Floor Statements

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the provisions of S. Res. 565 as a further mark of respect for those who died as a result of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Mr. President, this morning we return to session for the consideration of the port security bill. Last night we were able to complete work on the Defense appropriations bill, with a final vote of 98 to 0 on passage.

Following that vote, we began consideration of port security, with opening statements which began last night and continue this morning.

I stated last night that we will not be voting on amendments today, but we do anticipate Members will come forward and offer and debate amendments over the course of business today and Monday. The two leaders will then work with the managers and begin stacked votes on those pending amendments for Tuesday morning.

Having said that, I ask Senators to make themselves available today and Monday to debate their amendments.

I again remind my colleagues of the joint leadership event on Monday which will observe the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11. We will have a brief ceremony beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday on the east front of the Capitol. All Senators are invited to participate.

Mr. President, I turn to my colleague from Missouri. I have a short statement on port security, but I know the Senator has other scheduling issues today. I will defer to him and then make my statement on port security following his remarks.

Mr. President, with passage of the Department of Defense appropriations yesterday, we took another major step forward making America safer and more secure. We hit a few bumps and distractions along the way, but the end result was passing the Defense appropriations bill. Under the tremendous leadership of the President pro tempore, who is occupying the chair, we passed a bill that makes America, and continues to make America, safer and more secure. We helped to bring to our troops the cutting-edge technologies and resources that they need and will continue to need in fighting the war against terror.

It is important to share with our colleagues and the American people that in these appropriations bills, pending bills that are coming to the Senate, we are addressing a lot of issues that are not the principal focus of the bill but are very important issues to address, issues of concern and focus of the American people. I refer to an element of border security.

Most Members, as we traveled around the country and through our States over the last several weeks and during August, heard again and again that the American people expect us to focus on security at our perimeter, at our border, and at our ports. We are on the port security bill today.

In addition, it is important to note, for border security interests, over the past 2 years we have made huge progress in funding initiatives along our border, as reflected in the bills, the Homeland Security appropriations bill and the bill we passed yesterday, the Department of Defense appropriations bill. If we examine the last 2 years, we see how much progress, indeed, has been made for the border. We have added 3,736 new Border Patrol agents, for a total of 14,555. We have added in these bills 9,150 new detention beds, for a total of 27,500.

We have added, in these bills, 370 miles of border security fencing and added 461 miles of vehicle barriers along that Southwest border. We have added $682 million for border tactical infrastructure and facilities construction.

As for detention personnel, we have added 1,373 detention personnel, for a total of over 5,500. People ask about Customs and Border Protection officers. Indeed, we have added 460 new Customs and Border Protection officers for seaport inspections, for a total of 18,321 officers at ports of entry.

For the Coast Guard, in these bills, we have added $7.5 billion for the Coast Guard maritime border security, including $4 billion for Coast Guard port security and $2.1 billion for deepwater assets.

I mention these figures and this data because that is what we have done over the last 2 years in the supplemental bill, the Homeland Security bill, and the Department of Defense appropriations bill.

In fact, spending on border and immigration enforcement has increased from less than $4 billion prior to 9/11 to over $16 billion today--a fourfold increase. Catch and release has been ended. Apprehensions are up along the border by 45 percent. We are acting. We are funding. We are controlling the borders. We have a long way to go, but we are delivering on border security.

Security and safety are not static states. They are dynamic, which means we must constantly take steps, which we are doing on the floor to bolster them.

Earlier this year, I took a trip to the west coast and toured the Long Beach Port in southern California. It was amazing. I took an aerial tour, talked to all of the people there from security to the people handling the containers. Over 13,000--13,000--containers come through that one port every day. It is the largest port in the country. It is the third largest in the world.

It is not far from Los Angeles or LAX where 62 million passengers pass through annually. To say the least, this part of the country is a major front on the battle to protect our ports from terrorist attacks.

I am delighted we did turn to the port security bill last night. We have much to do over the next several days--with opening statements made last night and over the course of the day.

The bill before us now will provide the structure and resources necessary to strengthen our seaport vulnerabilities and better protect the American people from attack that might occur through those ports. It addresses security throughout the international cargo supply chain-- from factory gate in a foreign country to screening in the U.S. port of final destination.

The U.S. maritime system includes more than 300 sea and river ports, with more than 3,700 cargo and passenger terminals. More than 95 percent of all U.S. overseas trade, excluding trade with Mexico and Canada, arrives by ship. The top 50 ports in the United States account for about 90 percent of all cargo tonnage, and 25 U.S. ports account for 98 percent of all container shipments.

Most of the 60,000 U.S. port calls made each year are foreign owned and crewed. Less than 3 percent of U.S. overseas trade is carried on U.S.-flagged vessels.

What all this means is that ports are a significant choke point for an enormous amount of economic activity for this country. In and of themselves, they, therefore, represent an attractive target for terrorists.

Equally significant is that ports clearly facilitate the transportation of something from one place to another. Goods arrive at and depart through these ports--by ship, by rail, by truck--so it is not inconceivable that terrorists could use ports as a conduit to smuggle into this country.

Just imagine the damage if a terrorist smuggled a dirty bomb in a cargo container off a ship calling on a U.S. port. Once unloaded, it could be transferred to a waiting tractor-trailer or train and from there target anywhere in this country.

Just imagine if terrorists seized control of a large commercial cargo ship and used it as a collision weapon for destroying a bridge or refinery on the waterfront.

Imagine the damage if terrorists sank a large commercial cargo ship in a major shipping channel, thereby blocking all traffic to and from that port.

These are not pipedreams. They are legitimate threats. Remember when the USS Cole was attacked by a bomb-laden boat during a refueling stop in Yemen? Had that occurred in a U.S. port, not only would the port of calling be shut down but very likely officials would halt the entire U.S. maritime transportation system, as they did in the days immediately following 9/11.

Studies suggest that such a disruption in trade would reverberate throughout the country, costing billions of dollars.

The 9/11 Commission--if we look back at their recommendations-- concluded that ``opportunities to do harm are as great, or greater, in maritime and surface transportation'' as in commercial aviation. That is why we have elected to bring this bill to the floor of the Senate. That is why the bill before us is so very important. It provides the Department of Homeland Security with the additional authorities and vital tools necessary to improve maritime security and to foil plots to injure or destroy our ports, to the detriment of our people and to the detriment of our economy.

Effective port security is a critical component of national security. And the bill before us now is a critical component of effective port security.

I look forward to a thoughtful and engaging debate over the next several days and do hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this very important piece of legislation.

Mr. President, this morning the first 30 minutes of session will be devoted to a morning business period for Senators to make statements. Shortly after 10 a.m., we will resume our work on the Defense appropriations bill. We worked into the evening last night and voted on a couple of the pending amendments. Therefore, we will finish the bill during today's session. The two managers can update us when we return to the bill, but it is my hope we can finish the bill early today and move on to other business. I know I can speak for the chairman and say it is imperative we do not delay this defense funding bill any longer and we move toward passage quickly.

Several committees have been meeting on the issue of port security. We should be ready to begin that important Homeland Security bill next. We will have further updates during today's session as to the timing of finishing the Defense bill as well as the next order of business.

Mr. President, on this last rollcall vote, No. 235, the distinguished Senator from New Mexico, the current chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the former long-serving chairman of the Budget Committee, Senator Pete Domenici, cast his 13,000th vote in this Chamber--13,000 votes. Senator Domenici now joins a very historic and select club of Senators who can claim this distinction. Senators now cast more votes than ever in each Congress, so while historical records are not perfect, the Senate Librarian says that we are safe to conclude that among all Senators who have served since the beginning of the Republic, Senator Domenici is in a class of only eight. Since the beginning of the Republic, only seven other Senators have similarly cast more than 13,000 votes in their careers in the Senate, and four of them are serving today. The club of seven now becomes the club of eight with Senator Domenici's last vote here today.

Those other seven Senators are Senator Clayburn Pell, the current President pro tempore, Senator Ted Stevens, Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Daniel Inouye, Senator Ernest Hollings, the late Senator Strom Thurmond, and with over 17,733 votes, the all-time record, Senator Robert C. Byrd.

Senator Domenici, I know I speak for all of your fellow Senators when I say congratulations on this achievement. But more importantly, thank you for your tremendous service over the years to New Mexico, to your country, and importantly to the U.S. Senate.

(Applause, Senators rising.)

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. President, the next vote will be on passage of the Defense appropriations bill. I congratulate the managers. It has been a job well done.

We are going to be on the port security bill tomorrow and on Monday. The managers are here, and they are ready to debate and take up amendments. We will not be voting tomorrow.

I remind my colleagues that we have scheduled an event on Monday at 6 o'clock to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. We invite all Members to participate.

There will be no more votes tonight. We will not be voting tomorrow. We want to have all opening statements tonight and tomorrow on the port security bill.

We will have announcements tomorrow morning as to whether we will be voting on Monday. The Democratic leader and I will make that announcement.

Mr. President, just for the purpose of our colleagues' schedules, we will not be voting Monday evening. Monday is September 11. As we said, there will be an event here at 6 o'clock, and I encourage all our colleagues to participate. But a number of our colleagues did ask whether we will be voting Monday evening, and we will not. So there will be no rollcall votes on Monday.

We are going to turn to the port security bill, a bill that has been the subject of a whole lot of work by a number of our colleagues by both sides of the aisle. We have three committees that have parts of jurisdiction here. It is a very important bill. As we work to secure this country and secure the safety of the American people, we absolutely must address the issue of port security. So I am very pleased we are bringing that bill to the floor. We will address it tonight and tomorrow and Monday, and hopefully we can finish it shortly thereafter. I talked to the Democratic leader, and the managers on both sides of the aisle will be working to gather the amendments. We will be discussing and talking about those at the appropriate time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to Calendar No. 432, H.R. 4954, the port security bill.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to and further that it be considered as original text for the purpose of additional amendments and for debate only this evening.

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

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

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 576, S. 2590.

Mr. President, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, S. 2590, that I have brought before the Senate this evening. This is a simple bill, yet a profound bill, designed to simply shine more sunlight, shine that light that we all know is so necessary, on Federal spending. I am absolutely convinced that this bill will go a long way in ultimately reflecting greater fiscal discipline and greater accountability.

This is a simple bill but profound, profound in the sense of what it requires. One way to think of the bill is that it will create, for the very first time in the Executive Office of the President, the Office of Management and Budget, the equivalent of a Google search engine for all Americans to see how their Federal tax dollars are being expended. That is the simplicity of it all.

I congratulate my colleagues, Senators Coburn and Obama--I just talked to Senator Coburn on the phone--who are the original sponsors of this very important, commonsense piece of legislation. I do congratulate the chairman and ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Senators Collins and Lieberman, for their expeditious consideration and reporting of this legislation.

Once this bill is enacted, taxpayers will have the ability to know exactly how their money is being spent and, with that greater transparency, will come greater accountability.

The bill expands upon E-Government management tools that were enacted in 2002 by making all Federal funding awards, grants, contracts and loans, easily searchable on a public Web site. Only transactions under $25,000 would be exempt from this reporting requirement, as well as awards that are classified for national security purposes.

This new tool will be a valuable asset in the continuing effort to spend the taxpayers' dollars wisely, without waste and without misuse.

Again, congratulations to Senators Coburn and Obama for their untiring work on this bill. It is my honor to join them as an original cosponsor of this simple, commonsense but important piece of legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee- reported amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 560 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 the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 561 submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 558 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

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 the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 455, S. 2200.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee- reported amendments be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.