Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a very few seconds we will proceed to passage of the CJS bill. I congratulate the two managers for the outstanding job they have done, Senators Shelby and Mikulski. They patiently stayed on the floor day and night working through the amendments. We thank them for their efforts. It has been a matter of a lot of patience, in part due to the coordination with the Judiciary Committee and those hearings. In a few moments after passage of the bill, we will be turning to the Agriculture appropriations bill. The managers are here. They will be making their opening statements, but we will not have rollcall votes later today. Tomorrow we have an important congressional delegation traveling to the Gulf States. In addition, we have a delegation attending a celebration for the national day of prayer and remembrance. Therefore, we will not be in session on Friday. We will return on Monday. We will have a vote Monday, late afternoon, at approximately 5:30. We will alert all Members when that vote is locked in. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on Saturday, the Nation will observe the 218th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. In previous years, September 17 has been designated ``Citizenship Day''--a day on which all Americans were encouraged to pay special attention to the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. This year, for the first time, we celebrate September 17 as ``Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.'' This special focus on the Constitution came about as a result of an initiative sponsored by our senior colleague from West Virginia. The Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal 2005 provides that each educational institution receiving Federal funds during a fiscal year will conduct a program of its own devising on the Constitution. Also, each Federal department and agency, in connection with this special day, will make available educational materials on the Constitution for its employees. Today, we have placed on the desk of each Senator two documents. The first is an annotated copy of the Constitution. The second contains the record of the 1787 constitutional convention as pertains to the powers and responsibilities of the United States Senate. In the spirit of this first Constitution Day, I hope all my colleagues will take the time to examine both of these fundamental documents.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 3768, which was received from the House.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that third reading and passage of S. 1696 be vitiated, and the bill be placed on the Senate Calendar.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 243, which was submitted earlier today.

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. President, this resolution that we passed is a Senate resolution expressing support for the Pledge of Allegiance. Because of the significance of this matter, I would like to read some paragraphs in the resolution and then the closing resolve section: Whereas on June 26, 2002, a 3-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Newdow v. United States Congress that the words ``under God'' in the Pledge of Allegiance violate the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution when recited voluntarily by students in public schools; Whereas on March 4, 2003, the United States Senate passed a resolution disapproving of the Ninth Circuit's decision in Newdow by a vote of 94-0; Whereas on June 14, 2004, the Supreme Court of the United States dismissed the case, citing plaintiff's lack of standing. Whereas on January 3, 2005, the same plaintiff and 4 other parents and their minor children filed a second suit in the Eastern District of California to challenge the words ``under God'' in the Pledge of Allegiance. Whereas on September 14, 2005, the Eastern District of California declined to dismiss the Newdow case, holding that the Ninth Circuit's earlier ruling that the words ``under God'' in the Pledge of Allegiance violates the Establishment Clause was still binding precedent . . . Mr. President, the ``whereas'' clauses continue. Resolved, That the Senate strongly disapproves of the September 14, 2005, decision by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California in Newdow, et al. v. The Congress of the United States of America, et al. Sec. 2. That the Senate authorizes and instructs the Senate Legal Counsel to continue to cooperate fully with the Attorney General in this case in order to vigorously defend the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance. This is an important Senate resolution, as is the one that follows this, S. Res. 244, which we will address shortly. Every morning in the Senate, we open with that pledge to the flag of the United States of America. It is an issue on which the Senate now speaks loudly in disagreement with the most recent findings. The second resolution related to this issue is S. Res. 244.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will be running through a lot of business which reflects a tremendous amount of work over the last several hours, the last several days, much of it in response directly to the natural disaster of Katrina and its aftermath. There are a number of other bills that I will mention as well as we close tonight.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand there are two bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. FRIST. I now ask for their second reading and, in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request, all en bloc.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 244, submitted earlier today by Senator Salazar.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution and preamble be agreed to, en bloc, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record as if read.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 3668, which was received from the House.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill 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. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 3672, which was received from the House.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I appreciate the comments from my colleagues. I support the chairman, and I too assure colleagues that these welfare provisions will be fully litigated in a conference with the House on a health and welfare disaster relief package. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record. The bill (H.R. 3672) was read the third time and passed.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 3169, which was received from the House.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill 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, this afternoon, the Senate passed the Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill with overwhelming bipartisan support. I want to thank my colleagues for their tremendous work on this legislation. This appropriations bill funds critical Government functions and includes significant Katrina-related measures. Earlier this afternoon, I had the opportunity to thank both Senators Shelby and Mikulski for their great leadership on this bill. There was a fair amount of juggling in terms of scheduling, given the fact that the Judiciary hearings were underway. Everybody showed good patience, and we produced a very good bill. More than 350,000 families have been made homeless by the disaster that has unfolded over the last 2 weeks. The bill we passed today provides Federal housing assistance of up to $600 per family per month for up to 6 months to help those families get back on their feet. Families lost their homes, they have lost their communities, they have lost their jobs, and many families have lost everything. Their only possessions were contained sometimes in a single black plastic bag as they fled their homes. These are extraordinary circumstances and they require extraordinary actions on our part. As you heard by the legislation that was passed, we are acting responsibly and aggressively in meeting the needs of those victims. Helping these families put a roof over their heads is one aspect of the real tragedy that has unfolded. I thank people such as Senator Snowe for her hard work to help the small businesses recover. All of these efforts are part of this larger effort to respond and respond aggressively. Under the bipartisan leadership of Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus, today the Senate passed a comprehensive tax relief package to help spur that economic process of getting people back on their feet and rebirth and regrowth. The Grassley-Baucus legislation provides immediate and aggressive tax relief to help hurricane victims build their homes, restore their possessions, find housing, and find jobs. It allows them to dip into their retirement plans to cover short-term expenses without being penalized. In addition, it promotes and rewards charitable giving. As we have seen over the last week and a half, Americans have poured out their hearts for the hurricane victims. In just over 2 weeks, private individuals and businesses have donated well over $700 million in contributions. That is increasing every day. It is truly a testament to the character of the American people, to that wonderful spirit of the American people, that selflessness, that unselfishness, their compassion, and their generosity. Here in the Senate, we are working hard to reflect those values and to deliver swift and meaningful actions. Chairmen are working with ranking members to finish conversations so they can forward appropriate, well-thought-out Katrina legislation to myself and to the minority leader for possible Senate action, and Chairman Enzi is working with Senator Kennedy on a series of temporary education law changes. These measures will help tens of thousands of students affected by Katrina, as well as the school districts that are absorbing these displaced students. Chairman Collins continues her work with Senator Lieberman to cut through redtape and bureaucracy so that FEMA can quickly remove the vast amounts of debris that have been left in the disaster's wake. Tomorrow, in 12 hours or so, Senator Reid and I will be departing and leading a 14-Member Senate delegation to the gulf coast. Our purpose will be to survey the disaster sites in all three States affected by Katrina, to visit with people who have been so dramatically affected, both directly and indirectly, whose lives have been changed, to observe what is being done by local officials and State officials, as well as Federal officials on the ground. The hurricane victims are the Senate's No. 1 priority, and it is reflected in the legislation that we are addressing and in the time spent both on the floor and by the various chairmen and ranking members on committees. We are determined that the gulf coast will be able to recover and be rebuilt bigger, stronger, and more prosperous than ever before. It is going to require a lot of leadership from all sectors, at the private and public arena, and at Federal-State and local levels. It is going to require the dedication of a lot of individuals. I began today meeting with 100 or so leaders from across Louisiana who already had a previously scheduled meeting to come to Washington, DC. I met with Senator Vitter to listen to their ideas and their thoughts at the local level of how best to contribute to this rebuilding of this vital part of Louisiana. Tomorrow, we will meet with people all along that southern coast of Mississippi as well. I will actually be going to Alabama as well. It is this dedication of individuals, the doers, the thinkers, people thinking inside and outside the box that I am convinced will lead to this revitalization and appropriate rebuilding. It is a massive undertaking, but this is America and we like our challenges big. We can respond in an appropriately big way. We will make history proud. In about 30 minutes, the President will be addressing the Nation on many of these same issues. I look forward to hearing that address. I look forward to continuing to work in a bipartisan way. We have to keep things bipartisan as we work to develop meaningful, long-term solutions for the American people. I had one big disappointment today, late this afternoon regarding receiving a letter from my counterpart, the Democratic leader, whom I know carefully considered the terms of the outcome, but I was disappointed in that the notification was that the Senate Democrats will boycott our proposal for a bipartisan joint congressional investigation into the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. It is clear the government has no greater responsibility than protecting the security and the lives of senior citizens, and in the aftermath of this devastating hurricane and the flood which followed we saw government at all levels not live up to expectations, and, really, fail at all levels. It is our duty, and it is our responsibility in the Senate, in Congress, to analyze and to investigate, provide aggressive oversight in order to figure out what went wrong, in order to know what changes must be made and to make those changes quickly and responsibly and to keep what went wrong from ever, ever, happening again. Congress is going to step up to this important responsibility. We have begun that in the actions over the last 2 weeks. Under the proposal I gave the Democrat leader, we would appoint a select committee with the members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as members who would participate. While the Democrat leader in his letter to me says he prefers to let the Homeland Security Committee lead the investigation and he will continue to support the committee's efforts, which I do, as well, he somehow feels the select committee that our leadership has proposed, which is made up of the very same members of that committee, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, will somehow fail the American people or will somehow be partisan or will somehow not be independent. To me, it is an abdication of our responsibility not to have this select committee specifically made up to analyze and to investigate what went wrong. The proposal was modeled on some of the most serious investigations that Congress has ever taken. Looking back to the 1973 Watergate Committee, the 1986 Iran-Contra Committee, the 1994 and 1995 Whitewater Committee, and the 1997 campaign finance investigation, that is the model which I had proposed to the Democrat leader. Republicans in both the House and Senate are prepared to fulfill our constitutional obligations. I believe this boycott is irresponsible, it is an abdication of our responsibility. It begins to place partisan politics over finding answers for the American people. We cannot wait 3 years for those answers. We need to investigate them and analyze the problems so we will have solutions in the short term, so we can quickly make changes and protect all Americans. In challenging times, our country expects its leaders to work together and not to engage in any sort of petty bickering that slows down the process. It is time to get it done. The American people deserve better. I ask unanimous consent my proposal to Senator Reid and his letter rejecting it be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I further ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to this measure be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today following the time for the leaders, we will have a 60-minute period for morning business. Following that time, which will end at approximately 10:45 or so, we will return to the consideration of the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill. Last night, we reached consent for a vote in relation to the Stabenow amendment on interoperable communications, which will again be at 11 a.m. That vote will be on a motion to waive a budget point of order with respect to Senator Stabenow's amendment. As I stated last night, we have been on this bill for 5 days now and we need to finish our work on this legislation today. The two managers have done a good job working with Members on their language and have been able to accept a number of amendments. There are others that we will need to vote upon and we will be scheduling those for today and into this evening. We need to be prepared to go late into the evening, if necessary, to complete the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill. I hope we can finish earlier, but if we do have votes on many of the remaining amendments and Members insist upon that, it will be necessary to work late. The hearings on Judge Roberts continue today in the Judiciary Committee. We have tried to accommodate that schedule with the least number of interruptions. However, we have to continue to get our work done on the Senate floor on these important appropriations bills. I expect we will be voting throughout the day today and, as I mentioned, into the evening, to finish the Commerce-Justice-Science measure.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I take a few moments to comment on one aspect of the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill. In doing so, I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their bipartisan cooperation in getting this bill done, which I believe we can do by tonight. The funding in this bill is critical to the functioning of our Government, and I expect it will pass with strong bipartisan support. Before we cast a lot more votes, I do want to call everybody's attention to one particular aspect of this bill that has ramifications throughout each of our States that people are becoming more and more aware of but deserves a lot more attention, and this is the methamphetamine crisis that is raging all across this country. As a physician, as well as a legislator, I am troubled by this growing meth crisis. As we travel across our States and look at the devastation that is caused by this particular drug and the making and manufacturing of this drug, we do need to act. In the last 10 years, meth has become America's No. 1 drug problem--before marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and any other drug. In Tennessee, we have been particularly hard hit. In 2004, Tennessee ranked No. 2, tied with Iowa and behind Missouri, in the number of methamphetamine lab seizures. A good friend of mine, Sandy Mattice, who is a U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, describes meth as ``the worst stuff that we have seen.'' And it has led to some of the worst, most disturbing cases of violence and abuse we have ever seen. Last month, as I was traveling across Tennessee, I heard again and again from people from all walks of life about the devastating impact meth is having on the people of our State. I heard the stories about meth destroying individuals' lives and families' lives, how mothers and fathers who are addicts abuse their children or each other during the highs as well as the withdrawals from meth. We have heard again how addicts steal from their own parents or even their own children because they are so desperate for money to buy meth. One Tennessee case was so horrific that it made national news and ultimately changed Tennessee law. In June of last year, authorities found 3-year-old Haley Spicer at her father's mobile home in Campbell County. Haley had been burned with cigarettes and scalded with hot water in a bathtub. The fumes in her meth-addicted father's meth lab were so toxic that Haley's eyelids had even melted shut. Haley had to undergo a number of surgeries to open her eyes. She faces a lot more in terms of surgeries and operations to rebuild and reconstruct her nose and repair her ear. Haley's father, Tommy Joe Owens, has been convicted on three counts of aggravated child abuse and one count of neglect. Owens, who claims to have never hurt his daughter, faces up to 60 years on each count at a sentencing hearing next month. His live-in girlfriend Charlotte Claiborne pleaded no contest to the same charges and will likely be sentenced to 20 years. Haley's case was so disturbing that it led to swift and aggressive legislative action back in Tennessee. This August, the State legislature passed Haley's Law which drastically toughens the child abuse penalties. This was an important victory for the youngest victims of meth, but it addresses the problem after the fact, after meth has led to the violence. It is time for all of us to address what we can do to prevent this meth abuse. Haley's father should be in jail for a long time, but we have to do more. Local law enforcement is crying out for our help. Meth is highly addictive, and it is highly destructive as a substance. Users experience a powerful boost, described as more powerful than any other drug, three times the intensity of cocaine. The high lasts for longer, up to 8 hours. Users take hit after hit on sleepless binges that can last up to 2 and sometimes even 3 weeks. Once sucked in, many users find it impossible to climb out. Take, for example, Lynn Noland, also of Tennessee. Lynn did not plan on becoming an addict, nor for that matter did she plan on becoming what she did, a drug dealer. It started 4 years ago when Lynn was a 36- year-old marketing executive and she tried her first hit. One hit became an addiction and she quit her well-paying job and started trading meth ingredients to support her habit. She would disguise herself as a farmer, put on overalls and put on a ball cap and stop by the co-op to be able to purchase ingredients undetected in an unsuspecting way. Another dangerous aspect of meth is it can be cooked anywhere with store-bought ingredients. So it is very mobile. It is easy to make and it is hard to detect where it is made. Lynn started cooking the drug herself in caves, as she describes it, and in little sheds. ``I could not live without meth,'' she said. ``I could not lift my head off the pillow to brush my teeth without it.'' Eventually, Lynn was arrested. She lost custody of her children and ended up in a halfway house. Lynn was lucky. She was able to kick her habit. Most addicts need repeated episodes of rehabilitation. Many never succeed and many never survive. They die of severe burns from lab explosions. Some commit suicide. Some are killed by a spouse who is also addicted. Meth leads to depression; it leads to psychosis; it leads to skin infections; it leads to high blood pressure; it leads to hepatitis C; it leads to kidney damage; it leads to severe tooth decay, to name a few. The list goes on. The greatest health risk of meth is the impact it has on the brain. It rewires the brain. Methamphetamine produces a huge rush of a chemical called dopamine in the brain, and that results in a huge surge, a euphoria that results from this increase in dopamine transmission. Over time, however, this excess of dopamine destroys the transmission, the neurological linkage system, within the brain, and users experience an inability to have emotions or pleasure without more amphetamine coming into the system all the time. Eventually, in a pattern similar to Parkinson's disease, there are no terminals there-- they are destroyed--which can release dopamine and users experience prolonged and often permanent depression. Thus, the personal cost is staggering. The cost to the community at large is staggering. An estimated 12 million Americans have tried methamphetamine. It is estimated that about 1.5 million people are regular users. In many areas of the country, the medical costs for county jails have doubled because of meth. Last month, a colleague of mine at Vanderbilt, Dr. Jeffrey Guy, who is director of Vanderbilt Medical Center's burn unit, which is in Nashville, told Newsweek: I do not know if we will have a burn unit 5 to 10 years from now if Vanderbilt continues to take on the large burden of $5 million to $10 million per year in uncompensated care for patients burned in meth lab explosions. Doctors estimate that treating burn victims exceeds about $10,000 a day per patient, most of whom do not have health insurance. Meth abuse often leads to violent crimes, including domestic violence, assaults, robberies, and burglaries. Local law enforcement is finding itself overwhelmed. Most rural police departments do not have the resources to deal with all of the problems brought forward by meth to deal with the lab explosions, the expensive toxic waste cleanup required when one goes in and removes these labs. Each pound of methamphetamine leaves behind 5 to 6 pounds of this toxic waste, and the cleanup involves dangerous exposure to our law enforcement officers engaged in removal of these labs. A very effective way to stop the meth crisis is to restrict the ingredients that make up meth and to restrict it all across the country in all 50 States. Jerry Estes, a district attorney general in Tennessee, has seen a dramatic reduction in meth lab seizures since our State, Tennessee, passed the bill restricting access to cold medicines that serve as the ingredients for the manufacture of meth. North Carolina, however, has not adopted similar legislation. As a result, what has been found, at least in southeast Tennessee, is that people will simply cross the border to buy those ingredients and bring them back home. Thus, we need a uniform policy across this country. Jerry tells me the single greatest impact we could have on reducing meth abuse is requiring all 50 States to restrict access to pseudoephedrine. That is what the Combat Meth Act does. It requires States to restrict access to all cold medicines containing meth precursors so that meth producers simply cannot shop and cruise from State to State. In closing, I thank Senators Talent and Feinstein for taking the lead on this issue and for their hard work in getting the Combat Meth Act adopted as part of the appropriations process. The Combat Meth Act is a critical first step to defeating this ongoing crisis. I urge my colleagues to follow this issue very closely because this is not going to be the end of it. This is the No. 1 drug problem facing the people of our States today. We will be talking about it a lot more in the coming days and weeks. Meth is destroying individuals, it is destroying families, and it is destroying communities. We cannot tolerate that. America needs to put a stop to this growing health and moral crisis. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

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