Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on Monday, the Senate will resume consideration of the Energy bill. We began the Energy bill earlier this week, and we do plan to continue working aggressively on that bill with amendments also Monday afternoon and with the hope that we will be able to debate amendments and set votes in relation to those amendments as needed. At 6 p.m. on Monday, as we just agreed to, we will vote on a motion to invoke cloture on the Bolton nomination. With respect to the Energy bill, as we have said again and again, next week will be the final week for consideration. It is vitally important we finally complete action on a national energy policy, and we need to bring this bill to a close soon. Having said that, as the Democratic leader and I had a colloquy earlier today and pointed out, it may be necessary to file cloture. If so, we will do so, in all likelihood, on Tuesday night to ensure that we finish next week. If that cloture motion is necessary, the vote would not occur until Thursday. Therefore, Members would have ample time to offer and consider their amendments prior to that vote.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I know of no further debate on this nomination, and we are ready for the Chair to put the question. However, I note for the Record that Senator Bunning is opposed to this nomination and would have voted in the negative. We appreciate him allowing us to go forward and duly note his opposition.

Mr. FRIST. I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions and that the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 151.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on today's Executive Calendar: No. 58, David Garman to be Under Secretary of Energy, and Nos. 137, 138, and 139. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from Illinois. Let me ask--because I know the Senator from Kansas is going to want to follow the Senator from Illinois--about how long he will be?

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I thank the Senator again.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning we will resume consideration of the Energy bill. We will be spending all of this week and, in all likelihood, all of next week on the bill. We plan on completing the bill by the end of next week. Yesterday, the chairman offered a first- degree amendment relating to ethanol. Last night, we were able to consider and table a second-degree amendment relating to safe harbor. Today, we will be considering another second-degree amendment which was offered by Senator Schumer. It is our expectation to have a vote in relation to that amendment very shortly this morning, hopefully within the next 30 minutes. Senators, therefore, should be on notice and their offices should notify them that we might be voting around 10 o'clock, or shortly thereafter. If we are able to table that amendment, we would like to vote on the underlying first-degree amendment as well. We expect to make further progress on the bill following those votes. So it will be a very busy day. We may go into the early evening tonight. I know there are a number of events planned tonight. I say that only to encourage people to come and offer their amendments and debate their amendments over the course of the day. We will be finishing the bill by the end of next week. The Democratic leader and I have been consistent with that regard. So we want people to come to the floor and offer those amendments.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today we will continue consideration of the Energy bill, as we just discussed. The debate has been very thorough and robust. Today I expect it to be so as we debate a number of very important issues, but I am confident, very optimistic, that we will have a strong bipartisan bill that will be overwhelmingly supported by this body by the time we complete it at the end of next week. I thank Senator Domenici and Senator Bingaman for their tremendous leadership. They started in this session with a bipartisan commitment to produce a bill that speaks to the needs that are so clear and evident to all of us and to the American people. They deserve great credit for working together and working hard through all of these complicated details to come up with a plan that both sides of the aisle will be able to support. I am pleased that during the Energy bill debate we are discussing the importance of increasing our Nation's use of renewable fuels, such as ethanol, which we spent a lot of time on yesterday, as we will today, as well as biodiesel. I am a strong supporter of the renewable fuels standard which will double the use of ethanol and biodiesel over the next 7 years. Increasing use of these home-grown, clean-burning renewable fuels is essential to reducing both our short- and long-term dependence on foreign oil. We are currently, as has been discussed many times, 56 percent dependent on these foreign sources of oil with all predictions aiming that we will be 68 percent dependent by 2025 if we do nothing. That is a call to action and, in many ways, that explains much of the action on the floor of the Senate this week. One of the major goals in the bill is to reduce that dependence and thereby enhance our own energy security. We will accomplish that through adoption of this bill. The renewable fuels standard is a critical component, an important aspect of this energy policy. Increasing use of ethanol and biodiesel is a bipartisan issue. It was in the last Congress. I, along with the then-Democratic leader, Senator Daschle, introduced the renewable fuels standard amendment on the Senate floor. I am working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help forge an agreement on this issue again this year, and I am very pleased with our progress to date, over the course of yesterday, and I expect today. In particular I thank Senators Thune, Talent, Lugar, Hagel, Grassley, Inhofe, Bond, Voinovich, Coleman, and colleagues on the other side of the aisle who worked so hard to get us to this point. It was, again, a huge bipartisan effort with people in this body working together. I look forward to supporting this bipartisan effort over the course of the coming days. When we go back to our States, again and again we hear that anyone filling up that tank of gas knows that America is in desperate need of an energy plan. With gas now averaging well over $2 a gallon, every American family, every worker, every small business owner is feeling the bite, is feeling the pinch. Gas prices are taking a bigger and bigger piece out of the family budget and that, of course, leaves less money to spend on items such as clothes, food, groceries, as well as looking forward to that next summer vacation. We can do better. We are doing better in this bill. We know we can. And we have within our reach the ability to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy. All we have to do is imagine the future and project out what the future is going to be like, and then pull that back to the present and take action by debating and, where appropriate, amending the bill and then passing it over the next several days. As we look to the future, imagine a future where coal is turned into a clean, cheap gas. It is not as far away as one might think or as most people thought 10 or 15 years ago. We have a 400- to 500-year supply of coal right here in the United States. My colleague from Tennessee, Senator Alexander, discussed on the floor last week how, if we apply our technological know-how, imagination, and ability, capture that innovation, we can turn that very coal into clean coal gas, and by doing that, as a byproduct we would be able to share that with the entire world. We can do that by capturing our innovations, taking these natural resources, applying those innovations in a way that transforms them, and then sharing them with the entire world. That is the sort of thinking that is going on in this bill. It is the sort of transformational thinking that the American people expect and should expect. It is time for an energy plan that is long overdue but also an energy plan that incorporates this innovation and this technology. We have gone on for way too long, we have gone on for 10 years without a comprehensive plan. We have attempted this in the past. We attempted it in the last Congress and we were unsuccessful. We passed a good bill on the Senate floor and the House passed a bill, but we did not get agreement in conference to get a bill to the President of the United States. As we have debated and have been unable to bring a bill to conclusion, energy prices have gone higher and higher. We have become more and more dependent on foreign sources of energy. These foreign sources do not necessarily have the best interests of the United States at heart. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the United States produced almost as much oil as we consumed. In those decades, imports were very small. In about 1972, U.S. oil production began to decline, and it has been declining steadily ever since. At the same time as our economy has grown, U.S. consumption of oil has steadily increased. So declining supply, increased consumption. As a result, our reliance on foreign oil and foreign sources of energy, of course, have had to increase. So the problem is pretty clear, and that is the response we are delivering on the Senate floor. Today, we import most of our oil from the North, from Canada; also from the South, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico. However, as we look out over the next 5, 10, and 15 years, the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration predicts that more of the oil that we need will come from the OPEC countries in the Middle East. We must take steps to reduce our dependence on foreign countries and thereby enhance our energy security at home. When we rely on other nations for more than half our oil supply, we simply put our security at risk. We need a system based upon efficiency, balance, and common sense. We need a system that will respond to the obvious needs that are growing worse, challenges that are increasing each day that we do not produce a bill. We can look at nuclear energy as a great example. It is clean, it is efficient, and it has the potential to significantly reduce our dependence on foreign supplies. The Navy powers dozens of its vessels with nuclear energy and docks these ships at ports all over the world. They have not had one accident. France uses nuclear energy to provide 80 percent of its electricity supply. Japan allows one, two, three new reactors to be built each year. In the United States, we have not ordered a new nuclear power reactor plant in the last 30 years, since the 1970s. We can, and we should, pursue commonsense efforts to produce clean, safe, affordable, and reliable energy, nuclear energy, for America's families. It only makes sense. It is common sense. Increasing our domestic supply is critically important, but we also have to look at the conservation side of the equation. We simply need to look at the transportation sector. Nearly 70 percent of the oil we use goes to power the cars and trucks that we drive every day. If we are serious about reducing our dependence on foreign oil, we must look at new ways to power and fuel those vehicles. We are already doing this with hybrid cars which, as we all know, are becoming more popular, and with the alternative fuels that we have been discussing on the floor yesterday and today, ethanol and biodiesel. We must continue to move in this direction by continuing and increasing our investment in hydrogen fuel cell research. President Bush has said that his goal is that today's children will take their driver's test in a zero-emission vehicle. That would go a long way toward helping to reduce our dependence and enhance our security. The fuel that we are increasingly talking about, which is probably the most dramatic when we look at the challenges before us, is natural gas. Natural gas is another energy source we depend on heavily and another area in which we are becoming increasingly reliant on imports. Because natural gas is clean burning and relatively cheap, it has become the fuel of choice for new electric power generation in recent years. Sixty percent of homes across America are heated and cooled today with natural gas. While demand has been steadily growing, and for good reason, domestic supply has remained relatively flat. In fact, in 2003, we imported 15 percent of the gas we used but by 2025 the percent of gas that is used that will be imported is going to go up twofold, is going to double. Yes, we need to take bold action in the United States to address America's energy challenges, and we need to do this head on. We are doing that on the Senate floor. The Energy bill we are debating over these 2 weeks is a strong step in the right direction. I hope that we will be able to continue to work together to pass a strong and bipartisan bill so we can get this important legislation to the President of the United States so that he can sign it. America needs this policy. It needs this policy to keep our families safe, strong, and secure. We need a policy that keeps us competitive, and we need a policy that continues to help us to move forward. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I apologize for the interruption. A number of people have called asking for the schedule for tonight in terms of voting. We will be voting on the Cantwell amendment sometime tomorrow morning, and we will not have rollcall votes tonight. I have one unanimous consent request.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning we will proceed at 10 a.m. to an up-or-down vote on Tom Griffith's nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court. I suspect the Senate will vote to confirm Mr. Griffith, and I thank the Senators who participated in the debate over the course of yesterday. Immediately after that vote, we will begin consideration of the Energy bill. We have scheduled consideration of the bill for the entirety of this week and through next week. We will be completing the Energy bill by the end of next week, a fact that I mention so people will come down and make their amendments known to the managers of the bill early on. That will provide ample time for there to be debate and amendments over these next 2 weeks. Senators should be prepared to offer those amendments beginning later today and throughout the week. The chairman and the ranking member of the Energy Committee will be here to manage the process. I do encourage Senators to offer and debate those amendments over the next 2 weeks. It will take a lot of cooperation to accomplish that goal. I have been in discussion with the Democratic leader, who agrees with this plan of doing our very best to complete the bill. We will complete the bill by the end of next week. I thank all Members in advance.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a few moments, we will be voting on Tom Griffith's nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court. Tom Griffith is a man of deep integrity, a man of skill, a man of experience who has won the respect and admiration of colleagues all across the political spectrum. I am confident that once approved, Mr. Griffith will serve the D.C. Circuit Court with honor and distinction. Mr. Griffith graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University. He earned his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School where he served on the Law Review. Over the course of his legal career, Mr. Griffith has developed a broad range of experience from civil and criminal law to regulatory and international issues. Mr. Griffith currently serves as assistant to the president and general counsel of Brigham Young University. As Senate legal counsel during the impeachment trial of President Clinton, Mr. Griffith proved his ability to fairly and impartially interpret the law. David Kendall and Lanny Breuer, special counsel to President Clinton, wrote to the Washington Post: Tom has been a leader in the bar and has shown dedication to its principles. The Federal bench needs judges like Tom. Glen Ivey, former counsel to former Senate minority leader Tom Daschle, testified that during the Senate's Whitewater and campaign finance reform investigations, Mr. Griffith was scrupulous. Mr. Ivey says: Even when we were handling sensitive and politically charged issues, he acted in a nonpartisan and objective manner. I believe Mr. Griffith has the intellect and temperament to make an outstanding jurist. Tom Griffith is a dedicated public servant of tremendous ability. Two former presidents of the American Bar Association call Mr. Griffith ``extremely well qualified for service on the D.C. Circuit.'' They write: The Federal bench needs people like him, one of the best lawyers the bar has to offer. Senator Hatch has said that in all of his years in the Senate, he has never seen such a broad outpouring of support for a nominee from so many distinguished individuals on both sides of the aisle. Senator Dodd says: Tom handled his difficult responsibilities as Senate legal counsel with great confidence and skill, impressing all who knew him with his knowledge of the law and never succumbing to the temptation to bend the law to partisan ends. In that spirit, I urge my colleagues to vote in a few moments to confirm Tom Griffith to the D.C. Circuit Court. I am pleased by the bipartisan progress we are making in the judge confirmation process. In the last 3 weeks alone, we confirmed Priscilla Owen to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Janice Rogers Brown to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, William Pryor to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, David McKeague to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and Richard Griffin to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. I now look forward to Tom Griffith being added to this outstanding list of confirmations. Let us continue on this path of progress and cooperation. I believe it is our constitutional duty and responsibility to vote. We are doing so. Our constituents expect us to do just that--vote. Every nominee deserves the respect of a vote, fair, civil, up or down. That is what we will be doing today. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today the Senate will debate Executive Calendar No. 66, the nomination of Thomas Griffith to be a circuit judge for the DC Circuit. The vote on confirmation will be at 10 a.m. tomorrow. I am pleased we will be able to have a vote on this nomination, the sixth circuit court judge to be confirmed in the last couple of weeks. Following the debate on the Griffith nomination, the Senate will then debate S. Res. 39, the antilynching resolution, under a 3-hour time agreement. As was announced last week, there will be a voice vote on the adoption of the resolution. We will have no recorded votes during today's session. Tomorrow, following the vote on the Griffith nomination, the Senate will proceed to consideration of H.R. 6, the Energy bill. Chairman Domenici will be on the Senate floor ready to start the amendment process tomorrow morning. I encourage Senators to work with the bill managers so we can make significant progress on that important bill this week. As a reminder, there will be no votes this Friday, June 17, to accommodate the Democratic retreat. With that, Mr. President, I am going to turn to the Democratic leader, and then I will have a longer opening statement following his remarks.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, let's proceed with the Democratic leader, and I will follow with my statement.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning, President Bush, accompanied by the Presidents of five African States--Botswana, Ghana, Niger, Mozambique, and Namibia--announced the African Growth and Opportunity Act forum that will be held in July of this year in Senegal. At that joint meeting and announcement of the Senegal meeting, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with each of these African leaders, the Presidents of their respective countries, about the particular challenges their countries face and how the United States of America, working in partnership with them, can help. We discussed our continuing efforts to help the nations of Africa fight disease and hunger and to develop sound, healthy, and accountable governance. In our conversations, I underscored the need for continued political reform, for economic development, for investment in human capital, especially as we combat an issue the President talked a lot about earlier in the press announcement, and that is the tyranny of HIV/AIDS. We also discussed the President's plan to offer additional emergency aid to Africa at the upcoming G8 summit in July. This money is in addition to the $674 million the President announced last week during Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to Washington. Needless to say, the African Presidents were overwhelmed by these initiatives. They were impressed by the leadership of Prime Minister Blair and President Bush and by the generosity of the American people. Meanwhile, on Saturday, in what Treasury Secretary John Snow called an achievement of historic proportions, the G8, led by the United States and the United Kingdom, agreed to cancel more than $40 billion in debt owed by 18 of the world's poorest countries, including 14 African nations. Two hundred and eighty million African citizens will no longer labor under massive debtloads that have been crippling their ability to grow and prosper. This agreement wipes the slate clean. Their governments will see a combined savings of an estimated $1.5 billion a year. As we discussed this morning, their challenge now is to invest those savings wisely and effectively. If this money is used wisely, the people of these countries will see better education, cleaner water, less disease, and live better and more productive lives. Countries such as Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique--all will be better able to focus their resources on economic development, education, health, infrastructure, and all the fundamentals that we know help to build prosperity. They will be able to once and for all break the loan-debt-forgiveness cycle that has undermined their ability to grow and to invest. Saturday's agreement will help many of Africa's poorest countries get on their feet and make meaningful strides toward the future. President Bush and the Republican-led Congress have been steadfast supporters of Africa's development. I personally have had the opportunity to visit the continent of Africa on eight separate occasions, both as majority leader and as part of medical mission work on that wonderful continent. We have consistently championed efforts to promote accountability, good governance, political reform, and economic growth. Overcoming the problems that afflict the continent is tough work, it is difficult work, it is challenging work, but we are committed to helping Africa realize its rich potential. Instead of seeing only problems and obstacles, we seek solutions. Instead of offering a Band-Aid, we offered smart aid. We as a country have much to be proud of in terms of our contributions. One only need to look at the statistics. So far this fiscal year, the United States has provided the continent of Africa with $1.4 billion in humanitarian relief. President Bush has tripled America's contributions. Today, nearly a quarter of every aid dollar to Africa comes from America, up from just 10 percent 4 short years ago. Yes, we really for the first time demand accountability from these investments. These aid dollars today are tied to economic and political reforms. Our goal is to help these countries root out corruption, to address human rights, to protect human rights, to promote the rule of law, and to build a stable, civil society, one that can meet the needs and demands of a growing and modern society. Meanwhile, the African Growth and Opportunity Acceleration Act, also know known as AGOA, is already demonstrating its poverty fighting power. Last year, the Senate passed and the President signed the African Growth and Opportunity Acceleration Act. As a result, U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa have increased by 25 percent and America's imports from these participating countries are up 88 percent. Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is at an 8-year high. Our goal is to break with the old approaches of the past where success was measured in dollars. Instead, we want real, measurable results, proof that the African people are benefiting from our efforts. And they are coming. I applaud the President for his strong and principled leadership. He understands that Africa can be and is a place of great hope and opportunity. He sees both the practical and the moral dimensions of America's leadership. Every human being needs and deserves the fundamentals of life: food, shelter, water, safety. Countries that fail in any of these basic functions become dangerous places for their citizens and potential threats to America's security. It is in our mutual interest to promote peace and stability on the African Continent. As a physician, I have had the opportunity to travel extensively throughout the continent. I have had the opportunity to perform surgery and operate in the oldest medical school on that continent in Uganda. I have had the opportunity to treat patients for war injuries, injuries from a civil war in southern Sudan, to treat patients with HIV/AIDS. From that perspective, I was so proud when the President today was talking at the press conference with the Presidents of those countries about his HIV/AIDS initiative: $15 billion committed by the United States, by our U.S. Congress, to combat what I believe is the greatest moral, humanitarian, and public health challenge of our times. I am also participating in an effort to help expand health care and spread goodwill through that health care across the globe. I believe--and I have had that little window to be able to see directly--that through the good works of many talented women and men of compassion medicine can be not only an instrument of health but by the delivery of that medicine and by the delivery of that public health care can be a true currency for peace. I have seen that real tangible intervention can help bridge the gaps and misunderstandings that so often divide people, that can divide societies. We see that phenomenon in Afghanistan and Iraq and we saw it in Southeast Asia in the aftermath of the terrible tsunami tragedy. Countless health care professionals from all over the world, both volunteers and government workers, rushed to that devastated region to offer assistance. Private companies, corporations, and nongovernment organizations offered services and supplies. The outpouring of support from all over the world, led in many ways by American efforts, was truly an extraordinary event, a moving testament to our shared humanity. That is why in April I introduced the Global Health Corps Act of 2005. America possesses a vast reservoir of talent, skills, knowledge, and compassion that can both help heal but also promote health, both literally and figuratively, promoting our global ties. This is just one of the many efforts we are making to help promote peace and well-being on the African Continent. We are also reaching out directly to individual countries to help them tackle their most pressing problems. Today, I also had the opportunity to speak with the President of Namibia. Namibia is one of Africa's greatest success stories. We were just there on a congressional delegation about 2 years ago. Just 15 years after attaining its independence from apartheid-led South Africa, Namibia has emerged as a multiparty, multiracial democracy with a stable market-based economy. Like many African countries, the greatest threat to Namibia's development and continued success is the spread of the virus of HIV/AIDS. Namibia is one of the countries most adversely affected by HIV/AIDS. Already, 22 percent of sexually active adults in Namibia are infected by HIV. AIDS accounts for half of the deaths among individuals between the ages of 15 and 19 in Namibia and for 75 percent of all hospitalizations in public facilities. The continued spread of this disease will have a devastating impact on the Namibian people and their efforts to build on their already remarkable achievements. For this reason, it is critical to continue to fund the President's emergency plan for AIDS relief, or PEPFAR, to assist Namibia in their battle against this terrible disease. PEPFAR funding for Namibia has increased from $23 million in 2004 to an estimated $36 million in 2005. The administration has requested $49 million for 2006, and I encourage my Senate colleagues to support this funding as the Namibian people continue their fight against HIV/AIDS. Despite its openness and competitiveness, the Namibian economy still faces a number of challenges. Since 1990, the annual per capita GDP growth rate in Namibia has averaged just 1.6 percent. The African Growth and Opportunity Acceleration Act is helping to capitalize Namibia's economic potential. Already, AGOA is estimated to have created 9,000 new jobs in Namibia. In addition, Namibia's 2004 exports to the United States under AGOA are valued at $161 million. These achievements I mention because they are a model for political and economic reform throughout the African Continent. Steady American support will enhance Namibia's ability to contribute to Africa's peace, security, and stability. The President has said America has a special calling to come to the aid of the African people and that ``we will do so with the compassion and generosity that has always defined the United States.'' I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate and with the President to continue helping the continent heal and grow. We care deeply about the future of Africa. With time and an unwavering commitment to progress, I believe that together we can help Africa and its people share in the blessings of peace and prosperity.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 168, 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 expresses our gratitude and respect to the family of Jesse Nichols. I will take just a couple of moments to comment on Jesse Nichols, who was the first African-American clerk to be employed by this body, the Senate. Jesse Nichols was born on June 14, 1909, in Clarksdale, MS. In 1930, Jesse enrolled at Howard University where he hoped to study medicine, but his plans were derailed by the Depression, and he, as so many others, had to join the employment line. After a stint working at a local delicatessen, Jesse secured a position at the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Then in 1937, Senator Pat Harrison of Mississippi hired Jesse Nichols to join the Finance Committee as document clerk/librarian. He became responsible for the committee's immense collection of tax codes and hearings, witness statements, and other publications. Over the days and the weeks ahead, Mr. Nichols became indispensable to the committee staff and the Senators who depended on his professionalism and accumulated knowledge. On his 30th anniversary in the Senate, Member after Member rose to pay tribute to Mr. Nichols. Senator Russell Long praised Mr. Nichols for his consummate professionalism, diligence, and devotion to this body. Delaware Senator John R. Williams testified that over his three decades of service Jesse Nichols ``earned the respect of those former giants of this Senate, each of whom was proud to call him a friend.'' Jesse Nichols was deeply respected by his colleagues and was dearly missed when he retired from the Senate in 1971. On February 18th of this year, Jesse died a few months short of his 96th birthday. Jesse Nichols lived a full and long life. On behalf of the Senate family, I recognize the contributions of Jesse Nichols to this venerable body. We are sincerely grateful for his service and dedication. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in 45 minutes or so, we will be turning to an important issue which people have spoken to over the course of the day, an issue we will be spending the evening on. It is an issue that is one of the worst failings of this institution in our history, a failing surrounding a refusal to act on our part against lynching, against vigilantism, against mob murder. It has been a shame in many ways. We have to be careful when we use that word, but when we look at the reality of missed opportunities to act, we can, with justification, use the word ``shame'' on the institution and a shame on Senators who didn't just fail to act but deliberately kept the Senate and the whole of the Federal Government from acting and from acting proactively. Although deep scars will always remain, I am hopeful we will begin to heal and help close the wounds caused by lynching. Four out of five lynch mob victims were African American. The practice followed slavery as an ugly expression of racism and prejudice. In the history of lynching, mobs murdered more than 4,700 people. Nearly 250 of those victims were from my State of Tennessee. Very few had committed any sort of crime whatsoever. Lynching was a way to humiliate, to repress, to dehumanize. The Senate disgracefully bears some of the responsibility. Between 1890 and 1952, seven Presidents petitioned Congress to ban lynching. In those same 62 years, the House of Representatives passed three antilynching bills. Each bill died in the Senate, and the Senate made a terrible mistake. The tyranny of lynch mobs created an environment of fear throughout the American South. Lynching took innocent lives. It divided society, and it thwarted the aspirations of African Americans. Lynching was nothing less than a form of racial terrorism. It took the vision and courage of men and women such as Mary White Ovington, W.E.B. DuBois, George H. White, Jane Adams and, of course, fellow Tennessean Ida Wells-Barnett to pass Federal laws against lynching and put an end to the despicable practice. Ida Wells-Barnett, indeed, may have done more than any other person to expose the terrible evils of lynching. A school teacher from Memphis who put herself through college, she became one of the Nation's first female newspaper editors. A civil rights crusader from her teens, Ida Wells committed herself to the fight against lynching after a mob murdered her friends--Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Henry Stewart. These three men, driven by their entrepreneurial energy, opened a small grocery store that catered primarily to African Americans. They took business away from nearby White business owners. Driven by hatred and jealousy, by rage and prejudice, an angry White mob stormed their store. Acting in self-defense, Wells' three friends fired on the rioters. The police arrested the grocers for defending themselves. The mob kidnapped all three from jail, and all three were murdered in the Memphis streets. These brutal murders galvanized Wells into action. Her righteous anger, blistering editorials, and strong sense of justice further enraged Memphis bigots. They burned her newspaper presses and threatened to murder her. Wells moved to Chicago and became one of that city's leading social crusaders. Wells' book ``Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases'' and her dogged investigative reporting exposed millions of Americans to the brutality of lynching. In a nation rife with racism and prejudice, Ida Wells and her colleagues began the civil rights movement. They helped bring us integration. They paved the way for equality. And they taught all of us that racism is a terrible evil. After many years of struggle, after many setbacks, and after much heartache, they won. From President Truman's Executive order ending segregation in the Armed Forces to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a series of civil rights laws moved the Nation toward legal equality. But no civil rights law is as important to our Nation's political process as the 1965 Voting Rights Act. It enfranchised millions of African-American voters and it brought many black politicians into office. Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act will be up for reauthorization in 2007. President Reagan signed into law a 25-year reauthorization in 1982. Section 4 contains a temporary preclearance provision that applies to Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and parts of Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, and North Carolina. These States must submit any voting changes to the U.S. Department of Justice for preclearance. If the Department of Justice concludes that the change weakens the voting strength of minority voters, it can refuse to approve the change. While I recognize that this can impose a bureaucratic burden on States acting in good faith, we must continue our Nation's work to protect voting rights. That is why we need to extend the Voting Rights Act. Quite simply, we owe civil rights pioneers such as Ida Wells nothing less. I hope the day will come when racism and prejudice are relegated completely to our past. This resolution is a positive step in the right direction. Transforming our Nation requires that we recall our history--all of it. We can become a better people by celebrating the glories of our past--but also our imperfections. That includes continuing to do our utmost to protect voting rights for all Americans. Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for what time is required.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, we will start voting about 4. If I can start in a couple minutes, that will be good.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. No objection.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand that all time will have been yielded back and, therefore, we will be starting the vote at 4:55 sharp. I suggest the absence of a quorum.