Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now return to legislative session.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the live quorum be waived.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I believe there is an objection on the other side of the aisle to setting a time certain for a vote on this Cabinet nomination. Given that objection, I now send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 630, Dirk Kempthorne, to be Secretary of the Interior.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 5037, which was just received from the House.

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 that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the bill we just passed was the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act. I would like to comment briefly, and I express my thanks to my colleagues for allowing me to proceed with this legislation and interrupt their debate. I would like to read briefly from a news report that appeared in the Chicago Tribune this past April. And I quote: Army Private First Class Amy Duerksen was 19 when she died last month in a U.S. military surgical hospital in Baghdad, 3 days after being shot in an accident. By all the accounts of her family, friends and superiors, she had been a model soldier, an impassioned patriot and a deeply devout Christian. But none of that mattered to the six members of the Westboro Baptist Church who drove all night from their headquarters in Topeka, KS to show up outside Duerksen's March 17th funeral waving hateful placards. I will not sully this institution or the memory of Amy Duerksen by repeating this group's detestable message. But I will tell you that today the Senate unanimously passed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act, originally introduced by Congressman Mike Rogers of Michigan and passed in the House with near unanimous support. Here in the Senate, we agreed, as one, that families like the Duerksens should never have to be harassed by protesters of any stripe as they bury their fallen warriors. The Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act will protect the sanctity of all 122 of our national cemeteries as shrines to our gallant dead. It will ban demonstrations that occur within 500 feet of the cemetery without prior approval from an hour before a funeral until an hour after it. Violators will be fined up to $100,000 and spend a year in jail. It's a sad but necessary measure to protect what should be recognized by all reasonable people as a solemn, private, and deeply sacred occasion. The bill has been carefully crafted to meet constitutional muster. As even the ACLU acknowledges, ``The right of free expression is not an absolute right to express ourselves at any time, in any place, in any manner.'' And as the courts have identified, our national cemeteries are places deserving of the respect and honor of those interred or memorialized. I thank Congressman Rogers for bringing this issue to our attention. And I conclude with a passage from the Bible: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4. We may never understand what compels a small group of small minded and mean hearted people to harass a family in mourning. But that is not our responsibility here. Our duty is to protect the solemn right of our military families to grieve the loss of America's fallen heroes in private, with the respect and dignity that is their due. I look forward to this bill reaching the President's desk and being signed into law.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee- reported amendments be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in the morning we will work toward passage of the immigration bill. We have our final amendment list lined up. We will likely debate the amendments and stack them together very early in the afternoon. I do anticipate passage of the bill by early afternoon following those votes. Following passage of this comprehensive immigration bill, we will proceed to the cloture vote on the Kavanaugh nomination. I filed cloture the night before last. We are attempting to reach a time agreement on the Hayden nomination. I feel strongly we need to complete action on the Hayden nomination before we leave. It is an important position, General Hayden being the right man for this position at a very important time in our history. We also have the Portman nomination for OMB and the Schwab nomination at the USTR to clear this week, as well. It is my goal to reach an agreement with the other side of the aisle as to when we might be able to bring him to the Senate. Finally, I mention that I filed a cloture motion on the nomination of our former colleague, Dirk Kempthorne, to be Secretary of the Interior. I have tried over the course of the day, to no avail, to be able to bring that to a vote and was unable to do so with an objection on the other side of the aisle. I have filed cloture tonight. This vote will occur on Friday. We end Wednesday, at a late hour, having had a very productive day today, very productive day yesterday, really, this whole week. I appreciate the collegial approach our colleagues have taken in allowing amendments to come forward, to be debated, thoroughly debated, discussed and voted upon. We set out on this immigration bill well over a month ago. We had a hiatus over the recess, came back and in a very bipartisan spirit had an agreement to proceed to consider votes with these amendments and have the votes taken. We have had huge progress. The debate has been very good. Everyone has participated in that debate. Everyone has had the opportunity to submit amendments and have them debated. With that, we have progressed in our understanding of both the importance of this bill but also the importance of having a comprehensive solution to the challenges we face, with 12 million people here illegally, the need, absolute necessity of having a strong temporary worker program in this country for economic reasons and employment reasons and then, first and foremost, sealing our borders, locking down our borders in the sense we can have legal immigration and not illegal immigration coming across at ports of entry. I have been very pleased with the debate. It has been very tough, very challenging, for a number of our Members. There is no consensus in the sense that everyone has gotten exactly what they wanted, but I will be absolutely satisfied with this bill as a reflection of the will of 100 Senators, the will of this Senate after this very long time in the Senate but very good and productive time where so many amendments have been considered. We will complete the bill tomorrow. I expect the bill to pass tomorrow. I can't predict what the final outcome will be, but I think it will reflect this very open, free, deliberate process we have seen over the last several weeks.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the HELP Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to H. Con. Res. 357.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:15 a.m. on Thursday, May 25. I further ask that 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 the Senate then resume consideration of S. 2611, as under the previous order.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the President of the Senate be authorized to appoint a committee on the part of the Senate to join with a like committee on the part of the House of Representatives to escort His Excellency Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel, into the House Chamber for the joint meeting tomorrow.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 450.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, there will be no objection. We are making real progress and have begun discussing how we will handle the rest of the day and tomorrow as well. There is no objection.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period for the transaction of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 489, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the distinguished elder statesman, Senator Lloyd Bentsen, passed away today in his family home in Houston at the age of 85. He leaves behind his wife Beryl Ann and his three children, Lloyd III, Lan and Tina, and seven beloved grandchildren. He also leaves behind almost four decades of dedicated public service on behalf of Texas and the American people. Alternately described as elegant, courtly, smooth, and collegial, Lloyd Bentsen of Rio Grande Valley was the picture of a Senator. A shrewd legislator with finely honed negotiating skills, he was able to work with both sides of the aisle and gain the trust and cooperation of his colleagues. Senator Bentsen began his life in public service in 1942 when, fresh out of the University of Texas Law School, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. The war was on, and he was eager to serve his country. After a brief stint as a private in intelligence, the young Bentsen became a combat pilot. He began flying B-24 missions over an embattled Europe. By the time he was done, he had flown 50 missions and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three oakleaf clusters. He retired a colonel in the Air Force Reserves. Still a young man in his early twenties, he returned to his hometown, where he practiced law for a year. He then became a county judge at the age of 25, and in 1948 he ran for Congress, where he served for three consecutive terms. He took a 16-year hiatus from elected office to become a successful financier. Then, in 1970, Lloyd Bentsen ran for the Senate, where he rose to national prominence. In 1988, Democratic Presidential nominee Michael Dukakis selected the distinguished 67- year-old as his running mate, and in 1993, President Clinton nominated Senator Bentsen to serve the Department of Treasury. He led that Department and he retired in 1994, nearly 30 years in public office. Over his long career, Senator Bentsen earned the respect of his colleagues and of the American people. He was an old-school gentleman who could don his partisan hat and share a respite from the day-to-day battles on the Senate floor. I came across a quotation of his, not as famous as another but one which I think sums up his lifetime in public service and one which is a valuable motto for us all: It should be clear by now that serious problems cannot be solved by public relations; they can only be solved by public responsibility. Lloyd Bentsen's words. On behalf of the Senate and the American people, our hearts go out to the Bentsen family. We join them in mourning the passing of a noteworthy statesman. May God bless them, and may God bless America.

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask that the Chair lay before the Senate the House message to accompany S. 2349 to provide greater transparency in the legislative process. The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives:

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate disagree with the House amendments, request a conference with the House, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees at a ratio of 3 to 2.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 24, 2006. I further ask that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time of the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate resume consideration of S. 2611 as under the previous order; provided further that second-degree amendments be filed no later than 10 a.m. under rule XXII.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 490 which was submitted earlier today.