Floor Statements

Mr. President, this afternoon, the order provides for resuming debate on the supplemental appropriations bill. I believe after the remarks of the two leaders, there are a couple of Senators, including our distinguished President pro tempore, who desire to speak on other subjects. The chairman will then be ready to resume debate on the pending emergency supplemental bill. I remind all Senators that I filed a cloture motion on the bill last week and that vote will occur tomorrow morning. In accordance with that cloture motion, all first- degree amendments should be filed at the desk by 2:30 this afternoon. We already have a large number of pending amendments that will need to be disposed of. If we are able to invoke cloture on the bill tomorrow morning, then it is my expectation to finish the bill no later than Wednesday of this week. Therefore, we will have rollcall votes each day of this week as we complete work on this appropriations bill.

Our first rollcall vote this week will occur this afternoon at 5:30. We will have a vote on a district judge who was reported by the Judiciary Committee last week. This week we may also consider the tax relief extension conference report, if that conference report becomes available. There is a 10-hour statutory limit on that measure, and we will begin debate under that time limit as soon as that conference report arrives from the House.

Mr. President, over the weekend, we got more bad news on the rising price of gas. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told us to expect high gas prices to continue for 2 to 3 more years. In his words, suppliers have lost control of the market.

Every day drivers are getting socked with higher and higher prices at the pump and in some places gas prices are well over $3 per gallon. Worse yet, the situation only threatens to intensify as those summer driving months come into view.

Consumers are understandably frustrated. They are worried. For most families, gas is a basic necessity, and rising gas prices simply put them over a barrel. They need a break. The Republican leadership is delivering a plan.

Last Thursday, we unveiled our proposal to offer immediate short-term relief for American consumers, as well as a broader strategy to increase America's energy supply and to reduce our demand for oil.

We propose giving taxpayers a $100 gas tax holiday rebate check so their hard-earned money goes back into their pockets instead of into their gas tanks.

We also want to make sure consumers are protected against any price gouging or anticompetitive behavior by oil companies or other suppliers of energy. Our proposal includes strong Federal antiprice-gouging protection.

These are two steps we can take right now to offer the consumer immediate relief. But for the midterm and for the long term, we need to get to the root of what is driving oil prices through the roof: basic supply and demand. We don't have enough domestic oil to meet our energy needs, and that global demand is growing day by day.

In order to get control of the problem, we need to increase domestic supplies, supplies at home, and we need to diversify our energy sources.

The package we have introduced promotes the development of alternative fuels in the use of hybrids and other advanced technology vehicles. It also gives Secretary Mineta the authority to issue a rule looking at fuel economy standards for passenger cars.

These two measures address the demand side of the equation, but we also must address the supply side. If President Clinton had not vetoed ANWR a decade ago, ANWR today would be producing a million barrels of oil each and every day right now. A million barrels of supply each day would be coming to

the continent. That is about three-fourths of what we currently import from all of Saudi Arabia.

We need to open a portion of the Reserve to environmentally sensitive exploration and get that oil to the market. There is no question that tapping into this domestic resource will bring down oil prices.

We also need to expand our refinery capacity. It is amazing, we have not built a new refinery in the United States in over 30 years. It is next to impossible to expand an existing one today.

One reason why gas prices are so high right now is that several refineries are still offline in the wake of Katrina. Several others deferred maintenance to help after the hurricane are performing maintenance now, still at lower than pre-Katrina levels.

Adding refinery capacity will help to increase gasoline supplies and lower prices at the pump. Our plan takes important steps in this direction.

We all know America is dangerously dependent on foreign sources of oil. This dependence compromises our economic and national security. Last summer, after a decade of partisan obstruction, Congress passed a comprehensive Energy bill that goes a long way toward addressing this grave problem. We double the amount of ethanol and biodiesel in our gasoline. By 2012, this should reduce oil consumption by 80,000 barrels a day.

We passed a hybrid car tax credit of up to $3,400 per vehicle.

The Energy bill also allocated significant funding for research and development of hydrogen fuel cells. If just 20 percent of our cars used fuel cell technology, we could cut oil imports by 1.5 million barrels a day.

We need to build on these initiatives and encourage American consumers, producers, and entrepreneurs to think beyond oil. I believe, as does the President, that America's future lies with technology that will allow Americans to use environmentally safe and diverse energy sources. America will be safer, America will be more secure with American energy coming from American sources.

We presented a strong package that will give consumers relief at the pump and will bring down the high cost of gas. I am hopeful we will vote on this package in the coming days. Filling up the tank shouldn't break the bank.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that at 5:30 p.m. today, the Senate proceed to executive session and to a vote on the confirmation of the following judicial nomination on the Executive Calendar: No. 616, Michael Barrett to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio. I further ask unanimous consent that the 20 minutes prior to the vote be divided between the chairman and the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee and that the two Senators from Ohio each be allocated up to 5 minutes; provided further, following the 5:30 p.m. vote, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

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

Mr. President, we will be closing in a few moments. But before doing that, I want to comment on events carried out in Washington yesterday, indeed around the country yesterday, in response to a crisis that is going on, a crisis that is more than a crisis. It is genocide going on in the Darfur region. It is the western region of the Sudan.

Yesterday, roughly 10,000 people gathered in front of the Capitol, on the Mall, to bring attention to what is happening: that crisis, that genocidal campaign that is underway and being perpetrated against the people of Darfur.

I applaud all of the participants' compassion and commitment to the cause which has been discussed again and again on the floor of the Senate but, indeed, is a devastating crisis that is destroying a population and, indeed, is genocide.

This is an issue that is very close to my own heart, in part because I travel just about every year to do medical mission work in that part of the world, in the Sudan. Indeed, I was in the Darfur area and in Chad a little over a year ago on the ground.

I mention it because this afternoon, several hours ago, I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting with a small group of refugees from the Darfur region. The meeting was organized by SaveDarfur.org. It gave me the opportunity to visit firsthand with individuals from several of the tribes that occupy the Darfur region.

It is interesting, there are 10, 11, 12 tribes throughout Sudan. In the south, two or three tribes dominate. In different parts of the Sudan, tribes dominate. But it is interesting, over in the Darfur region, the number of tribes that intersect together. It is sort of midway--north-south--in Sudan, so you have a lot of the tribes that are more endemic to the northern part of Sudan, as well as the southern and eastern part of Sudan. All of them commingle in that region.

We met, oh, about 50 yards from here on a balcony overlooking the Mall. And as you stood on the balcony there, on a beautiful day in Washington, looking out, you could not help but think of the contrast between what is going on in the homeland of those refugees to the United States from Darfur and that beautiful day looking out upon our monuments and the freedom and liberty for which they stand. That contrast between the turmoil that is going on, as we speak, in Sudan and America's homeland peace and prosperity were really felt.

I have had the opportunity to go to Sudan a number of times. I have talked to the refugees in the border camps. They are along the western border of Sudan and in the country of Chad, which is to the west of the Sudan. There are 12 refugee camps. The refugee camps have anywhere from 8,000 to 20,000 people who are living on a sustenance level, with the aid of NGOs and peoples around the world, in little tents, makeshift tents, but living there, in essence, permanently.

There are about 2 million people who have been displaced in the Darfur region and about 200,000 people who have died as a result of brutality which leads back to government sponsorship.

We have heard again and again the stories and seen pictures of the villages that are set afire, of the women who are raped, the children who are abducted, recruited to armies, and even many executed.

The Government of Sudan has failed to take credible steps to date, and we need to use everything within our power and our standing in the international community to convince other people to act and to act now. We cannot--cannot--tolerate this genocide.

On this floor we have called it for what it is: genocide. President Bush has called it genocide. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has called it genocide.

Last month, before we left for the Easter/Passover recess, I met with a number of friends from Sudan, many of whom I had gotten to know when I was last in Sudan, in the southern part of the Sudan. They had been sponsored by a charity out of Knoxville, TN.

We talked about the clinics and the hospitals in southern Sudan. And we discussed the pressure the American Government has been able to bring to date on behalf of the Darfur people. But there is a lot more we can do. And there is a lot more we should do.

Because these individuals were from the southern part of Sudan--that is a thousand miles away, a long way away from the Darfur region--they reflected how our Government getting involved in the southern part of Sudan had brought more peace, and it stopped the civil war that had gone on there for the last 20 years.

One of those visitors, Reverend Kayanga, is a friend, actually, somebody whom I have gotten to know. He said it best when he said, ``The only people that visited us were your people.'' He was saying that to me, again, reaching out: Thank you for the past. But you need to get even more involved as we address this devastating crisis in the Darfur part of Sudan.

The conflict in the region is huge. First of all, Sudan itself, the country, is about a third of the size of the continental United States. The Darfur region is vast. The area of conflict is probably a third bigger than all of Iraq. So it is a huge area, which is one of the challenges. Things are getting worse, not better, which is the message they were giving me. Indeed, as I talked to people on the ground, in terms of NGOs, the NGOs are having a harder time. The rainy season comes in 4 weeks. Once that comes in, there is no way to get aid and have it distributed throughout the Darfur region.

As yesterday's rally demonstrated, the American people have vast stores of compassion and caring for these people and for the suffering of others. We have a passionate commitment to human rights. Now is the time for us to reflect it. At our Government's request, the African Union has agreed to extend the ongoing peace talks until midnight on Tuesday. Indeed, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick will leave today for Abuja, Nigeria, to help both parties resolve the crisis. Negotiations have gone on for 2 years, and a settlement is long past due. Those who are responsible for this genocide, for the war crimes against humanity and criminal acts, need to be brought to justice. No longer can we wait this tragedy out. We must act, and the international community must be encouraged to step up as well. Hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake.

I am happy to.

In the Darfur region I have not. But it is very similar to southern Sudan. It is fascinating, southern Sudan, where 2 million people have been displaced, and 5 million people have been killed in a civil war there, and it started there. That is why I have great hope. A lot of people just give up on these regions, because when we went there initially, it was almost exactly the same. There was a lot of fighting within 10 or 15 kilometers.

I started operating in a little schoolhouse that had been diverted for about 8 years. That was 1997-1998. Now in 2006, there is a village there and commerce and a hospital, no fighting; 50,000 people go through what was a schoolhouse and is now a big hospital.

When people give up in Africa or say we have been through this before and talk about corruption in government, we can't give up. We should not give up.

I very much appreciate my distinguished colleague asking because there is a lot we can do. And it starts with the compassion and caring that the American people exemplify. Now is the time for us to act.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 457, which was submitted earlier today.

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 it be in order to resume the supplemental appropriations bill; provided further that the following amendments be considered and agreed to: Nos. 3791; 3648, as modified; 3630; and 3631.

I further ask unanimous consent that the motions to

reconsider be laid upon the table and the Senate resume a

period of morning business.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Armed Services Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 415.

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

Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

Mr. President, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceeding.

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, May 2. I further ask that following the prayer and the pledge, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, the Journal of the Proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate proceed to a period of morning business for up to 1 hour, with the first 30 minutes under the control of the Democratic leader or his designee and the final 30 minutes under the control of the majority leader or his designee; that upon the use or yielding back of the time, the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 4939 and immediately proceed to a vote on the motion to invoke cloture. I further ask unanimous consent that second-degree amendments be filed by 10:30 a.m. tomorrow.

The unanimous consent request, Mr. President, was that the Senate proceed to a period for morning business--we are calling it morning business--for up to an hour, a total of an hour, with 30 minutes under the control of the Democratic leader and 30 minutes under my control, which allows us to be on the bill.

Mr. President, I asked consent that second-degree amendments be filed by 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, and that unanimous consent request is still pending?

Mr. President, it will probably be more likely around 11

o'clock or 10:50, 10:55 tomorrow morning, maybe 11 o'clock, that we will have the cloture vote on the emergency supplemental appropriations bill. That will be the first vote of the day, and that is when the clock will start ticking.

Remember, Senators have a filing deadline for any second-degree amendments at 10:30 tomorrow morning. We have a lot of amendments to work through over the course of the postcloture time and will likely be having votes throughout the day. I know a number of people will be coming up to push votes until after committee meetings and hearings. We have to keep effectively and efficiently going through the votes in this postcloture period. I do expect cloture to be invoked, and we will need to vote on those pending amendments which are qualified under the cloture rule.

It is my expectation to continue to run postcloture on Tuesday and Wednesday until we complete the bill.

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 previous order.

Mr. President, today we will start with a 30-minute period of morning business. Therefore, shortly after 10 a.m., we will return to the consideration of the supplemental appropriations bill. We now have approximately 13 amendments pending. One of those has been divided into 18 divisions; therefore, that amendment could require up to 18 votes before we dispose of it.

Needless to say, we will have rollcall votes throughout the day as we work our way through these amendments. At this point, there appears to be an unending flow of amendments and we will gauge our progress at the end of business today. I want Members to have the opportunity to offer amendments, but at some point it may be necessary to file a cloture motion to ensure that we finish this emergency supplemental sometime next week.

In the meantime, I encourage Senators to work with the managers to schedule their amendments, and perhaps there will be an opportunity for some of the votes to be accepted without the need for floor debate or a vote.

I will have a brief statement on another issue, unless the Democratic leader wants to comment on the schedule. We are going to have a busy day. I ask our colleagues to be cooperative. This is a supplemental emergency bill and we need to proceed efficiently--with patience but efficiently.

I wish to comment on another very important issue. We have so many things going on today and over the course of the week, with a focus on energy, with a lot of work being done not on the floor but in committees and in working groups and task forces to address the skyrocketing prices of gasoline. We have a pensions conference report on the way, and a tax increase prevention act conference report is underway.

Mr. President, there is another issue we have made slow progress on recently that we need to accelerate and that is the judicial nomination process. Throughout my time as leader, I have done my very best to stand on the principle of having fair up-or-down votes for each of the judicial nominees. I believe it is our responsibility, our constitutional duty, grounded in the advice and consent clause of section 2 of the Constitution, and it is reinforced by over 200 years of Senate history; it is a duty we have in the Senate. I compliment the body on the two Justices who were confirmed--a Chief Justice, an associate Justice, and all the district court judges who were confirmed. In the coming weeks, we need to continue building on this progress, as with all the rest of the issues coming before us. We will confirm new nominees to fill vacancies on the Federal bench.

As we all know, we need our courts to have judges who are well- qualified, mainstream judges, who demonstrate the highest integrity, and who will practice judicial restraint and will respect the rule of law and the Constitution.

After consulting with Chairman Specter, Senator McConnell, and many of my colleagues, I am pleased to announce that in the coming weeks we will move forward on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the DC Circuit

Court of Appeals. I will make every effort to see that he gets a vote before the Memorial Day recess.

President Bush nominated Mr. Kavanaugh on July 25, 2003, 3 years ago. He has been waiting for that up-or-down vote on the floor of the Senate since that time. That is almost 3 years ago. That is a long enough time for us to bring that nomination forward to the floor and to act on that nomination. He is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, and he is also a former Supreme Court clerk. He has sterling credentials. Most of us have studied his record.

Mr. Kavanaugh has a broad range of experience as a prosecutor, as a lawyer in private practice, and as a trusted counsel and adviser to President Bush.

Throughout his entire career, Brett Kavanaugh has demonstrated the fairminded temperament and intellectual prowess that is needed to serve as a Federal appellate judge.

There will be a lot more to say about him in the coming weeks. We will talk about that nomination. For now, I urge my colleagues to refocus on the nomination process and make sure it will work fairly. I want to be able to approach the process and dignify it in a civil way, rejecting the obstruction and personal attacks that have arisen on the floor in times past. Let's embrace the principle of a fair up-or-down vote. It is right to do for the nominees--to treat them in a dignified way--and for the American people, who depend on fairminded judges to resolve disputes and interpret our laws.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I had hoped we could have made further progress on the emergency supplemental bill. Unfortunately, today we were only able to dispose of two amendments with rollcall votes--only two amendments. I am disappointed that the Senator from Oregon prevented us from voting on some of the amendments that had been in the queue, in line, and ready for votes.

Having said that, we know this is an emergency bill, supplemental emergency spending. Time is of the essence. Tomorrow there is a retreat on the other side of the aisle, and therefore we will not be able to make further progress. For that reason, I will send a cloture motion to the desk to ensure we can finish this emergency bill at a reasonable time next week.

Cloture Motion

I now send that cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the live quorum be waived.