Robert Byrd

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, on behalf of the distinguished senior Senator from Alaska and myself, I send an amendment to the desk.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the ranking member is correct. In Sec. 128, the Committee recognizes the exceptional and unique circumstances surrounding the enactment of Sec. 819 of P.L. 106-568. The circumstances do not, however, diminish the requirement that the tribe fully comply with the provisions of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and in particular, with respect to class III gaming, the compact provisions of Sec. 2710(d) or any relevant Class III gaming procedures. The Committee further recognized that nothing in Sec. 819 of P.L. 106- 568 be construed as permitting off-reservation gaming except in strict compliance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. clean coal power initiative

Mr. BYRD. This language was included based on information provided to the Committees that these limitations were consistent with the fiscal year 2001 solicitation. We have since learned that this is not the case. While the draft solicitation contained a minimum thresh-hold for power production, the final solicitation contained no such thresh-hold. We have since consulted with the Department of Energy, and the Department agrees that there should be no minimum thresh-hold for power production in the next solicitation. Because the language in the Statement of Managers was based on inaccurate information, it is my view that this particular language should not apply. Program applicants should keep in mind, however, that improved electric reliability is the focus of the program. Would my colleague, Senator Burns, concur?

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BYRD. Could the clerk state the amendment.

Mr. BYRD. Has the amendment been read?

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I congratulate Senator Kohl, chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, and Senator Cochran, ranking member, for presenting to the Senate the fiscal year 2002 appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, the Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. This bill provides $73.9 billion in new budget authority for both mandatory and discretionary programs under the subcommittee's jurisdiction and is within the 302(b) allocation. This is a good bill and deserves the support of all Senators. This bill includes programs important to the farming community and to all Americans. This bill supports agriculture research and conservation programs that protect our soil, water, and air resources. This bill also supports rural communities through economic development programs and assistance for basic needs such as housing, electricity, safe drinking water and waste disposal systems. This bill also provides funding for the Food and Drug Administration which helps protect the safety of our food supply and helps make lower cost medications available to Americans as quickly as possible. In addition, funding in this bill supports many nutrition and public health related programs. These include the Food Stamp, School Lunch, and other nutrition assistance programs such as the Women, Infants, and Children Program--WIC. This bill provides $2.794 billion for rural development programs. This is an increase of $318 million from the fiscal year 2001 level. Of this amount, slightly more than $1 billion is for the Rural Community Advancement Program, which includes the rural water and waste water loan and grants program, and is an increase of $243 million from last year's level. This bill also provides funding to support activities that promote animal welfare. At my request, the bill includes increased funding to deal with the problem of animal cruelty. The bill includes $13,767,000 for animal welfare inspectors, an increase of $1,627,000 above last year's level. This bill also includes $8,101,000 for regulatory and enforcement activities in connection with animal welfare investigations, which is an increase of $1,852,000 above last year's level. This increased funding builds on my $3 million initiative that I included in the FY 2001 supplemental to improve the enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act and the enforcement of humane slaughter practices. Together, these programs, and others in this bill, will work to help meet the expectation of the American people that animals, whether as an integral element of our nation's livestock industry, or in other aspects, will be treated properly and humanely.

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, reserving the right to object, has the amendment been sent to the desk?

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the Chair. I also congratulate and thank Senator Kennedy who spoke earlier for the proposals and suggestions, and the good counsel that he offered to the Senate at this critical time.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I yield to the distinguished whip for the purpose that he is now requesting. I ask unanimous consent that upon the completion of his remarks and the action on amendments I be recognized.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I did not understand the request. May I inquire of the Senator how long he will be speaking?

Mr. BYRD. I thank the Senator and I remove my reservation.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, would the Senator include my request that I follow his remarks with a statement of my own?

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, what is the Senator's request?

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, this morning the U.S. Postmaster General warned Americans that their mail is not guaranteed to be safe. The American people have been on an emotional roller coaster ride ever since September 11. In the days and weeks following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the American people collectively have experienced a national anxiety attack--fear, remorse, outrage, despair, confusion, depression, and unease have all manifested themselves in recent weeks. Before the brutal terrorist attacks of September 11, American consumers were already nervous as layoff announcements rolled out of auto factories, and stock market retirement savings dissipated into thin air. Since that dark day, the economy has grown even more unstable as consumers, seized with fear--Franklin D. Roosevelt said, there is nothing for us to fear but fear itself, but fear is here, and it permeates throughout this city and throughout the Nation--consumers, seized with fear, have stayed riveted to their television sets and away from shopping malls. American consumers have postponed taking that much-deserved family vacation out of fear of getting onto an airplane. I would share that same fear. I know it is all right for some to say, go ahead and ride an airplanes if you have the Secret Service there to protect you and you can go on a special plane, but I would not ride on a commercial plane right now because I share that fear. Consumers are shunning restaurants, avoiding movie theaters and other public gathering places which they fear might be the target of new terrorist attacks. Although the initial shock has begun to wear off, and economic activity has recovered somewhat from the weeks immediately following the terrorist attacks, nearly 200,00 Americans lost their jobs last month--the largest monthly decline since February 1991, more than 10 years ago--and the unemployment rate is expected to soar to well over 5 percent in this month alone. This on top of the fear that has kept people away from the streets of Washington. Just a few days ago, I recall, Metro was offering free tickets to people in the suburban areas in an attempt to entice them to come into the city of Washington and go to the restaurants and go to the stores. And the restaurants were offering free food in some instances or a free glass of wine to encourage people to come into this city, the Capital City, which was burned by the--I hope the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts will wait just a moment. I want to mention something he will remember. This Capitol was burned during the War of 1812 by the British. It is practically empty now. The Senator from Massachusetts will remember, with me, something that was occurring in this city 39 years ago right now. I was here on October 22, 1962--1962 or 1963?

Mr. BYRD. The late President John F. Kennedy delivered an ultimatum to the then-leaders of the Soviet Union to get their missiles out of Cuba. That was on Monday of this week, 39 years ago. We Senators then felt the same angst that we do now. The President, in a television address, delivered this ultimatum. President Kennedy also suggested that there be regional meetings where we Members of Congress--I was a Member of the Senate--could go to regional meetings and get briefings. The Senate was not in session. The Senate had gone out of session on the October 13 sine die. And the late President John F. Kennedy informed Members of Congress that he would give them notice to come into Washington if the necessity arose. There was fear throughout the land. That was 39 years ago this week. On Sunday of this week 39 years ago Nikita Khrushchev capitulated to President Kennedy's demand that those missiles, be pulled out of Cuba. President Kennedy instructed our naval ships to stop any ship that approached Cuba and to search that ship. And there was a ship that approached Cuba. I forget what flag it was flying, but our naval units stopped it, searched it; and when we finally determined that Nikita Khrushchev really meant what he said, that he would get those missiles out of Cuba, then we relaxed. I had no intention of bringing my wife into this city during those days. They were very tense days. The people were not just thinking of anthrax; they were thinking of nuclear war. We had strong leadership-- strong leadership--that laid it down to the Soviet leaders. Mr. Khrushchev, who had once beaten his shoe upon the desk and said: We will bury you--that was Khrushchev--he was soon relieved of his leadership position in the Soviet Union. Mr. Brezhnev then became the First Secretary, and who Nikolai Bulganin who became the Premier of the Soviet Union. But those were the conditions 39 years ago right now in this city. Well, fortunately, we are not facing what appeared to then be perhaps an immediate nuclear attack on this country. And some of the nuclear missiles could have emanated from Cuba. Here we are again now, and we have received a terrorist attack on the World Trade buildings in New York City and on the Pentagon. We are faced now with an even more subtle and sinister attack on the people in this city. As I said earlier, the Postmaster General indicated just this morning that the American people cannot be guaranteed their mail is safe. I say to my wife--my wife of 64 years, I hasten to add--Don't you go to the mailbox. Leave the mail in that box until I come home. I will get the mail out of the box. That is the kind of fear that is permeating this whole country, this whole city, this whole complex from which I speak today. Our staffs are warned about the mail that comes to us from our constituents. It may be a letter, a package, something that was not sent by a constituent in our mail. So our staffs are in fear. The unemployment rate is expected to soar to well over 5 percent in this month alone. The Congress will soon consider a stimulus plan. It is being discussed. Preparations for such a plan are going forward. I have had my Appropriations Committee staff working on a stimulus package, one that will include funds for homeland security, homeland defense. This stimulus plan is aimed at providing a shot in the arm to our flagging economy. We hear a lot about business tax cuts. I have already voted against a gargantuan $1.3 or $1.6 or $1.8 or $2 trillion tax cut earlier this year. Now we hear that there are going to be further tax cuts. A measure is making its way in the House of Representatives, I understand, that would provide up to $100 billion in tax cuts and almost $200 billion, $195 billion over 10 years. Business tax cuts, increased unemployment benefits, subsidized health insurance premiums are all on the table. But none of these--none of these--will help to assuage the psychology of fear that grips this land of ours. The surest way to stabilize the economy and encourage Americans to get back on airplanes, to go back to the shopping malls, to go back to the automobile dealerships--look over those shiny automobiles, kick the tires, see if the windshield wiper works, raise the lid of the trunk-- the way to get people back to those dealerships, the way to get people back to those neighborhood restaurants, the way to get people back to the movie theaters and to take their children is to take positive steps to address their fears, the fears of the American people about future terrorist attacks. I might as well talk about this fear. We all know it is here. The distinguished Senator from Florida, who is a former astronaut, who presides over the Senate today with such a degree of skill and dignity, he knows this, he knows what we are talking about. The people at the desk here in front of us, this is no secret to them; they know what fear is. The pages know about it. Why not say it? The best way to make our people feel safe again and to defeat the intentions of the terrorists is to go ahead with this stimulus package, certainly to move ahead with funding for homeland security in its many forms. We can start by addressing our woefully inadequate border security; put more Immigration and Naturalization Service personnel on our borders; put more Customs agents on our borders; enhance this woefully inadequate border security. I doubt that many Americans find comfort in learning that the Immigration and Naturalization Service cannot account for how 6 of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks got into the United States. Likewise, how much comfort do the American people find in knowing that the U.S. Customs Service--get this now-- inspects only 2 percent of the cargo that enters the United States? We are wide open--wide open. And the terrorists have known that. As a matter of fact, we have been lucky not to have been hit many times prior to September 11. We can reassure the American people that the Government of the United States is doing all it can to prepare for a biological or chemical act. The American people have learned firsthand in recent days that chemical and biological weapons are no longer the stuff of fiction but are real threats that can suddenly claim the lives of American citizens. We must train our doctors and nurses to diagnose and care for victims of bioterrorism as well as to contain any possible resulting outbreak. We must expand our Nation's reserve of vaccines and antibiotics, and we must provide our local health departments, in Beckley, WV, Parkersburg, Clarksburg, Martinsburg, in cities all throughout this land, in towns all throughout this land, in hamlets all throughout this land, provide our local health departments, so many of which are in rural isolated areas, with access to the Nation's computerized networks of medical response information. Our Nation's transportation network faces a similar daunting upgrade. In the days immediately following the September 11 attacks, airport security was improved, but much remains to be done. New scanning equipment must be built and installed as quickly as possible. Better trained inspectors must be hired. Security enhancements must be made at our Nation's airports, and the same case must be made for improvements to our roads and bridges, our railroads, our water and sewer systems, our law enforcement capabilities that have suffered due to years of neglect. Hear me now! Due to years of neglect, we have allowed our infrastructure to become antiquated! With the threat of further violence on American soil, everything from dams and reservoirs and locks and dams to nuclear powerplants to the method of transporting the Nation's food supply, we need to beef up the inspections of our meat, our poultry, our imported food--all these things must be examined in terms of their potential vulnerability. By renewing our commitment to investments in our own country, we can help to mend the holes in America's homeland security. Mr. President, the American people are looking to the Congress for reassurance. The American people want to know that their representatives understand their fears--the people's fears--and the people's uncertainties. They want to know that the men and women in this legislative branch--the Senate and the House--understand these things and are taking steps to deal with potential threats. Partisan disputes breed uncertainty in our financial markets and in our economy. All of us ought to be ashamed of the slowness with which we have dealt with the appropriations bills. They are ready. We have completed conferences on and we have acted upon the conference reports on 2 bills--2 out of 13 bills. And here we are. We have had two continuing resolutions, and we are now somewhat in the midst of the time allotted by the second continuing resolution. We have instead been arguing over other things--things that didn't have anything to do, as far as I am concerned, with getting on with the appropriations bills. Partisanship. Partisanship must no longer reign over this Senate or over the House of Representatives--at least until we get our appropriations bills completed. And we had better be busy about that. We should allow the President 10 days after we send him the last appropriations bill. He should be allowed 10 days in which to sign the last appropriations bill or to veto it. He should not be given the opportunity to pocket veto an appropriations bill. We need to be busy about the people's business. The American people want to regain that sense of security that they lost on September 11. They want to get on an airplane without worrying about hijackers. They want to go to work free of angst about every piece of mail that comes into the office. Those who go to movies want to relax while they are there, and they are entitled to that. Those who go to the shopping malls want to relax without looking over their shoulders, as it were. Unless we take--when I say ``we,'' I mean us folks--unless we take immediate and serious steps to address these fears, all of the rhetoric about normalcy is just plain old hot air. This Government's most basic responsibility is to take all--not just a few but all--feasible steps to protect its citizens. The conflict is not just in the steep mountains of the Himalayas in Afghanistan. I was there 46 years ago. Let me tell you folks, you have seen the Rockies. Go to the Himalayas; spend some time in Afghanistan. The winter is coming on, and soon. And there are millions of landmines waiting on a footstep. The conflict is not just in the mountains of Afghanistan. Our people are at risk on our own soil. Congress, therefore, must act now to ensure the security of the Nation and the American people. By investing in measures that strengthen our ability to guard our citizens right here at home, we can take an important step toward removing the paralysis--the paralysis--go look that word up in the dictionary, and if you haven't noticed it before, you will see it--the paralysis of fear. Look at our empty office buildings on Jenkins Hill right here. We can take an important step toward removing the paralysis that results from living in fear. This should be our mission in the days ahead as we craft a stimulus package. Whether or not we craft a stimulus package, we have 11 appropriations bills awaiting action here in one form or another. They will be coming along in conference reports. There are appropriations bills such as the one before the Senate now that will be up for action in this body. So let's get busy about our work. This should be our mission in the days ahead as we craft a stimulus package that can restore confidence, which is the backbone of a strong economy. Mr. President, I thank all Senators and I yield.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, before the Senator from Vermont leaves, I noted there are two nominations on the calendar: Thomas E. Johnston of West Virginia to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia, and Karl K. Warner, II, to be United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia. Have these been cleared?

Mr. BYRD. I will be happy to yield.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I am increasingly concerned about the situation. We have sent two appropriations bills to the President for his signature, which leaves us with 11 appropriations bills to go. Several of these appropriations bills are in conference between the two Houses. Of course, the situation affecting the conferences is one that is well known, but I would hope that we could find a way to break this logjam in the Senate and get these appropriations bills moving. We are well into our third CR. It is now October 23. Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and what do the American people see in this Senate? We appear to be dallying. We have work to do. We have a very emergent situation in this country. People look to us for leadership. Why can we not get on with our Appropriations Committee work? I would like for someone to tell me. I am waiting for an answer. We have appropriations bills that are ready to go, and I beg my colleagues to let us get on with the appropriations bills. If we cannot move forward on the foreign ops bill, let us try to move forward on some other appropriations bill. There are others awaiting action.

Mr. BYRD. I yield.

Mr. BYRD. Yes, I yield.

Mr. BYRD. I thank the distinguished Senator from Louisiana for her comments. Mr. President, I have been increasingly concerned we are moving toward an omnibus appropriations bill. I am afraid if we continue on this path we are going to end up with an omnibus CR in which a good many or most of the agencies of this Government will be operating probably on the same level of appropriations they received for fiscal year 2001.

Mr. BYRD. I thank my friend on the Appropriations Committee. Mr. President, I do not intend to hold the floor much longer. But I appeal to all Senators to work together to get these appropriations bills up before the Senate, and let's act upon them. We should not go home with an omnibus bill, an omnibus CR. I don't know what the problem is, but I do know we need to get on with the appropriations bills. I don't see why appropriations should be held up because of nominations. I don't have any dog in that fight. I am ready to vote for nominations. I am ready to go on to the appropriations. But we simply can't hold up the appropriations bills like we are doing. It would seem to me Senators ought to get together on both sides of the aisle and work out this problem. For those who are concerned about nominations, I don't think appropriations should be held up because of nominations. What does the one have to do with the other? Many of these appropriations bills have been on the calendar now for more than 3 months, and they are just sitting there. So I appeal to our Members on both sides of the aisle to try to work together and let's get on with the appropriations bills. We are just marking time. We are not doing any good. The people out there, they are not concerned about our little problems--nominations versus appropriations. What does the one have to do with the other? We are going to be held responsible for the fact that we are not working; we are not acting; we are not getting things done. What about our Rangers who are facing great odds and great problems in Afghanistan; what would they think of the way we are operating and acting? What do the people back home expect us to do? They expect us to get things done. These agencies are operating without any knowledge of whether or not they are going to have funding above this year's level. They don't know. They can't plan for programs and projects that are very important to the American people, very important to this cause in which we find ourselves engaged.

Mr. BYRD. Yes, I yield the floor.

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator. I yield the floor.