Saxby Chambliss

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. I am pleased to yield such time as she may consume to my good friend from Arkansas, Senator Lincoln.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. I thank the Senator from Oklahoma. Mr. President, I say, very quickly, I have been sitting here listening to this debate with real interest. My friend from North Dakota, who always makes good, strong, passionate arguments, first, fails to respond to the Democratic spendometer. All of those are Democratic amendments. Every one of them spends exactly the amount of money the Senator from Oklahoma said it spends. It is half a billion dollars that would have been added to the deficit had Republicans not defeated those amendments. Secondly, I would say, I guess I get lost in this verbiage sometimes, but here we are, this week, for the first time in 8 years, addressing the issue of spending and trying to reduce spending that has already been committed. It has been a very difficult exercise. As the Senator from North Dakota knows, who serves on the committee I chair, we had a difficult time in the Agriculture Committee coming up with some reasonable reductions in spending. Of course, while he did not vote for any of those reductions in spending, which is going to help the deficit, some Democrats did. At the end of the day, we are going to save $70 billion. We are going to reduce mandatory spending by $70 billion. So I think the Senator from North Dakota has made the argument for the amendment the Senator from Oklahoma has authored by saying if we are serious about cutting spending, let's cut spending. This amendment is going to hold our feet to the fire. This amendment in and of itself does not reduce spending. But the Senator from North Dakota is right; no, it freezes spending. It says we are not going to spend any more money. But if two-thirds of the Members of the Senate say it is OK to spend it, then we will increase spending over the previous year. That is a pretty dadgum good thought and a novel thought, and I applaud the Senator from Oklahoma for coming up with that. Because if two-thirds of us agree we ought to spend more money, it is probably the right thing to do. But if two-thirds of us do not agree to do it, then it is probably not the right thing to do. So I think the Senator from North Dakota makes the argument for the amendment of the Senator from Oklahoma. I urge an affirmative vote on it at the appropriate time. Mr. GRASSLEY addressed the floor.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 276, which was received from the House.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to this amendment. While I agree with the need to continue to fight AIDS, the program to which this money is transferred----

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, the fund to which Senator Coburn seeks to transfer this money is already funded in this bill to the tune of almost $800 million. It is not as if we are ignoring the very noble issue he is seeking to improve, but the fact is that we embarked on a multiyear plan at the CDC to improve the quality of the buildings where our most sophisticated and important researchers and scientists work on critical issues. It is imperative that we continue with this plan. I yield to my friend from Georgia for the remainder of the time.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the amendment of my good friend from Oklahoma. He and I were elected to the House together and we fought many battles over there, not unlike what he has brought to the Senate, and I wound up voting with him a number of times. But in this case I must oppose him, mainly because I think he has the facts wrong. I want to say to the chairman and ranking member, since my days on the House side when I had to go to the then-chairman of the Appropriations Committee over there, who has jurisdiction of CDC, after I would talk with him I would come over here and visit with Senators because this has been such an important project that we have embarked on. Both Senator Specter and Senator Harkin have been very supportive of the work down at CDC, not just the construction program, which I want to talk a little bit about but also of the ongoing work down there. Nobody, even my friend from Oklahoma, would disagree that the work being done at CDC is unparalleled anywhere else in the world. Were it not for the great support of Senator Harkin and Senator Specter, I am not sure we would be in this position today. I can only emphasize how important that work is by telling the American people, as we talk about this issue and talk about CDC, that on September 11, after the terrorists struck New York City, there were two planes that were authorized to be in the air. One was Air Force One. The other was an airplane commissioned by the CDC to carry CDC medical workers to New York City. That is how important a priority it is in our country. That is why it is important that we make sure the employees at CDC have the availability of working in first-class facilities. Most of the laboratory facilities at the Chamblee, GA location of CDC are in a state of extreme disrepair and require immediate repair or modernization. Perhaps the laboratories in the worst condition are 60- year-old wooden former temporary military barracks from the World War II era and previous to that, that are on the verge of collapse and could be repaired only at an expense greater than the value of the facilities. I want to show you a couple of examples of what it looks like at the CDC if we take money away from the CDC building program to put it towards the ADAP program, as this amendment calls for. These are some of the facilities that will go lacking and the construction project will be delayed for the buildings which will house these facilities. Here is a main environmental health lab at Chamblee, in a World War II barrack. If you will notice, there appears to be a shield of some sort here. This shows the roof above this shield that extends all the way up to the roof. The reason it is there is because there is a leak in the roof. When the water comes through, it leaks into this funnel, which is this shield, and you will see a pipe connected to that shield and it takes the water to the outside. Here is a typical infectious disease lab at the Roybal Campus adjacent to Emory University. This shows not just the crowded conditions in which the most sophisticated scientists in the world operate, but it also shows you it is not adequate for the type of work that needs to be carried out to prevent every kind of infectious disease that exists in the world today. That is because the CDC is not called on by simply other States in America; it is called on by every country around the world when illness occurs. This is a pretty typical facility. These are not facilities that have been replaced. These are facilities that exist today. A quick personal anecdote. I will never forget the first time I went to the Chamblee campus a few years before we embarked on this building program. I walked into what then was a World War II barrack. It now has been replaced. There was a shower curtain, and it wasn't one of those $540 shower curtains. This had been purchased by the individual scientist working in that building. That shower curtain was put over a piece of equipment and it was about 5 feet, I guess, above the equipment itself. When I asked what that was for, they pointed to a hole in the roof and said, The roof leaks and there is nothing we can do about it. Here we have a piece of equipment worth about $1.5 million that sits right under there. It has to be there because of the design of the lab inside the building. That shower curtain was purchased by the individual scientist to make sure that not only the equipment was not damaged but, obviously, that the working papers on that scientist's desk were not destroyed by water coming in and leaking on it. But we have since torn that building down and we have replaced it. Expensive and sensitive equipment has literally fallen through the floors at some of these facilities. In addition, most of the remainder of the CDC's laboratories are more than 40 years old and are incapable of handling the dangerous viruses encountered over the last 25 years, such as Ebola virus, hantavirus, and Dengue fever. This raises concerns that these facilities will be severely outmatched in the future by undiscovered biological threats, which we have most recently experienced with the threat of anthrax in the past years, and the disasters that occurred on September 11. The Asian bird flu or any other highly pathogenic avian influenza is currently an issue for agricultural health and animal disease experts, but should this virus mutate to allow for human-to-human transfer, the control and efforts to limit its spread will fall squarely under the purview of the very entity that this amendment would seek to cut, the CDC. The three prongs critical to managing an animal-borne pandemic--DHS, CDC, and USDA--must all be equipped with the necessary resources to effectively address potential outbreaks in a timely and efficient manner. This amendment will jeopardize a critical element in this effort. During the 1997 Hong Kong avian flu outbreak, CDC was forced to create emergency laboratory space by displacing researchers working on other diseases. With additional funding, CDC will be much better prepared to respond to such emergencies as a terrorist attack using smallpox virus, anthrax, a worldwide flu pandemic or a large-scale exposure to deadly toxic chemicals. A delayed or slow response from CDC may increase public panic or anxiety in an emergency situation and cost human lives. One of today's most serious potential threats to our national security is bioterrorism. The CDC is an integral part of the homeland defense because of its ability to identify, classify, and recommend courses of action in dealing with biological and chemical threats. The CDC master plan will address the current and future needs for surge capacity for responding to large public health emergencies. In addition to working in asbestos-laden facilities, many highly trained scientists perform their research in facilities that lack safety features, such as sprinkler systems and adequate electric and airflow systems. The poor conditions of the facilities have damaged the Agency's ability to recruit and retain the world-class scientists upon which CDC relies to serve the American public. The multiyear master plan has received wide bipartisan support in the House and Senate. In the past, addressing these deficiencies has greatly benefited all Americans by enhancing CDC's ability to respond to emergencies as well as providing the desperately needed facilities required for the day-to-day public health and research activities. The fiscal year 2006 funding will continue to substantially enhance the CDC's ability to build the new infectious disease laboratory, which will include greatly needed biosafety level 4 ``hot lab'' construction of a new environmental toxicology lab and greatly needed security updates. Let me tell you about the master plan to which I referred a couple of times. Back in 2001, probably at about the time Senator Specter said he went to CDC--and I am sure Senator Harkin was there about that time--they observed the condition of the facilities at CDC, both at the Chamblee Campus, as well as the Roybal Campus. Those buildings were in total disrepair, and in bad need of replacement. Again, the examples which I alluded to, the personal anecdote as well as what I have shown in pictures, still exist, particularly throughout the Chamblee Campus. Under the leadership then of Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, and subsequently under Dr. Gerberding, the CDC developed a master building plan. What they did was unique to any governmental agency that I have ever engaged with since I have been in Congress for 11 years now; that is, they went out and had an architect draw a master plan for a specific set of buildings. It involves a number of buildings where we are going to consolidate laboratories as we tear down these World War II barracks. That master plan not only had the buildings drawn, but they also went further than this and had the plans and specifications themselves sent out for bid. And they now have a contract on each one of these buildings. That is the master plan. Originally, we were scheduled to complete that $15 billion master plan over 10 years. Senator Isakson, who was then a Member of the House, and myself, along with our entire delegation, in a bipartisan fashion, came to our leadership in the House and to the leadership in the Senate and said, rather than doing this over 10 years following September 11, we need to consolidate this to five years and let our scientists have the ability to do a better job in a first-class facility. So we decided to go with a 5-year plan as opposed to a 10-year plan. Each year, we have asked for $300 million to try to complete that plan. We have been successful for a number of years in getting $250 million. I have to say that every year--the Senator from Oklahoma is right-- the budget that comes over from the President is very low because they know we are going to plus-up that amount of money; we have done it every year because we need the facilities. Every year we have had $250 million, beginning with fiscal year 2002. In 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005, we funded $250 million for CDC in Atlanta, to speed up this master plan. This year, because of the tight budget conditions that we are in, Senator Specter and Senator Harkin allocated $200 million instead of $250 million for this master plan. Let me respond very quickly to this Japanese garden issue. I will tell you what the Japanese garden is. In parts of Georgia, if you drill a hole in the ground when building, you sometimes hit granite rock. In this case, part of the area on the Roybal Campus where we are carrying out the master plan, there is rock under the surface. It was necessary to blast that rock out. When they blasted the rock out, instead of hauling that rock off, Dr. Gerberding said, Let's take that and develop an area for our employees to utilize during the day, to exercise, as Senator Harkin referred to, and go out and eat lunch. I guess what we have out there is a gardedn of some sort that must have a Japanese ``tinge'' to it, and that is why it is referred to as ``the Japanese garden.'' It looked to me like a nice place where employees could go out in the open air and have lunch. I have seen them out there doing this. I am going to let Senator Isakson address a couple of other specific items that have been suggested as being somewhat wasteful spending. They are hard-working, dedicated employees. If we are going to continue to recruit the very finest that the world has to offer, we ought to at least be able to spend a little bit of money and take advantage of the contours of the land to give them a nice place to go out and sit on their break and at lunchtime. I sympathize with the Senator from Oklahoma when he says that we need to continue spending money on the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. We have responded to that in the Congress. We have maintained a level amount of spending for CDC in Atlanta, for the completion of our master plan over the last 5 years. The ADAP appropriations for 2001 was $589 million. In 2002, that rose to $639 million; then $714 million; then $748 million; and in the 2005 appropriations, it was $793 million. In 2006, we expect $797.5 million. It is not like we haven't been increasing the funding for ADAP. We have, and we need to continue to do so, but not at the expense of providing the most premier medical scientists and researchers in the world with a facility within which to work. I urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment. Again, I say to Senator Specter and Senator Harkin that under their leadership, we do have the most premier medical research facility in the world located in Atlanta, GA, today, and we need to continue to provide the funding for this master plan, which we will now complete in another couple of years. We should be able to continue to attract the very finest and best that the world has to offer. We also need to ensure that Americans are safe, when the avian flu presents a threat, that our scientists are able to respond, as they are doing today, and that they have the habitat within which to work, allowing them to do the very best job they can do to protect Americans and to protect the world from the health hazards that exist. I yield the floor.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, it is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that my wife Julianne and I learned of the passing of Mrs. Rosa Parks. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Parks family at this sorrowful time. Mrs. Rosa Parks, ``The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement,'' is an international symbol of freedom. She stood for what she believed in, and changed our Nation's history. Her act of courage inspired so many during the civil rights movement and continues to inspire people today. Rosa Parks sat quietly on a bus in Montgomery, AL 50 years ago, and refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Because of the nonviolent protest that Mrs. Parks displayed on December 1, 1955 our entire Nation turned its attention to the gross indecencies that were affecting the black community. Her solitary action set into play the revolutionary 381-day bus boycott that was organized by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. At the time not many Americans had heard of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. His protest and monumental following brought about the November 1956 Supreme Court Ruling that segregation on transportation is illegal, and in 1964 the Civil Rights Act, which outlawed racial discrimination in the U.S. Rosa Parks attended Alabama State College, and upon graduation worked as a seamstress and housekeeper. She and her husband, Raymond Parks, were active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP. In 1943 Mrs. Parks was elected Secretary of the Montgomery Chapter of the NAACP, and later became its youth leader. She was also involved in the Montgomery Voters League, an organization that helped black citizens become registered to vote. Rosa Parks continued to set an example for our Nation in 1987 when she founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. The Institute teaches young people the history of the civil rights movement through an annual summer program called ``Pathways to Freedom.'' Rosa Parks was one of the most significant figures in the 20th century, and appropriately received hundreds of awards and honors, including the Medal of Freedom Award, presented by President Clinton in 1996. Mrs. Parks will be deeply missed, and her legacy will forever be remembered.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Mrs. Cora Gay, a resident of Albany, GA, who passed away on September 25, 2005. Mrs. Gay was a devoted wife and mother who touched many lives with her positive and compassionate personality. She married the love of her life, Quincy Gay, on December 1, 1929, and they celebrated their 75th anniversary this past December. During their marriage, they raised three sons and a daughter. They also have 17 grandchildren, 18 great- grandchildren, and 2 great-great- grandchildren. Mrs. Gay graduated from Albany State University in 1948 with a degree in elementary education. She then spent the next 25 years of her career inspiring and bringing out the best in her students in the Miller and Dougherty County school systems. She was a member of many organizations while teaching, including: Dougherty County Teachers League; president of the Dougherty County 2nd Grade Educators; Georgia Association of Educators; National Education Association; Association of Classroom Teachers and the National Council of English Teachers. In 1962, she was named ``River Road Elementary Teacher of the Year'' and was named as an ``Outstanding Elementary Teacher of America'' in 1972. She retired from teaching in 1973 and had a youth award named after her in 1991. Cora's passions were cooking, sewing, reading, playing scrabble, and helping others. She was always there to provide comfort and strength to members of her family and others in her community when they were in need. On September 25 we lost a truly fine Georgian and great American. I commend her to her family, friends, and colleagues as an example of a life fully and successfully lived.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I want to voice my support for amendment No. 2062 offered by my good friend Jon Kyl, to revoke the scheduled 1.9 percent salary increase for Members of Congress. As a cosponsor of this amendment, I believe that at this point in time it is not fiscally responsible or appropriate for Members of Congress to increase our pay. The Federal Government is currently running a $7.9 trillion budget deficit. I do not believe that it is in the best interest of the United States or the American taxpayers for Members of Congress to vote in favor of a congressional pay raise. The annual cost of living adjustment for Members of Congress is determined by a formula which automatically takes effect unless Congress prohibits or revises it, which is what I hope my colleagues and I will accomplish today. Under the annual Member pay adjustment procedure, Members are scheduled to receive a 1.9-percent increase in January 2006. With the growing national debt, skyrocketing budget deficit, and increased Federal expenditures expected as a result of the hurricanes this year, it is essential that we exercise fiscal restraint and avoid unnecessary and wasteful spending. We should first start with ourselves and set an example for others to follow. I have been and remain a strong a proponent of smaller government, a balanced Federal budget, and lower taxes. Today, I am in my home State of Georgia with the Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, working to develop and promote new technologies which will increase agricultural production and expand job growth. For this reason, I am unable to be present for the vote. I encourage my colleagues to seize this opportunity and demonstrate personal leadership in bringing the Federal budget deficit and spending back under control by supporting this amendment. I have consistently opposed a pay raise for Members of Congress throughout my tenure in Congress and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I would like to recognize National Payroll Week, which was designated by the American Payroll Association as the week of September 5-9, 2005. This week signified an important effort to recognize the over 156 million working Americans and the payroll professionals who support the American economy by paying wages, reporting worker earnings, and withholding Federal employment taxes. Together, this hard working group of Americans contributes, collects, reports, and deposits approximately $1.4 trillion, or 71 percent, of the annual revenue of the U.S. Treasury. Payroll professionals continue to play a key role in maintaining the economic health of the United States by carrying out such diverse tasks as paying into the unemployment insurance system, providing information for child support enforcement, and carrying out tax withholding, reporting, and depositing. Payroll professionals also work with Federal and State tax officials to make the tax system more efficient and to improve compliance. National Payroll Week celebrated the contributions of American workers and payroll professionals and the intricate role they play in our economy and everyday lives.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, today I rise to report on a development by the American Beverage Association, ABA, and its members who have adopted a new policy aimed at helping parents and schools to promote healthy lifestyles for our Nation's students. Recently, the association's board of directors established new school vending policies for its members. The purpose was to help parents, teachers, and children in the school environment make good lifestyle choices by providing appropriate beverage choices for each grade level. Childhood obesity is a problem facing society, and I believe that responsibility for achieving healthy lifestyles is shared by everyone, including parents, communities, schools, government, and industry. Under the new ABA policy, the beverage industry will provide the following: One, only bottled water and 100 percent juice to elementary school students; two, nutritious and/or lower calorie beverages to middle school students, such as bottled water, 100 percent juice, sports drinks, no-calorie and low-calorie soft drinks and low-calorie juice drinks--no full-calorie soft drinks or full-calorie juice drinks with 5 percent or less juice will be provided to middle school students until after school hours; and three, a variety of beverage choices to high school students, such as bottled water, 100 percent juice, sports drinks, and juice drinks. No more than 50 percent of the vending selections made available to high school students will be soft drinks. This new policy complements the work the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry completed in the 108th Congress with the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004. Under the act, local school districts were directed to develop wellness policies, address physical activity and nutrition education, and implement nutrition standards for all food sold on campus. The ABA's new vending policy is timely and welcomed, and can serve as a key component for the development of local wellness policies by helping set important nutrition standards for our students. Mr. President, I would like to recognize the American Beverage Association and its members for being part of a solution in achieving healthy lifestyles and in fighting childhood obesity. This commonsense policy does not unfairly single out individual foods or beverages through wholesale bans, but instead provides a reasonable balance in vending choices and complements the industry's school-based physical activity programs. I commend The Coca-Cola Company in my home State of Georgia, and the entire beverage industry for its leadership on this issue and for its commitment to making a substantial and positive impact on the well- being of our students.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr President, I rise today in favor of the amendment I am offering to H.R. 2863 that will establish pilot projects regarding pediatric early literacy on military installations. Reach Out and Read, ROR, is a program that trains doctors and nurses to advise parents about the importance of reading aloud to their children. The program provides books for all children from the age of 6 months to 5 years receiving a check up at participating pediatric centers. From the start, the purpose of ROR was to encourage parents to read to their children and provide them with the tools to do so. This premise is the basis for the ROR model utilized by 2,337 program sites across the United States today. Currently, the program sites are all located at clinics, hospitals, office practices and other primary care sites serving more than 2 million children distributing more than 3.2 million books annually. While I am pleased that the program has a strong presence in Georgia, with over forty participating sites, I am also aware that none of the participating sites are on any of our thirteen military installations. It is important that the children growing up on our Nation's military installations are allowed the option to participate in the same federally funded programs that are offered to non-military families and children. Initially, Reach Out and Read began as a collaboration between pediatricians and early childhood educators. By working together, these two groups found that pediatricians and nurse practitioners were in a unique position to promote early literacy because they enjoyed and had regular contact with young children and their parents through well-child check-ups. Reach Out and Read builds on the unique relationships between medical providers and parents, and helps families and communities encourage early literacy skills so that children will enter school better prepared for success in reading. ROR plans to launch 300 new program sites per year for the next 5 years, which will double the number of children receiving books and guidance. My amendment will establish Reach Out and Read pilot programs on a limited number of military bases across the country. I ask for support of this amendment.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate passed S.1752, a bill to reauthorize the U.S. Grain Standards Act. I understand that the House of Representatives is scheduled to consider this legislation today and look forward to its swift approval, as the act expires September 30, 2005. This reauthorization bill is identical to the administration's requested language provided to the committee earlier this year, a simple 10-year extension of current law. The Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held a hearing to review the U.S. Grain Standards Act on May 25, 2005. Testimony provided on behalf of the National Grain and Feed Association and the North American Export Grain Association highlighted industry's desire to be cost-competitive and remain viable for bulk exports of U.S. grains and oilseeds in the future. Specifically, these organizations proposed the U.S. Department of Agriculture's, USDA, utilization of third-party entities to provide inspection and weighing activities at export facilities with 100-percent USDA oversight using USDA-approved standards and procedures. Support for this proposal in the hearing was provided by the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Corn Growers Association, National Grain Sorghum Producers, and the American Association of Grain Inspection and Weighing Agencies. Testimony provided by USDA stated that the ``proposal of the industry establishes a framework for changing the delivery of services without compromising the integrity of the official system.'' During the hearing, the Committee also learned of workforce challenges currently facing the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, GIPSA. The majority of official grain inspectors will be eligible for retirement over the next several years. Testimony presented explained that transitioning the delivery of services through attrition would minimize the impact on Federal employees. Since the hearing, I have extensively reviewed legislative proposals and discussed the issue of improved competitiveness with various Senators, organizations, and USDA. Chairman Bob Goodlatte of the House Agriculture Committee and I wrote to USDA to determine if they had existing authority to use private entities at export port locations for grain inspection and weighing services, and if they did, how they would implement this authority. Accompanying this statement is a copy of the letter we received from USDA responding to our questions. The letter clearly states that the U.S. Grain Standards Act ``currently authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to contract with private persons or entities for the performance of inspection and weighing services at export port locations.'' The letter further explains that GIPSA considers the use of this authority as an option to address future attrition within the Agency and to address expanded service demand. I fully expect USDA to use this authority in a manner that improves competitiveness of the U.S. grain industry, that maintains the integrity of the Federal grain inspection system, and that provides benefits to employees who may be impacted. The committee greatly appreciates the work provided by GIPSA, and we are pleased to extend the authorization of current law for 10 years. I ask unanimous consent that the letter to which I referred be printed in the Record.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. I ask unanimous consent that the time be extended until the end of my statement.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise in support of the nomination of John G. Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United States. By his nomination of Judge Roberts to be Chief Justice, President Bush has not only fulfilled his constitutional responsibility but he has demonstrated sound judgment and great wisdom by this nomination. In bipartisan fashion, our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee have similarly demonstrated such judgment and wisdom in recommending that we consent to that nomination. I urge my colleagues to follow the committee's recommendation. Judge Roberts is an able jurist, a decent man, and he should be the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Both by his professional career and his answers to questions during the committee's consideration of his nomination, Judge Roberts has demonstrated his unwavering fidelity to the Constitution and commitment to the rule of law. ``The rule of law'' is a phrase often used in public discourse. It trips easily off the tongue. Too often, it seems, we recite it with a banality that comes with the assumption that it is self-evident and self-executing. It is neither. Jefferson wisely taught that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. So, too, the rule of law requires both vigilance and continuous oversight. Far beyond fulfilling the constitutional responsibilities of this body, the confirmation process involving Judge Roberts has served as an essential reminder of the constitutional role of judges and the judiciary under our Republican form of government. At a time when too many of those in the judicial branch have sought to use their lifetime- tenured position to advance their own personal ideological or political preferences in deciding matters which come before them, at a time when too many within the legal, media, and political elites have sought to recast the role of the judiciary into a superlegislature, approving of and even urging judges to supplant their views for those of the elected representatives of the American people, Judge Roberts has served to remind us that such actions and such views are anticonstitutional and contrary to the rule of law itself. The American people have listened to Judge Roberts in this regard. They like what they have heard because it rings true with what we all learned but some have forgotten, from high school civics class and what we profess in doctrines of separation of powers among the branches of our Federal Government. Let me repeat some of what Judge Roberts has said: Judges and Justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are not to legislate, they're not to execute the laws. Judges need to appreciate that the legitimacy of their action is confined to interpreting the law and not making it. Judges are not individuals promoting their own particular views, but they are supposed to be doing their best to interpret the law, to interpret the Constitution, according to the rule of law, not their own preferences, not their own personal beliefs. These are simple but profound statements. They go to the heart of our constitutional system and what we mean by the rule of law. As Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts will not only serve as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court but he will also serve as the leader of the entire Federal judiciary, setting the standards, showing the way, and speaking for an entire branch of our Federal Government. Every judge in our Federal system and every person who aspires to join its ranks at some future date should hear and receive Judge Roberts' words and seek to follow them with fidelity. A lot is riding on their willingness to do so. Judicial independence is another phrase bantered about of late by judges and others who feel threatened by legitimate congressional oversight of the judiciary. Judicial independence does not exist to shield judges from congressional and public scrutiny from improper judicial actions. Judicial independence does not shield judges from the inquiry of impeachment and removal from office for lawless actions on the bench. Federal judges, appointed for life, subject to removal only upon impeachment, are afforded this extraordinary power precisely to permit them to follow the law, even when following the law may be politically unpopular. Describing his own fidelity to the Constitution and to the rule of law, Judge Roberts told the Judiciary Committee: As a judge I have no agenda. I have a guide in the Constitution and the laws and the precedents of the Court, and those are what I would apply with an open mind, after fully and fairly considering the arguments and assessing the considered views of my colleagues on the bench. We should confirm Judge Roberts not merely because he said that; we should confirm him because he has lived it. We can ask no more of our judges but we must ask no less. Let this be the standard we apply to this nominee and to future nominees, both to the Supreme Court and to lower courts. I urge my colleagues to confirm the President's nomination of Judge John G. Roberts as Chief Justice of the United States. I yield the floor.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that privilege of the floor be granted to Jay Apperson for the duration of the debate on the nomination of Judge Roberts.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

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

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise to express my heartfelt sympathy for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been impacted and displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Many people will feel the effects of a natural disaster of this magnitude for years. My thoughts and prayers are certainly with them all. There have been an awful lot of negative publicity and stories surrounding this natural disaster. But there also have been a number of positive activities that have taken place leading up to Katrina's arrival, during the storm itself, as well as in the aftermath. I would like to share some of those stories. Since Katrina made landfall on August 29, 2005, public and private agencies have worked closely together to survey the damage to Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. The hurricane affected the Port of New Orleans and the ports along the gulf coast and grain facilities along the Mississippi River. Reports estimate that the total damage to the Port of New Orleans is approximately $1.6 billion, including damage to two bridges and a lock. The Port of New Orleans is an economic asset to the City of New Orleans, contributing approximately $88 million to the city's economy and $1.6 billion to the statewide economy of Louisiana in the year 2001 alone. According to the New Orleans Customs District, for the period October 2004 through June 2005, an 8-month period, the dollar value of exports for bulk agricultural products is almost $1 billion going through New Orleans. This is almost half of the bulk product, by value, exported from the United States every year. In 2004, bulk amount was $25.6 billion. As many of my colleagues are aware, transportation on the Mississippi River is very important to our Nation's farmers and is critical to keeping U.S. agriculture positioned and able to serve U.S. markets for grain, oilseeds, and grain products shipped from New Orleans. The Mississippi gulf typically is responsible for about 71 percent of corn, 65 percent of soybeans, and 22 percent of wheat exports. This system is one of the most important elements in keeping U.S. grains and oilseeds, particularly corn and soybeans, as well as several other U.S. agriculture products, competitive in the world markets. Of the 50.2 million metric tons exported from U.S. ports thus far in 2005, 29.7 million metric tons or 59 percent was exported from the Mississippi gulf. Export elevators in the Mississippi gulf region range in storage capacities from 2 million to more than 7 million bushels each. These facilities have a rated vessel loading capacity generally ranging from 60,000 to 100,000 bushels per hour. As chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, my staff has been in touch with all of the major U.S. grain exporters following Katrina's aftermath moving north. The grain export industry and the industry's supporting transportation infrastructure affected by this disaster committed early on to resume operations as soon as possible. Through continued perseverance, the National Grain and Feed Association, NGFA, and the North American Export Grain Association, NAEGA, which represents those business that handle 70 percent of the U.S. grain and oilseed crop, have prioritized the recovery operations of the grain export infrastructure in this region. Due to the accomplishments of the private sector, as of today, the grain export elevators are operating at a storage capacity in excess of 84 percent in New Orleans. Moreover, the Federal agencies, especially the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard, have made this possible because of the cooperation between the private sector and the lessees of the port facilities, such as Cargill and ADM and other grain brokerage companies. Grain exporters, allied industries, and multiple U.S., State and local government entities continue to work around the clock under very challenging conditions to restore operations on the Mississippi River and the affected region. While normal operating conditions at these facilities are not fully restored, many of the obstacles are being addressed successfully to have them operate at full capacity. A common challenge for every company is making sure enough workers can reach their facilities and have a warm bed and a hot meal. Elevator workers, port workers, and USDA grain inspectors were displaced by the hurricane's extensive damage or complete destruction to their homes-- and they also obeyed evacuation instructions. All of these people need housing and the appropriate infrastructure in order to be able to return to work. As the companies secure adequate housing and living quarters for the employees and their families, the employees of the industry, the Port of New Orleans and other gulf coast ports can more quickly get back to work to ensure U.S. agriculture continues feeding the world. This is at a point in time during the harvest of grains in the Midwest where we are at our peak, and it is such a critical factor, not just for the city of New Orleans but for all of our grain producers in the Midwest that put their grain on barges, ship them down the Mississippi River to the Port of New Orleans and other gulf coast facilities. The private sector, the Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Coast Guard are diligently working to restore the gulf coast ports to full capacity in a timely manner. Congress will continue to provide these agencies the resources and the private sector the ability they need to do so. I am confident that the United States will continue to be a reliable supplier to the international community of grain. I commend the tireless efforts of the U.S. Government agencies, NAEGA, NGFA, and the companies involved in resuming operations of the Port of New Orleans, the ports along the gulf coast and grain facilities along the Mississippi River. There continue to be many great stories of other individuals and companies contributing and sacrificing time, money, and even their safety to help the victims of Katrina. In my home State of Georgia, many folks are volunteering in evacuee shelters, contributing food, clothes, and money. Some are even housing evacuees. Companies and their employees are joining the effort as well. The marquee company of my home State is Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola, its bottlers, and their employees are doing their part to assist the victims of Katrina. Coca-Cola had its incident management team in place prior to the storm making land to coordinate its response to Hurricane Katrina. With a number of facilities damaged or without electricity in the affected area, Coca-Cola and its bottlers immediately began producing water and an assortment of beverages from other plants for donation to FEMA and other relief agencies, even as they attempted to reach employees in the affected areas. Running short of bottles and cans to deliver water and juice for children, Coca-Cola employees modified 2.5-gallon containers, which are normally used for syrup in restaurant fountain dispensers, and converted them to hold various beverages for shipment to emergency shelters at the Astrodome and other places in and around the affected area. To date, Coca-Cola and its bottling partners have shipped more than 30 million containers of filtered water, juice, sport drinks, and other beverages to relief organizations, including the American Red Cross, Department of Defense, FEMA and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and food service partners such as Aramark. The Coca-Cola company and the Coca-Cola Bottlers Association committed $5 million to Hurricane Katrina relief. A major portion of the donations went to the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, with $2 million being set aside to aid displaced Coca-Cola employees. Because of Georgia's experience in disasters and because of the expertise in mobile medical centers, Ben Hinson, the owner of Mid Georgia Ambulance Company was asked by the State of Louisiana to coordinate all ambulance and paramedic services coming into the State. Within 2 days of Hurricane Katrina making landfall, Ben was on the ground delivering medical services and coordinating response teams from all over the country. His company along with other Georgia ambulance services would eventually send 20 ambulances and 50 paramedic crews to help in the relief efforts. Ben and his son, Shay, now manage over 600 paramedics and nearly 400 ambulances, a number that is growing every day as more States and localities continue to mobilize. Mid Georgia Ambulance is also working side by side with Navy medical teams in St. Barnard Parish providing triage and primary medical care to survivors. Home Depot is another company which is passionate about helping its neighbors and communities during times of need. Home Depot responded with unwavering support to help Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida residents recover from this catastrophe. One of Home Depot's policies during such emergencies is to freeze prices on all hurricane commodities to assure that no price gouging can take place. Home Depot also established a 24-7 hurricane command center to support efforts to restore operations in the field. Home Depot relocated 950 associates to work in affected stores while impacted associates focus on the needs of their families and homes. They raised credit limits on its consumer credit cards and extended special offers to customers in the affected areas. They dispatched Loss Prevention personnel and uniformed guards to ensure the safety of customers and associates in affected and surrounding stores and temporary support centers. The Home Depot understands that its employees are the most important company asset and many were disaster victims themselves. To create a support network for short-term financial assistance to help ensure the safety of each associate and their families, Home Depot provided more than $1.2 million through 1,350 grants to workers impacted by Hurricane Katrina. They also set up a toll-free disaster assistance line for affected associates. The hotline helps associates find temporary housing, provides transfers to other store locations and contacts mortgage and credit card companies to temporarily suspend payments, among other services. The Home Depot has donated $1.5 million to support immediate relief and recovery efforts by relief organizations including $400,000 to the American Red Cross and Salvation Army, and $600,000 to support long- term rebuilding and volunteerism efforts. The Home Depot Foundation donated $500,000 to community development organizations that rebuild low- to moderate-income housing in affected areas. With the help of its vendor partners, the Home Depot has provided and shipped nearly $1.25 million in in-kind product donations including generators, gloves, flashlights and batteries, floodlights, food, cleaning supplies and linens. This effort by Home Depot will continue until the cleanup process is completed. Georgia's own Center for Disease Control has directed much of its resources toward providing both immediate help to the victims' day-to- day health needs, as well as the long-term difficulties of containing the spread of disease and infection. CDC positioned personnel on the ground in Louisiana prior to the storm making land. Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC Director, has asked the CDC Foundation to activate its Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, created after 9/ 11 to provide flexible and immediate resources for CDC to use in a public health emergency. Dr. Gerberding has also activated the CDC state-of-the-art Bernie Marcus Emergency Operations Center to support the Department of Health and Human Services as a coordinating hub for the hurricane response. Public health scientists, relief workers, and medical supplies as well as environmental and medical test samples have been on the flights to and from the affected areas. As of today, September 22, the CDC has sent hundreds of thousands of doses of antibiotics and maintenance medications for chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, pain and anxiety, just to name a few. Also included are IVs, insulin syringes, and basic pharmaceuticals. CDC has deployed 246 professionals to the field. Specialties include nursing, epidemiology, sanitation, occupational safety, disease surveillance, and risk communication. CDC is helping to vaccinate thousands of children at evacuation centers' and CDC experts are helping to organize, implement, and assess the evacuation centers' vaccination program. CDC has been focusing on food-borne, water-borne, and insect-borne infectious disease outbreaks as well as checking water quality, restoring critical laboratory functions and rebuilding public health and laboratory infrastructures. Many evacuees in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama lost their personal health records. These needs are being addressed through existing immunization systems. In Louisiana alone, CDC estimated that 8,300 queries were made to the Louisiana Immunization Network for Kids statewide--LINKS--regarding vaccination histories for kids that were evacuated. CDC is using LINKS to determine health records of children and providing immunizations for those in need and for those with no proof of health records. A story of human interest: Liz O'Mara surveys a shelter in Jackson, MS. A CDC public health advisor, she spent her second week of marriage on a cot in a conference room with 10 men ``who snored!'' But she says: It is an honorable experience to play a small part of a State and local response effort. We--Strategic National Stockpile--are not here as individuals, but as a team. We rely on each other's commitment to their specific responsibilities and expertise as a synchronized unit, or we simply would not be very successful assisting with State and local needs. I am proud of the efforts that Georgians, as well as all Americans are doing to help those who are suffering from Hurricane Katrina. We owe them a great deal of gratitude. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I ask I be allowed to proceed as in morning business.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, it is my honor and privilege today to pay tribute to a leader and warrior, General John W. handy, Commander, United States Transportation Command, USTRANSCOM, and Commander, Air Mobility Command, AMC. General Handy is retiring after honorably serving this great Nation for over 38 years. General Handy was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force in 1967 and received his pilot wings in 1968. He has accumulated over 5,000 hours piloting just about every mobility aircraft in the U.S. Air Force, to include the C-7A Caribou, the C-130 Hercules, the C-141 Starlifter, the C-37 Gulfstream V, the C-9 Nightingale, the KC-10 Extender, and the Nation's newest mobility airlifter, the C-17 Globemaster III. His hands/on performance, sound judgment, and expertise have made him an exceptional Air Force leader. General Handy commanded the 21st Air Force at McGuire Air Force Base. He created and commanded AMC's Tanker Airlift Control Center. He also commanded two airlift wings and a maintenance squadron. He previously served as the Director of Operations and Logistics for USTRANSCOM; the Air Force's Director of Programs and Evaluations; the Deputy Chief of Staff, Installations and Logistics, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, DC; and Vice Chief of Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. It is clear that General Handy is the preeminent mobility and logistics expert in the Department of Defense. In November 2001, General Handy assumed command of USTRANSCOM at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, responsible for executing mobility combat operations through three component commands: The Air Force's AMC, the Navy's Military Sealift Command, MSC, and the Army's Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, SDDC. General Handy has had the unique distinction of simultaneously commanding both USTRANSCOM and its air component command, AMC. USTRANSCOM provides the synchronized transportation, distribution, and sustainment which projects and maintains our national power. As a global combatant commander, General Handy has made supporting the American warfighter his top priority. Since the tragic events of 11 September 2001, USTRANSCOM, under General Handy's leadership, has moved over 2.4 million passengers, 6.4 million short tons of cargo, and 2.8 billion gallons of fuel in support of the Global War on Terrorism, including Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. To put this in perspective, the passenger movement is equivalent to moving the entire population of Kansas while the cargo movement is equivalent to moving over 70 Washington monuments halfway around the world. General Handy, an avid NASCAR racing fan, is fond of stating the amount of fuel moved could run the NEXTEL Cup Series for the next 19,473 years. America truly has a military deployment and distribution system that is unmatched anywhere in the world. America's military might moves with USTRANSCOM, but so too does its heart. As quick as we are to defend this great Nation, Americans are just as quick to assist those in need; and when we do, we turn to the remarkable capabilities of USTRANSCOM. Under General Handy's command, USTRANSCOM has provided humanitarian relief to hurricane victims in the United States, earthquake victims in Iran, and tsunami victims in South Asia, just to name a few. The medicines, supplies, equipment, and personnel that USTRANSCOM delivered to these and other natural disasters ultimately saved lives and eased human suffering. In addition to conducting the largest military movement since World War II and providing unparalleled humanitarian relief, General Handy has made it a priority to transform our Nation's deployment and distribution system, ensuring our ability to project national power where needed with the greatest speed and agility, the highest efficiency, and the most reliable level of trust and accuracy. As the USTRANSCOM commander, General Handy actively took on the role of the distribution process owner for DOD, charged with improving efficiency and interoperability across the entire DOD supply chain. His initiative to develop Joint Deployment and Distribution Operations Centers JDDOCs, in each of the regional combatant commands continues to improve combat capability and save valuable resources. Regional combatant commanders can now plug into the DOD supply chain system, track their requirements, and prioritize their actions. The net result is that troops and equipment are now arriving to the battlefield faster and at less cost. While meeting the needs of the warfighter, General Handy's distribution process owner improvements have saved almost one-half billion dollars in the global war on terror. General Handy will be the first to tell you he did not accomplish these feats alone. General Handy has led the way in seeking collaborative joint solutions to today's complex combat issues. Those who worked for him and with him, military and civilians from every branch of Service, will miss his leadership and mentorship. They will miss the stories and humor he used to get his message across. In Congress, we will miss his straightforward approach and sound counsel. The Nation will miss his devotion to duty, ceaseless drive for improvement, and unwavering support to our warfighters. General Handy will be remembered as the man who brilliantly led our Nation's mobility forces during the global war on terrorism. I know we speak on behalf of our colleagues and a grateful Nation in saying thank you to General Handy and his wife, Mickey, for their years of service and sacrifice. We wish General Handy and his wife, Mickey, all the best in future endeavors and pray that those who follow in your footsteps may continue the legacy of unprecedented support to our great Nation. Good luck and Godspeed.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, today I introduce legislation to reauthorize the U.S. Grain Standards Act, which expires September 30, 2005. The Secretary of Agriculture was granted authority by Congress to establish grain standards in 1916. Sixty years later, Congress authorized the Federal Grain Inspection Service in order to ensure the development and maintenance of uniform U.S. standards, to develop inspection and weighing procedures for grain in domestic and export trade, and to facilitate grain marketing. The U.S. grain inspection system is recognized worldwide for its accuracy and reliability. On May 25, 2005, the Agriculture Committee held a hearing to review the reauthorization of the Act during which the industry expressed its desire to provide authority to the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, to utilize third-party entities at export terminals. Inspections at these terminals are currently conducted by Federal inspectors or employees of State Departments of Agriculture. Industry proposes, and commodity groups support, granting USDA the authority to utilize third-party entities at U.S. export terminals in order to improve competitiveness of U.S. agriculture worldwide. Congress has a unique opportunity to provide this authority to USDA, and I have included the industry's proposal in this legislation. USDA estimates that by 2009, 75 percent of Federal grain inspectors will be eligible for retirement. The short-term staffing situation facing USDA should ease the Department's transition in delivering inspection and weighing services at export terminals. In addition to providing USDA the authority to use third-party entities at export terminal locations, this 5-year reauthorization bill that I am introducing contains measures to ensure the integrity of the Federal grain inspection system. The bill clearly states that official inspections continue to be the direct responsibility of USDA. USDA will also have the ability to issue rules and regulations to further enhance the work and supervision of these entities. The ability of the U.S. to increase long-term competitiveness coupled with a system that can maintain its strong reputation worldwide certainly holds great potential for success. This bill is identical to the reauthorization bill recently considered and approved unanimously by the Committee on Agriculture in the House of Representatives. It is my hope that this measure will garner equivalent support in this body as reauthorization of the U.S. Grain Standards Act moves forward.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, today I introduce legislation to reauthorize the U.S. Grain Standards Act, which expires September 30, 2005. The Secretary of Agriculture was granted authority by Congress to establish grain standards in 1916. Sixty years later, Congress authorized the Federal Grain Inspection Service in order to ensure the development and maintenance of uniform U.S. standards, to develop inspection and weighing procedures for grain in domestic and export trade, and to facilitate grain marketing. The U.S. grain inspection system is recognized worldwide for its accuracy and reliability. On May 25, 2005, the Agriculture Committee held a hearing to review the reauthorization of the Act during which the industry expressed its desire to provide authority to the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, to utilize third-party entities at export terminals. Inspections at these terminals are currently conducted by Federal inspectors or employees of State Departments of Agriculture. Industry proposes, and commodity groups support, granting USDA the authority to utilize third-party entities at U.S. export terminals in order to improve competitiveness of U.S. agriculture worldwide. Congress has a unique opportunity to provide this authority to USDA, and I have included the industry's proposal in this legislation. USDA estimates that by 2009, 75 percent of Federal grain inspectors will be eligible for retirement. The short-term staffing situation facing USDA should ease the Department's transition in delivering inspection and weighing services at export terminals. In addition to providing USDA the authority to use third-party entities at export terminal locations, this 5-year reauthorization bill that I am introducing contains measures to ensure the integrity of the Federal grain inspection system. The bill clearly states that official inspections continue to be the direct responsibility of USDA. USDA will also have the ability to issue rules and regulations to further enhance the work and supervision of these entities. The ability of the U.S. to increase long-term competitiveness coupled with a system that can maintain its strong reputation worldwide certainly holds great potential for success. This bill is identical to the reauthorization bill recently considered and approved unanimously by the Committee on Agriculture in the House of Representatives. It is my hope that this measure will garner equivalent support in this body as reauthorization of the U.S. Grain Standards Act moves forward.

Mr. CHAMBLISS

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, today I introduce the Hunting Heritage Protection Act of 2005. With the introduction of this important legislation, we are able to acknowledge our Nation's rich heritage of hunting. The purpose of this bill is to pass that legacy on to future generations by protecting and preserving the rights of our Nation's sportsmen and women. In 2001, over 13 million Americans contributed over $20.6 billion to the U.S. economy while hunting--a true recreational activity. Many believe that in order to hunt you must own land, but that is not true. I believe that hunting should be available as a recreational activity for everyone. I have been an avid outdoor sportsman since my adulthood. I am also an avid conservationist, like most other hunters. Recreational hunting provides many opportunities to spend valuable time with children, just as I do with my son. He has been hunting since he was a young boy where he discovered and learned to appreciate one of the Earth's greatest treasures, nature. Over the years, hunters have contributed billions of dollars to wildlife conservation, by purchasing licenses, permits, and stamps, as well as paying excise taxes on goods used by hunters. Since the time of President Teddy Roosevelt, father of the conservation movement, sportsmen and women have been and will continue to be some of the greatest supporters of sound wildlife management and conservation practices in the U.S. Hunters need to be recognized for the vital role they play in conservation in this country. The Hunting Heritage Protection Act will do just that. This bill formalizes a policy by which the Federal Government will support, promote, and enhance recreational hunting opportunities, as permitted under State and Federal law. Further, the bill mandates that Federal public land and water are to be open to access and use for recreational hunting where and when appropriate. I should clarify and stress that this bill does not suggest that we open all national parks to hunting. As I mentioned, the goal is simple--I want recreational hunting on our public land to be available to the citizens of this country where and when appropriate. It is crucial that the tradition of hunting is protected and that the valuable contributions that hunters have made to conservation in this country are recognized. And, we want to ensure that Federal land management decisions and their actions result in a ``no net loss of hunting opportunities'' on our public lands. This bill allows Congress to address this issue and to honor our Nation's sportsmen and women.