Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, tomorrow, the Senate will be in morning business throughout the morning. At 3 o'clock tomorrow afternoon, the Senate will vote on the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act. We had a number of Senators speak on that today. We had issues that had to be worked out between the committees. There are two committees in the Senate and they were successfully addressed. Thus, we will vote on this important bill tomorrow. This bill protects Americans from having their genetic information used against them by potential employers, or by their employer, or to be used in a discriminatory fashion by insurance companies, for example. A number of people have been very involved before the Senate over the last 7 years on this bill. I just mentioned Senators Snowe, Enzi, Kennedy, and a number of others. Tomorrow, there will be others who wish to discuss the bill, and we encourage them to do so while we are in morning business or later tomorrow afternoon. We will vote on the bill at 3 o'clock tomorrow. It is my hope that the Senate will also act on the State high-risk health insurance pools bill and the committee funding resolution. We will continue to work with Members on both sides of the aisle in order to clear these items for floor consideration tomorrow. As a reminder to our colleagues, on Friday morning, Senator Burr will carry out a long-held Senate tradition by reading George Washington's Farewell Address. Again, I thank all Members for their assistance on the genetic nondiscrimination bill.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 54 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

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, and that any statements relating to the measure be printed in the Record, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 57, which was submitted earlier today.

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination on the calendar: No. 13, Robert Zoellick, which was reported today by the Foreign Relations Committee. I further ask unanimous consent that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, we will move on.

Mr. FRIST. In response through the Chair, this bill is a critically important bill, in my mind, in that we have worked on it for 7 years. We have passed it with an overwhelming majority in this body. It does good things for people who have a whole range of illnesses. It really represents the great advances in science today, advances in research, advances that come in large part because of what this body did with the human genome project in funding over a period of about 10 years, the unraveling of the genetic code which makes us all human, which is still mind-boggling. With that, it introduces all sorts of privacy issues and a potential for discrimination and this comes back and addresses it head on. It is a bill upon which we generally have all agreed. We are working with the Finance Committee and with the HELP Committee internally as well as with the House. I do not want to be overly optimistic, but I think by tomorrow we will work this out and get it to the Senate floor.

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 Wednesday, February 16. I further ask that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate then proceed to a period for morning business for up to 90 minutes, with the first 30 minutes under the control of the majority leader or his designee and the second 30 minutes under the control of the Democratic leader or his designee; provided that following morning business, the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 384, the Nazi War Crimes Working Group Extension Act as provided under the previous order.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Tomorrow, following morning business, the Senate will begin consideration of a 2-year extension of the Nazi War Crimes Working Group. We will have limited debate on this measure prior to its passage. We have not received any requests for a rollcall vote on this bill. I anticipate that we can pass it with a voice vote. For the remainder of the day we will consider any legislative or executive item cleared for action.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, February 16, the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 384, a bill to extend the existence of the Nazi War Crimes Working Group; provided that there be 90 minutes of debate equally divided between the majority leader or his designee and the Democratic leader or his designee; provided further that no amendments be in order, and that following the use or yielding back of the time the bill be read a third time and the Senate proceed to a vote on passage without any intervening action or debate.

Mr. FRIST. I further ask unanimous consent that S. 384 be placed on the Senate Calendar.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 13, which was submitted earlier today by Senator Sununu.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, en bloc, and that any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a few moments we will be voting on the nomination of Judge Michael Chertoff to lead the Department of Homeland Security. I applaud President Bush for his outstanding choice, and I am confident that Judge Chertoff will receive overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle, making this his fourth confirmation by this body, the Senate. Judge Chertoff has a long and distinguished career in public service and law enforcement. The Harvard Law magna cum laude first made his name in the mid-1980s putting away five of the biggest Mafia bosses in New York. His success brought him the job of U.S. attorney in New Jersey where he oversaw high-profile and politically sensitive prosecutions. In 2001, Judge Chertoff was chosen by President Bush to lead the Justice Department's Criminal Division. It was there that Judge Chertoff would show his full mettle. For the 20 hours following the attacks on 9/11, Judge Chertoff was central in directing our response. His team in the Criminal Division traced the 9/11 killers back to al- Qaida. And for the next 2 years, Judge Chertoff helped craft our antiterrorism policy. His experience working directly with law enforcement, his expertise in homeland and national security, and his proven ability to lead in times of national crisis make him overwhelmingly qualified to direct our homeland security. Judge Chertoff has said he will be proud to stand again with the men and women who form our front line against terror. I know I speak for many when I say we are proud to have a man of his caliber and talent serving and protecting the American people. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the Senate will begin today with a period of morning business until 12:30. At 12:30 the Senate will recess until 2:15 for the weekly party luncheons. Following the luncheons, we will resume debate in executive session on the nomination of Michael Chertoff to be Secretary of Homeland Security. Debate is equally divided until 4 this afternoon, with the vote occurring on the confirmation of Mr. Chertoff at 4 p.m. That vote will be the first vote of the day. Yesterday I mentioned a number of items that are possible over the course of this week. Today we will continue to try to clear those bills for floor action. They include the genetic nondiscrimination bill, the high-risk pool legislation, a Nazi war crimes bill, the committee funding resolution, and any additional nominations that may be reported by the respective committees. We will, over the course of the day, keep all Members notified of the schedule as we bring these matters forward for floor consideration.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will take just a few moments at the beginning of today to comment on last week and a brief look ahead. Last Thursday, the Senate achieved its first legislative victory, a bipartisan victory of the 109th session. By a vote of 72 to 26, the Senate passed the Class Action Fairness Act. The process was that we worked together across the aisle from beginning to end. The bill was introduced with 32 cosponsors, 24 Republicans and 8 Democrats. It came out of the Judiciary Committee on a strong bipartisan vote. Every vote on every amendment was bipartisan, and the vote on final passage was strongly bipartisan as well. I stress the bipartisanship because in the 109th Congress we have a lot to do, and it is going to demand that we continue to work together in that same spirit. I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their fairness and cooperation. We have delivered to the American people a significant victory in the battle for fairness in the courts. The class action bill does protect plaintiffs' rights while reining in the rampant abuse within the system itself. The consumer bill of rights protects plaintiffs from predatory lawyers and guarantees that they receive just compensation. The legislation restores justice to our court system by ending that practice of forum shopping, where we had nationwide cases that genuinely impact interstate commerce being moved to the Federal courts where they belong. It took a while to have this success last week. Senator Grassley, who was the lead sponsor on the bill, has been working on this for over a decade, and versions of this bill passed through the Judiciary Committee in each of the last two Congresses. In 2003, it came within one vote of passage. Finally, because of the continuing work of both sides of the aisle, people came together to recognize the intent was right, the legislation at different points could be improved, it was improved, and then we had relatively quick passage of it. The House will be addressing the bill shortly. Then hopefully we can have a bill to the President of the United States to be signed into law for the benefit of the American people. Also, at the beginning of last week, on Monday, we passed a resolution commending the Iraqi people on their January 30 elections. As we saw over the weekend, those elections were finalized and, in terms of the final reports, again, it is a great victory for freedom and liberty throughout the world. It was an extraordinary event, and it was fitting that we came together on this floor to celebrate and commend the process and the results in those elections. It was in the midst of terrorist blasts and terrorist threats that 8 million Iraqi voters streamed to over 5,000 polling stations to express that influence, that power and dignity that comes with voting. The various pictures that we all saw of families bringing their sons and daughters so that they could witness this moment in history is something that captures us all. As I mentioned, over the weekend the votes were tallied of the 8.5 million people voting. For the first time in decades the Iraqi people have been able to speak and to speak freely--and they were heard, as we saw with the outcome. It is a transformation that is fundamental. It is a fundamental transformation of power from the people, instead of over the people. This has renewed a sense of momentum and optimism and hope. The process, as we see, continues to unfold with negotiations going on as to who will be part of the Presidential Council. Again, looking from afar, from where we sit it is very encouraging to see the various coalitions working with each other, Shiites working with the Sunnis and working with other minority parties, all working together to fashion this government. It is an exciting time for the Iraqi people and all who watch. Jumping ahead, today we will, as I mentioned in my opening statement, vote on the nomination of Judge Michael Chertoff to lead the Department of Homeland Security. We have heard much about the judge, both in committee and then on the floor yesterday, and we will over the course of today. He has a long and distinguished career in public service and law enforcement. In the mid-1980s he was an assistant U.S. attorney alongside Rudy Giuliani. He aggressively prosecuted mob and political corruption cases. He then went on to become New Jersey's U.S. attorney, where he oversaw high-profile and politically sensitive prosecutions in Jersey City, actually prosecuting the mayor of Jersey City, Mayor Gerald McCann, New York chief judge Sol Wachtler, and the kidnappers and killers of Exxon oil executive Sidney Reso. Fearless and scrupulous as a prosecutor, he became known not only for his legal brilliance but also for his skills as a manager and leader. We all saw that take real meaning after 9/11. For the 20 hours after that worst ever attack on American soil, Judge Chertoff was central in directing our response. It was through his work as Chief of the Justice Department's Criminal Division that they traced the 9/11 killers back to al-Qaida, a central focus. We are indebted for all these things to his strong and unwavering leadership. For the next 2 years Judge Chertoff was the key figure shaping our antiterrorism policies. His experience working directly with law enforcement, his expertise in homeland security policy, and his proven ability to lead in times of national crisis make him overwhelmingly qualified to direct our Homeland Security Department. He earned unanimous approval in committee last week, with one member voting ``present.'' I am confident that today Judge Chertoff, who has already been confirmed by this body three times, will receive overwhelming, strong bipartisan support. He is an outstanding candidate and we all look forward to working with him in his new capacity. Another matter of security, a different type of security, which I hope we will be addressing this week--I mentioned it also a little earlier--is the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act. This is the security of information about us that can be used to give us health care security. It is a bill that many of us on the floor have been working on aggressively over the last 7, 8 years. The bill, the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act, is just that. The bill is designed to protect Americans from having valuable genetic health information abused or misused by others--for example, being used against them to get health insurance coverage or being used in some way to discriminate against them for a future job. This whole field of genetic testing and genetic information has blossomed, in part because of a wonderful public-private project that was over about a 10-year period called the Human Genome Project. This explosion of information has introduced these genetic tests that can have--and it is early, they are early--but they do have the potential for having great predictive value regarding what disease or illness you might have later in life, and would allow you to prevent that, to take preventive measures if that is the case. Right now, scientists tell us most Americans have about a half dozen potentially harmful genetic mutations. That is a statement that will change a week from now, a month from now, a year from now, as we learn more and more about it, but the point of this bill is that people run the risk of losing their jobs or not being promoted or not being able to get an insurance policy based on getting this test which could be of so much benefit to them. We need to prevent it, and we need to do it now, instead of waiting until it becomes a huge problem in the future. One study in 2003 found that 40 percent of people at risk for colon cancer refused to participate in a screening exam, many citing the fear that the results might in some way cause them to lose their health insurance. That means they don't get this test. If they don't get the test, they lose the potential benefit to their own health and health security in the future. The knowledge of genetic risk has the power to save lives. As we look at tests that are early, and they are just being proven--the tests for heart disease, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, a host of other diseases--there is great hope in these genetic tests becoming a powerful tool. The legislation we are considering this week is intended to make sure genetic testing is used as a tool to help and not hurt. I hope we will be able to pass that bill so that medical science does deliver a meaningful solution and keeps America moving forward. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period for morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each, with the exception of Senator Hagel who will follow my remarks for up to 15 minutes.