Pete Domenici

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, the second point is, for as long as we have had this provision that he is now telling the President he is going to lose, which provision I invented, we have never used it because it can't be interpreted. We have never been able to interpret what these words mean, which is now the real reason the President should come down on us because we are getting rid of it. It never was used. It will never be used. It is not interpretable. I knew that one year after it was passed, and I considered getting rid of it because it isn't necessary. It wouldn't be used. My last point is a very simple one. Fellow Senators, writing a budget resolution is essentially the work of the Congress. The President is not bound by it. He loses no authority. He can veto every bill that comes through here if it doesn't meet what he wants. But I will tell you, fellow Senators, if you think you can live within the President's budget with no problems, then I suggest to you that you had better look at what is eliminated from the budget: $1.2 billion for veterans' medical care, $1.2 billion for the violent crime trust fund, and $1.7 billion for State and local enforcement. They are not in his budget. We will have to decide whether we are going to put them in and cut something else. Nonetheless, this will not change the President's prerogative to veto every single bill. But, Mr. President--I am not speaking to you, Mr. President, but I am speaking to the President down the street on Pennsylvania Avenue--if something like this is not adopted, then remember this afternoon when Senator Phil Gramm said there was an invitation to spend, and see what you have when entitlement programs come down to your desk because they passed up here 51 to 48, or 51 to 49 because there was no 60-vote point of order to keep them from breaking the budget because we will not have that protection unless this amendment is adopted. I would say for an afternoon that it is a pretty good piece of change for the American people and a pretty good way for the President to say, I will veto, but I would rather not have all the entitlements coming up here. Which entitlements? You know what they are. They have to do with the various medical programs. They have to do with everything we are going to be looking at for Medicaid reforms and Medicare reforms. Sixty votes is not going to be applicable. It seems to this Senator, Mr. President, that you ought to stick to your work and to your veto authority, and you ought to let us do our budget because we can help you a lot when we don't send you all the entitlement bills. I yield the floor.

Mr. DOMENICI. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DOMENICI. I ask to speak for 1 minute.

Mr. DOMENICI. I worked very hard this afternoon and today for what I thought was the right approach. I am back on board, and I will do everything I can to see that we keep some process and there is some order for the remainder of the year in getting our work done. I thank you very much.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I may proceed for 5 minutes.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, it is with great sadness that I rise today to remember a man who played such an important role in mental health. I would like to make a few remarks to honor Dr. Richard J. Wyatt, a friend of mine and my wife and my family and a distinguished advocate for the mentally ill. On Friday, June 7, 2002, the mental health community lost an inspirational researcher and leader in the field of mental health to a long battle with cancer. Throughout his career, Dr. Wyatt received numerous awards and honors and was highly respected among his colleagues. He served as the chief of the Neuropsychiatry Branch at the National Institutes of Mental Health. For 33 years, Richard played a leading role in understanding the biological basis of mental illness. His work pioneered the view that Schizophrenia is not the result of bad parenting or frailty of character, but it is due to a diagnosable and treatable disorder of the brain. This creative understanding of the basis of brain disease led to new treatments with antipsychotic medicines easing the burden of the disease. In addition, Richard and his wife, Dr. Kay Jamison, worked to end the stigma attached to mental diseases. Richard focused on research and the biological effects of Schizophrenia. Kay wrote books about her personal struggles with depression and how to overcome it. Together, they co- produced a series of public television programs that provided information on manic depression. All of their efforts helped to raise public awareness of brain disorders. Not only did Dr. Wyatt receive praise for his work on mental health, but he was a strong and courageous individual who fought a lifelong battle with cancer. In a letter to a friend diagnosed with cancer, Dr. Wyatt candidly discussed his experiences and shared his insights into overcoming this disease. Mr. President, I ask for unanimous consent that the February 13, 2001, Washington Post article entitled, ``Words to Live By'' be printed in the Record following my remarks. I believe this article is truly inspiring and exemplifies the qualities of this extraordinary individual.

Mr. DOMENICI. From myself and my wife, Nancy, we wish to express our heartfelt condolences to Richard's friends and family. To his wife, Kay, we send our greatest sympathies for the loss of your husband, and we thank you for your work as well. Dr. Wyatt's strength of character, and his compassion and work on behalf of the mentally ill will truly be missed. Exhibit No. 1 [From the Washington Post, Feb. 13, 2001] Words To Live By Drawing on knowledge born of hard experience, Washington psychiatrist Richard J. Wyatt penned this personal note of advice after a close friend and fellow physician was diagnosed with cancer. A cancer veteran himself, he underwent two years of aggressive radiation and chemotherapy to fight Hodgkin's disease in his thirties. When at age 60 he was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma, he withstood another course of chemo and a bone marrow transplant. Since he wrote the letter, he's begun a third fight--this time against lung cancer. In the letter's introduction, he voices the hope that the ``battle-won knowledge'' he offers here ``will help others facing this difficult journey.'' Dear Jim, I wouldn't have the audacity to write this if I hadn't fought cancer three times myself. But maybe you'll find the following advice helpful. I also offer the comforting and indisputable fact that I am here today to offer it. Try not to sweat the big things. Once you have made the decision to put yourself in the hands of a good oncologist, it is his or her job to fret. If you find that you are second-guessing him on big issues, you have the wrong person. Your job is to concern yourself with the small things. It also helps to find a treatment facility that makes you feel secure. I was treated at Johns Hopkins. The doctors, as I expected, were superb. And one cannot say enough about the quality of the nursing care at Hopkins. Everyone, including the housekeepers, takes pride in their work. Finally, as you know from the adage, a doctor who is his own doctor has a fool for a patient. In short, despite the temptation, do not try to compete with your doctor. How to choose an oncologist: Carefully. Most people have no basis for choosing a specialist other than the recommendation of their internist or family physician. In most cases this works well. My internists are superb, and they could not have been more helpful at a number of important stages of my care. But they have only a limited number of people they know well enough to make referrals to. The local oncologist is unlikely to have treated Burkitt's lymphoma or other unusual cancers, and even if he has some experience, it is likely to be slim. And he won't have the support team to deal with the many complexities that will arise. You want to be at an academic center where there is a great deal of experience, and where nobody does anything without it being questioned. The local oncologist can work with the academic oncologist, particularly if there is a geographic distance involved. The question I would ask, probably of the local oncologist, is, ``Who would you ask to treat your family member if he or she could go anywhere in the country?'' Do not be shy about this, and do not worry about offending your doctors by asking such questions. This may be among the most important questions you ever ask. As an aside, when I went out to Stanford for my Hodgkin's treatment, the radiation oncologist there said he could do better than the other people I was considering when I asked him this question. The other oncologists I was considering were as good as they get. But the Stanford doc turned out to be one of the best physicians I have come across. His well- placed self-assurance probably saved my life. Protect your veins. This is one of those small things I told you that you should worry about. Think of every venipuncture as a nosebleed where you must apply continuous pressure to the puncture wound for five minutes, even though the person drawing your blood will want to just put a bandage on it. Your arm will soon enough look like a maple tree in the fall, but there is no need to hurry the seasons. Try to get as much out of a single needle stick as possible. If you are going to need blood drawn twice in the same day, a device (a heparin lock) can be left in your arm which will prevent the need for a second sick. And start squeezing rubber balls. My arm veins have never been better. A bad hair year. I have noticed that neither of us has high-maintenance hair. As far as I'm concerned, the only reason for having hair is to keep our heads warm. (If I were a woman, I might feel differently.) You have the wisdom to live in a warm climate, but when it does get cold, wear a hat. One of my fellow patients tied a bandanna around his head, which I thought looked pretty snazzy, but because of some medication-induced numbness and tingling in my hands, I was having enough trouble with buttons and shoelaces. And there are some major benefits to hair loss. If all goes well, you have many months of not shaving. Just think of Yul Brenner and Michael Jordan. And James Carville. You will not be experiencing the radiation I received for Hodgkin's disease. It burned up a lot of me. Twenty-seven years after my radiation treatments, I still do not have any inconvenient sweat glands. I can wear my shirts for weeks without any telltale signs. And since both of us are academics, not one will notice the wrinkles. Get your finances in order. Make sure everything is in one place where your wife can find it, and in a form she can understand. I note that the night before Sen. John McCain had surgery for his melanoma, he said that his wife, Cindy, was going through their insurance policies. It got a laugh, but she was right. I have all my financial papers in a black three-ring notebook in plain sight, and I update it pretty often. Visit your accountant to see if you are over the limits you can leave a spouse and kids without it being taxed. Wills, powers of attorney and so forth are a must. Do not forget your friends. Nausea and vomiting. This time the chemotherapy is mild and fairly innocuous. Even a year ago, despite undergoing rather rigorous treatment, I had very little nausea or vomiting--a big difference from 27 years ago. Today there are good medications to prevent nausea and vomiting. Most of the time last year I got an IV dose a few minutes before receiving the day's medications. The pill form also worked well, even when they were dumping Drano directly into my cerebral spinal fluid. Burkitt's cells are apparently scoundrels: If there allowed to, they hide in the brain. I think you will want to start the pill form of anti-nausea medication about an hour before treatment, and take it about every eight hours for the next 24 hours. Your anti-cancer drugs may sit in the body longer than the ones I received, but I think most of them set on their target receptors within a few minutes. An aside about spinal taps: If you need to have one, to prevent headaches, remember to lie on your back for two or more hours after each tap. Out of nine spinal taps, I had only one mild headache, but it did last about a week. Although by previous standards there was essentially no nausea or vomiting, I recommend carrying a purple surgeon's glove in your pocket at all times, just in case. I am not sure why all the gloves have suddenly become purple, but Barney seems to have had a pervasive influence. I had to use the glove only once, but it saved my wife's car from that indelible stink. Since you have had much less practice and therefore probably do not have my Olympic-quality aim, you might want something larger than a surgeon's glove. Think leaf bag. Tastes and foods. I developed strong aversions to many foods and tastes I normally like. One of the most surprising was my sudden dislike of chocolate. I have since learned that this reaction is quite individualized. I think I almost drove my wife to murder demanding that my food be prepared in specific ways and then rejecting it. Nor is this something that suddenly goes away. Fortunately, it appears to be in women's genes to be patient with us. A year later, my appetite has yet to return. But then again there are not many men our age without a potbelly. You would be surprised by the number of friends who are slightly heavier than they would like, and who would be pleased to merge with you or offer to provide a transplant of their extra tonnage. They, and others, have offered many suggestions for increasing my appetite. One of my more endearing nurses advised me to have a beer before meals. Ensure, a ``Sun Chip and Benecol [a special kind of margarine] diet,'' Remeron [an antidepressant], Megace [a hormone] and marijuana have all been strongly encouraged. Of these, I like the idea of marijuana the best, but it is illegal and, despite a real effort under a porch when I was 14, I never learned to inhale. No matter what I have tried, I find I am as good at pushing food around a plate as I was when I was a child. Dry mouth. You will have it. Ice chips work well. A great gift was a Chap Stick. I have used it to its nubbins and it is the only one I never lost. Amusement. Get a comfortable lounge chair for home, a high wattage light for reading and a good TV videotapes. These should not be in the bedroom (see below). The best gifts I received during this time were books on tape, so you will want a good headset and tape player. If you have not already done so, start with Harry Potter. Apparently, flowers attack you when your immune system is down, so somehow you have to figure out a way to discourage friends from sending those large ``get well soon'' bouquets. Our cleaning lady got a lot of beautiful hand-me-down roses in the last year. They come pretty much only in the beginning, so she has no conflict of interest in seeing me get better. Chivalry, sex and movies. Have a place you can go at 2 a.m. when you cannot sleep and do not want to disturb your wife. You may want to subscribe to an extra movie channel. In the early hours of the morning, you can never be sure what will pop up on cable TV, but the porn flicks went to waste--I, at least, lost any libido I might have had left. My wife has been great about renting movies, and we usually have a large stack at anyone time. Make the most of whatever you can of political coverage and hope for a good scandal. My bout with Hodgkin's coincided with the Watergate hearings. Few people appreciate Richard Nixon like I do. A year ago I had John McCain and his exciting campaign. Actually, I suggest starting some sort (any sort) of rumor about one of our current or former Washington luminaries. How about something involving a randy act with one of the baby pandas at the zoo? Root for the absurdities of another Ken Starr, Bob Barr . . . the list is long. Sleep. With the permission of your doctor, have a supply of sleeping pills on hand. I have always used Valium because it has been around the longest. Because it is now off patent, it is also cheap. I buy one large bottle every 10 years. I think you said you like Ambien. Let me warn you that in the last few years I have seen two people, although older than us, become pretty goofy on Ambien. You might warn your wife about your potential for goofiness, because it is a little hard to assess on your own. Thinking. By the way, I am not sure most oncologists realize the extent of it, but the anti-cancer drugs affect one's cognition. The change is subtle and you will probably be the only one who knows it has occurred. This is not the time to expand your ideas on superstring theory. While in the hospital with the bone marrow transplant, I received a great many medications. Just before they discharged me, I had a fever of unknown origin and one night became delirious. My wife and I are still arguing whether it lasted for a few hours or may more. You know which side she is on. My oncologist, who is generally pretty blunt, says he was not there and has refused to get involved in the discussion. In a more tactful manner than is usual for him, he did say that such deliriums usually last for days or weeks. The delirium did go away and has nothing to do with the more subtle cognitive change mentioned above. Pain and enemas. I had some bone pain with the Hodgkin's and used small amounts of codeine with aspirin. When the pain was at its worst, I used Valium as well. My treatment last year was fairly pain-free. The problem with opiates, which I enjoy otherwise (do not pass up a shot of Demerol if you are going to need a biopsy or surgery), is that they are constipating. Do not allow yourself to get constipated. Colace and sena work pretty well, but if you start getting bottled up, enemas (yuck!) have worked well for me. Fleet's or its generic equivalent has done the trick on a number of occasions. It's probably a good idea to have several around the house. Just don't leave them in the living room or where the dog can get at them. Invisible shield. After chemotherapy, your chance of developing shingles will be pretty high (assuming, of course, that like most people our age, you have had chickenpox). There are now several antiviral agents available which, if started with the first symptoms, can greatly reduce the amount you will suffer from this scourge. Unfortunately, by the time you recognize the symptoms, describe them to your doctor, get a prescription, have that prescription approved by your HMO or insurance company and get the drug at your pharmacy, several days or more will have passed. Aware of this problem, I asked my physician to write a prescription before the symptoms developed. My insurance company has been fairly generous throughout my illness, but it took more than two weeks for them to send the drug. It came a week before my symptoms developed. If you want to know how worthwhile this exercise was, consider this. When I had Hodgkin's disease, shingles got the better of me for many weeks; it was on both sides of my body and spread vertically across all my ribs. I still get pain in these areas every winter when I go out into the cold. But this time, just one rib was involved. And it itched more than it hurt. I think I may be left with a small residual seven months later, but it is trivial. I have read that adding small doses of the antidepressant amitriptyline [Elavil] to the antiviral agents helps prevent the post-shingles pain. The sporting life. To the degree you can, exercise. It may not be possible at first. But as soon as you feel up to it, give it a try, even if you only walk around the block. (Believe me, the first time you complete this herculean task, you will be very impressed with your physical prowess.) I still try to get on the treadmill every day, as I have done most of my life, even if the workout isn't what you would call herculean. The only time I missed it recently was a two-week period last month when I contracted pneumonia and hadn't yet responded to antibiotics. Before my latest cancer diagnosis, I got shoved out of bed every morning to be at the gym by 6:15. Mostly, while there, I was too out of breath and my pulse too rapid to do anything but read the newspaper, but I got on the treadmill every day even if I had to hold onto the rails for balance. I think the balance problem is related to weakness, but it could also have been the Drano. Cancer talk. This issue is one that may be left over from our parents' generation. They did not talk much about cancer, but I have always been willing to talk about mine. This is a secret I did not want to try to keep. And just how do you explain sudden baldness, needle tracks and a great imitation of Casper the Ghost? Some of my best discussions have been in oncologists' waiting rooms. There is almost always a wait, so there is plenty of time to meet others going through more or less the same thing. At least for me and my wife, the time spent in oncologists' waiting rooms has been an unofficial form of group therapy, and I have never met a person there I did not like. It is rather remarkable how being in the same boat on a rather rough sea pulls people together. I believe all those studies that say that group psychotherapy improves the survival time of patients with cancer. My experience is that such therapy doesn't have to be formal; it develops spontaneously. Spiritual issues. This has not been my strong suit, but despite living in a somewhat cynical society, you and I both have many friends who pray. For the most part they do so in private. Few have Joseph Lieberman's exuberance. As you will find out, however, when they perceive you need them, they let you know they are there for you. And you will find that those friends who don't pray will also find wonderful ways of encouraging you. One more thing. In case you have ever wondered why you got married and had kids, this is it. This is your best chance ever to get a lot of attention. Breakfast in bed is a good start. Love, Richard.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise today to bring attention to the special distinction of Las Vegas, NM, as recently highlighted by the Los Angeles Times. Perhaps more faithfully than any other community in the Southwest, this charming city continues to hold fast to its rich Hispanic and European heritage, and colorful ``Wild West'' history. Firmly rooted in Hispanic traditions, Las Vegas was christened ``Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de Las Vegas Grandes,'' or ``Our Lady of the Sorrows of the Great Meadows,'' by sheep and cattle ranchers of Spanish heritage who settled there in 1835. Las Vegas prospered as a major trading point on the Santa Fe Trail, giving rise to a great proliferation of adobe homes and commercial buildings. As trade burgeoned, the trail and the nearby Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad brought in a larger variety of settlers and architecture, including other European influences, and the town grew to include a large number of Victorian buildings. As the Los Angeles Times points out, Las Vegas currently boasts over 900 structures listed on U.S. and New Mexico registries of historic buildings, an outstanding number of monuments to the varied cultural influences that have shaped the town for more than a century and a half. The Los Angeles Times also noted that ``this Las Vegas, in fact, has so much history, the town's not sure what to do with it all.'' Las Vegas has played host to both illustrious guests and infamous Wild West personalities. Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders convened there for a reunion in 1899, a year after they stormed San Juan Hill. Both Ulysses S. Grant and Emperor Hirohito of Japan took advantage of the Montezuma Castle hot mineral springs resort outside town. The same vibrant traffic that made the town boom brought in some of the most colorful characters of the Old West: outlaw Billy the Kid and bank robber Jesse James made appearances in Las Vegas, and controversial gunman ``Doc'' Holliday performed a stint as the town's dentist. Though the town was established by a land grant from the Mexican government to several Spanish families, Gen. Stephen Kearny of the U.S. Army arrived on the scene in 1846 by way of the Santa Fe trail and sparked the Mexican American War by declaring the town's residents to be citizens of the United States. Henceforth, the town clung tenaciously to its roots, resulting in a vibrant and authentic Hispanic community unlike any other in the Southwest. Although the boom begun by the railroad left Las Vegas behind, and stagnation sometimes haunted the town's economy, Las Vegas continued to embrace its home-grown values and place an emphasis on preservation as it sought other means of development. I believe Las Vegas, with its history and charm, is poised for a 21st century renaissance. It has the ingredients--a ready workforce, access to transportation and metropolitan services, a higher- education base, and the desire to be a prosperous and growing community. I have worked through my Rural Payday initiative to help bring new telecommunications-related jobs to Las Vegas, and we are working on other projects to bring more jobs to the area. The socalled information superhighway, like the railroads of the 1800s, can be the region's next conduit for growth. The people of Las Vegas and San Miguel County hold a very special place in my heart. They make New Mexico particularly proud for staying true to their values and heritage. Possibly no other locale that so purely embodies the real historic and cultural elements that distinguish our state from any other. I commend Las Vegas' residents for their active preservation efforts, and congratulate this community on its remarkable place in New Mexico's cultural life. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the Los Angeles Times article from June 16, 2002, be printed in the Record.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, today I rise to pay tribute to Dr. Frank C. Hibben who passed away this past Tuesday, June 11, in my State. Dr. Hibben was a world-renowned archeologist, anthropologist, big- game hunter, author, and philanthropist. He also held the title of Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico. As a lifelong hunter and conservationist, Dr. Hibben played a key role in many of New Mexico's conservation and restoration programs. For 30 years, Dr. Hibben served on the New Mexico Fish and Game commission, including 28 years as chairman. In this capacity, he spearheaded efforts to introduce endangered, and exotic new species to the State of New Mexico in an effort to protect these dwindling game herds from around the world. As a archeologist and professor, Dr. Hibben wrote numerous articles and books with an emphasis on big-game hunting and the American Southwest. For his work, he was awarded the University of New Mexico's Zimmerman award, a notable award given by the university to honor an alumnus who has contributed significantly to the university and the world at large. However, in spite of his many achievements in archeology and conservation, I believe Dr. Hibben will be most remembered for his philanthropy. He was the founding Director of the UNM Maxwell Museum of Anthropology and played a key role in its development. In addition, he has been the lead advocate for the development of the Hibben Archaeological Research Center which is currently in development. Dr. Hibben donated $4 million of his own funds to construct this new center which would showcase the 1.5 million artifacts from the Chaco Culture National Historic Park. New Mexico has lost an invaluable treasure in a man who's accomplishments cannot be overstated in their importance both to UNM and the State of New Mexico. I join with his friends and family in mourning their loss. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. I will save my own remarks for another time.

Mr. DOMENICI. I am cut out.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. I ask if you would give me 2 minutes right now, and I will not talk anymore.

Mr. DOMENICI. I want to say to all of you that what happened to me should not happen to any of you. I have been here almost 30 years. If some of you were here 60 years, I hope it doesn't happen to you. I don't care why a Senator leaves the floor at the end of a bill, or whether Senator John McCain, who is objecting now, had some reason to leave the floor, or if he didn't like the process and he stomped out of here mad like he does sometimes. The truth is that a managers' amendment with 20 or 30 managers' amendments in it, with my name on the list, and Senator Bingaman, incidentally--Senator Bingaman was sitting right over there, and we did not catch it, as the manager read it. We thought it was included in the long list. We get up the next day and to our surprise, something that we had accomplished, that we thought was very important, was not in the bill and did not get attached, and the conferees said they could not consider it. But they said the next appropriations bill that comes, we will help you. I could not get help because we entered into an early-on cloture, which we do not do. I should have expected it, but it never happens that early. It happened, and all of us got shut out, and we were urged by our leadership to help with that. I thought we should not. I thought we should wait 2 or 3 days. But the leader asked me, and I said: OK, let's close it down early. I got closed down, and now I have a Senator or two, because they do not like my amendment, sitting here telling you they do not believe me--that is what they are saying--or they do not believe Ted Stevens who believed me. Is that what they are saying? I hope they are not saying that. And you can smile if you like, but there is nothing to smile about. It is very serious, and you get a frown on your face like me more frequently than I do. Excuse me for violating the rules for addressing him in the singular. I should say the senior Senator from Arizona, and I am sorry about that. The Democratic part of this team from New Mexico could not be here today, or he would stand before you and even tell you he is more in awe than I, when the next day or day after we talked and we said, well, it would get done. No, it is not there. Somebody forgot to put it in. It was all ready. I suggest there ought to be some way to fix this. I am going to tell you as my time expires, for those who are going to object like this, they better get up early in the morning. They better get here when the appropriations bill comes up because amendments I have in the future are not going to wait around to the end. You are not going to have all this power. This approach has given you power beyond anything you have, and you are complaining about the processes we have that are inordinate and wrong. It is not right to have one or two Senators who would have had one or two votes but for cloture. That is all they would have had and could not have denied my amendment the way they are doing tonight with the help of a Parliamentarian who takes the facts not into consideration because he could not. He cannot listen to me. I never said one thing to the Parliamentarian tonight. Your ruling is right or wrong, but I am telling the Senators, it is not right. I am not going to lose, so you just wake up because the next appropriations bill that comes through here we are going to vote on the Domenici amendment. And I hope you have a lot of people thinking like you do because you are going to lose. It is going to be a matter of 1 month or 2 months, and this amendment is going to be adopted. And I am going to go to the conference, and it is going to stay in. I thank you for listening and sorry I bothered you. Good night.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I will speak for a couple minutes. I say to Senator Graham, I rise to congratulate him, and not only for the amendment. And whatever happens to it tonight, its destiny is already determined. We have already waited too long. It is time that some of us, especially those of us who come from States that are not too far from the other hemisphere, where mostly Hispanic Americans live and work--to have that hemisphere as if it were not really our friend and we should not be concerned about it is truly one of the giant mistakes we make. And every year that passes we say something about doing better. But I believe the situations are going to get even worse, and sooner or later--let's hope sooner--the United States will do something while we are still acceptable down there and while we can still be of some significant positive impact. I say to Senator McCain, I heard his remarks. And I have heard them before. I think it is time, with real vigor and enthusiasm, with resources and leadership, we consider this hemisphere to be a big part of America's foreign involvement. Why so far away when we have problems in abundance so close? Why neighbors thousands of miles away and no acts of friendliness to those who are really our neighbors? With that, I ask unanimous consent for 1 minute to introduce a bill.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I want to ask my friend a question.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I cannot follow this process. Whatever you say about germaneness or not, I want to bring my amendment up to be discussed. We can take 2 minutes, and then you can do with it what you want. I am not going to stand here and have my amendment possibly disposed of while the process for proceeding is not clear. I have the floor now and----

Mr. DOMENICI. Can I borrow it from you?

Mr. DOMENICI. My two are not germane. One of them would have been adopted by the Senate but for a clerical error. Are you going to let the Senate listen to that statement?

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I am not trying to take the place of anyone who wants to offer an amendment. I thought there was a little loose time here. Is the Senator ready? I wanted to speak a couple of minutes.

Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Senator. Mr. President, let me make a couple of observations. It seems to me that there is no question that we are going to pass this supplemental. The President of the United States will have his rights, when this bill goes to conference, to argue with the Senate and the House conferees and have his input. It is very difficult to perceive a situation where, when you are talking of more than a few billion dollars and more than 100 or 200 projects or programs or activities that are funded--it is pretty hard to come up with the same number for the President and the Congress. As a matter of fact, it has taken me a long time. I fess up to understand that the Budget Committee ordered that the Congress pass a congressional budget, and it is most interesting that they didn't say a Presidential and congressional budget; they said a congressional budget. Then, of course, nobody took away the President's prerogatives as that budget was implemented. The President retains his prerogatives to be for or against the bills that come from that budget. In fact, there have been some in both Houses who have attempted to change the Budget Act so the President could be part of it. They have never gone anywhere--those proposals--because we are supposed to do our job, and the President, with the OMB and others, does his job; and eventually we come to a rational conclusion somewhere down the line. I believe the far bigger mistake we are making as we move toward appropriations this year than trying to square this bill up in actual dollars exactly the same as the President's, or that we not get any cap language that exceeds the President's, I think the most important thing is to try to save some of the enforcement provisions of the Budget Act so they will be living throughout this process next year and give everybody an opportunity to see whether they want to get rid of the entire process or whether they want to maintain the seven, eight, or nine important provisions that help us around here. I am not suggesting I know how to do that now in a postcloture position. I will continue to work with the leader on the other side and the leader on this side and the respective whips and Senator Byrd, Senator Stevens, and anybody else to see if we cannot have a bipartisan agreement. Let's retain the amendment. Let's retain what? Let's retain some significant portion of the enforcement provisions in the Budget Act, adopt them as a statute for 1 year in this appropriations bill. I believe that is the most helpful thing we can do even if the numbers are not identical with the President's. For instance, in the entire budget, it looks as if we are coming down with an agreement that probably would be supported by more than half of the Senate, which says we cannot meet the President's appropriations number, but we can put together pieces and be maybe $8 billion to $10 billion higher on this gigantic budget. That does nothing to change the President's budget, does nothing to put him in a position where he is getting the short end of what is expected to be a congressional budget provided for in our own language, and then we have one called a budget of the U.S. Congress. I hope, for those who are interested, we will continue to work on that. In the meantime, clearly, with the last vote, we are on a path to hurry up. I think that is relatively good considering where we have been in the past.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I did not quite get here in time to ask the distinguished majority whip where we were in terms of the business of the Senate. Might I ask, what is the parliamentary situation? What is pending before the Senate?

Mr. DOMENICI. I yield the floor. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, on behalf of myself, Senator Kyl, and Senator Crapo, I am introducing a bill with reference to water, water supply, and research. We have no American policy, no place that you can go where the basic water issues of our land can be metered and modeled, and where we can find out what the real situation is with reference to water for our growing needs in our cities and the surrounding areas. If you are interested in that, I think you will find the bill I am sending to the desk to be an intriguing one. It has been put together by very bright, technical people from laboratories and similar entities, where they clearly set forth the way we ought to go about establishing a water supply research center for a country as important as ours, and how we can provide research on an annual basis in these areas for very few dollars. Water is the lifeblood of our Southwest. We don't have an abundant supply and what we do have is becoming increasingly threatened. Between providing water for people and various endangered species, there just isn't enough water to go around. I'm sure many of my colleagues are seeing daily headlines like: Winds Parch Remaining Moisture Out of New Mexico Land, Navajos Urged To Sell Parched Livestock, New Mexico Going to Drought Emergency, Drought Watch--Skies Without Hope, and Trees Need Big Help To Survive Drought. There is no larger problem facing our Southwest. This bill is part of my broad strategy for dealing with water quality and quantity issues. In earlier bills, I have sought to provide grants to communities struggling to meet the new EPA arsenic mandates. I recently introduced the National Drought Preparedness Act of 2002 to help communities develop drought preparedness plans in an effort to mitigate the effects of future droughts. This bill will help with short term challenges like meeting arsenic mandates and longer term issues like cost-effective desalination technologies and better modeling to enable optimum utilization of the water in our major river basins. There are good reasons for designating the Department of Energy to create these technologies. Energy is the second largest user of water, second only to agriculture. Furthermore, energy costs are a major component in purifying and pumping drinking water and in treating wastewater. As scarcity of water intensifies, more and more energy will be needed to obtain and treat it. Water will be pumped from greater depths and over greater distances. More treatment will be needed as we use less pure resources. As just one example, up to half the costs of desalination involve energy. Removal of arsenic will be one focus for this new program. In New Mexico, as in much of the West, arsenic occurs naturally in significant concentrations. This, coupled with the fact that New Mexico is not a wealthy State, has made the recent unfunded mandate imposed by the EPA insurmountable. This new standard is going to cost New Mexico around $400 million. More than 100 community water systems in the State will probably have to upgrade their water treatment facilities. Ratepayers are likely to see monthly rate increases averaging between $40 and $90, that's simply unacceptable. Other States have similar problems. Even worse, these costs may force people to shift from expensive treated water to cheaper domestic wells. Since these wells often contain even greater amounts of arsenic and pollutants, there may be unintended public health consequences created by this new mandate. I introduced S. 1299 to provide grants to States to help them comply with these new standards. That will help, but grant dollars alone aren't the answer to this issue. We also need to reduce the costs of arsenic removal. This bill authorizes $8 million for research and development of cost effective strategies. The program will focus on reducing overall costs, including those for energy and will include demonstration projects in the arid southwest. The bill also provides for a 4 year extension in the time by which municipalities must comply with the new EPA mandate, in addition to the extension that EPA has already committed to. This extension is open to any public water system that is in the process of utilizing technology authorized under this bill. Our national laboratories, especially Sandia, will be strong contributors to this program. Another part of the bill deals with the challenges of providing adequate supplies of fresh water for the growing populations of our southwest. These States face severe water shortages, which impact both our urban communities and our rural agricultural ones. Our fresh water supply will not increase, unless we take steps today and invest in new approaches to water supply and management. To achieve this, my bill provides authority for the program director, in cooperation with the Commissioner of Reclamation, to coordinate desalination research for improved technologies. This program is authorized at $6 million. The program will focus on development and demonstration of technologies appropriate for desalinating brackish water and encourages the use of renewable energy. Part of these funds will enable completion of a national desalination research center in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico. The bill also provides $7 million to implement programs to examine the relationships between water supplies and energy needs. It will focus on the availability of water and on opportunities for increasing our supplies. Hopefully, with this research we can turn our water future into something other than a ``zero sum'' game. The program will develop comprehensive models to assess and manage competing demands for water by energy, agriculture and other sectors. To accomplish this, models will include a range of physical phenomena and a complete set of the major water uses. The bill provides for the development of these models for up to 3 domestic river basins, one of which addresses an international border. Many Americans are under the illusion that water will always flow out of their tap each time it is turned on. And they continue to believe that there will always be an adequate supply of good quality water to meet all needs, energy, agriculture and domestic. I fear this may not always be the case. Unless we develop a long-term strategy for dealing with impending water shortages it could be too late. I hope this bill starts us down the path of conquering water challenges in the 21st Century. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, on behalf of myself, Senator Kyl, and Senator Crapo, I am introducing a bill with reference to water, water supply, and research. We have no American policy, no place that you can go where the basic water issues of our land can be metered and modeled, and where we can find out what the real situation is with reference to water for our growing needs in our cities and the surrounding areas. If you are interested in that, I think you will find the bill I am sending to the desk to be an intriguing one. It has been put together by very bright, technical people from laboratories and similar entities, where they clearly set forth the way we ought to go about establishing a water supply research center for a country as important as ours, and how we can provide research on an annual basis in these areas for very few dollars. Water is the lifeblood of our Southwest. We don't have an abundant supply and what we do have is becoming increasingly threatened. Between providing water for people and various endangered species, there just isn't enough water to go around. I'm sure many of my colleagues are seeing daily headlines like: Winds Parch Remaining Moisture Out of New Mexico Land, Navajos Urged To Sell Parched Livestock, New Mexico Going to Drought Emergency, Drought Watch--Skies Without Hope, and Trees Need Big Help To Survive Drought. There is no larger problem facing our Southwest. This bill is part of my broad strategy for dealing with water quality and quantity issues. In earlier bills, I have sought to provide grants to communities struggling to meet the new EPA arsenic mandates. I recently introduced the National Drought Preparedness Act of 2002 to help communities develop drought preparedness plans in an effort to mitigate the effects of future droughts. This bill will help with short term challenges like meeting arsenic mandates and longer term issues like cost-effective desalination technologies and better modeling to enable optimum utilization of the water in our major river basins. There are good reasons for designating the Department of Energy to create these technologies. Energy is the second largest user of water, second only to agriculture. Furthermore, energy costs are a major component in purifying and pumping drinking water and in treating wastewater. As scarcity of water intensifies, more and more energy will be needed to obtain and treat it. Water will be pumped from greater depths and over greater distances. More treatment will be needed as we use less pure resources. As just one example, up to half the costs of desalination involve energy. Removal of arsenic will be one focus for this new program. In New Mexico, as in much of the West, arsenic occurs naturally in significant concentrations. This, coupled with the fact that New Mexico is not a wealthy State, has made the recent unfunded mandate imposed by the EPA insurmountable. This new standard is going to cost New Mexico around $400 million. More than 100 community water systems in the State will probably have to upgrade their water treatment facilities. Ratepayers are likely to see monthly rate increases averaging between $40 and $90, that's simply unacceptable. Other States have similar problems. Even worse, these costs may force people to shift from expensive treated water to cheaper domestic wells. Since these wells often contain even greater amounts of arsenic and pollutants, there may be unintended public health consequences created by this new mandate. I introduced S. 1299 to provide grants to States to help them comply with these new standards. That will help, but grant dollars alone aren't the answer to this issue. We also need to reduce the costs of arsenic removal. This bill authorizes $8 million for research and development of cost effective strategies. The program will focus on reducing overall costs, including those for energy and will include demonstration projects in the arid southwest. The bill also provides for a 4 year extension in the time by which municipalities must comply with the new EPA mandate, in addition to the extension that EPA has already committed to. This extension is open to any public water system that is in the process of utilizing technology authorized under this bill. Our national laboratories, especially Sandia, will be strong contributors to this program. Another part of the bill deals with the challenges of providing adequate supplies of fresh water for the growing populations of our southwest. These States face severe water shortages, which impact both our urban communities and our rural agricultural ones. Our fresh water supply will not increase, unless we take steps today and invest in new approaches to water supply and management. To achieve this, my bill provides authority for the program director, in cooperation with the Commissioner of Reclamation, to coordinate desalination research for improved technologies. This program is authorized at $6 million. The program will focus on development and demonstration of technologies appropriate for desalinating brackish water and encourages the use of renewable energy. Part of these funds will enable completion of a national desalination research center in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico. The bill also provides $7 million to implement programs to examine the relationships between water supplies and energy needs. It will focus on the availability of water and on opportunities for increasing our supplies. Hopefully, with this research we can turn our water future into something other than a ``zero sum'' game. The program will develop comprehensive models to assess and manage competing demands for water by energy, agriculture and other sectors. To accomplish this, models will include a range of physical phenomena and a complete set of the major water uses. The bill provides for the development of these models for up to 3 domestic river basins, one of which addresses an international border. Many Americans are under the illusion that water will always flow out of their tap each time it is turned on. And they continue to believe that there will always be an adequate supply of good quality water to meet all needs, energy, agriculture and domestic. I fear this may not always be the case. Unless we develop a long-term strategy for dealing with impending water shortages it could be too late. I hope this bill starts us down the path of conquering water challenges in the 21st Century. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. I am sending it to the desk so anybody who wants to may look at it. If the Senator has concerns, I will not do it.