Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 70, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, tomorrow the Senate will continue consideration of the bankruptcy bill. We have had a very, very productive week considering a number of amendments and had a number of rollcall votes. In addition, we have reached an agreement, which I will be commenting on shortly with the unanimous consent request, that will allow us to vote on both the Kennedy and Santorum minimum wage amendments Monday afternoon. Those two votes will occur at 5:30, and Senators should plan to be here for those important votes. We will be in session tomorrow, as I mentioned. There will be no rollcall votes during tomorrow's session. Senators who wish to speak on the bill are encouraged to come to the floor tomorrow morning.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I concur with the Democratic leader. It has been a productive week, and we are governing with meaningful solutions, and we look forward to completing this bill next week. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, in addition to the Kennedy amendment regarding minimum wage, that it be in order for Senator Santorum to offer a first-degree amendment related to the minimum wage issue; provided further that on Monday, March 7, there be 3 hours of debate equally divided between Senators Santorum and Kennedy, or their designees; provided further that at 5:30 on Monday the Senate proceed to a vote on the Kennedy amendment to be followed by a vote on the Santorum amendment with no amendments in order to either amendment, and no further intervening action or debate. I further ask unanimous consent that if either amendment does not receive 60 votes in the affirmative, then Senate action on the amendment be vitiated and the amendment be immediately withdrawn.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, the Senate adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Friday, March 4. I further ask unanimous consent following the prayer and pledge the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate then resume consideration of S. 256, the Bankruptcy Reform Act.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to S.J. Res. 4 that would disapprove the administration's regulations that would reestablish trade with Canada for live cattle under 30 months of age. As a doctor, I fully appreciate our responsibility to protect the American public's health and safety by making sure our food supply is secure. At the outset of the bovine spongiform encephalophathy, BSE, scare in December 2003, the former Secretary of Agriculture Ann Venaman worked tirelessly to address this public health concern. That work has continued under the new Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns. Based on the information I have seen, I believe multiple safeguards are in place today both in Canada and the United States to protect human and animal health. Based on a U.S. investigative team that has examined Canada's compliance with a feed ban, based on a strong Canadian surveillance system testing cattle most likely to have had BSE, and, based on a ban on cattle imports into Canada from countries that have had widespread BSE, all reasonable efforts appear to have been taken at this time to minimize the risk of Canadian beef imports into the United States. Sound science must be a basis to governing our trade relations around the globe. I believe that such science has been applied here and that the administration's regulations on Canadian beef import should proceed. I ask my colleagues to reject this resolution.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. For the information of our colleagues, this will be the last rollcall vote tonight. We will have probably two votes at 5:30 on Monday. Amendment No. 49

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote and 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 that the order for the quorum call be dispensed with.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning following the leader time we will proceed to consideration of Senate Joint Resolution 4, which is a disapproval resolution relating to a Department of Agriculture rule regarding Canadian cattle. The agreement reached last night provides for up to 3 hours of debate on the resolution prior to a vote. We hope to be able to yield back some of that debate time and vote earlier so we can resume consideration of the bankruptcy bill for further progress. Last night's order also allows for two more stacked votes on bankruptcy-related amendments; therefore, we will have three votes today, sometime around noon, depending on the amount of time consumed for the disapproval resolution. In other words, we hope as much of that can be yielded back as possible after debate on the resolution. Once those votes are completed, I expect the Senate will stay on the bankruptcy bill through the day and possibly into the evening. We will continue to have votes this afternoon and into the evening as necessary to move toward passage of this bill. We have made great progress on the bill thus far. We had five amendments yesterday. We look forward to many amendments today so we can bring this very soon to a resolution. By the end of today, I hope we will have some indication as to when we can complete the bankruptcy legislation. Members should plan their day today around what will be a very busy session today in that although we will be in session in all likelihood tomorrow, we will not be having rollcall votes tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do.

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 yield.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand the Senator from Iowa will speak on the resolution. For scheduling purposes, he will make that statement even if it is before 9:45. Otherwise, as we have discussed, we will proceed after my leader statement to Senator Grassley and then on to the resolution.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I have a brief statement on an issue that is receiving a lot of attention, a lot of work, and a lot of engagement, both in the Senate and the House of Representatives, by the President of the United States and, indeed, all across America. It is on Social Security. When the 109th Congress convened, I stated that our mission in this Congress over the next 2 years would be to govern with meaningful solutions. Working together, both sides of the aisle, we made a fast start, very effective start, confirming the President's Cabinet and enacting, 2 weeks ago, class action legislation. We are making good progress on the bankruptcy legislation, as I just mentioned, and very soon we will be turning our attention to writing the Government's spending blueprint for the coming year; that is, governing with meaningful solutions. Congress, at the same time that activity is going on in the Chamber, is tackling many problems and will be tackling these problems in the weeks and months ahead, including Social Security, which we are engaged on in this body every day, whether it is working in our own caucuses or conference or in committees. Social Security, a critically important, great program which does serve as the cornerstone of support for senior citizens, now faces challenges that threaten its long-term stability and well-being. The facts are there. The facts are crystal clear. They are grounded in demographics that were defined two generations ago. Those demographics cannot be changed. What the facts lead to is that in 3 years, the baby boomers arrive on the Social Security rolls. That will begin an almost 30-year period where we will have a doubling of the number of seniors compared to what it is today--up to 77 million Americans who will begin to collect those Social Security benefits. Second, we all know we have fewer and fewer workers paying into the system, also driven by demographics. Forty years ago we had 16 people paying in for every retiree. Today we have three people paying in for every retiree. In 20 or 30 years, we will only have two paying into the system. Those facts cannot be changed. With this President, this Congress, the 109th Congress, is facing this challenge. The challenge is to fix Social Security for seniors and for near-retirees and for that next generation. We need to do it, and we will do it this year--this year--and not next year. We are working toward that goal. In just the past 2 months, the majority has worked aggressively and thoroughly to fully understand the nature of the problem. We have worked hard to begin to engage the American people in a dialog about the program. In town meetings all across the country, we have put some of the best minds at work to create solutions. That activity is underway. We talked about this repeatedly in our own conferences. We have interacted with administration officials. We have interacted with leading experts on the Social Security system. Our Members are hard at work to fix the underlying problems. That is the heart of the challenge in this 70-year-old program we will address this year. So far, I report to the Senate and my colleagues that together with the President we agree that retirees and near-retirees who entered the system before the scope of this problem became so large will not see benefit changes. The retirees or near-retirees will see no benefit changes. Second, together with the President, we agree that we must harness the power of the market and give younger Americans the choice-- it is voluntary--to give them the choice of personal retirement accounts whose rate of growth--therefore, we know, ultimately, the rate of benefits--will grow faster than traditional Social Security. Third, together, with the President, we agree that all ideas should be on the table. It is too early for people to be drawing rigid lines in the sand. Thus, we encourage people to continue the discussion, the debate, the understanding of the issue, and the nature of the problem. Fourth, together, with the President, we agree that we should act this year and not put it off to the future. For those who insist there is no problem, I simply say, look at the facts. As people increasingly look at the facts--and we are seeing the response around the country--people see the problem is real, that it is significant, and that it is growing. For those who say we do not need any action, well, if you have a problem that is growing, it is much easier to act now, to take some medicine to cure the problem, than to have some radical surgery in the future. We need to test the ideas with regard to the scope of the problem and the ideas for solutions in that crucible of public debate. We need to put them to a vote. We must let the people ultimately judge. I say all this so people will know that our majority is hard at work, every day, on this vital issue. In consultation with the administration and the House of Representatives, we will continue to bring before the Senate meaningful solutions that will make a difference in the lives of our seniors. The assurances of Social Security should be guaranteed. To be able to guarantee those assurances, we must diagnose the problem, and then we must act. We must govern with meaningful solutions, and that is exactly what this Congress will do. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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 that at 4:55 today, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the following amendments: Kennedy No. 28, Kennedy No. 29, and Corzine No. 32; provided further that prior to the first vote there be 10 minutes equally divided for debate, and that there be 2 minutes equally divided for debate prior to the second and third vote. I further ask consent that no second-degree amendments be in order to the above amendments prior to the vote.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, for the information of our colleagues, we do have two more votes. I cannot yet announce about votes later tonight, but we will do it shortly after the second vote. We would like to continue business, but as soon as we finish that second vote we will be making an announcement as to the future plans tonight. There are two stacked votes. Tomorrow morning, in all likelihood, we will have debate, and then late in the morning we will have some stacked votes as well. Again, I will say more about that tonight.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the remaining votes of this sequence be limited to 10 minutes each.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I am pleased to enter into this colloquy with the distinguished minority leader and I appreciate his cosponsorship of the Currency for Peace Act of 2005.

Mr. FRIST. Unsafe water and water-related diseases have far reaching consequences. That is why U.S. Government, acting through the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development, has been undertaking critically important programs in developing countries to provide clean and safe water, sanitation and hygiene for many years. These life-saving programs should be continued and expanded, wherever possible.

Mr. FRIST. And while we bolster and enhance our existing programs and strategies, Senator Reid and I are pleased to put forward this new initiative that fully acknowledges the role that safe water plays in health and development. In the future, we must find the additional resources to fully fund the Safe Water Act of 2005, without decreasing our support for existing safe water and other foreign assistance programs.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I rise today to speak to legislation that will be introduced by myself and others later today that focuses on an issue which has for too long been neglected, not just by our people or our Government but, indeed, peoples around the world. It centers on the issue of access to safe water and sanitation. This legislation focuses on developing countries with specific policies outlined in the legislation. I am pleased we have Members on both sides of the aisle joining me as original cosponsors of this legislation which will be introduced later today. It boils down to the simple fact that every 15 seconds, a child dies because of a disease contracted from unclean water. Four children have died since I began talking on this particular issue. Fully 90 percent of infant deaths, of deaths of children less than 5 years of age, relate to waterborne illnesses, a product of lack of access to clean water or inadequate sanitation. In total, water-related illnesses kill 14,000 people a day, and most of them are children. That is over 5 million people a year. It does not include the other millions of individuals who will be debilitated and prevented from living healthy lives. Globally, in many ways, waterborne disease is a silent tsunami. That is the impact it has on a continuing basis. Now is the time to focus on it. Now is the time to act because these are preventable deaths. Typhoid, cholera, dysentery, dengue fever, trachoma, intestinal helminth infection, and schistosomiasis can all be prevented by simply providing safe water and sanitation. More than 1.1 billion people today lack access to clean water. They do not have access to what we take for granted. We can go to the water faucets and drink water in most parts of this country, but lack of access to that clean water is killing a child every 15 seconds. Malaria, which is a mosquito-borne disease directly linked with stagnant pools of water, kills 1 million people each year. Again, most of those are young children. It is preventable. Unfortunately, reliable projections suggest that the problem is bad, but projections are that it is getting worse. We know it is getting worse. Water stress and water scarcity, leading to disease-borne and impure water, is increasing. If we look forward to 2025, upwards of two-thirds of the world's population may be subject to water stress. There are over 260 river basins across the world that are shared by two or more countries that actually share the water basins. There are 13 basins that flow through 5 or more countries. There, water is scarce where it is shared by so many. Yet it is so necessary that scarcity can, historically, result in armed conflict. Clean water seems so simple. It seems so basic. In America, we, for the most part, take it for granted. The rest of the world cannot. UNICEF reports that over half of the world's schools lack safe water and sanitation. In many parts of the world, including in Africa where I have the opportunity to visit, people travel not just an hour but 3 and 4 hours to provide water on a daily basis for their family. In many ways, it becomes a women's issue globally because in most countries that burden falls upon women who are pulled away from addressing other issues such as their children and family. It takes time going to that water source and carrying it home. Imagine living in a rural village in Sub-Saharan Africa or East Asia where village members share their water with livestock, where you have contamination occurring on an ongoing basis. Imagine being a grandmother like Mihiret G-Maryam from a small village in Ethiopia who watched five of her grandchildren between the ages of 3 and 8 die from water-related diseases. Before the U.K.-based WaterAid organization intervened in her community, constant stomach pain and diarrhea were a fact of life, an accepted fact of life. The foul-smelling contaminated water exposed Mihiret and her neighbors to parasitic diseases. They had no latrines. Human waste, human excretions were everywhere. As Mihiret testifies: It was horrid to see, as well as being unhealthy. Now, because of the education and investment of WaterAid, together with the local church, her village is clean, and people no longer have to suffer from that chronic stomach ache, pain, and diarrhea. Clean water has literally saved lives. This story demonstrates that proper management and intervention can be a currency for peace and international cooperation. On my medical missions, I have seen this on a daily basis. Most recently, in January, a bipartisan group of Senators went to East Asia to serve in the aftermath of the December 26 tsunami. As I have mentioned in the Senate, traveling over the Sri Lanka coast for hundreds and hundreds of miles, we could see that devastation was nonstop. We saw the destruction of local water sources, water buckets washed away, and the contamination of wells with saltwater. We know the statistics: Well over 150,000 people died, and a million lost their homes. Many are still missing as of today. Thousands of children will grow up without their parents. It will take a lot of time and, yes, a lot of resources to rebuild that infrastructure. A lot of people will never recover from the psychological shock, and the scale of the tragedy is difficult to comprehend. I mention that because if you look at what happened in the tsunami, it illustrates what can happen when one focuses aggressively on relief with clean water. The tsunami poisoned wells, and the routine dependence on water was taken away. That lack of access to clean water introduced the potential for dysentery, for cholera, and for malaria. As we flew over the coast we could look out the window and see stagnant pools of water that, if left, will become a source of breeding for the mosquitos that ultimately could have led to a malaria epidemic. Those things did not happen because of the rapid relief addressing clean water and sanitation. We participated in these relief efforts. Many participated in some way. What is critical to understand in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami is that there are long-term solutions to the problem surrounding water which we in this body and our Government have not yet addressed. But when you have a child dying every 15 seconds from a preventable cause--that is, lack of access to clean water--there are things we can do to focus and, hopefully, prevent thousands and thousands of deaths that occur now every week. March 22nd is designated by the U.N. General Assembly Resolution 58/ 217 World Water Day and will launch the International Decade For Action. That will launch an initiative called Water for Life. For the decade ahead--that is the next 10 years--from 2005 to 2015, the United States has agreed to work to reduce by one-half ``the proportion of people who are unable to reach or afford safe drinking water along with access to basic sanitation.'' The President and the administration have taken steps to fulfill these commitments. In August 2002, the Water for the Poor Initiative was launched with the intent to improve sustainable management of fresh water resources in over 70 developing countries. An estimated $750 million was invested in this initiative in 2004. However, in a time of limited public resources, we find that in that year only a little over 6 percent, or about a 20th of total U.S. foreign assistance funding for water activities, was targeted for sub- Saharan Africa. Yet it is in sub-Saharan Africa that the major problem, for the most part, rests. It is an allocation of resources that we need to examine to see if it is appropriate instead of investing where the problem is. If the objective is to save lives, the allocation of our resources seems to be going to other areas. Sub-Saharan Africa is not only where we have the greatest problem today, but it has the fastest growing population. Thus, they will have some of the greatest need for clean water and sanitation in the future. As we look at the legislation we will be introducing, we all recognize there is no single piece of legislation that can fully address this huge challenge before us to eliminate these water-related diseases around the world. But I do think this legislation underscores the importance, in a bipartisan way, of continued leadership in this arena of addressing a problem that has been hidden from the world for too long. Alongside Government leadership, many dedicated organizations, private individuals, faith-based organizations, nonprofits, and international governmental organizations are working hard, each in their own ways, to address this challenge. The bipartisan legislation we are introducing today has three simple objectives. No. 1, it would make it clear that we would have an unequivocal pronouncement that clean, safe water and sanitation, sound water management, and improved hygiene for people around the world is a major policy goal of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. It becomes a major policy goal. It is not today, but it should be. And with this legislation it will be. Second, it would authorize a 5-year pilot program of $250 million a year to assist those countries that have the highest rates of waterborne diseases. This is what it does: It helps them develop funding mechanisms such as investment insurance, investment guarantees, or loan guarantees of up to 75 percent to develop sustainable--the key word is ``sustainable''--water infrastructure systems. Third, the legislation directs the Secretary of State, along with the Administrator of the USAID, to develop within 180 days a national strategy that would both assess what is being done today and what changes need to be made in order to expand access to safe water and sanitation. This national strategy would be produced in consultation with all of the Federal agencies addressing components of this problem today, along with appropriate international organizations, foreign countries, and U.S. nongovernmental associations and entities. I will close with mentioning this, as well: In the weeks ahead, I will introduce companion legislation to create a global health corps that will be using the Peace Corps as a model and inspiration. It will allow teams of medical professionals and other volunteers to travel to remote areas to provide medical treatment and public health information. Some of these teams will provide quick assistance when disaster strikes. Some will provide ongoing care in some of the neediest parts of the world. And many of these health volunteers would come from the ranks of experienced doctors, nurses, and medical technicians. We know that such public health and medical assistance can serve as a currency of peace and a vital tool of public diplomacy. Our assistance to other nations carries the most weight when it involves that personal and intimate contact at the community level, and where it also provides tangible benefits to everyday people. Medical and public health assistance does both of these things. Thus, it can be used as a currency of peace and a vital tool of public diplomacy. I look forward to the Foreign Relations Committee reporting this legislation in the near future, and I look forward to enacting this legislation expeditiously. Remember, every 15 seconds a child dies somewhere in the world from a waterborne illness because of a lack of access to clean water. In the short time I have given this statement on the Senate floor, another 50 children have died from diseases we know how to prevent. We must do our part to bring health and hope to the millions of people who need clean water. It is as simple as the glass of water that sits on my desk. I do thank the Democratic leader. We have been talking and working together on this legislation. I believe this can represent a tremendous bipartisan, ultimately bicameral effort that can reverse a human tragedy that is unfolding before our eyes as a product, at least in part, because of inadequate attention. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning following morning business we will resume consideration of bankruptcy reform. Under an order from last night, shortly after resuming the bill we will proceed to two stacked rollcall votes on amendments. The first vote will be on the Feingold homestead amendment, which will be followed by a vote on the Akaka disclosure amendment. The first vote will, therefore, occur approximately at 10:30 this morning, maybe just a little bit later. For the remainder of the day we will continue working through amendments to the bill. Senators should expect rollcall votes throughout the day. One of the reasons we scheduled the votes early is to get started to build momentum throughout the course of the day. We made great progress on the bill yesterday. I thank all of our colleagues for coming forward with their amendments. We are systematically addressing each of the amendments, and we will continue to do so over the course of the day and the remainder of this week.