Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following treaty on today's Executive Calendar: No. 13. I further ask unanimous consent that the treaty be considered as having passed through

its various parliamentary stages, up to and including the presentation of the resolution of ratification; that any statements be printed in the Congressional Record as if read; and that the Senate proceed to a vote on the resolution of ratification; and further, that when the resolution of ratification is voted on, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be notified of the Senate's action, and that following the disposition of the treaty, the Senate return to legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask for a division vote on the resolution of ratification.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in recess until 10 a.m. on Friday, July 28. I further ask unanimous consent that following the prayer and pledge, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate proceed to a period for the transaction of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, today the Senate continued consideration of S. 3711, the gulf coast Energy bill. This morning we filed cloture on the bill, and that cloture vote will occur at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. I encourage Senators to come to the floor on Friday to speak on the Energy bill.

I notified all Senators actually about a week ago that we would be voting for sure next Monday. Although we are doing our best to accommodate Senators, it is a very important vote, and we will be having it at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. I ask Senators to adjust their schedules so they can be here.

Mr. President, I opened my remarks tonight to say there are a lot of issues being considered. Let me in closing mention a great event we had today for a bill that will get a fair amount of attention--but not the attention it deserves--in affecting people's lives in a very direct way. It is called the Adam Walsh bill, named for a little boy, 6 years of age, who died 25 years ago today.

The bill addresses an issue that has been highlighted a lot, most recently on television, that has to do with sexual predators which had been facilitated a lot by the Internet. This bill establishes two registries. One is for sexual predators. Right now there are about 500,000 we know of in this country; 100,000 we don't know where they are. It establishes a registry across the country, a national registry.

In addition, it will develop a child abuse registry which builds on the recommendations and sponsorship initially of a wonderful nonprofit group

that focuses on the tragedy associated with child abuse, but also more constructively and optimistically about what we need to do. That is called Childhelp, stationed in Arizona. Senator Kyl is very familiar with it.

One huge disappointment, though, that occurred this week is that we passed another bill 2 days ago, the Child Custody Protection Act, which focuses on a real tragedy that occurs today, and that is young girls taken, not by their parents, across State lines in order to get an abortion without notifying their parents, flouting the law and not notifying their parents or getting the consent of their parents.

We passed that bill overwhelmingly, with 65 votes, on the floor of the Senate. It passed the House of Representatives months ago, and we are ready to go to conference on that particular bill.

It is very important we go to conference to put an end to this tragedy which occurs all too often in this country. We tried to go to conference. The Democrats on the other side specifically rejected our proposal to go to conference. We put forth a unanimous consent request which was denied, and that is a real tragedy.

I will not proffer that unanimous consent request again right now, but we will be doing so over the coming days. The Democrats have made it very clear that they are going to obstruct the regular order of business in going to conference. I am very disappointed, and I think it is absolutely wrong.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Sessions for up to 10 minutes.

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

Mr. President, this past weekend I was in Tennessee--in Nashville, my hometown. The visit was an opportunity for me to catch up with constituents. Again and again, whether I was in Nashville or over in Carter County at a wonderful pig roast or over in Jackson, TN, west Tennessee or Memphis, the concern of the high cost of gasoline, the high cost of cooling homes, and the impact on local businesses came up again and again and again.

As I was driving through the streets of Tennessee, the average price of gasoline in Nashville, I remember specifically, was $2.87 a gallon-- kind of a bargain if you compare it to here in DC, where many metro area prices averaged over $3.08 a gallon this weekend. But people back home in Tennessee feel that it is anything but a bargain. They feel the pinch in their wallets, and it affects how they live every day--whether it is driving their kids to school or taking their vacation at this time of year or filling that tractor with fuel.

Across the Nation, Americans are compensating for these high gas prices and high energy prices by cutting back, feeling the squeeze and having to cut back in other areas. We think twice about going out for dinner or lunch at a restaurant. We select our vacation destinations based today on how far one has to drive from home rather than the appeal of that destination. And we wait a few weeks longer than comfortable before turning on that air-conditioner or heating our homes. That is the direct cost these high energy prices have on our everyday family life.

Many Americans fail to realize the indirect but the very real passthrough costs of high energy prices, the extra energy costs that are hidden in the

prices of the consumer goods and services we use every day. It is not just gasoline prices that are putting that squeeze on American consumers. Right now, American consumers and industries are paying the highest natural gas prices in the world. That translates into, yes, higher heating and cooling bills but also higher prices for farmers trying to buy fertilizer for their fields, higher prices for products made with chemicals, higher prices for paper products, higher prices for manufacturing jobs, which means those jobs ultimately are lost here in America.

Six years ago, America's natural gas bill was $50 billion. Last year, it was four times that, $200 billion. In countries competing for American jobs, the price of natural gas is often one-sixth--one-sixth-- as much as it is here in the United States. Thus, when U.S. companies are having to pay more for the energy they need, it makes it harder and harder for them to compete in this global marketplace. When they can't compete, they have to make very tough economic decisions that many times result in American jobs having to move overseas--where energy supplies are much more plentiful and the costs are much lower.

The National Association of Manufacturers estimates that more than 3.1 million high-wage manufacturing jobs have been lost in this country over the last 6 years--largely as a result of those high energy prices. Of more than 120 world-scale chemical plants under construction around the world, only 1 is here in the United States. The high cost of natural gas hurts farmers because natural gas is used to make fertilizer. It is hurting the forest industry. It is hurting the paper products industry. Mr. President, 267 mills have closed, and 189,000 jobs have been lost since this runup in natural gas prices over the last 6 years.

We are all familiar with the energy challenges facing America. We are dangerously dependent on foreign sources of oil. We are dangerously dependent on foreign sources of oil--much of it coming from countries with unstable governments or with interests that are cleary contrary to those of our country.

This disparity will only increase if we do not take action. We have to act to increase the amount of American energy. And that, of course, we could use right here in America today.

The bill before us--the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act--is going to do just that. It is action. It will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and natural gas by opening up more than 8 million acres in the gulf to domestic exploration. The area opened under this bill is estimated to contain 1.26 billion barrels of oil and over 5.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It will have an impact on the prices consumers pay at the pump and on their power bills, as we look to the future. It makes sense: increased supply, when we know that price point is ultimately a product of supply and demand.

I want to make it clear that while this is a first step toward addressing the energy challenges we face, it is an important step. There is a lot more we can and should do in the future to break what the President called our ``addiction'' to oil, to diversify our energy resources, to increase the use of renewables and alternative sources such as ethanol and biodiesel, clean coal technology, and nuclear power, and to decrease, to minimize, to lessen consumption by consumers.

One year ago this week, the Senate passed a comprehensive national energy policy which, over the course of the last 12 months, has achieved impressive results. As a result of the Energy bill, 27 new ethanol plants have broken ground, 150 more are in the works. The amount of ethanol and biodiesel we use in our gasoline will more than double over the next 6 years, saving 80,000 barrels of oil a day, and 401 new E-85 pumps have been installed. As a result of that comprehensive Energy bill passed last year, the nuclear industry is planning to build 25 new reactors in the United States, enough to power 15 million households with clean, emission-free electricity. Because of the Energy bill passed last year, 120 clean coal facilities are in the planning stages, enough to replace 2 million barrels of oil a day by the year 2025. And because of the comprehensive Energy bill of last year, wind power, solar power, and hydrogen fuel cells all got a major boost. The Energy bill was part of the solution.

The bill on the floor today is that next critical step. Once we pass this bill and begin producing more of America's energy, we will still have a lot more work to do. We need to do more to encourage development of innovative 21st century technologies that will break our addiction to foreign oil. Whether ethanol or hydrogen or coal-to-liquids or new approaches that we can't even imagine today, we must do all we can to support those new technologies, those advanced technologies that will move us beyond the debate over oil and over gas.

For the foreseeable future, we are going to be talking about oil and gas. That is why the bill before us today is so critical. The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act will substantially reduce our dependence on foreign oil and natural gas. It will increase moving toward energy independence. It will strengthen our national policy. It will reduce the cost of living for American consumers.

In a post-9/11 world, energy security is a matter of national security. Now more than ever America needs America's energy. That is what this bill does. It brings more American energy to American consumers. It is a bipartisan bill.

I especially thank Senators Domenici and Landrieu, Vitter, and Martinez, and so many others for helping us get to this point. I hope the Senate will now vote to allow us to begin debate on this legislation so that we can continue to deliver meaningful solutions to the American people.

I yield the floor.

Cloture Motion

Mr. President, this morning we will return to executive session for the consideration of the nomination of Jerome Holmes to be U.S. circuit judge for the Tenth Circuit. There are 2 hours remaining for debate on this judicial nomination, and therefore, if all that time is necessary, we will vote just before 12 noon today. We will be recessing from 12:30 to 2:15 today to allow for our weekly policy meetings. When we resume business at 2:15, we will begin consideration of the child custody protection bill under an agreement that we reached last Friday. There are up to four amendments that can be considered before we proceed to passage of that bill. We will stay in session this afternoon and evening in order to finish the child custody protection bill, and I hope some of that debate time will be yielded so we can finish that bill at an earlier hour.

I remind everyone again that there will be a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the consideration of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act tomorrow morning. That vote will occur sometime around 10 a.m. so that we can conclude that vote before we go to the scheduled joint meeting. We will proceed to the House of Representatives in order to hear the 11 a.m. address by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq.

The vote will be sometime around 10 a.m. tomorrow, and a little after that we will convene here in preparation for going to the House of Representatives.

We have had a very productive few weeks since the Fourth of July, addressing the issues surrounding the alternative stem cell technology bill, the fetal farming prohibition bill, the child protection bill, Homeland Security appropriations, the Voting Rights Act reauthorization, the Water Resources Development Act, and confirmed four judges.

We have made great progress over the last few weeks, but we have a lot to do--most immediately the Child Custody Protection Act--today, and then we will move to the deep sea energy exploration issue. Pensions is currently on the way to conference, and I am very hopeful that the conference will be completed at some point in the near future. And we need to address the DOD appropriations bill. So these are very busy times.

The House of Representatives will be going out this week, and we will be here through next week before the recess.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. President, I congratulate Chairman Ensign for managing this bill, an important bill that we have passed and that the House has passed, and now it is time for us to go to conference. I thank leadership and the managers on both sides because we were able to address a very important issue and had appropriate amendments under an agreement that was reached, and conclusion was passage as we just heard by 65 to 34 on this bill.

With regard to that, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to the consideration of H.R. 748, the House companion measure; provided that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the text of S. 403, as amended, if amended, be inserted in lieu thereof; the bill then be read a third time and passed, and the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees with a ratio of 7 to 5.

Mr. President, the objection is heard. And I will say that I am disappointed. This bill passed the House of Representatives on April 17, 2005, and just passed this body 65 to 34 expressing the will of the Senate. Routinely, we would go to conference with the House and the Senate bill and move forward. I understand that objection is made. I am very disappointed that is the case. I hope we can get to conference just as soon as possible. I do hope that the objection we heard tonight does not represent obstruction in taking this bill to conference, because that would be the normal course. But we will address this in the future.

Again, I am disappointed that we are being stopped from going to conference tonight.

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

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

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 3728, introduced earlier today.

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

table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, the bill that we just passed, S. 3728, to promote nuclear nonproliferation in North Korea was introduced by myself, Senator Biden, and others.

As we all know, earlier this month, the North Korean regime defied the international community and launched seven long and medium-range missiles into the Sea of Japan. One of the missiles, the Taepodong-2, has a potential range of approximately 9,000 miles, placing the United States well within reach of attack by North Korea.

Kim Jong Il's regime took this dangerous and provocative action despite repeated warnings not to do so from the United States, its close neighbors and participants in the six-party talks, and many others in the international community.

The unanimous consent which was just approved focuses on this issue of nuclear nonproliferation in North Korea.

The North Korean missile launches reminded us yet again of the threat posed by Kim Jong Il's regime.

North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and its possession of long- range missiles that could potentially strike our Nation is a grave threat to the security of the American people and to peace and stability in East Asia.

This combination of nuclear weapons and long range missiles is a threat that the United States should not tolerate.

Since November 2005, North Korea has boycotted the six-party talks aimed at ending the regime's illicit nuclear weapons program.

In an effort to revive this diplomatic track, the People's Republic of China 2 weeks ago sent a high-level delegation to Pyongyang to convince North Korea to return to the six-party talks.

North Korea remained intransigent and gave no indication of any willingness to allow diplomatic efforts to succeed.

The U.N. Security Council then decided to act.

On July 15, the United Nations Security Council sent a strong, unambiguous, and unified message to the North Koreans that their latest provocations are unacceptable.

The Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1695. This resolution condemned unequivocally the North Korean missile launches.

In addition, the Security Council demanded that North Korea reestablish its moratorium on missile launches. It also requires all U.N. member states to do everything they can to prevent the procurement and transfer of missiles, missile-related items, materials, goods, technology, or financial resources to or from North Korea's missile and WMD programs.

As Ambassador Bolton stated:

The United States expects that the DPRK and all other UN

Member States will immediately act in accordance with the

requirements of this resolution.

However, soon afterwards, North Korea announced that it had no intention of abiding by the resolution's requirements--yet another act of defiance and brinkmanship.

North Korea's continued defiance of the international community leaves our Nation with no alternative but to act.

For all these reasons, I rise today to call up the North Korea Nonproliferation Act of 2006, which I originally introduced last week. This legislation will add North Korea to the list of countries currently covered by the Iran and Syria Nonproliferation Act.

Under this bill, the President would be required to submit a report to Congress every 6 months listing all foreign persons believed to have transferred to or acquired from North Korea materials that could contribute to the production of missiles, nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, and certain conventional weapons.

This legislation also authorizes the President to impose sanctions on all foreign persons identified on this list.

These sanctions include prohibitions on U.S. Government procurement from such persons and the issuance of U.S. Government export licenses for exports to such persons.

Ultimately, the bill will lead to U.S. sanctions on any foreign persons or foreign companies that transfer missile and WMD-related items, as well as certain advanced conventional weapons, to North Korea, or that buy such items from North Korea.

The U.S. is already doing this with respect to transfers of these items to and from Iran and Syria under the Iran and Syria Nonproliferation Act. The time has come for us to treat transfers of these items to North Korea no less seriously than we already treat transfers of these same items to Iran and Syria.

Of course, no transfers of missile and WMD-related items to or from North Korea should be taking place now that the Security Council has forbidden all such commerce with that country.

Experience teaches us, however, that detennined proliferators are likely to ignore these new U.N. sanctions, which is why this legislation is so criticaUy important. It will provide a partial remedy in such cases, and should deter violations of the new U.N. sanctions on North Korea.

The North Korea Nonproliferation Act of 2006 will reinforce Security Council Resolution 1695 and demonstrate that the United States is, indeed, doing all that it can to stop the transfer of these dangerous materials to and from North Korea.

The U.N. Security Council has spoken. The United States must now step up its efforts to fulfill its responsibility to protect the American homeland from the North Korean threat.

Section 4 of this bill calls on all other countries to consider measures similar to the ones that we will adopt pursuant to this law to reinforce Security Council Resolution 1695.

I would hope that, in particular, countries such as Japan that are especially threatened by North Korea's provocative actions will consider taking steps like those provided for under this legislation to deter the transfer by others to or from North Korea of sensitive items with weapons applications.

These items in the hands of Kim Jong Il pose a direct threat to the American people, the people of the region, and peace and security in East Asia.

If we are in earnest about protecting the American homeland, then it's imperative that we prevent the North Korean regime from acquiring these dangerous materials. I thank the cosponsors of this bill: Chairman Lugar, as well as Senators Inouye, Brownback, Biden, Bunning, Akaka, and Dole, as well as the rest of my Senate colleagues for their support.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 513, S. 2832.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 526 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, the preamble be agreed to, and that any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record, without intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9 a.m. on Wednesday, July 26. I further ask 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 resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 3711, the Gulf of Mexico energy security bill, with the time until 10 a.m. to be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees; further, at 10, the Senate proceed to a vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 3711; further, that following the vote, the Senate will recess until 12 noon for the joint meeting with Prime Minister of Iraq.