Kit Bond

Mr. BOND

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on October 18, 2005, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing on ``Growth and Development of the Derivatives Market.''

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 18 at 10 a.m. The purpose of this hearing is to discuss the winter fuels outlook and the effect of high prices this coming winter.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 18 at 3 p.m. The purpose of this hearing is to consider our national capacity for producing technological innovation and the importance of this innovation to our global economic competitiveness. The Committee will hear testimony describing the results of a recently released National Academy of Science report on this same topic.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Tuesday, October 18, 2005, at 10 a.m., in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building, to consider the nomination of James S. Halpern, to be Judge of the United States Tax Court, The Judiciary; Susan C. Schwab, to be Deputy United States Trade Representative, with the Rank of Ambassador, executive Office of the President; Karen K. Bhatia, to be Deputy United States Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador, Executive Office of the President; Franklin L. Lavin, to be Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Department of Commerce, and, Clay Lowery, to be Deputy Under Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Treasury. The PRESIDENT OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. committee on foreign relations

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 18, 2005, at 9:30 a.m., to hold a hearing on Prospects for United Nations Reform. The PRESIDENT OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. committee on health, education, labor, and pensions

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet in executive session during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 18, 2005, at 2:30 p.m. in SD-430.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on ``Comprehensive Immigration Reform II'' on Tuesday, October 18, 2005, at 9:30 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226. Witness List Panel I: The Honorable Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC; The Honorable Elaine Chao, Secretary of the Department of Labor, Washington, DC. Panel II: Frank Sharry, Executive Director, National Immigration Forum, Washington, DC; Mark Krikorian, Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies, Washington, DC; Douglas S. Massey, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on ``Executive Nominations'' on Tuesday, October 18, 2005, at 2:30 p.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226. Witness List Panel I: Members of Congress. Panel II: James O'Gara to be Deputy Director for Supply Reduction, Office of National Drug Control Policy; Julie Myers to be Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security; Emilio Gonzales to be Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. BOND

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

Mr. BOND

Mr. BOND. I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. BOND. I understand there is a previous order and a vote will occur at 5:30. Has that agreement been reached?

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

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, what my colleague from North Dakota has just talked about is one of the mind-boggling events that has all of us not only stumped but outraged. I believe it is long past due that we get tight control over how the money is being spent. As we talk about the need to offset moneys going to the disaster, the first place we ought to look is money that might otherwise be wasted. So I believe that while there is going to be a significant Federal investment, it needs to be refined, targeted, and managed effectively so we will not see examples of this, the rental of cruise ships and other items that make no sense. Now, Mr. President, I believe this request has been cleared by both sides. I ask unanimous consent that at 5:30 today, the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the pending Bond amendment No. 2061, with no second degrees in order to the amendment prior to the vote.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I thank the Chair.

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

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment at the desk to the substitute be agreed to, the committee substitute now as amended be agreed to, and it be considered as original text for the purpose of further amendment, with no points of order waived by virtue of this agreement.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, it is with pleasure that I rise, after 2\1/ 2\ months of waiting, to introduce the Transportation, Treasury, HUD, Judiciary, and related agencies fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill. My invaluable partner, the distinguished Senator from Washington, is being held up by airline delays, something that most of us in this body are acquainted with, so I will go ahead and present my opening statement and open the floor for business and reserve her time until she is able to get here. This bill is the first real appropriations product of a brand-new subcommittee that grew out of the reorganization of the Senate Appropriations Committee from earlier this year. It is a substantial and complex bill that will have a significant and, we hope, positive impact on every State and community in this Nation, as it covers, among other things, every mode of transportation, financial services, and IRS requirements, as guided by the Department of Treasury, the Federal responsibility for housing and economic development under HUD, as well as the funding for the executive office of the President, for the Federal judicial system, and for other related agencies, such as GSA, OPM, and the Postal Service. My view is that this is a good product, as good a product as we could have produced given the circumstances in our allocation. I give tremendous credit and thanks to my friend and colleague, the ranking member, Senator Murray, for her hard work, dedication, and commitment to working with me in a bipartisan manner to craft this legislation. As I said, this is a brand-new bill for us, for our staffs, and for this body to consider. I think it is a good bill and that is due, in no small part, because of the participation of Senator Murray and her partnership with me in the legislative process. I look forward to working with her through conference and final passage. We started with a budget that severely underfunded many of the important programs in this bill. These are programs that historically have been supported in large numbers by the Members this body. Thankfully, in most cases we have been able to restore many of the cuts and shortfalls, and for that we especially thank Chairman Cochran and the ranking member, Senator Byrd, who demonstrated their understanding and sensitivity to the needs of the Transportation-Treasury appropriations subcommittee. Without Chairman Cochran's help and Senator Byrd's acquiescence, we would have been unable to meet the funding needs of most of our programs, as well as Members' priorities. This bill as well is within our section 302(b) allocation of $65.819 billion of budget authority and $122.064 billion in outlays. In particular, despite our fiscal limitations, we worked diligently to ensure that transportation programs in this bill are adequately funded. One of our highest priorities in fashioning the bill was to meet the Federal responsibilities to provide funding for the safety, construction, and maintenance of our highways, transit systems, and airports. Funding of our Nation's transportation infrastructure, and especially for our highway and road network, creates jobs and promotes economic growth. More importantly, it guarantees the continued growth of our economic infrastructure by which we serve our markets throughout the Nation and ultimately the world. Our transportation system, the system that brought our country together in the 19th century, is still the heart and the arteries by which we pump our goods and products, which guarantees our current and future prosperity in the national and international marketplace. We cannot afford to shortchange this system. Moreover, the delay in passing the surface transportation authorization, SAFETEA, made it difficult to recommend funding for the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. I will not go into reasons for the delay in that, having had a hand in that operation, as has the occupant of the chair. He and I both did. In many cases, the committee funding levels for this bill were based on our best guess on how a program would fare in the authorization process. Some guesses were better than others. Clearly, a number of changes will have to be made to this appropriations bill to be more consistent with safety. I am exited to be addressing these issues in conference. Next, the bill provides $14.78 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration. This is approximately $400 million more than the request. The recommendation includes $14.3 million to hire safety inspectors and to accelerate restoring the inspector staffing level. It also adds $4 million to restore engineering and inspector staffing at the Office of Certification so that new equipment and technologies can be approved for use in aviation and so that our Nation can retain leadership in aviation. I am pleased to announce that the bill does not cut the Airport Improvement Program by $500 million as proposed in the budget request. Also, on the good news side, we have been able to fund Amtrak at $1.45 billion while taking some incremental steps to reform how Amtrak conducts its business. These reforms include enforcement of a prohibition currently in law that prohibits Amtrak from subsidizing losses from its food and beverage service. Most people can't believe it when we tell them that Amtrak currently spends $2 for every $1 received for food and beverage service. We can no longer afford to pay for that luxury while failing to address the operational shortfall and serve infrastructure needs in the Northeast corridor. This bill also authorizes Amtrak to impose a Federal surcharge on tickets to address infrastructure needs. This surcharge will only go into effect upon a finding by Amtrak that such surcharges would not depress ticket sales. Finally, we would allow Amtrak to establish assessments on commuter rail authorities for their use of Amtrak-owned rail segments as another way to begin addressing the capital needs of the Northeast corridor. These are modest but we believe very significant attempts to offset some of the costs that we cannot and should not provide. I am also very supportive of the efforts of Senator Stevens and Senator Lott to move a comprehensive Amtrak reform bill through the Commerce Committee that will balance the funding needs for all Amtrak rail service. We hope our modest attempts to offset certain costs can be seen as a stepping stone to the Commerce Committee's reform bill. There is one major disappointment in this operation, however, and that is the administration's posture on Amtrak funding and reform. The administration has threatened to veto this bill if the Amtrak funding level of $1.45 billion is maintained without substantial reform. I have no problem with reform and indeed recognize its need. But the sad fact is, the administration has failed to provide adequate guidance and/or leadership on this issue. Even more troubling is the administration's position that even were adequate reform to be proposed, OMB would not provide the budget amendment to supplement the $360 million recommended in the administration's 2006 budget, and $360 million is likely not even enough to support the cost of bankruptcy for Amtrak which would be a tremendously costly financial and economic burden to the Nation and send Amtrak into chaos and great consternation for the people throughout the Nation. For the Department of Treasury, the bill provides about $11.7 billion for fiscal year 2006. This amount is about $50 million above the budget request and some $475 million above the fiscal year 2005 enacted level. To help fight the war on terrorism, we have provided full funding for the Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. I strongly support Treasury's antiterrorism efforts. I commend them on it because I believe this is a vital and unique role in cutting off financial assistance to terrorist organizations, and without that assistance they will not be nearly as robust, and they will not provide nearly the challenge to our safety and security that they would were we not able to cut off these ties. There has been a lot of talk and Members here and people across the country are concerned about the so-called ``tax gap''--the difference between what is actually collected and what is owed. To help close that gap we continue providing for taxpayer services. We have provided $10.7 billion for the IRS, including $6.9 billion for tax enforcement activities. This amount is $443 million above the fiscal year 2005 enacted level. These additional funds will help ensure that there will be less fraud and that honest taxpayers will have a greater level of confidence in our tax system. If average citizens do not believe others are paying what they owe, there is much less incentive to do the right thing and pay the taxes that are owed. We provided full funding for IRS's modernization efforts through its business system modernization program. Currently, this program is IRS's highest management and administrative priority. Turning to the Federal judiciary, the bill includes a total appropriation of $5.8 billion which is a 6.5-percent increase over the fiscal year 2005 enacted level. This represents the funding necessary to meet the judiciary's fiscal year 2006 funding needs. For HUD, the bill provides some $30.6 billion for fiscal year 2006, an increase of $5.6 billion over the request for Housing and Urban Development activities. These additional funds include almost $4.35 billion for the Community Development Fund and the CDBG which was slated for elimination through a reduction of over 30 percent of the funding, and consolidation and submersion of the activities along with other programs into a new grant program within the Department of Commerce which, in my view, does not have the expertise and should not be involved in Housing and Urban Development's very well connected activities. This bill also reduces a proposed rescission of ``excess'' section 8 funds from $2.5 billion to $1.5 billion. Neither HUD nor the Office of Management and Budget, when called before our committee, could identify the rescission source. We asked them: Where is the money coming from? They said: Well, we do not know, but it has been there in the past. I explained to them that our Appropriations Committee had worked with HUD and OMB to change the manner of allocating HUD section 8 funds so there would not be that amount left over. Nevertheless, they chose to ignore that process in which they had been deeply involved, and asking for $2.5 billion when we don't see any evidence that they know it is there would result in cuts to priority programs, such as programs for the homeless, section 202 housing for the elderly, housing for people with AIDS, public housing, and the very important home program that gives local governments the resources to make housing-targeted investments in their own community. In addition, I am happy to report that we have adequately funded almost all HUD programs at a minimum of last year's level, which is generally higher than the request. Moving next to the Executive Office of the President, we basically funded them at the request level, acceding to their request to merge the Office of Policy Development into the White House Office Salaries and Expenses Account as the administration requested. We have also fully funded the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program at $227 million despite the budget request which would have funded it at $100 million in the Department of Justice. My colleagues and I know from listening to law enforcement personnel in our States that this has been a critically important program which has been successful throughout the Nation in helping to root out and eradicate methamphetamine production, marijuana and ecstasy use, as well as heroin and cocaine importation. This program was especially important in Missouri where methamphetamine production and use has reached almost epidemic proportions. It absolutely affects and taints every community in this Nation, no matter how large or how small. The toll of methamphetamine production, distribution, use, and addiction is something that Missouri has found much to our distress as we have become one of the leaders in its use, and the Nation has a far too high price to pay in human terms as well as in economic terms. Finally, we are facing a crisis precipitated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. The extent of the damage and human tragedy in New Orleans and parts of Louisiana because of these hurricanes is virtually unprecedented in the history of natural disasters in our Nation. While there is much to be done, I am optimistic and confident that the Nation will do what is necessary to overcome this tragedy. I am hopeful that Members will wait until the coming Katrina and Rita supplemental to offer amendments. A piecemeal approach on different appropriations bills is not the way to go. I understand the urge to want to do something immediately, but we learned a lot of lessons in New York from 9/11 and previous natural disasters, and we need to apply those lessons carefully, consistently, and in a comprehensive manner to New Orleans, to the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. What we need first is a fully functioning FEMA with leadership and adequate resources. I believe the administration is taking the needed steps to reach that goal. While there are still things needing to be done, FEMA has all the necessary authority and funding to meet all the current initial needs. FEMA has the know-how and the people on the ground. It is slow going, no doubt, but it is beginning to work. Once the initial assessment is complete, then and only then is the time to add additional necessary funding and the needed authorities for other Federal agencies to help the Katrina-Rita recovery efforts. For example, this means education assistance to ensure available, good educational opportunities and continuity in that education. It means any needed unemployment assistance and job creation initiatives as we rebuild the New Orleans area. It means housing vouchers and other housing assistance options. It means establishing new entities such as a local public benefit corporation similar to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation which was created in the aftermath of 9/11 as a way to rebuild Manhattan. It means rebuilding roads and much of the transportation infrastructure. It means special health care assistance. And it means EPA environmental contamination assistance to complete the cleanup of the disaster area. I think we also need to look closely at how best to rebuild New Orleans and the surrounding parishes. As we have long known--especially now that Katrina and Rita have delivered such a devastating wake-up blow--much of New Orleans is below sea level and likely will remain exposed and vulnerable to some level of annual flooding, to the type of horrific damage and loss of life that was caused by Katrina and Rita. I do not think it is enough just to build stronger and bigger levees. The plan must be more thoughtful, and we will need to ensure that the poorest households, including those who live in public and assisted housing, are not just relocated to the most risky neighborhoods. In fact, we must think hard about whether to rebuild many of the neighborhoods most at risk of hurricane damage and flooding. I also strongly urge that any rebuilding plans try to ensure those persons and families who have been displaced by Katrina and Rita are given an opportunity to rebuild their communities and a right of first refusal to any housing that is rebuilt. However, let me emphasize that this is not the right bill on which to rush to create and fund new programs. There will be another supplemental in the next week or so, and that bill is the appropriate vehicle in which to seek funding and establish new programs as appropriate. I understand everyone wants to help and to do what is right. However, we must proceed thoughtfully. We need to work together based on knowledge and need. As for the progress on this bill, I understand from the leadership that they are looking for a vote that would be held at 5:30. We are preparing to offer that amendment. I make a particular point to my colleagues and staff who are listening that we are open for business. This bill has been hanging out there since mid-July. People have had an opportunity to look at it. I hope Members with well-crafted, relevant amendments will come forward in order to get this bill completed without further disruption to the vital entities and activities we fund. We would like to finish it, if possible, by Wednesday night. At this juncture we do not know how many amendments will be offered. I ask all staff involved to let the majority and minority staff know what amendments Members are planning to propose, when Members are planning to propose them. We will work with you. If they are ones we can accept, we would like to do that. It is imperative to continue the activities not just of the Treasury and other governmental agencies but for Transportation, for Housing and Urban Development, to move forward on this bill so they will know the funds are available. Amendment No. 2061 I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. BOND. We will hope to set that time as soon as we get concurrence from the leadership on both sides. With that, I will explain briefly what this amendment does. It revises section 421 of the Housing and Community Act of 1987 to clarify HUD's authority to recover any assets or income of a multifamily project where those funds are used in violation of the project's regulatory agreement. This provision is intended to ensure that HUD and the Federal Government can recover losses from owners of multifamily housing who have intentionally and fraudulently skimmed equity from an FHA-insured project for their own benefit. Without this technical correction, HUD ends up paying the lender the value of a defaulted FHA-insured mortgage that should have been paid off by the owner of a multihousing project out of rent receipts. Too often, the FHA or, more specifically, the pockets of the taxpayers of the United States fund the loss. In the year 2000, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri issued an unpublished decision in United States v. Crosswinds which effectively holds that the U.S. Government may only bring actions to recover assets used in violation of a regulatory agreement if HUD holds or insures the mortgage covering the multifamily project both at the time of the regulatory agreement violation and at the time that recovery action is filed in district court. As a practical matter, HUD often disposes of a property or a mortgage long after it has an opportunity to act on an owner's misuse of property assets by equity skimming. This makes the current statute essentially a nullity, with a practical consequence that HUD is unable to pursue a recovery of assets no matter how abusive an owner has been. That was never the intent of the statute. With this amendment we are revising the section in accordance with the original intent of the legislation. Without this authority, HUD and the Department of Justice have limited or no ability to recover assets from owners who have intentionally defrauded the Government by pocketing funds that are derived from rents paid by tenants and intended to be used to pay the outstanding obligation on an FHA-insured mortgage. I will wait for a leadership agreement and at that time I will ask for the yeas and nays on this amendment. For the information of our colleagues, we were initially advised that timeframe would be 5:30, so that is the timeframe we are working out, but we are still waiting to hear from the leadership. I yield the floor.

Mr. BOND. We reserved time.

Mr. BOND. No objection.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I thank my distinguished colleague and good partner very much for her kind words. Surely this bill was an interesting and challenging bill because it brought so many new agencies together. The Senator from Washington has had much greater experience in the Transportation appropriations area. Her input in that area and all the other areas was invaluable. I share her views that this is a good bill. As I stated earlier, I hope we will come forward with amendments as soon as possible. I know the Senator probably watched, as I did, the Seahawks' magnificent victory yesterday--truly awesome. As far as the Cardinals, Chris Carpenter pitches tonight and there is hope. So there is still a smile on my face. We are both in a good mood. If you wish to have amendments favorably reviewed, please come, bring them down. Even if my Cardinals continue to win, as it gets later in the week we will be getting short of time and short of patience. So we will very much appreciate having those amendments now. For the information of all my colleagues we hope are watching, there will be a vote at 5:30. This is a vote that is on a technical change in the underlying legislation to allow the Federal Government to recapture funds from a multifamily housing project owner who skims rent off the project and leaves the project in default to be paid for out of FHA funds, out of public funds, and thus pockets the rents. This is a situation that was certainly not foreseen. It is a very undesirable situation where, in effect, the money from the taxpayer is going indirectly into the pockets of an owner of a project who has taken rent money instead of applying it to the mortgage. There is a vote at 5:30. We hope Members will come forward with their amendments. I hope we can wrap up these amendments by Wednesday night to get ready for the World Series, for whosoever happens to be in it at the time. I still have my hopes. I see no other Member seeking the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, as my colleague and comanager of the bill, the Senator from Washington, has just stated, we are preparing to vote on an amendment that is a technical correction to the Housing and Community Act of 1987 to make sure that HUD has the authority to recover any assets or income for a multifamily project where the funds are used in violation of the project's regulatory agreement. It is necessary to ensure that HUD and the Federal Government can recover losses from owners of multifamily housing who have intentionally and fraudulently skimmed equity from an FHA-insured project for their own benefit. Without this technical correction, HUD, FHA, ends up paying the lender the value of a defaulted FHA-insured mortgage that should have been paid off by the owner of the multifamily housing out of rent receipts. I hope my colleagues will look at it and see this is nothing but common sense and adopt it. At the same time, I reiterate for those who may be listening, we want to move forward on this bill as quickly as possible. We hope people who have amendments will come forward. We are looking for an agreement to take up the DC appropriations bill which has to be added to this to go to conference. It will be a separate conference, but since the House has DC in with the HUD bill, they will have to be considered at once. We ask that everybody bring forth those amendments and be prepared for a filing deadline tomorrow. Mr. President, I see the time for the vote on the amendment has arrived, and I suggest we proceed to that vote.

Mr. BOND. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, we are negotiating to get an agreement on procedure for tomorrow. We are very close. We want to line up the DC bill and then set a vote. I suggest the absence of a quorum.