Christopher Dodd

Mr. DODD

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I see a couple of my colleagues who have brought over charts, and that means speeches. I ask unanimous consent that my colleagues be allowed to speak as in morning business.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be temporarily laid aside.

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

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, on behalf of our colleague from Massachusetts, Senator Kennedy, I send an amendment to the desk.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, if I may, to bring our colleagues up to date as to how we are going to proceed on the election reform bill. For the purposes of reviewing the bidding here, there will be no recorded votes today and no recorded votes on Monday, the 25th of February, when we return from the Presidents Day recess. But as the two leaders indicated last evening, there is now a finite list of amendments submitted by our colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Senator McConnell and I and our staffs are now going to go through those lists of amendments. When possible, we will attempt to accept amendments that have been offered. We may be able to start this process today and continue on Monday. Some amendments may need modifications. If they can be so modified to be acceptable to both sides, Senator McConnell and I will try to accommodate those without having recorded votes. Some amendments will require a decision by the body. We will try to keep those amendments to a minimum. Obviously, some amendments are going to require the full membership of this body to vote. That being the case, on Tuesday, February 26, we will complete voting on those amendments with the fervent hope that by the end of that day, or at some point on February 26, we will go to third reading and final passage of this election reform bill. That is the plan. We hope that is exactly how it will work. There are a number of amendments that are not drafted in proper amendment form. They are concepts and explanations of what Members would like to do. It is a little difficult to try to come to some agreement on a proposal that hasn't been crafted in legislative language. As a result, if you have an amendment in that status, I urge you, over the next hour or so, to get it in legislative form sometime today. We can analyze it and determine whether or not that amendment can be accepted. A number of Members listed relevant amendments. I don't have any idea what subject matter is contained in such relevant amendments. So Members in that status ought to communicate with us as soon as possible about the specifics of the amendment they are submitting about. Maybe some Members just wanted a placeholder and said they had a relevant amendment. These Members may have said they had a relevant amendment and really don't have any intention of offering any language to this bill. If this case, at this stage it would be very helpful if we knew this. We could then reduce the list down to a manageable number without limiting debate for our Members on all the important issues in election reform. I urge Members on both sides to do all of these things that I discussed if they are applicable. Taking action can expedite the process to final passage. On February 26, we don't want to have a marathon voting exercise all day, with 1 or 2 minutes in advance of a series of recorded votes. I am not terribly attracted to that kind of process. I understand the value of stacking votes from time to time. But I am not sure the institution shows its best effort when we engage in a vote marathon. I would like to resolve as many amendments as possible and leave for the floor the ones that really do require debate. I suggest that so Members understand the real importance of what we are considering. My plea is to urge all Members here to please get us your proposals. My staff, Senator McConnell's staff, and Senator Bond's staff and Senator Schumer's staff, are all working on this bill. We can really try to resolve as many of these issues as possible today and over the next week. Then, on February 25, when we return, we can have a good debate on the remaining two, three, or four--whatever the number is amendments that deserve debate and consideration that go to the heart and core of some differences that may exist. That is how we are going to proceed. I am grateful to colleagues for their participation over the last couple of days. We have had quite a few amendments. We have resolved some issues that needed resolution. I am heartened over the fact that we are going to have a good bill, a bill all Members can be proud of. Approximately 14 months after the November 2000 election, we are going to return to our States and say to people in this country, who wondered whether or not this body would ever be able to grapple successfully with election reform, that yes we could. We have come together and resolved differences. We modernize and reform an election system that was in desperate need. As the Presiding Officer knows so well because he represents the wonderful State of Florida that was the subject of such attention for not just our country but the entire world. As I have said to him and his colleague, Senator Graham, on numerous occasions, this is not only a Florida problem; this is not only a November 2000 election problem; but rather an election problem that has gone on for many years which makes the problem a national problem. The only silver lining, I suppose, in all that unfolded in the November 2000 election is that we are doing something we probably should have done years before. Absent the national crisis that developed in the year 2000, we probably would not have gotten to real election reform for years to come. As my mother always said, there is a silver lining in every dark cloud. The dark cloud is the November 2000 election. The silver lining is we are on the brink in this institution of reforming the manner in which Federal elections are conducted by our States and localities in a incremental way, but a significant and constitutional way. This means that every eligible voter in this country who chooses to vote will have an equal opportunity to cast a vote and have that vote counted. It will be a user-friendly, accessible institution, and those who want to game, cheat or corrupt the system in some way are going to find it much more difficult to do so successfully. If we can achieve both of those goals in the coming days, then I think the American public can rightfully say this Congress, the second session of the 107th Congress, did not fail to take and meet the challenge that the November 2000 election posed for us. Amendment No. 2916

Mr. DODD

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, most of us know February 14 as Valentine's Day, but for the past few years, it has shared that date with another vitally important, and unfortunately less well-known, event: National Donor Day. Thanks to the selflessness of thousands, February 14 has become our Nation's largest one-day donation event. On a day that celebrates giving the gift of life, we should make a commitment to increasing our donation rates and saving even more lives. Today, I am pleased to introduce legislation with Senator Bill Frist to do just that. The Organ Donation and Recovery Improvement Act will bring attention to this critical public health issue by increasing resources and coordinating efforts to improve organ donation and recovery. I am proud to be working with my friend and colleague, Senator Frist, whose leadership and professional experience as a heart and lung transplant surgeon has been critical in making this issue a priority. At this very moment, more than 80,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant, and one person is added to this list every thirteen minutes. This has increased from 19,095 people on waiting lists a decade ago. Unfortunately, the discrepancy between the need and the number of available of organs is growing exponentially. From 1999 to 2000 transplant waiting list grew by 10.2 percent, while the total increase in donation grew by 5.3 percent. Tragically, in 2000, approximately 5,500 wait-listed patients died waiting for an organ. Undoubtedly, the task before us seems daunting. However, each person who makes the decision to donate can save as many as three lives. These are our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends. None of us wants to imagine the anguish of watching a family member or a friend wait for an organ transplant hoping that their name reaches the top of the list before their damaged organ fails or having to bear the emotional, physical, or financial costs of undergoing a transplant procedure. For those that do, and for all of those that will, we must improve and strengthen our systems of organ donation and recovery. We must also work to remove the barriers that stand in a donor's way as he or she seeks to help another person continue life. States need the resources to determine for themselves how best to increase donations and a vital part of increasing donations lies in education and public awareness initiatives. We must work to improve the science of donation and recovery and address legal issues relating to donation, including consent. More than 20 states currently have registries that may prove indispensable in ensuring that we honor a donor's wishes. We should study the benefits, and potential shortcomings, of these arrangements and work to create a national sense of urgency that matches the national need for donors. I would like to recognize the invaluable support and guidance we received, in drafting this bill, from the American Society of Transplantation, the American Liver Foundation, the Patient Access to Transplantation Coalition, North American Transplant Coordinators Organization, and the National Kidney Foundation. I would be remiss not to mention the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations and the OPOs nationwide that have worked so tirelessly to bridge the gap between the immense need and the inadequate supply. In my home state of Connecticut, we are well served by the tremendous work of the Northeast Organ Procurement Organization and the New England Donor Bank. Finally, I look forward to working with my colleagues, including Senator Kennedy, Senator Gregg and Senator Durbin, whose commitment to this issue has been unparalleled. I urge Congress to take swift action on bipartisan legislation aimed at increasing organ donation and saving lives.

Mr. DODD

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I again commend the State of North Dakota's open and accessible voting system. Our intent in drafting section 102 was to require that voters who were challenged, but felt that they had the legal right to vote, were given the opportunity to cast a ballot and then have that ballot set aside and verified. North Dakota's system goes beyond this intent by being even more voter-friendly. Based on my understanding of your description of North Dakota's system, North Dakota should be able to continue operating its more voter-friendly voter challenge system. For example, paragraphs (a)(3) and (a)(4) of section 102 requires election officials to verify the written affirmation of that voter's eligibility before the ballot is counted. Under North Dakota State law, as you have represented it to me, verification happens upon the execution of a written affidavit. The fact that the verification by the election official that is required under this bill occurs prior to the ballot being cast instead of after the ballot is cast is a function of North Dakota's registration-less system. It therefore satisfies all of the requirements of section 102(a). I should point out that under subsection 102(a)(5), the individual who voted via affidavit will need to be provided written notification at the time he casts his or her ballot that he or she will not receive any further notification--because as a matter of state law, that person's vote has been counted. This could easily be done by handing out a generic form to each voter who votes via affidavit.

Mr. DODD. Absolutely. Amendment No. 2914, As Modified

Mr. DODD. Yes, the clear text of this provision exempts states without a registration requirement for its voters from having to implement such a computerized system consistent with section 103. Put simply, the exception provided in 103(a)(1)(B) exempts North Dakota from all provisions of the bill concerning a computerized statewide voter registration system. We simply did not want any of this bill's provisions, either directly or indirectly, to interfere with North Dakota's ability to continue operating its commendably open and accessible registration-less system of voting.

Mr. DODD

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I will not go into describing these amendments. We will leave that for the Members themselves when they find the time, probably either tomorrow or Monday on the 25th, to come and explain them. In the meantime, again, I am going to suggest to Members that with the finite list of amendments we now have from both the minority and majority sides, we are going to make an effort to accommodate as many of these amendments as we can, to try to see if we can accept them or suggest maybe modifications that would make the amendments acceptable; or if that is not possible, then certainly provide the time on Monday, the 25th, or tomorrow, for these amendments to be debated, with Tuesday, the 26th, being the day on which amendments would be voted upon, those that had not been resolved or accepted or made part of a managers' amendment. That is the idea. That is the goal, so to speak, we are trying to achieve with all of this. So with that, Mr. President, I do not know if I have any additional amendments at this point to submit. That being the case, I note the presence of my friend and colleague from Nevada. I see he has some big, white cardboard pieces in his hands, which usually indicate a chart and a speech. So I think we are going to hear some words. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Schumer amendment be temporarily laid aside.

Mr. DODD. Lastly, Mr. President, I offer an amendment on behalf of the Senator from New York, Mr. Schumer.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be temporarily laid aside.

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

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Harkin and Senator McCain and ask for its consideration.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Harkin amendment be temporarily laid aside.

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

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I am going to proceed to offer three individual amendments, and I will be asking to lay them aside. But this way they can be debated tomorrow or Monday when we come back on the 25th. They may be accepted or end up being part of a managers' amendment but disposed of somehow in order to have them before the Senate. Amendment No. 2912 The first amendment is an amendment offered by Senator Harkin, No. 2912. I offer that amendment on behalf of Senator Harkin.

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

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I commend the Presiding Officer who has just offered his pilot project amendment. First, I commend him on the creativity in suggesting a pilot program. I know his concern would be--the question is obvious--the cost of this and how well it will work. I think by running a pilot program we can answer a lot of those questions. I think the point he made in his remarks deserves repeating. We try to make, as Senator Bond said so often--I have repeated it, Senator McConnell said the same thing on many occasions--voting easy, as user friendly as we possibly can in this country. Every eligible person who has the right to vote can walk into that polling place, whether it be in rural or urban America or poor or suburban communities, walk into that polling place on election day and know he or she is being received, encouraged and offered the means by which they can cast their ballot to choose the President of the United States, down to a local commissioner or board person in their own hometown. That wonderful right we have that is so unavailable to billions of people on the face of this Earth still is something we need to make as easy as possible, as user friendly as possible. Of course, there are millions of Americans who are homebound, who are overseas, who are in the military. To make this as free and accessible to them as possible is something all of us ought to embrace. Therefore, the idea of making absentee ballots, by which millions of Americans cast their votes, as free as possible, is something I think is deserving of support, particularly as a pilot program. Had the Senator offered this to require it in perpetuity, across the country, I would have some reservations about what the implications of that could be. But I think the framing it in a pilot program idea for the 2004 election is an idea that is worthy of support. I have submitted the amendment to my friend from Kentucky and his staff to take a look at it. They are going to be reviewing it. We don't have an answer yet. My hope is we can accept this and come to some agreement. I congratulate my friend from Minnesota for offering this idea to our colleagues. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be dispensed with.

Mr. DODD

Mr. DODD. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. DODD. I note the Chafee amendment is offered on behalf of Senator Chafee and Senator Reed of Rhode Island. The amendment from Senator McCain is offered on behalf of Senator McCain and Senator Harkin. We have no objection.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, very simply stated, you have the right to vote, but you also have the right not to vote in two elections and not be purged. If the Burns amendment were adopted, and you missed two elections because you didn't want to vote, you would be off the list. That is too extreme. I urge rejection of the amendment.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished Senator from New York.