Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. In 5 days we will observe the fifth anniversary of the most vicious act of terror ever perpetrated on American soil. Nearly 3,000 fellow Americans lost their lives on September 11. We have worked tirelessly to make America safer from terrorist attacks and to honor the sacrifices of the victims of 9/11 and their families. But the fact remains that we still have more to do. That is why Senator McConnell and I are proud to introduce legislation on behalf of the President to bring terrorists to justice. The bill authorizes military commissions to prosecute terrorist detainees and addresses the concerns raised by the Supreme Court in the Hamdan decision. Today, we are a nation at war. Our enemies are terrorists who do not value democracy, freedom, or innocent life. When we capture them on the battlefield, we have a right to prosecute them for war crimes. And we must establish a system that protects our national security while ensuring a full and fair trial for the detainees. That is why it is imperative that we quickly move forward on this bill. By formally establishing military commissions to prosecute terrorist detainees, we are creating another tool in the war on terror--and providing a measure of justice to the victims of 9/11. Under these commissions, terrorist detainees will get a fair trial. They will be tried before impartial military judges. They will have the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, the right to counsel, the right to present exculpatory evidence, the right to exclude evidence obtained through torture or coercion, and the right to appeal. However, these procedures also recognize that because we are at war, we should not try terrorist detainees in the same way as our uniformed military or common civilian criminals. The procedures take great care to protect our national security interests by preventing disclosure of classified information to the detainees themselves. I urge my colleagues to review this bill carefully. I will consult Chairman Warner and the Armed Services Committee members to ensure the Senate moves expeditiously to meet its responsibility to the American people. I hope we can move forward in a spirit of bipartisanship even though we are in the middle of a partisan election season. And I hope we can remain focused on the goal of making America safer and continuing to honor the victims of 9/11. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. In 5 days we will observe the fifth anniversary of the most vicious act of terror ever perpetrated on American soil. Nearly 3,000 fellow Americans lost their lives on September 11. We have worked tirelessly to make America safer from terrorist attacks and to honor the sacrifices of the victims of 9/11 and their families. But the fact remains that we still have more to do. That is why Senator McConnell and I are proud to introduce legislation on behalf of the President to bring terrorists to justice. The bill authorizes military commissions to prosecute terrorist detainees and addresses the concerns raised by the Supreme Court in the Hamdan decision. Today, we are a nation at war. Our enemies are terrorists who do not value democracy, freedom, or innocent life. When we capture them on the battlefield, we have a right to prosecute them for war crimes. And we must establish a system that protects our national security while ensuring a full and fair trial for the detainees. That is why it is imperative that we quickly move forward on this bill. By formally establishing military commissions to prosecute terrorist detainees, we are creating another tool in the war on terror--and providing a measure of justice to the victims of 9/11. Under these commissions, terrorist detainees will get a fair trial. They will be tried before impartial military judges. They will have the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, the right to counsel, the right to present exculpatory evidence, the right to exclude evidence obtained through torture or coercion, and the right to appeal. However, these procedures also recognize that because we are at war, we should not try terrorist detainees in the same way as our uniformed military or common civilian criminals. The procedures take great care to protect our national security interests by preventing disclosure of classified information to the detainees themselves. I urge my colleagues to review this bill carefully. I will consult Chairman Warner and the Armed Services Committee members to ensure the Senate moves expeditiously to meet its responsibility to the American people. I hope we can move forward in a spirit of bipartisanship even though we are in the middle of a partisan election season. And I hope we can remain focused on the goal of making America safer and continuing to honor the victims of 9/11. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

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 have a short statement to make, and then I will reframe what I expect to happen over the course of this week and in the near future. Similar to many of my colleagues, I spent the month traveling the country. I began in Tennessee and ended in Tennessee. I visited a number of States, from the west coast to the east coast, from Washington State to Florida. At each stop, I spent a lot of time doing what I hope, and I am sure, all of my colleagues did, listening, listening very carefully to what the American people are thinking and what they are feeling. As I summarize and step away from the messages that were sent to me, it is pretty clear how we need to spend the next 4 weeks in the Senate before taking a break before the elections themselves. I will recite a few of the items and point out the direction that will lead us into the next several weeks. I listened carefully, and again and again people confirmed what I already knew: The Republican-led policies that we put into place are, indeed, working. To begin with, although despite derision from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, the economy continues to grow. As we saw yet again last week, month after month we consistently have added new jobs. Productivity, the driving impetus that raises the standards of living, continues to accelerate, continues to go up. We have faced down many adverse developments, many adverse events in the past few years, including the 2001 recession, the terrorist attacks of September 11, corporate governance scandals, and more recently, the devastating hurricanes and substantial increases in the cost of energy. People do feel the rising cost of energy at the pump each day. They feel the rising cost of health care. As Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke pointed out last week, despite all of these obstacles, our economy continues to advance and continues to grow. I am convinced, as are the constituents I met with during each stop across the country, the economic security we enjoy is due in large part to the Republican-led policies of tax relief and fiscal restraint we have implemented. What is forefront in the minds of the American people is the economy; even more so is security--yes, economic security but security in general. From Georgia to California, and each stop in between, the people I met want reassurance. They want to know when their family boards a plane, for example, on vacation or going to Disneyland, that plane will be safe. They want to know, when they hop on the subway or the Metro to go to work, that train will be safe. They want to know, when they fill up their gas tank, the money in their wallet is not going to end up in the hands of some terrorist overseas. I share these same concerns. That is why we have set a very aggressive agenda for the remainder of this session that does focus on fighting and winning this war on terror. Last week, one of my colleagues said that 99 percent of Democrats want to fight a strong war on terror. This week we will hold this Senate to that as we continue to debate Defense appropriations. Our troops provide us an invaluable service. They fight daily on behalf of those enduring principles of freedom and liberty. For their invaluable service, we owe them the very best of resources. The Defense appropriations bill is crucial to fighting a strong war on terror and to winning it. The bill provides our soldiers with the resources, the training, the technology, the equipment, the authorities they need to win the war on terror. I encourage each of my colleagues to demonstrate their commitment to fighting and winning a strong war on terror by engaging in a productive debate, a debate that is on point and focused on how we can keep our troops strong to win this war. At the end of the debate, I hope each and every one of my colleagues will join me in demonstrating our commitment to our troops, our commitment to strengthening and maintaining and enhancing our security at home and their commitment to winning the war on terror by voting to pass the Defense appropriations bill. But there is more we in the Senate can and will do to help alleviate the concerns and fears the American people have about security and winning the war on terror. We need to strengthen port security. After months of negotiations on this critical issue, it is time to act. We need to pass the Homeland Security appropriations conference report. We need to confirm critical security nominees such as John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the U.N.; Alice Fisher, DOJ's Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division; Kenneth Wainstein, first Assistant Attorney General for DOJ's new National Security Division. We need to address the Supreme Court Hamdan decision, authorizing military commissions for terrorist combatants. We need to send an energy package to the President so we can reduce that dangerous dependence on foreign sources of oil. Let's face it, we have a serious threat to our national security when nearly 60 percent of the oil we consume comes from foreign countries. We need to strengthen the Terrorist Surveillance Program by modernizing the important Intelligence Surveillance Act definition of ``electronic surveillance'' and ``communication'' and by enhancing congressional oversight. We need to consider legislation that builds on the progress we made last year with the bioterror bill, by further refining and enhancing our defenses against nontraditional terrorist attacks. We need to secure America's prosperity by bringing budget process reform to the Senate and by finalizing a very exciting bipartisan competitiveness agenda package. We need to continue securing America's health by bringing health information technology legislation to conference. We must continue to secure America's values by promoting sound Government that begins with fulfilling our constitutional duty of advice and consent by bringing more judicial nominations to the Senate for confirmation. And it continues with addressing Internet gambling. As it is now, this industry threatens to undermine the quality of life of millions of Americans by bringing an addictive behavior right into our living rooms. As you can see, we have a lot on our plate. Bipartisan support on each of these issues is absolutely necessary. It is election time. The tendency is to make everything political. For the American people, we need to rise above this. We need to come together. We need to work together on these important issues that so dramatically impact the security of the American people, the security of our homeland. As we learned last year with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, on September 11, almost 5 years ago, complacency and passiveness have no place in the Senate. We must work together to ensure that we anticipate and address the problems facing everyday Americans. We must work together to keep America moving forward. We must work together to fight and, yes, win the war on terror. Mr. President, let me take a final minute and update our colleagues on the specific schedule for today. Under the order, we are to immediately return to the consideration of the Defense appropriations bill. We began this important funding measure prior to our adjournment. We were unable to finish it prior to that recess. Although we do not have a unanimous consent agreement on the bill, the Democratic leader agreed prior to the recess that we would finish the bill no later than Wednesday of this week, although discussions prior to our beginning today's session indicate it may be Thursday. Chairman Stevens is here today occupying the chair and is ready to consider amendments and make progress during today's session. I understand no one is ready, at this point, to offer an amendment. Order of Procedure Therefore, I ask consent there be a period of morning business until 2:30 today, with the time equally divided in the usual form; and further, that at the conclusion of that period, we resume consideration of the Defense appropriations bill.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, as an additional reminder to Senators, this afternoon at 4:30 we will proceed to executive session for the consideration of Kimberly Ann Moore to be a U.S. circuit court judge. A vote will occur at 5:30 on the confirmation of this judicial nomination. Having said that, I expect a productive week as we wrap up our business on the Defense appropriations bill. Recognition of the Minority Leader

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination on today's Executive Calendar: No. 866. I further ask unanimous consent that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate return to legislative session.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be discharged from further consideration of S. 466 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following treaty transmitted to the Senate on September 5, 2006, by the President of the United States: Patent Law Treaty and Regulations Under Patent Law Treaty, Treaty Document No. 109-12. I further ask unanimous consent that the treaty be considered as having been read the first time; that it be referred, with accompanying papers, to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed; and that the President's message be printed in the Record.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration and that the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 552.

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday, September 6. I further ask that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate proceed to a period of morning business for up to 30 minutes with the first 15 minutes under the control of the majority leader or his designee and the final 15 minutes under the control of the minority leader or his designee; further, that the Senate then resume consideration of H.R. 5631, the Department of Defense Appropriations bill. I further ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to accommodate the weekly policy luncheons.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand there are three bills at the desk due for a second reading.

Mr. FRIST. In order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceedings en bloc.

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, today we continued debate on the Department of Defense Appropriations bill that we started before the August recess. We have three amendments pending, and we expect to have more amendments offered tomorrow. Votes can be expected before the weekly policy luncheons and throughout the day. We will work to finish this important spending bill no later than tomorrow or Thursday. Members who have amendments still to offer to this bill should consult with the bill managers to get their amendments in the queue. Again, I welcome my colleagues back from the recess. We have a lot of work to do, as I outlined earlier this morning, over the course of the next several weeks, and we can expect some very full days.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on August 3, 2006, at 10 a.m. to hold a closed briefing.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 472, S. 3534.

Mr. FRIST

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand there are three bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a few minutes, we will return to the Department of Defense appropriations bill. We have several votes on amendments and the two managers were able to work out language on a number of other amendments that were agreed to by consent. I expect another full day on the Defense bill, with votes on amendments, as necessary. We will remain in session later into the evening to finish the appropriations bill tonight. That is the goal. The two managers have patiently waited for Senators to bring their amendments forward. I would counsel them to bring the bill to a close if Senators are not prepared to come down and offer their amendments. Again, the managers are doing a superb job. We need to get Members to move ahead with their amendments and make sure they are appropriately offered. Last night I filed a cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the Family Prosperity Act, which is the death tax, the minimum wage, and the extenders package. That vote will occur tomorrow morning, unless we can finish the Defense bill earlier and we can get an agreement to change the timing of that cloture vote. Therefore, I encourage Members to remain available for the next 24 to 48 hours as we consider these two important measures, along with a very important pensions bill which we must act upon before we leave. Let me turn to the Democratic leader briefly. Schedulingwise, we have a busy day, a lot today and tomorrow. I have a couple of things I want to discuss, including commenting on the bill for tomorrow morning and also trying to go to the child custody protection. Anything else on the schedule to address?

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, let me go to the Child Custody Protection Act. This is a bill that earlier this week I asked unanimous consent to go to conference on, a bill we passed last week with strong bipartisan support, 65 to 34. The assistant Democratic leader objected to this request on the grounds that he wanted assurance that language offered in an amendment by Senator Boxer would be retained. He was referring to the only amendment that the Senate agreed to on that bill. This amendment clarifies that a father who victimized his daughter by incest would not be able to transport her across State lines for an abortion or to sue anyone who did. This amendment offered by Senator Boxer and cosponsored by Senator Feinstein passed the Senate 98 to 0. I obviously voted for it. It improved the bill. I fully support the amendment. To accommodate the concern that was expressed, I pledged I will not support a conference report or any consideration of a conference report that does not retain that Boxer-Ensign language we agreed to July 25. I take the Democratic leader at his word and want to address his concern. Thus, I make it clear I give my word that the language he wants will be included and his request will be met. I trust that by addressing his stated concern we will be able to move forward. I now ask for unanimous consent the Senate immediately proceed to consideration of H.R. 748, provided that all after the enacting clause be stricken, and the text of S. 403 be inserted in lieu thereof, the bill then be read the third time and passed, the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House, and the chair be authorized to appoint conferees with the ratio of 3 to 2.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I shortly will move to a statement on the Family Prosperity Act, but both of my distinguished colleagues from Nevada are here. If I could briefly yield to my distinguished colleague, the sponsor of the bill we were just talking about.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, one final issue to address is with regard to tomorrow's vote on the Family Prosperity Act. Tomorrow, we will be voting on whether to proceed to the consideration of the Family Prosperity Act, which is the compromise--I emphasize compromise-- permanent solution to the death tax; second, extending important tax provisions such as college tuition deductions, research and development, sales tax deductibility; and, third, raising the minimum wage with a 40-percent increase. This Senate will decide tomorrow morning whether these issues are sufficiently important to people across this country who are paying attention or whether they are not sufficiently important to bring to the Senate. That is what this vote is all about. A ``yes'' vote tomorrow morning to proceed to the bills tells the American family that we are listening to you, that we are with you, that we hear you, that we understand your daily challenges. A ``no'' vote to proceed to the bills tells the American family these issues are simply not sufficiently important for the Senate to consider, a permanent solution to the death tax, extending those tax provisions, raising the minimum wage. Friday's vote--tomorrow morning--is an important vote. I made it very clear that we will not split up the bills. I made it clear this is a package and we will move to proceed to them as such. Each Senator will, of course, be accountable to their constituents over the recess for how they vote, either with the American family or against the American family. Earlier this week, one of my distinguished colleagues came to the Senate and quoted President Truman and his whistlestop campaign and the ``do nothing Congress.'' Why? Because my colleague does not believe the issues addressed in this particular bill, the Family Prosperity Act, are matters of importance to the American people. Some do not believe eliminating the death tax is important to the American people, some do not believe extending tax relief is important to the American people, and some don't believe raising the minimum wage is important to the American people. Yet the majority of the American people believe each one of these issues is important and does deserve consideration. If you look at the permanent death tax, roughly 70 percent of Americans support repeal of the death tax. This is not repeal. We brought that to the floor and we got 55 votes, so we are moving in that direction, but that is not sufficient. So we have a compromise permanent solution. This is an issue that touches the lives and livelihoods of Americans from Washington, DC, to Washington State. Back home in Tennessee, Ann Bennett's family has farmed the same piece of land in Kingsport for the past 70 years for one generation and the other two generations make it a total of 130 years. Already, they have paid over $100,000 in death taxes so her father could inherit the farm from his father. When Ann's father passes on, Ann and her sisters have to come up with $2 million just to hold on to that family farm. At its core, the death tax is a cruel and unfair burden inflicted on America's small businesses, on farmers, and on families during a time of grieving and pain. It punishes everyday Americans such as Ann Bennett by forcing them to give up businesses that their loved ones worked their entire lives to build and to pass on. Whether it is farming or ranching or construction, they are all capital intensive, they are all labor intensive. But the cost of passing these enterprises on to future generations in one piece is often prohibitive. Partly as a result of the death tax, about 90 percent of family businesses don't survive for a third generation. Even those who manage to pass their family business on are adversely affected. Instead of spending money to innovate--to grow their businesses or to invest in new jobs that help our economy--they pay the Federal Government. We have allowed time to address many pressing issues already this Congress. We have acted. We have done something. And now it is time for us to do something about the death tax. It was imposed as a temporary measure during World War I. But since then it's managed to wedge its way tightly into our Tax Code. Americans have waited long enough for Congress to take the death tax burden off their backs with a permanent solution. Today is our chance to act. Similarly, for nearly 20 years Tennesseans waited for Congress to restore State sales tax deductibility. It is one of the provisions in the so-called ``tax extenders''. From 1986 until 2004, hard working Tennesseans were placed at a disadvantage--simply because Tennessee was one of seven States that choose to raise revenue primarily through a sales tax instead of an income tax. Congress and President Bush acted in 2004 to restore the State sales tax deductibility--and to restore fairness to Federal tax policy. But the provision expired last year--and more than 640,000 Tennessee families will suffer if the tax relief isn't extended. That is unacceptable. The State and local sales tax deduction is just 1 of more than 20 tax policy extensions included in the Family Prosperity Act. These extensions will keep taxes low, helping Americans find and keep work. They help families tackle the increasing cost of living. And they strengthen the economic security of hardworking Americans everywhere. To me, that is important. The final piece of the Family Prosperity Act increases the minimum wage. Specifically, it raises the minimum wage rate $2.10 over 36 months in three increments of 70 cents. That is a 40 percent increase in the minimum wage. It includes a tip credit provision that protects employee wages at their current level. In the seven States where there is no tip credit, this bill would allow the credit to apply only against future State increases in the minimum wage. It would not result in any workers' wages being lowered. Some have said otherwise, but that is simply not the case--and colleagues should not be misled by opponents of this bill into believing something that is simply not true. For young workers entering the job market for the first time--the minimum wage hike is welcome news. We're helping them meet the increasing cost of day-to-day living. As I said earlier this week, this--the Family Prosperity Act--is the last chance--the last chance--the Senate will have during the 109th Congress to give these workers a boost. There will always be new, emerging challenges to address here on the Senate floor. And it is our responsibility to address them--to deliver effective solutions in a timely manner. But it is also our responsibility to address those challenges that compound over time--the challenges and burdens that develop slowly and affect Americans with latent urgency. The death tax is one of those issues. So are tax relief extenders and raising the minimum raise. That is why we are taking up the death tax once again. That is why we are extending key tax relief provisions for other 2 years. And that is why we are raising the minimum wage. We are not ``doing nothing.'' We are doing something--about issues that concern hardworking Americans across the Nation.