Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I will be brief. But what is fascinating is that with science and with the great progress that is made, today it can be cured, where before it couldn't. What is interesting about the overall story is that Mohammed's father, Fateh, about a year ago--this is over in Afghanistan--brought his son to an American military hospital, reaching out, not knowing where to go. The province is the Khowst Province. He happened to run across my colleagues, or colleagues in the military, who are cardiologists, who are heart specialists. And looking at the blue appearance--because you don't get this oxygen flow through the heart, blood through the right side of the heart--they said it was probably tetralogy of Fallot. With a few tests they made the diagnosis and they petitioned Mohammed to come to the States for treatment, but the visa applications by Mohammed and his dad, Fateh, were initially denied. But somewhere out there was a little angel looking out, and sure enough they ran into a fellow who happened to be a student of mine back at Vanderbilt, Dr. Sloane Guy, whom I hadn't seen for a while, and I was with him at a time when he was looking to the future, didn't know where he was going, whether it was heart medicine, cardiology, heart surgery. He was on active duty in Afghanistan. He called me and said: Isn't there anything that we can do? So, working together, I--and this is really compassion, reaching out, going beyond what a lot of people usually do--but working with the State Department, again reaching out, the Department of Defense, we were able to get approval for young Mohammed to come here and, indeed, on Tuesday, just 3 days ago, they arrived at Andrews Air Force Base. Yesterday morning, Mohammed underwent surgery at the Children's National Medical Center. Straightforward surgery, it would be described by Dr. Jonas, Richard Jonas, who is a renowned cardiac surgeon, fellow cardiac surgeon, but does the surgery over at Children's National Medical Center--fairly routine surgery, although it was pretty complex surgery in truth, repairing the hole between the ventricles--the right outflow obstruction--and hooking things back up so they flow normally. Right now the young boy is still in the intensive care unit. That is the normal course, but he is recuperating nicely. You never want to predict the long-term outcome because in the first 5 or 6 days anything can happen. But my point is, that is the kind of story you don't hear. It took a lot of people reaching out, coming together, the best of the public sector, the best of the private sector, the best of the generosity of doctors, the compassion of individuals in Afghanistan who made the initial diagnosis coming together with the result that just a few miles from here is unfolding. Larry King, whom you know, although sometimes we are here after he is on at night, many of us turn him on at night, just about every night-- the Larry King Cardiac Foundation provided much of the financial support to bring him here. The Afghan Embassy, right now, is providing support for the family and support with interpreters and food and the like. Dr. Jonas and his cardiac surgical team, including the people who run the part of the pulmonary bypass machine, and all the technicians there who contributed their time, the great resource of the Children's National Medical Center, which is right here--everybody came together to make this story possible. To me, this reflects the stories that never get told. But it also shows how humanitarian outreach can be used as a currency for peace. It is built around trust. It is built around outreach. It is built around selflessness and going beyond faces that you see every day; everybody working towards a common goal. So I just wanted to take the opportunity to tell that very brief story. I do wish Mohammed a speedy recovery and wish his dad the very best. While waiting in Afghanistan, not knowing whether or not this lifesaving surgery--without surgery he would die--without knowing whether this lifesaving surgery would be provided by people in a country they had no idea even existed, in terms of the people, he became known as the little blue boy; Little Boy Blue, I guess, is what they called him because of that blue appearance. So it will be a great story because that blue appearance, Little Boy Blue no longer will be Little Boy Blue. He will be a healthy young child with a normal lifespan thereafter. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam 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. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on today's Executive Calendar: Calendar No. 631, 635, 636, 637, 638, 639, 641 through 662, and all nominations on the Secretary's desk. 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. Madam President, we will be closing in a few moments, but I did want to comment on an event this week that in many ways celebrates the progrowth tax policy that President Bush initiated over 5 years ago, and which, with the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, tax relief, and the relief of regulatory burden, has resulted in quite remarkable growth in our economy over the last 18 months. This week in the Rose Garden the President signed into law the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005. The bill represents a real victory for the American people, for each and every American family, and for the continued strength and vibrancy and resilience of an economy that leads the world. The Republican majority has worked hard to resist efforts to raise taxes, and that is exactly what this bill accomplished. It was 6 years ago, back in 2000, that the President inherited an economy that was in recession. It was emerging from a bursting Internet bubble, and the answer to our economic malaise at the time was tax relief, was tax cuts. There was a lot of opposition on the floor of the Senate, but we got them through; sometimes by just a few votes, but we got them through. Now, because of the President's firm, fiscally bold vision and strong fiscal and tax leadership, our economy is doing very well. America's families now feel better off because, indeed, they are better off. We now have cut taxes for nearly 100 billion hard-working citizens. New home sales were up nearly 14 percent just last month, and minority home ownership is at its highest level ever. Consumer confidence is the highest since May of 2002. The economy has created 5.3 million jobs. Unemployment is down to 4.7 percent, lower than the average of the 1990s, lower than the average of the 1980s, and lower than the average of the 1970s. The tax cuts on capital gains and dividends are benefiting Americans across the income spectrum. It is interesting that if you look at the income tax returns each year that are reporting capital gains and dividends, almost half of them come from households with reported adjusted gross income of less than $50,000. Tax relief, capital gains, and dividends go across the economic spectrum. Overall, the economy has enjoyed 18 consecutive quarters of economic growth. Meanwhile, all of this spurred growth has filled the tax coffers just as anticipated, just as we said it would. As we argued back then, and as history has demonstrated, cutting taxes actually results in increased tax revenues. In January, the Congressional Budget Office found that the tax cuts on capital gains and dividends resulted in the Government collecting an additional $26 billion in revenue in 2004 and 2005. This year, tax revenues will be 29 percent higher than they were in 2003 as a result of tax cuts. In fact, the Treasury Department reported last week that this year's tax revenues were the second highest in American history, giving the country a significant surplus for the month. Last November, we called for extending the alternative minimum tax relief. In February I insisted that Congress keep rates low on capital gains and dividends. Last week, as part of the Tax Increase Prevention Act, we delivered because we always remember that tax dollars are the people's money, not the government's money. We believe open markets and abundant opportunity unleashes our greatest resource: the energy of the American people and the ingenuity of the American people. Keeping taxes low helps Americans find and keep jobs, it boosts the family budget, and makes America a great place to do business. It allows the entrepreneur to take a chance on that great idea, to reinvest, to hire more workers, to create jobs. As Republicans, we believe in encouraging that creative and optimistic spirit. It is what has built this country. It is what makes America great. We will continue to champion economic growth and fiscal responsibility. We will continue to keep America moving forward.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, the Senate has made a lot of progress on the immigration bill. After spending almost 2 weeks on the bill a month ago, we brought the bill back this week, and not knowing exactly what to expect, I set out with a pretty high watermark, a pretty high goal, and that is to consider a number of amendments in an open and free debate and have those amendments voted upon. We have accomplished exactly what I had set out to do. We are going to have another busy week. We have a recess, Memorial Day recess, after next week, so we have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to conduct a lot of business. Senators are using the day today--some of them have come to the floor to speak and to debate and talk about the various issues. Others are using it to study amendments for next week. Our next voting will be with two rollcall votes on Monday, at least two votes, maybe others, beginning at 5:30. The chairman will be here Monday working through the afternoon, working with Senators on their proposed amendments. It is important that we have the language on amendments people might be offering. We have a lot of other work to do. The supplemental bill is currently in conference. Our colleagues are working very hard, in the House and Senate, so that we can complete that supplemental bill before the Memorial Day recess. The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh also is pending. Brett Kavanaugh has been nominated to the circuit court, and we need to bring him to the floor before we depart for that Memorial Day recess. A lot of other issues are underway. The pensions conference report is being worked on aggressively, day in, day out, and I look forward to having that completed so when it is available we will be able to take it to the floor.

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.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 1 p.m. on Monday, May 22. 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 resume consideration of S. 2611, the comprehensive immigration reform bill, as under the previous order.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, while they are looking at that amendment, the plans will be that in about 30 to 45 minutes we will have 2 rollcall votes, and then we will keep amendments going, and we will be voting tonight. We will do at least several other amendments. I will let the chairman speak to that. We plan on having two votes tomorrow morning. We don't know exactly what time. I expect us to be able to debate those. I ask that whatever amendments they be, we debate them tonight so we can vote as early as possible tomorrow morning.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in the big picture, let me say at the outset that things are going very well. It is 9:30 on a Thursday night. We are making decisions about tomorrow and Monday. We have had a very good week. I thank the Democratic leader and both managers for making great progress over the course of the week. It is very frustrating, from a leadership standpoint, for the Democratic leader and myself, where we have to truncate and essentially stop tonight when we could have had a productive day tomorrow morning. Two reasons. The managers have done such a good job addressing such a large number of amendments--more than I had anticipated--which is good, which means the amendments that remain, they want a lot of people around to be able to vote on those. In part, I am making an excuse because I told everybody we are going to vote tomorrow morning. Given where we are, it is in our best interest to complete debate tonight, and the votes we would have had tomorrow we will have Monday. There will be at least two votes starting at 5:30 on Monday. We do have to recognize in this body that we cannot stop work on a Thursday afternoon or evening. We have to be able to use Fridays, especially over the remainder of the session. We don't have that many days. Even between now and next week, we have this bill--and that is why we are working as hard as we can--and we have the Kavanaugh nomination, which is out there and ready to bring to the floor. We have a supplemental spending bill which funds our troops overseas. I talked to three different generals today and the Secretary of Defense, all of whom say we have to act on that supplemental. So we have to have Senators here. We have to have them participating. Again, this is not the fault of the managers. They have done a superb job. It means that tomorrow we will likely be in session, but we will not have rollcall votes. We will be voting Monday afternoon at 5:30.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. In order to place the bill on the calendar, under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceeding.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for its second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 481, which was submitted earlier today.

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, this morning following the opening remarks of the two leaders we will proceed to the consideration of a nomination to the Ninth Circuit Court. We have set aside up to 15 minutes for comments on that nomination prior to the rollcall vote. Therefore, I expect the vote to occur after 10 a.m, but it should not be too long after 10 a.m. this morning. Following that vote, we will resume debate on the comprehensive immigration bill and the pending amendment proposed by Senator Isakson. This amendment was offered yesterday and had been pending from our earlier consideration of the immigration bill. It was my hope to lock in a vote to occur shortly after the judge vote of this morning, and we want to allow a few minutes for closing remarks and we want to accommodate a few minutes before that vote. I will be in discussion with the Democratic leader about that. There may be a Democratic alternative which I believe may have been just submitted. We will take a look at that and plan the vote on this accordingly. I do want to alert Members that we could expect a vote or two prior to our luncheons today. As Senators return for the first vote of the week, they should be reminded--which both the Democratic leader and I did yesterday--that this will be a very full week, with lengthy sessions and with a number of votes. We recognize that people have a lot of schedules which compete with the votes, but our major priority must be this bill. We ask for everybody's consideration in that regard. We will be in session as long as it takes in the evening to accommodate the wishes of Senators and their desire to present amendments. We have this week and next week prior to the next recess to complete this bill. We have a supplemental bill, a pensions bill, and the Kavanaugh nomination--all which is a heavy load which I believe can be accomplished. I will also add, the manager of the bill yesterday--both managers, I believe--stated we want these votes to be 20-minute votes, when we are actually voting and recognize that 20 minutes is a short period of time, but it is plenty of time if people know as soon as the bell goes off that they need to start coming here. I have a statement--it will be brief--on immigration, but I turn to the Democratic leader if he has anything in terms of scheduling?

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, last night the President of the United States addressed the Nation on the need to fix a broken immigration system, the focus of that speech last night being on securing the borders. The President was very clear on the fact that our borders have to be secure, we have to stop the hemorrhaging of people coming across- the-border for an immigration plan to really work. I applaud the President's leadership on this important issue, this pressing issue, especially because we are in the middle of this debate on the floor of the Senate. I support the proposal in terms of turning to the National Guard as a short-term, an interim, stopgap measure to secure our borders because anything we do does take time. The President outlined the progress that has been made over the last 4 to 5 years on the border. Yet the problem gets worse and worse, in spite of the fact that we do have more people on the border. Our infrastructure is getting better, and we are building barriers. The fact is, as the President said last night, our borders are out of control, and we are failing the American people until we bring them back under control. Our border agents down there are stretched too far. They are overstretched. Technology has not been fully applied to the degree that it should be. Each year we have millions of undocumented immigrants, illegal immigrants once they cross that border, who come across the southern border and indeed our other borders as well. We catch more than we did in the past, but the numbers coming are increasing even faster than the numbers we catch, and far too many escape detection, and then, unfortunately, because of a catch-and-release program which is not working to the degree it should, as the President mentioned last night, they are then released into the country. We need to beef up the electronic surveillance and physical barriers where appropriate. Bottom line, we need to stop the hemorrhaging, and the President laid out a five-point plan very specifically last night, as to how we might do that. The reality of his remarks last night is that we are debating that very issue on the floor and this body must act, and will act, over the next 9 or 10 days to secure those borders and further the comprehensive immigration reform plan that addresses the issue of security and enforcement at the workplace, a strong temporary worker program, and addressing--a lot of the amendments will focus on this--the situation of 12 million people who are here illegally. Our supplemental appropriations bill we passed a few weeks ago included almost $2 billion to repair fences in high-traffic areas, to replace broken Border Patrol aircraft for lower traffic areas, and for supporting training of additional customs and Border Protection agents. We paid for this additional spending by cuts in other areas. The Senate--and we will hear this debated over the next several days--is near consensus on putting nearly 15,000 new border security agents in the field over the next 6 years. We are taking action. We are taking control. But these changes are going to take time. It is not a matter of just money, it is a matter of training and support and applying that technology. That is why I strongly support the President's proposal last night of sending a contingent of National Guardsmen now as an interim measure. But that is an interim measure, and securing our border is only one part--a very important part and many argue it is the most important part--of a comprehensive immigration reform plan that has to be tough, it has to be fair, and that does have to be comprehensive. We started the debate once again yesterday, and we will continue today and throughout the course of this week. I am confident that by staying focused under the leadership of our tremendous managers, Chairman Specter and Ranking Member Leahy, we will be able to pass a bipartisan comprehensive plan before Memorial Day. I, also, thank Senators Hagel and Martinez for their determined efforts to bring consensus to the issue at hand. Under their leadership, we have developed, building on the work of others--namely, Senator McCain and Senator Kennedy--a fair, workable plan to help deal with each of the four components of the comprehensive immigration proposal, but most specifically to address the 12 million people who currently live in the United States illegally. The overall approach deals with the diversity of this population. We know that 40 percent of these 12 million people have been here longer than 10 years. Many are fully assimilated into our society today. We know we can't give people who have broken the law a leg up in applying for American citizenship, but they must be treated fairly, must be treated compassionately, and that is what this bill intends to do. And it may be modified in making it even a little better over the next several days. Law breakers should not be able to cut in line, as the President mentioned last night. People in this category need to be put at the end of the line. I am confident that as we proceed with the debate, as long as we consider these amendments in a fair and open way, and we have that well underway today, we will have a comprehensive bill. Immigration is not a Republican issue, it is not a Democratic issue, it is a sensitive issue that touches on our values as a nation. We should not have to choose between respect for history as a country of immigrants with the respect for our laws. I am confident we will be able to pass this comprehensive plan in the days to come.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at noon today the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to the Isakson amendment, No. 3961, to be followed immediately by a vote in relation to the Salazar trigger amendment, which is at the desk; provided further that no second degrees be in order to either amendment prior to the votes and that all time after the judicial nomination vote and noon be equally divided in the usual form.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I join the minority leader in congratulating our colleague, Senator Levin, on his 10,000th vote. His 28-year tenure has been marked by vote after vote. It represents his integrity, his character, his leadership. He cast his vote in some of the most significant consequential debates of this country. Senator Levin has been that tireless advocate for our military, our military families. His work with Chairman Warner on our annual defense authorization bill provides that critical support for our troops in the form of both equipment and readiness. In 2004, the National Guard Association of the United States presented him with the Harry S. Truman Award for distinguished service in support of national defense. The awards go on and on and on. This is only one of the many awards he has received for his unflagging support of our military. I commend and thank Senator Levin for his tremendous contributions to this country and for his long and distinguished service to the people of Michigan. (Applause, Senators rising.) Vote on Amendment No. 3994

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 ask unanimous consent that there now be a period for 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 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 879, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment that is at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, 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. Mr. President, today we have made some progress on the immigration bill. Tomorrow we will continue to work through this complex bill, starting with the Kyl-Cornyn amendment, which is the pending amendment. Senators can expect a vote on this amendment in the morning. I remind everyone again that we still have many amendments to consider and, therefore, I hope Senators will be reasonable and agree to short time agreements. As a reminder, Senators who have amendments to offer should be working with the bill managers in order to have their amendments debated and considered. Senators can expect a full day tomorrow, with votes throughout the day. I would also say it will be necessary to schedule sessions into the night to consider additional amendments. I hope we can make great progress during the daylight hours. But if we consume a lot of time on each amendment, it will be necessary to continue into the evening with votes. As we have talked about now for several weeks, it is important that we consider a large number of amendments, a broad range of amendments, many to each section of this bill. It will require the cooperation of all of our colleagues with this goal in mind.

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 as a further mark of respect for former Senator Chic Hecht.