Sam Brownback

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I would like to take a few minutes to speak in morning business on the issue of human cloning. On Monday, there will be a vote on the issue of the Lott amendment that contains the energy package that has been put forward by Senator Murkowski, and the moratorium on human cloning, the 6-month moratorium on human cloning that I put forward. Several colleagues have sponsored both of these amendments. It has been put together. There will be a cloture vote on this on Monday. I am asking our colleagues to support us being able to get this issue before the body for a final vote, to vote for cloture on the Lott amendment so we can get this issue in front of the body and get it decided. These are two critical issues. The issue of energy and our dependence on foreign oil sources is becoming more and more obvious to people around the country and around the world. We are just too dependent on other places, places that are not reliable suppliers to the United States. Oil from Iraq, as Senator Murkowski has talked about frequently, is certainly not a reliable supply to the United States. Yet we are dependent on it. There are growing questions about Saudi Arabia, about the reliability of Saudi Arabia and the oil resources from there. Clearly, we should be having an energy policy and an energy strategy to remove ourselves from some of the dependency, particularly in the Persian Gulf region, for our oil and natural gas supplies. We need to do this energy policy, and do it now.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, the terrorist attacks of September 11 have unsettled the public's confidence in our Nation's security and have raised concerns about whether our institutions are up to the task of intercepting and thwarting would-be terrorists. Given that the persons responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon came from abroad, our citizens understandably ask how these people entered the United States and what can be done to prevent their kind from doing so again. Clearly, our immigration laws and policies are instrumental to the war on terrorism. While the battle may be waged on several fronts, for the man or woman on the street, immigration is in many ways the front line of our defense. The immigration provisions in the anti-terrorist bill passed earlier this month, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, represent an excellent first step toward improving our border security, but we must not stop there. Our Nation receives millions of foreign nationals each year, persons who come to the United States to visit family, to do business, to tour our sites, to study and learn. Most of these people enter lawfully and mean us well. They are our relatives, our friends, and our business partners. They are good for our economy and, as witnesses to our democracy and our way of life, become our ambassadors of good will to their home countries. However, the unfortunate reality is that a fraction of these people mean us harm, and we must take intelligent measures to keep these people out. For that reason, I am pleased to introduce today, along with my colleagues Senator Kennedy, Senator Kyl, Senator Feinstein, Senator Hatch, Senator Leahy, and others, legislation that looks specifically toward strengthening our borders and better equipping the agencies that protect them. The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2001 represents an earnest, thoughtful, and bipartisan effort to refine our immigration laws and institutions to better combat the evil that threatens our Nation. This legislation recognizes that the war on terrorism is, in large part, a war of information. To be successful, we must improve our ability to collect, compile, and utilize information critical to our safety and national security. This bill requires that the agencies tasked with screening visa applicants and applicants for admission, namely the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, be provided with the necessary law enforcement and intelligence information that will enable these agencies to identify alien terrorists. By directing better coordination and access, this legislation will bring together the agencies that have the information and those that need it. With input from the Office of Homeland Security, this bill will make prompt and effective information-sharing between these agencies a reality. In complement to the USA PATRIOT Act, this legislation provides for necessary improvements in the technologies used by the State Department and the Service. It provides funding for the State Department to better interface with foreign intelligence information and to better staff its infrastructure. It also provides the Service with guidance on the implementation of the Integrated Entry and Exit Data System, pointing the Service to such tools as biometric identifiers in immigration documents, machine readable visas and passports, and arrival-departure and security databases. To the degree that we can realistically do so, we should attempt to intercept terrorists before they reach our borders. Accordingly, we must consider security measures not only at domestic ports of entry but also at foreign ports of departure. To that end, this legislation directs the State Department and the Service, in consultation with Office of Homeland Security, to examine, expand, and enhance screening procedures to take place outside the United States, such as preinspection and preclearance. It also requires international air carriers to transmit passenger manifests for pre-arrival review by the Service. Further, it eliminates the 45-minute statutory limit on airport inspections, which many feel compromises the Service's ability to screen arriving flights properly. Finally, since we should ultimately look to expand our security perimeter to include Canada and Mexico, this bill requires these agencies to work with our neighbors to create a collaborative North American Security Perimeter. While this legislation mandates certain technological improvements, it does not ignore the human element in the security equation. This bill requires that ``terrorist lookout committees'' be instituted at each consular post and that consular officers be given special training for identifying would-be terrorists. It also provides special training to border patrol agents, inspectors, and foreign service officers to better identify terrorists and security threats to the Unites States. Moreover, to help the Service retain its most experienced people on the borders, this bill provides the Service with increased flexibility in pay, certain benefit incentives, and the ability to hire necessary support staff. Finally, this legislation considers certain classes of aliens that raise security concerns for our country: nationals from states that sponsor terrorism and foreign students. With respect to the former, this bill expressly prohibits the State Department from issuing a nonimmigrant visa to any alien from a country that sponsors terrorism until it has been determined that the alien does not pose a threat to the safety or national security of the United States. With respect to the latter, this legislation would fill data and reporting gaps in our foreign student programs by requiring the Service to electronically monitor every stage in the student visa process. It would also require the school to report a foreign student's failure to enroll and the Service to monitor schools' compliance with this reporting requirement. While we must be careful not to compromise our values or our economy, we must take intelligent, immediate steps to enhance the security of our borders. This legislation would implement many changes that are vital to our war on terrorism. I therefore urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I rise to speak in favor of the pending business, which is the amendment put forward by Senator Lott containing the energy bill of Senator Murkowski and a number of other Members in a bipartisan fashion. It also contains a 6-month moratorium on the issue of human cloning. That is the pending business. We are in morning business. I want to speak to that particular issue, the pending business itself. I think the Senator from Alaska has adequately and very well described the need for an energy bill and what is in that energy package. He has been very aggressive in expressing the need to do that. I wholeheartedly agree with what he is saying. We need an energy bill. We need an energy package, and we need less energy dependence. If we move soon to address the issue of mass destruction in Iraq, we are going to be in far worse shape if Iraq starts cutting down their oil and not making it available to the United States. If some other countries follow suit, then that means we are going to feel a great pinch. Even though we are doing the right things to address the weapons of mass destruction, we are going to feel a real pinch if they cut down on oil supplies when we have such an international dependence on oil from the Middle East in particularly. I think what the Senator is putting forward for reducing our energy dependence abroad--particularly from the Persian Gulf--and having our energy sources here is a valuable thing, a necessary thing, and something we need to do today. We need to get it addressed today. I applaud the Senator from Alaska. That is why I am a cosponsor of the amendment which is the pending business on the floor. Cloning The issue I wish to address specifically is another issue of great concern and immediacy. It needs to be addressed. I think the world was shocked when they read the papers Sunday about the first human clone. It is something that was theoretical and something that was talked about. It was something in the movies. Now there is a ``Star Wars'' movie coming out this year called ``The Clone Wars.'' It has been something everybody has been discussing. I think people were shocked when they read this headline about the first human clone. It isn't something that happened in Europe or South Africa. It was in the United States of America. People were looking at this and saying: I thought this was in a theoretical mode. I didn't realize we were actually at a point of cloning humans. The House of Representatives passed a bill to address this issue, saying we should not be cloning humans. The President addressed this issue and said: Send me a bill to ban human cloning; I don't think this is something we should be doing. The Senate is the only body of the three that has not addressed the issue yet. In the underlying amendment today on the issue of cloning is a 6- month moratorium. It is not a complete ban. It is a 6-month moratorium on all cloning to say time out. Let's hold up just a little bit while we start catching up philosophically and thoughtfully in this body on what is taking place on human cloning in the United States of America today--not tomorrow, not next month--that we need to address this before we get more stories such as this or we start seeing the face of a child appearing before this body takes its position on addressing the issue of human cloning. Presently, this country has not addressed it. You can clone in this country, if you choose to do so, even though I have a list of other countries that have acted on this issue. Twenty- eight other countries or bodies such as the European Parliament have already acted on the issue of human cloning. We have not. The Senate has not yet acted on this. Twenty-eight other mostly developed countries have already acted on this issue in some way or another. What does the public say about it? I want to read from today's Roll Call magazine on page 10 about the issue of cloning. There was a poll of the American public. This is in today's Roll Call magazine, November 29. It says: The majority of Americans clearly remain opposed to cloning, with 87 percent telling ABC News interviewers in early August that cloning humans should be illegal. Respondents were told the following about therapeutic cloning: There is a debate going on about that. I am opposed to reproductive cloning. Some people are saying they want to try to do therapeutic cloning, which I think is a misnomer of the highest order. Therapeutic cloning is where you create a human clone. You grow it for a period to two weeks. You kill it. It is certainly not therapeutic to clone. You harvest the cells out of that for some supposed research or other benefit for another individual. That is so-called therapeutic cloning. I call it destructive cloning. Some call it therapeutic. Let's see what the respondents said. This is how the question was put forth: Some scientists want to use human cloning for medical treatments. They would produce a fertilized egg, or human embryo, that's an exact genetic copy of a person, and then take cells from this embryo to provide medical treatments for that person. Supporters say this could lead to medical breakthroughs. Opponents say it could lead to the creation of a cloned person because someone could take an embryo that was cloned for medical treatments and use it to produce a child. That was the question. That is the way it was phrased on therapeutic cloning. It might produce medical breakthroughs but also a reproductive clone. How did the people respond to the question? Sixty-three percent said therapeutic cloning should be illegal and 33 percent held the opposing view. Even framed on just the issue of therapeutic cloning, 63 percent say: No, I don't want to do that. I don't want us to go there. Yet we continued to dawdle in this body. We did not take up the issue. We would not hear it or bring it up on the floor until now. It is the pending business with a 6-month moratorium. It is not a complete ban. It is a complete ban for the 6 months. But after that, this would sunset. I think this is a very prudent move that this body should take in addressing this highly controversial, highly problematic and monumental bioethical issue. Our Nation is currently wrestling with monumental bioethical issues. As I mentioned, the House of Representatives has dealt with this issue. They have passed a ban on human cloning with a 100-vote margin. The President keeps calling for it. This body has not acted. On these bioethical issues, many of which I have raised on the floor previously--and I am going to keep raising in the future--we need to debate all these issues, but we need to act now to have a moratorium on human cloning so the Senate can properly debate the issue and hopefully resolve it in the coming 2 or 3 months. That is what we are asking for in the underlying amendment. I would like to take this opportunity to address some of the profound moral issues that this Nation is going to need to wrestle with and the Senate is going to need to wrestle with for us to deal with the issue of human cloning. Human cloning demands the public's attention, in part, because it implicitly revolves around the meaning of human dignity, around the meaning of human life, and the inalienable rights that belong to every person. Should a clone belong to someone or should a clone not belong to someone? I think we ought to resolve that issue before it starts being forced upon us by private companies creating clones. Some will argue that the issue simply needs to be studied before any research begins, a notion which does not respect the rights of the clone. Some people say: Let's just create a group of clones out there, and let's see and let's research and let it evolve. Shouldn't we fundamentally deal with the issue first about what is a clone? Is it the property of somebody who created it? Is it a person? It is genetically identical to the person from whom it was created. It is physically identical. Is this a person or is this a piece of property? We should be debating that ahead of them being out there in the public. Should we allow people to create clones of themselves for spare body parts? That would be down the road a longways, but people are thinking about those sorts of things now. We now have the creation of the first human clone. I think clearly we should err on the side of caution at this point in time. We should call a timeout. We should have a 6-month moratorium so we can all sit down and think about this. This is not going to kill the research into helpful areas of research. Some people looking at this are saying: OK. They are confusing it with embryonic stem cell research, which I personally have a deep problem with because you are destroying an embryo to create that research. But this moratorium does not apply to embryonic stem cell research. That is going on. There is even Federal funding for some embryonic stem cell research, as the President outlined in an August speech with the NIH, much with which I continue to disagree. I think we ought to focus on the adult stem cell. Be that as it may, the embryonic stem cell work is going on and would not be affected by this moratorium. What this moratorium goes at is saying: Do not create human clones for any purposes. Do not create that. After a period of 6 months it expires. So for those purposes, I think this is an entirely appropriate issue for us to push the pause button. The alternative of this is for us to do nothing. But if we do nothing, if we do not put a pause on this, you are going to see a lot more headlines such as the one shown on this magazine. You are going to see a lot more human clones or you are going to hear about them being implanted in women once they get to the point where the technology is such that that can take place. You are going to see all that taking place and this body will not have even spoken. We will not have said, yes, we agree or we disagree. The President has spoken and the House has spoken, but we will not have even said, OK, we agree we should or we disagree. We will not have done anything. That is why I plead with the sponsors of the bill that we should take up this particular issue. We would allow this amendment that has the important energy language in it for energy security that contains the important moratorium on human cloning. And that would be allowed to be voted on by this body. We would not have a cloture vote that rules out the vote on these two imminently important issues that need to come before this body at this particular time. So I plead with my colleagues, do not vote on a procedure that knocks off these two very important issues. Let us have a vote on these two issues. We are going to be in town. We should take up these very important issues that are of immediate importance and need to be considered. I look forward to discussing this further with my colleagues as we get a chance to bring this amendment up for a vote. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I respect my colleague from Nevada and his views. We have had several dialogs on the floor about this. I respect his thoughts and his comments. I am glad to hear about the review of this issue in the Democratic caucus. I have a very strong sense that we should be pausing at this point in time, and that is why I respectfully continue to bring this forward. This is one of those times in humanity when we ought to be stepping back and thinking this through clearly and we will come out with a decision. Fine. We will let the body work its will. I am very troubled about this bill proceeding forward with private sector individuals, probably with all the best of intentions, but the only regulation they have is their own bioethical board, which they hire and put in place, deciding these issues for humanity. Once they are out there, they are there. It would be the same as if we allowed biotechnology of a fish, a chicken, or a cow without any regulation or consideration, just saying we are going to release it and have it out in the wild. I think people would be very uncomfortable with that notion. Even if this might be the most wonderful thing in the world to do, they would want us to think about it. I deeply respect the Senator from Nevada and his views on this issue of human cloning, but this is a troubling time for humanity. We ought to hit the pause button. I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise to speak on the issue I brought before the body yesterday, which is what is taking place in Massachusetts and probably other places across the country, and that is human cloning. I am seeking to get H.R. 2505, to ban human cloning, heard. It has already been passed by the House of Representatives with a 100-vote margin. If we cannot get a ban through, I would like to put forward a proposal which I presented to the leadership, to Senator Daschle, for a 6-month or even 3-month moratorium on human cloning until we have time for this body to consider the overall issue of human cloning. To date, we have not been able to have a full vote taking place on this issue. We know that one company has developed two human clones, and they lived for a week. It is a matter of time before we see announcements--and we could see announcements anytime--about one being implanted into a woman. We have no rules or regulations dealing with this issue--none at all. We have far more rules and regulations dealing with endangered species and the bald eagle's egg than a human embryo being developed by cloning mechanisms. This is being banned around the world, and yet it is happening here. Look at the front cover of Newsweek. I held up this magazine, U.S. News & World Report, yesterday: ``The First Human Clone.'' In Europe, the French and Germans have banned human cloning altogether. The Brits have taken up the issue. It is in the courts in Britain, and it is in front of the United Nations. Yet it is happening in the United States. I know my colleagues may grow weary, but I think it is an urgent time for humanity and we should take this up, imposing a moratorium for 3 months, 6 months. I was talking yesterday about a 6-month moratorium. Even 3 months would get us to a time next year when we could fully debate the issue, the body could speak on it, and get a result. It is happening now. I will continue to plead with the leadership to allow us to bring it up before the Senate. Let us limit the amount of time in the debate. We can limit it to an hour if people want. We can have a vote on it so we can get this to conference with the House of Representatives and so the President can sign the legislation. Other people see fit to bring up other legislation. I respect their right to do that. I believe as a society this is one of the most urgent matters we can address at this point in time. I wish we could put it off. I wish we did not have private companies creating human embryos, something which we would not allow with a bald eagle or any endangered species, or with livestock. This is treating humans as livestock. People can say I have different viewpoints about the status of a human embryo. I think everybody will agree it has some moral significance, the thought they would treat a human embryo as livestock, without regard for it. And this body is sitting here saying: We are not ready to take it up. I can respect that because this is an issue which will require lengthy debate. The issue of whether we should have a moratorium is important. Mr. President, I renew the request I put forward yesterday, that we bring up H.R. 2505, a bill to ban human cloning, that has passed the House of Representatives. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to that legislation.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. If I can reclaim my time, before we move forward on this, should we not pause at this point in time and say: Let's stop here; let's stop everything here for a few months and see where we are going with the future of humanity? The next step will be genetic material from outside the human species into the human species. That is going to be one of the next cover stories, and we will still be here saying: I am not sure about this definition; I am not sure about that. Do we want to burst that upon humanity and allow that to take place in our country? By our inaction, we will. I plead with my colleagues, let us work on this now and pause the whole issue for a short period of time so we can consider it. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK. If I can reclaim my time--I do not want to be rude-- herein lies the key, the rub of the issue: Some say you can create a cloned embryo and not implant it, with which I agree. I do not think we should implant that embryo.

Mr. BROWNBACK. If I can reclaim my time, I ask unanimous consent for an additional 5 minutes.

Mr. BROWNBACK. What about a cloned embryo period, once it is created?

Mr. BROWNBACK. I thank the Senator from Nevada for responding. If I could reclaim my time briefly, I wish to warn the body, before we take this issue back up, we are going to see more of these things announced. We are going to see people working on putting animal genetic material into the human species. That is going to be announced next. That will be the next announcement sometime a month or two down the road. This body will not have spoken on it. The House has spoken on it. The President has stated: Please give this to me. He has asked that. That is why I respectfully put this forward. This technology is rapidly moving forward. It is to the point that most people are very uncomfortable with human cloning. People across the country, 90 percent, are saying: I don't think we ought to be going there. I am saying at this point in time, before this continues moving forward, let's hit the pause button and let's say, wait a minute, until we can really thoroughly vet this because, as the Senator from Nevada has rightly said, there are a number of people looking at this from different sides, questioning this. This is a very technically involved subject. I respect all of that. I respect that greatly. Why not, for a period of 3 months or 6 months, say, let's just pause here because we are entering a threshold period of time that we have not thoroughly contemplated as a society, as a people. We should say: Let's wait just a little bit before it leaps upon us. I am happy to yield.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, if I can respond to my colleague from California, I am happy to work with her on the definition of human cloning. I object to her categorization that I am opposed to all research and just stop. That is not my position. I have strongly supported adult stem cell research. I do not know if you can put a dollar amount in the funding line that I would not agree with because I think it is very promising research, and I am strongly supportive of that research. I object as well to the Senator's categorization that you take stem cells and put them in a woman's uterus. You do not do that. What I am talking about is an embryo that can be put into a uterus, actually form a living human being by everybody's definition. The Senator may have a different definition of when an embryo is a life.

Mr. BROWNBACK. If I could, what about a moratorium? We now have a human clone out there. We have people using this technology. What about a period of a moratorium, say a 3-month or 6-month moratorium, until we can get to the issue, saying let's stop this now before we get human clones out there? This body has not spoken about it.

Mr. BROWNBACK. I have a followup, and then I will be happy to yield to the Senator from California.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise to discuss the issue of human cloning and the need to address it in this Congress this year. I was hopeful of getting the majority leader's attention while he was on the floor; maybe we will get the attention of the Senator from Nevada about addressing the issue this year. As the Senator from Pennsylvania was pointing out, we now have the first human clone. People are calling it different names. Some are calling it an ``activated egg,'' rather than a human embryo or clone. U.S. News and World Report doesn't seem to have a problem with calling it the first human clone, as most of the newspapers were calling it. It is identical to an embryo. It now exists. It lived for a couple of days, then died. The technology has been used and exercised. It is something about which I have been warning this body for months--that we should address this issue before we get to the point in time where we are going to see human clones out there. And then we will have to wrestle with the question, Is this person or property? Is this a person or is it a piece of property that is owned by somebody? What do we do with a clone? This is capable of being implanted into a woman and of growing to be a full, identifiable person by anybody's definition. Now we have the technology being broached. We have at the desk H.R. 2505, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001 that the House of Representatives passed. The President is calling for this body to act upon that. He is saying we should not be waiting longer for this. It is my intention at the end of my comments to call up H.R. 2505 and ask unanimous consent that we immediately proceed to its consideration. This is a bill that is here. This is an issue that is right on top of us. It needs to be considered. We should deal with it now. We can deal with it. We can limit the amount of debate time that we will have on the bill. We can limit it to a period of 5 hours. We can limit it to two amendments. We can go all of those routes. If the majority leader would agree to do that, we can get this issue dealt with. Short of that, I submit to my colleagues what we can also do is take up this bill, only let's have a human cloning moratorium for 6 months, saying we will not allow human cloning of any type under any definition for a period of 6 months so Senator Specter and others can hold hearings on this topic. Let's stop now before the horse gets further out of the barn, before we see living human embryos. With that, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 2505, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001.

Mr. BROWNBACK. What about a cloned embryo, period?

Mr. BROWNBACK. What about the status of the cloned embryo, that is in its genetic material identical to one that is created naturally? Whether it is created by man or created by God, they are the same entities; they are identical. Therefore, do we say the status of one is different from the status of the other? Herein again lies my point.

Mr. BROWNBACK. May I inquire, and respectfully so, of the Senator from Nevada, this is an issue that is right on top of us. I have been warning this body for months that this day was going to be here. Now it is here. We really should take up this issue. We can limit the amount of time. We can limit the amount of amendments to it. I ask why we can't proceed at least to a moratorium, a 6-month moratorium on human cloning.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I would like to ask the majority leader a question before he leaves the Chamber. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I will not take the full period of time. I want to make an announcement and inform the Senate family of something. Last night, we cleared through the Senate a national day of reconciliation to take place in the Senate and the House on December 4. When we come back, hopefully we will not be in session too much past that, but at least on December 4, there will be a gathering between the House and Senate, and hopefully members of the Cabinet, as a time to support one another and to reconcile. Historically, this was done 100 years ago, in particular at this time of the year, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We will try to see the minor differences that have separated us and see if we really cannot make amends with each other, and seek amends with our Creator, if there are things that separate us from Him as well. This is going to take place on December 4. It has passed the House and the Senate as a concurrent resolution. There is a group that is planning on working together to do this, along with the Chaplains of the two bodies. I wanted to announce that to the Senate. Hopefully, there are people who will want to participate in this gathering. It is voluntary. It will be a private session. Nobody from outside the House, the Senate, or the administration, other than the two Chaplains, will participate. There will be no media present. It is a private, closed session. It will take place in the Rotunda. It will take place between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on December 4. I hope people will mark it on their calendars. This can be a special time given the nature of what has happened in our country, this year in particular, with the events of September 11, with the anthrax scares, and with the plane that went down this week out of New York. We have had a lot of trial and trauma in this Nation. It has called upon us to unify and pull together. We need to continually do that. This will be an effort for us to do just that--to reconcile with one another, to reconcile with our Creator. I think it is an important model for us to show to the Nation. I hope people can participate in that as well. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for up to 5 minutes.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on a matter that should be intertwined with any economic stimulus package that passes this Chamber--providing airline depreciation on the sale of new and refurbished aircraft. The aviation industry and the industry's employees have been hit especially hard in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The economic woes reach far beyond slumping ticket sales and the layoff of airport personnel. These difficult times are stretching to the heart of the aviation industry, to the companies that manufacture, reconstruct, and refurbish aircraft. By providing a depreciation allowance for the aviation industry, we will avert the loss of more jobs in this major industry. Kansas is a state that has a tremendous interest in the aviation industry. Boeing, Cessna, Raytheon, and Bombardier, which all have major plants based in Wichita, employ tens of thousands of Kansans. While the airline bailout package will go a long way toward preventing immediate mass layoffs, it is not doing enough to ensure that the sale of aircraft will rebound from their current lulls. If we provide a depreciation allowance equal to 40 percent of the adjusted basis for the qualified property acquired by those purchasing aircraft, we will provide a strong incentive for individuals and corporations to increase their purchases from the aviation industry. In so doing, we would provide an immediate boost to the economy, while at the same time providing security for aviation-industry employees beyond the 1-year period of the airline bailout. Moreover, it is important that we extend this depreciation allowance to include not only new orders, but also aircraft that have been purchased or taken in a trade and refurbished or reconstructed, and sold to a third party. By taking such steps, production orders will increase, and we will be able to ensure that hard-working Americans have jobs beyond the time- table of the airline bailout package. This is good for America. It is good for Kansas, and it is something that I will be working to see implemented as part of an economic stimulus package.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, more than at any other time in my career we are a nation that is unified. We are a nation that, recognizing a common goal, is rallying with a knowledge that we will achieve a remarkdable thing. It is extraordinary to witness. One of the things that has always made this nation great, is that when we witness that which is extraordinary, we try to emulate it. You see it one thousand times a day, from the magnitude of contributions that have flooded to relieve every heroic firefighter's family, to the full sized flags flying from the back of Topeka pickup trucks, to the once rare act offering a smile and a bid of good morning to a stranger on the street. And these acts of unity have not been the lot of individuals alone, nor have they been reserved to a response to the tragedy of September 11. It is one of these acts of unity--one of these recognitions of a common goal--that brings me to the floor today. Last week the Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced their new CareCard drug discount program to aid the needy elderly who lack prescription drug coverage. This new program will translate to a savings of 30 to 40 percent off of retail pharmaceutical prices for the seniors with the greatest need. For this remarkable thing, Novartis deserves our thanks. Over the past several years, the issue of the increasing cost of prescription drugs for seniors has remained a dominant story. Nearly every American has read of seniors forced to chose between the food to sustain them, the rent to shelter them or the medicine to keep them well. Because our antiquated Medicare system includes only very limited prescription drug coverage, the neediest senior have to figure out a way to pay for their medication. In the absence of Congressional action to fundamentally reform and modernized the Medicare system in a way that would include prescription drug coverage, companies, like Novartis, have acted. In the case of the CareCard program. Novartis is offering seniors age 65 or older, with an annual income of less than 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level who do not currently have prescription drug coverage substantial discounts on their products. This program could translate to $10 million Americans who may now be able to afford the medicine they need. All of this said, Mr. President, that we congratulate Novartis for stepping up and making these discounts available to seniors, should not serve as an excuse for Congress to continue not to act. That Novartis has done the right thing, is not reason for us to do nothing. Medicare is a 36 year old program that has not kept up with our health care economy. We must modernize Medicare. We must reform Medicare. We must make prescription drug coverage available for all seniors; and we must act soon.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, today I rise to introduce the Pakistan Emergency Economic Development and Trade Support Act. This legislation will provide the President with the authority to reduce or suspend any existing duty on imports of textiles and textile products that are produced or manufactured in Pakistan. This Act is vitally important to shore up the economic strength of our strategic ally, Pakistan, so central to our Nation's ability to continue to prosecute the war against terrorism. Currently, Pakistan is providing invaluable basing rights and intelligence assistance to the United States as we continue to degrade and dismantle the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Taking this action against the Taliban is crucial if we are to successfully locate and destroy Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network, which the Taliban is currently harboring within Afghanistan's borders. Al Qaeda continues to represent public enemy number one in the war against terrorism. Pakistan's bold stand against terror alongside the United States is not made in a vacuum. There are very real economic and social consequences in Pakistan for assisting the United States in our war effort, and it would be a failure of United States foreign policy not to pursue the means of assisting our ally in its time of need. Textiles and textile products are Pakistan's main export. As a result of the war effort, invaluable orders for textile products made and exported by Pakistan have been canceled due to perceived instability in the region and a lack of confidence that such orders will ultimately be delivered. According to the Pakistan Textile and Apparel Group, Pakistan has witnessed a 64 percent reduction in orders for clothes that would be made from December through February by the 14 largest apparel factories in Lahore, Karachi, and Faisalabad. As a result, employment in these factories has dropped 32 percent from a year ago. The Pakistani government has estimated the overall decline in orders at 40 percent. This has very real consequences for the future of Pakistan, its stability, and its ability to forge a future of economic prosperity for its people. As we are all aware, a small yet very vocal fundamentalist Islamic minority within Pakistan which has spoken out against the Pakistani government's assistance to the U.S., has called for and implemented damaging general labor strikes, and has encouraged countless numbers of young Pakistanis to cross the border into Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban. A further weakened economy and increased unemployment, the clear results of a weak market for Pakistani textile exports, only adds to the influence of fundamentalists in Pakistan, by strengthening social and economic unrest on which fundamentalists prey. Currently, the Pakistani government is devoting much needed resources to innovative and existing human development programs inside the country. Pakistan is spending a full 2 percent of its gross domestic product, approximately $2 billion per year, on a program that combines improved primary education, basic health care, and skills training for income generating activities for the Pakistani people. Pakistan's efforts to utilize human development programs to lift up the Pakistani people are central to stemming the tide of fundamentalist elements in our ally. An already weakened economy, hampered by years of sanctions, combined with increased unemployment only serve to add to existing social dissatisfaction and civil unrest within Pakistan. This undercuts the valuable impact of human development on Pakistan, makes increasing these human development efforts far more difficult, and jeopardizes the long-term stability of our ally. As a weakened market for Pakistani textile exports ultimately renders human development programs within Pakistan less effective, especially the primary education element, young Pakistani's are faced with the prospect of no education and therefore no quality employment. An all- to-frequent alternative to this prospect is for young Pakistani's to attend Madrasas, Islamic religious schools run by mullahs, where too often basic skills and primary education are supplanted by religious teachings used to indoctrinate young Pakistani's into following the perverted version of Islam followed by Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, and the Taliban. I urge all of my colleagues to work with me to provide the President with authority to assist Pakistan in the textile market immediately. Such action is vitally important to the stability of our important ally, and victory in our Nation's war against terrorism. Failing to take quick action only strengthens our enemy.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, today I rise to introduce the Pakistan Emergency Economic Development and Trade Support Act. This legislation will provide the President with the authority to reduce or suspend any existing duty on imports of textiles and textile products that are produced or manufactured in Pakistan. This Act is vitally important to shore up the economic strength of our strategic ally, Pakistan, so central to our Nation's ability to continue to prosecute the war against terrorism. Currently, Pakistan is providing invaluable basing rights and intelligence assistance to the United States as we continue to degrade and dismantle the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Taking this action against the Taliban is crucial if we are to successfully locate and destroy Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network, which the Taliban is currently harboring within Afghanistan's borders. Al Qaeda continues to represent public enemy number one in the war against terrorism. Pakistan's bold stand against terror alongside the United States is not made in a vacuum. There are very real economic and social consequences in Pakistan for assisting the United States in our war effort, and it would be a failure of United States foreign policy not to pursue the means of assisting our ally in its time of need. Textiles and textile products are Pakistan's main export. As a result of the war effort, invaluable orders for textile products made and exported by Pakistan have been canceled due to perceived instability in the region and a lack of confidence that such orders will ultimately be delivered. According to the Pakistan Textile and Apparel Group, Pakistan has witnessed a 64 percent reduction in orders for clothes that would be made from December through February by the 14 largest apparel factories in Lahore, Karachi, and Faisalabad. As a result, employment in these factories has dropped 32 percent from a year ago. The Pakistani government has estimated the overall decline in orders at 40 percent. This has very real consequences for the future of Pakistan, its stability, and its ability to forge a future of economic prosperity for its people. As we are all aware, a small yet very vocal fundamentalist Islamic minority within Pakistan which has spoken out against the Pakistani government's assistance to the U.S., has called for and implemented damaging general labor strikes, and has encouraged countless numbers of young Pakistanis to cross the border into Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban. A further weakened economy and increased unemployment, the clear results of a weak market for Pakistani textile exports, only adds to the influence of fundamentalists in Pakistan, by strengthening social and economic unrest on which fundamentalists prey. Currently, the Pakistani government is devoting much needed resources to innovative and existing human development programs inside the country. Pakistan is spending a full 2 percent of its gross domestic product, approximately $2 billion per year, on a program that combines improved primary education, basic health care, and skills training for income generating activities for the Pakistani people. Pakistan's efforts to utilize human development programs to lift up the Pakistani people are central to stemming the tide of fundamentalist elements in our ally. An already weakened economy, hampered by years of sanctions, combined with increased unemployment only serve to add to existing social dissatisfaction and civil unrest within Pakistan. This undercuts the valuable impact of human development on Pakistan, makes increasing these human development efforts far more difficult, and jeopardizes the long-term stability of our ally. As a weakened market for Pakistani textile exports ultimately renders human development programs within Pakistan less effective, especially the primary education element, young Pakistani's are faced with the prospect of no education and therefore no quality employment. An all- to-frequent alternative to this prospect is for young Pakistani's to attend Madrasas, Islamic religious schools run by mullahs, where too often basic skills and primary education are supplanted by religious teachings used to indoctrinate young Pakistani's into following the perverted version of Islam followed by Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, and the Taliban. I urge all of my colleagues to work with me to provide the President with authority to assist Pakistan in the textile market immediately. Such action is vitally important to the stability of our important ally, and victory in our Nation's war against terrorism. Failing to take quick action only strengthens our enemy.

Mr. BROWNBACK

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