Kit Bond

Mr. BOND

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BOND

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I understand there is an amendment of the Senator from Virginia and the Senator from New York pending. Is that the pending business?

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I spoke about this amendment this morning. For those who may not have been fortunate enough to hear it, let me reiterate just a few of the important points. This is a mandate. This is very clearly a mandate with a very severe penalty on any State that doesn't either have 90-percent usage of seatbelts or a primary seatbelt law. I came to this body as a former Governor who has seen so much of the big brother influence telling State Governors and State legislators what they have to do, and I said we need to find a better way of doing things. I also said I happen to be a strong believer in seatbelts. I have been in a couple of serious accidents. Because I had a seatbelt on and the shoulder harness, I came away with only a good fright, and, fortunately, with no serious injuries. I have seen many other people who were not so fortunate. I believe in encouraging seatbelt usage. I believe the proper way to do it is through incentives and encouragement. Under this proposed amendment, in fiscal year 2005 and thereafter, 10 percent of the funds under the Highway Safety Improvement Program would be transferred to the section 402 program, and beginning in 2007, 2 percent of the Interstate Maintenance, Surface Transportation and Bridge Programs would be withheld from States that didn't have a primary seatbelt law or achieve at least a 90-percent safety belt use rate. The percentage withheld would rise to 4 percent in fiscal year 2008 and thereafter. Why do I object to that? That is telling the people who pay the money into the Federal highway trust fund through their taxes on the fuel they buy that their legislature has to do what we say they should or we are going to withhold the money from them. I believe we cannot continue to usurp the activities and the roles of State legislatures and State chief executive officers. I introduced a letter from a number of organizations saying: Currently States face 8 highway safety-related sanctions and penalties that are designed to force compliance with various Federal highway safety mandates or goals, including enactment, by specified deadlines, of various types of State safety legislation. While our organizations support the underlying safety goals, we oppose the use of penalties and sanctions. They go on to say: Fewer resources to invest means delays in roadway and intersection improvements, fewer dollars for upgrading signage and markings, and less funding available for investment and safety research. Also signing this letter are the executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, the president and chief executive officer of the American Highway Users Alliance, the executive director of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the executive director of the National Conference of State Legislators, the president of the American Council of Engineering Companies, and the vice president of Public Affairs of the AAA, as well, I might say not surprisingly, as the executive director of the National Governors Association. I hope we may be able to have a vote on that very shortly. But I would defer to the principal sponsor of the amendment to speak in opposition to the arguments I have made.

Mr. BOND

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, after conferring with both sides of the aisle, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess under the previous order.

Mr. BOND

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I rise today with the distinct privilege of recognizing one of St. Louis's most outstanding citizens, Mrs. Annie Lee Cooney on the occasion of her 100th birthday February 25, 2004. Mrs. Cooney was born in Indianola, MS, as the third youngest of seven girls and two brothers. As the granddaughter of slaves and the daughter of active participants in the African-American community, Annie Lee was instilled at an early age with values and character that remain strong to this day. Her parents, Indiana and Oliver Jarman were active in the African-American community in her home town. Her father, Oliver Jarman, was a high ranking official in the Prince Hall Masons in Mississippi and was also instrumental in founding a Penny Bank in Greenville, MS. In 1922, after attending the Tuskeegee Institute, in Tuskeegee, AL, Annie Lee moved to St. Louis to live with her sister and helped with her new baby. But it was in St. Louis where Annie Lee's life changed when she met and fell in love with Roy Cooney. The young couple were married in 1924 and Roy and Annie Lee Cooney soon became the loving parents to thirteen children--seven girls and six boys, all of whom went on to attend college. Mrs. Cooney has been very active in the Black Catholic Community in St. Louis since the early 1930s. Some of Mrs. Cooney's professional achievements include being named President of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament alumni in the 1960s and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Mother of the Year in 1980. Mrs. Cooney has been an active member of the National Council of Negro Women, the Council of Catholic Women, the Legion of Mary, the Catholic Knights of America, the Cairo Social Club, charitable works and scholarships to Black youth, and the Seminarians Club, spiritual and financial aid to Black Catholic Seminarians. She was also a member of the Cook Avenue Block Unit Association, and a strong force in her neighborhood-- with her home often serving as a gathering place for youth and young adults. Perhaps Mrs. Cooney's greatest display of goodwill was in her frequent visits to Homer G. Phillips Hospital with the Helpers of the Holy Souls. For over forty years Mrs. Cooney visited the sick and hospitalized and would provide them with candy, toiletries, and prayer. Mrs. Cooney has traveled the world extensively, and has brought goodwill to wherever she has been. She has remained true to her motto: ``If I can help somebody as I travel on, then my living will not be in vain.'' On behalf of the people of St. Louis and the State of Missouri, I extend my most sincere gratitude to Mrs. Annie Lee Cooney for her years of dedicated community service and the goodwill. I wish her all the best on this most important occasion, her one-hundredth birthday.

Mr. BOND

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the exemplary career of Ellen Kay York, who retired in January after 28 years of public service and returning to her home in St. Robert, MO. Since November 2000, Ellen has served as the executive secretary to the Army's Chief of Engineers and Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As the senior office manager for the Executive Office, Ellen has been a valuable member of the Corps' team. In addition to her outstanding management of the Chief of Engineers' schedule, correspondence, and daily office operations, Ellen responded to a variety of requests for information from the public and the Congress, providing answers and information on behalf of the Chief of Engineers. Her skill and sensitivity have gained the respect, gratitude, and confidence of the senior leaders throughout the worldwide, 36,000- person organization. Throughout her tenure with the Corps, Ellen Kay York has been a mentor to junior employees, spending countless hours and personal time to advise and counsel them. She has been active as well with Toastmasters International, as the Area 13 governor and as the president of the Corps' chapter, the Castle Toastmasters. I know that the team at the Corps will miss her, particularly the so- called superior officers. I am sure that she managed and protected on too many occasions to site. But we are delighted that she is returning to God's country were she will be rewarded for and liberated from her dedicated public service. Today I congratulate this outstanding public servant for her many years of selfless and faithful service to the Nation.

Mr. BOND

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I rise today with friends and family to recognize the efforts and dedication of CDR Russell H. Phelps III, an outstanding American. Commander Phelps began his military career in 1908 as an Arabic linguist assigned in Athens, Greece. Working in a national airborne reconnaissance program, he supported U.S. military missions to Lebanon, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Honorably discharged in 1985, he graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Northern Iowa in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations. He earned a Naval commission as a Special Duty Officer (Cryptology) upon completion of the Officer Candidate School in September 1988, whereupon he was assigned to the Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA) Rota, Spain. During that tour, he was assigned to the staff of the Commander, Middle East Force, Bahrain, and aboard USS O'Bannon (DD-987) and USS Aubrey Fitch (FFG-34) in support of Operation Earnest Will, the escort of re-flagged Kuwaiti oil tankers in the Arabian Gulf. Between 1989 and 1991, Commander Phelps was additionally assigned to the USS Wainwright (CG-28), USS Baton Rouge (SSN-689), USS Silversides (SSN- 679), USS Providence (SSN-719), and to the USS Pittsburgh (SSN-720) during combat support operations throughout Operation Desert Storm. Commander Phelps next assignment was to the USS Oldendorf, where he served as the Cryptologic Officer, Tactical Action Officer, and for 6 months as the Operations Officer, culminating in his qualifications as a Surface Warfare Officer. Detaching in 1994, he reported to Menwith Hill Station, Harrogate, England, and served as a Deputy Division Chief and member of the Regional Security Operations Center (RSOC) transition team. A plank owner of NSGA Menwith Hill, he simultaneously served in operations and as its first Executive Officer from 1995 to 1996. Commander Phelps next served at the Tactical Training Group Pacific, San Diego, CA, where he provided training to Battle group and warfare commanders in Cryptology, Information Warfare, and space systems operations. From 1999 to 2001, Commander Phelps served on the Staff of Commander, Carrier Group Seven as the Flag Cryptologist and deployed to the Middle East as the Cryptologic Resources Coordinator for John C. Stennis Battle Group and Bon Homme Richard Amphibious Ready Group. Commander Phelps' most recent assignment was at U.S. Naval War College, Newport, RI, where he earned a Master of Arts (with Distinction) in Strategy and National Security Decision Making. Military decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal (4 oak clusters in lieu of 5th award), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (two gold stars in lieu of third award), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (gold star in lieu of second award), as well as several unit and campaign awards. Commander Phelps is married to the former Ms. Diana Weetman, of North Yorkshire, England. Mr. President, I stand with all those whose lives are richer for having known Commander Phelps to commemorate and recognize his efforts and dedication on this Sixth day of February, Two-thousand and Four.

Mr. BOND

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished chairman of the Finance Committee. I congratulate him and the ranking member for moving forward. I found the comments of my neighbor in Iowa to be particularly appropriate about the need to build the barn. Again, I express my thanks to our colleagues on the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Jeffords, Senator Reid, and the others, for moving forward. Right now we are asking that Chairman Inhofe return. He has an important meeting right now and he is going to come out to assure we can get more of this bill moving. We have a very short time window today. I know that on both sides of the aisle we would like to have people come down, offer relevant amendments, try to get as much of this bill moving as possible, and begin the voting process. As I said, we have much work going on just off of the Senate floor as we try to move this legislation forward. We have several more pieces of SAFETEA to be brought forward. We are working with the other committees involved to make sure they come forward. I believe Chairman Shelby from the Banking Committee will arrive shortly to bring forth a mass transit bill. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, will my colleague yield for two quick questions?

Mr. BOND. Well, the most important question and I know this is a very important debate--the Senator from Maine was hoping to speak on the bill and I wondered how much longer the Senator from North Dakota was going to speak.

Mr. BOND. If the Senator will yield for one additional question.

Mr. BOND. Does the Senator realize all the rest of the Intelligence Committee is in S-407 receiving a 300-page report compiled over 8 months by the entire staff of the Intelligence Committee, after over a couple of hundred interviews and reviewing tens of thousands of documents, which goes right to this question and which we in the committee will be working on and trying to present either in classified or we hope mostly unclassified material so we can carry on this debate? Is the Senator aware that the reason there are not members of the Intelligence Committee here is that they are getting that information right now? Is the Senator aware of that?

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I will take less than 1 minute, because I do not want to excite my friend any further, to say that all of us on the Intelligence Committee not only share the commitment to getting to the bottom of what went on, but we also know that David Kay said it was absolutely right and prudent to go into Iraq because it was more dangerous than we knew in certain areas. I hope the report we issue will answer questions that I and the other members of the Intelligence Committee have raised and that all Members of this body ought to be raising, and that we will provide some recommendations for curing the problems we find. I hope now we can turn back to the SAFETEA bill, S. 1072, which is very important. I appreciate the patience of the Senator from Maine.

Mr. BOND

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet on Thursday, February 5, 2004, at 10 a.m., in room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building to consider judicial nominations.

Mr. BOND

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

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I am very pleased to announce there is an amendment at the desk. I ask for its immediate consideration.

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

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I offer this amendment on behalf of Senators Inhofe, Jeffords, and Reid. This is one small step for mankind toward a highway bill. There had been some concern about offering amendments. This is a technical amendment. This changes a number of items that, when crafting the bill, were erroneous. Normally we would adopt these technical amendments without objection. But there may be some discussion on it. I wish to explain the one perhaps significant change in this technical amendment so everybody knows what we are doing. In the previous bill, TEA-21, the metropolitan planning organizations received 1 percent from the Surface Transportation Program to do the work that these agencies are required to do in approving transportation plans, conforming them to air quality plans. This 1 percent takedown, as it is called, amounted to about $1.7 billion over the life of the bill. In drafting the underlying bill, we increased spending on planning for metropolitan planning organizations by $800 million, almost a 50 percent increase. When Senator Warner proposed making the takedown of the share for the metropolitan planning organizations 1.5 percent rather than 1 percent, it was on the assumption that the total of the previous amount plus what we did in committee would amount to 1.5 percent. But as it was drafted and printed in the committee report, it wound up adding what we had previously put in the equity bonus on top of the 1.5 percent. I believe this amendment restores the MPO portion to that originally proposed and adopted, i.e., a 1.5 percent share, which is what we have all agreed is needed for metropolitan planning organizations. We have a letter that I will submit, signed by the executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the president and chief executive officer of the American Highway Users Alliance, the chief executive officer of Associated General Contractors of America, the executive director of American Road and Transportation Builders Association, and the executive director of the National Conference of State Legislatures. The letter says, in substance--and I will submit the full letter-- that we write on behalf of the organizations to express concerns over the size of the total, the 1.5 percent-plus, the additional equity bonus. Their point is that the large increase results from a combination of adjustments, growth in the overall highway program, an increase in the percentage set-aside, and broadening of the program base subject to the metropolitan planning set-aside. They believed that adding an additional $2.2 billion for planning would make that much less available for improving, constructing, maintaining, and operating a safe and efficient highway system. They come out strongly in support--as we all are--of increasing the metropolitan planning funds. The number of MPOs has increased 340 to 378, and many more are looking at the prospect of being designated as nonattainment for the new ozone and fine particulate standards. They recommend an increase more comparable to the growth in MPOs, but they do not think tripling it is wise. So they have asked us to reconsider. The purpose of this technical amendment, among other things, is to bring it back to the 1.5 percent increase, upon which we have previously agreed. I ask unanimous consent that the letter be printed in the Record.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that at 3:55 today, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination on today's Executive Calendar: Calendar No. 457, the nomination of Mark Filip to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois. I further ask unanimous consent that following 5 minutes for debate equally divided between the chairman and ranking member or their designees, the Senate proceed to a vote on the confirmation of the nomination; further, that following the vote, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. BOND. Will my friend from Nevada yield for a question?

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I appreciate very much my distinguished copartner on the Transportation Subcommittee talking about the need to get this bill through quickly. He was discussing the difference between the bill we have now and the original bill. I was wondering if it is correct that the original highway bill really didn't have any formulas; it was what one would have to call pork because it had various projects in it. It was an effort by the Congress to outline where money is needed. Is that not basically the form of the original highway bill?

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, if the Senator from Nevada will yield for another question, isn't it true that the scope of this bill, the size of it, reflects programs that Congresses in previous years decided are good for the national transportation policy? In other words, we are not creating a new formula; we have taken the formula, the apportionment that existed. Is it not true that we have attempted to construct this bill so that, working with the formula, every State gets up to 95 cents? My State of Missouri was one of those States, when I got here in 1987, that was only getting back 77 cents. Every State will get up to 95 cents on the dollar. Every State, at a minimum, will get a 10- percent increase. Some States that would be getting much more money will only get a 40-percent or 40-plus-percent increase, which some may object to and say is not enough. But in this day and age, with a tight budget, it seems to me a 40-percent increase is not bad to take home from a compromise bill. Is that a fair assessment?

Mr. BOND. I thank the Senator.

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask my colleague to yield about a matter.

Mr. BOND. We have a number of technical amendments. There is a question about whether we want to move to that. We are preparing a technical amendment. I have discussed this with both sides. Basically, this is a technical amendment that accomplishes a number of things. In essence, it achieves the original goal of an amendment offered by Senator Warner, which was to increase the metropolitan planning share or takedown from 1 percent to 1.5 percent. We are getting a technical amendment copied, and as soon as we get the copies, if there is no objection from the managers, I thought we would do that.