Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, the Senate has been busy over the past 4 weeks. I thought I would take a few moments to look back and then look ahead a bit. The Memorial Day recess seems like a long time ago because so much has been shaped by us--referring to the progress we have made in the last several days in particular--and shaped by the other external events, a steady stream of national and world-changing events. To begin, I will start with two nights ago when, on Wednesday night, we passed the Defense Authorization Act for 2005; and late last night, not that long ago, we passed the Defense Appropriations Act of 2005. It is appropriate to look at those two bills together because both focus on supporting our troops, supporting our U.S. Government in its war on terror. We had 4 weeks of impassioned debate on the floor of the Senate, and at the end of those 4 weeks we completed two very important pieces of legislation which very clearly augment the support for our troops that are stationed throughout the world and also reflect our profound commitment to the defense of the United States of America, the defense of the citizens, the people, and the principles we stand for in this great country. But we are at war. We see it daily; terrorists strike daily. It is these two pieces of legislation that focus around support in this war on terror and in the defense of this country that we see our efforts really come alive. They provide our troops with the resources they need to succeed in this noble mission both here at home and abroad. The last several weeks were meaningful for me because this whole concept of supporting our troops came alive both last week when I visited the 101st Airborne down in Tennessee and Kentucky, but also 2 weeks prior to that when I had the opportunity, with two colleagues, Senator Bob Bennett and Senator John Ensign, to go to Kuwait and Baghdad in Iraq to visit our troops on the front line. We visited with our troops in Kuwait and in Baghdad in clinics. We went to visit troops at hospitals. As a physician, I had the opportunity to talk to our physicians and nurses, who are doing such a tremendous job on the front line, taking care of people who have been injured by the terrorist activity. We had lunch with our troops; we had dinner with our troops. We spent a lot of time listening to and walking and talking with our troops on the front line. We learned a lot. Given the savagery we wake up to every day and that occurs over the course of the day, which is reflected in our daily news media with the terrorist activity, before going over and preparing for my trip, I expected that when I went, I would find, possibly, a demoralized operation that would threaten to buckle at the next big terrorist event. I expected to come into contact with hopeless Iraqis, because you don't see the positive developments in our daily news here. I thought the Iraqis I met would be in despair with a lack of opportunity. I thought I might see that in them in terms of starting a new life or a freer life. Yet what we saw--and that is why it is so important for our elected representatives to go see this firsthand--is a country undergoing a dramatic rebirth. It is a rebirth fueled by faith and the importance of those principles--really the same principles we celebrated in tribute to Ronald Reagan 2 weeks ago: freedom, liberty, democracy. You can see it in the Iraqis' eyes when you have the opportunity to interact with them in a personal way. Democracy, freedom, and the rule of law are the principles they come back to with a lot of hope and optimism, understanding there are real challenges, which we are seeing every day along the way. Prime Minister Alawi, who happens to be a physician, a neurologist, which is a nerve specialist in medicine, we had the opportunity to meet about 10 days after he had been chosen to be Prime Minister. Since that point in time, almost 3 weeks ago, you have begun to see his face on television. He has been speaking and saying to the Iraqi people that when these terrorists strike, it is not striking at the United States of America, not at the coalition, but the terrorists are striking and hurting the Iraqi people. They are trying to destroy the faith and belief in freedom and democracy and representative government. It is important that it is an Iraqi face that is telling the real story to the Iraqi people. According to the Prime Minister, the people are responding. As Prime Minister Alawi said to us when we met in Baghdad, the radical Islamists and Saddamists--the loyalists to the old Saddam regime--who are conducting these attacks despise freedom. He said they hate freedom, despise it. They despise the rule of law. The terrorists know that if democracy succeeds, they have lost; thus, we are going to see this increased activity of terrorism. We will see it, I am sure, over the next 5 days as we lead up to the turnover of sovereignty, and it will likely continue for a period of time, according to President al-Yawr of Iraq, as well as the Prime Minister. They say that is going to be the reality for a while. But despite this terrorist activity--and this is what I think is important to share--there is much good news. A lot of progress has been made in the last year. Unemployment has been cut to nearly half. Bank deposits are up. Inflation has been reduced by more than 50 percent. Oil production is nine times higher than it was a year ago. Electricity is flowing. Forty percent more people have telephones and are using telephones today than during the Saddam Hussein era. More than 1,200 medical clinics and over 240 hospitals--all the hospitals--are now up and running and operating today. In the field of education, 2,400 schools have been rehabilitated. The Iraqi children are going to school on a daily basis. Let me refer back to medicine. Over 85 percent of the children are immunized, which is actually higher than many urban areas in the United States of America. So there is a lot of good news that is underway. We are moving in the right direction. I also wish to mention what is becoming increasingly apparent to me, especially after traveling there, is the $18 billion we appropriated, we sent to Iraq to be spent, has not yet been spent. There are about $8 billion or $9 billion that has not been spent. The rest of it has been allocated but still not spent. What we are likely to see over the next several weeks or months is acceleration in the flow of that money. That money goes into health, education, electricity, oil, infrastructure, microloans in support of the economy, and that infusion of money and resources will make a difference. It has just flowed too slowly over the last 6 to 8 months since we have appropriated it, and now that will accelerate. We are assured by those people who will be overseeing that money that the system is set up to allow that money to flow much more quickly, which will have a more dramatic, even greater, impact. The test is here, though. This test of the turnover to sovereignty is before the Iraqi people. The Iraqis will face their first true test of sovereignty, and it is absolutely imperative that our troops be able to adequately support their Iraqi partners when asked to do so. Prime Minister Alawi, as well as President al-Yawar, made it very clear they need the continued support of the coalition during this turnover of sovereignty and in this period of transition, which will be months and maybe years, as they rebuild their own police forces and security forces, and that just simply takes time. The Senate this week, by passing those two bills--the Defense authorization bill and the Defense appropriations bill--has acted on behalf of the American people to maximally support our troops, to maximally support this war on terror, and the passage of these two bills reflects our commitment to bring fundamental human rights and liberties to a ravaged and oppressed region of the world. That is real progress on the floor of the Senate, passage of those two bills in the last 72 hours. Looking again over the last 4 weeks, a second area in which we made real progress is the judicial nominations. Since June 1, the Senate has confirmed 24 judges for positions in the U.S. Federal courts. The installation of these new judges is vital to the creation of a healthy and efficient Federal court system, and the United States is fortunate to have judges of such high caliber, supreme caliber now eligible to serve on the bench. So 24 more judges have been confirmed since June 1. There has been real progress in a third field, and that is other nominations. Alan Greenspan was confirmed to another term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, our former colleague, Jack Danforth, as our new Ambassador to the United Nations just this week, and John Negroponte as Ambassador to Iraq. Again, very important nominations have been addressed, judicially and in other fields. In a fourth area, I will mention several measures. One is the Child Nutrition Act. My colleague from Mississippi, Thad Cochran, did a tremendous job in the Agriculture Committee with the Child Nutrition Act. It has not been on the front page that we passed that act. But in this particular bill is the School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Summer Feeding Program, and the Women, Infants and Children, so-called WIC, nutritional program. An interesting statistic is that about 50 percent of all newborns today qualify for the WIC Program. It is an amazingly high number, but it shows the importance and significance of this program which has been extended. Also, in this particular bill that Senator Cochran led through the Senate and was passed in the Senate is the application of nutritional standards which, as a physician, as one very interested in health, especially children's health and infant's health, I think is very important. In addition, we created the Department of Homeland Security headquarters. That is a first. That is at the Nebraska Avenue complex. So we made real progress over the last 4 weeks. We have a lot of work--much work--to be done in the remaining days of the 108th Congress. As I said many times--in fact, I usually open and close with it each day--the number of legislative days remaining in this session is few, rapidly dwindling, and there are a whole range of issues we must address before November. The Senate must seize this week's momentum and be focused when we reconvene on July 6. Very briefly, as we look ahead to when the Senate comes back, we will return to the consideration of class-action reform legislation. It is a very important piece of legislation. I had hoped initially to complete debate on this measure before the recess, but I accommodated concerns of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who support this measure, and we postponed consideration of class action until we get back from the recess. In fact, I should mention, just as a reminder, that this is my third attempt as majority leader to bring class action to the floor of the Senate. I moved to proceed to the bill in October, October 22. The other side of the aisle blocked us proceeding to that piece of legislation. Secondly, I scheduled long in advance that we would come to class action on June 1, but I was asked by my Democratic colleagues, the ones who support this legislation, to postpone it and do not go to it June 1. Thirdly, I have scheduled it for when we return on July 6. We have to address it at this juncture. We just have so few days left in this session that now is the time to address class action, and we will be addressing it when we come back. This is my third attempt to bring it to the floor of the Senate. Every day all of us, although we may not think about it, as consumers are affected by increased prices due to either exorbitant lawsuits that do not make any sense or just frivolous lawsuits that may be reflected in the current class-action mechanism. We set out in a bipartisan way to develop a very good bill that should have 62 votes or more, an overwhelming majority of the Senate. It is a very good bill that addresses appropriate class action reform. I stress, it is bipartisan. The bill we are bringing to the Senate floor is a bipartisan bill. I am looking forward to a healthy and honest debate and to ultimately pass this sorely needed reform. I do want to thank my Republican and Democratic colleagues who have worked together to fashion the bill that, as I said, at least in conversations, the legislation has been written and has 62 or more votes at this juncture. Looking ahead to next month, I have announced that the Senate will also debate the Federal marriage amendment. Certainly this is much anticipated legislation. I expect us to have a comprehensive and defining debate on this important issue. This issue is central, I believe, to understanding our country's values and identity. I initiate this process--and it is a constitutional process--in the Senate because I believe elected representatives, not activist judges, should be the ones who define this institution, which reflects the social fabric of our society. In large part, it is in response to what activist judges have taken upon themselves, and that is to radically redefine what marriage is. It is really in response to that that we are going to have this national discussion, and it is going to be right on the Senate floor. In July, the Senate will also act on a trade issue, the U.S.- Australian Free Trade Agreement. This is important legislation. In passing this new legislation, the United States will inject almost a half billion dollars into our economy. This will continue to drive our own country's continuing economic growth. A couple of issues that are down the track--they are not there yet, so we need to get all the way down the track if we are going to keep moving America forward. One is the transportation bill. That bill is in conference now. It is a very important bill that has to do with safety on our highways, creation of jobs, economic growth and prosperity in communities that depend upon good highways and good roads to facilitate commerce, and the list goes on. It is a bill that has been passed in the Senate and in the House. As people know, there are significant differences. My goal is to have those differences worked out in the conference and to send a bill to the President of the United States that he will sign. To me, the exercise is really--I will not say worthless; it is always important to exercise, but if the President is not going to sign the bill, we are simply not going to accomplish what we want to in jobs, in economic prosperity, in safety issues related to our highways. The second issue I will mention is the manufacturing jobs bill on the Senate floor. The FSC/ETI bill, as some people refer to it, really just centers on a very simple concept that we have a Euro tax, a tax that is imposed on the U.S. businesses right now that is increasing 1 percent a month, that this bill addresses. We have passed it in the Senate. The House has passed their bill. Now it is time for us to go to conference so we can work out the differences and eliminate the impact of this Euro tax on America. So a lot has been accomplished over the last 4 weeks. I hope we can continue this momentum--in fact, we will continue this momentum--and come back from the recess with a commitment to serving America's best interest in a focused way. The 1 week I left out of the last 4 weeks is the week we spent in tribute to Ronald Reagan, where we recognized the life and legacy of one of America's greatest Presidents. A little over 2 weeks ago, we paid our final respects to President Ronald Wilson Reagan. Over the course of the week, we had the opportunity to mourn the passing of this great American leader but also to celebrate the values for which he stood. There were countless tributes paid to President Reagan, his beloved wife Nancy, and to the entire Reagan family. All of those tributes helped us celebrate the memory of this optimistic, bold, and compassionate President. World and national leaders filed through this building, the Nation's Capitol, down the hallway behind me, to pay respects as the President lay in state. We had the opportunity to welcome many of those world and national leaders, but what was truly remarkable to me was to be able to be in my office or in the hallway and see the hundreds and then the thousands and then the tens of thousands of ordinary, regular, hard-working Americans who came to the Nation's Capital from all around the country, people who would drive hundreds, indeed thousands, of miles. People would get on an airplane and arrive at 10 at night to stand in line for 4 or 5 hours to pay their respects. Throughout the week, our shining Capital City united peoples throughout the world, both those who could be here, those who watched on television, those who read the newspapers, and those who heard it on the radio. It united the American people and the world peoples in a way that is very rare. Indeed, it is the sense of national and global community that embodied the legacy of the 40th President, and though we said goodbye to the man, we carry forward his relentless faith in those values of freedom and democracy. Later this afternoon, I will be traveling to the NATO Istanbul summit in Turkey in anticipation of this trip where international leaders will be gathering to look ahead and address the international climate. Couple that trip, my anticipation of what I will find and learn on that trip, with the summary I just gave and the events that occurred in the last 4 weeks in this country and on the floor of the Senate, I personally will be celebrating the Fourth of July with a renewed sense and appreciation for and faith in the ideals that are represented in the United States of America. We have a lot of challenging days ahead, and we have a lot of exciting days ahead. We will continue honoring our country's great, bold, and storied legacy when the Senate reconvenes on July 6. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, July 6. I further ask that following the prayer and the pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate then proceed to executive session as provided earlier. I further ask consent that the Senate recess from 12:30 until 2:15 p.m. for the weekly party luncheons.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I mentioned last night the importance of this African Growth and Opportunity Act which we passed last night. In my comments, I also mentioned a restatement of my earlier comments in the day, a restatement of what has been said again and again on the floor. That is that we as a country and we as a world community need to focus attention on the Darfur region of Africa, of the Sudan in Africa. Africa is a huge continent and a lot of people do not realize how big Sudan is. It is huge. When we say Darfur region, the Darfur region is the western part of the Sudan. If you look at the continent, it is almost in the middle of the continent of Africa. The Darfur region is huge. It is about the size of Texas. Over the last year and a half, because it started as a civil war, militias fighting, government supporting the militias there, we have 2 million people in this region of Darfur, the size of Texas, who have been affected, 1.2 million people displaced, driven away from their homes, driven away from the land they might farm or, if they are herders, that they might herd animals on, families destroyed. A lot of people are fleeing west to, Chad, 30 or 40 kilometers away, to refugee camps. There are about a million displaced inside the Darfur region but away from their homes, away, many times, from their families and any chance of livelihood. The rainy season has begun there. It began a few weeks ago and will continue. As the rainy season continues, conditions get worse and worse. Roads at that point cannot be traversed so we cannot get enough food going in. There is very little in the way of health supplies going in. We need to bring attention to that part of the world. The world needs to shine a spotlight on it. I was delighted Secretary Powell announced yesterday he will be going to that part of the world. I understand Secretary General Kofi Annan also will be going to that part of the world, to bring increased attention on behalf of the Congress, with 200,000 people dead from what is happening there. They are dying. Statistically, they are dying from disease: respiratory disease, water-borne disease, diarrheal disease, malaria, and a little bit of measles. Now, with the fighting, it may well be that the No. 1 cause of death there is the actual fighting. Right now we are not able to get in sufficient aid. Aid and support is being restricted by the government in Khartoum. There is plenty of aid. The world community is ready to go in there, but right now there is a restriction by the government. I am going to keep mentioning this issue on the floor at every opportunity because we have a chance to reverse this travesty. We are going to do that. Every opportunity we have as public officials, in interacting with the international community, we need to continue to put pressure on the government of Khartoum to recognize the travesty, the devastation that is going on in that country. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I know we will be moving to other business in a few minutes. We have completed voting on Senator Danforth's nomination, but I wanted to come to the floor and speak to that nomination. Senator Danforth has had a long and distinguished career in the Senate, and he has served this Nation capably, ably, and nobly since the time of that service. In particular, as has been mentioned over the course of the morning, he has served as President Bush's envoy to Sudan and has worked tirelessly to bring peace to that war-torn nation. I focus on the Sudan because it is a country on a continent that means a lot to me personally. I was in the Sudan in September. I was there the year before that and the year before that and the year before that. I have been to Sudan many times and spent most of my time in the south of Sudan, a war-torn nation with 2 million people who have died and 5 million people displaced by an ongoing, still long-term civil war. I say ``ongoing still,'' and I say that with the qualification that because of Senator Danforth's commitment, his noble service, we are much further along that road to having a long, established peace as we look to the future. It has not been an easy mission. Senator Danforth, in spite of it not being an easy mission, has made huge progress. We are much closer to ending that terrible conflict of the civil war that has been ongoing now for over two decades than we were before Senator Danforth became involved. On June 11, the United Nations Security Council endorsed the peace process and committed to taking those steps outlined to assist the parties in implementing a final comprehensive peace package once the agreement itself is reached, and that is real progress. During my trips to Sudan, I had the opportunity to not go as a U.S. Senator--in fact, I have never been in the country as an official U.S. Senator--but as part of a medical mission group where I have had the opportunity to interact with the Sudanese people from many different tribes in the south of Sudan. I have had the opportunity and the blessing--blessing for me because of the understanding it gives me--to have treated patients with war injuries. In fact, even in late August, early September of this year, I treated a patient who suffered a gunshot wound to the upper part of his leg. I treated that injury. And the time before that, I treated a patient who stepped on a landmine. There are still landmines throughout southern Sudan. We are making real progress on that issue. But today, as the Sudan works toward a settlement, with the progress that has been made, we face a growing humanitarian emergency that was not thought about a year ago at all, and even today we are struggling to put the spotlight on and the purpose on--and it is not entirely a separate issue, but it is a separate issue from the traditional thought about civil war: north versus south, black versus white, or Muslim versus Christian, all the ways people have thought about a civil war in the past. This crisis is a relatively new one. It is the direct result of the actions taken by the government in Khartoum and their proxies, the government-supported militias against the Fur, Zaghawa, and the Masaalit peoples of Darfur. Members of this body have spoken to this issue over the last several days. We need to speak a lot more about this crisis. Government-sponsored militias systematically attack African Muslim villages but leave Arab Muslim villages untouched. Government planes-- and these planes are Antinov planes. I do not know how many there are, but they are government-sponsored, government-owned planes that historically have bombed indiscriminately in the south. In fact, they have bombed the very church and hospital in southern Sudan where I go each year. These same planes seem to be bombing indiscriminately in this Darfur region, and these are government-owned planes. Crops are burned and wells are being poisoned, irrigation systems destroyed, houses are burned, and then the earth is left scorched and barren, and the population is being decimated. There is an estimated population of about 6.5 million people in Sudan, and as many as 2.2 million people have been directly affected by this crisis. More than 1 million people have become displaced. That is such a dry word. What does ``displaced'' mean? It means they had a home, and they had to leave that home and struggle to make their way in other regions, not having their occupation, their job, their land they tilled before. This is 1 million people. Mr. President, 158,000 people have fled to neighboring Chad, and more than 30,000 have lost their lives. The World Health Organization recently reported an alarming reemergence of polio in Darfur, a disease that has not been seen in years. Should polio get a foothold there this autumn, the polio high season will see thousands of children who could be struck, and that means struck with paralysis or even worse. At this point in time, we need to make sure--and it is our responsibility--that Khartoum understands there cannot be peace in the south at the same time they have an ongoing war--many people have used the word ``genocide''--in the west, which is where the Darfur region is. War anywhere in Sudan will lead to war everywhere. Khartoum agreed to a cease-fire on April 11. The cease-fire was renewed on May 22. This agreement committed Khartoum to disbanding the Jingaweit militias. The agreement included a protocol binding Khartoum to allow humanitarian access. Jingaweit militias continue to ravage the countryside while aid workers are turned away. Until we get aid workers in to deliver aid, to shine the spotlight, to report back on the travesty, I see no end to this problem, and that is where the international community must step up. Khartoum claims to have lifted travel restrictions but, at the same time, Khartoum still places obstacles to the delivery of aid. That aid, I am convinced, will flow if those channels are opened. Khartoum places difficulties on obtaining visas for relief personnel. Khartoum restricts the movement of relief workers within Darfur. Khartoum places obstacles to clearing relief supplies through customs. Khartoum interferes with relief workers seeking to protect civilians from harm. Khartoum's actions simply cannot be tolerated. Khartoum's actions will not be tolerated. The United States must respond. The world community must respond. We should continue to pressure Khartoum to see that the government will find itself increasingly isolated in the world community if it continues to block the delivery of aid and relief, and that is food and health care supplies. This administration has been working tirelessly over the last year to deliver aid to those in dire need in Darfur. Two more relief flights landed in Nyala last Saturday and Sunday, and a third flight was scheduled to land yesterday. Since February of last year, USAID has done other things. It has dispatched plastic sheeting to build shelters for more than 160,000 people. It has provided 117,000 blankets, 2 water purification systems. The administration has provided 87,000 metric tons of food. The administration has devoted considerable resources and committed a great deal of political capital to assisting the southern Sudanese. President Bush has played an active role in the peace process. We have engaged the United Nations and will continue to do so, to pressure Khartoum into ending its support for the militias in Darfur, to assist in the delivery of aid, and to rally the international community to come to Sudan's assistance. It is our responsibility. We must do it. In closing, I do commend Senator Danforth for all of his work to help the people of Sudan. It has been tireless. It has been bold. He has done a superb job in the Senate and in all of his years of public service, especially in Sudan. I am delighted he has accepted and that we have approved his position at the United Nations. He is a great friend to us in the Senate and a great friend to the United States of America. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning I again congratulate Chairman Warner and Senator Levin for their efforts throughout the Defense authorization bill. We were able to pass that bill last night. Looking at my notes, we had approximately 175 amendments disposed of over the course of 16 days of consideration and 31 rollcall votes. A lot of hard work, a lot of good negotiation, brought a very good bill, as reflected in the ultimate vote. I do want to thank both the managers who got us through the bill. That was the authorization. Now we have a Defense appropriations bill ahead of us. Chairman Stevens is prepared to begin that legislation, and we expect to finish that bill prior to the recess. We will be consulting further with the Democratic leadership, and hopefully we will have that scheduled shortly. Immediately this morning we will be proceeding to executive session for the consideration of the nomination of one of our former colleagues, Jack Danforth, to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that there be 1 hour of debate equally divided between the chairman and ranking member or designees, and that following that time, the Senate proceed to a vote on the nomination; provided further that following the vote, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. That is correct. The nomination will not require a rollcall vote, and at the conclusion of the debate, Senator Danforth will be confirmed by voice vote. In addition, we have the remaining judicial nominations to dispose of. There are four that will be scheduled for votes with no debate necessary. There are two we will lock in for votes following 1 hour of debate, and I expect to ask that consent momentarily. There is also one further nomination that will require a longer debate period, and we are consulting with Members as to whether to schedule that debate and vote. In addition to these nominations, there are a number of ambassadorships we hope to consider prior to adjourning, although we do not anticipate rollcall votes on these. There are other issues, including Burma sanctions, that we will likely address over the course of the day and tomorrow. Finally, I would reiterate the need to finish the Defense appropriations measure. It is a priority for completion, and we need to work together to get that bill passed before the July 4 recess. We have spent 4 weeks on the Defense authorization where Senators have debated the issues and had ample opportunity to bring issues to the floor on defense and debate those. Thus, we should be able to proceed expeditiously on the Defense appropriations bill. It is now time to make sure we have the appropriate resources to support our troops, and we will continue to move forward.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that at a time determined by the majority leader, with the concurrence of the Democratic leader, the Senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of Executive Calendar No. 591, the nomination of Diane Sykes to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit. I further ask unanimous consent that there be 60 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form and that following that debate, the Senate proceed to a vote on the confirmation of the nomination with no intervening action or debate; provided further that immediately following that vote, the Senate proceed to a vote on the confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 604, Peter Hall to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit, again with no intervening action or debate. I finally ask consent that following these votes, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. FRIST. 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 congratulate Chairman Stevens and the ranking member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee on the passage of the bill. It is my understanding this is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, Defense appropriations bills ever considered in the Senate. I thank them. I will have more to say a little bit later tonight about this.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, after the following judge vote, we are scheduled to consider another five additional judges this evening. Of the ones after this one--looking at those five--the next two are circuit judges, to be followed by three district judges. It has been cleared on this side to have voice votes on all of those five judges. I ask the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee if we could, out of consideration of the many different schedules tonight, voice vote the remaining nominations after the next rollcall vote.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I very much appreciate that. On behalf of our colleagues, I thank the Senator.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Friday, June 25. I further ask unanimous consent 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 for their use later in the day, and the Senate then begin a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, tomorrow we will be in morning business throughout the day. There will be no rollcall votes during tomorrow's session. The next rollcall vote will be on July 6. I will have more to say about the schedule for July during tomorrow's session. We expect we will be in for a brief period tomorrow. We hope to clear the remaining legislative business prior to the recess. We are also attempting to clear a number of important ambassadorships prior to the Fourth of July break. Once again, I thank all of our colleagues for their patience over the last few days as we made real progress and as we wrapped up our work on two very important measures.

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, for the information of colleagues, after this vote, the next vote will be after the recess on July 6, sometime after 2:15 p.m.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the hour is late, and I know we will be wrapping up in about 30 minutes or so. There is a lot of business with the recess tomorrow--and we will be in tomorrow--and we will be wrapping up tonight. It will take a while to wrap up. We will be doing that in about 30 minutes or so. Thus, I would like to take a few minutes to come to the floor and take advantage of the time to talk about the fascinating trip I had the opportunity and the privilege to take about 3 weeks ago. I had the privilege of traveling to Normandy, France, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the D-day landings. That same week, as my colleagues know, we suspended business on the floor of the Senate to pay tribute to President Ronald Reagan--again, a wonderful week in that the messages were delivered and the tributes were shared. In the midst of that, however, I did not have the opportunity to share with my colleagues some of my experiences from the D-day celebration in Normandy, France, and thus I would like to take this opportunity to do that. This particular journey took with two of our colleagues, Senator Bob Bennett and Senator John Ensign. The three of us had a truly extraordinary experience. We spent the previous 2 days in Baghdad, Iraq, and in Kuwait, and then flew from Baghdad to the U.S.-French binational ceremony at Omaha Beach. Back in 1944, in the thick of war, Fortress Europe was the strongest at this point, reinforced with layers of obstacles, mines, and gun positions with hardened bunkers. Some of those structures are still there today. You can see the remnants of others. These remnants stand today almost as ghostly reminders of those battles that I had the opportunity to hear described firsthand by the veterans who had come back for the celebration. At Normandy, Nazi forces were commanded, as we all know, by none other than Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the ``Desert Fox'' of North Africa fame who was regarded as the finest, the very best field commander in the German Army. He won practically every battle he enjoined. His defenses were considered impenetrable. In the early morning of June 6, 1944--of course, that was the day so many years later that we were there--American soldiers, mainly from the 1st Infantry Division and 29th Infantry Division, landed at that beach we visited now several weeks ago. They were supported by the Army Air Force flying over and Naval gunfire. They struggled forward inch by inch, out of boats up the beach, as fellow soldiers were literally cut down one by one, wounded, and killed in this hail of enemy gunfire. We have all read about what went on at that beach, but to have that opportunity to hear firsthand, as we walked along the ridge above that beach, from people who were there. Many of them had not talked a lot-- at least they said they had not talked a lot about their experience. They seemed to open up as we were there. Many of them were there at the age of 16, 17, 18, or 19 years of age. And they all described the battle raging. Body counts swelled, and many expressed doubt that they would succeed--they described it as such--that every second seemed like an eternity. It was clear that in spite of all this, soldiers, through boldness and through courage, persevered. Further down the beach, the U.S. Army Rangers had scaled the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc and knocked out the German artillery positions that were there to disrupt any invasion force. By the end of that blood-soaked day, our American boys had pierced that Atlantic wall. They seized their objectives. And, as history would prove, because we had the opportunity to celebrate, they launched the liberation of Europe. Thousands of American soldiers perished in those few hours. Their heroism today is marked by the familiar pictures today with television and C-SPAN and video--the familiar pictures of all of those white crosses against that green grass and the Stars of David, all in very neat rows. Wherever you stand, you see them lined up parallel, horizontally and vertically, or diagonally. Wherever you stand, the symmetry jumps out at you. It goes on for acres and acres. I have no idea how big it is. But these crosses go on for acres. There is a little path where the beach is right below. You can walk along these winding paths of the cemetery. As you do so--especially, I think on this day, when the sky was bright blue, the white crosses, the green grass--there were veterans by the hundreds and, indeed, by the thousands with their family members, with, obviously, their daughters, sons, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren huddling around them as they walked along those paths. One could not help but admire their bravery, their boldness at a time in their life when they were very young, at a time they had to be uncertain; they were far away from home, fighting a ruthless enemy. Each cross and each star, obviously, represents a young man, a young person who died on June 6th, 1944, defending his country. The crowds would gather as we were there. A lot of people had come in. There was a lot of security at the gathering to hear President Bush and President Chirac. As the crowd gathered, we were seated amidst the sea of veterans. Usually they put the officials in one or two rows, separated, but, no, you would sit in the audience surrounded by scores and scores of veterans. A few minutes ago I called Congressman Charlie Rangel to talk about another bill we will be talking about later tonight. In that conversation I was reminded of the fact that 2 weeks ago he was there. He called me over to meet several veterans from New York. There was another woman, Grace Bender, a neighbor of mine in Washington, DC. I had no idea I would see her there. She was there a few rows away with her father, of whom she was clearly so proud. The veterans were gathering with their buddies and with their family members, with their shipmates, with their fellow crewmen. Even after 60 years, they clearly regarded these colleagues, these comrades in arms, as brothers, bonds forged over that period of a day, weeks, and those months in the midst of this war. I vividly remember standing for the national anthem. As we all stood up, the first people on their feet were those veterans, the ``greatest generation.'' They were the first to stand. I also noted, they were the ones who would be singing the loudest. They seemed to stand the tallest. Their love of country clearly had even grown over time. President Bush spoke and delivered captivating remarks. President Chirac also delivered stirring remarks. They both recounted specific moments and acts of heroism on D-day. We honored those who gathered and we paid tribute to those who were no longer with us, the soldiers and the sailors and the airmen who had made that ultimate sacrifice for the cause of freedom. The ceremony ended with a ceremony of honor guards. Again, my heart filled with awe and admiration to be able to walk with those veterans on that D-day celebration. They were then, and they clearly remain today, true heroes. After the ceremony, my colleagues and I boarded a bus to the town of Bayeaux, a small French village that was spared the heavy fighting and bombing on D-day and of the weeks that followed. As we rode the bus through the countryside, we passed through beautiful green fields, hedgerows, and small towns of the French countryside that were showered in 1944 by the American paratroopers of the 101st and the 82nd Airborne Divisions, the night before those Normandy landings. I specifically mention the 101st because this past weekend I had the opportunity to be in Clarksville, TN, and Fort Campbell, KY, and had the opportunity to witness an air show in which the 101st Airborne participated. You can see dramatically their training exercises. While I was in Kentucky last week, again, I was thinking back to what happened in 1944 when these paratroopers of the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions paratrooped in the night before. Thousands of those paratroopers, as we all know, were killed. Many of them drowned. Many were wounded that night. Many were wounded on the jump itself. The mission was specifically to jump behind enemy lines to distract the Nazis and seize important strategic or key terrain and to disrupt the Nazi reinforcements. Their heroism and success were ultimately crucial to the allied victories at Omaha Beach, at Juno, at Sword, and at Gold. When we arrived in Bayeaux, we were greeted by the President of the French Senate. We had the opportunity to have lunch there with 33 members of their Senate. We also met with the town mayor, and many of the town citizens came out to speak of this. I don't speak French, but as I went over to the side and shook hands and introduced myself to an interpreter, immediately a smile came on their faces with an expression of appreciation and thanks. Among the people we had the opportunity to meet were many survivors of war who had been small children at the time of the occupation. They did recall D-day and the American GIs who liberated their villages. They treated us to a wonderful luncheon that day and, once again, representing America as officials, U.S. Senators from America, we were showered with praise and thanks, as well as a promise of continued friendship and alliance. This was a group of French Senators, so I did not expect that at the time, but that is what we received. Our final event for the day was also very special. It was the multinational ceremony at Arromanches. We were joined by gatherings of heads of state from around the world, senior officials from countries around the world, and a number of our allied nations. We watched a whole range of demonstrations by various multinational military marching units. We had flyovers occur where a number of these nations demonstrated the very best of their aircraft in precision flights overhead. They had a wonderful multimedia presentation that combined the best of dance and video and audio to recount that history of World War II with a very special focus on Normandy. During the final ceremony of the day, in which President Chirac delivered remarks, we did have the opportunity to reflect on those larger contours of the war and how America and her allies united to defeat tyranny and oppression. As we sat among the survivors of D-day and as we listened to America's veterans recount their fears and exploits, I could not help but draw comparisons between the veterans of World War II and our proud troops serving abroad today, the very same troops which 2 days prior my colleagues and I had the opportunity to visit in Baghdad and in Kuwait. The parallel is there, not just because of the temporal relationship, but because of both groups' commitment to freedom and democracy and to a better life for others. America was blessed in World War II on that June 6th, so long ago, yet so close, as it is now, to have the very same soldiers who have that strong character, who have that courage, that boldness, and that determination. Young patriots, then, as now, answered the call of duty, and through their bravery and through their selfless determination, they fought and they won the battle for freedom and security. It was these traits that inspired a whole succession of American Presidents, including the late President Reagan to whom we paid tribute 2 weeks ago. He believed in a Europe and a world whole and free of the shadow of communism. The ``greatest generation'' threat involved nazism and fascism. For nearly 50 years, America confronted another hegemonic ideology, that being communism. Under the leadership and vision of President Reagan, we emerged from the cold war victorious and, as Margaret Thatcher rightly reminds us, without firing a single shot. Today, we do fight a different enemy, but one that is no less ruthless, no less determined, no less uncompromising than our enemies of those wars past. Once again, we must stay the course. Once again, we must have faith in our Armed Forces. Once again, we must hold tightly to the belief that freedom will prevail. That is our challenge. That is our calling. And I truly believe, like generations before us, we will look evil squarely in the eye, and we will not flinch, we will not run. We will gather up our courage to press forward. We will gather up our courage to press forward and defeat the forces of terror and secure the blessings of democracy.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on a separate issue, I want to comment on an issue I mentioned this morning in opening the U.S. Senate, an issue that centers on something very close to my heart, and that is the continent of Africa. I have had the opportunity to travel to Africa this year, to a number of African countries, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that. Indeed, I have had the opportunity to travel to the continent of Africa yearly for the last several years. In each case, with maybe one or two exceptions where I went as an official, I have had the opportunity to travel to Africa as part of a medical mission group, where I have the real privilege of being able to interact with the peoples of Africa--whether it is in Kenya, or Tanzania, or Uganda, or the Sudan; the Sudan is where I usually go--by delivering health care and medicine, and performing surgery, which is what I happen to do when I visit with peoples who might not otherwise have access to that health care. I mention that only because it allows me to be able to talk to real people, not just as an official or a VIP coming in, not as somebody wearing a suit from the United States of America, but to have the opportunity to interact with real people in that doctor-patient relationship. I say doctor-patient relationship; really it is a friend- to-friend relationship. You hear stories, and you really cut through superfluous aspects of people's lives and go right to the heart of what affects them in their lives. It really comes down to how they can provide for their families, how they can get a job, how they can earn an income, and how they can, in a very primitive way but a very real way, make the lives of their children better than theirs--the same desires we all have as Americans. I am talking about people in the bush, people in the heart of Africa, people 1,000 miles south of Khartoum and 500 miles west of the Nile River, way in the bush. When you talk to people, you realize they struggle with the exact same things we do, and that is, dignity; that is, a concept of self-worth. Also, I had the opportunity to travel to Uganda and Kenya and throughout East and Central Africa. What people will tell you is that policy in the United States makes a difference in their lives; that is, policy over the last several years. You may ask them: How do you know what we do? They know that a bill that was passed on the floor of the Senate and the House of Representatives not too many years ago, signed by President Clinton, called the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, has made a difference in their lives. Indeed, that particular act, passed by the Senate, has created at least 150,000 jobs. When President Museveni from Uganda was here, he said, no, it is more than that. It is 300,000 jobs. But the point is, thousands and thousands of jobs have been created in Africa because of legislation that passed on this floor. And a little bit later tonight, hopefully in a few minutes, it will be passed on this floor once again. I mentioned a few minutes ago I called Congressman Charlie Rangel. I did that to congratulate him because he has spearheaded, along with many of his colleagues in the House of Representatives, this particular bill, a bill that is called H.R. 4103, the AGOA Acceleration Act of 2004. AGOA simply stands for African Growth and Opportunity Act. The bill we will be addressing here tonight extends the AGOA preference by 7 years, from 2008 to 2015, and, more importantly, it extends the third country fabric provisions that were due to expire this year for another 3 years. The African Growth and Opportunity Act authorizes the President to provide duty-free treatment for certain articles imported from sub- Saharan African countries. It also provides duty- and quota-free access to the U.S. market for apparel made from U.S. fabric, yarn, and thread. The program has been a huge success for U.S. policy toward sub- Saharan Africa. AGOA has helped expand African trade. It has created jobs, as I mentioned. It has brought about improvements in economic conditions that will be realized in a very sustained way throughout Africa. Expanded trade, as we all know, not only helps sub-Saharan African countries develop this sustainable economic base, but it also leads to efficient government practices, to transparency, and to political stability. U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa increased 13 percent from 2002 to 2003. It has created jobs. The United States, today, is sub-Saharan Africa's largest single export market, accounting for 26 percent of the region's total exports in 2001 alone. U.S. imports under AGOA have almost doubled between 2001 and 2003--up to the 2003 level of over $13 billion. One African leader described the program as ``the greatest friendship act'' by the U.S. Government towards Africa. In fact, the program has been so well received and effective in Africa that the European Union is now reexamining its preference program for Africa in light of AGOA's success. So, Mr. President, I am pleased that we are going to address this legislation tonight. Again, having spent so much time in Africa, it is with great pride that I congratulate my colleagues for addressing this important issue tonight.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, it will still be a few minutes before we close tonight, and I do want to take the opportunity to thank my colleagues for all the tremendous work they have done over the course of this week. It has been a very busy week. But tomorrow we will be leaving on a recess for several days for the Fourth of July, and we can look back over the course of the past week with the satisfaction that we accomplished passage of a number of bills I will mention in a few minutes. But two very significant pieces of legislation that address where the focus of the United States is and should be--and that is, the defense of our country, and the support of our troops overseas and the support of our troops here--are the Defense authorization bill, with passage yesterday, and the Defense appropriations bill, with passage today. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I again congratulate Chairman Stevens and Senator Inouye on completing the first appropriations bill of the year. The record will show, I am sure, the time spent on this bill was one of the fastest, if not the fastest ever, that a Defense Appropriations Committee bill has been considered in the U.S. Senate. We have to understand that it was only on Tuesday morning of this week that the Subcommittee on Defense reported the bill, and the full committee reported it out that afternoon. Here we are on Thursday night having completed this very important, critical bill. I am sure this marathon would not have been possible without the excellent cooperation of many Senators and the terrific work of the Defense appropriations staff, under the leadership of Sid Ashworth for the majority and Charlie Houy for the minority. I am also particularly happy that conferees on this important bill have been appointed and that hopefully shortly after the recess that conference can also be completed in record time so critical funds can be made available to our service men and women around the globe, fighting and standing guard to protect our freedoms and securities. Also, I thank the chairman and Senator Inouye for including today critical funding for humanitarian assistance in the Sudan. We simply can not stand by idly as half a million people are uprooted and forced to flee the Darfur region while also suffering unbelievable starvation, hunger, and murder from Sudan, government-backed Arab militias. The funding we have provided today will go to USAID to assist these refugees but of course a political solution needs to found also for this part of our world. Again, I thank Chairman Stevens and Senator Inouye for their hard work today.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider all nominations reported out by the Armed Services Committee today. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.