Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the Homeland Security appropriations legislation is the bill that we will be going to first thing tomorrow. It is a bill that is important. It is a bill that we need to address for the safety and security of the American people. I am very hopeful we can address both concerns and debate the amendments in an expeditious way so we can complete the bill and get it to the President as soon as possible. With that, I will yield the floor. I know the distinguished Senator from Mississippi is going to want to make some comments at some point as well.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on Wednesday, September 8, at 11:30 a.m., the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 588, H.R. 4567, the Homeland Security appropriations bill; provided that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the text of S. 2537 be inserted in lieu thereof and considered as original text for the purpose of further amendment; provided further that no points of order be waived by virtue of this agreement. I further ask consent that the only first-degree amendments in order be related to the text of the bill, homeland security, natural disasters, or Government security contracts, and that they be subject to relevant second-degree amendments to the first degree to which they are offered. Finally, I ask consent that following passage of the bill, the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House of Representatives on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the adjournment of the Senate, that the Senate may receive from the House the supplemental appropriations bill, the text of which is at the desk; that the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration; the bill be read the third time, and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and then I think the Senator from Mississippi may want to comment, as we discussed earlier today, the $2 billion supplemental is coming from the House later tonight, almost certainly later tonight or in the morning. The purpose of passing the bill as it comes from the House, which this will in effect do, will allow the President to sign it very quickly because, as we know, tomorrow FEMA is actually in deficiency and does not have the money. The purpose is for us to get this bill passed through the House, the Senate, and signed by the President tomorrow. Such modification would mean we would not be able to do that. As we discussed earlier, there are going to be other opportunities. As I mentioned directly to the Senator from Florida, we do not know what the total cost will be, even for Florida; and there very likely will be another supplemental, at which time consideration of other Senators' interests could be expressed. I will turn to the Senator from Mississippi who will be managing the bill.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will make a very brief response because I talked about it a couple times on the floor today. FEMA is out of money--FEMA is out of money--beginning in about 12 hours. So without trying to go through each request by each Senator, certain criteria can be applied. FEMA will be out of money tomorrow. We are talking about FEMA generally. That is why this $2 billion is being expedited tonight at the request of the President of the United States. I understand there can be many individual requests, but the criteria are the agency in charge of emergency management broadly will be out of money tomorrow.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I object to the proposed modification.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will sort of restate what to the Democratic leader we tried to say. There will be opportunities to consider individual States. Right now we have an emergency for the agency which responds to all of our emergencies--FEMA. We have a deadline. The President made this specific request last night. There will be opportunities to talk about particular Senators' interests in representing their constituents as to what are legitimate concerns. But I do plead, for the sake of people around the country, including in Florida, as we speak, that we do not, in essence, defund our Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, when we have this opportunity to take a bill that is coming from the House, going to the Senate floor, requested by the President of the United States, so people can have shelter and can have food and emergency services because the deficiency is that tomorrow they will be out of money. Mr. President, let me just one more time propound the unanimous consent request.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I also ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 133, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, shortly we will be going to the Defense bill and we will have a UC in a little bit on that. While we are waiting for some final approval on language, I want to take this opportunity to comment on the economy, job growth, and jobs. Earlier this week, Chairman Greenspan presented his semiannual monetary policy report to Congress. The chairman's conclusion needs to be highlighted. He said: ``Economic developments of the United States have generally been quite favorable in 2004'' and that this favorable situation ``increasingly supports the view that the expansion is self- sustaining.'' On the same day the chairman presented his upbeat, optimistic assessment of the economy to the Senate Banking Committee, the Department of Labor released its latest report on State-by-State employment figures for June. The Department of Labor report presents hard data that shows the unemployment rate has fallen in 47 States since last June--47 States. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 41 States in June. Over the past year, employment has increased in 46 States. Today, 37 States have unemployment rates at or below the national unemployment rate of 5.6 percent in June. Further, since last August, the economy has generated 1.5 million private sector jobs, and an average of more than 250,000 jobs have been created each month over the last 4 months. Finally, today, more Americans are working than at any time in this country's history--over 139 million Americans. Unable to refute this good news, this positive news, this real and continually improving news on the job front, some of our Democratic Senators and colleagues, including the presumptive Democratic Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees, have tried a whole new approach in attacking this positive news. They now have decided: OK, maybe there have been jobs created, but they are not good jobs; they are low-paying jobs. This is a new approach. As former President Ronald Reagan would say: There they go again. The question was asked directly of Chairman Greenspan by my colleague, Senator Dole, on Tuesday: Does your analysis show that the current jobs being created are basically lower wage jobs with little or no benefits? The chairman's answer, in one uncharacteristic word for him: No. More recently, the University of Pennsylvania's nonpartisan Annenberg Public Policy Center supported research found that after analyzing data over the last year from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there was ``solid growth in employment in relatively higher paying occupations,'' including construction workers, health care professionals, business managers, and teachers, and virtually no growth in relatively lower paying occupations, such as office clerks and assembly line workers. Factually, the study concluded that we have seen ``good evidence that job quality has increased over the past year or more.'' I asked my staff to similarly analyze the data since the most recent job growth began last August. Using the current population survey data distributed by 11 industries broken down by 14 occupations, 154 categories of workers, there were in these 154 categories 1.8 million jobs created and 110,000 jobs lost since last August. The median weekly earnings for these 154 categories in 2003 was $541. Of the gross 1.8 million jobs created since last August, 1.4 million were in categories where their weekly wage exceeded the median wage of all workers in 2003. In other words, 77 percent of all the jobs created since last August have been in occupations with weekly earnings above the median. Of the 1.8 jobs created since last August, 461,000 were in occupations with weekly earnings below the median, or 27 percent of the jobs created were in those below median earnings jobs. Only about 110,000 jobs created since last August have been in occupations at the median. The conclusion, supported by other objective analyses, higher paying jobs are growing faster than other jobs in this recovery. My friends on the other side of the aisle who are looking hard to find a way to spread pessimism across the political landscape of this election year are simply wrong in saying the quality of jobs being created is low. Chairman Greenspan just simply disagrees. The nonpartisan Annenberg Public Policy Center-supported research disagrees, and hard data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics disagree. Economic growth is on track, job growth is good, and the quality of those jobs is high. I hope my Democratic friends could at least try to get their facts correct, and when they do they will find this latest attempt to discredit the progress made is a canard. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following the granting of this request, the official Senate copy of the Defense appropriations conference report having been presented to the desk, the Senate proceed to 2 hours for debate only, with 1 hour equally divided between the chairman and ranking member of the committee and 1 hour equally divided between Senator McCain and Senator Inouye; provided further that following that time the Senate proceed to a vote on adoption of the Defense appropriations conference report with no intervening action or debate and points of order waived; further, that when the Senate receives the official papers from the House, the vote on passage appear at the appropriate place in the Record following the receipt of those papers; and, finally, this agreement is null and void if the House does not agree to the conference report.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, we have several business items, one of which has Transportation, Coast Guard, and other issues. The assistant Democratic leader is right with his implication that this is going to be in all likelihood the only rollcall vote. It is absolutely critical that Members understand we have other items we have to address tonight. We need to do that, and finish with this vote, if all goes well.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, there will be. We will be happy to be here through the night for morning business--at some reasonable hour, I hope. We will be here for a while.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 387, S. 720.

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment at the desk be agreed to, the committee amendment as amended be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time, and the HELP Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 663, and the Senate proceed to its consideration; provided that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the text of S. 720, as amended, be inserted in lieu thereof; provided further that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the Senate insist upon its amendment and request a conference with the House of Representatives on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees with a ratio of 4 to 3. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that S. 720 be returned to the Calendar.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I do want to congratulate Senator Gregg, chairman of the HELP Committee, and ranking member, Senator Kennedy. This is a piece of legislation that people can trace. Several years ago, the Institute of Medicine did an outstanding report. We rely on the Institute of Medicine again and again to objectively, in a nonpartisan way, look at a whole range of issues, from the financing of health care, health care delivery, preventive health care, acute treatment, chronic treatment. They really respond very much to outside bodies like the Senate and do studies. One great study they did--people have argued their numbers aren't exactly right, too high, too low--but it was that about 100,000 people die every year from systems' lapses, medical errors. Those are, for the most part, preventable deaths, if you improve the systems. This bill goes right at the heart of improving the systems and does so in a way that relies on individuals who may observe something that didn't work out, sharing that data with their peers in a way that they do not have to fear lawsuits. Obviously, if there is wrongdoing, lawsuits would be appropriate. But, if it is an error, minor error, or even a more serious error, it can be addressed upfront in a way that you do not have to be afraid somebody is going to come in and crush you from the outside. I say that because it is a bipartisan bill. It went through the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. I think the fundamental structure of the bill went through the committee unanimously. It shows tremendous leadership. There were disagreements on a few items that have been worked out, with Senator Gregg's leadership, working with Senator Kennedy. With that, we have a very good bill, a strong bill that will change systems of health care in a positive way, and clinics and hospitals and physicians offices such that we can eliminate or greatly reduce the number of unnecessary medical errors that occur in large part through systems approaches. Just an example would be if somebody is on 10 different medicines and somebody prescribes a new medicine. You don't know the interaction of those medicines. You need a system to identify that. That sort of organized, commonsense approach to improve systems is made possible by this bill.

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

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, we have actually a lot of business that we are doing and wrapping up for the night. In fact, we are going on recess for the conventions for the next several weeks. Most of the business has been completed, but there will be a lot of very important business that we will be conducting over the next several hours, but we will get it done tonight. This particular piece of business has to do with patient safety. For me, it means a lot because I can see up close both the importance of this legislation, and have watched it legislatively as it has traveled through its various iterations. So to be able to propound this unanimous consent request is something that we can briefly comment on shortly.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, a few minutes ago we passed the Department of Defense appropriations bill, with a vote of 96 to 0. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, who is also chairman of the Defense Subcommittee, Senator Stevens, and his ranking member, Senator Inouye, on bringing this first appropriations conference report for next year to completion. This is a critically important bill. It provides nearly $418 billion in resources to our dedicated men and women in the global war on terrorism. The legislation will immediately make available $26.8 billion to the Department of Defense as emergency appropriations to cover the costs associated with operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, upon signature by the President. As GAO reported this week, these funds are needed, and they are needed quickly, for the operation and maintenance and military personnel through the end of the current fiscal year. Further, critical funding is provided immediately to the Department of State for our diplomatic programs, for our consular programs, and embassy security in Iraq. There are other programs funded in this important legislation that I want to thank the conferees for addressing. Mr. President, $95 million is provided immediately to USAID and the State Department to address the tragic moral and humanitarian crisis that is occurring in the Darfur region of the Sudan. I am hopeful Secretary Powell's and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's discussions today in New York will result in the Sudanese Government fulfilling its recent commitment to end the attacks in the Darfur region by disarming the Janjaweed. I am particularly concerned our new Ambassador--our former colleague in this body, Senator John Danforth--is reported today as saying the situation in Darfur is not getting better but is getting worse. Mr. President, $95 million in humanitarian and refugee assistance provided in this legislation is critical, but security and stability must be secured in the region if this assistance which we are delivering is ever to really reach the people who are in need. As we all know, in the Darfur region, tens of thousands of people have died, and over a million people are directly affected in this very large western region in Sudan. I wish it were not necessary, but it is good this legislation will also provide $19 million to improve amputee care at the Walter Reed Medical Center for prosthetic limb development and applied research. Many of us in this body have had the opportunity to visit the men and women--the soldiers--who have been so directly impacted at Walter Reed. We thank them for their service, we thank them for their patriotism, and we are gratified that this $19 million will at least address one dimension, and that is the dimension of amputee care at that wonderful, outstanding medical center. There is over $18.2 billion for the Defense Health Program, an increase of over $2.5 billion over last year's level. I am pleased this legislation fully funds the 3.5-percent military pay raise and increases our service men's and women's basic housing allowance for housing, putting additional money into their pocket. On the domestic front, it is appropriate this legislation also provides a half billion dollars, $500 million, in emergency assistance to the Departments of Labor and Agriculture to address the growing cost of increasing forest fires this summer that we see in the West, as well as in Alaska. We should also point out the legislation provides $50 million to Boston and to New York City to help defray some of the costs associated with our upcoming national conventions. Mr. President, this is critical legislation for our national security. It is somewhat ironic that we voted on this legislation the same day that the 9/11 Commission released its report because the first recommendation of that report was that the U.S. Government must identify and prioritize actual or potential terrorist sanctuaries. For each, it should have a realistic strategy to keep possible terrorists insecure and on the run, using all elements of national power. This legislation funds our national power. It is appropriate it is the first appropriations bill this year to pass and to be sent to President Bush. Again, I congratulate Chairman Stevens, as well as the ranking member, and all of the committee members of the subcommittee and the entire Appropriations Committee for this outstanding piece of legislation.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on a separate topic, I want to take a few moments before going out on recess, looking back over the last several weeks and sharing with my colleagues some of the very positive things we have been able to accomplish, positive issues and bills that will have a direct impact on people throughout America and also, indeed, throughout the world. We have had a productive year. Among our many legislative accomplishments, the Senate passed the Laci and Conner's law, the Crime Victims Act, the child nutrition reauthorization, and the Internet access tax moratorium. Each of these initiatives expresses our values. Each will help protect the American family. In this past month, since the last recess, we have been able to build on those successes. I commend my colleagues for their tremendous work, their hard work, each and every day over July. We had the opportunity today to receive the report from the 9/11 Commission, and we have heard about it on the floor of the Senate today. We heard about it in our briefings today and yesterday. We have heard us all commend the 9/11 Commission for their efforts to produce a genuinely bipartisan document. That is the way it was received. In talking to the Commission members, that is the way each step along the way the 9/11 Commission acted: in a bipartisan manner. I have not had the opportunity to read the whole report. It is a large book people have had on the floor today. But I have read the summary and been in on the briefings. The only way I can describe it is, it provides a sobering account of the events leading up to September 11. It offers valuable recommendations--one I just referred to a few moments ago--for how America can better protect itself, how we can act to make America safer. I again thank the Commission members. They have worked hard over the last several months to produce this outstanding document, a document that will be invaluable in the months ahead as we deliberate. There will be a lot of deliberation, and the Democratic leader and I will comment on that a little bit later in a colloquy on how best to strengthen America's defenses. In the meantime, as we wrap up for the August recess and the conventions, I would like to take a moment to highlight a few of the recent legislative accomplishments. Yesterday I had the honor of attending the Rose Garden signing ceremony for Project Bioshield. It is an issue that was first proposed by the President in his 2003 State of the Union Address to Congress. As with his broader efforts to defend the homeland, President Bush has demonstrated once again his determination to protect the American people, to make America safer, and that is exactly what this bioshield legislation does. Because of the President's leadership, the Nation's defenses against biological threats, against chemical threats, against radiological threats will be substantially strengthened. Project Bioshield is a gratifying example of, once again, both sides of the aisle working together in the best interest of the American people. I commend the President for his leadership in the initial proposal, Chairman Gregg, Senator Kennedy, and all of my colleagues who worked together to craft this legislation, including Senator Hatch who was early to see the need for this initiative. Only 2 months ago our enemies detonated a sarin-laced roadside bomb in Iraq. Fortunately, their plan did not succeed in effectively dispersing the nerve agent. But it underscored the fact that these weapons exist, that we must be vigilant. Right here at home we had the anthrax assault, used as a weapon up and down the east coast not that long ago, resulting in panic, paralysis, and death. We have had anthrax here in the Nation's Capital. We have had ricin here in the Nation's Capital. Project Bioshield allows us to become proactive in developing a whole range of countermeasures. Earlier today--now about 12 hours ago--in keeping with our commitment to secure the homeland, the President signed another bill, a bill called the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2000. It is a product of a number of our colleagues. Our distinguished colleague from Colorado, Senator Campbell, has worked on this bill for years and years. It was developed in a bipartisan way, once again. On the House side, Congressman Duke Cunningham was a real leader on this particular bill. This bill had been a No. 1 legislative priority of our Nation's law enforcement officers, and I am proud of this bipartisan effort to support law enforcement and public safety. The law allows current and retired police officers to carry a concealed weapon in any of the 50 States. What that means is that America will not allow the tens of thousands of trained and certified law enforcement officers who are out there serving us and out there protecting us every day across the country to be denied the potential opportunity to be called upon, if need be, with assistance. In a post-9/ 11 world, it is imperative that we all use every resource possible to protect ourselves, and that includes America's men and women in blue. In addition to our efforts to improve security, this month we took important steps globally in terms of our economic standing in the world. Six days ago we passed the Australia free-trade agreement, and earlier this week we passed the Morocco free-trade agreement. I had the opportunity to talk to the King of Morocco today and reiterated to him the plus this trade agreement will be for the United States and workers in the United States, both the Australia and Morocco free-trade bills, but also to reiterate what the President of the United States had told the King of Morocco when he said: Trade is an important part of good foreign policy. It is an important part of making sure Americans can find jobs. The Australia agreement has a huge impact right here in the United States of America. It is expected to create as many as 40,000 new jobs. We can expect an increase of about $2 billion annually in trade for the United States and Australia by 2010. At $9 billion, our trade surplus with Australia counts as the largest with any nation. More than 99 percent of our exports to Australia will enter duty-free once this agreement goes into effect. In my home State of Tennessee, Australia is a powerful market, a large market for our goods. In fact, Tennessee exports more to Australia than to France. With regard to Morocco, more than 95 percent of bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products will become duty-free. The Morocco agreement is the best yet of any United States free-trade agreement with a developing country. When it comes to a developing continent, earlier this month the President signed another very powerful bill in terms of its impact in Africa. The bill was the African Growth and Opportunity Act. I am especially pleased by this legislation. I have taken advantage of the opportunity of traveling to Africa on a regular basis where one could see upfront, firsthand, the direct impact of this Africa Growth and Opportunity Act when it was initially passed--now several years ago-- the impact it has had in the stimulation of jobs, creation of work. And for me, most importantly, it creates hope for a continent that otherwise becomes quite discouraged as it is plagued by so many other huge challenges. The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, which we have passed and which is now the law of the land, is a win-win for the United States. It is a win for the African continent, and I would say a win-win for the world. The legislation has not only created new investment opportunities for American businesses, but it has helped create over 150,000 African jobs. When President Museveni from Uganda was here, he said: You use the figure of 150,000, our best estimates are that the impact is not creation of 150,000 African jobs, but 300,000 African jobs. It has helped to pump more than $340 million into the African economies and has forged a place for Africa in the global trade market. I hope other countries will look at the success of this program and reexamine their trade preferences toward Africa. I hope other countries will take this opportunity, looking at the leadership of the United States, to study their own trade relations with the region and do what we have done in this country, and that is improve them. Domestically, over the last several weeks we have passed a lot of legislation. In one area we had a significant breakthrough in confirming one of President Bush's judicial nominees. I mention this one in particular because the confirmation of Judge Jay Leon Holmes, who was confirmed to the U.S. District Court, ultimately had bipartisan support. But it took about 18 months of hard work, where there was a lot of attack and a lot of obstruction. Ultimately, Judge Holmes was confirmed this month. Unfortunately, today our Democratic colleagues voted against permitting three circuit court judges from getting an up-or-down vote. Judge Henry Saad, Judge David McKeague, and Judge Richard Griffin all received support from a majority of Senators, but not this new threshold of having to get a supermajority of 60 votes which is needed to break these unprecedented filibusters we have had this session. This brings to 10 the number of judges filibustered and, I would argue, as was argued earlier on the floor today, that is 10 too many. We would say that any is too many; that each of these judges deserves an up-or-down vote. People can vote how they want, for the judge or against the judge, but at least we should be given the opportunity to vote. We will also continue to fight for legislation that keeps America's economic recovery rolling along. We tried recently with class action-- we are going to come back to class action. I am not sure exactly when that timing will be, but I can tell you there is strong bipartisan support, and I think this body needs to come back as soon as practical and address class action reform. I was disappointed by the other side's decision to stop this important legislation because both sides--again, this is a bipartisan bill, and I am confident it can pass with more than 60 votes. These class action lawsuits, as we heard now 2 weeks ago on the floor, have grown exponentially. One recent survey found State court class action filings skyrocketed by 1,300 percent in 10 years. The result of all of this is a glut of claims that ends up clogging the courts, ultimately wasting taxpayers' dollars and inhibiting the innovation and entrepreneurship we all know is so critical to job creation. Election year politics should not get in the way of strengthening our economy. It is our duty to serve America's best interests and not to be serving special interests. When we return after the recess, we have a real challenge, and the challenge is to address all of the appropriations bills. I have been in conversation with the Democratic leader, the Democratic leadership, and Chairman Stevens, who has been in discussion with Senator Byrd, and all about the recognition that the month of September is going to focus, in large part, on these appropriations bills. We also need to turn our attention to finishing the FSC/ETI bill, the JOBS bill that we need to get to conference. We have actually appointed Senate conferees, and the House will be appointing their conferees. I am not sure if they will appoint them later tonight or when we get back. It is a very important bill. We have had a lot of discussions over the course of the day on the highway bill, and I think some progress, indeed, has been made on the highway bill. It is going to be challenging to do because we are a long way from any sort of consensus on that bill, but we all know how important it is. Although it has not been on the floor of the Senate every day, at some point there are discussions on the importance of having a national energy plan. I take this opportunity to mention it because a lot of people have said: This was filibustered; that was blocked; you are not going to be able to come back and address that legislation. Indeed, we have only probably 20 legislative days left in this session, but as long as people keep working in a bipartisan way, we have the potential for more fully addressing our energy challenges. All of these pieces of legislation fit into growing our economy, continuing our economic recovery, accelerating it, as well as security. The JOBS bill alone, the FSC/ETI or so-called JOBS bill, will protect more than a million high-quality manufacturing jobs in the United States. Our roads, ports, energy supply, and economic vitality are all critical to our security and to our safety. We have to have a strong infrastructure to be safe and secure, to be able to withstand threats from without. I see my colleague from Kansas who has a very important statement to make that refers, in part, to some of my comments earlier about the Darfur region, I expect, but let me comment on one issue before turning the floor over to him. It is an issue that again centers on an international issue, and that is Cambodia. Last Sunday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen delivered a nationally televised speech accusing democratic opposition party leader Sam Rainsy and his fellow parliamentarians of organizing an armed insurgency to overthrow the government. Concerned for their safety, a number of these leaders fled the country. I was in touch with my son by e-mail because my son Jonathan happened to be in Cambodia at the time and witnessed these events. These allegations appear designed to intimidate the democratic opposition there. We should all be disturbed by the rhetoric which appears to be designed to subvert democracy by these threats and by this intimidation. The international community has a great interest in ensuring that Cambodia's fragile progress toward democracy continues. Cambodia has paid too high a price under authoritarian rule in the past. We cannot and will not accept the use of fear as an instrument of the state. Cambodia has made commitments to the international community to respect human rights, preserve the rule of law, and uphold democracy. I call upon the international community to watch these events very carefully. There is a lot to do when we return in September. I know we are going to have a very busy fall legislative session. I look forward to working with my colleagues, and I look forward to doing the business of the American people and moving America forward. 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. FRIST. Mr. President, I take a moment to honor Rebecca Sadler, who is this year's winner of my annual 6th Grade Essay Contest. Rebecca is from Brentwood, TN, and attends Woodland Middle School. This year's topic was ``A Salute to Community Heroes.'' Rebecca chose her dad, Jerry M. Sadler. Mr. Sadler died of cancer on November 11, 1999. While we have a few minutes before closing, I thought I would read a few paragraphs from Rebecca Sadler's salute to her dad. It is entitled ``My Hero.'' Heroes can be just about anyone. Some have earned Nobel prizes. Some have led marches and protests. Some are world leaders and some have been to the moon. Many have recorded hit singles in the music industry. Others have made millions from a simple story. But what really makes a hero? Are heroes born or made? Do heroes look like movie stars or do they look like the guy who waxes the floors at the end of the day? Are they brave enough to take down an evil terrorist? Or are they just brave enough for a roller coaster? My hero hasn't been to the moon. And he hasn't led a protest. He didn't win a Nobel prize and he wasn't a world leader. My hero was a friend, a husband, a brother, a cousin, a father, a pilot, and one of the bravest people I've ever known. My hero is my dad. He was a commander in the Navy Reserve. He flew packages for FedEx. He had a wife, three kids, four brothers, three sisters, a mother-in-law, sisters- in-law, brothers-in-law, numerous cousins, nieces and nephews, and innumerable friends. The thing that made my dad a hero was that he was never afraid and if he was, he never showed it. He was incredibly honest. My dad was a friend to everyone. My dad would have given his life for his family and his country. There was nothing that my dad couldn't do. He was so strong. Every morning I would walk into his room and say good morning. He would gather up all his strength and as soon as I walked in he would sit up, smile, and act like nothing was wrong. Heroes don't have to be superstars and they do not have to beat any world records. They can be a parent, a teacher, a counselor, or even a garbage man. But heroes have to be a couple of things. They should be loving, honest, brave, loyal, and kind. They should be kind to people who might not be as fortunate, loving to family, and brave no matter what. They should be loyal to friends, family, God, and their country. They must be honest to their friends so you can trust them. My dad inspires me because he was all of the things that make a hero. He inspires me because he never gave up, even in the face of death. My dad inspires me to do the very best I can and to be the very best I can be. He inspires me to fly someday. To say, ``Yes, I can'' in the face of failure. He taught me to never give up, no matter what, and he taught me to succeed. He showed me how to be brave. He inspires me to be loyal to our country, God, friends, and family. He taught me to be kind to everyone, even complete strangers, and loving to family. He inspires me to be me. My dad is my hero. That essay is from Rebecca Sadler, 6th grade essay contest winner. It is a contest I have all over the State on a different subject each year. This year was ``A Salute to Community Heroes.'' Rebecca's dad Jerry M. Sadler, died of cancer on November 11th, 1999. She concludes: I was 7 years old and in the second grade. He left behind a wife, three children, four brothers, three sisters, and many others.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, Senator Daschle and I received the 9/11 Commission report earlier today. It looks as if the Commission did a thorough job and that their writeup is fair and balanced. It is certainly well-documented. Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton deserve our praise for their bipartisan leadership. The Commission did not play the blame game. Rather, they focused on how the United States can learn from past mistakes to make all Americans safer in the future.