we will also be able to use a good deal of this money to enhance the safety of inner-city passenger rail and some of our freight operations. For that, I think we can all be grateful.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I thank Senator Cochran and Senator Byrd for working with Senator Biden and me to try and assist the community of Glenville, in New Castle County, DE. About 1 year ago, on September 16, 2003, Tropical Storm Henri dropped between 8 and 10 inches of rain on the northern part of our State over a 14-hour period. Glenville was hardest hit. Every street in that development, home to 200 families, was flooded. Many resident's had to be rescued from their homes by boat. Hurricane Isabel hit just days later, causing further damage. Virtually the entire community is now uninhabitable.

I appreciate the Senator's comments. Delaware is now facing the beginning of another hurricane season. With the amount of money the State and the county have put into the mitigation effort in Glenville, we are concerned that they may be hard pressed to respond effectively to another storm like Henri or Isabel.

Mr. President, I wish to rise today to recognize Marie Swajeski, founder of the Children's Repertory Theatre, now known as the Delaware Children's Theatre. Marie has dedicated her life to children and the theater. She literally has touched the lives of thousands.

Marie was born in Philadelphia, PA to the late David and Helen Mondillo. Growing up in Philadelphia, she met her husband John at a dance hall shortly before World War II. They married a few years later in 1949. The couple moved to Delaware in 1951 when John took a job at Dupont.

Marie's passion for the theater and to make people happy began at an early age. She carried this kindred spirit through adulthood and began direction of theatrical productions in the 1960s for the Ardensingers Candlelight Dinner Theatre and the Catholic Youth Organization. She became involved in both adult and children's activities, and in 1969 became chairwoman of the opera society's Junior Division, today known as the Family Opera Theatre. Marie's community theater experience involvement spans a wide variety of activities, including actor, director, choreographer, producer, and theater arts instructor.

But Marie had a dream and a desire to do more. She wanted to leave a legacy for generations to come. In 1973, she founded and became the artistic director of the Children's Repertory Theatre, now known as the Delaware Children's Theatre, DCT. Rehearsing in various basements and garages, a touring company of children and adults was formed to bring professional quality theater to schools, parks, retirement and nursing homes, hospitals, and colleges throughout Delaware.

Marie set her goals and standards high. At the time, many people thought that there would be little interest in children's theater. Marie proved them wrong. She was a true pioneer. Her strong belief that children would benefit from watching and participating in live theater carried her through this challenging period of time.

She assembled an army of enthusiasts and volunteers who shared her vision. For the next 10 years, they conducted educational workshops for children. DCT received grant money from the Delaware Arts Council in the early years to perform and tour schools throughout the State. In its first decade, DCT presented to critical acclaim over 700 performances to more than 90,000 children.

Over the years, the demand for more children's theater began to grow. The Delaware Children's Theatre needed a home. In 1984, the DCT bought the New Century Club Building on Delaware Avenue in Wilmington. It became more than just a theater to house productions; it has become a magical second home to thousands of children.

DCT has served others as well since its inception. In the early years, the DCT offered free summer workshops for underprivileged children. DCT's outreach group, The Rainbow Players, often performs at the Ronald McDonald House, River Fest--benefiting The Boys & Girls Club--Ministry of Caring, and nursing homes.

It is through Marie's hard work and perseverance that the lives of hundreds of thousands of children have been changed. She has helped shape and enrich the lives of thousands on the stage of the theater, and in the hearts of those who have been lucky enough to call her their friend. I rise today to honor and thank Marie for her selfless dedication to the betterment of others. She truly is a remarkable woman and a testament to the community she represents.

Mr. President, I would like to set aside a few moments today to reflect on the life of a remarkable Delawarean, Rev. Dr. Brooks Reynolds, upon his passing at the age of 88. Dr. Reynolds was among the most remarkable men I have been privileged to know in all of the years I have lived in Delaware. Throughout his life, he demonstrated tremendous courage and integrity. He was a man with a kind heart, great abilities, and boundless energy. Unlike most people who are looking for ways to slow down when they turn 80 years old, Brooks Reynolds kept picking up the pace. In the way he lived his own life, Dr. Reynolds reminded each of us how good we can be.

The Rev. Dr. Brooks E. Reynolds, Sr., was born in Shortly, DE, on November 2, 1915, to the late John and Lida Rickards Reynolds. Upon completing high school in Georgetown in 1933, he attended Goldey College, now known as Goldey Beacom College, in Wilmington and Washington College in Chestertown, MD, before earning a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in sacred theology from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. His doctorate of divinity degree was earned at Howard University in Washington, DC.

Dr. Reynolds was lucky enough to have found love twice in his life. He married Grace Collins Reynolds in 1939 and together they served a number of churches beginning in Hooper's Island, MD, in 1938, a part of the former Wilmington Conference of the Methodist Church. Grace passed away in 1993.

His dear friend, Beatrice Simonds, was an important part of his latest ministries and they spent many happy years together before his passing. She describes him as having ``personality plus.'' In Bea's words, ``If there ever was a God on earth, he was.''

In 1945, Dr. Reynolds was called to start a new church in Wilmington Manor just south of Wilmington, DE. Beginning with meetings in a private home, the church grew through two building programs and the renaming to Asbury United Methodist Church. It had a membership of 2300 when Dr. Reynolds was reassigned to Bethesda United Methodist Church in Salisbury, MD, in 1974.

Dr. Reynolds first retired in 1986 but returned to active ministry to serve three additional pastorates, most recently Christ United Methodist Church in Laurel from 1999 to 2001, where I was once privileged to speak as a lay person while Governor of Delaware. In 1954, he became the first chaplain of the Delaware State Police and in 2003 was awarded the first Delaware State Police emeritus status with promotion to major. Dr. Reynolds also served as the chaplain for the Delaware State Hospital.

Other significant past affiliations included the chaplaincy of Governor Bacon Health Center in Delaware City, secretary of the board of evangelism and president of the board of trustees of the Peninsula Conference Board of Hospital and Homes, and president of the trustees of the Manor House in Seaford. He was a 32nd degree Mason and Past Grand Chaplain of the Masonic Lodge of Delaware.

Dr. Reynolds will always be remembered by me and by the tens of thousands of people whose lives he touched and enriched as a kind and compassionate man who loved all people. He saw no distinction between color, gender, race, or creed. He was a visionary in every sense of the word. Life was about growth, and he was always trying to find new ways to reach out to people. When the church had no money, Dr. Reynolds bought a bus to transport people to church who otherwise had no way of coming to church. The bus transported parishioners, children to Sunday school, and to day care. Some 300 children rode his buses. The church's fleet of buses expanded to include 27 buses.

Dr. Reynolds had a great sense of humor and was known for telling fabulous stories. One of my favorite all-time quotations came from him, too. ``The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.'' He often injected humor into his sermons and had a quick wit. He was a genuine person, and was not just comfortable to be around; he was a joy to be around.

Dr. Reynolds is survived by his sons, Brooks E. Reynolds, Jr., of Topeka, KS, and State Representative Bruce C. Reynolds and his wife, Kathleen, of Bear, DE, as well as by seven grandchildren, Ty, Lyda, Blair, Bret and Chad Reynolds, Mary Bock, and Brian Seals, and one great-granddaughter, Tara Leek.

I rise today to commemorate Dr. Reynolds, to celebrate his life, and to offer his family my support. Dr. Reynolds embodied the best of Delaware, and he will be sorely missed by us all.

Madam President, today I give thanks to the members of my National Parks Committee in Delaware for all of their efforts, time, and dedication in attempting to establish a national park in Delaware.

Delaware is the only State that does not have a national park, national monument, national historic site or any other unit of the National Park Service. It is through the hard work of the members of this committee that we have narrowed down the search in recommending the first national park in the First State.

I began the process of trying to establish a national park in 2002. My staff and I took suggestions from the public via surveys, a web poll, and phone calls. We received hundreds of responses, and suggestions ranged from Fort DuPont to Cape Henlopen State Park to the Underground Railroad to the World War II Towers. After several months of hearing what the public recommended, I established the National Parks Committee in 2003.

The committee was comprised of 12 people, including Dr. James Soles, the head of the committee, Dr. Wilma Mishoe, Ms. Norma Lee Derrickson, the Honorable John Schroeder, Mr. O. Francis Biondi, Mr. Ernst Dannemann, Dr. Linda Johnson-Gilliam, Ms. Jane Richter, Ms. Maria Matos, Mr. Ruly Carpenter, Mr. Bill Powers and Mr. Edwin Mongan III. For several months, the members met and discussed extensively each of the suggestions offered by the public. They held workshops in each county whereby the public could attend, participate and offer suggestions. They took a tour of the proposed sites to determine which location would make the best national park.

After months of deliberation, the committee came to its final recommendation: the creation of ``The Delaware National Coastal Heritage Park.'' This National Park would memorialize the rich and diverse history of Delaware's coastal areas, bringing that history and related attractions into sharp focus for area residents and visitors alike.

This park would be unique among national parks in both its physical dimensions and its theme. Physically, the park would be comprised of a series of four interpretive centers. The centers would largely direct visitors to already existing attractions related to the theme of the park--that is that Delaware's coastal region is comprised of a series of historic, cultural and natural interwoven threads that hold great significance in the history of both Delaware and the United States.

The concept of the unit recognizes that Delaware's coastal region is a near perfect microcosm of America's coastal regions and that they have always played a key role in human activity. It recognizes that the fabric that makes up our Nation is in turn made up of many threads of human and natural activity and that most of those threads have their origins in coastal regions like Delaware's.

In the First State, these threads start with the development of the earliest human settlers in the area and run through to some of the most sophisticated human activities of modern times. Among the most significant are the history of the first European settlers in the Delaware Valley who built Fort Christina in 1638, the development of coastal defenses from the beaches of Cape Henlopen on the Atlantic Ocean to Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River and, the successful operation of the Underground Railroad, by which thousands of enslaved Africans found their way to freedom along Delaware's ocean, bay and river coastline. Other threads include: the history of the Native American tribes such as the Lenni Lenape in what is now Delaware, the arrival of the Finns and the Swedes at the Rocks in Wilmington, the increased influence of the English and Dutch as European immigration grew, the development of transportation and commerce along the same waterways starting with the earliest explorers and extending to today's ultra modern Port of Wilmington, the expansion of modern industry including the early gunpowder factories of Irenee DuPont, the rise of the chemical industry and today's two modern auto assembly plants and the credit card giants that dominate Wilmington's skyline, Delaware's significant contributions to the development of our constitutional republic, including Delaware's historic vote at the Golden Fleece Tavern in Dover to ratify the Constitution of 1787, making it the first State to do so, and the beautiful and ecologically important natural areas along the coast that are already preserved as wildlife refuges.

These threads will be highlighted and showcased in a format unique to the National Park system. The park will be structured much like a series of four bicycle wheels, each with a hub and spokes. The hubs will be interpretive centers located strategically along the coast line. The spokes will be the multitude of attractions and sites that relate to the various threads described above.

The ``gateway'' or ``headquarters'' hub will be located on the 7th Street Peninsula at the site of the original Fort Christina. Within a short walking distance of the existing Fort Christina State Park is the Old Swedes Church, the oldest Episcopal Church in America in continuous use; the Kalmar Nyckel, a replica of the ship that carried early Swedes to our shores; Tubman-Garrett Park, located at a point in Wilmington where escaping slaves swam across the Christina River as part of their journey on the Underground Railroad, and other attractions. As a hub, it would provide information, recommendations and directions about other sites in the Wilmington area that relate to the threads of the coastal region.

A second hub would be located in the City of New Castle. It would provide information on attractions in the city's renowned historic district as well as related attractions in New Castle County such as Fort Delaware State Park on Pea Patch Island and Old St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Middletown, originally founded in 1705.

A third would be located in Kent County, along the coast of the Delaware River. It would provide information on the existing preserved natural areas such as Bombay Hook and on the myriad other attractions in Kent County that are integral parts of the threads highlighted by the park. These would include the John Dickinson Mansion, Dover's historic Green and others.

The fourth and final hub would be located in the Lewes area and would provide information on the numerous historic sites and natural areas that have made Sussex County's coastal region so pivotal to Delaware. These would include the Zwaanendael Museum, the Fenwick Lighthouse, and the Georgetown County Courthouse.

Together, these four interpretative centers would direct visitors to the many existing attractions that help us understand and appreciate the entire fabric of our society, a fabric woven from the many threads of Delaware's coastal region.

It is through the dedication and hard work of these sixteen members that this park is even a possibility. Each of the members took time out of their busy lives to help with this important project marking Delaware's history. I thank them, along with several members of my staff, for all their hard work and congratulate them on a job well done.

Pursuant to rule XII, paragraph 3, I ask unanimous consent to be excused from voting on this question.