Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 306, submitted earlier today.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record, without intervening action or debate.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 308, submitted early today.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record, without intervening action or debate.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 307, which was submitted early today.

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. 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 unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 260 which was received from the House.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 1558, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 277, S. 1095.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. 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, I ask unanimous consent that the committee amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 p.m. on Monday, November 14. I further ask that following the prayer and the pledge, the morning hour be deemed to have expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved and the Senate resume consideration of S. 1042 as under the previous order.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on Monday, the Senate will continue its consideration of the Defense authorization bill. Under the agreement reached this evening, we will have debate on only a few remaining amendments. We will complete action on those amendments and proceed to passage of the bill with a series of votes that will start on Tuesday morning. We will have a vote on Monday. Under the order just entered, we will vote on the Energy and Water appropriations conference report at 5:30. We will also complete action on the State, Justice, Commerce appropriations conference report next week.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this afternoon, we will have a period for the transaction of morning business until 2 p.m. At 2 p.m. today, we will resume consideration of the Department of Defense authorization bill. On Friday, we turned to the Defense bill under the provisions of the earlier consent agreement. We had six amendments offered, with one of those being adopted by voice vote. We expect further amendments and debate during today's session and, as we announced Friday, we will vote at 5:30 p.m. in relation to a Defense authorization amendment. The chairman and ranking member will be here throughout the afternoon today, and we will alert all Senators when that 5:30 p.m. rollcall vote is locked in. We expect to finish the Defense authorization bill on Tuesday or possibly Wednesday of this week, with rollcall votes each day. This week, we will also consider any of the available appropriations conference reports. The conference report to accompany the Foreign Operations bill is at the desk, and we hope to schedule that measure either today or tomorrow. We look forward to another full week of business before completing our work prior to Thanksgiving.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, later this afternoon, I have the honor of hosting Sudan's First Vice President, Salva Kiir, in the U.S. Capitol. I have come to the floor many times to speak on Sudan, having gone to that country just about every year for the last 7 or 8 years, having spent most of that time in southern Sudan. I look forward to being with and hosting Salva Kiir, who is a founding member of the SPLM, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. In January of this year, the SPLM and the Sudanese Government in Khartoum signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, bringing an end to 21 years of a brutal civil war, a civil war that has destroyed much of that country, especially in the south. When I first started going to Sudan, literally there was no hospital in southern Sudan, and the one hospital that was eventually reopened was a hospital that had been closed about 18 years previously, with landmines placed all around that hospital. It destroyed health care there, obviously, but it had destroyed commerce, any touch of humanity, and had driven the entire southern population out of villages, dispersing them, with 5 million people displaced and about 2 million people who died in that civil war. In June of this year, longtime SPLM chairman and a very close friend of mine, Dr. John Garang, went back to Khartoum for the first time in 21 years. It was a momentous time. At that time, he was sworn in as First Vice President of Sudan. Up until that time, he had always been in southern Sudan. It was a historic moment not that long ago, cheered by millions and millions of Sudanese. Tragically, 1 month later, on July 30, the helicopter that was carrying Dr. Garang and his passengers crashed, a sudden crash. Why it crashed nobody knows. Salva Kiir replaced Dr. Garang as First Vice President, and he promises to carry forward this peace process, which is challenging, but it can be accomplished. His predecessor had worked very hard over many years to take that country to the point of peace. Under that peace agreement, Sudan enters a 6-year interim period, and 4 years into that, at the 4-year mark, nationwide elections will be held at the provincial and national levels. The interim period will culminate with a vote by the people in southern Sudan to decide their political future. It is a fragile moment for Sudan, but it is one for great hope. I had gotten involved and worked very hard with Dr. Garang and other leaders of the SPLA and SPLM. I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Garang many times. I was hosted last August at his home in a place called New Site in southern Sudan, where I spent several days with Dr. Garang and his wife. This June, not that long ago, I had the opportunity to host Dr. Garang in my Capitol office. During that meeting, he emphasized to me, looking me directly in the eye, that for the peace to hold, both parties must fulfill their obligations. He stressed that continued pressure from the United States is absolutely critical to ensure that these obligations are met. The civil war and its aftermath have created a staggering humanitarian crisis. I mentioned 5 million people displaced from their homes and over 2 million people have died. That subjects the country to a famine and deterioration and destruction of health care systems and education infrastructure. International assistance in education, in building of roads, in the infrastructure of health care can help show a traumatized nation, after 21 years of civil war, that peace is the only way forward. As I mentioned, this is a critical moment for Sudan. Many southerners have expressed concern about the unfair distribution and domination of key Cabinet posts by the ruling party. Soldiers from southern Sudan are still waiting for a decision regarding the formation of what are called Joint Integrated Units, with troops from the north and the south participating together, side by side. And violence against civilians in southern Sudan is slowing down, hindering humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in this war-ravaged region of the country. The road forward is not going to be easy. In the best of worlds, it is not going to be easy. Millions have lost their lives in this 21 years of struggle. But the days, weeks, and months ahead do hold great promise not only for the north and the south but for the entire country. During our meeting this afternoon, I hope to hear Salva Kiir's assessment of the peace process and his suggestions, his counsel, his recommendations on how we in this body and the United States can help. I also hope to discuss the deteriorating situation in Sudan's western region, Darfur. Last week on the floor, I summarized again the deterioration of what is happening in that Darfur region. I also had the opportunity to visit, a little over a year ago, the country west of Darfur, Chad, where there are so many refugees today. In the past few weeks, we have witnessed a serious escalation in violence among the Jingaweit militias who are supported by government forces. They are ravaging villages, they are ravaging these refugee camps and attacking--and these are the descriptions we continue to get--attacking civilians, attacking humanitarian groups, and attacking the African Union peacekeeping forces. The recent split among the leadership of Darfur's main rebel group further threatens to undermine the peace talks that are scheduled to resume in the Nigerian capital on November 21, a couple of weeks from now. It is imperative that all parties bring the violence to a halt. Only peaceful negotiations and dialog ultimately are going to bring true resolution. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement shows that it can be done. Before his death, Dr. Garang told a hopeful country that the peace agreement between the north and the south--and these are his words-- will change Sudan forever and engulf the country in a democratic and fundamental transformation.'' And he is right. It is now First Vice President Kiir's great challenge and opportunity to carry forward that torch and lead his country toward that permanent and lasting peace. I look forward to our discussion this afternoon. On behalf of the American people, I offer our hope and our optimism to the First Vice President and to the people of Sudan. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Today we resume consideration of the Defense authorization bill. Under the agreement reached on October 26, we have a limitation of amendments and debate to Defense authorization. Chairman Warner and Senator Levin are here today and are prepared for Members to come to the floor to offer their defense-related amendments. I noted last night there will be no rollcall votes today, and we will delay votes until Monday at approximately 5:30. We will announce later on how many votes Senators can expect on Monday. Finally, I do want to thank everybody for their participation and cooperation over the course of yesterday's session, a lengthy session. I think it was 22 consecutive rollcall votes. We didn't have any scheduled breaks and things went very smoothly. Indeed, we were able to meet our goal of 6 o'clock last night to allow Senators to attend what was a wonderful event where we had over 50 former Senators--men and women who had served in this body in the past--come back and join us for a bipartisan event last night. It would not have been possible without the patience of Senators and the efforts of so many staff members who worked so hard to bring that deficit reduction bill to completion by a vote of 52 to 47. Budget Reconciliation This was an important piece of fiscal legislation; I think clearly the most important piece of fiscal legislation over the course of the year, a bill that was called the deficit reduction bill because almost $35 billion in savings does go down directly to reduce the deficit. That is a period of 4 years, $35 billion. Over 10 years, it would be right at $100 billion. A number of people have said, well, spending cuts that we put in yesterday don't go far enough, and I would not disagree with that statement. The deficit reduction package we passed last night, however, was a major and important first step forward in reining in what has become out-of-control Federal spending, so I congratulate our colleagues. I also thank the committee chairmen one more time for their hard work and leadership, both sides of the aisle working together. There was in many instances bipartisan support for their recommendations. In particular, I thank the chairman of the Budget Committee, Chairman Judd Gregg, for his strong leadership. I also thank Senator McConnell, our assistant Republican leader, for his deft handling of the process yesterday, keeping us on track to success. The Senate staffers, several of them were thanked last night. And there are so many, I always hesitate to start naming them, but in truth, as always, they are the ones who give the discipline to the engine that makes it possible: Kyle Simmons, Scott Gudes, Bill Hoagland, Sharon Soderstrom, Eric Ueland, all deserve special recognition for their tireless efforts in bringing that bill to completion. By rallying our resources and our will, last night the Senate passed the first spending reduction bill in 8 years. It was last in 1997 that such a reconciliation on the spending side was passed. We took a tough look at the budget, and we came up with a strong package of fiscally responsible savings. And it is worth reflecting where we were even just 10 months ago. We tend to focus so much on minute to minute here and day to day here, but if we look back 10 months ago when the President submitted his budget proposal, at that time the projected deficit was well past $400 billion and on its way up to $500 billion. Critics had bet against the majority's success. They said we could never pass a budget and be able to drive down the deficit, and we have proved those critics wrong. Not only have smart progrowth fiscal policies cut the deficit by $100 billion but direct action in the Senate yesterday cut the bottom line by another $35 billion. Our GDP growth rate is strong right now, in the last quarter, 3.7 percent, with over 4 million jobs created since May, about 15, 16 months ago. Hurricane Katrina hit and we know hit hard, but not even Hurricane Katrina could knock our economy off track. As Alan Greenspan told the Joint Economic Committee yesterday, the economic fundamentals remain firm. The Republican-led Senate has defied the critics at every turn. They said we could not pass a budget resolution, and we passed a budget resolution. They said we could not pass the 12 appropriations bills on this floor, and we did. We passed the PATRIOT Act, we passed the bankruptcy bill, we passed the class action bill, we passed the highway bill, we passed the Energy bill, we passed the gun liability reform bill--all this year, but we have a lot more to do. Yesterday, I should add, as part of that deficit reduction bill, we passed exploration in ANWR which will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It will strengthen our domestic supplies, again a real tribute to this body. Meanwhile, throughout the fall we have tackled relief and recovery for the victims of Katrina and we have continued to support our troops in the war on terror. We will be doing our Defense authorization bill shortly, again, to focus on continued aggressive support of the troops. So despite all of the naysayers and sometimes pessimistic attitudes as to what is going on, we are moving this country forward in a positive and a constructive way. Some have called the deficit reduction package yesterday immoral, and it really does bother me when people use words like that because, to me, what is immoral is saddling future generations with huge debt. What is immoral is ducking or hiding from today's challenges with inaction or empty platitudes or barriers to progress. What is immoral, to me, is proposing more debt while accusing others of being fiscally irresponsible. During the budget process, the other side proposed spending amendments, and we saw much of it on our spending speedometer-- spendometer, I guess we call it--of over $460 billion. The other side proposed over $460 billion in increased spending. And who would pay for this? I guess their answer would be raising taxes. It is unacceptable. We have a different approach, an approach that strengthens our economic growth, strengthens our national security, that delivers real relief, real relief to American families. The deficit reduction package we passed last night will drive down the deficit. It will increase America's energy supply. It will help students and families meet the cost of college tuition. It will take critical steps to protect America's retirees, a huge victory for the American people. We support real, measurable solutions and will continue moving America forward. Our goal is to strengthen America's families and secure America's future. We have a lot more work to do, Mr. President. Next week we have some of the world's top oil executives coming to Washington to explain why gas prices are going so high, above $3, and why oil and home heating oil prices are so high, and at the same time, we are seeing these record profits going into their coffers. The question that our constituents ask, and we ask, is Why? And those executives will have that opportunity to explain, and we will get to the bottom of it. We also plan to continue our work on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court of the United States. The chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee announced a schedule yesterday that does provide the strongest platform for Judge Alito to argue and to explain and describe the judicial restraint, the crux of his philosophy, and he will be confirmed by January 20. Finally, we will continue to address the pressing issues the American people sent us to Washington to resolve after the first of the year, issues such as border security and immigration. As I mentioned last night, we had a wonderful occasion in terms of having a bipartisan reunion with one out of every three former Senators who are still alive in our midst last night. Most all of our colleagues were there sharing stories, sharing intergenerational stories which did remind us what a powerful institution this is, the legacy that it leaves, the important role it plays as the world's greatest deliberative body. It was a reminder to all of us serving in this Senate it is an honor and it is a privilege. I look forward to continue working in a bipartisan way to deliver bold and innovative solutions to keep this great country moving forward.

Mr. FRIST. Be happy to.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, that is very well said. I think the description and comments by the Senator from Florida demonstrate our responsibility to respond appropriately and smartly to natural disasters. If we look at our response to hurricanes and natural disasters in the past, I think we have done so. It is sometimes frustrating because we cannot do everything, and a lot of people think the Federal Government has a responsibility to come in and solve all the problems. Our challenge in responding to all these natural disasters is to respond quickly, responsibly, smartly, working hand in hand with the locals. I very much appreciate the Senator's attention to one other natural disaster we must face. Recognition Of The Minority Leader

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2362

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask for its second reading and, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, we will shortly begin this morning's session with a rollcall vote on the adoption of the conference report to accompany the Agriculture appropriations bill. After that vote, we will resume the deficit reduction reconciliation bill. All time expired last night, and therefore we will begin a series of rollcall votes in relation to the pending amendments. We will, in a few moments, enter into an agreement which states the order for those votes. At this time, there are approximately 16 pending amendments that we would need to vote on. Following those votes, additional amendments may be offered, and therefore the voting sequence would continue. This stacked series of votes could be very lengthy, but we will continue voting until we complete the deficit reduction bill or up until 6 o'clock tonight. I hope and believe we can finish this afternoon, but that will depend on the number of amendments and how many will be offered over the course of the so-called vote-arama that we will be in a little bit later today. We have asked Senators to remain in and around the Senate Chamber over the course of the day to avoid missing any recorded votes. These vote-aramas are very trying as the day goes on so I do wish to thank everybody in advance for their patience during what will be a very busy session of voting today.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, over the past couple of weeks prices at the pump have been steadily falling--thank goodness. After the shock of paying nearly $3, sometimes over, sometimes well over $3 a gallon, families are finally getting some relief when they are filling up their cars or trucks, automobiles with gas. Gas prices are finally back to pre-Katrina levels. And that is the good news. The bad news is that prices are still much higher than they were a year ago. Americans are paying significantly more to fill up their cars, their automobiles with gas. And as we all know with winter right around the corner, home heating costs threaten to literally break the family bank. Meanwhile, America's oil companies are making multibillion dollar profits, record profits. You could not miss the news last week that oil companies posted these record-breaking profits with one company posting the biggest profit in U.S. history. So while Americans have been reeling from Katrina, standing in long lines at the pump at gas stations following Katrina and the other hurricanes and their cutting back on the necessities of everyday life, what they see are oil profits that are booming, going off the chart. And we have constituents naturally calling and writing and e-mailing saying, Why? How could that possibly be? Literally, what they see is pumping gas and watching the little figures come up higher and higher and higher, seeing money go out of their pocket and then going home and turning on the news and seeing that the coffers of oil companies, that same money going into the gas tank almost being in the coffers of these large oil companies, and they are asking why. I think these are legitimate questions, and Americans do have the right to know what is going on. Is this the way the market works and, if so, what are those dynamics? They need to know why those gas prices and those oil and natural gas prices are so much higher than they used to be at the same time these profits are off the chart. That is why last week I asked Chairman Domenici and Chairman Stevens to hold a joint hearing to be able to answer those basic questions. Next week, several executives will be coming in from some of the biggest oil companies to explain. We may well learn that there are no sinister reasons behind all this, but I think we all agree that our free market works best when we all know and we all follow the rules of the road and all have confidence in that system. That is what the focus of those hearings will be. If there are people abusing the free enterprise system to advantage themselves or their businesses at the expense of everyday Americans, they need to be exposed and they should be ashamed. Next week's hearings will help shed light on this very important matter. Meanwhile, the Senate is also working to strengthen and secure America's energy supply. Indeed, we are doing it, in part, in the bill that we will be voting on over the course of today. Last summer, the Senate passed a comprehensive energy plan that looked, in terms of framework, at production, at consumption, at conservation, at alternative uses of fuel, at nuclear, at hydrogen, at the investment of science and technology to make fuel use more efficient, and that was a good first step. But we have a lot more to do. When you go home and you are talking to constituents and you say: What if I told you that most of the oil that you are pumping into your gas tank comes from overseas, from foreign sources, from countries that are very specifically hostile to the United States, and what if I told you that the United States has barely 45 days' worth of oil on hand in our own Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the answer is obvious. You would want to diversify your energy sources, you would want to move toward energy independence, and that is exactly what we need to do. Now, if I told you that in the United States we have untapped oil reserves comparable to all of the oil in Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota combined, you would want to find it since it is here and get it to the American people. Well, we do have that resource. It is in Alaska under the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, ANWR. We all know ANWR is the Nation's single greatest prospect for future oil. The Government estimates that ANWR contains approximately 10.4 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil. At peak production at this one site could be produced more oil than any other U.S. State, any other State in this country, Texas or Louisiana, from this one site. In 1968, the Federal Government estimated that Prudhoe Bay held 9 billion barrels of oil. To date, Prudhoe Bay has produced 13 billion barrels and it is still producing. Now, more than ever, we need to recognize the need to strengthen America's oil supply and now we have the opportunity to do that. America can't afford $3 a gallon, and we can't afford to depend on sources many of which are hostile to the United States. Some critics complain that drilling in ANWR will hurt the environment. It is simply not true. It was stated again and again in the Chamber yesterday and explained, the prospective drilling site is an area equivalent to the size, if you took a tennis court, of a single postage stamp. State-of-the-art drilling technology has made remarkable advancements to preserve and protect the environment. It is now possible to extract oil using that horizontal drilling technique from a site that could reach way out from a site that is very tiny, as you look at it on the horizon or area. These are called extended reach wells. We talked yesterday about how far out you can go. You can go out horizontally twice as far as you can vertically, therefore reducing the number of drilling sites. Developing the Reserve will create hundreds of thousands of jobs for hard-working Americans. It will contribute billions to the economy and strengthen America's energy independence. The oil in ANWR is critical to our economic and national security. I look forward to the vote today on developing this tremendous resource. Responsible, environmentally sensitive exploration will help ease the bottom line for every American family. We are working hard to deliver real solutions for the real problems facing the American people by taking strong, decisive action. Indeed, by today's floor action, we are moving America forward.