Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I rise to speak on an issue we discussed last week that I will shed further light on, which is the broad topic of health care in America. I listened last week with some disappointment to the comments made in the Senate by the distinguished Democratic leader regarding health care costs. The senior Senator from Massachusetts repeated some of the Democratic leader's critique of the President's policies on health care. Because both of my colleagues left an incomplete picture, I take a moment to step back and give a more realistic assessment of where we are today and where we should be going. America has the best doctors, the best nurses, the best hospitals, the best medical technology, the best medical breakthrough medicines in the world. There is absolutely no reason we should not have in this country the best health care in the world. The time has come for common sense--not Washington--to determine how patients interact with doctors and with hospitals. The time has come for health care professionals, not Government or HMO bureaucrats, to make health care decisions. The time has come to put patients and consumers back in charge. Under the leadership of President Bush, we have taken measurable, concrete steps toward making quality health care more affordable, more available, and more reliable. Although much work remains to be done, a comprehensive, independent study confirms that we are, indeed, moving in the right direction. One report released last week by the highly valued Lewin Group examined the costs of health care proposals put forward by President Bush and by Senator John Kerry. This is the second nonpartisan independent analysis in recent weeks to compare the Presidential candidates' proposals side by side. It is the second independent study to find that the price tag of Senator Kerry's plan is twice--two times--what he claims. The Lewin Group study finds Senator Kerry's proposals would cost $1.25 trillion--not billion but trillion--over the next 10 years and still leave 20 million Americans uninsured. This is similar to the findings of another independent study released 2 weeks ago by the nonpartisan American Enterprise Institute. That study put the price tag of Senator Kerry's plan at $1.5 trillion. We all know it is difficult and, yes, next to impossible to project the accurate cost of major Federal Government programs. We know all too well Washington has that annoying habit of underestimating the cost of just about everything it does and sticking taxpayers at the end of the day with that tab. However, if these two independent studies are even mildly accurate, Senator Kerry's estimates are off by half a trillion. Let me say that again: Senator Kerry's estimates for his health care proposals are off by half a trillion dollars. Talk about fuzzy math. To put that in perspective, that is more than the cost of the WIC Program, the Low Income Energy Assistance Program, the Ryan White Program, and the School Lunch Program combined. In fact, it is more than the annual cost of the entire Medicare Program today. So we are left with the perennial question, how will Senator Kerry pay for all of this? Who is going to get stuck with the tab this time? For starters, nearly all of the tax relief passed by Congress during the past 2 years would have to be repealed--all of that tax relief: No more marriage penalty relief; no more child tax credit; no more middle- class tax relief; no more death tax reduction. That means if you are a taxpayer, you will be paying a lot more and keeping a lot less of your hard-earned dollars. Yet still today Senator Kerry is telling the American people that his health care plan will save you money. As a doctor, as a Senator, I am here to tell you it simply won't. For starters, he would have to raise an average of $1,115 per family in taxes for his proposal--unless, of course, he plans to add $1 trillion to the deficit. As a defender of the American taxpayer, both options are unacceptable. American families simply deserve better. This is one Washington-imposed solution we do not need. When it comes to health care, as a matter of principle, it should be about you. It should be about your doctor; it should be about your hospital, period. It should focus on you, the patient, the consumer. Senator Kerry's proposal is not a prescription for progress; it is a prescription for more Government-controlled health care. Consider another finding from the Lewin report released last week. More than 21 million of the 25.2 million who would get health insurance under the Kerry plan would be forced into the Government-run Medicaid Program. As we all know, and it has been documented again and again, expanding Government-controlled programs can force people with good private health insurance coverage to lose it. In fact, an analysis released by the National Center for Policy Analysis concludes that 8 million people who are currently privately insured will lose this private coverage because of Senator Kerry's expansion of Medicaid. This is plain wrong. America deserves better. In sharp contrast, we have the policy of President Bush, including those already enacted by this body and by Congress. They are focused on the patient. They are focused on the consumer. They are focused on you. As a matter of principle, we believe patients should be able to see the right doctor at the right time. As a matter of principle, we believe nothing should interfere with that doctor-patient relationship. As a matter of principle, we believe all Americans deserve affordable, available, and reliable quality health care. Health care costs are soaring. We must address the root causes of these soaring costs. There are countless commonsense reforms we can pursue today to control your rising health care costs. At the top of that list is a reform all Americans can agree upon. We need to reel in personal injury trial lawyers whose frivolous lawsuits are crippling health care in communities all across America. The fact is, too many lawyers and too many frivolous lawsuits are making medicine much too expensive. This lawsuit abuse is driving good doctors out of practice and discouraging our very best and our very brightest from entering the profession. Doctors literally today are telling their children: Because of lawsuit abuse now and in the future, maybe it is best that you not even enter the profession of medicine. That presents a crisis. Worse yet, lawsuit abuse is now threatening people's access to critical health service and is occurring in communities all across America. Did you know there are countless counties across this country where Americans no longer have access to their obstetricians to deliver babies? There are counties across this country where Americans no longer have access to trauma centers. Can you imagine? According to the American Medical Association, this situation has reached true crisis proportions in 20 States, and that includes some of the most populous States in this country: Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York. Families in these States are not getting the quality care they deserve. I will tell you why. Out-of-control litigation is leading to out-of-control medical liability premiums, which leads to out-of- control costs. Too many doctors are being forced to close their doors simply because they can no longer afford to keep the insurance to keep their doors open. If you have no doctor, that ultimately means no care; it means loss of access; it means loss of availability of care. If you want your baby delivered, it means an obstetrician may not be around. If you have an accident driving home from work today, the trauma center may not be open. That is a crisis. It is a crisis of cost; it is a crisis of access; it is a crisis of availability; it is a crisis of reliability. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a recent article.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, obviously this particular resolution recognizes the outstanding efforts of the individuals and communities that volunteered or donated items to the North Platte canteen in Nebraska during World War II, as the resolution was put forward by the distinguished Senator from Nebraska, the occupant in the Chair.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the concurrent resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 161, which is at the desk.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today we will have a period of morning business until the hour of 2 p.m., and at 2 o'clock under the order from last week we will begin consideration of S. 2845, the intelligence reform bill sponsored by Senators Collins and Lieberman. As we announced on Friday, amendments are in order to the bill today. However, no rollcall votes will occur. Any votes ordered with respect to any amendment will be delayed until tomorrow morning. Following the opening remarks on the intelligence legislation, we hope some Members will be available to begin that amendment process. I also encourage any Senator who anticipates offering additional amendments to the bill to contact the chairman and ranking member of the Governmental Affairs Committee. This is a critically important piece of legislation. It would be extremely helpful to have an orderly consideration of the bill, and we expect to do just that. With a full week of Senate business, we should be able to finish the bill this week. We could have other legislative matters to complete over the course of this week, including such measures as a highway extension and a continuing resolution. Therefore, Senators should be prepared for full days and evenings as we wrap up these matters. As everyone knows, the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission were released in late July. Immediately thereafter we began a very structured and orderly hearing process. A number of committees held hearings over the course of August. The Governmental Affairs Committee in a very orderly way had a markup and considered the range of recommendations and findings that have emerged. Now we have a bill that is being brought to the floor to be debated and appropriately amended, if necessary and as necessary, over the course of this week. This will be a very full week. It is important that we start on this bill today, and we will continue with each and every day until we complete that bill.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, earlier today the Prime Minister of Iraq, Dr. Ayad Allawi, made a very powerful speech before a Joint Session of Congress. He was joined by several members of his cabinet. The Prime Minister is a very strong and capable leader. He is a man of vision and principle. He is committed to combating terrorism, and to leading Iraq down the path toward democracy. I first met the Prime Minister nearly three months ago, just after he was selected to be Prime Minister. His actions over the last few months have confirmed my opinion of him then--that this man has what it takes to bring peace, stability, and freedom to Iraq. This morning, the Prime Minister spoke and made the following points: We are succeeding in Iraq. Our struggle is your struggle; our cause is your cause. The fight against terrorists in Iraq today is the world's fight. The terrorists will not succeed. We will not compromise with terror. The Prime Minister also said that his three goals are: defeat the terrorists; improve quality of life for Iraqis; bring democracy to Iraq. These are also the United States goals. They should be the international community's goals. I was heartened and inspired by Prime Minister Allawi's remarks. His commitment to values we hold dear is apparent as he leads his country through these difficult times. He and his government are doing well. They are exercising their sovereignty, taking on the insurgents and terrorists, and pursuing reconstruction and development. Maybe most importantly, they are determined to lead their country toward democracy. The key to Iraq's success, however, is bringing stability and security to the country. Iraq continues to build its military and police forces, but in the meantime, Prime Minister Allawi and his government will require the assistance of U.S. forces. The last few weeks have been difficult in Iraq, for Americans and Iraqis alike. We mourn the deaths of our young service men and women who are the frontlines of this global war on terrorism. But we know that they have sacrificed for our own security, because a free, democratic Iraq won't provide a sanctuary or safe have for terrorists and their ilk. The Iraqi people have also paid a heavy toll, especially those Iraqis who have volunteered to join their country's security forces in an effort to protect their country from the terrorists. In fact, over the last several months, more Iraqis have been killed than non-Iraqis. We should not be surprised by these attacks, however. We know they would increase. The terrorists will do everything they can do disrupt the political process that is evolving and carrying us forward to elections in January. But they have not been successful! In the last few weeks, Iraq has organized a conference to select an interim national council that will serve a legislative and oversight role over Iraq's executive branch. In fact, I recently had the opportunity to call and speak with the Chairman of the Council, my counterpart. He told me how committed he and his colleagues were to defeating the terrorists and bringing democracy and freedom to Iraq. Prime Minister Allawi has also been clear and resolute in his determination to fighting the terrorists. He has also made clear that Iraqis need to take the lead in combating this threat. He has also made clear that Iraq must stick to the electoral timetable that has been established. The Prime Minister is correct. We must stick to the January date for national elections. Iraq was able to elect its interim national council in September. Iraq can elect its national assembly in January. We can win the war against terrorism and extremism militarily, but we must also win politically, with the people. We must not be dissuaded by the naysayers, many of whom also said that the interim Iraqi government--Prime Minister Allawi and his cabinet--should not have assumed sovereignty on June 1, that it should have been delayed because of the terrorists. History has proven them wrong. To not hold elections in January would be to give the terrorists what they want, and to deny the majority of Iraqis that which they want most. Second, we can help Iraq gain control of the security situation, and put an Iraqi face on the solution, by improving and accelerating the training of Iraqi military and police forces. We can do this by getting NATO on the ground immediately to help expand the training infrastructure and expedite the training. The third key to moving forward on the path of democracy is to improve the daily lives of Iraqis. The U.S. can help in this by accelerating and making more efficient the reconstruction and development monies the Congress has made available to Iraq. We need to get Iraqis back to work for the future of Iraq; we need to get them invested, so that rather than blowing up pipelines they are fixing them, and rather than shutting down market places, they are working in them. Finally, we need greater involvement by the international community. The U.S. already has over 30 coalition partners on the ground with military forces, in harms way, in Iraq. They are doing a superb job. But we also need other countries to do their share: by relieving Iraq's heavy debt burden, by increasing economic and other reconstruction assistance, by providing security forces and other resources to help train Iraqi security forces, by urging Iraq's neighbors to better control the borders to prevent terrorists and others from crossing into Iraq. It is clear to me that the frontlines on the Global War on Terrorism are being fought in Iraq. We must and will defeat the terrorists. Doing so would have a major impact on their capabilities and resolve. As the President has said over and over, this is a long fight, and that it is better to fight terrorists overseas, than in our own country. We cannot afford--no country can--to suffer the attacks that the Russian people have seen in the last few weeks. The attacks on the school in Russia, where hundreds of children were slaughtered, makes that terribly clear. No American mother should have to visit the ``small graves'' that so many Russian mothers are mourning over. The United States can, must, and will win the war on terrorism. I am confident in our military, I am confident in this administration, and I am confident in the American people. A key element to winning the war on terrorism is overhauling our intelligence community. We can't afford to wait, to study this issue further, to delay. Intelligence reform has been studied for years by a number of commissions. The 9/11 Commission is just the latest, and they studied it for many months, with scores of staff, and conducted hundreds of interviews and dozens of hearings. The time for study is over; the time for action is overdue. It is true that we may make a misstep, that we may get something wrong, but we can always go back and fix that. Overall, I believe the improvements the Senate will consider on the Floor next week will exceed any deficiencies. We must capitalize on the great work done by the 9/11 Commission, and on the will of the American people, and do all that we can to improve our Nation's intelligence community, our homeland security, and our ability to defeat terrorists.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, heart disease is the world's No. 1 killer. Heart disease is responsible for one in every three deaths. It afflicts men, women, and children. It crosses all geographic and economic lines. That is why on September 26, 2004, the World Heart Federation, working with cardiovascular associations in the United States and 100 other countries, will recognize the fifth annual World Heart Day. World Heart Day is a day devoted to heart disease prevention. This year's theme is ``Children, Adolescents and Heart Disease.'' But before we think it is a problem confined to children in poor countries, we need to look in our own backyard. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: an estimated 15 percent of children and adolescents ages 6 to 19 years are overweight; approximately 22 percent of high school students smoke; and one-third of high school students did not meet sufficient standards for physical activity. These are troubling numbers and they are all contributing factors to heart disease. Heart disease continues to claim more lives in the United States than any other illness. The seriousness of these statistics cannot be ignored and I encourage every American family to take steps now to prevent disease in the future. Through education and prevention measures, we can greatly reduce the incidence of chronic conditions brought about by poor health choices for a whole generation. We are working to do our part at the national level. Thanks to the Red Dress campaign this year and the involvement of First Lady Laura Bush, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, the American Heart Association and other organizations, we have educated millions of women about their risk for heart disease. Now we must expand our efforts to include the entire family. The American College of Cardiology has already committed to a community outreach campaign beginning in 2005 on heart disease awareness for children and adolescents patients. I hope other health organizations will choose to do the same. The lessons of World Heart Day should be shared with the public not just on September 26, but year-round. I commend the World Heart Federation for organizing this annual event and I ask my congressional colleagues to remind their constituents about the importance of healthy eating and regular exercise to preventing heart disease.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I will simply close by expressing my appreciation to our colleagues for working together. It has been a long day as we have worked toward the consideration of this bill. Again, I am confident if we continue to work together over the next few minutes, we will be able to have a very good game plan to finish the bill tonight. If we do not, we are going to be voting tomorrow morning. To me, that gives us a real incentive to work expeditiously over the next few minutes to bring this bill up, debate it, and then bring it to appropriate closure.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, we have had a long day already, but we made real progress. Again, over the course of the day, people do not see all the activity that has gone on. The managers of the bill and myself have actually spent most of the day on the bill we just went to, and that is the Foreign Operations bill. I say that because a lot of work has been done, a lot of negotiations and a lot of discussion, and our intention is we are on the bill to complete the bill tonight. There are still discussions about amendments, and we want to make sure they are appropriately considered. But the intent is to finish debate and voting on whatever amendments there might be and passage tonight. It means it may well be a late night--it is already fairly late--or we could finish in a fairly expeditious way. In the event that we do not complete the bill tonight, we will be voting tomorrow morning. We will have to stack the votes for tomorrow morning. That is not what the majority of Senators have expressed over the course of the day and the last few hours; thus, it is our intention to be voting tonight, and we will be voting tonight, and to complete the bill tonight. I would like the Democratic leader to comment. The reason we feel it is important to finish tonight is the Jewish holiday is tomorrow. A lot of people have travel plans over the course of the day; thus, it is critical we finish. Next week, we will be going directly to the intelligence reform issue. We need to be focusing on the safety and security of the American people. That does mean an appropriate response to the 9/11 Commission recommendations. Thus, with so few days left before October 8, it is absolutely critical we complete this bill tonight or very early in the morning. Our intention is to complete it tonight.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in 1969, Congress passed the alternative minimum tax. It had come to light that a small group of wealthy individuals were using exemptions in the tax code to evade paying any taxes at all. Congress passed the minimum tax law so that high income earners would be obligated to pay a minimum amount in taxes no matter what. That was then. Today, the minimum tax has grown to penalize middle class families and small business owners. There are a number of reasons. One is that the alternative tax brackets have never been indexed to inflation. We all know that a dollar in 1969 went a lot further than it does today. But the minimum tax doesn't take this into account. And today's middle class families are getting hit with higher tax bills. Consider if you are married, filing a joint return, and your family makes more than $58,000 a year, you may be liable under the alternative minimum tax to owe additional Federal income tax. If you are a single mother who makes $35,000 a year and gets a little over $5,000 in alimony payments, you could owe more taxes. Standard deductions that the Congress has passed to help support families, encourage homeownership, allow for taxable State and local refunds, can actually force middle class families to pay more in Federal taxes. The national taxpayer advocate, the person responsible inside the IRS to look after the taxpayer's interests, says the alternative minimum tax is the number one problem facing American taxpayers. A law that was only supposed to apply to 155 super wealthy taxpayers in 1969 will hit more than 30 million taxpayers by 2010. Clearly that is not what Congress intended. And clearly it is not fair. Middle class families should not be punished by a law that was never intended for folks at their actual income level. That is why we must take a serious look at repealing the minimum tax law for individuals. Some people call the AMT the Government's ATM. It collects billions of dollars for the Government coffers. And some people do not want to let that money go. But that money is the taxpayer's money. Rather than resist reform, we should look at the overall tax code and consider options for fundamental tax reform. In 1986, under President Reagan's leadership, we dramatically simplified the tax code. Ever since then, and especially in the 1990s, we have layered the tax code with all sorts of special exclusions that have very little to do with making taxes fairer, simpler and more equitable. Ask any family trying to fill out their tax forms each year: we have reached a point where the code is becoming complicated than it was in 1985. I urge my colleagues to look at this issue closely. It's a matter of fairness, and for millions of American families, a matter of money, money that could be sued to ease the grocery bill, buy a new washing machine, or take the family on a weekend road trip. While I am talking about tax reform, I had like to highlight some of the tax reforms we are working on right now. We are extending a number of crucial family tax breaks which expired at the end of last year. For example, we are working to extend the welfare-to-work credit, the work opportunity tax credit and many other important expired measures. These provisions have already passed the house and the Senate as a part of the FSC/ETI JOBS bill. By moving this package of extenders, which include middle class tax relief, we will facilitate a speedy conclusion to the JOBS bill which is critical to growing jobs in the manufacturing sector. Reforming the minimum tax, extending child tax credits, all of these initiatives are to help hard working Americans meet their needs and obligations. Thanks to the President's 2001 and 2003 tax relief, 14 million low income families will receive tax refunds under the refundable child credit in 2004, compared to only 1.6 million had the President's tax relief not been enacted. Combined with the earned income tax credit, 24 million low-income families will receive direct assistance this year through the tax code. The legislation before the House and Senate will benefit 6.8 million low-income families by increasing their tax refunds in 2004. For example, a single mother in Tennessee with two children who earns $20,000 would get a refund of $1,388 in this year, $463 more than under current law, and $1,388 more than pre-2001 law. This refund is entirely due to tax relief signed into law by the President since 2001, and is in addition to the $3,025 refund she gets under the EITC. Her total refund in 2004 will be $4,413. As I have said, and many of my colleagues have said time and again, our job is to put more money back into the budgets of America's families. They know better than the Government how to spend their hard- earned dollars.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning, the Senate will conduct a period of morning business for up to 30 minutes, with the first 15 minutes under the control of the majority and the following 15 minutes under the control of the Democratic leader or his designee. Following morning business, we hope to begin consideration of the Foreign Operations appropriations bill under a limited agreement on amendments. It is very important we address that bill. We have made good progress this week on the appropriations bills. As we set out last week, for this week the focus needed to be to address as many of the appropriations bills as possible. It is my hope that following morning business we can go directly to the Foreign Operations appropriations bill, deal with those amendments today, and vote on that bill today. We are also waiting to receive the family friendly tax cut conference report from the House of Representatives later today. We will complete action on that measure before we adjourn for the Yom Kippur holiday, which begins tomorrow evening. I know both of these issues are issues people have been addressing and have thought about, and I am confident we can do those over the course of the day and/or tomorrow morning. I do want, because I know people have travel plans for tomorrow afternoon, to be able to complete that either this afternoon or tonight or tomorrow. Again, I think we can do them both today. I just want all of our Senators to work together and talk to the managers of both bills, if people have concerns, over the course of the morning. Speech of Prime Minister Allawi Of Iraq We have just completed a wonderful and, I should add, inspiring joint meeting of Congress with Prime Minister Allawi, just 15 or 20 minutes ago. Indeed, he laid out both the great progress that has been made but his absolute commitment to free and fair elections in January in Iraq, making the statement that he understands that, because of the intent of terrorists to disrupt those elections, it is going to be very tough. He looked at it very realistically. He said the elections will be fair and free, recognizing that in other great countries today, when they had their first elections, as they moved toward democracy, it was challenging. He recognizes those challenges. But again and again, to standing rounds of applause, he expressed his commitment to those elections in January. Mr. President, I will close by saying Members can expect a busy afternoon with votes throughout the day. If we are to finish those bills, and we cannot do them over the course of the afternoon, we might well stay into this evening. So I encourage people to keep their schedules flexible. If we finish our business today, of course, we would not have to vote tomorrow morning. But these are two important pieces of legislation that we need to address. Next week--and the reason there is this time sensitivity--we will have an issue which really rises above all others; that is, the safety and security of the American people. We have been addressing appropriate intelligence reform, addressing it in committee very satisfactorily in a very productive way over the course of this week. That intelligence reform is now out of committee and ready to be brought to the floor, or will be shortly after the appropriate paperwork and processing is done. The intent would be to go to that Monday as the next order of business. That is why we really need, as leadership from both sides of the aisle, to have people focused on the immediate business before us, in an orderly, systematic way, so we can turn our attention on the floor to the report that has come out of the Governmental Affairs Committee as it deals with intelligence. With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will take a few minutes to comment on Representative Porter Goss' nomination to the post of Director of the CIA, as well as to comment on the real progress the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee is making as we address the issues of the 9/11 recommendations. With regard to the former, I congratulate the Senate Intelligence Committee. One of the reasons I do not think there will be as much debate on the floor today is that they very thoroughly addressed the nomination with very good debate in committee and reported him out of that committee with an overwhelmingly positive vote. Mr. Goss is a highly capable manager and leader, with a strong background and extensive experience in intelligence matters. As we all know, he served in the Congress representing the people of southwest Florida for the past 15 years. He has a long history of public service, which I am sure will be outlined on the floor later. He served as mayor of Sanibel Island. In 1983, he was appointed to the Lee County Board of Commissioners by then Governor Bob Graham. Porter Goss has a long career that has, of course, extended these last 15 years as a House Member where he held the chairmanship of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. As chairman, he led one of the key investigations into possible intelligence failures regarding 9/11. He was thorough. He demonstrated a thoughtful and fair approach in these hearings and investigations. His committee's findings did add critical insights into how we can and should move forward to strengthen our defenses against terrorist attack. So far, his committee, including the subcommittees, has held over 60--I think it was 62--oversight hearings on various aspects of the intelligence community. That number is more than the committee has held in any other calendar year. I use that as an example to show that Mr. Goss takes his duty to investigate and reform the intelligence community very seriously. Despite this, he did come under some harsh criticism from the other side. It has been charged that he has been too partisan in his career as a Congressman to take over this very important post. I do believe, however, that if one looks at his record of service to this country, that that criticism falls by the wayside. Porter Goss has specific experience working for the Agency he is now nominated to run. During the Cold War, Mr. Goss was a clandestine services case officer. He served as director of operations. In his own words, the CIA's mission ``is to obtain the plans and intentions of our enemies, adversaries and their associates before they could attack the United States.'' Mr. Goss articulated so clearly and succinctly how this has occurred and will occur, and states very clearly indeed this mission has not changed and will not change. Mr. Goss understands the criticism now being leveled at him. As he told the Senate Intelligence Committee, he is sensitive to it; he understands the grave responsibility of leading the CIA and effecting the necessary reforms to strengthen our Nation's security. As he himself explains, being the Director of the CIA is a capabilities job, not a policy job. There is no doubt that Porter Goss--former CIA agent, former U.S. Army intelligence agent, Congressman, and public servant--is totally committed to the safety and security of America. He is committed to making the CIA run effectively. He has both the inside and the outside perspective we need. Clearly, Mr. Goss is the man for the job. I urge my colleagues to give him their overwhelming support when we vote on this nomination today. He is an outstanding choice to lead this agency. I do hope we do not have a shift in conversation, which should be about his eminent qualifications, to distracting other issues. I do hope we focus on the man and the job for which he is being nominated. Intelligence Reform Let me also close in saying we made real progress on the intelligence reform front. I know there are a lot of people who say slow down or don't have knee-jerk reactions or don't go too fast or it is a huge issue. I think the leadership is very sensitive to that. I wish to reassure our colleagues and the American people and the other House-- really everyone--that we are addressing this as a huge issue, as big as any issue we have had to address in recent times, because it does focus on the safety and security of the American people. There is a sense of urgency that this body has a responsibility to reflect. If there is a better system, if there is a better way to guarantee the safety and security of Americans, and we know it--and we do know it--then it is our responsibility to act and to do it thoughtfully and deliberately, and that is the process that the Democratic leader and I set up in which to address the two important issues. Senator Susan Collins and Senator Joe Lieberman, who are managing the initial legislation through the Governmental Affairs Committee, have very carefully, and are very carefully, considering all the information. They have been doing so for a long period of time, most acutely since the day the 9/11 Commission report and recommendations came out. They made great progress in marking up this legislation yesterday and will continue on that over the course of the day. That is exactly the task Senator Daschle and I set out for them in late July, to have the vehicle through which all the ideas, thoughts, and deliberations can be collected, understanding there are lots of very good ideas out there. But it is an important vehicle, an important bill, and one we will be addressing on the floor of the Senate next week. The committee's baseline legislation does create a national intelligence director. It does establish a national counterterrorism center, which has the responsibilities which have been well defined in the legislation. It does implement a whole range of initiatives to improve the quality and effectiveness of the intelligence community. It does track closely with the plans and decisions put forward by many bodies, including proposals put forth by the White House, which has embraced the major conclusions of the 9/11 Commission. I do hope, once this bill is completed in the Governmental Affairs Committee, people take the time to look at it very quickly and look at possible amendments over the course of the end of this week so they will be prepared for next week in terms of amendments they might put forward, so we, over the course of the deliberations, can improve that bill appropriately where people think it needs to be improved. Just one final comment: Senator Daschle and I established a bipartisan task force to address the issues that look at how we need to reorganize in this body, so that our responsibility of oversight can be appropriately carried out. That task force has met on a number of occasions, at the Member level and at the staff level. Senators McConnell and Reid, the managers of this effort who represent the leadership on that task force, have been discussing this matter, as I understand it, daily. There are a number of issues on which we can come to agreement relatively quickly. Others will have to be resolved through floor debate and votes. That just remains to be determined, once we see what those recommendations are. Either way these reforms will be implemented through Senate resolution or through modification of the Senate's rules. My goal remains to get these reforms in motion before the Senate adjourns next month. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, following my remarks and the remarks of the Democratic leader, we will proceed to a period for morning business for 90 minutes. The first 45 minutes will be under the control of the majority and the second half under the control of the minority. Following that time, the Senate will proceed to executive session for the consideration of Porter Goss to be Director of Central Intelligence. The agreement we reached last night allows for up to 6 hours equally divided for debate on the Goss nomination. The discussion the leaders were just having was that we want to make as much time available to everyone who would like to speak, but in the event we do not need all of that time, that would be yielded back and we would be able to proceed to a vote on that nomination. Again, we have up to 6 hours, but I expect time will be yielded back. Today we do have a briefing for Senators regarding Iraq this afternoon from 3 to 4. Before that briefing, we will be able to set the vote. I am sure even later this morning we will be able to announce the time we will be voting later today. We are also continuing to negotiate agreements on some of the remaining appropriation bills. I hope we can agree to a consent to allow us to consider the spending bills with a reasonable time limitation. If so, we will be able to follow the Goss nomination with that. I suspect that will be tomorrow morning. We have the expiring family-friendly tax items and we want to consider that legislation as soon as it becomes available. I understand that progress is being made. It will be important for us to vote on that this week. In the event that is Friday morning, that will have to be Friday morning, but I do want to encourage the conferees, who I think are very close to reporting out that legislation, so that the House of Representatives can consider it and we can consider it. We will be voting on that this week, either Friday or, if it is available, Thursday night. Obviously, I encourage the latter. I remind my colleagues of the joint meeting tomorrow morning at 10 with Prime Minister Allawi of Iraq. He will be addressing both Houses on Thursday. Members should be in the Senate Chamber no later than 9:30 in order to proceed to that joint meeting.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Another quick update on our progress along reform in terms of our intelligence operations, both within the Senate and outside the Senate with regard to the executive branch. The markup in the Governmental Affairs Committee has begun, with the leadership of Senator Collins and Senator Lieberman. Senator Daschle and I had directed that committee in late July to appropriately respond with legislation to the 9/11 Commission recommendations. The committee's legislation, as has been presented and is being marked up, does just that. I assume that process will go on over the course of the next several days. There will be amendments and modifications on issues such as the national intelligence director and how much authority will be given the national counterterrorism center. The bill tracks very closely with the plans and decisions that have been put forward by the 9/11 Commission, although we have learned a lot since even that Commission report has been written, and also with plans put forth by the White House. All of that is being considered by that committee. Next week we will be bringing this to the Senate floor for a full debate. It has been a very thoughtful process. The 9/11 Commission report came out in late July. We in this body have gone nonstop through late July, August, and now September, building on the foundation of really 2 or 3 years of work where we have looked at reform and appropriate organizational reorganization. As the Democratic leader and I mentioned, October 8 is when we will be leaving, and it would be our objective, with the will of the Senate, to be able to complete the legislation before that time. The other arm that Senator Daschle and I addressed by establishing a vehicle through which it could be addressed is the whole issue of what we do inside this body in terms of organizational reorganization to oversee the intelligence operations by the executive branch and the 15 intelligence agencies. That task force has met several times, both at the staff level and at the Member level. I know they have more meetings planned for this week. The goal would be for them to come up with specific recommendations for leadership to improve our oversight functions. So a lot is going on. As we set out, the real focus of this month or this period of time since the recess and until October 8 is the safety and security of the American people. We are working in a bipartisan way to do just that. One last thing, the Senate Intelligence Committee will favorably report out Porter Goss shortly and the entire Senate will be able to confirm him this week. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, it is important to do so. It only makes sense that we have the post of Director of Central Intelligence be filled at this important time. Porter Goss is a highly capable man and leader, with a strong background and a lot of experience in intelligence matters. He will be able to lead the intelligence community through this period of reform. There is a lot going on today in Washington and on the Senate floor, with the appropriations process, with intelligence organization and reorganization. We have now a little over 2 weeks to complete a very full agenda but one that the American people deserve and on which we will deliver. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I want to comment very briefly on something I mentioned in the last week, and that is the grand opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. The grand opening officially is occurring today, actually in a couple of hours. This marks a milestone in American and American Indian history. Established by an act of Congress in 1989, the museum, which we can all see from the front of the Capitol, is a tribute to the extraordinary achievements and the contributions made by American Indian culture. I had the opportunity 2 nights ago to tour that museum. It is truly remarkable, unique, and unlike any other museum in the Smithsonian group in that the stories are told by participants of the culture. There are great collections, as so many of the institutions have. It is a cultural experience that comes alive as one goes through this museum, starting on the fourth floor, and continuing to the third, second, and first floor. It is truly remarkable. It is right here on the National Mall, as everyone in this body knows. It is a prominent symbol of the progress we have made in recognizing and, in many ways, reconciling our shared history. The celebration began informally yesterday but will continue over the course of the week. There are going to be about 600,000 people participating in the celebration from around the world. As one looks out from the front of the Capitol steps, they see the platforms for singers, dancers, and storytellers, representing nearly 40 American Indian communities, performing over the course of the week. The museum is fascinating, and I wanted to bring that to everybody's attention. Again, I know the Democratic leader and myself will be participating in the opening of those ceremonies today.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning there will be a period for the transaction of morning business for 3 hours. The first hour will be equally divided between the majority and minority. The second 60 minutes will be under the control of the Democratic side of the aisle, and the majority will use the final 60 minutes. Following this morning business period, the Senate will recess until 2:15 p.m. for the weekly policy luncheons. This afternoon, the Senate will consider the legislative branch appropriations bill. The order provides for 1 hour of debate and a vote on passage of that legislation. Senators should, therefore, anticipate a rollcall vote later today. This week the Senate can also expect to consider the Goss nomination, once that nomination is available for full Senate consideration. We would like to do that as soon as it becomes available. It should be available shortly. So hopefully we can address that nomination tomorrow. As mentioned yesterday, the Senate may also consider legislation which extends some of the expiring family tax provisions. Finally, we will continue to work on agreements for some of the remaining appropriations measures. The Senate will consider those bills under short time limitations, if agreements can be reached.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I announce that the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell), the Senator from Minnesota (Mr. Coleman), and the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe) are necessarily absent. I further announce that if present and voting the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell), and the Senator from Minnesota (Mr. Coleman) would each vote ``yea.''

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Thursday, September 16, for a pro forma session only. I further ask that immediately after convening, the Senate then adjourn over until 2 p.m. on Monday, September 20; provided further that on Monday, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and there then be a period of morning business for debate only with Senators to speak for up to 10 minutes each; I further ask consent that the vote on passage of the Military Construction appropriations bill occur at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, with the 10 minutes prior to the vote equally divided for closing remarks.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, let me take a minute to review the schedule for the next couple of days and next week. In observance of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, we will not be voting tomorrow. In addition, we are in a pro forma session which will allow people to appropriately use that time for themselves to work, to catch up with families, to see constituents, to get back to their States. We were able to reach agreement to complete two additional appropriations bills with short time limits which allows us to be in a pro forma session tomorrow. We will not be conducting business on the floor tomorrow. Earlier today, we completed debate on the Military Construction appropriations bill with the vote on final passage which will occur, as just mentioned, at 5:30 on Monday. For the information of my colleagues, that will be the next rollcall vote. Today we also reached agreement on the Legislative Branch appropriations bill, and that will be scheduled for consideration early next week with the vote likely to be Tuesday morning. Next week we may be able to reach additional agreements on appropriations bills, and we will continue to pursue those in the same spirit that the assistant Democratic leader just mentioned. In addition, we have the Goss nomination that, in all likelihood, will become available for full Senate consideration. We will certainly schedule that nomination to come to the floor just as soon as we possibly can, as soon as it is ready. I expect that to be in the early to mid part of next week. We also have discussions continuing on the expiring family tax provisions. If possible, we would like to be able to pull that package together and bring it to the floor just as soon as it is ready as well. Next week, on Thursday, September 23, Prime Minister Allawi of Iraq, who is also a physician and doctor, will be addressing a joint meeting of Congress. That address will be on that Thursday at 10 a.m. in the Hall of the House of Representatives. Members will gather in the Senate Chamber and will proceed as a body to the House at approximately 9:30 that morning. We will have a very full schedule next week. I know that quite often, as the galleries watch what is occurring in the Senate Chamber or view on C-SPAN II what happens in the Senate, when we have days like tomorrow or the rest of this afternoon, things seem to be slow. In truth, there is all sorts of work going on, especially now as we are working toward that October 8 adjournment date. People are busy in committee hearings and working on various issues that we must address and negotiate through this legislative process. A perfect example is with the bills that the assistant Democratic leader just referred to--the 44 bills that he held up and that we were able to pass quickly. A huge amount of work goes into bringing those to the floor and having them prepared appropriately. These bills had to do with land, water conservation, park measures, and a whole range of energy issues. It took about a minute on the Senate floor to pass them, but literally hundreds of hours were involved in getting that legislation available and ready for consideration. I only mention that as another example of what is going on and what the challenge is and the huge demands on all of us to accomplish what we must before October 8. I opened this morning by thanking Senator Thad Cochran for his tremendous leadership over the course of the week on Homeland Security appropriations. We were here very late last night and we were able to complete that bill. Members showed a lot of patience during the day and into the evening as we pushed through to final passage. I thank everybody for their tremendous efforts.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment at the desk be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 640, H.R. 2828.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I hold my breath right before all these are going through. But it is 43, 44 bills just done. These bills reflect a huge amount of work. To see it come together is sort of the privilege that the Democratic leadership and the Republican leadership have, to see it come together at a late hour like this afternoon. It is gratifying. As I say, I hold my breath to make sure it finally gets done each time.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all committee amendments, where applicable, be agreed to, the bills, as amended, if amended, be read a third time and passed, the title amendments, where applicable, be adopted, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, and that any statements relating to the bills be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following Calendar numbers en bloc: 466 through 469, 522, 524 through 527, 532, 533, 600 through 604, 611 through 618, 626 through 629, and 675 through 689.