Tom Daschle

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. No.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson) and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson) and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I have an amendment No. 2774.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, last week's Congress Daily included a story that still troubles me deeply and gets at the heart of why I am offering this amendment. HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, in response to a question about why the Bush administration is providing funding for universal health care in Iraq, but not in America, replied: Even if you don't have health insurance in America, you get taken care of. That could be defined as universal health care. I don't think Secretary Thompson is callous, so he must be desperately out of touch. Either way, it's shocking to hear the nation's top health care official claim that America has universal health care. More than 43 million Americans are uninsured. According to the National Institute of Medicine, uninsured Americans who access emergency rooms or free clinics get about half the medical care of those with health insurance--they live sicker and die sooner than those with insurance. Approximately 18,000 Americans die unnecessarily each year because of lack of health care. And the problem isn't just uninsured Americans. Millions more Americans are under-insured. There are 2.5 million Native Americans in this country who-- theoretically--have insurance. All too often, they get abysmal health care--or none at all. America is obligated--by law and by treaty--to provide free health care for American Indians--a commitment we made to Indian people when the U.S. Government took their lands. America is not honoring that commitment. Native Americans suffer higher rates of many serious illnesses--including diabetes, heart disease, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome--than the rest of the population. Yet Indian Health Service funding is wholly inadequate. The Indian Health Service makes up only one-half of one percent of the HHS budget. Its budget has consistently grown at a far slower rate than the rest of the HHS budget. That means that the health system with the sickest people and the greatest need gets the smallest increases. That just doesn't add up. In per capita terms, the United States spends about $5000 per year on health care for the general U.S. population. Contrast that with what the Indian Health Service spends per capita on health services for Native American men, women, and children: about $1900 per year. To put that in further perspective, you should know that's one-half of what the Government spends per capita on Federal prisoners' health care-- $3800. The U.S. Government spends twice as much on Federal prisoners' health care as it spends on Native Americans' health care. The result: American Indians live sicker and die younger than every other ethnic group. This has created what the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights calls a ``quiet crisis.'' Care is rationed in Indian Country through the use of a literal ``life or limb'' test. In many cases, you are denied care, or care is delayed, unless you are at risk of immediate loss of your life or a limb. Secretary Thompson should come to Indian Country to hear some of the stories I hear when I talk to people on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation or in Pine Ridge or at the Sioux San Hospital in Rapid City. Secretary Thompson, there is no universal health care in Indian Country. Just ask anyone who lives there. Secretary Thompson should apologize to Native Americans for his comments. More than that, he should make a commitment to fight for the funds the Indian Health Service needs to meet its obligations. Democrats tried repeatedly last year to persuade our colleagues to fully fund at least one part of the Indian Health Service budget: clinical services. They refused, repeatedly. Last year, several of my Republican colleagues came to the floor to say: ``You're right--the health care situation in Indian country is abysmal, and it's unfair. Indian people do deserve better, but we just can't afford it. We can afford tax cuts for the wealthy elite, and we can afford billions on Iraq, but we can't afford to give Native Americans the health care we've promised them.'' Mr. President, that is just not acceptable. My friends on the other side may be willing to offer that excuse, but I am not. And they can no longer claim that they ``didn't know'' how bad Indian Country's health care crisis truly is. So we are trying again this year. We are offering the Senate a chance to finally right this indefensible wrong. Our amendment would create a reserve fund to allow a $3.44 billion increase in IHS clinical services. This is not enough to provide health care services to every eligible American Indian and Alaska Native. It would, however, provide sufficient funds to serve the current IHS user population--the people who currently depend on the Indian Health Service for their care. The cost of this amendment, along with additional deficit reduction, is fully offset by eliminating abusive tax loopholes or reducing tax breaks for individuals with incomes over $1 million per year. And don't be fooled by promises made in a competing amendment to make unspecified cuts in domestic discretionary spending. That amendment does nothing to raise the Appropriations Committee's budget allocation, and does nothing to put additional money in the IHS clinical services account. That funding isn't real, and those promises are empty. At best, it would rob Peter to pay Paul. If America can afford to spend billions of dollars building hospitals and providing health care in Iraq, we can afford to honor our treaty obligation to provide health care for American Indians. I realize we have obligations around the world. But we also have obligations here at home. Millions of Americans want to know, when is it their turn? When do we start paying attention to their needs? When do we take care of our own? We don't have universal health care in America, despite what Secretary Thompson thinks. And we certainly don't have universal health care in Indian Country. This amendment gives us the chance to offer Indian people the bare minimum of services that most of us take for granted and would consider essential. I hope we don't waste it. I yield the floor.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

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

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, the Senate has just missed an opportunity to fund the basic health care needs of the current Indian Health Service user population. We had a chance to provide a $3.44 billion increase for IHS clinical services. Unfortunately, we lost that chance because not a single Republican Senator was willing to apply toward Indian health a small fraction of the revenue that will be raised from closing tax loopholes that allow people to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Some may view this budget resolution as an insignificant exercise. It is not. Unless we do something to increase the funding available to the Appropriations Committee--specifically the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee--it will be next to impossible to increase Indian health funding to any significant degree. I hope my colleagues will stop and think about the weight of the decisions they are making today. Because its budget is so woefully inadequate, the Indian Health Service is forced to use a literal ``life or limb'' standard to ration health care for Indian men, women, and children--people whose health care is supposed to be guaranteed. Indian people are suffering--some are literally dying--because we are failing to provide them the kind of care that most Americans, and every single one of us, take for granted. We have been here before. We had this same debate last year. Then, like today, my Republican colleagues opposed a real increase for IHS clinical services and instead offered a phantom increase that was one- tenth of the amount of the increase needed to meet the basic health care needs of the current IHS user population. The only difference this year is that the ``increase'' they are offering is less than one-tenth of the amount of the increase needed to meet the basic health care needs of the current IHS user population, and even less than the amount they offered last year. Of course, any increase for the Indian Health Service is welcome. I will be glad if we can treat even one more Indian child the way that he or she deserves to be treated. But my colleagues should know that the Murkowski amendment does not add one penny to the Appropriations Committee's allocation. It does not increase the amount of money available to the subcommittee appropriators who must find the funding this amendment claims to provide. It leaves the Indian Health Service to compete for funds with Indian education, tribal colleges, tribal courts and police, reservation roads, as well as the Denali National Park, Mount Rushmore, and all the other important priorities that subcommittee funds. The function 920 account is not a secret pot of money from which to draw. This amendment--if it is not dropped in conference the way last year's amendment was--would force the Appropriations Committee to cut the domestic discretionary programs already severely shortchanged under this scandalous budget resolution. Remember, this budget resolution already cuts domestic discretionary spending by $14.6 billion compared to last year. Will the money come from our national parks? No Child Left Behind-- and we know they are being left behind? HUD? NIH? COPS? Perhaps the BIA's reorganization initiative? I might support that cut. They will not tell us which programs they would cut, because they know our domestic discretionary accounts can't absorb any more cuts, and because this amendment isn't real. It will not add a penny to the IHS clinical services account. Will the phantom money be there after the House and Senate Republicans return from conference? It certainly was not last year. That money was missing from the fiscal year 2004 Interior appropriations bill, too, when 45 Republican senators blocked my amendment to make real their professed $292 million commitment to Indian health. Yet again, my colleagues on the other side are making a specious argument. At the same time they're refusing to close loopholes that allow people who owe taxes to avoid paying their fair share, at the same time they are proposing new tax cuts for millionaires, they are saying this country cannot afford to honor its treaty obligation--and its clear moral obligation--to Native Americans. I hope the Senate will reject that argument and put us on the road to righting this indefensible wrong. Senators can vote for this amendment, but no one should be confused about its impact. I can assure you that Native Americans will not be. Still, I will support this amendment with the hope that the conferees will find a way to provide a real increase for the Indian Health Service.

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

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

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusettes (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I join in thanking Senators Allen and Dodd for their work on this resolution. I join the majority leader in expressing strong support for the efforts in the Senate this afternoon. It is entirely fitting and appropriate that we observe the moment of silence for the victims of this heinous attack on the citizens of Spain this morning. Our prayers are with the Spanish people as they search for survivors, care for their injured, and mourn their losses. Just last month, we heard a moving speech in the House Chamber from President Aznar. He made clear to us America does not stand alone in the war on terror. He made clear that the terrorists who attacked us on September 11 would fail, and he made clear that we would succeed together. The resolution says to President Aznar and his people that the American people will give the Spanish people everything they have given us: Our unshakable commitment that we will link arms to care for the victims and their families, our solemn word that we will not flinch in the face of these cowardly attacks, our enduring pledge that we will join forces to bring the perpetrators to justice. That is because this was not an attack on Spain alone but on all of us. I have already heard from Americans who are desperately trying to reach family members who are in Madrid this evening, terrorized to think their loved ones were victimized in the attack. Families from all over the world are experiencing the same fears. The object of terrorism is to bring fear to the hearts of free people, to divide friend from friend and ally from ally. But America will never abandon its Spanish allies. We will not tire in the fight against tyranny. Today we renew our resolve to defeat terrorism around the world. We will bring these murderers to justice and make clear to all terrorists that they will never, never prevail. I yield the floor.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.

Mr. DASCHLE. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent. I also announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid) is absent attending a funeral.