Floor Statements

Mr. President, we have been in discussions with the Democratic leader, and we have agreed to a plan for the next several days that I will outline now and I will place in order now with the next series of requests.

We have set aside next week to address several important bills relating to health care issues, but as I understand it, there will be objections to proceeding on these bills. Because there is objection to proceeding on the bills or bringing them forth and debating them and amending them, we have to go through a process to overcome that obstruction.

I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 422, S. 22, the Medical Care Access Protection Act of 2006, and I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I now withdraw the motion to proceed.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 423, S. 23, the Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Access to Care Act, and I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I now withdraw the motion to proceed.

I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the vote on the first motion to invoke cloture occur at 5:15 p.m. on Monday, May 8; provided further that if cloture is not invoked on that motion, then the Senate proceed immediately to a vote on the second cloture motion.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 417, S. 1955, the Small Business Health Plan bill, and I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I withdraw the motion to proceed.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on Monday, May 8, the time for debate be divided as follows: 1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m, minority control; and 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., majority control. Further, that the time rotate under this format, with the final time from 5 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. under majority control. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the three live quorums related to the cloture motions be waived.

Mr. President, to summarize what we just went through and where we are, we have scheduled for next week the consideration of several important bills related to health care.

Given the objection to the motion to proceed to these bills, it was necessary to file cloture motions on the motions to proceed; thus, we now have scheduled up to two cloture motions on Monday at 5:15, beginning at 5:15. The first will be on a motion to proceed to the Medical Care Access Protection Act, and the second vote will be on the cloture motion relative to the motion to proceed to the Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Access to Care Act. If those cloture motions fail, on Tuesday morning we will have a cloture vote on proceeding to the Small Business Health Plans legislation.

Mr. President, the way this is configured is that we have a vote on the first medical liability bill, which is a comprehensive bill built pretty much on this Texas model that I referred to in my earlier remarks. If that is successful, we will continue the debate on that. If it is not, we would continue with another medical liability bill that has a slightly different focus to it, again based on the Texas model. It will focus on in particular where medical liability premiums are felt most acutely: in women's health care and babies' health care, pediatrics and maternal health care, and that is obstetricians and gynecologists. I hope we will be allowed to proceed and debate on those two. We will be voting on both of those, or at least one of those but up to two on Monday night, with no votes after those two votes on Monday night.

Depending on the outcome but following whatever that outcome is, we will turn to the small business health reform plans. The small business health plans, as we know, have the potential for addressing many of the issues I talked to earlier--the cost issue, the access issue, and the quality issue as well--because what they do is allow small businesses-- and most businesses in this country are small businesses; they create about three-quarters of the jobs in this country--they allow small businesses to group together so that they will have that purchasing clout which we know comes with numbers. When we add that purchasing clout, you can go and bargain for better prices, negotiate for better prices, and with that comes a lower cost of health care to all people who work in small businesses that participate. With that, people who don't have health care today who work for small businesses will be able to get a plan that is within reach, instead of the hugely expensive plans that are out there today.

So I am very excited about addressing the skyrocketing costs of health care head-on: choice, consumerism, patient-centered health care, all of which will be centered on the medical liability issue we will be debating and the small business health plans.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to S. 22, so that Senators may speak to that motion.

Mr. President, over the course of the morning we will have various speakers coming in to talk about a number of issues focusing on the issues I have spoken to on health care and the cost of health care and how it affects people in their everyday lives.

Cinco De Mayo and The Contributions of Mexican Americans

Mr. President, I also will take a moment to interject what is a celebration today. It started with two events that happened 144 years ago this week, two events that signify great advances in the history of freedom in North America.

On May 1, 1862, Admiral David G. Farragut--the first Latino flag officer in any branch of the U.S. military and the first person awarded the rank of Admiral in the U.S. Navy--won a decisive engagement with Confederate naval vessels in New Orleans Harbor.

This was, perhaps, the most important naval engagement of the Civil War.

While almost 3 more years of difficult fighting still awaited Union troops, Farragut's victory at New Orleans: cut the Confederacy in half; granted union forces control of the Mississippi; contributed greatly to the Union victory; and, in turn, helped end slavery.

As Farragut's troops occupied the city of New Orleans, another event over 1,000 miles away was unfolding.

On May 5, 1862, a fighting force of 2,000 peasants confronted 6,000 well-equipped and expertly trained French troops. The French had come to conquer the small town. Instead, they found a fierce and proud resistance, and the peasant army prevailed.

A Mexican defeat that day could have even undone Farragut's victory at New Orleans.

French Emperor Napoleon III hated the United States and had clear sympathies with the Confederacy and its slave-holding culture.

With a base in Mexico, Napoleon's forces might have crossed the Rio Grande to offer support to the South in its battle with Union forces.

And Union forces were fully aware of the threat. General Phillip Sheridan supplied the Mexicans with the ammunition and equipment they needed to expel the French. Some Americans even joined the Mexican Army.

The battles were waged and won.

The Union prevailed, and Mexico successfully fought off the French invasion.

The Mexican victory on Cinco de Mayo wiped the last vestige of indigenous monarchy from the North American continent.

As the Cinco de Mayo story illustrates, our countries have a long and intertwined history. It has, at times, been a difficult one. But it has also been one of shared victory.

Cinco de Mayo also gives us an opportunity to recognize the invaluable contributions of Mexican Americans to our culture.

Through their vibrant traditions and deep commitment to faith, family, and country, Mexican Americans have enriched our society.

They are our friends and neighbors, our fellow citizens and protectors. Citizens of Mexican descent are, at this very moment, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect the American homeland.

So, today, we celebrate the unique contributions of our Mexican American comrades, and we toast our future, shared achievements.

Mr. President, 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 floor privileges be granted to Dr. Alex Mason and Jay Khosla, fellows in the majority leader's office, and Dr. Roger Johns, a fellow for Senator Hatch, for the duration of the debate on S. 22, S. 23, and S. 1995.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 1 p.m. on Monday, May 8; 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. 22, as under the previous order.

On Monday, the Senate will continue to debate issues that I spoke to earlier this morning, issues that are critically needed, very important to slow down the incessant rise in the cost of health care, that will improve the quality of health care, will improve access to health care, will keep my colleagues in medicine from having to desert or leave a State that they want to practice in or leave a profession, a specialty they want to continue, because of exorbitant, high medical premiums that result in frivolous lawsuits.

At 5:15 on Monday, we will have two cloture votes on motions to proceed to a comprehensive medical malpractice bill and a tailored bill designed to give women access to health care. I hope that cloture will be invoked on the motions to proceed so the Senate could begin to debate the merits of those bills. They are very important bills. We have spoken to the substance of those bills today and will continue to do so Monday. I encourage my colleagues to allow us to continue that debate on those bills and bring them to resolution.

If we are unsuccessful, if cloture fails on both of those measures, then we would vote on Tuesday morning on a cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the small business health plans bill. All three of these issues are very important pieces of legislation. We have set them up in order that we can deal with them one at a time. We are trying to get on them to debate them, and so far there has been indication that there is going to be attempts to obstruct and stop and not let us get on those. We hopefully will be successful in doing just that.

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

Mr. President, we have set aside the first hour for a period of morning business. After that time, there will be 20 minutes allocated to the chairman and the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee for their closing remarks on the emergency supplemental. We will then vote on the Thune amendment on VA medical facilities, to be followed by a vote on passage of the bill. Senators can expect those votes to begin sometime around 11 o'clock this morning.

We are also working to clear some nominations that are on the Executive Calendar, including two district judges that will require rollcall votes this afternoon. I will have more to say on the schedule for this afternoon and tomorrow after discussions with the Democratic leader over the course of the morning.

Mr. President, today marks the 55th National Day of Prayer, as established in 1952 by President Truman. All across America, in homes and churches and small towns and crowded cities, millions of people of many faiths will gather together to pray for the peace, prosperity, and protection of our Nation. They will pray for their leaders--and goodness knows we need those prayers--and they will thank the Creator for blessing us with a nation that recognizes the God-given dignity and worth of each and every person and our basic fundamental right to be free.

America is a nation forged in prayer. The very first official act of the Continental Congress was a call for prayer. Two years later, the fledgling body called for a national day of fasting and prayer.

From the very first settlers who arrived at Jamestown to each morning here--as we just did--in the Senate when the Chaplain opens each and every day with a prayer, faith has always been at the heart of the American project. That is because at the heart of the American idea of liberty is belief--belief that our freedom springs not from the state or the benevolence of men but from the one true Creator whose love is boundless.

It is so fundamental, so essential to our founding principles that, in the words of the Founding Fathers, it is ``self-evident.''

Our first President, George Washington, was a profoundly religious man. He began and ended each day with a prayer. As President, he would go to his library and humbly kneel before an open Bible to ask for guidance and grace. In his Thanksgiving proclamation, President George Washington told his fellow citizens with words that ring out to us today:

It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence

of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His

benefits, and to humbly implore His protection and favor.

America has faced dark and grave moments, but in these moments, prayer has united us and given us strength.

I recall the startling image of 9/11, those crossbeams being lifted up by the New York City firemen amidst the rubble and ruin of the Twin Towers. All around was destruction. But in that one iconic symbol of hope--hope and a prayer that though the wounds of 9/11 may never heal and though we will always carry with us the grief of that terrible day, as people and as a nation we will endure.

So today, on our National Day of Prayer, we thank our Creator for our liberty. We ask Him for His grace and His guidance.

And on behalf of my Senate colleagues, I thank my fellow Americans for the prayers they are sending out to us. God bless you and God bless America.

Mr. President, I understand there are two bills at the desk due for a second reading.

In order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of

rule XIV, I object to further proceeding en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 251, S. 1086.

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

Mr. President, S. 1086, which we just passed, is the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. I do want to take a few moments to comment because this is an important piece of legislation. The House has passed companion legislation already in the past, but the fact that we have passed this bill tonight means we will dramatically impact the lives of hundreds, indeed thousands, of victims and potential victims of sexual predators.

This has been remarkable to me. I followed a Dateline series, ``To Catch A Predator,'' over the last several weeks and months, but it was 2 nights ago that my legislative director and my counsel e-mailed me, or BlackBerried me, at 9 o'clock at night and said that in a few minutes another episode of ``To Catch A Predator'' is coming on and I turned it on. Once again I saw the devastation that occurs today, which cannot be totally prevented but we know can be prevented by arming the American people with the tools that can help catch these predators and, once they are caught, making sure they are kept away from children, that children are kept out of their reach. I think we have all been moved by this excellent investigative type of reporting that has demonstrated, in shocking terms, today how vulnerable our children are to sexual predators, much of that originating and facilitated by the use of the Internet, at times when our children simply do not have that supervision there, minute by minute. The sexual predators reach into their lives, taking advantage of them, as vulnerable as they might be, and then literally ruining their lives.

This evening I am proud of what we have done. This body passed the Sex Offender Registry and Notification Act. It has been a long time. Several weeks ago on the floor I tried to get unanimous consent from the other side to agree to go to the bill unattached to other types of amendments unrelated to the registry itself, unrelated to these sexual predators. There was objection. We have been able to overcome, in the best spirit of this body, working together, those objections and pass this bill.

Among its many provisions--let me comment on three--it creates a National Sex Offender Registry that is accessible on the Internet and searchable by ZIP Code. For the first time you will be able to go on the Internet or have somebody in your family go on the Internet, put in a ZIP Code or surrounding ZIP Code, and you will know whether any sex offenders who might be in your neighborhood are actually in your neighborhood. For the first time you will be able to be armed with that information.

Second, it requires convicted sex offenders to register, including child predators who use the Internet to commit a crime against a minor. That registration is required. If you have been into the legal system and you have been labeled, appropriately so, a sex offender, you are going to go into this registry.

Third, it toughens criminal penalties for violent crimes against children under 12 years of age.

Just by creating a national registry we are going to make it easier for law enforcement to act on that tip and to identify and intercept sex offenders before they can commit those repeat crimes and victimize more children.

From the episode I saw two nights ago it was very apparent that one of the criminals--maybe it was more, but the second one I saw--was somebody who had been convicted before and was just about ready to go to jail but, once again, in that period before going to jail slipped out to commit another crime.

Currently, there are over 100,000 missing sex offenders who have failed to register under current State laws. This bill will enhance the penalty for failure to register from a Federal misdemeanor to a Federal felony. I am proud the Senate is acting to protect our Nation's most valuable resource--our children.

I close by thanking those people who are recognizable in the sense that they have been fighting for this legislation for such a long time; namely, our distinguished colleague from Utah, Senator Orrin Hatch, whose bill this is, who has been on the issue, has helped educate all of us on both sides of the aisle, who has fought for this piece of legislation, who has encouraged me to keep fighting for this legislation in spite of others' attempts to attach unrelated amendments, and indeed because of his persistence, again, thousands of young kids will be safer in the future.

Also, there is someone I have gotten to know personally, but the American people know in large part because of his very effective voice on television, and that is John Walsh. John Walsh, who runs the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, is commenting constantly and staying on this issue, having suffered a real tragedy with his own child in the past.

On ``Dateline NBC,'' the producer, who has done a tremendous job, Chris Hansen, has been the face and voice in heading this show, ``To Catch a Predator.''

The list could go on and on, but I know we have to keep moving on with tonight's business. This is such a huge success for the American people and for families. I appreciate my colleagues coming together to pass this bill.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 465, 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. 466, 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 without intervening action or debate.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. J. Res. 83 which was received from the House.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the joint resolution be read a third time and passed, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements related to the resolution be printed in the Record.