Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to a resolution at the desk regarding emergency authority; provided, further, that the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I do want to briefly comment on the families of the individuals who were potentially exposed yesterday. It is an inconvenience because you are waiting for tests and you are doing screening tests that have a certain meaning in terms of sensitivity, specificity. We are waiting for results to get back, and you hear about the potential harm these poisons can do. I express my real sympathies to the families and the individuals affected. We had a conference call. We were all together last night by telephone until the early hours of this morning. We had another conference call at 8:45 this morning, and we will continue to be in touch with all the people who could have potentially been affected. Again, we think about them and their families. We will be having our policy lunches today. Both sides of the aisle will conduct their policy lunches in the usual fashion. With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask another unanimous consent for a committee to meet during tomorrow's session of the Senate. It has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. I ask unanimous consent that this request be agreed to and that this request be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST. For the information of Members, Chairman Warner will hold this hearing tomorrow at 9:30 a.m., in the Rayburn House Office Building, in the Carl Vinson Room. Secretary Rumsfeld will be at the hearing and will provide testimony on the 2004 Defense authorization bill. Again, this hearing will be in the Rayburn House Office Building at 9:30 tomorrow morning.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the President of the Senate be authorized to appoint a committee on the part of the Senate to join with a like committee on the part of the House of Representatives to escort His Excellency Jose Maria Aznar, President of the Government of Spain, into the House Chamber for the joint meeting tomorrow.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet on February 4, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., in the Carl Vinson Room of the Rayburn House Office Building, in open session to receive testimony on the Defense Authorization request for fiscal year 2005 and the future years Defense program.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, tomorrow at 11 a.m., the Senate and House will conduct a joint meeting to hear an address by President Aznar of Spain. We do ask Senators be in the Senate Chamber at 10:40 a.m. so Senators can proceed together to the Hall of the House of Representatives for that address. At 1 p.m., the Senate will reconvene and resume consideration of S. 1072, the highways bill. Notwithstanding the recent events, it is still my intention to complete action on this bill before the February recess. Indeed, with the progress demonstrated today, I believe we can indeed accomplish just that. I do inform my colleagues that rollcall votes should be anticipated during tomorrow's session as we begin the amendment process. I encourage Senators to come to the floor to offer and debate amendments. In addition to the highway bill amendments, the Senate may also consider any available judicial nominations tomorrow. We will alert all Members as these votes are scheduled. With regard to the events that have occurred over the course of today, I do appreciate the patience of all of the Members with the restrictions we have had to put in place in terms of access to papers and access to their offices. First and foremost, our attention is on the staff and on the safety of the Senate family, the extended Senate family that begins with our own employees in our offices and then extends out through the Senate community and, indeed, beyond the immediate community here. It has been a difficult day but, as I said earlier, it has given us an opportunity to really come together in some remarkable ways. I contrast it with a lot that we had to go through several years ago with anthrax, which was a very difficult time as well. It was a separate agent, but now another agent has been directed against this body. These agents are weapons that kill. People ask, is it terrorism? Was it a criminal act? To me, both of those demonstrate the intent to harm and to hurt. Both were acts of terror. The whole purpose is not just to physically harm but also to cause insecurity among people. We have learned over the last several years the best way to alleviate and tone down that feeling of insecurity when dealing with unknown agents--agents that have never been used this way in the history of mankind, poisonous toxins or biological agents that for the most part we cannot really see you can see the powder, but you cannot touch it, and you know the weapons kill when they get into the immediate surroundings and are directed at individuals--is the pulling together and the sharing of information, with openness, holding press conferences, using the Blackberries, the computer and the telephone, the personal interaction. Put that together with good information and accurate information and things can work out in a smooth way, in a way that allays the great fears we all have when dealing with the new powerful agents, we are all more comfortable, more secure, we are all a little more relaxed. This is very serious business. There is nothing more serious. We are talking about the health and safety and welfare of individuals and, through those individuals, their families. It extends not just on Capitol Hill but the feeling of insecurity around the country. I keep coming back to the individuals and the families. I do want to share with everybody that the individuals in my office are doing fine. The people who happened to go through the office where this powder was discovered took appropriate procedures on behalf of my staff that went into effect immediately in the response by the police and HAZ-MAT personnel, with appropriate notification all the way up through late last night. I have been very pleased and very proud. They are all doing fine. We have had two conference calls today, one bright and early this morning. Many did not get home until 2 or 2:30 last night, after waiting, of course, for some of the latest results. We had a conference call with everyone early this morning before the Senate session and we just completed another one. We are providing access to medical personnel and physicians and trying to answer as many questions as we possibly can with them. I am mighty proud of them and things are looking fine. It is remarkable also for me to see, having been involved in both of these attacks with toxins, chemical acts and bioterror agents, the real integration and the working together which people do not see. I share with my colleagues our thanks to the various staff members who, starting immediately yesterday and working through today, include the United States Capitol Hill Police--and they serve on both the Senate and the House side--who demonstrated excellent leadership. Their experience and the protocols immediately came together, working very closely with the response team and the Environmental Protection Agency. We all asked questions. Yes, you saw a powder, but how far does it aerosolize? How far does it travel over the Capitol grounds? The EPA has been instrumental over the last day having prepared for this sort of event over the last several years. The United States Marine Corps; a lot of people say, What do you mean? The United States Marine Corps has been very helpful in the process of getting things back up and running. The Joint Terrorism Task Force is something we did not even think very much about 3 years ago. And that joint terrorism task force is now an organized group. They were prepared for this. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been working diligently over the last 24 hours with us and the Department of Homeland Security. As a physician, of course, I usually start with recognizing the medical personnel. In all public events, we will have the Senate Capitol attending physician there. He, again, walked us through the anthrax threat. He has more experience than anybody in the world today in terms of a bioterrorist or chemical terrorist attack in an institution or society such as this, having gone through anthrax and now the ricin attack, and that is John Eisold who does a tremendous job. One of his physicians was with my staff constantly all last night from early in the evening until the early hours of the morning, sitting with my staff throughout, answering questions and reassuring them and appropriately advising them and counseling them. The Sergeant at Arms, Bill Pickle, who was not here when we had the anthrax attack but who has been here over the course of the year, again, is doing a superb job. He and I have talked to each other at least every hour except for maybe two hours between 4 and 6 early this morning. Secretary of the Senate Emily Reynolds' office right now serves as a central hotline point and control room in terms of coordination. The list could go on and on. I mention all this because Senator Daschle and I have worked over the course of today and we are doing our very best in terms of the communication, getting accurate information out, and we are continuing to do just that over the next several days. The Senate has not missed a beat. We have been in session, had a productive day. We are in session tomorrow, for another productive day. We will have a joint meeting of Congress to hear an address of the President of Spain, a wonderful friend to the United States of America, President Aznar. Following that, as I mentioned earlier, we will come into session at 1 p.m. and votes will occur. I mentioned we are moving one committee over to the House side; other committees will be meeting in the Capitol. I do ask that individual committee members check with their committee chairman for the location of individual hearings. We do have three Senate office buildings which are closed: the Hart building, Dirksen, and Russell. All three Senate office buildings will be closed throughout tomorrow. It is primarily to facilitate in the most time-efficient fashion the collection and removal of mail. That is the primary purpose. That is well underway as we speak. With that, I believe I will bring this session to a close. We will be back working hard tomorrow and we will be staying in touch with everyone over the course of tonight.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 1 p.m., Wednesday, February 4. I further ask that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate then resume consideration of S. 1072, the highway bill.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will have a few remarks at the close on what has been a difficult day, but very positive in many ways as we have come together and faced the challenges before this body and have been able to conduct very productive and very useful business over the course of the day in spite of a major distraction on the outside that was magnified and illustrated by the fact that three Senate office buildings closed and people do not have access to a lot of the papers in their own offices. In spite of that, we are continuing the Nation's business in a very productive way.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 2 p.m. At this juncture, I ask unanimous consent that we extend morning business, with the time equally divided, until 3 p.m. today.

Mr. FRIST. At 3 p.m. the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 1072, the highway funding bill. Last week we attempted to reach a consent agreement to begin consideration of the highway bill today. Unfortunately, there was an objection to proceeding; therefore, I filed cloture on the motion to proceed. That cloture vote will occur at 5:45 p.m. today. I hope cloture will be invoked and the Senate will be able to begin consideration of this important bill this evening. This is a major piece of legislation which will not only secure America's infrastructure but also create jobs. There will be a lot of discussion and debate. I anticipate that this bill will take both this week and next week--that is the next 2 weeks-- to complete. Having said that, we need to begin the debate and allow the Senate to work its will on the amendments offered. Several of the committees are continuing their efforts on their respective pieces of this highway bill today and tomorrow, but that should not delay us from beginning to consider this important measure. As I have said, there will be adequate time to consider this bill on the floor, and Members will have the opportunity to offer amendments. On another subject, last week the Senate passed the pension rate reform bill by a large bipartisan vote of 86 to 9. The vote in the House on their version of the bill was 397 to 2. Now it is time for us to appoint conferees and to go to conference to reconcile the differences. The Senate bill has been passed. The House bill has been passed. Now we want to appoint conferees so we can go to conference and reconcile those differences. Unfortunately, there has been an objection on the other side of the aisle to proceeding. I again urge the Democratic leadership to allow us to appoint conferees so we can begin the process. The large bipartisan vote on passage of this legislation in this body as well as in the House indicates we are all willing to work together, and I hope we can continue and progress toward a conference of agreement. On another note, I remind my colleagues that on Wednesday of this week, President Aznar of Spain will address a joint meeting of Congress. President Aznar will begin his speech at 11 a.m. Therefore, Members are asked to gather in the Senate Chamber at 10:40 so that we may leave as a body for the House Chamber to hear that address.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I would like to take a few minutes to comment on the importance of proceeding to the highway bill which will be the focus of this institution over the next 2 weeks. At 5:45 today we will have the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the highway bill. I do hope cloture will be invoked and we will be able to begin consideration of this vitally important bill. In the next few moments, I want to share why I believe this bill is so important to us, to the American people and, thus, we need to invoke cloture. There is broad support for this legislation here in the Senate as well as all across America. We will spend the next couple of weeks considering it on the Senate floor. A number of Senate committees are involved in this important bill, including the Environment and Public Works Committee, the Commerce Committee, the Banking Committee, the Finance Committee--all have vital and critical pieces of this bill. We will work through their various committee amendments over the next 2 weeks. It is key that we focus our full attention on this legislation. America's transportation infrastructure is crucial to our vibrant economy, to our growing economy today. America is interlaced with over 4 million miles of roads and highways. Our transportation infrastructure is estimated to be worth more than $1.75 trillion. The interstate highway system has often been called the greatest public works project in history. Every $1 billion we invest in transportation infrastructure generates more than $2 billion in economic activity and creates more than 47,000 new jobs. Our roads, our ports, our railroads are vital to America's economic success. We know this well in my home State of Tennessee where companies such as Federal Express, Averitt Express, and U.S. Express are located. The success of these companies is dependent on the quality of our Nation's infrastructure. Around the Nation, America's transportation infrastructure is deteriorating badly and becoming painfully overcrowded. America's roads especially are not keeping up. You can ask any American commuter. There is bumper-to-bumper traffic, not just during rush hour but all day long. Indeed, in our Nation's urban areas, traffic delays have more than tripled over the past 20 years. That is not just in the larger cities--New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles. In Raleigh-Durham, commuting time has gone up nearly 25 percent in 10 years. In Charlotte, traffic congestion has added 39 additional commuting hours per year, the equivalent of nearly an entire week stuck in traffic. In Tennessee, traffic congestion has increased in all our major metropolitan areas. In my hometown of Nashville, commuters drive an average of 32 miles per day. Metropolitan planning organizations are struggling to meet demand. It is estimated that Americans suffer through more than 3.6 billion hours in delays and waste over 5.7 billion gallons of fuel per year just sitting in traffic. These transportation delays ripple through our Nation's economic sector and result in lost productivity, lost wages, and lost jobs. We cannot ask our fellow citizens to join the great American workforce and then stand idly by while our roads decay and that daily commute to work stretches from minutes into hours. It is a jobs issue. This bill is a quality-of-life issue, and it is a serious safety issue as well. More time on the road translates into more accidents; 41,000 travelers are killed each year on our worsening roads, and over 3 million people are injured. As our highways become more and more congested, drivers begin to take alternate routes on town streets, which we know exposes them to even greater danger. Passing the highway bill is lifesaving. It will save an estimated 4,000 lives each year by simply improving our roads and educating the public about road safety. In Tennessee, our State highway department is investing in measures to reduce traffic-related fatalities. States across the country will need additional resources to make similar improvements. Passing the highway bill will also improve the mass transit system that is so vital to our thriving urban centers. With new and modernized vehicles and facilities, mass transit is gaining in popularity. The Department of Transportation reports that from 1997 to 2000, passenger mileage on mass transit increased by 125 percent. More people are using trains more frequently not just to get to work but to run errands and to travel. Passenger mileage on trains has gone up 16 percent. But like our roads, our transit system is not keeping up. Average rail operating speeds have actually declined since 1997 as trains are older and we are using slower rail systems. As daily commuters can testify, trains are getting more and more crowded as well. The Department of Transportation warns that as the Nation's population continues to increase and more people live in urban areas, the need for investment in transit infrastructure will continue to grow. Finally, the bill we have before us that we will begin to consider is the result of a long bipartisan process. It is based on more than 2 years of work, including 13 hearings and testimony from over 100 witnesses. The highway bill is a fair and comprehensive package that will benefit the entire Nation. From highways and bridges to bike paths, this bill will make our transportation safer, more efficient, and will stimulate job creation. Indeed, it is estimated that the highway bill under consideration will add a whopping 2 million jobs to the economy. Our vast and interconnecting highways are emblematic of our great American spirit, our love of adventure, and our drive toward the unknown. Our highways, our bridges, our roads, our ports, and our trains are in fact very much the physical expression of the very name we bear, uniting the States of America. I urge my colleagues to take swift action to pass this legislation. We must work together to continue to move America forward. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on today's Executive Calendar: Calendar Nos. 536 through 543, and all nominations on the Secretary's desk. For the information of Members, these are military promotions reported today by the Armed Services Committee. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. At 5:45.

Mr. FRIST. I am happy to yield.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I very much appreciate the comments by the assistant Democratic leader. It is absolutely critical we get to this bill. I suspect this cloture vote on Monday will be overwhelming, probably 95 to 5 or 98 to 2 or 99 to 1. Maybe everybody will vote for it. But what it does, from a scheduling standpoint, on a bill that deserves debate, as good a bill as it is--and it is the most fair bill it could possibly be, as we have just heard it described--there is going to be debate. I think both the assistant Democratic leader and myself, and the leadership on both sides of the aisle, have agreed to bring this bill to the floor at the earliest possible date. I am disappointed because I literally said 3 months ago we were going to go to the highway bill on Monday, and that we were going to spend the appropriate amount of time on it, that people would be able to debate and amend it as necessary. A few people, for whatever reason--maybe some good reasons--are going to set us back. It sets the overall agenda of the Senate back. And what, in effect, it does is it causes us to lose a day when we were going to have debate only. We were not going to have amendments on Monday but, in effect, we lose the opportunity to start on a very important bill. I mention that now because it is early in the second session of this Congress, and we have to have cooperation. I plead with our Members to have cooperation so we can do what this body does best, and that is to debate, bring bills to the floor and debate them, and vote them up, vote them down, defeat them, pass them. It is inevitable we will get there. People are going to watch what the vote is going to be Monday night. It will be overwhelming. And I am not pointing just my finger at the person who objected because he is really speaking for, probably, a couple other people as well, but we have to proceed with this bill. It is an important bill. Leadership on both sides of the aisle has said that we are going to spend an appropriate amount of time on this bill. So people have some idea, it could be a week, and it could be as long as 2 weeks, but we have to get to the bill. Then we can bring amendments up and debate them.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I think we should encourage that proposal. Again, the whole purpose is to get the bill to the floor, and to debate it and appropriately amend it and do what we all want to do to support appropriately the infrastructure that is very much the foundation upon which our economy works day in and day out.

Mr. FRIST. I now ask consent that the mandatory quorum be waived and that the vote on the motion to invoke cloture occur at 5:45 on Monday, February 2.

Mr. FRIST. With that objection, I now move to proceed to the consideration of S. 1072, and I send a cloture motion to the desk on the motion to proceed.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Tomorrow morning, the Senate will convene a pro forma session. No business will be transacted during Thursday's session. The Senate will then reconvene on Monday, February 2 at 1 p.m. At 2 p.m. we will resume debate on the motion to proceed. Under the order, the Senate will vote on invoking cloture on the motion to proceed to the highway bill at 5:45 p.m. Monday. If cloture is invoked, we will stay on that motion until it is disposed of. I encourage Members to come to the floor on Monday to begin their opening statements on the highway legislation.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 11 a.m., Thursday, January 29, for a pro forma session only; provided that the Senate then immediately stand in adjournment until 1 p.m., Monday, February 2. I further ask consent that on Monday, 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 the time until 2 p.m. equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, with Senator Graham of Florida controlling the minority time; provided that at 2 p.m. the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to the consideration of S. 1072, the highway bill.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, before we proceed to the next vote, I do want to make a couple quick comments regarding the schedule. First, I am very pleased with the bipartisan vote on the passage of the pension bill. I congratulate the managers. At this point, the regular order would be for the Senate to request a conference with the House to reconcile the differences in the Senate bill and the House bill. I understand from the Democratic leadership that they have an objection to appointing conferees at this time. I hope we can work this out. This is an important piece of legislation that we need to address and clearly need to conference this matter with the House. Having said that, I will continue to talk with the Democratic leader in an effort to proceed with the regular order on appointing conferees. For the schedule, the next vote, which will occur shortly, will be the last vote of the week. On Monday, we will proceed to consideration of the highway bill. We will have a vote on Monday, and I expect that vote to be in relation to a judicial nomination. We will be announcing later in the day the timing of that vote.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I have been in discussions with a number of Senators regarding next week's schedule. We had previously stated that it would be our intention to begin consideration of the highway bill on Monday. I had hoped we could start with opening statements on the bill on Monday and limit Monday to debate only to allow the Finance Committee to complete their work on their section of the highway bill. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach a consent to begin; therefore, it will be necessary that I file cloture on a motion to proceed. Having said that, I now ask unanimous consent that at 2 p.m. on Monday, February 2, the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 426, S. 1072, the highway bill.