Floor Statements

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to consideration of S. Res. 390, which was submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to consideration of S. Res. 391, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, this resolution concerns a civil action filed by a former employee of the Architect of the Capitol against an employee of the Senate along with various employees of the Architect of the Capitol and a Capitol Police Officer. The plaintiff in the case claims that the defendants conspired to retaliate against him in his employment because he had tried to report misconduct in the operations of the Architect of the Capitol. The plaintiff seeks damages from the defendants in this case for allegedly violating his constitutional rights.

The claims against the Senate employee, whose involvement in this suit arises solely out of her oversight role as a staff member on the Appropriations Committee, are subject to dismissal on numerous legal grounds, including failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, and legislative and qualified immunity from suit. This resolution authorizes the Senate Legal Counsel to represent the Senate employee in this case and to move to dismiss the claims against her.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. President, before closing, I am going to make a brief comment--and there will be a lot more to say later in the year--on my friend and colleague Chairman Bill Thomas in the House of Representatives.

He has an old saying: ``I came here to make law.'' Well, when he retires at the end of his 14th term serving the 22nd District of California, Chairman Thomas will be able to look back on an illustrious public career that not only made law but made history.

Bill Thomas is smart. He is tenacious. He is steeped in the traditions of the House. He knows an awful lot about the traditions in the Senate as well. He has worked hard for over 25 years to deliver meaningful solutions to the American people.

As chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, the chairman has authored and managed some of the most significant legislation to come before the House. His skillful leadership has led to major victories in reducing trade barriers, cutting taxes, stimulating the economy, and protecting the interests of all Americans.

During the Medicare modernization debate, I spent 6 months in the chairman's Capitol office hammering out intricate, complex, tough, challenging policy details. I think it is fair to say that in those 6 months I had more than my lifetime's share of pistachios, which he always had sitting on that table and which habitually you could not help but dive into, as we talked about those many issues.

A former political science professor, he is known on both sides of the aisle for his keen intellect and also his political savvy. He is known for what has been called his ``singular personality.''

Over the years, he has been, at times, passionate; he has been emotional; he has been outspoken; he has been headstrong--all qualities that have propelled him even beyond the national stage.

He leaves behind a huge legacy, a storied legacy. And his presence will be missed when he retires.

Back in 1995, Chairman Bill Thomas told the Los Angeles Times:

People say I'm not as touchy feely as I should be. But I

never ran for the job to be touchy feely.

I salute the chairman for his commitment to principle and his unflagging service to his country.

I wish him and his lovely wife Sharon all the best as they embark on the journey ahead.

I had the opportunity to meet with him at the end of last week, and we talked about the future, we talked about the short-term future. He made it very clear he has a lot to do over the next several months right here in the Congress.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, March 7. I further ask consent that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate then resume consideration of S. 2320, the LIHEAP funding bill, for 1 hour of debate equally divided between Senators Snowe and Ensign or their designees; further that following that time, the Senate proceed to a vote on the motion to invoke cloture, as under the previous order.

Mr. President, today the Senate began debate on the lobbying reform package which we will continue to consider over this week. Tomorrow morning, shortly before 11, we will have a cloture vote on the LIHEAP bill. We expect to invoke cloture, and I hope that if cloture is invoked, we can work out an agreement to finish that bill in short order. That will allow us to return to the lobbying reform measure tomorrow and hopefully make good progress on that measure. I anticipate the Senate will stand in recess to accommodate the weekly policy luncheons tomorrow, and we will lock in that order tomorrow. Members are reminded that we have a full week ahead and to plan their schedules accordingly.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. President, this morning we will be returning briefly to the LIHEAP bill sponsored by Senator Snowe. No rollcall votes will occur today, although Senators may come to the floor to address the LIHEAP issue.

In a moment I will file cloture on the bill. That cloture vote will occur on Tuesday under the provisions of rule XXII. I remind everyone that last night I scheduled votes on three district judges to occur at 5:30 on Monday. We will also begin debate on the lobbying reform bill early next week.

The Rules Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have completed their work on lobbying reform and therefore we will be ready next week for full Senate consideration. I believe we can finish the LIHEAP measure and the lobbying reform bill next week. This will take full days of session and a lot of cooperation on both sides of the aisle. I do hope that we can stay on track and give the appropriate attention to both of these measures and conclude by the end of the week.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the live quorum be waived and that this vote occur on Tuesday, March 7, following the period for morning business and a 1-hour period of equally-divided debate on LIHEAP.

For schedule purposes, we now have up to three votes scheduled for Monday on three U.S. district judges, as well as the cloture vote on LIHEAP which will occur Tuesday morning, sometime prior to the policy meetings.

I expect that today will be a relatively short session. If Senators do wish to come to the floor to speak, they should do so as soon as possible this morning.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I ask the Democratic leader to stay on the floor just so we can discuss some of these issues. And I apologize for not being here. I was in my office, and so I don't know exactly what issues he talked about. But I am fascinated by the comments on stem cells and would love to talk further about stem cells in terms of both the power and the potential for stem cells to cure, something I have spent a lot of time with and know something about.

But if the implication was made that for some reason the issues surrounding life, surrounding cures, surrounding healing are any less important to this side than the other side of the aisle, I think it is disingenuous to say. I say to the Democratic leader, on stem cells--he knows I am a great advocate for the potential and promise for embryonic stem cells, the practical application; where I have run a transplant center, where tens of thousands of people have benefited from the procedures of adult stem cells, mainly bone marrow transplants--I hope he does not question my commitment to healing, to addressing that this year.

He knows it was the other side of the aisle that refused the unanimous consent request last year in July where we would take up four different stem cell bills. And, again, I was not on the floor, but I would ask the Democratic leader what point he was trying to make in terms of stem cells?

Mr. President, so we can make it clearly understood--and I apologize for not being on the floor--the Democratic leader understands and has agreed to the fact that we are going to address stem cells as early as we possibly can this year, that that is a commitment that was made after the unanimous consent request was not accepted from the other side to address it last July, that that commitment is there in working together to address this important issue.

Bipartisan, working together.

But things such as asbestos, you can't deny that there are patients with mesothelioma and clinical diseases today who are being hurt by the system and that that is not an important issue from a humanitarian standpoint, from a healing standpoint, for people who are suffering from disease right now, dying from lung cancer today who are not getting adequate compensation or appropriate compensation in a timely way. You don't mean to imply that we should not be addressing this asbestos crisis that is out there that also has a huge healing humanitarian component to it?

Then, on pensions, my staff said that you mentioned pensions, perhaps trying to stack the issues for downtown interests, the majority decided to play games. What are you even implying? We finished this bill on November 15 on this floor. We completed it. The House finished it a month later. We have been waiting to go to conference now for I guess 3 months. My distinguished colleague knows it is the majority that ultimately sets the ratios. The ratio has been crystal clear for weeks now, and now the argument seems to be shifting that there are outside interests dictating all this, when I have been crystal clear for weeks now on what those ratios will be. What is the implication, that there is somebody outside dictating what we are doing?

That is on stem cells.

I take that. But let's move on to pensions. This is getting old, and it is almost childish in terms of us not getting to conference. People are going to be hurt again.

Mr. President, just so people understand, the 7-to-5 ratio, which I have been clear on for weeks now, does allow for equal participation between those two committees, so the fairness is that 7- to-5 ratio.

This protections to the drug industry, no time for stem cells--first of all, the timing issue is because of this postponement. The fact that the PATRIOT Act finally passed yesterday, when it should have passed weeks ago, is a manifestation. This wasn't a problem with your whole caucus. It was a handful of people who felt strongly about it, and that is within their rights. But some way or another, we need to keep moving on all of these issues, whether it is stem cells, whether it is pensions, whether it is lobbying reform, whether it is coming in to address the debt limit. We are going have to move along and stop postponing, obstructing, and then saying we are running out of time. We can't address these important issues.

Asbestos is important. My distinguished colleague may diminish how important it is, but it is an important issue from a range. We are going to systematically go through and address them, but we need cooperation, working together. Let me ask the Senator, I wasn't here-- again, I apologize--but protections to the drug industry, something was said about that. What does that mean?

I understand. I plead to the other side of the aisle, if we could work together, the list--I am sure your list went on much longer on important issues. But unless we get some sort of working together without slowing things down and dragging out even asbestos, where we can't debate, we can only have debate, we can't amend; we have to work together to move forward.

On the drug industry, again, I am not sure exactly what it is, but right now avian flu, if you look at a map, over the last 6 months, where 10 million birds have died, 20 million, then 100 million, and then 200 million, it is moving our way. It has a 50-percent mortality rate today. If you get infected today--and probably a third of us would get infected because we have no natural immunologic response to that, unlike the regular flu--if it does continue to have a 50-percent mortality, we are in real trouble. We have no vaccines. The reason we have no vaccines today, in large part, is because the liability system has gotten out of whack. We had 26 manufacturing companies back in the 1960s. We have three today. They can't produce a vaccine. It would take them 13 months today. So the liability protections are only in the event there is an emergency, an emergency, a life-threatening emergency, in event there is a bioterrorist attack or in the event there is a pandemic. Today there are no protections given whatsoever. And also built in with those protections is a compensation program.

I came to the floor because, as this list goes on, if these are not at least elucidated, the American people are left with a one-sided view, and that is wrong. Again, I didn't come to the floor to go through the entire list, but notes started coming into my office about the list itself.

I will close with a plea to the other side of the aisle. It is an election year. It is a year where partisanship is going to come to the floor and where things are going to be obstructed or slowed down. But there has to be some things we can work together on. It might be stem cells. It may be health issues. It should be asbestos. Hopefully, it will be lobbying reform next week. Maybe that will be the first time this year we can show working together. Then we have border security. The Democratic leader and I were talking about that before. That is going to be a tough issue for us, border security and enforcement, with a lot of amendments on the floor. We have to work together, Democrat and Republican, right side of the aisle, left side of the aisle, to do the Nation's business, to govern with meaningful solutions; otherwise, we are going to be here all year doing nothing.

Again, the Democratic leader and I don't just talk on the floor, and we need to keep our conversations going, as we do our best to govern with meaningful solutions to the problems we face today.

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

Mr. President, I come to the floor to speak to my colleagues about an issue that not a lot of people in this body think about every day--a very large policy issue we talked about over the course of the morning--an issue that shocks me personally but is shocking America, and it is the topic of child sexual predators.

Sometime during the late hours of February 23, 2005, Jessica Marie Lunsford disappeared from her grandparents' Citrus County, FL, home.

She was found dead 3 weeks later in a shallow, 4-foot-deep grave under the back porch of John Couey's mobile home--just where he told authorities she would be.

The little girl's body was sitting upright, her wrists bound with stereo wire, and plastic garbage bags wrapped her tiny, 9-year-old frame. In her arms was the stuffed purple dolphin that had gone missing with her during the night.

Authorities believe after kidnapping and sexually assaulting little Jessica, John Couey, a known sex offender, buried her alive.

This case--the Jessica Lunsford case--riveted and shocked the Nation. How could someone perpetuate such horrors and against an innocent child? How could the system have allowed a convicted sex offender to move freely and unmonitored, with no warning to the neighbors of the monster in their midst?

Every year, nearly 798,000 children are reported missing--over 58,000 of them are the victims of nonfamily abductions.

One in five girls and one in ten boys are sexually exploited before they reach adulthood. Less than 35 percent of those childhood sexual assaults are reported to authorities.

To make matters worse, the Internet is pushing the boundaries of sexual exploitation, providing child predators with a new, anonymous hunting ground. The Department of Justice reports that one in five children as young as 10 years old receives solicitations online. For parents and for communities, it is time for all of us to wake up.

A recent Dateline NBC series called ``To Catch A Predator,'' vividly demonstrated that many of these cyberstalkers are more eager to trap their young online victims into a real-world nightmare than at any time in the past.

Over the course of a 3-day sting operation in Riverside, CA, Dateline was able to nab 50 Internet child sex predators. The men were caught on hidden camera arriving at a home where they believed a young teen, aged 12 or 13, was waiting to meet them. The police were on hand to apprehend the would-be molesters.

There is no stereotyped child predator. The men came from all walks of life, including a high school teacher, a rabbi, and a law enforcement official. Some had long criminal records that involved previous sexual assault convictions.

The results were shocking, even to the experienced Dateline producers. Just like the Lunsford case, the audacity of these men should be a wake-up call to all of us that we must do more to protect our children from child sexual predators.

How many times have they gotten away with it in the past? How many more are out there cruising cyberspace as I speak right now? How can we protect children from falling into their clutches? There are ways, and this body, the Senate, will address those ways.

On Wednesday, I discussed these questions with John Walsh of FOX's ``America's Most Wanted,'' now a nationally renowned child advocate.

It was after the tragic kidnapping of his 6-year-old son Adam in 1981 that Mr. Walsh devoted his life to protecting America's children.

His organization--the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children--single-handedly raised the issue of child abduction to national prominence. And for that he should be congratulated. It has led to the recovery of countless children and defended the safety and well-being of countless families across America.

In that meeting on Wednesday, he told me in his 24 years of advocacy, he has not seen an issue more important and more pressing than creating a national sex offenders registry.

He pointed out that when a neighbor down the street has a mean dog, parents know and they warn their children to stay away--to stay away from that yard, to stay away from that house. So, too, parents should have the right to know that the neighbor down the street has a history of sexual violence so they can protect their children from harm.

Here in the Senate, we will act to fight child predators. I am committed to passing child predator legislation this year as part of a broader crime-fighting package. I look forward to working with Chairman Specter and the Judiciary Committee to develop this package and accomplish this goal.

We should consider provisions from the Children's Safety Act that I cosponsored with Senator Hatch and which Chairman Specter helped report out of the Judiciary Committee last year.

A number of ideas were included: Creating a national sex offenders database searchable by zip code; requiring States to notify one another of the whereabouts of registered offenders; developing a stricter tracking system to monitor repeat violent offenders; requiring DNA fingerprinting of child sexual predators and developing a DNA database to help solve these crimes; imposing enhanced criminal penalties for violent crimes against children under 12; and provisions that can reduce gang violence, strengthen court security, and prevent child pornography.

We should consider the ideas under development by the distinguished Judiciary Committee chairman in the House, Chairman Sensenbrenner.

When serial rapist Joseph Duncan was caught at a Denny's last summer in Coeur d'Alene with one of his child victims, the only words he uttered to police were, ``I had fun. Get me a lawyer.'' His sick and twisted sense of ``fun'' was allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting Shasta Groene, age 8, and her brother Dylan, age 9, eventually murdering the little boy but not before tying up and beating to death their older brother, their mother, and their mother's boyfriend.

Joseph Duncan was a repeat offender with a 30-year history of sexual assault. He committed his first crime at age 12, preying on a 5-year- old boy. By the time he was 16, Duncan estimates that he had raped 13 young boys, 6 of whom he tied up, others he raped at gunpoint. By 17, medical authorities deemed him a sexual psychopath.

After raping and torturing a 14-year-old boy, Duncan was sent to prison where he served 14 years before being released--only to attack more innocent

child victims. Shasta and Dylan's father said:

There's been so many times I've seen the news announce sex

offenders being released into the community. People need to

contact their Congressmen, their Senators, and even the

President. There's a lot more that can be done.

I would like to tell Mr. Groene that we are listening. We hear your plea and the pleas of so many other Americans who want to see these monsters dealt with.

We are going to act. We will act. We must protect America's children, families, and neighborhoods from these sick predators. Our children are depending on us to keep them safe from the evils that lurk in the shadows.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, pursuant to the rules of the Senate, I hereby give notice that next week, I intend to move to proceed to a measure that amends the Senate rules.

Mr. President, pursuant to the rules of the Senate, I hereby give notice that next week, I intend to move to proceed to S. 2349 that amends the Senate rules.

Mr. President, pursuant to the rules of the Senate, I hereby give notice that next week, I intend to move to proceed to S. 2128 that amends the Senate rules.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on today's Executive Calendar: Calendar Nos. 511 through 516.

I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. President, I want to say a quick word about these nominees. What we just approved were six nominations to the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors. Nine years ago, I started working on legislation to modernize and expand TVA's board of directors to bring it more in line with other corporations of similar size and scope and responsibility.

Just over a year ago, Congress passed my bill and this group of nominees is the first to the newly reformed TVA board. They are an outstanding group. All have substantial business and management experience. All are leaders in their respective communities--just the kind of qualifications that we were looking for when we initially drafted our reform modernization legislation. I commend the President for nominating such a highly qualified group, and I look forward to working with them on the many challenges facing TVA in the 21st century.

I thank my colleagues from both sides of the aisle for both furthering this legislation along and passing it and going through the nomination process in a very respectable way.

These nominees--Dennis Bottorff, Robert Duncan, William Sansom, Susan Richardson Williams, Donald DePriest, and Howard Thrailkill--join two existing current board members, Bill Baxter and Skila Harris. I guess they are no longer nominees; they are on the TVA board.

I thank the Democratic leader and others for making this possible to do today.

The nominations considered and confirmed en bloc are as follows:

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 357, H.R. 2830.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment at the desk, which is the text of S. 1783 as passed by the Senate, be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and the Senate insist upon its amendment and request a conference with the House, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees at a ratio of 9 to 7.

Mr. President, this also is a major step forward, as colleagues have been participating and watching the debate over the course of the day, to bring to conclusion another issue that has been pending. But the fact we have been able to reach this resolution today advances a very important issue--one that is time sensitive.

We had originally requested 7 to 5. As my colleagues know, the Democratic leader insisted on an 8-to-6 ratio. The 9-to-7 ratio we agreed to does allow us to have equal representation from the Finance and HELP Committees. As I repeatedly insisted, it is important we not stack the deck in favor or against either committee. Through mutual agreement, we have reached that objective.

I do have to add, it is unfortunate it took so long and we had to have so much discussion to get to conference on an issue so important to the 44 million Americans out there who right now are working in an uncertain environment as we address this defined benefits pension system.

Now is the time for our conferees to get to work, and I am confident they will be able to produce a conference report that is satisfactory to both sides of the aisle.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar Nos. 330 through 332, Calendar Nos. 334 through 350, Calendar No. 362, H.R. 4515, and H.R. 1287, all postal-naming bills, en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bills be read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4107 and H.R. 4295 en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bills be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 389, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be added as a cosponsor of that last resolution, if I had not been previously so included.