Pete Domenici

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Senator very much.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, the resolution I have just alluded to is a bipartisan resolution. A number of years ago we started this approach to character education called Character Counts. Senator Nunn was the cosponsor of a resolution that passed the Senate on innumerable occasions, perhaps as many as five times. It declares for all of America that one week during the year will be known as called Character Counts Week. Frankly, from this Senator's standpoint, we hear so much about what we ought to do and what we can do to help our young people as they grow up in this very difficult society and often very difficult time. We all understand that there are many people who have primary responsibility for our children. We are not in any way talking about negating that primary responsibility, that of relatives and grandparents and mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters to help raise a child with good values. But we have found, starting about 6 years ago, that the teachers in our public schools have been yearning for something they would like to teach our children that for some reason had been eliminated from both the public and private school agenda. It is sometimes referred to as character education. I chose to call it ``Character Counts'' and I chose to speak about a specific program that is being used in many public schools in our country, and certainly in my State of New Mexico, whereby the teachers take six pillars of character and they embrace those within the classroom--on a day-by-day basis, not as a special class. But let me just mention a few of the Character Counts traits that are part of this program and used in many schools. Let's start with the first one. It is trustworthiness. In some public schools and private schools, especially in the grade schools, for one entire month, the school would promote the idea of trustworthiness by students and teachers, who have lesson plans and programs that articulate what trustworthiness is. They use this with the students, and they from time to time engage in discussions, engage in activities around the school that epitomize trustworthiness. I think we all understand trustworthiness is one of those characteristics and qualities of character that says you should not lie. It says if you agree with somebody to do something, you should live up to your agreement. Trustworthiness has a quality of loyalty to it. Then maybe the next month, one of the other six pillars would be discussed and woven into the curriculum. The next month, it may very well be ``respect.'' The same kind of thing might happen during that month in some grade school in New Mexico or Idaho or the State of Tennessee or the State of Connecticut, where an awful lot of activity in Character Counts education is taking place. Maybe the next month it might be the third trait, which is ``responsibility,'' and then maybe the next would be ``fairness,'' and ``caring,'' and ``citizenship.'' I have been part of this now for a number of years. It is a joy to visit public schools, parochial schools, and other kinds of schools, and visit a class and just talk to the young people about the word of the month; to see the teachers, how excited they are that for that month the children have been talking about responsibility; they have been talking about that in terms of their classmates, their teacher, their responsibilities at home. Then if you are lucky, you might choose to visit a school at the time once a month when they are having an assembly. During Character Counts assemblies, schools bring all the students together, and they present awards to the students that month who were most responsible. One way of reinforcing the importance of good character is to reward those who did more things than anyone else that month to demonstrate ``trustworthiness,'' or ``responsibility,'' or ``caring,'' or ``respect,'' or ``citizenship.'' Actually, Character Counts and its Six Pillars are not the only character education idea and program taking place in our country. But it is one of the best. The resolution we have just adopted resolves and proclaims the week beginning October 17 of this year, and the week beginning October 15 in the year 2000, to be National Character Counts Week. We request that the President issue a proclamation calling upon people and interested groups to embrace the six core elements of character identified by the Aspen Declaration, which are trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. That week the people in the country observe as National Character Counts Week, with appropriate ceremonies and activities. There are many Senators who have already joined in this effort from both sides of the aisle. Some are very active in their home States, and some are not. But I can say to any Senator who would be interested, there is a format which is very simple and at the same time very effective and profound, where a Senator or any elected official can get together with the superintendent of schools and others and talk about joint sponsorship of Character Counts in that particular public school. If the board of that school condones it and says it is a good idea, then it is all a question of leadership and who wants to pursue it and push Character Counts. So when graduation at a Character Counts school occurs, you can attend and you can see what the 9 months of character education have done. At schools where arithmetic was taught, grammar was taught, reading was taught, all of a sudden the young kids also know something about these six pillars of character. Frankly, people ask what has gone wrong with our country and what should we do about it. I am no prophet, and I am not one who thinks he knows all the answers, but I say what is missing in the United States more now than 20 or 30 years ago is character. The old Greek philosophers talked about character. I think it was Plato who said a country without character is a country that cannot exist for long, and that for a country to have character, the people in the country must have character. What we are speaking of is our little mission and our part in trying to change the quality of lives of young people by letting them know that some things are better than other things, there are some things that are right and some things that are wrong. Nobody seems to object across this land to these six pillars, these six words. It used to be whenever one talked about behavior and said values, people would wonder, whose values? In our America, under our Constitution, we surely cannot decide which religions values are to be taught in the schools, for as soon as we do that, we have to ask which ones are being left out. And as soon as we do that, we begin to break down the wall of separation between church and State, which is such a formidable part of America as it started under our forefathers and continues today. It is interesting. I have asked in many assemblies of adults whether there was any objection in the community--be it the community of Gallup, NM, or Clovis, NM, or Las Cruces, NM, or Albuquerque, my home city--to these six pillars. If one thinks them through, they are so fundamental and desperately needed that hardly anyone can object to them. I wish the Governors of our country--and I am going to ask them, along with my good friend and chief cosponsor, Senator Dodd of Connecticut--might adopt this in their States. I want to work with the Governors to move together with the public institutions of education and the private institutions of education to begin a broader-based promotion of Character Counts in more States. Frankly, a number of our Senators have been involved in the past. Senator Dodd has brought this idea to his State, and Senator Lieberman works with him. Senator Frist of Tennessee has had great success in getting it started, and now it is multiplying in his State. I have had a rather phenomenal success in New Mexico. In my small State, over 200,000 young people, one way or another in classrooms across our State, are learning and living these six words, these six pillars of character, as part of their 9 months of education. It is having a profound effect. On the other hand, there are cynics. They ask: How do you know? Are you sure? We do not know for sure, although we are beginning to get some objective analysis that seems to indicate that some of the things going wrong in the schools before are not going wrong when the six pillars of character are utilized, are popular and preeminent and where the children are participating in building their character around them. I believe we are better off trying character education than not. If I had to guess what might change things, I would say if the young people in our country can build individually and collectively into their daily lives the six pillars of character celebrated in this resolution, so they feel part and parcel and immersed in the ideas of respect, trustworthiness, caring, and the other three pillars I have mentioned heretofore, we have a better chance of effecting some change for the positive than almost anything else we can do. I am going to do my share to keep this going in my State. I am also going to join Senator Dodd in meeting at the next opportunity with the Governors in a bipartisan way to see if they will engage us in a discourse and dialog about character education and, in particular, how Character Counts works in the places it is being tried. There is not an organization that dictates Character Counts for the Nation, nor does it promote it nationwide. This is an activity left up to localities. The only thing is, it is coordinated in our country by an entity which came up with these six pillars, the Josephson Institute of Ethics. That institute helps provide materials and the know-how for localities, schools, Boy Scouts, athletic clubs and others to promote these six pillars. But, it is up to the locality to do something about it. But today, we are going to adopt this resolution celebrating Character Counts in the hope of raising awareness and encouraging states and localities to consider using this approach in their communities. I note the presence on the floor of my cosponsor who has done a wonderful job in his State, and also speaks about Character Counts and the six pillars in various places in this country. He has had a significant degree of success. The way it is run in his State is different than our State, but, nonetheless, the six pillars are becoming prominent. These six pillars are becoming prominent in the education of young people. We might never have thought we could include them, but in the backs of our minds we always thought they must be used. How can we raise children without responsibility, without caring and respect being meaningful to them? I am very pleased to be part of this again this year. Like I said, I am going to try to be a little more effective in expanding Character Counts to a few more places with the help of my colleague, Senator Dodd. As I said in Senator Dodd's absence, we are going to ask Governors to take the lead. We will join them and get the Josephson Institute and any others that are involved in character education and move it ahead so that many States will be like Senator Dodd's and mine where it will be flourishing among young kids. Mr. President, I say again, today, for the sixth consecutive year, we will adopt a resolution designating the third week of October as National Character Counts Week. Once again, this resolution has received overwhelming bipartisan support with 57 cosponsors. Through this measure, this body--the United States Senate--pledges its support and encouragement of character education and training by setting aside one week for a celebration. Yes, National Character Counts Week, October 17-23, 1999 and October 15-21, 2000 will be an opportunity for schools, communities, and youth organizations all over America to celebrate the ideals of good character and honor those who have worked so hard throughout the year to promote values such as trustworthiness, caring, fairness, respect, responsibility, and citizenship. I believe it is time to reclaim the importance of these values in our daily lives. Many Americans, I regret, have become too cynical about the role of character in modern society. For too long, we have declined to discuss fundamental moral principles in our schools for fear of offending someone or imposing our beliefs. However, we nearly forgot that this nation was founded upon basic values. These values have bound our citizens together and sustained them through wars, depressions and other adversities. Indeed, it is our belief in these core values that continues to make the United States a beacon of hope and opportunity to people around the globe. The ``Six Pillars of Character'' concept reflects these core values. They are the building blocks to helping our children recognize the difference between right and wrong, and they deserve a place in our schools alongside lessons in math and reading. Although parents do bear ultimate responsibility for teaching children the value of human dignity and character, we, as a community, have a duty to support these messages outside the home. To that end, Senator Dodd and I are exploring ways to expand the role of character education in schools and after-school programs, and we urge our colleagues to join us. I can assure the Senate, character education programs have been phenomenally well received in school systems throughout the country. In my own State of New Mexico, teachers have told me they finally feel empowered to discuss what it means to be a good citizen and a good person with their students, and they love it. Schools across the state have walls covered with posters on what ``responsibility'' means, and students who demonstrate outstanding acts of caring, for example, are celebrated at pep rallies. These simple lessons are taking root among our children, and they must be encouraged. I am not suggesting that character education is the magic elixir that will prevent tragedies like the Columbine High School shooting from happening, but it's a start. We, as a society, need to tell our children that lying is not acceptable, under any circumstance. Stealing cannot be allowed. Breaking the law will not be tolerated. We also need to reinforce positive values, and programs like Character Counts do just that. I applaud the Senate for passing this resolution designating a National Character Counts Week for this year and next, and I encourage my fellow Senators to continue to work with me to ensure that our children receive strong and consistent messages on the essential values our society must embrace in order to succeed. This is Republican time, but I am going to yield on Republican time to my colleague, Senator Dodd.

Mr. DOMENICI. On behalf of the leader, I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 148, S. Res. 98.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to this resolution appear in the Record.

Mr. DOMENICI. If there are any Republican Senators who would like to speak, they may certainly come and do that now. I will yield the floor to them.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Tuesday, June 29, 1999, at 2:30 P.M. on NOAA, U.S. Fire Administration, and Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program reauthorization

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Forests & Public Land Management of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be granted permission to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, June 29, for purposes of conducting a hearing which is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. the purpose of this oversight hearing is to receive testimony on fire preparedness on Federal lands.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be granted permission to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, June 29, for purposes of conducting a full committee hearing which is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on S. 161, the Power Marketing Administration Reform Act of 1999; S. 282, the Transition to Competition in the Electric Industry Act; S. 516, the Electric Utility Restructuring Empowerment and Competitiveness Act of 1999; S. 1047, the Comprehensive Electricity Competition Act; S. 1273, a bill to amend the Federal Power Act to facilitate the transition to more competitive and efficient electric power markets, and for other purposes; and S. 1284, a bill to amend the Federal Power Act to ensure that no State may establish, maintain or enforce on behalf of any electric utility an exclusive right to sell electric energy or otherwise unduly discriminate against any customer who seeks to purchase electric energy in interstate commerce from any supplier.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full Committee on Environment and Public Works be granted permission to conduct a business meeting to mark up (1) S. 1100, a bill to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide that the designation of critical habitat for endangered and threatened species be required as part of the development of recovery plans for those species; (2) Nomination of Timothy Fields, Jr., nominated by the President to be Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste, Environmental Protection Agency; and (3) Committee Budget Resolution. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 29, 10:00 a.m., Hearing Room (SD-406).

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, the Finance Committee requests unanimous consent to conduct a hearing on Tuesday, June 29, 1999 beginning at 10:00 a.m. in room 215 Dirksen.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet for a hearing on ``ESEA: Arts Education and Magnet Schools'' during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, July 29, 1999, at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Chair.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, on behalf of the majority leader, I ask unanimous consent that we remain in morning business until 5 o'clock and that the time be equally divided.

Mr. DOMENICI

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

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Inouye in sponsoring this legislation to establish the American Indian Education Foundation. Similar foundations exist for national parks and national fish and wildlife purposes. Many Americans leave assets to benefit American Indians, but there is currently no national foundation to encourage this type of giving for the benefit of Indian children in BIA schools. The American Indian Education Foundation would primarily benefit elementary and secondary American Indian students with books, computers, school supplies, cultural preservation programs, literacy programs, and many other worthwhile activities. There is already a pool of about $400,000 held by the Office of Indian Education in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). These personal assets have been donated over the years for Indian students, but there is no legal mechanism to transfer these funds to BIA schools. This legislation would allow the BIA to direct these funds to BIA schools to meet immediate education needs of today's Indian students. I am proud to encourage this kind of targeted giving, and I am optimistic about its potential. America is a generous nation. As more Americans become aware of the spectrum of needs at BIA schools on Indian reservations, I predict a huge success for this important foundation. I commend the Administration for developing this legislation, and I thank my friend Senator Inouye for taking the initiative to move it forward in the Senate. I urge my colleagues to encourage private gifts to national Indian education purposes by supporting this proposed foundation.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Inouye in sponsoring this legislation to establish the American Indian Education Foundation. Similar foundations exist for national parks and national fish and wildlife purposes. Many Americans leave assets to benefit American Indians, but there is currently no national foundation to encourage this type of giving for the benefit of Indian children in BIA schools. The American Indian Education Foundation would primarily benefit elementary and secondary American Indian students with books, computers, school supplies, cultural preservation programs, literacy programs, and many other worthwhile activities. There is already a pool of about $400,000 held by the Office of Indian Education in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). These personal assets have been donated over the years for Indian students, but there is no legal mechanism to transfer these funds to BIA schools. This legislation would allow the BIA to direct these funds to BIA schools to meet immediate education needs of today's Indian students. I am proud to encourage this kind of targeted giving, and I am optimistic about its potential. America is a generous nation. As more Americans become aware of the spectrum of needs at BIA schools on Indian reservations, I predict a huge success for this important foundation. I commend the Administration for developing this legislation, and I thank my friend Senator Inouye for taking the initiative to move it forward in the Senate. I urge my colleagues to encourage private gifts to national Indian education purposes by supporting this proposed foundation.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, section 314(b)(4) of the Congressional Budget Act, as amended, requires the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee to adjust the appropriate budgetary aggregates and the allocation for the Appropriations Committee to reflect an amount provided for arrearages for international organizations, international peacekeeping, and multilateral development banks. I hereby submit revisions to the 2000 Senate Appropriations Committee allocations, pursuant to section 302 of the Congressional Budget Act, in the following amounts: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Budget authority Outlays ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current Allocation: General purpose discretionary............................. 533,652,000,000 543,958,000,000 Violent crime reduction fund.............................. 4,500,000,000 5,554,000,000 Highways.................................................. ....................... 24,574,000,000 Mass transit.............................................. ....................... 4,117,000,000 Mandatory................................................. 321,502,000,000 304,297,000,000

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I hereby submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report prepared by the Congressional Budget Office under Section 308(b) and in aid of Section 311 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. This report meets the requirements for Senate scorekeeping of Section 5 of S. Con. Res. 32, the First Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for 1986. This report shows the effects of congressional action on the budget through June 16, 1999. The estimates of budget authority, outlays, and revenues are consistent with the technical and economic assumptions of S. Res. 209, a resolution to provide budget levels in the Senate for purposes of fiscal year 1999, as amended by S. Res. 312. The budget levels have also been revised to include adjustments made on May 19, 1999, to reflect the amounts provided and designated as emergency requirements. The estimates show that current level spending is above the budget resolution by $0.4 billion in budget authority and above the budget resolution by $0.2 billion in outlays. Current level is $0.2 billion above the revenue floor in 1999. The current estimate of the deficit for purposes of calculating the maximum deficit amount is $56.1 billion, less than $50 million above the maximum deficit amount for 1999 of $56.0 billion. Since my last report, dated May 12, 1999, the Congress passed and the President signed the 1999 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 106-31). The Congress also cleared for the President's signature the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act (H.R. 435). These actions changed the current level of budget authority, outlays, and revenues. I ask unanimous consent that the report be printed in the Record.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate Miss Katie Kelly, an exceptional young woman from my home state of New Mexico who was recently crowned 1999 Miss New Mexico. Miss Kelly, a Santa Fean, will go on to represent New Mexico in the Miss America contest in Atlantic City, New Jersey, this fall. Miss Kelly is representative of the selfless, poised, and self- assured young women that I am proud to have represent our state on a national level. This year's Miss New Mexico laureate is a Christian Life Academy graduate who is now attending Santa Fe Community College. She plans to attend Pepperdine University next year and study broadcast journalism and voice. Her previous achievements include, being named 1998 Miss Albuquerque Teen USA, 1999 Miss Santa Fe America, and second runner-up of the Miss New Mexico Teen USA pageant. I have no reservations that she will dutifully fulfill the responsibilities that accompany this accolade. I wish her the best of luck in the Miss America Contest and in all her future endeavors.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, this is the first time I have had a chance to say this on the floor, but while you were in the House serving in various positions, there was a Senator here with the same last name as the junior Senator from Indiana--Birch Bayh. He sat right over there. Many a time we were on the floor arguing, debating, sometimes agreeing, sometimes disagreeing. So he can read it in the Record, I say to my good friend, former Senator Birch Bayh, he did a great job in producing such a son. He was always so proud of him, telling me about him. I am very pleased I have a chance to serve with him. I look forward to that, because I think he has a marvelous, level head, and very good common sense. I say that as if that is an exceptional quality around here. I didn't mean to say that. If that is what I said, it is OK.

Mr. DOMENICI. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Mr. STEVENS addressed the Chair.

Mr. DOMENICI

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, June 17, 1999 at 10:00 a.m. to hold a hearing.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet for a hearing on ``ESEA: Research and Evaluation'' during the session of the Senate on Thursday, June 17, 1999, at 10:00 a.m.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet for an executive business meeting, during the session of the Senate on Thursday, June 17, 1999, at 10:00 a.m. in Senate Dirksen, Room 226.

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Special Committee on Aging be permitted to meet on June 17, 1999 from 2-5 p.m. in Dirksen 106 for the purpose of conducting a hearing.