Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I wish to take a moment to congratulate Chairman McCain and Senator Burns and others who have fought so hard for the anti-spam legislation that passed not too long ago tonight. Although I am disappointed we have not been able to proceed to conference on the CARE Act, I am very hopeful that ultimately we will be able to do that and I am very hopeful we will at some point receive unanimous consent to do just that. Today's vote, 97 to 0, on the anti-spam legislation, reflects a lot of the hard, bipartisan work--both sides of the aisle--that was put into the anti-spam bill. I do thank all of our colleagues who have worked so diligently on this legislation. We started on this bill about 2 o'clock today and we had final passage 4\1/2\ hours later. I am very hopeful we can continue with this sort of efficient movement on the floor of the Senate for the remaining issues we have this year. We do continue to work toward an agreement on a range of issues. They include Healthy Forests and the Internet tax moratorium, which is currently being worked on. The CARE Act, as my colleagues can tell, continues to be a challenge, but I hold out the hope that we will be able to send that bill to conference. Senator Rick Santorum has done just a superb job in shepherding that bill through the Senate. The companion bill has passed the House of Representatives, and indeed it is time to address it in the conference. We are also looking toward an agreement on fair credit reporting which does have strong bipartisan support in this body. There are very few objections. I hope we can take care of that in short order. We will continue to push very hard for that particular bill. Also today, we addressed an issue on which we can't give up. We can't really accept as the final punctuation mark the outcome of the vote today where we had 59 Senators say it is time for us to solve the class action challenge before this body. We didn't have 60 Senators. We had 59--1 short. If we had just one other colleague come forward and say, yes, this is a problem for the American people, it is a problem for our economy, it is a problem for our families, we would have been able to proceed with class action reform. I want to take a couple of minutes and comment, because I didn't have the opportunity earlier today, on the importance of class action reform. I should preface that by saying that just yesterday I came to the floor to talk about my upbeat optimism for really the first time in the last several months with regard to our economy. That is in part for having traveled around the country this past weekend and talked to a lot of people in various occupations and various jobs. You can just see and sense and you can feel that increased consumer optimism that is around the country. Indeed, we had some very good economic numbers, some of which I mentioned yesterday. The Department of Commerce reported that consumption is strong in this third quarter. Consumption grew by an annualized rate of over 12 percent. Many economists say this third- quarter consumption may be the strongest in almost 4 years. New housing starts are annualized to be about 1.9 million based on the results from last month. That is probably the highest in terms of housing starts in the last 17 years. Production from our factories increased 3.5 percent in this quarter. It had been negative the quarter before that. The Department of Labor also delivered the report that initial jobless claims are at their lowest levels since February and that in August the nonfarm sector employment rose by 57,000 jobs. All of that I think is very encouraging news. As these economic indices continue to improve, with some lag time, that is translated into increased jobs. But that is not enough. We have a lot we can do and we should be doing on the floor of Senate. We need to have smart progrowth fiscal policies because we know that helps create jobs. It gives job security for those who are currently working. I am optimistic that we are going to see this continued improvement in the economy, but equally importantly in job creation. The sort of structural problems we need to address: Taking action on class action reform. Class action lawsuits are a problem. What makes it even more important for us to address now is it is a problem that is getting worse with time. A recent survey found that State court class action filings skyrocketed by 1,315 percent in just 10 years. The result of this glut of claims--many unnecessary, many frivolous claims--is that it clogs the State courts, it wastes taxpayer dollars, and it inhibits innovative in entrepreneurship that we all know is so crucial to job growth. All the purported victims ever get in this sordid process is a little coupon--a measly little coupon. I say that not just figuratively but literally. A couple of examples: In a suit against Blockbuster, plaintiffs' lawyers alleged that their clients were being fleeced by excessive late fees. They sued the video rental chain for restitution. The result was that each of their clients received a $1 coupon offer for future rentals while the lawyers at the same time pocketed over $9 million. What is interesting is that, meanwhile, Blockbuster was allowed to continue that same late fee practice that the lawsuit was ostensibly launched to end--$9 million to the lawyers and a $1 coupon--but the practice continued. You say that is outrageous and it couldn't be. It is a fact. Another anecdote and equally outrageous had to do with Coca-Cola and apple juice. What happened a few years ago was the plaintiffs' lawyers charged that the Coca-Cola drink company was improperly adding sweeteners to its apple juice. These plaintiffs' lawyers, who were parading as vigilant deans of public health, managed to secure--yes, once again--a 50-cent coupon for the apple juice victims but the lawyers received $1.5 million. If you think that is outrageous, in a class action suit against the Bank of Boston plaintiffs actually lost money when their accounts were drawn down to pay their lawyers $8.5 million in fees. That is large business. Also, these large suits have a direct impact on small businesses. These small businesses get drawn into this feeding frenzy that is going on around the country. What happens is that in order to avoid going to Federal court, the class action legal team will rope in local small businesses in the area as codefendants in order to get that case decided in--it may be an adjacent county or an adjacent State--a favorable State. Once the window during which the real class action target can remove the case to the Federal court closes, that unlucky mom-and-pop shop that happened to be in the wrong county or the wrong town at the wrong time is dropped from the case, but not before they have had to invest considerable sums of money in this process of defending themselves. Such lawsuits are frivolous. Such lawsuits are unnecessary. They are wasteful and they translate into a burden on our economy, a burden on our judicial system, a burden on taxpayers, and clearly a burden on the practice of law. Who can help but be cynical about a system which we have today that awards lawyers millions of dollars over an apple juice sweetener dispute? So this can't go on. Too many of these lawsuits are little more than operations which shake down these small businesses or these large businesses. Oftentimes the lawyers are counting on the company to pay a sizable settlement just to avoid that higher cost of going to court. Companies--whether big or small--should no longer be subjected to this blackmail, which is wrong and unfair. It needs to stop. Today, we tried to take this issue to the floor of the Senate so it could, once and for all, be addressed. Indeed, a majority--it was a bipartisan majority--of Senators said, yes, it is a problem; yes, it deserves to be debated in the Senate; yes, several may have wanted to amend it; yes, it is time to address this issue which is a burden on the taxpayer. It is a burden on working men and women. It is a burden on small businesses. It is a burden on families. That was a majority. But in this body it takes 60 votes, not just a majority, 60 of 100 Senators to say, yes, we are going to address that. We only had 59. I hope my colleagues will come back to the table. As majority leader, I promise I will stay on this issue until we have it resolved. It may take constituents around the country saying, yes, it is important to call Senators, to talk to Senators and encourage Senators in town meetings, to say, yes, it is important to address this problem. I hope my colleagues recognize the significance of this issue to our economy and to working families. If one more person came forward, we would be able to address this once and for all. That would be good for the country. It would be good for the law. It would be good for the economy. And it is good for the legitimate claims that are out there and should be fairly and appropriately settled.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent the HELP Committee be discharged from further action on S. Con. Res. 21 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent the amendment at the desk be agreed to, the concurrent resolution, as amended, be agreed to, the amendment to the preamble, which is at the desk, be agreed to, the preamble, as amended, be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements regarding this matter be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on Thursday, October 23, following the period of morning business, the Senate proceed to the consideration of calendar No. 279, H.R. 2989, the Transportation appropriations bill.

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. I object to further proceedings to the measures en bloc at this time.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning there will be a period for morning business to allow Senators to make statements. At 10:30 today, the Senate will begin consideration of the conference report to accompany the partial-birth abortion ban bill. Under a unanimous consent agreement, there will be up to 4 hours of debate on that conference report. Under a previous order, the Senate will stand in recess from 12:30 until 2:15 for the respective party caucus meetings. After that recess, the Senate will continue consideration of the partial-birth abortion ban, with a vote on the conference report expected this afternoon. That vote will be the first vote of the day. Following the vote on the partial-birth abortion ban, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 1751, the class action fairness bill. I remind my colleagues that we had hoped to begin consideration of the class action legislation yesterday. Unfortunately, there was an objection to proceeding which is why it was necessary for us to proceed to move to that bill. Yesterday, we filed a cloture motion on the motion to proceed and that vote will occur tomorrow morning. It is important that we are able to proceed with that bill. I understand there are differences on the substance of the legislation. However, the Senate should be allowed to consider those issues through debate and votes, as appropriate. Therefore, I once again encourage my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to allow us to begin work on the bill to bring some sense to the overall class action process. I was also disappointed with the objection to proceeding to the Healthy Forests initiative. Chairman Cochran and others on both sides of the aisle have been working in good faith to bring that bill to the floor in a way to consider some concerns that may exist on the Democratic side. Again, there was an objection to proceed to that measure. I hope Members can, over the course of this morning and today, rethink that objection and allow debate to begin on this very important initiative, the Healthy Forests legislation. We are also working hard to clear for Senate action a number of other important issues, including the fair credit reporting bill, the so- called spam legislation, as well as an agreement to move forward on the charitable giving bill. I remind my colleagues, both the Senate and the House have already passed their respective versions of that legislation and it is now time for us to move to conference and reconcile those differences. Having said that, we will continue to work with the Democratic leadership in an effort to reach an agreement to move forward on all of the bills I just mentioned. As we approach the last weeks of this session, we need to redouble our efforts to stay focused and disciplined on these agreements so we can allow the Senate to consider all of these bills. I thank my colleagues in advance for their cooperation.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, on leader time, I will use just a remaining few minutes. The partial-birth abortion ban is finally at the finishing line. I expect today the Senate will vote for the last time to end this morally reprehensible procedure. We will have a bill on the President's desk, and this President will sign the ban into law. As a physician and as a board-certified surgeon, I can say without equivocation that partial-birth abortion is brutal, it is barbaric, it is morally offensive, and it is outside of the mainstream practice of medicine. Contrary to the claims of its supporters, partial-birth abortion is a fringe procedure outside of the mainstream. It is not performed by people who are board-certified surgeons. It is not found in common medical textbooks. It is not taught in our surgical residency programs. The sole purpose of this partial-birth abortion is to deliver a dead baby. It is not, as some insist, to protect the life of the mother. In fact, partial-birth abortion, as we have heard again and again, is dangerous to the health of the mother, more dangerous than other alternatives. We could go on and on with these undeniable medical facts in greater detail, but something larger is at stake, and we speak to that powerfully with this vote today. Beyond even the ethical practice of medicine, our Nation's charter, the Declaration of Independence, asserts our Creator has blessed us with certain rights--rights from which we, as beings made in God's image and likeness, cannot be alienated. In destroying the body of a mature, unborn child, we are alienating that child from his or her most essential right; and that is, the right to life. In doing so, we are violating the very premise of our Republic--that our rights are enduring gifts of God, not privileges to be revoked by human whim. In Evangelium vitae, Pope John Paul II tells us true human freedom is rooted in a ``culture of life.'' We will reaffirm in this Chamber that human personhood is precious, that doing no harm is still the bedrock of medical morality, and that we have the will to stop a practice we know is evil and morally reprehensible. I yield back the remainder of the time.

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, obviously we have a strong disagreement in the statements that were just made. Let me finally close by saying this is a brutal procedure. It is a barbaric procedure. It offends the sensibilities of 90 percent or more of Americans. It is outside of mainstream medicine as practiced in the United States of America today. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on leader time, I want to make a very brief comment to highlight a few of the encouraging developments on our economic front. I know we will be going to morning business, and some of my colleagues will be talking shortly on the issue of our economy and where we are in terms of jobs and job creation. There have been some very encouraging developments on the economic front. When the third quarter GDP figures are released next week, it is anticipated we will very possibly see growth as high as 6.5 percent. All signs, at this point, point to a very robust holiday buying season. The Department of Commerce reports consumption is strong. In the third quarter, consumption grew by an annual rate of over 12 percent. Many economists tell us this third quarter consumption may be the strongest we have seen over the last 4 years--again, very good news. Likewise, the Department of Labor reports the initial jobless claims are at their lowest levels since February. In August, the nonfarm sector employment rose by 57,000 jobs. In the area of manufacturing, mid-Atlantic manufacturing is showing promising signs of recovery. The index for new orders showed the highest gains in 8 years, and the monthly index of regional manufacturing significantly topped the economists' expectations. Inflation, meanwhile, remains very low. Short-term interest rates are also at historically low levels. There is much to cheer about in this positive news. Smart, progrowth fiscal policy is helping lead this creation of new jobs. But we have a lot more work to do. There are some structural problems we need to tackle on this Senate floor in order to strengthen the marketplace. We need a more efficient marketplace, a more transparent marketplace. We need to make it less risky for businesses to go out and hire workers and to retrain those workers, and we can do that by focusing on appropriate reforms such as strengthening trade; reducing health care costs; reducing litigation costs; reducing insurance costs; strengthening energy policy, which we are doing in conference right now; and, I would also add, enacting strong asbestos reform. These are the sorts of policies that will increase productivity. They will increase predictability in the marketplace, and they ultimately will stoke the engines of economic growth. I am really, for the first time, becoming optimistic that we have turned this corner and that we will see continued improvement. The agenda items we are working on to complete this session--many of which we just discussed--will lead to more jobs, more prosperity, and a solid economic recovery. Mr. President, I yield the floor. Mr. DORGAN addressed the Chair.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I appreciate the comments just made by my colleague and I think his comments reflect the amount of work we absolutely must accomplish in the next few days. I say that because in terms of the numbers of days in the weeks remaining, there are very few legislative days. We should all redouble our efforts and focus on each and every one of these bills. They are all very important. I know it may seem, as the Republican leader, I am encouraging the resolution of these bills by bringing them to the floor. That is exactly what I am doing, so we can all redouble our efforts to accomplish what really we want to do mutually: Go through each of these, have the appropriate debate and amendment on the floor as we go forward.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I object to further proceedings.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand that S. 1751 is at the desk and is due for a second reading.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. For the information of all Senators, as I mentioned earlier today, it had been my hope that we could work out an agreement to consider the healthy forest issue during Monday's session. Chairman Cochran has been working diligently toward an agreement to consider amendments on both sides of the aisle on that legislation. Unfortunately, there is an objection to proceeding to the measure from the other side. We will continue our discussions on that important legislation. I hope we may still reach a consent for its consideration as soon as possible. On Monday, under the previous order, we will resume debate on the motion to proceed to the class action bill. Again, this is a critically important bill that we hope to consider and complete next week, but there is an objection from the Democratic side. We do have a number of Senators who are very interested in this bill and will be here on Monday prepared to speak on its behalf. Under the earlier consent, we will proceed to a vote on a judicial nomination at 5:15 p.m. and that will be the first vote of Monday's session. Again, I do want to thank all Members for their tremendous efforts over the course of this week. It took many busy days, and many long hours, well into the night, but we did accomplish what we set out to do, and that was to complete the Iraq supplemental. Today, we had 11 rollcall votes culminating with a vote on passage, 87 to 12, a strong bipartisan vote. I, once again, thank Chairman Stevens for his tireless efforts in helping shepherd this bill through the Senate.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote on final passage on S. 1689 be vitiated and that the bill be returned to the calendar.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1900.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period for the transaction of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today has been a very good day in the Senate, as well as in the House of Representatives, with a strong bipartisan majority vote in both Houses of Congress approving the funds necessary to support our soldiers and civilians serving in Iraq and to move quickly to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe this is a major victory for the President of the United States in his efforts to bring stability and peace to Iraq. Personally, I am very pleased with the overwhelming bipartisan support for the President's proposal in the Senate. When the package was first sent to the Hill several weeks ago, very few thought it possible. We have had to make a number of difficult votes and, indeed, we worked very late last night, into the early hours of this morning, completing this bill, now, just several hours ago. I am certain the Senate- and House-passed bills will allow us that opportunity to negotiate a final legislative package that, indeed, will give the President everything he requested. It was important to do. It was important to complete this legislation today especially, not only to get the money to our troops as soon as possible and to rebuild the civilian infrastructure in Iraq as soon as possible but also because of the donor conference in Madrid next week. The President, indeed, has made a strong stand for freedom and democracy in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, and he has taken forceful action against brutality and terrorism in the region, and by doing so has made America safer and our citizens more secure. Indeed, we are at war in Afghanistan as well as Iraq. The funds in this legislation provide both the direct support for our soldiers, as well as an investment in creating a safer environment in the countries where they serve. The legislation will make them safer and, in all likelihood, will get them home sooner. I also want to take this opportunity to commend Senator Stevens for his tremendous leadership on this particular legislation, as well as Senator Warner and Senator McCain and Senator McConnell, all for their tireless efforts to pass this emergency funding request.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on today's Executive Calendar: Calendar Nos. 406, 407, 408, and 409. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and that the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning we will be proceeding immediately to a series of stacked votes on some of the pending amendments to the Iraq-Afghanistan supplemental. Last night, we were able to reach an agreement which has put us in a position to finish this bill today. Following the early sequence of votes, the chairman will be working on either clearing or scheduling for votes the other pending amendments. In addition, under the order there are a few other amendments that may yet be offered. I ask those Senators who still intend to offer amendments to share those amendments with both sides so they can be reviewed. This will be helpful and allow us to schedule any necessary debate and votes in a timely way today. The Senate will finish the bill today. We will remain in session until it is complete. A busy session is expected, and I ask for Members' patience as we approach the final hours of this bill. I remind my colleagues they should remain close to the Chamber throughout today's session to allow us to finish at the earliest hour. During this morning's series of votes, all votes after the first will be 10 minutes in length. We will be closing these votes quickly, and it is imperative that Members remain in or around the Senate Chamber to avoid missing a vote. Having said that, I believe we are ready to begin, and I thank Members for their patience and cooperation during this busy morning.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the committee amendments be agreed to, that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the amendment to the title be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Last, Mr. President, I congratulate the current occupant of the chair, the junior Senator from New Hampshire. Just a short time ago, about an hour and a half ago, at approximately 6 p.m., he reached his 100th hour of presiding time. That wasn't all just tonight, but I know he may feel like it at this time, 7:30 in the evening--100 hours during this first session of the 108th Congress. Everybody in this body owes him a debt of gratitude for his service to this institution as he presides over us just about every Friday, I believe, with a firm but a very fair gavel.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, just for the information of our colleagues, on Monday we will have a vote in the afternoon around 5 or 5:30. I am discussing with the Democratic leader what we will be doing on Monday. We initially talked about bringing forward Healthy Forests, but I think we will not be doing that at this juncture. We will have an announcement later about that. I know a lot of people will be leaving after the vote, so for their information, we will be having one vote I know for sure on Monday around 5 or 5:30. We will pin that down later tonight.

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