Robert Byrd

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. I ask unanimous consent that at 2 p.m., when the Senate reconvenes following the recess, I be recognized for not to exceed 35 minutes.

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, at what time is the Senate expected to reconvene following the recess?

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, in the early days of the Great Depression, I lived in the coal mining camps of southern West Virginia. I remember those days when we only had an old Philco radio up on the wall of the house. But the voice of President Franklin Roosevelt was a golden voice. When his voice came over the airways, the coal miners and their families gathered around and listened intently and always with hope. Roosevelt, in his first inaugural address, stated quite clearly: [T]he only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. Mr. President, the U.S. Senate must not be paralyzed. At a time when the Senate must lead by example, we must show the Nation that work can continue and that our Government will not close down. Congress is supposed to approve 13 appropriations bills--these are the regular appropriations bills--by the start of the fiscal year on October 1. But that fiscal year started several days ago. Yet we have only sent the Interior and the military construction appropriations conference reports to the President for his signature. At the same time, we have now approved a third continuing resolution--this one to last until October 31. That is Halloween. The Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate have been doing their work. The legislation is being written and reported to the Senate for consideration. But instead of debating and voting on these bills, instead of expeditiously doing the work of the people, the Senate is moving all too slowly--moving at a snail's pace, as a matter of fact--on these essential funding bills. The American people are looking for leadership in their elected representatives, and they have a right to demand it. We need to act; we need to show them, we need to show the world that the Senate is undaunted, that we can accomplish our goals notwithstanding those who would seek to have the American people cower in fear. One of the bills, for example, delayed on the floor is the fiscal year 2002 foreign operations appropriations bill includes $450 million to combat HIV-AIDS, the worst global health crisis in half a millennium. The bill includes money for medicines to treat malaria and tuberculosis. Hundreds of millions of dollars for efforts to reduce poverty, improve basic health care, and build basic housing and sanitation systems are also being delayed. Even funds to combat terrorism and to reduce threats from biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons are currently in that bill, the bill being held up by one side of the aisle on this Senate floor. I appreciate the efforts of the majority leader to bring these appropriations bills to the floor. Unfortunately, his efforts to date have been blocked to a considerable extent. Now is the time for the Members of the Senate to exercise the leadership which the American people have entrusted to us. Now is the time to abandon petty political partisanship and to link arms against terror. Now is not the time to ignore our responsibilities. Now is not the time to abandon our posts and scurry out of town. Let us demonstrate a steady hand. Our message must be that calmness is going to prevail. It does prevail; it will continue to prevail. We must avoid the appearance of disorder, panic, and especially petty partisanship. To those who say let us slam all of our legislation into one package and pack our bags and get out of town, I say lift your sights. We cannot fulfill our duties with one eye on the door. We have a Constitution to guide us. We have a Constitution to uphold and an oath to which we swore our solemn allegiance. We cannot let Osama bin Laden take over the Senate. We cannot succumb to terror, nor can we succumb to partisan games. Many of our appropriations bills are waiting and ready for Senate floor debate. These are bills that fund important programs, important programs for you out there in the Great Plains, in the great hills and valleys throughout this country--important for the well being of our people. These bills fund endeavors which are critical to our homeland defense, critical to our national defense, critical to our citizens' health, critical to our Nation's economic health. We must go forward. We must embrace the cooling comfort of reasoned, rational order and debate. We have to protect our staff and the public who come to this complex. That is being done. I have every confidence that it is being done well and with great professionalism. But nobody ever said that representing the people would be easy. Now is the time for us to earn our paychecks! We cannot simply fund these appropriations bills at last year's level in a giant continuing resolution and go home. And that is what will happen if we don't pass these appropriations bills. They will end up in a giant omnibus bill--a giant continuing resolution. That means they would be funded at the same level as last year. We must do the people's business. We have seen great courage and grand dedication in the eyes of our citizens. One has only to recall the firemen, the rescue workers, the policemen, the volunteers who served so valiantly in New York City and who still dig and labor patiently through the rubble that inters thousands of the bodies of our fellow citizens. Are Senators any less dedicated to our jobs than these people have been to theirs? One has only to observe Old Glory flying from the windows of passenger cars and clutched in the hands of children to appreciate anew the spirit of our people and the power of American ideals. We must not fail the millions of Americans by sending the message to misguided men that we can be so easily spooked. This Nation has always produced men and women who had the spirit and the fortitude to carry on, to do the difficult job of protecting freedom and securing the constitutional pillars of this, the greatest Nation on Earth. This Senate is the grandest of those constitutional pillars. Let us secure the people's House and promote the people's welfare by the simple and straightforward act of continuing to do our business and to do it in an orderly and rational way. Horace said: Do your duty and leave the rest to heaven. Now is the time for all of us to embrace the sublime wisdom of those words. We might repeat the words of Longfellow in doing so: Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Humanity with all its fears, With all the hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate! We know what Master laid thy keel, What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, What anvils rang, what hammers beat, In what a forge and what a heat Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! Fear not each sudden sound and shock, 'Tis of the wave and not the rock; 'Tis but the flapping of the sail, And not a rent made by the gale! In spite of rock and tempest's roar, In spite of false lights on the shore, Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee--are all with thee!

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, in his book, ``The Greatest Generation,'' NBC's news anchorman Tom Brokaw discusses the greatness of the generation of Americans who withstood the problems, the terrors, the doubts, the fears of the 1930s and the 1940s. He points out that it was this generation of Americans who ``came of age in the Great Depression when economic despair hovered over the land like a plague.'' When Pearl Harbor made it irrefutably clear that America was not a fortress, he writes, ``This generation . . . answered the call to help save the world from the two most powerful and ruthless military machines ever assembled.'' Afterward, those people ``helped convert a wartime economy into the most powerful peacetime economy in history.'' This was ``the greatest generation any society has ever produced.'' Like Mr. Brokaw, I, too, admire the generation of Americans who survived the hardships of the Great Depression and won World War II. They were truly outstanding Americans, a great generation. I am proud to say they are of my generation. But ever since reading Mr. Brokaw's book, I can't help but think about the greatness of not only that generation of Americans, but also the greatness of generation after generation of Americans. It seems that in almost every age of our history, Americans have risen to meet the challenges and difficulties of their times to move our country forward toward even further greatness. I immediately think of the generation of Americans about which I love so much to read and to speak--the generation of Americans who won our independence and established this Government of the people, by the people, and for the people. In the Declaration of Independence, these Americans took the ideas of the English enlightenment and made them a national vision. These Americans infused into the very nature of our political life the egalitarian, democratic impulses that guide us today. In seeking our independence, those Americans demonstrated remarkable determination, remarkable courage. Just by putting their names on this Declaration of Independence, which I hold in my hand, the 56 signers became guilty of high treason against the British Crown. It was a crime that was punishable by death. But the unflagging determination of that generation was expressed in the words of Patrick Henry, who declared: ``Give me liberty or give me death.'' It was also demonstrated by a 21-year-old schoolteacher turned soldier-patriot named Nathan Hale. If your American history book doesn't tell the story of Nathan Hale, it is not a history book. It is probably a book on social studies, not a book of American history. I studied American history by reading Muzzey back in 1927, 1928, by the light of an old kerosene lamp. Muzzey. He told the story of Nathan Hale: When about to be executed by the British for supplying GEN George Washington with important information--drawings of the British gun emplacements, and so on, and about the location and the strength of the British troops, Nathan Hale uttered those immortal words: ``I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.'' The leaders of that generation of revolutionary Americans were not your down and out, nothing-left-to-lose, rebel-rousing revolutionaries. Benjamin Franklin was a transatlantic figure, a world figure of great accomplishments. He was a world-renowned and respected scholar, philosopher, inventor, diplomat, and scientist. George Washington was a highly respected, wealthy landowner. He did not have to leave his beautiful, vast country estate and risk everything, including his family fortune and death, to lead a ragtag revolutionary army against the mighty British military machine. Thomas Jefferson was a great scientist, a great mathematician, author, educator, architect, inventor, political leader. This list of greats in the revolutionary generation also includes such giants as James Madison, George Mason, Alexander Hamilton, James Otis, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and the list goes on and on. And it does not stop with the leaders. The list includes colonial merchants such as Robert Morris. It includes colonial craftsmen such as Paul Revere. It includes tens of thousands of colonial workers who made up the famous correspondence committees, the Sons of Liberty who enforced the boycotts of British goods, carried out the Stamp Act protests, and dumped the British tea into Boston Harbor. It was these nameless colonial workers who made up that Revolutionary Army, who shivered through the cold winter at Valley Forge, who made that daring crossing over the Delaware River on that frigid Christmas Eve, and who turned the world upside down at Yorktown. After winning the Revolution, this generation put their vision of America into a workable form, a government that embodied the principles, ideals, and values for which they had fought and died. So many of our Founding Fathers assembled in Philadelphia that hot summer of 1787 and formulated the U.S. Constitution, a copy of which I hold in my hand. Mr. President, it simply does not get any greater than that when we speak of the greatest generation, but I cannot and I will not say that generation was greater than the generation that prevailed during the Great Depression and saved the world from the tyranny, the Nazi tyranny, nor can I say it was greater than the generation of Americans who experienced the events that led up to the Civil War, who saved the Union, and who ended the ugliest, most tragic chapter of American history: the chapter concerning the institution of human slavery. That generation of American greats included President Abraham Lincoln, Senators Charles Sumner, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Solomon Foot, and Henry Wilson. It included writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Thoreau, the great contemporary of Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville. After the Civil War came a collection of extraordinary Americans that included John D. Rockefeller, the great grandfather of my colleague from West Virginia, Commodore Vanderbilt, Leland Stanford, J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, James Drew, James Hill, and Collis P. Huntington, who founded the city of Huntington, WV. These are just to name a few. Referred to by such titles as ``captains of industry'' and ``empire builders,'' this was the generation that industrialized America as the United States soared from fifth in the world in economic productivity to become the world's foremost economic power. With little exaggeration, industrialist Jay Gould stated: We have made the country rich. We have developed the country. Mr. President, they certainly made modern industrial America that gave the United States the industrial base that enabled us to win World War I and then World War II. They, too, certainly qualify for having made up a great generation. Between 1900 and 1920, a period of American history sometimes referred to as the ``progressive era,'' a generation of reformers sought to clean up the mess created by the industrialization and urbanization of the late 19th century, including child labor, sweat shops, corrupt political machines, industrial and banking monopolies, and urban slums. These tenacious progressive reformers broke the control that railroad, lumber, and coal companies possessed over their State legislatures. These men enacted many of the laws that still regulate and guide us today, including those that established the Federal Reserve System and Federal Trade Commission, as well as antitrust laws and the national income tax. They adopted four constitutional amendments, including the direct election of U.S. Senators, without which amendment I certainly would not be here and perhaps the Senator from Rhode Island, who presently presides over the Senate with such a degree of dignity and skill, aplomb that is so rare as a day in June, Jack Reed. That generation included some of our greatest political leaders, such as President Woodrow Wilson, during whose second administration I was born, and President Theodore Roosevelt and Senators Robert LaFollette, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William E. Borah. It included some of the greatest journalists in American history, such as Ida Tarbell, David Graham Phillips, and Lincoln Steffens. It included some of the greatest labor leaders in American history, such as Samuel Gompers, and Mother Jones. Mr. President, rather than pitting one generation of Americans against another in some sort of intergenerational competition, I like to recognize the greatness of a society, the greatness of a government, the greatness of a culture that is so instrumental in producing one great generation after another great generation and then another great generation. It is not the singular greatness of any particular generation of Americans that we should recognize and celebrate but the greatness of a way of life that is ours, a way of life that not merely allows but encourages the American people to do our best, and allows and encourages the best to rise to the top, allows the cream of the crop to rise and become its own and fulfill its own talents, to excel, to succeed, and to make us a better Nation. It is also important and fascinating to recall from where this greatness has come. Some, such as George Washington, the Roosevelts, and the Kennedys, did come from families of wealth, power, and education. But the leader of the country during its darkest hours was a humble rail splitter who was born in a log cabin in western Kentucky. The leader of American military forces during the invasion of Normandy was a Kansas farm boy. Look at the great industrialists of the late nineteenth century. John D. Rockefeller was the son of an itinerant patent medicine salesman. Andrew Carnegie was the son of a poor Scottish weaver. Jay Gould, Philip Armor, and Daniel Drew were children of poor farmers. James J. Hill began his career as an office clerk. I daresay that the vast majority of Americans who have contributed to the greatness of this country, such as those who made up George Washington's motley revolutionary army, were plain, ordinary Americans, from ordinary places, doing ordinary things, until their country needed them. This included the men who fought at San Juan hill. This included the men who fought at Gettysburg. It included the men who stormed the beaches of Normandy, and, who, more recently, won Desert Storm. Now we are seeing another generation of extraordinary Americans meeting the challenges and demands of our extraordinary times. I am speaking foremost about the men who exemplified that New York spirit. Most of these were firefighters, policemen, and rescue workers at the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon who rushed in to save other lives, including many who gave their own lives in the process. Then we think of those who have labored so long and so hard, day after day, week after week, digging through the rubble of the worst disasters in American history, seeking to save one more life. I am also speaking of those countless Americans who have given blood, money, and other forms of assistance to the victims of those disasters. I am speaking of the men and women who wear our Nation's uniform, and may soon be put in harm's way to protect our country and defend the liberties and principles that we hold so dear. I am speaking of the courageous men and women aboard United flight 93, who brought that plane down in the desolate fields of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and saved the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of their fellow Americans. It does not get any greater than that. There can be no greater generation than these. All of these Americans qualify for greatness. They have made their generation yet another great generation of Americans. It was people such as these who won our independence. It was because of people such as these that this country has survived a Civil War, a Great Depression, two world wars, and will now prevail in our current crisis. It is because of people such as these that our country has been, is, and will remain a great country. I think of some verses from J.G. Holland. God give us men! A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands. Men whom the lust of office does not kill; Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; Men who possess opinions and a will; Men who have honor; men who will not lie. Men who can stand before a demagogue And brave his treacherous flatteries without winking. Tall men, sun-crowned; Who live above the fog, In public duty and in private thinking. For while the rabble with its thumbworn creeds, It's large professions and its little deeds, mingles in selfish strife, Lo! Freedom weeps! Wrong rules the land and waiting justice sleeps. God give us men! Men who serve not for selfish booty; But real men, courageous, who flinch not at duty. Men of dependable character; Men of sterling worth; Then wrongs will be redressed, and right will rule the earth. God Give us Men!

Mr. BYRD. I thank my friend, the Senator from Ohio, for his kind comments.

Mr. BYRD

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

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, it is a pleasure to join my colleague from Montana, the distinguished Ranking Member of our Interior appropriations subcommittee, in bringing before the Senate the conference report on H.R. 2217, the Fiscal Year 2002 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. This is the first of the thirteen annual appropriations bills to have reached this stage of the process. Let me say parenthetically, however, that the Committee on Appropriations reported the bill on July 12--3 months and 5 days ago. So it has been a long time in ripening to this point. This conference report is, in my opinion, a well-crafted bill. It is never an easy task to work out the many disagreements between House and Senate versions of an appropriations bill, and this year was no exception. But each and every one of the 1,330 items before the conferees was worked out in a way that balanced the views of each chamber and the resources available to the conferees. I will not go into great detail with respect to all the particulars of the conference agreement, but shall point out a few highlights. First, to those who have a special interest in natural resource conservation, this conference report lives up to our previous commitment by fully funding the conservation spending category established in Title VIII of last year's Interior Appropriations bill. Through this spending category, the managers were able to fund key conservation activities including $428 million for Federal land acquisition; $229 million for State programs such as wildlife and wetland conservation programs; and $184 million for Federal infrastructure improvements in our national parks, forests, refuges, and on other public lands. In addition, the conference report devotes $11 million to Civil War battlefields preservation, an important commitment to honoring our national heritage and understanding the history of this great country. The conference report also restores the $36 million in environmental clean-up work conducted through the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund which the administration had unwisely proposed to cut. These funds will be used for high priority abandoned mine clean-up projects which address serious health and safety concerns. For our colleagues from the West, I am pleased to report that the conference agreement continues the Congressional commitment to protect the public and our natural resources from fire danger by providing $2.2 billion to the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior for wildland firefighting. This is an increase of $300 million above the President's request. The bill also includes $2.8 billion for critically needed Indian health care and $2.2 billion for Indian education and economic development. Within these amounts, $86 million is targeted specifically for the construction of new hospitals and health clinics, while more than $290 million is to be used for school construction and repair. The conference report includes over $930 million for cultural institutions and programs funded through the Interior subcommittee, including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, the Kennedy Center, and the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities. The conference committee paid special attention to the needs of the National Park Service, providing an increase of $85 million over the fiscal year 2001 appropriation for basic operations of the national park system. In addition, the conference report contains $366 million for Park Service construction, with the vast majority of these projects representing backlogged maintenance and infrastructure improvements in the National Parks. Finally, I would like to point out that this conference report contains much needed funding for the important energy research programs overseen by the Department of Energy, specifically in the area of fossil energy research and development. I am very proud of the fact that the conferees provided $150 million for continuation of the Clean Coal Technology program, which I first started in 1985 and which has proven to be one of the most successful public/private partnerships ever undertaken by the Federal Government. I am pleased we were able to restore the nearly $100 million in basic energy research funding that the administration had proposed to cut. I told the Secretary of Energy that I believed those cuts to be unwise--and I earlier urged the President not to make those cuts--and that if I had anything to do with it--and I did, of course--they would not stand. For the good of the Nation and our energy security, I am glad that I was able to keep my word. Before yielding the floor to my distinguished colleague from Montana for any comments he may wish to make, let me say again publicly what a pleasure it was to have Conrad Burns as the Ranking member of the Interior subcommittee and to work with him and his able staff throughout this year. This has been a journey of hope and pleasure for me as we have developed this bill during the several months of working with Senator Burns. The dedication to duty displayed by Senator Burns, the willingness to cooperate in a bipartisan fashion, and his always gracious manner have made my work infinitely easier, and I thank him for his support in crafting this bill. I thank his staff and I thank my own staff, along with Peter Kiefhafer, for their excellent work. I urge my colleagues to support this conference report.

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I reserve the right to object just for the purpose of responding to the distinguished majority whip and his glowing references to my work.

Mr. BYRD. We are told in the Scripture: A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. The words by Conrad Burns, my distinguished colleague, have been fitly spoken. Again, I thank him.

Mr. BYRD. May I say this. Darius the Great was once having lunch. Someone presented Darius the Great with a huge pomegranate at this luncheon. And it was opened. There were quite a number of seeds in it. Darius said, ``Had I as many men like Megabazus as there are seeds in this pomegranate, it would please me better than to be lord of Greece.'' So let me just say, using those words by Darius, I have been around the Senate here quite a while and I have seen several whips. I have had the pleasure--or perhaps the misfortune, I should say--of being whip myself here for several years beginning in 1971. But I was not as good a whip as Senator Reid. I won't say anything about the other whips, but I will just use myself. Senator Reid is an excellent assistant majority leader. He is always on the floor. That is how I gained my fame as whip--I stayed on the floor, watched the floor. There is where I learned the rules, where I learned the precedents. This man is a man who, if I may do a little bragging, was cut in my own image in that he stays on the floor. He works this floor. He is always to be counted upon. He is here to help every Senator. Many are the time agreements that are made possible by his assiduous attention to his duties on the floor. Majority Leader Daschle can be very grateful for the fact that he has been given this very excellent man, Harry Reid of Nevada, to work and to assist him, Mr. Daschle, as the whip. I pay my compliments to Mr. Reid. I thank him for his great work. Let me just now end my remarks by saying we hope that next week we can complete the work on this floor on the energy and water appropriation bill, the legislative branch appropriation bill, the VA- HUD appropriation bill, and the Treasury appropriations bill. We are finally making some headway. I thank my colleagues, and of course the good Lord most of all, and our staff for the fact that we have been able to begin making some progress on the action and passage of the Appropriations conference reports. I yield the floor.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, this morning, October 17, the Washington Post reported that investigators from the Inspector General's Office of the Transportation Department and of the Federal Aviation Administration went to 14 airports over the past few days to test the ``improved'' safety standards at our nation's airports. What these Federal investigators found is unacceptable. At Dulles International Airport--where one of the planes involved in the September 11 terrorist attacks took off--seven baggage screeners failed a surprise written skills test. The screeners are supposed to pass such a test after completing the 12 hours of training that are a condition of employment. On a check at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport the same day, seven screeners were arrested by the Immigration and Naturalization Service when they were found to be working illegally in the United States. The Transportation Department said an unspecified number of screeners at some airports were found to have criminal records that should have disqualified them from their jobs. The Washington Post cited an example of a screener at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport who was removed from his post and lost his security badge after investigators learned that he had been convicted as a felon in possession of a handgun. During the check at Dulles, Federal investigators arrested a man who they said was able to walk through a security checkpoint with a concealed pocketknife--a felony. Such a report underscores the need for tighter security at our airports, and the American people are no doubt looking to Congress for the tougher airline security they were promised in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The Senate did its part. Last week, on October 11, we unanimously passed legislation to increase security at our airports. The Senate- passed bill would create a Federal force of 28,000 screeners and armed security guards to check passengers and baggage. According to media reports, however, that legislation has stalled in the House of Representatives because of a partisan dispute about whether airline screeners should be Federal employees or hired by private contractors. We have tried that. We tried the hiring of screeners by private contractors. That is what has given the American people the heebie- jeebies. The Nation is jittery after having tried that. So what are we arguing about? What are we waiting on now? Privatizing the Federal workforce is an issue that often surfaces in Congress. It is part of a 200-year-old debate about the proper size of the Federal Government. But that debate could not be more misplaced in today's post-September 11 environment. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with air traffic at 40 to 50 percent below last year's level, we should be focusing our energies on ensuring that the American people feel as safe as we can reasonably make them when they fly. I think we can say with some confidence that the public has reason to be less than comfortable with the effectiveness of our airline security system as it currently exists. It seems petty to derail the whole airline security package over the issue of federalization. This is not a new idea. Federal employees already perform key functions at U.S. airports, such as inspections by the Customs Service, the Agriculture Department, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. There has been no call to contract these services to the private sector. All sides on this debate realize that there has to be a larger Federal role in protecting our airlines and airports. And only by federalizing those screeners can the American public be assured that ``cost-cutting'' will not occur to the detriment of their safety. There is more at stake here than scoring political points about whether the size of the Federal Government is growing or shrinking. The American people are looking to the Congress to reassure them about the safety of their airlines. Restoring the confidence of the American people in airline travel is essential to getting the U.S. economy back on track. For all of the big talk and for all of the gas that has been emitted from the larynxes of politicians, the one that would seem to help the economy most is the passage of an airline security bill. We have done our part. I hope that the House leadership can settle what is a misplaced, partisan dispute, and address quickly the more pressing needs of the American people whom we serve. Mr. President, I thank the Chair and yield the floor.

Mr. BYRD

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

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. I thank the distinguished majority leader. We must show the American people that we can pass these bills. We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to the country, we owe it to the President of the United States to send him individual appropriations bills, no omnibus bill. Let him have his opportunity to sign or veto the bills as he sees fit.

Mr. BYRD. I thank both leaders.

Mr. BYRD. I express the hope our leadership on both sides of the aisle can help to press hard to get the remaining appropriations bills completed and sent to the President singly and not as an omnibus bill. The Appropriations Committee in the Senate today reported out the D.C. appropriations bill and the Labor-HHS appropriations bill. This makes 12 of the 13 appropriations bills that the Appropriations Committee in the Senate has reported out. The House, I understand, is working on the Defense appropriations bill and will soon act on it and will shortly send over the conference report on the Department of the Interior. We will have to have another CR. That will be coming along probably today. In any event, our committee and our chairmen and ranking members on all the subcommittees have worked diligently and hard, and I hope the leadership will help us to bring pressure on both sides of the Capitol to move these appropriations conferences. The staffs have done the preliminary work, a good bit of it in many instances. It is absolutely necessary we show the American people that this Congress can do its work, is doing its work, but it is going to take some effort on the part of all of us, I say to the distinguished minority leader and the majority leader, to bring these remaining conference reports to the floor. We shouldn't have to have another continuing resolution after this next one. We ought to complete these appropriations bills in the remaining days of this month. Let's go home, for Heavens' sake, and see our families and constituents and not delay further. I don't think it is intentional, but it amounts to delay. I thank both leaders for the efforts they made. We have some work yet to be done. We can do it.

Mr. BYRD. Yes.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the attention of the American people has turned to the security of our national border system and how these attackers were able to exploit that system to plot these dastardly acts. The September 11 attacks have highlighted numerous loopholes in our immigration laws that have allowed terrorists to enter the United Stats posing as students and tourists, and, in some cases, by simply walking across an unpatrolled border. In reviewing our counter-terrorism efforts within our intelligence community, it is also appropriate that we look at the numerous immigration loopholes these terrorists were able to slip through. There are currently between 7 million and 13 million illegal aliens living in the United States. Six out of 10 of these aliens crossed a U.S. border illegally, and therefore were not subject to background checks by the INS or the State Department to determine if they had a terrorist or criminal history. In fact, exit/entry records are so incomplete that the Immigration and Naturalization Service, INS, has no record of 6 of the 19 suspected hijackers entering the United States. Of the roughly 10,000 INS agents guarding our borders, only 3 percent are stationed on our northern border with Canada. That's 334 agents protecting a 4,000 mile border, or one agent for every 12 miles. According to media reports, a number of the September 11 terrorists crossed this border to enter the United States. Of those foreign nationals who have legally entered the United States, more than a half-a-million of them are registered as international students at 15,000 universities, colleges, and vocational schools across the United States. These are nuclear engineering scholars, biochemistry students, and even pilot trainees who have access to dangerous technology, training, and information. The Congress passed legislation in 1996 requiring the INS to create a database for tracking these students. The purpose was to more efficiently monitor the immigration/visa status and whereabouts of students from abroad. After 5 years, there is still no system in place to monitor these 500,000 students. The current pilot program operating at 21 schools is not expected to be fully operational for five more years, and even that date could slip. Without a monitoring system in place to audit schools that sponsor these foreign students, there is nothing to prevent an alien from entering the United States on a student visa and then just disappearing. Consequently, one of the September 11 hijackers was able to enter the United States on a student visa, dropped out, and remained illegally thereafter. Abuses of the visa system can also be found in the application process overseas at our U.S. consulates. Foreign nationals must apply for a visa at a U.S. consulate abroad and go through a series of security checks before they can enter the United States. Some media reports have raised the issue of consulate shopping, that is, foreign nationals choosing to apply at a U.S. consulate that they believe is most likely to grant them a visa. The ``New York Times'' reported in September that Chinese nationals applying for visas at a U.S. consulate in Beijing compare their experiences over the Internet--and even post tips on how to act and what to say, to boost their chances of receiving a visa. Such an article raises the question of whether a terrorist could travel from country to country in hopes of finding a U.S. consulate which would be less familiar with his background and more likely to award him a visa. One terrorist who was involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing was denied a visa at the U.S. consulate in Egypt, only to be awarded a visa by the U.S. consulate in Sudan. And these are loopholes that exist only for those terrorists who would risk a background check by seeking a visa at a U.S. consulate. The United States allows 29 countries to participate in a visa-waiver program, which effectively allows the citizens of many European countries to bypass the initial screening process at a U.S. consulate abroad by waiving the visa requirement. The Inspectors General for both the State and Justice Departments have raised the possibility that a foreign national could steal and counterfeit a visa-free passport to bypass the visa background check altogether. The October 8 Wall Street Journal reported that some 1,067 visa-free passports have been stolen in recent months, presumably to be used for entry into the United States. In fact, one of the terrorists who plotted the bombing of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing was caught trying to slip through this loophole in 1992 when he tried to enter the United States using a visa-free Swedish passport. These are just some of the loopholes that terrorists are trying to exploit. To its credit, the Senate Judiciary Committee recognizes this fact. The legislation drafted by the committee would triple the number of INS agents on our northern border. This is a worthwhile investment, and one that should be made. However, the security of our borders depends on more than just INS agents. The first line of defense against terrorists are our U.S. consulates abroad. We must address the loopholes in the visa-waiver program that would allow a potential terrorist to enter the United States on a stolen passport. We must prevent consulate shopping. And, we must fully implement a system that can monitor foreign students. The State and Justice Departments confirm that these are real security threats that must be addressed if we are to protect our borders from terrorists. I have offered three amendments to address these concerns, which were accepted by the Judiciary Committee chairman and ranking member into the manager's package. My first amendment would authorize the necessary funding so that the Justice Department could immediately put into place a tracking system that would require every university, college, and vocational school to submit a name, an address, an enrollment status, and disciplinary action taken on each of the international students that these educational institutions sponsor. Such a database would be invaluable to law enforcement officials who may need to identify and locate a potential terrorist immediately. My second amendment would tighten the visa-waiver program by requiring that any country that participates in that program issue to its citizens within 2 years machine-readable passports that U.S. officials could scan into a ``look out'' system. This moves forward the original statutory deadline Congress agreed to last year by 4 years. This amendment would also require the State Department to regularly audit the passports of these visa-free countries to ensure that countries that participate in this program have implemented sufficient safety precautions to prevent the counterfeiting and the theft of their passports. My third amendment would require the State Department to review how it issues its visas to determine if consulate shopping is a problem, and then require the Secretary of State to take the necessary steps to correct the problem. The State Department has the legislative authority it needs to fix this problem. It is now imperative that it use that authority. My amendments are important steps toward closing down the loopholes in our immigration laws, and I look forward to working with my colleagues so that we may continue to tighten the security of national borders.

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

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I object to that.

Mr. BYRD. What is the request?

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter addressed to the Senate from the Vice President, together with two appendices, on the subject of the interaction of the Vice President's staff with the General Accounting Office.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, there is a renaissance occurring in West Virginia's Northern Panhandle. In the city of Wheeling, through the Wheeling National Heritage Area initiative, local leaders are revitalizing areas of cultural and historic significance in order to create a brighter future for their community. On August 15, I had the opportunity to attend the dedication of the latest milestone in these revitalization efforts--the Wheeling Heritage Port, which is nestled on a bank of the magnificent Ohio River. Wheeling, the Mountain State's first capital, is not only rich in natural resources, but also in history. In its beginnings, Wheeling was a small outpost that represented the westernmost point of eastern settlement in a young country. Because of its location, Wheeling became the window of the West and a gateway to the unknown. Travelers flocked to this new epicenter of commerce and transportation in pursuit of fortune and adventure. After the Civil War, Wheeling, and much of the Northern Panhandle, experienced a postwar industrial expansion that brought to the area great prosperity that would last well into the 20th century. A booming economy, combined with a natural beauty and a genteel society, ushered in an era of Victorian splendor. However, as market demands changed, Wheeling--along with most industrial regions throughout this nation and across West Virginia-- repositioned itself, transitioning from an industrial base to a more diverse, high-tech economy. While it has focused on economic development, the city also has kept an eye on preserving its rich cultural and historic areas. I have supported Wheeling's efforts to redevelop its historic downtown by winning congressional approval for legislation that established the Wheeling National Heritage Area. The mission of a heritage area is to preserve the lessons of history for future generations so that they can better lead tomorrow. The Wheeling Port is just one of the many components of the heritage area, which includes the Wheeling Visitors Center and the Artisan Center. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to assist the city of Wheeling in these initiatives, but the man who first exhibited the vision for renewal of this city was my friend, the late Harry Hamm. It was Harry, more than anyone, who recognized that Wheeling, like other industrial regions in America, would need to transform its economy. In his own words, Harry said that Wheeling would have to ``take the old, idle, and abandoned factories . . . and create in them . . . a public place where people can feel at home. . . .'' In an effort to accomplish this task, Harry laid out a plan that would promote the city's heritage and, once again, establish it as a national center of commerce and trade. Harry envisioned Wheeling as a hub of high-technology and as a new port of entry to the heartland of our country. For those of us who knew Harry, we know that he was not an unrealistic dreamer, but that he was a man who worked hard and tirelessly to propel Wheeling toward a brighter future. It was his foresight and leadership that brought about the establishment of the Wheeling National Heritage Area. Although Harry passed away several years ago, if you ever have the opportunity to travel to Wheeling, you will undoubtably see the imprint that he left on this wonderful city. Among Harry's ideas for revitalizing the downtown area of Wheeling was the resurrection of the vibrant heart of the city--the waterfront. The port once served as a main destination point for steamboats traveling down the Ohio River. Now, with its restoration complete, the port will recreate the bustle of the steamboat port that it once was. It will serve as a civic ``open space''--a community meeting place enlivened by festivals and concerts. The port's restoration is another step to ensure that Wheeling's legacy to America is preserved for generations to come. The community's efforts to embrace its cultural and historic heritage, while also investing in its future, provide us with a glimpse into the ongoing restoration and redevelopment of our nation's industrial regions. The activities undertaken in Wheeling could serve as a blueprint for post- industrial America and the communities in pursuit of a revitalized economy. As the Wheeling of old served as a guidepost in America's westward expansion, the new Wheeling can serve as a model for a 21st century economy and a 21st century community that has not forgotten its past. At the dedication of the port, Rabbi Ronald H. Bernstein-Goff of Temple Shalom and Dr. D.W. Cummings of Bethlehem Apostolic Temple, both of Wheeling, offered the invocation and the benediction, respectively. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have these prayers printed in the Record.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the Chair.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President: When I remember all The friends, so link'd together, I've seen around me fall Like leaves in wintry weather, I feel like one Who treads alone Some banquet-hall deserted, Whose lights are fled, Whose garlands dead, And all but he departed! Thus, in the stilly night, 'Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Sad Memory brings the light Of other days around me. Mr. President, in June 1970, it was my honor and privilege as the then Secretary of the Senate Democratic party conference to go to this floor and make the announcement that Senator Mike Mansfield had become the longest serving majority leader in history. Today, it is with sadness that I come to the Senate floor to speak of the passing on Friday last of Mike Mansfield, and of his service to this Chamber and to our country. Mike Mansfield personified both America and the American dream. He was born in New York City, the son of Irish immigrant parents, in 1903, the year in which the Wright Brothers made their historic flight. He was raised in his beloved Montana. When he was only 14 years of age, without completing the 8th grade, he served first in the U.S. Navy during World War I, and eventually in the Army and the Marine Corps--at that time, all of the branches of the U.S. military. After the war, he became a miner, then a mining engineer. At 30 years of age, he was finally able, with the constant help of his devoted wife Maureen, to obtain the first of several college degrees that would enable him to become a college professor of history and political science for almost a decade. In 1942, he was first elected to the U.S. Congress and served five terms in the House of Representatives. In 1952, Mike was elected to the Senate--that was the year in which I was elected to the House of Representatives--and began a remarkable quarter-of-a-century of service in this Chamber, a career that included being elected Senate majority whip in 1957. In January 1961, Senator Mansfield was elected Senate majority leader, and he served in that capacity until 1977--one of the most turbulent periods in American history. It was a time of assassinations and riots, marches and demonstrations, war and anti-war protests. Nevertheless, under his leadership--a leadership that emphasized cooperation, honor, fairness, integrity, and negotiation--and a leadership style marked by personal conviction and a loyalty to lasting principles--the Senate was a place of remarkable legislative accomplishments, including the Great Society legislation of the mid 1960's. That was one of the most productive periods of Congress in American history, and Senate Majority Leader Mansfield certainly had an important role in it. I worked shoulder to shoulder with Mike Mansfield for 10 years on this floor, where I served as secretary of the Democratic conference for 4 years and as Democratic whip for 6 years. After leaving the Senate, he continued his public career by serving as the American Ambassador to Japan under Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Bush. Mansfield's 12 years as Ambassador to Japan are the longest in history. Mike Mansfield of Montana was a man of outstanding achievements, a remarkable Senator, and an outstanding leader. Mr. President, it was on last Friday, that the pallid messenger with the inverted torch beckoned Mike Mansfield to depart this life. We can believe that he awakened to see a more glorious sunrise with unimaginable splendor of a celestial horizon, and that he yet remembers us as we remember him, for we have the consolation that has come down to us from the lips of that ancient man of Uz, whose name was Job: ``Oh that my words were written in a book and engraved with an iron pen, and lead in the rock forever, for I know that my redeemer liveth and that in the latter day he shall stand upon the earth.'' Mike Mansfield has now passed from this earthly stage and gone on to his eternal reward. The links which connect the glorious past with the present have been forever sundered. Passing away! 'Tis told by the leaf which chill autumn breeze, Tears ruthlessly its hold from wind-shaken trees; 'Tis told by the dewdrop which sparkles at morn, And when the noon cometh 'Tis gone, ever gone. I always held Mike Mansfield in the highest esteem. He was a gentleman with great courage and unwavering patriotism, a wise and courageous statesman, affable in his temperament, and regarded as one of the outstanding men in the Senate. He was both morally and intellectually honest and that is saying a great deal in these times. He was simple in his habits and devoid of all hypocrisy and deceit. There was not a deceitful cell in his body. He never resorted to the tricks of a demagog to gain favor and, although he was a partisan Democrat, he divested himself of partisanship when it came to serving the best interests of his country. May God rest his soul. The potentates on whom men gaze When once their rule has reached its goal, Die into darkness with their days. But monarchs of the mind and soul, With light unfailing, and unspent, Illumine flame's firmament. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and other great Grecian and Roman philosophers, by pure reason and logic arrived at the conclusion that there is a creating, directing, and controlling divine power, and to a belief in the immortality of the human soul. Throughout the ages, all races and all peoples have instinctively so believed. It is the basis of all religions, be they Islamic, Hebrew, Christian, or heathen. It is believed by savage tribes and by semi-civilized and civilized nations, by those who believe in many gods and by those who believe in one God. Agnostics and atheists are, and always have been, few in number. Does the spirit of man live after it has separated from the flesh? This is an age-old question. We are told in the Bible that when God created man from the dust of the ground, ``He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.'' When the serpent tempted Eve, and induced her to eat the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge, he said to her, ``ye shall not surely die.'' Scientists cannot create matter or life. They can mold and develop both, but they cannot call them into being. They are compelled to admit the truth uttered by the English poet Samuel Roberts, when he said: That very power that molds a tear And bids it trickle from its source, That power maintains the earth a sphere And guides the planets in their course. That power is one of the laws--one of the immutable laws of God, put into force at the creation of the universe. From the beginning of recorded time to the present day, most scientists have believed in a divine creator although I read not too long ago that only about 40 percent of the scientists in this country believe in a creator. I have often asked a physician: Doctor, with your knowledge of the marvelous intricacies of the human body and mind, do you believe that there is a God, a Creator? Not one physician has ever answered, ``No.'' Each has answered, readily and without hesitation, ``Yes.'' Some may have doubted some of the tenets of the theology of orthodoxy, but they do not deny the existence of a creator. Science is the handmaiden of true religion, and confirms our belief in the Creator and in immortality. It was William Jennings Bryan who said: If the Father deigns to touch with divine power the cold and pulseless heart of the buried acorn and to make it burst forth from its prison walls, will He leave neglected in the earth the soul of man made in the image of his Creator? As an aside let me say that I always grow a few tomatoes--about four vines. This year I planted four vines, and I had more than 400 tomatoes off those four vines. Sometimes I plant the Early Girl, sometimes I plant Big Boy or Better Boy. I grow enough tomatoes to furnish my wife and myself, also to supply our older daughter and her husband. Our grandsons and our granddaughters and their spouses live farther away, but sometimes they have some tomatoes for them. Whoever plants a seed beneath the sod And waits to see it break away the clod Believes in God. As Longfellow said: It is not all of life to live, nor all of death to die. Rather, as he says: There is no death! What seems so is transition; This life of mortal breath Is but a suburb of the life Elysian, Whose portal we call death. Life is but a narrow isthmus between the boundless oceans of two eternities. All of us who travel that narrow isthmus today, must one day board our little frail barque and hoist its white sails for the journey on that vast unknown sea where we shall sail alone into the boundless ocean of eternity, there to meet our Creator face to face in a land where the roses never wither and the rainbow never fades. Mike Mansfield has gone on to meet his pilot face to face. He was 98. I am but 84--within 42 days I will reach my 84th birthday. And it won't be long until I, too--and then so will you, and so will you--meet our pilot face to face. Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me And may there be no moaning of the bar When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for some and foam, When that which came from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell And after that the dark, And may there be no sadness of farewell When I embark, For though from out our borne of time and place, The flood may bear me far I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crost the bar. To that borne, from which no traveller ever returns, Mike Mansfield has now gone to be reunited with his wife Maureen and others who once trod these marble halls, and whose voices once rang in this Chamber. I can hear them yet: Hubert Humphrey, Paul Douglas, Allen Ellender, Richard B. Russell--who sat at this desk--George Aiken, Everett Dirksen, Norris Cotton, ``Scoop'' Jackson--their voices in this earthly life have now been forever stilled. Mike Mansfield has crossed the Great Divide. Of that illustrious man who sat in this Chamber when he and I were young Senators, only Strom Thurmond and I remain here today. They are drifting away, these friends of old Like leaves on the current cast; With never a break in their rapid flow We count them, as one by one they go Into the Dreamland of the Past. Erma and I extend our condolences to Mike's daughter, Ann, and to others of his family. May his soul rest in peace. Madam President, I yield the floor.

Mr. BYRD

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, this morning I have come to the Senate floor to talk about our late friend and Senate majority leader, Mike Mansfield. But before I do, I shall take a moment to recognize the efforts of the men and women of our Armed Forces who have undertaken a dangerous mission in the past few days. They are fighting to protect our Nation's interests and its security. They are working to ensure the freedom of others across the globe, never wavering in their duty. Throughout America's history, our sons and daughters have always been ready to answer that call to duty. In particular, West Virginians have a proud and enviable record of service to our country in perilous times of war and conflict. This time is no different; mountaineers once again are playing an important role in the defense of our country. Our soldiers, sailors, and airmen are now engaged in what could be a long battle. In locales stretched around the world, they will put themselves in harm's way. They will fight to protect our freedoms and the freedoms of people around the world. We in the Senate and House of Representatives will make sure they have the resources they need in order to be successful, but until their return home they and their families will be in our thoughts and prayers. May God watch over them and bring them home safely in the end.