Sam Brownback

Mr. BROWNBACK

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

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize an activity that is going on in my home State of Kansas that I think is quite commendable. Thirteen veterans from Fort Scott, KS, have expanded the lifespan of the Fort Scott National Cemetery by about 35 years through their hard work and dedication. I point this out because I think this is what America is all about. It is about a can-do atmosphere and about people taking it upon themselves to do something that they believe is not getting done; and making it happen. With about 1,100 World War II veterans dying every day, many veterans cemeteries are struggling to accommodate veterans' burials. That is true in my State as well. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, by 2008, the annual number of deaths of veterans from all U.S. conflicts will reach 620,000, or about 1,700 a day. Fort Scott National Cemetery is one of 12 Civil War national cemeteries. It was dedicated in 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. I grew up just north of Fort Scott, about 40 miles away. It was an old Indian fort early on. Then it was used, obviously, as well, during the Civil War. In a concession to make space for veterans wanting to be buried at the Fort Scott National Cemetery, burial spots are currently being made smaller, and sloping land that originally was deemed unusable is now being used. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of these veterans I have mentioned, these 13 veterans, working as the Fort Scott National Cemetery Expansion Committee, 10 acres of land will be added to the cemetery. This land, just across the old stone wall from the cemetery, was purchased by the 13 veterans, who took out a loan, and who then sought contributions and worked the crowds at American Legion and VFW halls throughout the region to raise money to pay off the loan. Once the loan was paid off, the veterans donated the land to the Department of Veterans Affairs. On Veterans Day, this year, November 12, 2001, this land will be dedicated and ready to handle about 3,300 burial sites. I applaud the initiative of these Fort Scott veterans who have successfully undertaken the effort to expand this historic cemetery and provide a place of honor for veterans and their eligible dependents for several decades to come. I point this out because Fort Scott National Cemetery is one of the oldest veterans cemeteries in the country, dedicated by Abraham Lincoln. It is filled up--or soon will be full. These veterans, by their own initiative, secured the loan, purchased the land, got the loan paid off, and donated it to the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is receiving the land, and now will be able to provide an additional 3,300 burial sites for veterans. I think that this is such a commendable thing that these veterans have done. I will be there on November 12, along with a number of other people, to recognize and honor what these men have done. I think it is wholly appropriate to recognize what they have done in this body as well. Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. I would like to make sure from Senator Reid of Nevada we have accurately reflected this in the Record. I hope this is accurately reflected as to when Senator Reid and the majority leader agreed on bringing up this issue.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues, and particularly Senator Specter from Pennsylvania who has been quite patient and diligent in working with me. I might also note that Bettilou Taylor on his staff has been wonderful to work with, as well as Senator Reid from Nevada, who has really worked to try to push these issues forward so we can get to some point of resolution on the underlying bill. I am not unaware of the need to move this bill through. We need to get the appropriations bills moved. We need to get this done so we can get to the economic stimulus package and be able to conclude it. I am pleased to see we have some resolution on the overall issue. I will point out what I am talking about in the amendments I was proposing. We had filed four of these amendments and were willing to put them into one amendment, have one vote, and have a moratorium for 1 year on several items. The moratorium would include human cloning. No human cloning, whether it be reproductive, or so-called their futuristic-type, for 1 year, a 1-year moratorium on germ line manipulation, where you insert a snippet of a genetic code from a cow or pig into the egg or sperm of a human, so that once they connect to each other they become fertilized. It goes on to future generations. It would ban that for a year's period of time. It would ban for a year's period of time, embryo ``farming'' where embryos were created just for research purposes. That was the series of amendments we put forward and were germane to this debate. We have had extensive negotiations and discussions back and forth. The belief is that Members could be more up to speed on these topics come February or March. The majority leader has agreed to a free- standing bill at that point in time in order to get direct votes on these issues. That is the more appropriate way. It is the right way. I am appreciative of the majority leader and Senator Reid for agreeing to that taking place so we can take this up at a more prudent time, with hearings in between taking place. It is my understanding what we would agree to would be that I not offer these amendments at this time; that we will have free-standing debate, discussion and vote come the February-March timeframe on these topics and the topics Senator Specter is putting forward, with direct votes up or down on the topics, and none in the second degree or tabled. These are direct votes. And the language Senator Specter inserted that was in the appropriations bill, which was beyond what the President was asking for on stem cell research, would not be in the final Labor-HHS appropriations bill as it passes out of the Senate. This is good progress on a very difficult issue. By that point in time, we will be on board with the executive branch on the biomedical research. They are enormously important. I enter one quick note into the record. Scientists say the first human clone is near--a group says within the end of the year. I ask unanimous consent to have several other articles printed in the Record at the conclusion of this colloquy, including a story about the rhesus monkey which has been cloned. That was announced this week. That is the closest model to a human off which we work. If you can do it there, you can probably do it in a human. The technology leap is not far.

Mr. BROWNBACK. For these reasons I think it is an appropriate way to proceed. I am pleased Senator Specter has been so kind in working with us. Senator Reid and Senator Daschle, the majority leader, have agreed to this. I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK. I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, the terrorist attacks of September 11th 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 by this body last week, 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 visitors each year, foreign nationals 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 well; they are good for our economy and are potential ambassadors of good will to their home countries. However, there is a small minority who intend 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 Collins, Senator Cantwell, Senator Hagel, Senator Edwards, Senator Ensign, and Senator Reid, legislation that looks specifically toward strengthening our borders and better equipping the agencies that protect them. The Enhanced Border Security 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. The 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 provides that the agencies tasked with screening visa applicants and applicants for admission, namely the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, must be provided with 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 and the President's Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force, this bill will make prompt and effective information-sharing between these agencies a reality. In complement to last week's anti-terrorist 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. In fact, this legislation expressly enables the Service to take immediate advantage of biometric technology by authorizing the funding to purchase equipment for reading border-crossing cards that are already available for use. To the degree that we can reasonably and 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, as preinspection and preclearance. It also requires international air carriers to transmit, in advance of their arrival, passenger manifests for 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. It provides special training to border patrol agents, inspectors, and foreign service officers to better identify terrorists and security threats to the United 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 the student at every stage in the student visa process. It would also require the educational institution 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, consonant with both the USA Patriot Act and President Bush's recent directive on immigration, would implement many changes that are vital to our war on terrorism. I therefore urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, the terrorist attacks of September 11th 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 by this body last week, 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 visitors each year, foreign nationals 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 well; they are good for our economy and are potential ambassadors of good will to their home countries. However, there is a small minority who intend 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 Collins, Senator Cantwell, Senator Hagel, Senator Edwards, Senator Ensign, and Senator Reid, legislation that looks specifically toward strengthening our borders and better equipping the agencies that protect them. The Enhanced Border Security 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. The 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 provides that the agencies tasked with screening visa applicants and applicants for admission, namely the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, must be provided with 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 and the President's Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force, this bill will make prompt and effective information-sharing between these agencies a reality. In complement to last week's anti-terrorist 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. In fact, this legislation expressly enables the Service to take immediate advantage of biometric technology by authorizing the funding to purchase equipment for reading border-crossing cards that are already available for use. To the degree that we can reasonably and 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, as preinspection and preclearance. It also requires international air carriers to transmit, in advance of their arrival, passenger manifests for 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. It provides special training to border patrol agents, inspectors, and foreign service officers to better identify terrorists and security threats to the United 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 the student at every stage in the student visa process. It would also require the educational institution 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, consonant with both the USA Patriot Act and President Bush's recent directive on immigration, 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 object.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I thank my colleague, Senator Hatch of Utah, for giving me time to speak in support of the bill. I want to particularly direct attention to the immigration provisions in the bill. Last month, our Nation was attacked by extremists who hoped to undermine our way of life and the liberties we enjoy. These individuals and the groups they represent want our country to recoil in terror and capitulate to fear. This we will not do. We have before us today legislation that stands firm before those who mean us harm. This antiterrorism package, the product of an earnest bipartisan effort, is an intelligent and thorough response to the immediate security needs of our Nation. I commend in particular the immigration provisions of this legislation, which will strengthen our immigration laws to better combat terrorism. My heartfelt gratitude is to my colleagues on the Immigration Subcommittee and to the committee's leadership--Senator Hatch, Senator Leahy, and others--for their dedication and diligence in crafting what I think is fine legislation. This antiterrorist package will enhance the ability of our consuls overseas and our immigration officers at home to intercept and remove both alien terrorists and those who support them. This is a daunting task. We had a hearing last week on trying to intercept people coming into this country who mean us harm, and it is difficult in the sense we have nearly 350 million people a year, non-U.S. citizens, who enter this country, and we are looking for those few who mean us harm. This is a difficult task. This legislation helps to make it easier. We are looking for a needle in a haystack, and this legislation helps us in finding that or gives us a bigger magnet to be able to find it. This legislation will capture not only those individuals who commit acts of terror but also those who enhance, enable, and finance them. It does so through several forceful changes to our current immigration laws. Among those changes is an expanded definition of terrorism, one that encompasses not only the acts of terrorism but the network of terrorism. This legislation will also permit the Attorney General to promptly take into custody and detain those aliens who pose a threat to the safety or security of this Nation. At the same time, it will provide the Secretary of State with better information and better tools to identify terrorists and to deny them access to our country. Perhaps most important of all, this legislation will improve the flow of information between the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Department of State, and the law enforcement and intelligence communities. This is important. What we have is several stovepipes of information, and we need to be able to get those collected to be able to stop the terrorists before they enter our land. This increased flow of information will allow those agencies tasked with protecting our borders to better coordinate and thereby thwart any terrorist seeking to reach our shores. This is not to say this legislation is unmindful of innocent visitors or the lawful permanent residents of our country. To the contrary. These immigration provisions contain appropriate safeguards to protect the liberties of persons whom we want in this country. I am pleased to report this legislation is carefully crafted to combat terrorism without compromising the values or the economy of the United States or the values that guide our immigration laws. This legislation represents a profound and essential improvement in our immigration laws. We need these changes if our immigration laws are to be an effective defense against the threat of terrorism we face today. I urge my colleagues to support the legislation and note as well we are continuing to refine further other potential areas where we can make changes in our immigration laws to better be able to catch those who seek to enter our country to do us harm. Senator Kennedy and I are working on bipartisan legislation to do just that. We hope to introduce this next week. I appreciate the opportunity to address my colleagues on this important legislation. I reserve the remainder of our time, and I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. I don't know if there is further need for us to debate on this amendment.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I thank my colleague from Massachusetts. There is not a settlement of a longstanding dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is really an attempt for us to be able to work to deal with terrorism and work with the country we need to work with in this case; that is, Azerbaijan. The language is being drafted very carefully so that we can work in our best interests in the United States fighting terrorism with the assistance of being able to land planes and to house planes, and personnel being treated in hospitals in Azerbaijan, should we need to. Indeed, some of that is taking place now. We have tried carefully to pull that together without touching the issue of peace talks which need to proceed. I hope we can get a final settlement of that sometime soon. Do we have time for a vote? If not, we don't need a recorded vote but a voice, I hope.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.

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

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I call up amendment No. 1921.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I want to speak in favor of the amendment put forward by my colleague from Kentucky. As he mentioned, this is a contentious, difficult issue on which people have been working all day. We have gotten to an agreement of what we think can work. Basically, the issue is trying to prosecute the war on terrorism. I think we have been able to work some issues out to be able to get that done. I am very appreciative of all my colleagues, particularly the Senator from Kentucky, Mr. McConnell, and the Senator from Maryland, Mr. Sarbanes, and a number of other people for working aggressively on it. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter of support on this issue from the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and ask it be printed in the Record along with a letter from three former National Security Advisers to Senator Daschle and Senator Lott in support of this amendment we are putting forward.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, we have a colloquy we are prepared to enter into. In the context of this, last year we passed a bill on the issue of sex trafficking. It was ground-breaking legislation for this body, ground-breaking legislation for around the world. Its effort and focus was to get at the people who are trafficking, generally, young women and children for the purposes of prostitution. It is a global phenomenon. About 700,000 are trafficked to different places from different countries around the world each year, about 50,000 into the United States. We increased the penalties for people who are involved in trafficking. We have an annual report coming out from the Government-- the first one came out this year. It was citing the problems of trafficking taking place. The colloquy we are entering into today is to get the initial office up and running at the State Department and intends for funding in the foreign operations bill. Mr. President, I would like to engage in a colloquy with Senator Wellstone on the topic of appropriations to combat international trafficking in human beings. I know that Senator Wellstone and other members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as the Senate Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, are greatly concerned about human trafficking, which impacts approximately 1 million people annually worldwide. Last year, this body unanimously passed legislation, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act which included an authorization of over $30 million from the foreign operations budget to address three principle components of anti-trafficking: law enforcement, prevention, and victim assistance. The bill allocates only $10 million for law enforcement related to human trafficking, and thus is $20 million shy of the hoped-for appropriation of $30 million for Fiscal Year 2002 which was passed by the House. Given this shortfall, I hope that the State Department will spend more funds than those earmarked in this foreign operations appropriations bill. Furthermore, the Congress expects, as expressed through the trafficking legislation, that it will be combated worldwide through both enforcement and prevention programs; that is, sex trafficking could be combated worldwide, and that the trafficking victims would be assisted. Is it your understanding, Senator Wellstone, that the State Department and other relevant agencies and departments would dedicate and spend funds substantially over the $10 million presently allocated in this appropriation?

Mr. BROWNBACK. Senator Wellstone, I agree completely. I would like to make one last comment about the fiscal expectations for 2003. We understand that the trafficking budget for Fiscal Year 2002 is underfunded by at least $20 million in relation to the authorization. However, once the office is fully up and running next year, I believe that everyone is committed to seeing a full appropriation for Fiscal Year 2003 for the activities needed to combat trafficking worldwide. This amount should be not less than $33 million for Fiscal Year 2003, in addition to the other amounts authorized under HHS, Labor, and CJS appropriations legislation. In closing, we expect a full appropriation for Fiscal Year 2003, without which, worldwide trafficking cannot be effectively challenged. Everybody has tried to do everything they could this year to address the trafficking and get the office up and going. It is not a full appropriation. Next year, we will push for the full appropriation. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I rise to speak about an amendment to the foreign operations bill. I understand it has been accepted. It deals with funding for leadership training for Afghan women. I think this is an important amendment. Even though it is not a great deal of money that is involved, I think it is important for us to do. The proposed amendment funds a specially created training program for Afghan women involving civil society development, democracy building, and leadership, at a cost of $2 million. It is not a large amount of money, but if we can get women involved back in the Afghan society, it is an important amount of money. This funding has two purposes. First, it helps talented but direly disenfranchised Afghan women to strategically participate in nation building. Second, this is a symbolic expression of support from the Congress for Afghan women under the present Taliban regime. The American people are engaged in a war right now. It is a war against those who want to destroy our physical well-being, our peace of mind, and our way of life. It is a war against the Taliban, which continues to provide fertile soil and a shield for terrorists. It is not, however, a war against the Afghan people, as the President repeatedly stated and as Members of this body have stated. In fact, the Afghan people are the victims of the Taliban, and no one group has suffered more than the women. We have all heard the horrible stories by now: How women are forced to hide behind closed doors, prisoners in their own homes, some even starving because there is no male relative to take them to market; how they are barred from schools and jobs and from desperately needed health care; how they are beaten in the streets if their ankles are showing; how they are beaten for begging, even though they are forbidden to work; how they are beaten for no reason at all; how they are continually silenced, hidden, and treated as less than human--all of this in the 21st century. I am sure some of my colleagues and others recall the images on CNN of Afghan women fleeing Afghanistan into Pakistan dressed in burqas that completely cover them. All she has is a small mesh area through which to look and breathe. That is so dehumanizing, as if this is not a person; they are not recognized as a separate individual. It has not always been like that in Afghanistan. That is important for us to know and remember as well. These same women who now hide with fear and are forced into these burqas once had a voice in their country. Some choose to wear a certain traditional garb, and that is wonderful, but they should not be forced to do it. In Afghanistan, women once represented half the students, half the civil servants, and 40 percent of the doctors in Kabul were once women. Once they were valued members of their society, and they must become this again. To accomplish this, they will need our help and support, and we should give it. I am pleased to offer this amendment with Senator Boxer. She and I helped pass a resolution 2 years ago condemning the Taliban regime. This amendment has been accepted by the managers of the bill. I am very pleased with that. This amendment funds $2 million for scholarships for Afghan women. There will be approximately 300 women selected to participate in training programs for emerging leaders. They will be instructed in civil society development, including effective governance, economic development, establishing nongovernmental organizations, and an independent press, among other fundamentals of a free society, including the right to vote for all citizens in Afghanistan and human rights, including religious freedom for all citizens and people of Afghanistan. The Afghan women will learn from top professors and experts in the field. Their curriculum will be developed in close consultation with Afghan women's groups on the ground in South Asia and in the United States. A selection of candidates will be made in close consultation with leading Afghan women in exile and leading Afghan women still in Afghanistan today, and United States embassies abroad. I believe programs such as these can help play a key role in stabilizing the region and rebuilding the lives of its citizens. The United States is at its best when it stands up for our fundamental principles, and that includes the right to vote for everybody, the right of participation for everybody, democracy, freedom, religious freedom, and human rights. This amendment can give the women who have far too long been victimized by the Taliban brutality the tools to rebuild a new Afghanistan on the foundation of democracy, tolerance, human rights, and equality. Lastly, this funding not only helps Afghanistan; it also helps America. As Afghan women promote democratic values in their society, they inherently prevail over the forces of terrorism, extremism, and repression which have also victimized us. I am pleased my colleagues have accepted this amendment, and I look forward to its implementation where we help Afghan women rebuild a civil society in their country. As we move forward in the prosecution of this war in Afghanistan, it is very important that our next step, once we are able to secure the country, is to rebuild a civil society with everybody participating. I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. No. This amendment would permit U.S. assistance only to that Ministry for the sole purpose you mention. It is not my intention to subvert Section 560 of the FY 2002 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. I seek only to support the reform efforts of the Ministry. It is a tragedy and horror that Cambodians can be abducted and sold into some form of slavery for as little as $30. One survey found that 68 percent of sex workers in Cambodia had been forced into prostitution by outright sale by parents or boyfriends or by being lured into brothels with promises of a good job. I thank Senator McConnell and Senator Leahy for their interests in helping Cambodia's women and children.

Mr. BROWNBACK. The amendment I am offering will allow U.S. assistance to support programs and activities conducted by Cambodia's Ministry of Women and Veteran's Affairs, and local and international nongovernmental organizations to counter human trafficking in the Kingdom of Cambodia. The State Department's ``Trafficking in persons Report'' dated July 2001 designates Cambodia as a source, destination, and transit country for trafficked persons. I offer this amendment with the full understanding that the climate of impunity in Cambodia today has allowed the trafficking of persons--and other illicit activities-- to flourish. However, the Ministry of Women and Veteran's Affairs has demonstrated the political will to address this problem in a meaningful way--and to coordinate its work with the NGO community--and I encourage the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to support the Ministry's efforts. I yield to my friend from Kentucky for a question.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, in the coming weeks, we are going to be debating several very contentious bills. However, more than at any other point in my career we are considering these issues in an extremely congenial, collegial, thoughtful and deliberative way. Certainly, many of us disagree about the details of one issue or another, however, we have consistently put the interest of the nation ahead of the our own interests as political actors. This is very encouraging to me. This should be very encouraging to the American people. This should be very encouraging to freedom loving people of the world. The tenor of the debates on this floor should signify to everyone that the United States Government is operating not simply as well as it did before September 11th, but better that it did on September 11th. In the face of this attack, the American Government is operating just as it was always intended to operate. Today, Madam President I rise to offer a bill that will ensure that our government continues to operate just as intended. The administration is going about the business of fighting a war. That process relies greatly on our government's ability to strengthen ties with countries that agree to help us wage this war on terrorism. These countries, in many cases, will be taking on factions within their own borders in order to do what is right. For these efforts to prevail, we must use all our assets. One of the most important and appealing being trade and foreign assistance--particularly with regard to the nations of Central and South Asia. In this spirit, I am introducing a bill which will grant the President the authority to waive the restriction on assistance to the country of Azerbaijan, if the President determines that our national security and interests will benefit from greater assistance and trade with this country--he should have the right to pursue that policy. Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act places sanctions on Azerbaijan that prevent any support from the United States government for the young nation. This language ties the administration's hands as they attempt to work with this strategically important ally in the war against terrorism. Unlike past efforts to repeal or waive section 907 sanctions on Azebaijan, today our debate is about more than regional stability in Central Asia--our debate now centers on United States national security interests. Section 907 stands in the way of training and assistance for Azerbaijani military hospitals that may have to deal with casualties in this campaign. Section 907 stands in the way of airport and air traffic control upgrades that may need to happen to assist our airforce. There are over 71 million people in the Central Asian region which includes Azerbaijan. Many of these emerging democracies are battling fundamentalist factions. If we do not assist those who want to move westward, we empower the factions coming in from countries which support terrorist activities. With the horrific attack on our country, we have been painfully awakened to the global and complex network that terrorists have created and aimed at our country and its interests. Our foreign policy must help fight against the creation of new terrorist breeding grounds as we fight the existing terrorist plague. Azerbaijan itself is a bulwark against Islamic fundamentalism in the region. Since its independence, Azebaijan has endured Iranian pressure to adopt its style of government. Iran secretly funds hundreds of religious schools and colleges in Azerbaijan. Iranian diplomats and secret service representatives have been expelled from Azerbaijan on grounds that they are fomenting disturbances. Iran criticizes Azerbaijan for its pro-U.S. stance and is concerned about the Azeris increasing ties to the West--particularly with U.S. companies. Iran seeks to ensure that Azerbaijan fails with its free market and democratic reforms, because secular independence and democratic Azerbaijan is perceived as a threat for the fundamentalist regime in Iran. Right now, we need the help and cooperation of the entire Central Asian region--we can not afford to tie the President's hands over a conflict between two countries. This is particularly important now since these restrictions are used as anti-American fodder by fundamentalist factions hoping to shape the development of the region. To reiterate, this provides national waiver authority to the President to lift sanctions on Azerbaijan. Briefly, the United States has had for a series of years, now, sanctions against Azerbaijan. For people not familiar, Azerbaijan sits in the Caspian Sea region right above Iran. It is part of the former Soviet Union. It is an oil- and gas-rich area. It is a small country. But it is a small Islamic country that is strongly supportive of the United States. Their President, President Aliyev, has issued statements about the strong support for the United States in the face of our attack on terrorism and dealing with terrorism. They have provided the United States fly-over rights, landing rights, refueling rights, and intelligence information as well. This is in that key strategic part of the world, the south Caucasus, just leading into central Asia. It has the gateway city, Baku, going into Asia. Baku is an old, really European-style city--a gorgeous place. But more important, they are supportive of the United States, and yet as they support us, we are sanctioning them. We are likely to use military bases in Azerbaijan as a staging area or as a refueling area or, potentially if we have casualties in the region, as a hospital area as well. Yet we are sanctioning them. If we continue with these sanctions, the Azeris are not going to be able to effectively help us and use their territories. Because of the sanctions we have against Azerbaijan, we cannot train their personnel to help us in guarding the perimeter of military bases where our aircraft may be. Because of the sanctions we have against Azerbaijan, we cannot train their hospital personnel to be able to help treat any potential difficulties that we may have in that region. Because of the sanctions we have against Azerbaijan, we cannot train their personnel in counterintelligence to help us in the gathering of information as to what is taking place, what is moving in the region, so we can be more effective in our fight against terrorism. This is against a country that has been strongly supportive of the United States. There has been a long, ongoing battle between the Azeris and the Armenians in this region of the world, and this has gone on for a long period of time. The sanctions are somewhat associated with that. But the point being, we have a fight now against terrorism. The President needs to have national security waiver authority so, in those specific areas that would be beneficial to us, he can lift those sanctions against Azerbaijan. This will be a tough issue, but that authority is something we should provide the President if we are going to prosecute this effort successfully. I think it is very important that we put this forward, that we pass it. This is not taking the sanctions off completely. It is providing the President with waiver authority, national security waiver authority. There has to be a national security interest. If it is not needed, if the reason to have it is not there, the President doesn't have the authority to exercise it. So we should provide him that authority. I am introducing this bill tonight. I urge my colleagues to look very closely at this issue, and I hope they will sign onto the bill so we can move this forward and allow the President the tools he needs to prosecute this war on terrorism effectively.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. I thank the Chair. (The remarks of Mr. Brownback pertaining to the introduction of S. 1521 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

Mr. BROWNBACK. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I add my statement of support to what Senator Lott has said about Mike Mansfield. I had the opportunity to meet him at the Senate prayer breakfast. He was a regular attendee, a gentleman from appearance, demeanor, and actions, deep spiritually as an individual. He spoke often by not speaking, just by the way he was. He spoke volumes, really, of the beauty of a person who leads a good life. He led a life that was really lived and a model for many of us to follow. He will be dearly missed.