Barbara Boxer

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BOXER. It is $30 million in the bill and we increase it by $70 million for $100 million.

Mrs. BOXER. Will the Senator yield for a question?

Mrs. BOXER. Wouldn't my friend agree that we are now saying to our first responders all across the country, regardless of where they are, whether they are in Oregon, whether they are in Mississippi, whether they are in Nevada, whether they are in New Hampshire or whether they are in California, are we not saying to them that they, in essence, have to respond to an attack on our homeland that is, in fact, part of the war on terror? Are we not telling them when 9-1-1 is called at a local level, regardless of the crisis, if it is attached to terrorism, it is, in fact, a national attack?

Mrs. BOXER. We pay for it.

Mrs. BOXER. I say to my colleague, in an attempt to get some votes from the other side of the aisle, we actually found an offset. We are not adding; we are cutting out a part of this bill that deals with an outside consulting contract to bring people in on human resources development. As I said to my friend, if this administration does not think they have the right management in place that can handle their human resources, then they should get rid of them and get new people. But the fact is, they are spending in this bill $70 million on fancy-dressed outside consultants who eat in the best restaurants in town, while the least we could do is put that off and let the management do their job there and use this funding to help our people on the ground. Does my friend agree this is a time when we cannot really afford frills, that we need to spend the money where it is most needed, in the hands of our first responders?

Mrs. BOXER. That is right.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I thank Senators Cochran and Reid for giving me this opportunity to send my amendment to the desk. I understand I may be interrupted for a unanimous consent request. At any time, that is fine. But this is a very important amendment. I say to my Republican colleagues who seem to be voting against all of our amendments to increase funding for homeland defense, we pay for this amendment. We do something very important in this amendment, and we pay for it by cutting out a frill that happens to be included in this particular legislation. Let me explain what we do. My amendment will increase Federal support for local efforts to improve homeland security by providing $70 million to State and local agencies for interoperable communications. What does that mean, interoperable communications? That is so our various first responders can talk to each other, can communicate with each other across jurisdictional lines as they respond to a tragedy, to an emergency. As I said, we fully pay for this amendment, so all we need is a majority vote and we will be able to get this help to the police who need it so badly, and to the firefighters--the first responders. One of the most painful parts of the September 11 attacks in New York was the loss of more than 300 firefighters and other law enforcement personnel who died inside the collapsing Twin Towers, trying to save so many beautiful, innocent lives that also wound up being lost. So many of our finest were killed--police officers, firefighters, other public servants--because they couldn't communicate with one another on the equipment they had. Imagine, they could not communicate in this crisis with one another because of the bad equipment that they had. This was not a new problem. As the 9/11 commission report points out: The New York Fire Department's radios performed poorly during the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, for two reasons. First, the radio signals often did not succeed in penetrating the numerous steel and concrete floors that separated companies attempting to communicate; and second, so many different companies were attempting to communicate on the same point-to-point channel that communications became unintelligible. We have known this from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The inability for our first responders to communicate with one another hampered them way back then. We have a repeat of those two problems 8 long years later, on September 11, 2001. There is a lot of talk in Washington about the fact that we are going to get hit again. We were called up to a secret room up there and we were told that. Then 5 minutes later Secretary Ridge told the whole country--so I am not saying anything out of school here--that we were going to be hit in this country before the election. Under this administration--forget about any new administration, whether there will be a new one or the same one--we were told by this administration that we were going to be hit this year. This is an important bill on which my colleagues are working so hard. I commend both sides of the aisle for their work on this bill. This bill is deficient and we are trying to make it better. One of the ways we can make it better for a relatively small amount of dollars--and I will tell you how I pay for this in a moment--is to make sure our first responders across our country get help so that they have the funds to be able to communicate with one another. We have not fixed the problem after the World Trade Center. We have not fixed the problem after the Twin Towers calamity and the Pentagon calamity, and it is unacceptable. That is the bad news. The good news is we can do something about it today. Thank goodness this bill is before us so we can let the American people know their security and protecting them is not so many words; it is reality. We are doing something. But in the area of interoperability, what is in this bill is so small and it doesn't even call for a grant to actually purchase equipment. Can you imagine? It doesn't even call for grants to purchase the equipment. Our local responders know what they need, and we should be helping them purchase the equipment they need. Our emergency public safety personnel must be able to speak to one another in real time. I am on the first floor of the building and I have gotten a report that something is wrong on the fourth floor of the building and communicate that to all of the emergency personnel so they know something is happening on the fourth floor of the building, and they can act because time is life in that world. Time is life in that world. Almost every community in California I visited over this break--I spent my entire July and August at home. I visited small cities and big cities and small counties and big counties and rural counties and suburban counties and urban counties. Let me tell you, they all told me they need interoperable communication, that they need our help in funding it and they need it as soon as possible. Let me go on the record stating that we have been warned. If, God forbid, there is another tragedy and the first responders can't talk to one another, it is our fault because we have the resources to do it. We have to do it. Lots of secret meetings don't do us any good to find out we are going to be attacked if we don't act. Senator Byrd said the emperor has no clothes. That is one way of putting it. Today is a chance to put some clothes on the emperor. It is also a chance to have a real defense--not a Wizard of Oz defense that has a lot of bells and whistles, and color codes and orange lights and red lights and duct tape and all the other things--to put some equipment into the hands of our first responders and have a real defense so they can catch something before it happens, and if they catch it when it happens they can make sure people's lives are saved. Developing a single radio system will make a real difference in public safety, but paying for it is a huge burden on our local people. We need to give them the funding they need to purchase the technology that makes interoperability possible. Our first responders must be able to communicate with one another in that real time. They should not have to rely on their cell phones in a time of emergency. We need to do our job so they can do their job. The administration's budget contains nothing for interoperable communication. The appropriations bill we are now considering only has $31 million for research and technical assistance. Our first responders' first priority is not research, it is equipment. They know what they need. They are smart. This is their life. This is what they do every day. They are ready to make the purchases they need. So what are we doing? We have technical assistance from Uncle Sam. That is not what they need. They need to be able to have the hard dollars to go do what they have to do from the ingenious American technology sectors of our great country and put those units to work so they can talk to each other and they can rely on those communications. My amendment goes a long way to addressing this issue. It would provide an additional $70 million to help State and local agencies improve existing communications systems or purchase new systems. This funding would help our local agencies purchase equipment for real time, interoperable communications between first responders. This $70 million would be above the $30 million in the bill I talked about for research and technical assistance. The funding in my amendment is offset. Let me repeat that. We are paying for this. I am going to ask the American people to judge along with the Senators how that $70 million should be spent. There is $70 million in the bill from the human resources account. The Office of the Under Secretary of Management wants to design and deploy a new human resources system--a human resources system--and they are going outside the Federal Government to do it, hire high-paid consultants to do it instead of keeping the money where it belongs, in the hands of the first responders. We are going to have a new human resources system, another layer of bureaucracy brought to you by outside consultants who are going to probably go to lunch at the fancy places in Washington and send us the bill. I would rather give the money to my firemen and my policemen and policewomen any day of the week. That is the case you have. You can keep the money in there for this human resources account and spend this money on outside fancy consultants who are going to tell us how to deal with our human resources or we can get that $70 million and give it to the first responders. That is what we say we are for. We say we are for defending the homeland. Let us prove we are for defending the homeland. I propose shifting the funds from the luxury and the frills while our emergency responders can't even talk to one another in a burning building. There is time for frills, my friends, and there is time for real decisions to be made. This is not the time for frills. This is a time to make a decision that our first responders are more important than some consulting firm that is going to make millions off the taxpayers for no reason whatsoever. If our people do not know how to handle human resources, then get new people who know how to handle human resources. I thought that is why we paid management. That is what I think you should do. I have been in the private world, and the bottom line in the private world is you hire people to handle management. If you are going to take the money out of the business and go outside to hire high-paid consultants, then fire the people you have. If you want to do that, fire the people you have. If you have no trust in their management capability, fire them and then take care of that and put it into first responder funding. After 9/11 we all asked what could we have done better? How could we have been better prepared? And the answer came back to me. I represent the largest State in the Union. We have high targets in our State, beautiful bridges and buildings. We have very famous landmarks in my State. We worry about terrorist attacks. My people are no-nonsense people. They know frills when they see it. And they know. I have talked to them. They know that one of the most important things our fire people and our police people need is to be able to talk to one another in an emergency in real time. If there is a terrorist attack on a railroad track, they have to get that word out up and down that rail line. If there is an attack on a high building, on a high floor, the people coming in the building need to know something has collapsed up there. They need to know not to run up there and face the chaos of hell. They need to talk to one another. It is fairly basic. The choice is clear. This amendment is an important step in fulfilling our responsibility to protect the homeland and to do it in a fiscally responsible way. I am pleased Senator Reid is a sponsor of this amendment, and I am very proud that Senator Feinstein is. I hope we can get some Republican support. This is paid for by a frill that we do not need. The first responders in our States are the heroes. We say it every day. There is not one Member who does not say it every day. If they are the heroes and they are telling us they need this, then let's do it. I ask unanimous consent to add Senator Clinton as a cosponsor to my amendment.

Mrs. BOXER. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the Rev. Dr. Cecil L. ``Chip'' Murray, who is retiring after 37 years of distinguished service with the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles. Dr. Murray is a man of great passion and vision who has inspired his congregation to go ``beyond the walls'' of the church to help the broader community. Under his leadership, volunteers from First AME Los Angeles have changed thousands of lives for the better. When Dr. Murray was first assigned to First AME in 1977, his new church family had 300 active members. Today the congregation has more than 18,000 members. Led by Dr. Murray, the church ministry fills the sanctuary with an awe-inspiring spiritual worship service that draws people of all faiths from far and wide. While tending to his congregation's spiritual needs, Dr. Murray has also led them to look beyond the walls of the church at those less fortunate than themselves. Each member of the congregation is asked to join one of 40 task forces addressing community needs such as health, homelessness, substance abuse, emergency food and clothing, general and specialized housing, tutoring, employment services, and entrepreneurial training. As he heads into a well-deserved retirement, Dr. Murray will receive accolades and appreciation from a grateful congregation and community. I wish to join them in expressing my deep appreciation for his great life's work and my very best wishes for the future. I am sure that even in retirement, Dr. Murray will continue to work wonders and inspire others for many years to come.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Absolutely. The sad truth is we got a copy of their budget.

Mrs. BOXER. So it is one thing to stand in front of a microphone and say don't turn back, if you have policies that are working. But when you have policies that are costing us lives in Iraq, 90 percent of the casualties, 90 percent of the cost, and then you turn your back on our allies? When the President landed on that ``mission accomplished'' carrier, our allies begged to help us in Iraq. Oh, no, we weren't going to share the spoils of this with them. The rebuilding was just going to Halliburton folks. That is the price our people are paying. I love them dearly and I want to see them come back home and be relieved by people from all over the world. And I want to see our senior citizens not have to choose between medicine and food. This is wrong. So, hopefully, we will see some changes in this country. I think you and I agree they are sorely needed. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BOXER. I say to my friend, when I opened up my remarks, I stated that 6,916 Americans have been injured in Iraq. My friend is right, it is an enormous number. According to a report in the L.A. Times, 57 percent have been injured so severely that they are unable to return to duty. These are very severe injuries. My point is, is this the time, then, to have a budget that the President--we found out about it because The Washington Post got a copy--cuts VA by $910 million? There are these many Americans, and God knows what the total will be by the end of the month. ``We are not turning back.'' The President says that over and over again. ``We are staying the course.'' Well, why do we not look at this course? Why do we not look at these policies? Why do we not see if there are ways to better handle this, to internationalize this, to take the burden off of the backs of our young people, as Senator Kerry has said? Where is the plan? I yield to my friend.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, it has been quite a while since the Senate has been in session. I spent the entire time traveling up and down my State learning a lot from my people, as I always do. I am coming back here ready to work for as long as it takes to protect the American people, to do what we can about the health care crisis, Medicare, and the rest. How much we get done is going to be up to us. Of course, the leadership around here has to go to the bills that will make us safe, help our seniors, take up the issue of health care, and will get the deficits under control. That is their job. We will see what happens. I hope we go to Homeland Security appropriations because there is a lot of work we need to do on that bill to make sure it truly does protect the American people. Best Wishes to Former President Clinton

Mrs. BOXER. Good one.

Mrs. BOXER. Right.

Mrs. BOXER. If I could respond to my friend, and also say to my friend from Iowa, I have found there is so little focus on these young men and women who are sacrificing. We do not see them when they come home. We do not hear about them and the ones who are wounded. I say to my friend, and he may not be aware of this, one more soldier and we are going to see a thousand dead. It is 999 today.

Mrs. BOXER. I ask unanimous consent for an additional 5 minutes after my additional 5, so it would be an additional 10.

Mrs. BOXER. Right, 999. Now is the time, if ever there were a time, to reflect on this policy. Now, President Bush says we are not turning back. One has to ask themselves: What does that mean? We are not turning back from what? We are not turning back from a war without a plan? Well, I hope we will get a plan. We need a plan. Just as we had a military plan, we need a plan. Things are at a state now where I have to come and take the time to do this. There is discontent on the other side. It takes a long time to read 48 new names of Californians. Is that not the least we can do? I have talked about what the potential of each of them was. These are the sons and daughters of our people.

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, how much time remains on my time?

Mrs. BOXER. Yes.

Mrs. BOXER. I will.

Mrs. BOXER. If the Presiding Officer could tell me when I have used 10 minutes. I wish I did not have to take so much time, Mr. President. These are 48 of our best and brightest over there. LCpl Bryan P. Kelly, age 21, died July 16 due to injuries received from enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. SSgt Michael J. Clark, age 29, died July 20 due to combat action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to Combat Service Support Battalion 1, Group 11, 1st Force Service Support Group, Camp Pendleton, CA. LCpl Mark E. Engel, age 21, died July 21 at Brook Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX, of multiple wounds he received as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejune, NC. He was from Grand Junction, CA. LTC David S. Green, age 39, died July 28 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was a reservist assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 775, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3D Marine Air Wing, Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, CA. GySgt Shawn A. Lane, age 33, died July 28 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton,CA. SPC Armando Hernandez, age 22, died in Samarra, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device exploded near his guard post. He was assigned to the Army's 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany. He was from Hesperia, CA. Sgt Juan Calderon, Jr., age 26, died August 2 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. Cpl Dean P. Pratt, age 22, died August 2 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. CPT Gregory A. Ratzlaff, age 36, died August 3 due to a noncombat- related incident at Forward Operating Base Duke, Iraq. He was assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, CA. GySgt Elia P. Fontecchia, age 30, died August 4 from injuries received from enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA. LCpl Joseph L. Nice, age 19, died August 4 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA. Sgt Moses D. Rocha, age 33, died August 5 due to injuries received from enemy action in An Najaf, Iraq. He was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Pendleton, CA. Sgt Yadir G. Reynoso, age 27, died August 5 due to enemy action in An Najaf Province. He was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Pendleton, CA. LCpl Larry L. Wells, age 22, died August 6 due to enemy action in An Najaf, Iraq. He was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Pendleton, CA. Cpl Roberto Abad, age 22, died August 6 after being struck by an exploding mortar during enemy action in Najaf. He was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Pendleton, Ca. He was from Los Angeles, CA. LCpl Jonathan W. Collins, age 19, died August 8 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. LCpl Tavon L. Hubbard, age 24, died August 11 in a helicopter crash in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to the Command Element, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Pendleton, CA. SSgt John R. Howard, age 26, died August 11 in a helicopter crash in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, CA. He was from San Diego, CA. LCpl Kane M. Funke, age 20, died August 13 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA. PFC Fernando B. Hannon, age 19, was killed August 15 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, Ca. He was from Riverside, CA. PFC Geoffrey Perez, age 24, was killed on August 15 from an explosion while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. He was from Los Angeles, CA. LCpl Caleb J. Powers, age 21, died August 17 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. Sgt Harvey E. Parkerson, III, age 27, died after sustaining a fatal gunshot wound to the head while conducting combat operations in Najaf Province. He was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), Camp Pendleton, CA. He was from Yuba City, CA. PFC Nachez Washalanta, age 21, died August 21 from injuries received due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. LCpl Seth Huston, age 19, died August 21 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. Sgt Jason Cook, age 25, died August 21 from injuries received due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. Cpl Nicanor Alvarez, age 22, died August 21 from injuries received due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA. He was from San Bernardino, CA. GySgt Edward T. Reeder, age 32, died August 21 in a noncombat-related vehicle incident in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to Headquarters and Service Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group, Camp Pendleton, CA. LCpl Jacob R. Lugo, age 21, died August 24 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA. LCpl Alexander S. Arrendondo, age 20, died August 25 as a result of enemy action in An Najaf. He was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 1/ 4, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), Camp Pendleton, CA. PFC Nicholas M. Skinner, age 20, died August 26 from injuries received due to enemy action in An Najaf, Iraq. He was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), Camp Pendleton, CA. SPC Omead H. Razani, age 19, died August 27 in Habbaniyah, Iraq, of noncombat-related injuries. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Greaves, Korea. He was from Los Angeles, CA. LCpl Nickalous Aldrich, age 21, died August 27 from a nonhostile vehicle accident in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Regiment, Camp Pendleton, CA. Sgt Edgar Lopez, age 27, died August 28 due to enemy action in Babil Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Lejune, NC. He was from Los Angeles, CA. CPT Alan Rowe, age 35, died September 3 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA. LCpl Nicholas Perez, age 19, died September 3 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA. 1LT Ronald Winchester, age 25, died September 3 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA. LCpl Nicholas Wilt, age 23, died September 3 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA. As my colleagues know, I have paid tribute to every Californian who has died in Iraq from the beginning of the war. I have paid tribute to them if they were born and raised in California or if they were assigned to a California base. I have read into the Record and paid tribute now to 254 soldiers. It takes a lot of time, but this time is nothing compared to a lifetime of grieving, tears, and pain these relatives are going through, not only from my State but all over the country.

Mrs. BOXER. Yes.

Mrs. BOXER

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that upon completion of my remarks Senator Harkin be recognized for up to 20 minutes.