Thad Cochran

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from Alaska for his comments. He is insightful. He is experienced. He understands the implications that would flow from the failure of the Senate to act promptly in approving this conference report. He is chairman of the Defense appropriations subcommittee. He has previously served as chairman of the full committee. He has had a wide range of experience in the military service himself during World War II. I think we should listen to him and we should act in accordance with his suggestions and recommendations. I hope the Senate will not prolong this debate unnecessarily. Everybody has a right to be heard. Everybody has a right to express their views. But the opportunity is now. Let's finish talking about this bill this evening and let's vote on it the first thing in the morning--whenever it is the pleasure of the leader for us to do so. I commend him and thank him for his strong leadership. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, after a great deal of hard work by both bodies, I am pleased that the Senate now has under its consideration the conference report to accompany H.R. 4939, the fiscal year 2006 emergency supplemental appropriations bill. Overall, this bill which was requested by the President has two major points of focus. First, it provides needed funding to replenish the spending accounts of the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and other agencies and departments of the Government engaged in the global war on terror through the remainder of this fiscal year. Second, this supplemental includes critical funding for continued efforts to address the damage caused by the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005. The bill was adopted by the Senate on May 4, and we began discussions with our colleagues from the other body shortly thereafter. A bipartisan majority of the conferees reconciled the differences between the two bills and reached agreement on the conference report on June 8. The House approved the conference report this morning by a rollcall vote of 351 to 67. The conference agreement provides a total of $94.519 billion. Of this amount, over $70 billion is provided to carry out the global war on terror and to cover the expenses of ongoing operations and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Title II of the conference agreement provides $19.338 billion for hurricane-related damage and recovery costs. Title III provides $500 million for agriculture disaster assistance to hurricane affected areas. Title IV includes $2.3 billion for influenza pandemic preparation and response activities. Title V provides $1.9 billion for various border security initiatives. Title VI includes $27.6 million for the Architect of the Capitol to address health and safety concerns in the utility tunnels in the Capitol complex. Finally, title VII includes general provisions and technical corrections. This conference agreement is the result of hard work and true compromise between the House and Senate. This bill provides critically needed funding to our troops in the field and it helps continue the recovery process on the gulf coast. The overall funding level meets the amount requested by the administration, and I hope this agreement will receive bipartisan support in the Senate. All members have had the opportunity to review the conference agreement, and I am happy to respond to any questions Senators may have about its contents. I do hope we will not indulge in needless delay and proceed with some dispatch in the consideration and approval of this agreement. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from Florida for his initiative in bringing this issue in this form to the Senate. I am pleased to cosponsor the legislation with him, Senator Landrieu, and others who may cosponsor this legislation. We are reaching out to the industry and to experts in related business activities who have experience, a depth of understanding about this challenge we face to give us the benefit of their advice and their counsel. There are specific recommendations, if they can come to a consensus, on how Government can more responsively address this critical issue. In our State of Mississippi right now, there are people in limbo trying to decide whether they take on the burden of increased costs of insurance, of chances that they may not get insurance they can afford. So rebuilding is slow. Recovery is slow. Businesses are reluctant to embark upon expansion or remodeling, refurbishing, rebuilding, reconstructing from slabs the businesses they had in the gulf coast region. This is a real dilemma, and it is an economic challenge that no one State can really overcome using the resources of a State government or a national blue ribbon commission, such as the one brought together by Haley Barbour of Mississippi. Our Governor has reached out to the business community and individuals who have experience who could be of help in recovering from the disaster that hit our State. This is bigger than one State, bigger than our State's commission that Governor Barbour has appointed and that is working hard and making a big difference and making us believe that we can recover, and we will recover. That is a very important part of this situation and this challenge. I think this is a very important step to take, and it comes at a time when we have laid before the Senate now a conference report making supplemental appropriations to the Departments of State and Defense for the war on terror, but as far as our current domestic challenges are concerned, $19 billion to help sustain the recovery and rebuilding that is underway, recovering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that were so devastating to our gulf coast region. Mr. President, I commend the Senator.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 14. I further ask that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate proceed to a period of morning business for up to 30 minutes with the first 15 minutes under the control of the Democratic leader or his designee and the final 15 minutes under the control of the majority leader or his designee; further that following morning business, the Senate then resume consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 4939, the emergency supplemental appropriations bill, as under the previous order.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination on today's executive calendar: No. 705, Charles Rosenberg. I further ask unanimous consent that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I thank those who have come to the floor today to help honor our former colleague in the Senate, Bob Dole. I don't know of anyone who has had more of an influence on my career in the Senate than Bob Dole, although Howard Baker, who was the Republican leader when I first arrived in the Senate in 1978, also had a great deal to do with my career here. I don't know who coined the phrase ``compassionate conservative,'' but Bob Dole was the epitome of a compassionate conservative. His legislative record is replete with examples of his leadership to help ensure the formulation and implementation of policies by our Federal Government that recognized the needs of those who were unable to care for themselves, or were unable to make progress economically, without the assistance of the Government. He authored the Americans with Disabilities Act and helped lead the way for many Americans by his example of how one can overcome disabilities. My friend Gordon Smith mentioned his authorship of the book ``One Soldier's Story.'' That should be required reading for every American. It was a heart-warming yet heartbreaking account of his experiences in World War II in combat and his long road to recovering from the painful and life-threatening injuries he sustained in battle. You can also look to examples of when he was a leader in the Agriculture Committee on which I had the good fortune to serve as a new member, at a time when he was one of the true leaders in formulating agricultural policy for our Nation. He worked easily across the aisle with Herman Talmadge, the chairman of the committee at that time, and with George McGovern, another leader on the committee from South Dakota. They worked together to help craft improvements in the School Lunch Programs and other feeding programs that assist Americans who are unable to provide for their own nutritional needs. Think about that. This was at a time when the Federal Government was pretty well leaving these responsibilities to State and local governments, charitable organizations, and the Nation's schools to formulate their own response to these challenges. But we became a Nation whose record of support for dealing with these problems has become a model for the world. As a matter of fact, he and George McGovern created a worldwide nutrition assistance program that today makes food and nutrition benefits available to the poorest of the poor in Africa and many other countries throughout the world. He was a leader in establishing a modern veterans benefit program and ensuring that a cabinet-level position was available to help administer this program to be sure that all veterans, those who had disabilities or those who deserved pensions and other benefits because of their age or experiences in war, would have those benefits and could be a part of our national citizenship in every sense of the word. I recall very vividly when we elected Bob Dole as our leader in the Senate on the Republican side. He was a master at getting things done, at working out problems, at bringing people together who had disparate views on subjects that we needed to take action on and deal with. He worked hard. He knew everybody's personal interests and disposition. I was amazed at how he could stand before the Senate and stay there until the late hours of the evening, working out the intricacies of a tax reform bill, which he helped craft as chairman of the Finance Committee, in charge of tax policies for our country. He was a Senator's Senator in every respect, a warm-hearted, humorous, delightful companion, who enriched the lives of all who served with him in the Senate. I suppose the highlight for me in my relationship with Senator Dole was the nominating convention, when he was selected to be the Republican Party candidate for President of the United States. I was very excited about that. It was a wonderful decision. I could not think of anybody who would be better as President of the United States than Bob Dole. I remember the night that the convention nominated him and he walked out on the stage to accept the nomination. It was really quite an event. Also, that night, I recall while they were counting the ballots on the floor, he invited Chuck Grassley from Iowa, our colleague in the Senate, and me to be with his family up in the suite in the hotel in San Diego to watch the last votes being counted, and then to proceed into the convention hall to accept the nomination. Mr. President, we miss Bob Dole's leadership in the Senate. We are delighted, though, the Senate is taking time to recognize the great service that he rendered during his career here.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, it is my pleasure to congratulate the Honorable Charles L. Young, Sr. of Meridian, MS, for his 25 years of service as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives. As chairman of the House Universities and Colleges Committee, he has worked effectively to improve the quality of education in our State. Representative Young served his country as a member of the U.S. Army during the Korean war and was honored with the Bronze Star for Valor. He has been recognized by his colleagues as a leader in the field of education, entrepreneurship, and social justice. As a pioneer in the civil rights movement, Representative Young was the first African- American member of the Meridian Chamber of Commerce. He has been a leader in the business community as chief executive officer and President of E.F. Young, Jr., Manufacturing Company, a business that his parents started in 1931. He was one of the founders of Mississippi Action for Progress, which was the parent organization in our State for Head Start. Mr. Young is also one of the founders of the Greater Meridian Health Clinic, which operates in six locations and has a mobile dental lab. He is a member of Newell Chapel C.M.E. Church, and he sponsors a tennis camp for over 100 children each year. Mr. President, I commend Representative Young for his exemplary citizenship and service to the residents of Lauderdale Country and the State of Mississippi. I am proud to be his friend.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, the hurricanes of last summer brought new demands on all of our nation's rescue resources. The needs of children, particularly young children and their families, are unique and not a part of local and national recovery plans. Mental health, physical needs, day care, education, and family separation continue to be needs that for communities to address. The National Center for Rural Early Childhood Learning Initiatives and the non-profit Save the Children, continue to lead the focused on the special needs of children. While assessing damages and recording destroyed facilities, the Rural Early Childhood center and Save the Children, with assistance from others, also developed a plan for future disasters. Today I am introducing a Senate concurrent resolution that expresses the sense of the Senate that the Federal Emergency Management Agency should consider the unique needs of children and consider the recent experiences, suggestions and solutions of organizations and research centers. We ought to support the incorporation of child-specific needs and concerns into the National Response Plan. The Senator from Louisiana, Ms. Landrieu, is cosponsoring this resolution. We invite all Senators to join us. S. Con. Res. 94 Whereas major disasters resulting in Presidential disaster declarations in the United States have increased from an average of 38 per year in the 1980s, to 46 per year in the 1990s, to 52 per year during the first half of this decade; Whereas the occurrence of major disasters in the United States is expected to continue to increase in the foreseeable future; Whereas the number of people in the United States affected by disasters each year is a staggering 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 as measured by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (even outside of truly catastrophic events as occurred on the Gulf Coast in 2005); Whereas 5,192 children were reported missing or displaced to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and it took 6 \1/2\ months to reunite the last child separated from her family; Whereas the most serious of such cases were those 45 children arriving at shelters separated from parents or guardians with no adult supervision and it took more than 1 month to resolve all of those cases; Whereas 1,100 schools were closed immediately following Hurricane Katrina and 372,000 schoolchildren were initially unable to attend school in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast due to the hurricane; Whereas in Mississippi 7 percent and in Louisiana 21 percent of elementary schools and secondary schools remained closed 6 months after Hurricane Katrina; Whereas more than 400,000 children under the age of 5 live in or have evacuated from counties or parishes that have been declared disaster areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; Whereas the numbers of licensed child care facilities in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita declined by 4 percent (54 facilities) in Mississippi and by 25 percent (356 facilities) in Louisiana after the storms; Whereas children are known to benefit from rapid mental health programming following disasters to mitigate longer term impacts; Whereas the existing system of disaster management in the United States is the purview of Federal, State, and local government emergency management organizations and the disaster management programs and activities of these organizations are not mandated nor are able to fully respond to the unique needs of children; Whereas Federal, State, and local government emergency management professionals lack the technical knowledge, support, and contacts to address the unique needs of children that need to be incorporated into such professionals' disaster management programs and activities; and Whereas existing legislative constraints on Federal disaster response and recovery aid programs restrict disaster officials from responding to the specific needs of children in a disaster and there is no government liaison or program concerning children's issues in disasters: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that-- (1) the needs of children and youth affected by major disasters are unique and should be given special consideration in planning, responding, and recovering to major disasters; and (2) the Federal Emergency Management Agency should consult with appropriate child-focused non-governmental organizations and public university national research centers with experience in addressing the needs of children in major disasters to address the needs of children and youth in disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation, including by-- (A) incorporating suggestions from such organizations on children's issues into the National Response Plan; (B) seeking the recommendations of such organizations on how to address the needs of children in emergency shelters, trailer parks, and transitional housing sites; (C) jointly developing child-, family-, early childhood service-, and school-focused disaster preparedness materials to support understanding of the impact of disasters on children and strategies to mitigate them; and (D) jointly developing risk assessment tools for communities to use in determining children's specific disaster risks.

Mr. COCHRAN

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. COCHRAN. I request the yeas and nays.

Mr. COCHRAN. I move to reconsider the vote.

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

Mr. COCHRAN. I thank the Chair.

Mr. COCHRAN. I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to call up and consider amendment No. 3677 on behalf of Mr. Voinovich regarding Rickenbacker Airport in Ohio.

Mr. COCHRAN. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to call up and consider amendment No. 3805 on behalf of Mr. Bennett regarding sign repair and replacement.

Mr. COCHRAN. I ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. COCHRAN. The Senator is certainly right that these are very difficult budgetary times. Funds for nondefense discretionary programs are particularly constrained, while the demand for those funds has not slackened one bit. Having said that, I appreciate the Senator acquainting me with the challenges facing fishing communities on the Oregon coast, and I will work with him and the subcommittee Chairman Shelby and try to identify an appropriate federal response for affected communities.

Mr. COCHRAN. Have the yeas and nays been ordered, Mr. President?

Mr. COCHRAN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. salmon spawning

Mr. COCHRAN. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. COCHRAN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. amendment no. 3704

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, a modification has been sent to the desk.