Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I thank the Senator. Amendment No. 933

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today the Senate will be in a period for morning business until 10 a.m. At 10 a.m., the Senate will resume consideration of S. 1, the prescription drug benefits bill. Chairman Grassley will be in the Chamber at that time and will be prepared to offer the necessary changes to the legislation. It is then hoped we will begin an orderly consideration of amendments. I know there are a number of Members on both sides of the aisle considering offering amendments. I encourage Senators to work with the chairman and ranking member, the managers of the bill, to schedule consideration of those amendments. As amendments are offered, we will begin scheduling votes in order to make progress on this bill over the course of this week. As I had laid out previously, we will finish the legislation prior to the July 4 recess. I look forward to substantive debate as we go forward in addressing this bill. We will have rollcall votes throughout today's session. For the information of all Senators so they can plan for the next week and a half, we will have votes on Friday and next Monday on this bill. We have had two good days of substantive opening statements where Members have been allowed to discuss their views on this important program of Medicare, how we can best strengthen it, how we can best improve it, and at the same time add a substantial prescription drug benefit in a way that can be sustained over the next 10, 15, 20 years, where we know there is going to be this unprecedented demographic shift of doubling of the number of seniors over the next 30 years. So I am very pleased with the bipartisan progress we have made to date. I am pleased that we will be able to go with amendments early in the course of today and look forward to addressing a number of those amendments over the course of the day.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, today the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 10 a.m. At 10 o'clock, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 1, the prescription drug benefits bill. Yesterday afternoon, a number of Senators came to the floor to begin this historic debate. I hope many Members will participate and will continue to make, over the course of today, their opening statements on this important piece of legislation. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be open for debate only until the hour of 2:15 today, and further, that the time until 2:15 be equally divided between the two managers or their designees.

Mr. FRIST. Today, the Senate will be in recess from 12:30 until 2:15 for the weekly party lunches. Rollcall votes are possible during today's session, and we will notify all Members as these votes are scheduled over the course of the day. Madam President, we will be turning our attention to Medicare shortly, and we will be focused on this significant, important piece of legislation for the next several days. Indeed, we will stay on this bill until we vote on its passage. As I looked over the progress from last week, I saw a lot of encouraging examples of consensus building and working together on both sides of the aisle, of progress and of achievement in a bipartisan cooperative way. We made huge progress in the debate on energy and, indeed, were able to pull together a finite number of amendments. Over the course of the weekend and this week, the managers of that bill will be looking at those amendments to see how we can, in a very orderly way, come back and address energy and bring it to completion. We also, last week, completed our action on a number of important issues, one of which was the FAA reauthorization. We were able to do that in one day. I thank the chairman and the ranking member for their cooperation in moving this important and much-needed bill to completion. We also passed the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act last week. In particular, I want to thank the distinguished majority whip, the Senator from Kentucky, Mr. McConnell, for bringing that bill both to our attention and shepherding it through the floor. Last week, we also passed the Women Business Centers Preservation Act, sponsored by Senator Olympia Snowe, and we were able to complete a number of executive nominations. We have a whole range of other nominations pending, and we will work to clear these nominations on the Executive Calendar and to schedule rollcall votes as necessary. As we enter the Medicare debate and the amendment process, I am very hopeful it will follow the same pattern we showed last week in working together. We will see robust debate. The end product is something for which I think we will have strong bipartisan support. I think the amendment process will reflect a lot of the differing approaches on both sides of the aisle within each of the caucuses as we go forward with the shared goal of strengthening Medicare, improving Medicare and, at the same time, providing America's seniors with the benefit that we have been denied in the past because traditional Medicare simply hasn't kept up to the times, and that is prescription drug coverage. I look forward to 2 weeks from now when we will, on this floor, hopefully--I optimistically say this--pass a bill that America's seniors and future retirees will be able to look at and say, yes, that is health care security and that does include the benefits that are so important to health care delivery today, namely, prescription drugs. We have talked a lot about modernization of the Medicare Program over the last 45 years. We had a bipartisan commission that generated a plan that was bipartisan, which Senator Breaux and I put together based on the findings of the Medicare Commission. The Senate Finance Committee, over the last several years, has had 30 hearings, with 7 devoted just to this issue of prescription drug coverage. Earlier in the month, we held an additional committee meeting to focus specifically on the framework that has been put forth by the managers of the bill, Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus. That hearing constituted the third committee hearing on Medicare this year. Indeed, last Thursday night, the Finance Committee voted to send this historic legislation to the floor of the Senate with a bipartisan vote of 16 to 5. I thank Chairman Grassley and Senator Baucus for getting us to that pivotal point. This Grassley-Baucus agreement provides a strong base, a strong framework upon which we can achieve that mutually shared goal of strengthening and improving Medicare with a meaningful prescription drug benefit added. There are so many others who should be recognized who participated in the debate, but it is almost futile to do it because so many have participated in this body and in the House of Representatives, indeed, with the administration and the bold leadership of President Bush. I think because of all of this activity and the foundation that we have of working on this for years and years, we do have an opportunity--and indeed I argue that it is an obligation--to bring this debate to a point in which we take action and actually pass a framework to give this appropriate strengthening of Medicare. Yesterday, Members did have the opportunity to deliver opening statements. As I mentioned, they will continue through this morning and likely into the early afternoon. Later today, if appropriate, we can go to amendments and tomorrow have a very active day on amendments. Again, I hope we will be able to turn to final passage of this bill before we adjourn for the Independence Day recess. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam 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 all Senators, the Senate will be in a period for morning business until 10 a.m. Under the previous order, at 10 a.m. the Senate will proceed to executive session and immediately vote on the nomination of Hewitt Pate to be Assistant Attorney General. That will be the first and only vote today. On Monday, we will begin consideration of S. 1, the prescription drug/Medicare bill. As a reminder, there will be no votes during Monday's session. However, Senators will be able to make their opening remarks on the prescription drug bill. Late last night, the Finance Committee completed the markup of that bill, and it will be available for debate on Monday. It is our intention to stay on that bill until completion, working through the debate and amendment process to everyone's satisfaction. I will have more to say on the schedule later today.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, for the information of all Senators, on Monday, the Senate will begin consideration of S. 1, the prescription drug benefits bill. Under a previous agreement, during Monday's session, the consideration of S. 1 will be limited to debate only. Therefore, there will be no votes during Monday's session. Members are welcome to come to the floor--in fact, I encourage them to do so--to make their opening statements on the prescription drug legislation during Monday's session. The next vote will occur during Tuesday's session of the Senate. Members will be notified when that vote is scheduled. I reiterate to all Members that the next 2 weeks will be very busy as we consider this important legislation on Medicare and prescription drugs. Senators should expect rollcall votes and late nights, if necessary, in order to pass this measure prior to the Fourth of July recess.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. On behalf of my colleagues and myself, I express our condolences to the family and friends on the passing of news giant and television pioneer David Brinkley. Over the course of his 60 outstanding years in journalism, David Brinkley covered every President from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to President Clinton. He earned nearly every award in journalism, including 10 Emmy Awards and 3 Peabody Awards. In 1992, David Brinkley was bestowed by President George Bush the highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom award. He died in his home Wednesday night in Houston. We all say Godspeed to a great American. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I wish our 41st President, George Herbert Walker Bush, a happy birthday. Yesterday he turned a robust 79 years of age.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will take a few minutes to comment on some events that occurred over the last couple of days that were not necessarily apparent to a lot of people, either in Washington, DC, or around the country. It has to do with a visit from somebody everybody recognizes, and that is Bruce Willis. Mr. Willis came to our Nation's Capitol a couple of days ago to spotlight the issue of foster care reform. This is the first time I had the opportunity to speak with him on this particular issue. He is clearly a long-time advocate for children in foster care and has dedicated a huge amount of time to bring attention to the problem of children who are aging out of the system. I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Willis for his efforts and to take a moment to underscore the importance of the issue he came to share with us, and that is foster care reform. Thousands of children are cared for by loving families in our foster care system, and we owe these families a debt of gratitude for opening their lives, their homes, and indeed their hearts to these children. Because of their generosity, many foster children do become adopted and experience that gift of a warm and a loving family. But too many children--and Mr. Willis made crystal clear based on his experiences and the information he has gathered--end up being bounced from place to place, never having that opportunity to have four walls and what can be called a home, or even really one person they can turn to and call family. Imagine spending your entire childhood as a virtual orphan: No one to come to your high school graduation, no one to keep your picture in their wallet. Most of us do take for granted having a family, but for many children in America childhood is the time they spend waiting in vain for someone to call mom or dad. Even worse, some foster children end up in situations where they experience severe mental and physical abuse. Many develop health problems and suffer emotional and even physical neglect. It is my hope that through our efforts in this legislative body, through the efforts of the National Adoption Center and other groups such as Children in Foster Care, by public awareness campaigns such as National Adoption Day, through PSAs featuring well-known figures and the participation of people whom everybody recognizes, such as Mr. Willis, America's foster children will get what they need most, and that is a family. I applaud my colleagues for their efforts on behalf of America's foster children. A few minutes ago, I was listening to Larry Craig. He has been one of the Senate's leading voices on this whole issue of adoption and foster care. In 2001, he cosponsored the Hope For Children Act as part of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act which we just passed and which has become the law of the land. Others, such as Senator Jim Bunning, the distinguished Senator from Kentucky, worked to pass a bill to exclude foster care payments from taxation. Other Senators, including Senators Hutchison, Landrieu, Rockefeller, and Clinton, have all worked to improve foster care and adoption issues. America's foster children are helped immeasurably by their efforts. As we debate the big issues, the bold issues, the issues that make the headlines--the Medicare modernization, the addition of prescription drugs to give seniors health care security, to give them greater choice, to have plans that better meet their needs--as we debate the important issues, such as energy this week and FAA reauthorization and tax credits, we should not forget to protect our most vulnerable citizens. Truly, America's foster children are depending on us to look out for them.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 2 p.m., Monday, June 16. 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 consideration of S. 1, the prescription drug benefits bill, as provided under the previous order.

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, in a few moments we will be adjourning until Monday afternoon. But in looking back over the last 5 days, I do want to share with my colleagues my satisfaction with the progress we have made. I have had the pleasure of opening the Senate most every day, and then closing it most every day or evening and at the end of the week, so it gives me an opportunity to look back. For just a few minutes I would like to comment on some of the things we accomplished this week. We had very good debate--strong debate, effective debate--on the Energy bill over the past week and, in fact, over the past 2 weeks. I do want to take this opportunity to thank, praise and commend the chairman of the Energy Committee, the distinguished Senator from New Mexico, Chairman Domenici, for his tremendous work in moving us forward on this critically important bill. We have made solid progress. We have had a number of votes this week. As all of my colleagues know--because I have said it on this floor and in many other places almost daily--we will be turning to the Medicare prescription drug bill next week. We will stay on the bill until we complete that legislation. I think we can finish it actually in less than 2 weeks, although I have targeted a 2-week period, which gives more than adequate time for debate and amendment. I am even more confident that we will be able to pass that bill after spending about 12 hours yesterday in the Finance Committee meeting, where we looked at the bill, debated it, amended it, and passed it with a strong bipartisan majority in preparation for coming to the floor. But I do want to make it very, very clear that we will be coming back to the Energy bill, and we will finish it. Also, this week, we accomplished a lot, locking in an agreement which limits the number of amendments that can be considered on the Energy bill. That is real progress because now we have a finite number of amendments, and we can talk to the various Members and see what they have proposed and get those amendments organized in such a way that we can spend time on each of the amendments in a way that makes sense, that is systematic, and whereby we will be able to, I believe, lay out a glidepath to bring that bill to conclusion. It is imperative for the United States of America that we have a comprehensive energy policy. It is America's future that is at stake, our economic future, so much so that, in fact, the Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, came to the Hill this past week to speak specifically on the need for action on energy policy. The price of natural gas for July delivery is 150 percent higher than it was 3 years ago. Meanwhile, natural gas storage levels are at their lowest in almost 3 decades. Chairman Greenspan warns that the volatility in the price of natural gas could eventually contribute to ``erosion'' in the economy. We simply cannot afford that. American industry, at the same time, is caught between regulations limiting the supply of natural gas and regulations encouraging its use. The result of that is we have rising gas prices, with some industries cutting jobs or being priced out altogether, and consumers getting hit with rising electric bills. As we talked about a lot this week, and looked at the various amendments, we absolutely must diversify our sources of energy. We must do so in a way that lessens our overall dependence on foreign sources. America's energy policy should be consistent with our foreign policy in the sense that both should be independent and secure--independent and secure. By increasing America's domestic production of sources of energy-- whether it is clean coal, oil and gas, nuclear, solar, or other renewable energy sources--we increase not only our energy supply but our national security. In closing, I want to say one other thing about the comprehensive nature of a national energy policy. We will, by doing so, create needed jobs. The Energy bill, it is estimated, will create at least 500,000 jobs, and we know it will save even more. The Alaskan pipeline, for example, will create at least 400,000 jobs alone. The hundreds of millions of dollars that will be invested in research and development of new technologies will not only benefit the environment but will also create new jobs. These are the types of jobs that are increasingly important, I would argue, in this century--jobs of engineering, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and science. Thus, I am committed, as majority leader, to get a comprehensive national energy bill passed as soon as we possibly can. We hear the Democrats warning, darkly, of a weak economy and increasing unemployment, while we, as Republicans, are talking about taking action and making our economy strong with such action. So again, Mr. President, we will return to this bill. We will dispose of the remaining amendments, and we will deliver to the American people energy that is cleaner, more abundant, and more secure. In addition to the Energy legislation which we spent most of the week on, we actually touched on a number of other very important legislative matters. The Senate last night passed the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill. We were able to consider a number of amendments, and as the Democratic assistant leader said earlier today at the opening of the Senate this morning, it was remarkable to see how that bill was handled on the floor. It came together in a bipartisan way, in a way that really is a good model for us in handling this type of legislation when it comes to the floor. I thank the chairman and ranking member and Members on both sides of the aisle for their cooperation in moving us forward and passing that very important bill. We also passed this week the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act. I am pleased the Senate was able to consider that bill to address the tragedy that is occurring, as we speak, in Burma and the issues of freedom and democracy for which we have fought so hard in other parts of the world. It shows we understand, that we are caring, we are compassionate, and we will take action when freedom and democracy are challenged. I thank the majority whip, the distinguished Senator from Kentucky, Mr. McConnell, for bringing that bill to our attention and bringing it to the floor. We also passed the Women Business Centers Preservation Act which was sponsored by our colleague, Senator Olympia Snowe. In addition, we were able to clear a number of executive nominations. Just a few minutes ago I was looking at the nominations that are pending, and I will continue to work toward clearing these nominations on the Executive Calendar and scheduling rollcall votes as necessary. (Mr. BENNETT assumed the Chair.)

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that when the Governmental Affairs Committee reports the nomination of Michael Garcia, PN 451, to be Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, the nomination then be sequentially referred to the Judiciary Committee for a period not to exceed 15 days of session; provided further, that if the nomination is not reported by that time, the nomination be automatically discharged and placed on the calendar.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, there are two other issues I wish to quickly mention. It has to do with important holidays that occur this weekend. Sandwiched between Memorial weekend and the Fourth of July, Flag Day often gets overlooked. Believed to have been started in 1885 by a Wisconsin schoolteacher, the purpose of Flag Day, June 14, is to celebrate the birthday of the American flag. It gives us all the opportunity to reflect on the great Nation that the American flag symbolizes. The American flag is recognized worldwide as a symbol of democracy and freedom. It is the flag which leads us in every American battle and many struggles of freedom in foreign lands. It flies over our Capitol Building. It is unfurled at public events, large and small. It even flies on the face of the Moon. I encourage my fellow citizens to pause tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. and join in the annual recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. The first pledge we make, after all, is to that Flag of the United States of America. Also this weekend we celebrate Father's Day. All across the country families will be honoring their dads with special dinners, handmade gifts, and probably goofy ties for one or two dads across the country, and rightly so. Every day we learn more and more about how vital fathers are to the well-being of their families, and especially their children. Children with involved loving fathers, as compared to children without fathers, are more likely to do well in school, to have a healthy self-esteem, to show empathy, to avoid drug use, to avoid truancy, and to avoid criminal activity. The National Fatherhood Initiative, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting responsible fatherhood, reports that today's fathers are present in their children's lives more than ever. The phenomenon of father absence has stopped growing. Dads in two- parent families are spending more time with their children than fathers did a generation ago. What is more, these fathers seem to be more active and more nurturing. Indeed, that is progress. Perhaps even more heartening is the large number of national surveys which find that young men identify fatherhood and family time as a major priority. Indeed, that is great news. On Saturday, let us salute our flag and, on Sunday, America's dads. From a grateful Nation, happy Flag Day and happy Father's Day.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Yes.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 12:15 p.m. today the Senate proceed to the consideration of calendar item No. 83, S. 824, FAA reauthorization.

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

Mr. FRIST. Indeed, Mr. President. In response to my distinguished colleague, the issue of relevance has become an issue. Therefore, in the unanimous consent request I said, `` `relevant be related to the subject matter of the bill' and/or energy related.'' That is really to add what I think the Senator's concern is--is this relevancy going to be so tight that something having to do with energy will be excluded? By adding this clause, ``energy related,'' it is the understanding that we will consider other amendments on the list.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the list of amendments that I will send to the desk be the only remaining first- degree amendments in order to S. 14 other than any amendments which may be pending at the time this agreement is entered; that any listed first-degree amendment be subject to second-degree amendments which must be relevant to the first degree to which offered; and that if any first-degree amendment on the list is described as ``relevant,'' that the definition of ``relevant'' be ``related to the subject matter of the bill'' and/or ``energy related''; provided, further, that following the disposition of the amendments which may be offered from the list, the bill be read a third time; further, that the Senate then proceed to the consideration of calendar No. 85, H.R. 6, the House Energy bill, and that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the text of S. 14, as amended, be inserted in lieu thereof; I further ask that H.R. 6 then be read a third time and the Senate proceed to a vote on passage.

Mr. FRIST. I will suggest the absence of the quorum shortly, and we will have a discussion in a few minutes among ourselves. Mr. President, in terms of the course of the day, we would like to work out the unanimous consent request just objected to, which had to do with getting the amendments on both sides of the aisle, which we have finally done after about a week and a half of discussion. That is real progress. It allows us to focus and give some order to the range of issues that must be discussed on the Energy bill. They are all very important amendments. It is absolutely critical that we come to an agreement on what those amendments are so we can further that discussion.

Mr. FRIST. I am happy to yield to the Senator for a question.

Mr. FRIST. Yes.

Mr. FRIST. Once again, I renew the unanimous consent request that I propounded and the proposal as spelled out before.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, first of all, I'll comment on this relevancy issue. I believe there is an understanding among the managers and the leadership. So I am confident we will be able to take care of the concerns just expressed. With regard to the schedule, we will be turning to one more amendment on energy, which Senator Campbell will be putting forward in a few minutes. After that, at 12:15 today, we will be turning to consideration of the FAA reauthorization. My intent is to complete this FAA reauthorization before we leave for the weekend.