Robert Byrd

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Could we get a time agreement?

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I wonder if we might be able to temporarily lay aside this point of order so the Senate could proceed with an amendment by Mr. Feingold, have the debate on that, and then return to the point of order by Mr. Gramm.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BYRD. I hope the Senator will keep that rule in mind. Let's not give too much power to the executive. If we could present our amendment, let Senators vote on the amendment----

Mr. BYRD. You did?

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, will the distinguished Senator yield to this Senator to call up the package that Senator Stevens, Senator Inouye, and I have been working on, and present it to the Senate and perhaps have a vote up or down, with the understanding that upon the conclusion of that action, the Senator from Illinois would regain the floor?

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Rule VI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that I may absent myself from the Senate for the rest of the evening.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I yield 5 minutes to the senior Senator from New York.

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I do not understand how any Member of this body could sleep if we fail to take this critical step for the protection of the people who sent us here. Have we become so cynical that we cannot even do that? Are we so insensitive that we would rather embrace the cold illogic of budget deals than face our duty to ease the palpable fear in this Nation? I hope not. For if that is so, we have failed this Nation at its most critical hour. That is not the Senate I know. That is not the Senate to which I have given most of my life. Once again, I ask Senators to turn away from the sterile illogic of this misguided point of order and come together to protect our homeland and our people. I thank all Senators. And I thank Mr. Stevens in particular. I thank him. Exhibit No. 1 Appropriations Committee Tradition for Responding to Natural Disasters

Mr. BYRD. Might we have a quorum call?

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I do not envy myself for being in the position in which I find myself. Senator Stevens is a Senator who can say no and make you like it--almost. He is always so gracious. I have heard a lot about his renowned temper. I have seen it at work, but he does not lose his temper. He uses his temper and is always, as I have witnessed over several decades, one of the most reasonable individuals. So I do not like to be in a position of being opposite to Senator Stevens. While discussions are going on, let me attempt to point out some flaws of the amendment by Mr. Stevens. The substitute amendment reduces the amount of money available to the Office of Domestic Preparedness, ODP, to $362 million, a $138 million reduction. That is a 39-percent reduction from the bill, as reported, for State and local law enforcement antiterrorism equipment and training. The Office of Domestic Preparedness estimates there is currently no State that is adequately equipped to respond to an incident involving a weapon of mass destruction at the State or local level. Texas, identified as one of the best prepared States, has conducted a study that shows that $159 million in equipment would be needed to bring the State to the minimum level needed to adequately respond to a terrorist incident. In fact, ODP, the Office of Domestic Preparedness, estimates funds needed to bring the Nation's State and local governments up to minimum standards could well exceed $2 billion in fiscal year 2002 alone. Thus, the reduction proposed by the substitute amendment is equivalent to the level of funding needed to bring Texas up to minimum standards. There are currently over 9 million first responders in the United States who would be called upon to respond to a terrorist incident. To date, the ODP has been provided with training funds that have allowed them to train only 80,000 of the 9 million first responders nationwide. The bill as reported attempted to more than double the population trained to date. The substitute amendment's reduction in funding jeopardizes our efforts to provide the individuals on the front lines with the training necessary to protect their own lives, as well as the lives of victims. Furthermore, the amendment by Mr. Stevens reduces the $300 million in the committee bill for FEMA for gathering grants by $10 million; $300 million in the committee bill is reduced by $10 million. As to Federal antiterrorism law enforcement, the substitute amendment cuts $100 million in the homeland security bill to cover the costs of the FBI's investigation of the terrorist attacks on September 11. These funds are critical to the investigation of the attacks from September 11 and the anthrax attacks. The substitute amendment cuts $25 million from the homeland security bill for the FBI's Trilogy, the computer modernization program. This $25 million will significantly accelerate the completion of Trilogy. The September 11 attacks have exposed the vulnerability in the integration of the FBI's computer system. While FBI agents in the field are working around the clock collecting evidence and clues, their reliance on paper files leaves their work fragmented and uncoordinated. It will only be when FBI agents are linked by the Internet to one another and the universe of law enforcement agencies, that the FBI will actually know what it and others know about terrorism, espionage, or organized crime. Without these additional funds, deployment of Trilogy may be delayed and these unacceptable problems will continue to exist. The substitute amendment cuts $25 million included in the Homeland Security bill for counterterrorism equipment and supplies. These funds are essential for the FBI to have the resources they need to properly investigate the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and the following anthrax attacks. With reference to Border Security the substitute amendment cuts over $270 million in funding for the Customs Service. This will prevent Customs from hiring the necessary inspectors and agents to protect our borders. On Monday, the Attorney General essentially called out the National Guard to assist the Border Patrol and INS in their duties on the northern border. Treasury has not taken the same steps, yet has pulled personnel from the over-worked posts on the Southwest border to staff one-person posts on the northern border. They even eliminated funding for added inspectors on the Southwest border. This delay places $7.5 billion in international commerce at risk daily; $1.3 billion of which crosses the northern border. Instead of providing additional people to protect our borders, it will continue our short-sighted reliance on orange rubber cones to stop terrorists. The substitute amendment cuts $300 million for INS construction that is funded in the homeland security bill even though there is an ever- growing overcrowding crisis at the INS. For example: Of 85 outposts across 9 sectors on the southwest border, 63 are overcrowded, some grossly so. The worst, a station in Mercedes, TX, was designed for 13 agents but currently houses 142, more than 1,000 percent its rated capacity. In total, there are 10,150 agents working in office space designed for a capacity of 5,831 on the southern border. There are 525 agents working in office space designed for a capacity of 469 on the northern border. The substitute amendment makes the same mistake made with the southern border over the past several years. We are building up agents--300 inspectors and 100 Border Patrol agents--but we are not providing the necessary funding to address necessary space requirements for them to do their job efficiently and professionally. The risks to the safety of agents cannot be overemphasized and appalling work conditions will do nothing but contribute to the Border Patrol's soaring attrition rate. This $300,000,000 is only the beginning to truly address the enormous backlog with INS construction projects. Now, we have heard a lot about airport security. The bill reported by the committee included $200 million to assist the neediest airports in meeting the costs of the dozens of new safety directives issued by the FAA since September 11. The Stevens amendment cuts that figure in half. Senators should ask their small- and medium-sized airports whether all this money is needed. Airport revenues are dropping drastically at the same time as the airports are being required to triple their law enforcement expenditures and security personnel. The Stevens amendment actually cuts the President's request to better secure cockpit doors by more than 20 percent. Senators should not be confused by recent announcements that the airlines have reinforced all their aircraft. All the airlines have done to date is install a temporary metal bar and a cheap deadbolt. The money in the President's request for FAA operations is to install the next generation of truly impenetrable cockpit doors. The Stevens amendment cuts it by more than 20 percent. As for the nuclear power plants, the amendment by Mr. Stevens proposal cuts $86 million from the $285 million provided for enhanced protection of our Nation's nuclear weapons plants and laboratories. The amendment by Mr. Stevens also cuts $131 million from the $286 million provided for the acquisition and safeguarding of fissile nuclear material from Russia and states of the former Soviet Union. The non-proliferation programs at the Department of Energy are the cornerstone of our Nation's effort to keep nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists. The Stevens proposal cuts all funding--$139 million--for enhanced security at Army Corps of Engineers owned-and-operated facilities: ports, dams, and flood control projects nationwide. Additionally, the proposal cuts all funding--$30.259 million--for increased security at Bureau of Reclamation facilities. It funds only the GSA request for security of Federal buildings in New York City. It fails to provide similar security for other Federal buildings elsewhere in the country. How about U.S. port security. The Stevens amendment then goes further by eliminating two-thirds of the funding for marine safety teams to permanently protect our ports. Under the Stevens amendment, there will only be one such team to protect all the ports on the East Coast and one team to protect all the ports on the West Coast. The substitute amendment reduces funding for the port security initiative through the Maritime Administration by $12 million. These reductions would eliminate funding to assist local ports in their efforts to purchase security equipment such as fences, surveillance cameras, and barriers. Effective physical security and access control in seaports is fundamental to deterring and preventing potential threats to seaport operations, and cargo shipments. Securing entry points, open storage areas, and warehouses throughout the seaports, and controlling the movements of trucks transporting cargo through the seaport are all important requirements that should be implemented. They will not be implemented under the substitute amendment. United States seaports conduct over 95 percent of United States overseas trade. Seaport terrorism could pose a significant threat to the ability of the United States to pursue its national security objectives. The amendment by my friend would cut the President's request for defense programs by $2.3 billion. Let me say that again. The substitute amendment by Mr. Stevens would cut the President's request for defense programs by $2.3 billion. While the amendment has no detail, the cut would need to come from either classified programs or force protection programs designed to improve security for our forces around the world. As to the Postal Service, my friend's amendment would cut $300 million from the $875 million in my proposal to sanitize the mail, protect postal employees, rebuild the facilities lost in New York City. The U.S. Postal Service identified $1.1 billion in unfunded needs. This proposal cuts that amount in half. My friend's amendment to my amendment cuts $29 million from the EPA for bioterrorism response and investigation teams. This would undercut EPA's ability to respond to, investigate, and clean up after acts of bioterrorism. My friend's amendment does this. The President promised New Yorkers they would get $20 billion to help them recover from the September 11 attacks. My amendment fulfills the President's promise. My amendment fulfills our commitment. I did not go to New York, but I saw enough on television. I did not go up there and make any promises. I stayed here and made my promise, and I am living up to that promise. So the substitute, I am sorry to say, cuts funds for New York and other communities directly impacted by the attacks by over $9.5 billion. Here are some examples: FEMA disaster relief, which funds debris removal at the World Trade Center site, repair of public infrastructure such as the damaged subway, the damaged PATH commuter train, all government offices and provides assistance to individuals for housing, burial expenses, and relocation assistance, is cut--cut--by $8.6 billion. And $100 million for security in Amtrak tunnels is eliminated. Eliminated. Funding of $100 million for improving security in the New York and New Jersey subways is eliminated by my friend's amendment. As to New York/New Jersey ferry improvements, $100 million for critical expansion of interstate ferry service between New York and New Jersey is eliminated by my friend's amendment. Prior to the September 11 attacks, 67,000 daily commuters used the PATH transit service that was destroyed. Those commuters are trying to get to our Nation's financial center in lower Manhattan. The communities in the New York region have been piecing together temporary ferry and train service using facilities that are not even safe to transport these commuters. The train riders at alternative train stops are so crowded, the police authorities are concerned with passengers being pushed off the platform onto the tracks. Yet the amendment proposed by Mr. Stevens eliminates all this funding for transit and ferry assistance in that region. And $140 million is eliminated to reimburse the hospitals in New York that provided critical care on September 11 and the weeks and months that followed. Mr. President, $175 million is eliminated that would help New York process workers compensation claims for the victims of the September 11 attacks. As to Federal facilities, $16 million is eliminated for the costs of keeping Federal agencies operating that were in the World Trade Center, such as the Social Security Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration and the National Labor Relations Board. Ten million dollars is eliminated that would help New York schools provide mental health services to the children of the victims of the World Trade Center bombing. Hear me. Hear me, Governor of New York Pataki. He came to my office. He sat down at the table across from me, and he made his plea for help. I am trying to help him. Yet $10 million is eliminated that would help New York schools provide mental health services to the children of the victims of the World Trade Center bombing. The Stevens compromise is $174.4 million less than the Senate committee bill for the District of Columbia. I will soon close my remarks. Before doing so, let me call attention to a cut in bioterrorism activities by over $1 billion. The amendment by my friend, Mr. Stevens, would cut bioterrorism activities by $1.025 billion. It would cut in half funds from $1.15 billion to $500 million for upgrading our State and local public health infrastructure funds, desperately needed to help upgrade State and local lab capacity, to enhance surveillance activities, support local planning for emergencies, and improve local communications systems. Recent events have made it clear that the State and local public health departments have been allowed to deteriorate. The head of the CDC, Mr. Jeffrey Koplan, testified only last week that at least--at least--$1 billion is needed not next spring, not next summer, not in the next supplemental, but now, immediately, to begin to upgrade our State and local health departments. That is the head of the CDC talking. It cuts all funds provided in our proposal for the deployment of the smallpox vaccine across the country. This vaccine does no good if it is all at the CDC, with no plans for distribution if an emergency occurs. He cuts funding for CDC capacity improvements by $57 million. Recently the Los Angeles Times reported that four men in Georgia were discovered to have contracted the West Nile virus 3 months earlier. The delay in the diagnosis was due to the large backups at the CDC labs. This cannot continue. The people of the Nation cry out for help. They are concerned about the safety of their children, the safety of their wives, their mothers, their husbands, their fathers. They are concerned about the possible loss of life that might be visited upon them tonight, this very night. So I had three goals in the committee bill. Let me repeat them. One goal is to fully fund the President's request for defense--he would get every penny--$21 billion for defense. Nobody can say that this impedes or impinges upon the needs for defense. Second, my proposal fulfills the promise of $20 billion for New York. Also, my package responds to the vulnerabilities in our homeland defense. Lastly--I would much prefer to be on the side of my friend than to be opposite him--my friend's substitute does not meet any of these objectives. I yield the floor. I thank my friend for his courtesies.

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I move to waive section 205 of H. Con. Res. 290 of the 106th Congress for the consideration of the emergency designation on page 397, and I move to waive section 205 of H. Con. Res. 290, 106th Congress, for the consideration of the emergency designation on page 398, and I ask that the motion be divided.

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. BYRD. I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished Senator from New York.

Mr. BYRD. I yield 2 minutes to the Senator.

Mr. BYRD. I need some additional time. I was hoping the other side could use some of its time.

Mr. BYRD. Does the other side wish to yield some time to themselves?

Mr. BYRD. I understand.

Mr. BYRD. How much time do I have remaining?

Mr. BYRD. I yield 3 minutes to the Senator from Iowa and I yield 2 minutes to the Senator from Rhode Island, Mr. Reed.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the very distinguished and able Senator from Michigan for her cogent, very persuasive and forceful remarks, and for the observations she has made with respect to the needs of those at the local level who bear a responsibility to detect and to respond in the first instance to acts of terrorism on the part of those who have said to us: We will kill Americans. As to the FEMA firefighters program, many people are just now beginning to appreciate the critical role played by our Nation's firefighters. We have taken these heroes for granted and, tragically, they have been denied the funding resources necessary to enable them to do their job as safely and effectively as possible. Their job is to protect people--men, women, old people, children. That is the job of these firefighters. Last year, Congress took action to begin to address this provision by creating a new Federal program to provide direct assistance to fire departments. Administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program received an initial appropriation of $100 million, which was quickly depleted by tremendous demand. The agency received more than 31,000 applications totaling nearly $3 billion in requested funds--almost 30 times the amount appropriated. This package includes $300 million in grants to State and local communities to expand and improve firefighting programs through FEMA firefighting grants. Over 50 percent of that funding goes to volunteer fire departments in rural communities. Some rural communities in this country are using fire wagons, firefighting machines, and fire trucks that are 20, 30, or 40 years old. In the countryside, the volunteer fire department is the first and only entity available to deal with a crisis. Now, we have heard much about the letters that have come to the Senate leader, Senator Daschle, and to the Senator from Vermont, Mr. Leahy, and to some other Americans. So today the American people are victims of terrorism by mail, delivered to your home, brought to your street address. We will deliver it, packaged, ready to kill. This is not something that might happen sometime in the future; it is happening now. I do not like for my wife to go to the mailbox. Who knows. There could be an envelope in that mailbox that could have some deadly pathogen enclosed. It could be your wife. It could be your daughter, your father, your husband. This is real. How do we know? I know. My staff has not been in their offices since October 15. That is how I know. We are located in the southeast corner of the Hart Building. How many letters have I received since October 15 from my constituents, who send me here to vote to protect them and to protect their interests? How many letters have I received? Twelve. We received 12 yesterday, 12 letters. It is real. And we seek to protect ourselves. We have fumigated the offices. We have taken action to decontaminate the offices so that our people can move back into those offices. Action has been taken to clear the streets nearby while these things have been going on to decontaminate our offices. How about the people on Main Street in Sophia, are they being protected? Oh, it is easy to say to our people: Go about your business. Everything is OK. Get out there and go to the stores, go to the movies, go to the restaurants, buy, buy, buy. It is easy to say that. It is easy for me to say: Come to West Virginia. We want to build up our tourism in West Virginia. Come to see West Virginia. Come to see Washington. I can say that, can't I? Why? I have much in the way of protection here, and so does every other Senator. The President pro tempore has security--takes him home with him at night, brings him to the office in the morning, stays in the office daily, stands outside the office, ready to protect the President pro tempore against all comers. The President goes in Air Force One, the Vice President goes in Air Force Two, other people high in the Government have protection. Out here we have concrete barriers. You cannot get into this Capitol without being carefully scrutinized and having your pocketbooks opened and your packages carefully inspected. We are protected. We live in this little, tiny bit of the world. The worm crawled upon the clod, and the worm said: Aha, I see the world. The squirrel climbed the tallest pine in the southern hills, and he looked about him and he said: Aho, I see the world. The eagle--the national emblem of our country, the eagle--flew high above the Earth into the blue heavens and said: Ho-ho, I see the world. So we see the world in our own little corner here. I feel safe-- fairly safe--because of all these protections here. But we do not see the world as that miner or that farmer, that office worker, that professional, that lawyer, that minister, the housewives, the schoolteachers out in the rural areas of the country or who are out in the greater urban cities. We do not see things as they see them. They do not have Secret Service to protect them where they go. They do not have security personnel to protect them, as I have. They do not have the concrete barriers out there. They do not have the physician just 2 minutes away from my office. They live in a different world. Why can't we see it through their eyes? Why can't we take off the green eyeshades and see the world as our people see it--the people out there who are subject to these terrorists, who run these risks every day, those who come into Penn Station in New York. Seven hundred fifty trains every day come into that station--500,000 persons: Commuters, tourists, people on their way to work--500,000 every day. Can they see the world through our eyes? They come in the tunnels, tunnels that were built before World War I, tunnels that are inadequately lighted, inadequately protected, and without adequate means of access--ingress and egress--without adequate escape routes, without adequate ventilation. Those are the tunnels. Those people face these potential terrorist acts every day, going to work, coming from work, wanting to do no more than just earn an honest living, earn their daily bread by the sweat of their brow. They need protection. Who are we to deny it to them? Fie on us. We know the need is there. And we know it is our responsibility to provide it. And we are doing it. We are doing it in the package here that has a little blue ribbon around it that says: Mr. President, you can spend this. It is here. You do not have to spend it, but here it is--right now, tonight --if you need it to protect the people. That first phrase in the preamble to the Constitution of the United States says: ``We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union. . . .'' That is not talking about an aisle that separates one party from the other. That is not talking about in order to form more perfect political parties --``a more perfect Union.'' And now is the time when we should do our part to form that ``more perfect Union'' right here in this Senate and join together and vote together to support this eminently sensible package. The U.S. Postal Service is a $70 billion organization, and it is part of a $900 billion industry. It has seen mail volume drop by 7 percent since September 11 and lost between $200 million and $300 million in revenue. The Postal Service reported a $1.7 billion loss in fiscal year 2001--on top of $200 million in losses last year. The Postal Service has asked for $3 billion to cover the cost of equipment to safeguard the mail. In response, the administration has provided $175 million so that the Postal Service can buy gloves and masks for now and has promised more money later. It is almost laughable, if it were not so serious. That is not enough money for the Postal Service to deal with this crisis that is happening right now. Here it is. The words read ``postal security, $875 million.'' This package provides an additional $875 million to begin to make the security changes necessary to keep the mail moving and to allow the Postal Service to respond immediately to this and future terrorist attacks. How little did I imagine, when I came to this great institution, the legislative branch, 50 years ago next year, how little did I realize that there would come a day when our mail would have to be screened, when I, as an elected representative of the people of West Virginia, would see my staff forced to evacuate the U.S. Senate office building in which they were located? How little did I foresee that the time would come when, over this long period of time since September 11, only 12 letters would reach my office from my constituents, and only yesterday did the 12 letters come. I never dreamed of such a thing, never dreamed of it. Yes, I was there in the House of Representatives when the Puerto Ricans, who were in the galleries, shot Members of the House who ran for the doors, who fell behind the desks, and who fell in the center of the floor of the House of Representatives, wounded. Not until then did they require that Members have cards that they could present to the galleries. I sat there tongue-tied as I watched. I thought it was a group of demonstrators using firecrackers or some such until I saw Members fall. Little did I know at that time that the day would come when this deadly anthrax would be delivered right to our building, right to our doors, the office doors, right to the desks of the workers. I never thought about that. But we know it now. Our border security is dangerously underfunded. It leaks like a sieve. Right now, today, the Immigration and Naturalization Service conducts some 500 million inspections at our ports of entry every year. Yet there are only 4,775 INS inspectors to process these hundreds of millions of visitors. That is one inspector--just one--for roughly every 100,000 foreign nationals who cross the Nation's borders. There are only 2,000 INS investigators and intelligence agents to track aliens who have entered this country illegally, overstayed their visas, or otherwise violated the terms of their status as visitors in the United States. That is one--just one --investigator for every 4,000 illegal aliens. The U.S. Customs Service currently has the resources to inspect only about one-third of the truck cargo crossing the southern border. And of the 400 ships that dock in the 361 ports of this country, only about 2 percent of the cargo is inspected. On our northern border with Canada, the Immigration and Naturalization Service currently has 498 inspectors at ports of entry and 334 Border Patrol agents assigned to the northern border. That is a 4,000-mile-long border. So that equates to about one INS inspector for every 8 miles and one patrol agent for every 12 miles of the 4,000- mile-long northern border. Of the 113 northern border ports of entry, there are 62--more than half--62 small ports that do not operate on a 24-hour basis. Just imagine pulling up to one of those 62 ports of entry along the northern border where we don't have agents 24 hours at a time. There you will see a sign that says ``stay out.'' There you will see a yellow cone-- not a person, not an INS agent, not a Customs agent but a yellow cone. It is open some hours of the day when there is nobody there during certain times of the day. This week the Attorney General announced an emergency program to place National Guard troops on the northern border. A Justice Department official stated that ``it is a great vulnerability that needs to be dealt with immediately.'' This package reads, ``border security, $591 million,'' for additional Border Patrol agents and screening facilities primarily on the northern border. We must provide the funds and we must do so now. I spoke a moment ago about our seaports, our lack of adequate port security. Our seaports are perhaps the weakest link in our national security. Yet they are just as important to our border security as are our land borders with Canada and Mexico. And yet they remain dangerously exposed. Ports are international boundaries through which 95 percent of U.S. international trade arrives. Last year, we imported 5.5 million trailer truck loads of cargo. Yet the U.S. Customs Service has the resources to inspect only 2 percent of the cargo that enters this country by sea. As we were preparing this package in my office, Senator Hollings raised the warning sign: The need for money to be used for security of our ports. With only 2 percent of the cargo that enters the country by sea being inspected, that means a terrorist would have a 98-percent chance of sneaking illegal and dangerous materials into this country. So our chances are 2 out of 100. The terrorists' chances are 98. So it is 98 to 2 percent. The average shipping container measures 8 feet by 48 feet and can hold 60,000 pounds. That is just the average. A bulk ship or tanker transporting cargo can hold hundreds of times the amount of explosives or other dangerous materials that could ever be smuggled on an airplane or a truck crossing a land border. While agents at the U.S.-Mexican border are tearing the seats out of a car to search for drugs, a crane just up the coast a little ways in Los Angeles can lift thousands of truck-size cargo containers on to the dock with no inspection at all. I remind my distinguished colleagues that Osama bin Laden has vast shipping interests which he used to transport and sneak into Kenya and Tanzania the explosives used in the U.S. Embassy bombings. Last month, a suspected member of the al-Qaida terrorist network was arrested in Italy after he tried to stow away in a shipping container heading to Toronto. The container was furnished with a bed, a toilet, and its own power source--how about that, its own power source--to operate the heater and to recharge the batteries. That terrorist was ready, he was prepared. According to the Toronto Sun, the man also had a global satellite telephone, a regular cell phone, a laptop computer, cameras, identity documents, an airline mechanics certificate, and airport security passes for airports in Canada, Thailand, and Egypt. He had thought of everything. This incident only expands what type of cargo we must be looking for at our Nation's ports. The danger is here, and it is now, and it is not waiting until next year's supplemental to cross the desk of the President along about the middle of July or August. Nuclear powerplants: In just the past few days, I can recall seeing headlines in the Washington press about the dangers to our nuclear plants in this country. I have on the chart a map of the United States showing where the nuclear power reactors are, in the red cone, and where the nonpower reactors are. They are the reactors that are used for educational and research purposes. They do not produce power. The weapons complexes are shown by the green dots. The nuclear reactors are shown by the red cones. The nonpower reactors are shown by the blue squares. There are 19 States in this country that have no nuclear plants, that have no power-producing reactors. There it is. Mr. President, nearly every facet of daily life that was America prior to September 11 must now be regarded in a new light. We have to climb upward from the worm's clod, upward from the squirrel's tree. We have to go above the eagle's flights to see the world as it is and as the people out there who sent us here see the world, not through green eyeshades. But they see it every day. Nearly every facet of daily life must now be regarded in a new and different light. The face of our enemy has become increasingly clear in recent weeks. He is an enemy who will live among us. He is an enemy who will enjoy our generosity and the blessings of our freedoms. Then he will callously turn all of these against us. This is an enemy with no fear of death. None. He will count it an honor to die, to kill Americans and to die in the act. He will be immediately entered into paradise. They have no fear and apparently little regard for life. This is the enemy of our nuclear nightmares. According to the Washington Post of December 4, U.S. intelligence has compiled credible information that Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist network have taken several disconcerting steps toward developing radiological weapons. The Post reported that bin Laden and his loyalists ``may have made greater strides than previously thought toward obtaining plans or materials to make a crude radiological weapon that would use conventional explosives to spread radioactivity over a wide area, according to U.S. and foreign sources.'' There you have it. Now we are being warned. In fact, the Post relayed a discomforting description of a meeting within the last year in which ``bin Laden was present when one of his associates produced a canister that allegedly contained radioactive material. The associate waved the canister in the air''--as one would wave an aerosol air spray. Ha, here it is; I have it; eureka--``The associate waved the canister in the air as proof of al-Qaida's progress and seriousness in trying to build a nuclear device.'' Most young Americans have never known the fears of nuclear war that once haunted their parents and grandparents. They have never had to hunch under their school desks in nuclear drills or stock the family fallout shelter with jugs of water or cans of food in preparation for attack. We of our generation have seen these things. And while, to date, we have seen no evidence that bin Laden has the capability to deliver a nuclear warhead, he has made clear his intention to acquire such technology, and it is increasingly evident that he may well possess and be prepared to use a crude version known as a ``dirty'' bomb. Clearly, he is well positioned to possess such a weapon and the makings of such a device are pitifully easy to acquire. The key ingredient is radiological material, which exists in abundance in Russia, just next door to Afghanistan, and right here in our own country at nuclear power plants and research facilities. While we would like to believe that such material is closely guarded, the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed 376 cases of illicit sales of stolen radioactive materials since 1993. That was in USA Today, November 3, 2001. Although a dirty bomb does not have the kind of massive explosion that destroys broad areas, the detonation of such a weapon would have devastating consequences. Some experts have estimated that a single such bomb could cause 100,000 casualties within a 3-mile radius in an urban area, and render it uninhabitable for years, if not decades. If we Senators think we have been terribly put out by the evacuation of our staffs from the southeast corner of the Hart Building--and my staff falls into that category--if we think that is bad, let the terrorists find some way--remember, bin Laden does not count his life as anything. He will gladly consider it an honor to lay down his life, not for his friend, as the Scriptures say, but to kill Americans. He would count it an honor. Remember, they have shown they can deliver catastrophe, disaster. They can guide a plane into each of two world towers. They can demolish them. They can kill thousands of people. We need not ponder as to whether or not they could find a way to deliver this dirty bomb which, if exploded on The Mall in Washington, would render the buildings around The Mall uninhabitable. And if the wind were coming our way, it would do the same with the Capitol, and the people at the White House would not be at the White House any longer. They would have to go to ``undisclosed locations.'' For a month? For a year? For a decade? Picture that. What about the fear that would spread throughout the country? It was in 1991--10 years ago recognizing the potential for the vast number of Russian nuclear weapons to fall into the wrong hands, that the Congress created the Nunn-Lugar Program to eliminate Russian nuclear weapons in a safe and secure manner. The budget for this program has been cut back for each of the last 3 years, but not because Russian nuclear weapons are now secure. In fact, in January 2001, a panel headed by former Senator Howard Baker and former White House Counsel Lloyd Cutler found that the threat of terrorists getting their hands on Russian nuclear weapons is the most urgent unmet national security threat to the United States today. Clearly that threat remains. My homeland defense package provides $286 million for nuclear nonproliferation programs that would help to get at these unabated sources of nuclear material abroad. Moreover, my package contains $215 million to help secure nuclear facilities on our own shores, and to peacefully engage these 60,000 nuclear specialists in Russia not employed now that the Soviet Union has broken up. It has taken decades of public relations and education to begin to ease the discomfort once prevalent among communities asked to house nuclear energy facilities. Even now, though the Nation boasts 104 nuclear power reactors, many Americans are unsettled at the thought of having such a nuclear neighbor. Today, through long years of safe operations, nuclear power is a significant player in the international power generation game, and it is an important part of America's overall energy mix. (Mr. DAYTON assumed the Chair.)

Mr. BYRD. If I may continue for another minute or two, I will be happy to yield.

Mr. BYRD. Absolutely.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, with great pleasure, I belatedly wish the happiest of birthdays to the senior Senator from South Carolina. It was 99 years ago yesterday that Strom Thrumond was born in Edgefield, SC. Ninety-nine years old, what a feat. that makes him old enough to be my big brother! When he was born, December 5, 1902, the Wright brothers had not yet made their historic flight at Kitty Hawk. He has lived to see men walking on the Moon and American space vessels exploring the far reaches of our galaxy. When he was born. Theodore Roosevelt was President of the United States. Since then we have had 16 more Presidents. When he was born, the Kaiser still ruled in Germany. Since then, that country has seen the rise and fall of the Weimar Republic, the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, a divided Germany, and now a united Germany. When he was born, the Czar still ruled in Russia. Since then, that country has experienced the Russian Revolution, the Bolshevist government, the Communist government, the Soviet empire, and now Russia again. Almost as intriguing has been the extraordinary career of our remarkable colleague. During the same time period, he has been a teacher, an athletic coach, an educational administrator, a lawyer, a state legislator, and a circuit court judge. He won his first elective office, County Superintendent, the same year that Herbert Hoover won his first elective office, 1928. He was a soldier in World War II, where he took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He was a presidential nominee in 1948 and the governor of his beloved State of South Carolina from 1947 to 1951. He has been a Democrat, a Dixiecrat, and a Republican. Most of all he is a great American. All of this would have been more than enough experiences and achievements in one lifetime for most mortals. But, incredibly, Strom Thrumond's greatest days were still ahead of him. In 1954, he won his first election to the U.S. Senate as a write-in candidate--making him the only person in history to be elected to the Senate as a write-in candidate. He has now become the longest-serving Senator in history, and the oldest person ever to have served in the Senate. But it is more than longevity that has made Strom Thurmond an extraordinary Senator. As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he has fought for a stronger military to keep our country free, and he has fought for tougher anti-crime laws to make our streets safer. As President pro tempore of the Senate, he brought dignity, style, and a southern refinement to this important position. For these and other achievements, he has had high schools, state and federal buildings, as well as streets, dams, and town squares named in his honor. A few years ago (1991), the Senate designated room S-238 here in the U.S. Capitol as the ``Strom Thurmond Room'' ``in recognition of the selfless and dedicated service'' that he has ``provided . . . to our Nation and its people.'' On this, his 99th birthday, I wish to say what a privilege and an honor it has been to have served with this remarkable man for all these years. He has always been an outstanding legislator, a Southern gentleman, and foremost, a good and dear friend. Happy birthday, Senator. God Bless you.