Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. That is on stem cells.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, just so people understand, the 7-to-5 ratio, which I have been clear on for weeks now, does allow for equal participation between those two committees, so the fairness is that 7- to-5 ratio. This protections to the drug industry, no time for stem cells--first of all, the timing issue is because of this postponement. The fact that the PATRIOT Act finally passed yesterday, when it should have passed weeks ago, is a manifestation. This wasn't a problem with your whole caucus. It was a handful of people who felt strongly about it, and that is within their rights. But some way or another, we need to keep moving on all of these issues, whether it is stem cells, whether it is pensions, whether it is lobbying reform, whether it is coming in to address the debt limit. We are going have to move along and stop postponing, obstructing, and then saying we are running out of time. We can't address these important issues. Asbestos is important. My distinguished colleague may diminish how important it is, but it is an important issue from a range. We are going to systematically go through and address them, but we need cooperation, working together. Let me ask the Senator, I wasn't here-- again, I apologize--but protections to the drug industry, something was said about that. What does that mean?

Mr. FRIST. I understand. I plead to the other side of the aisle, if we could work together, the list--I am sure your list went on much longer on important issues. But unless we get some sort of working together without slowing things down and dragging out even asbestos, where we can't debate, we can only have debate, we can't amend; we have to work together to move forward. On the drug industry, again, I am not sure exactly what it is, but right now avian flu, if you look at a map, over the last 6 months, where 10 million birds have died, 20 million, then 100 million, and then 200 million, it is moving our way. It has a 50-percent mortality rate today. If you get infected today--and probably a third of us would get infected because we have no natural immunologic response to that, unlike the regular flu--if it does continue to have a 50-percent mortality, we are in real trouble. We have no vaccines. The reason we have no vaccines today, in large part, is because the liability system has gotten out of whack. We had 26 manufacturing companies back in the 1960s. We have three today. They can't produce a vaccine. It would take them 13 months today. So the liability protections are only in the event there is an emergency, an emergency, a life-threatening emergency, in event there is a bioterrorist attack or in the event there is a pandemic. Today there are no protections given whatsoever. And also built in with those protections is a compensation program. I came to the floor because, as this list goes on, if these are not at least elucidated, the American people are left with a one-sided view, and that is wrong. Again, I didn't come to the floor to go through the entire list, but notes started coming into my office about the list itself. I will close with a plea to the other side of the aisle. It is an election year. It is a year where partisanship is going to come to the floor and where things are going to be obstructed or slowed down. But there has to be some things we can work together on. It might be stem cells. It may be health issues. It should be asbestos. Hopefully, it will be lobbying reform next week. Maybe that will be the first time this year we can show working together. Then we have border security. The Democratic leader and I were talking about that before. That is going to be a tough issue for us, border security and enforcement, with a lot of amendments on the floor. We have to work together, Democrat and Republican, right side of the aisle, left side of the aisle, to do the Nation's business, to govern with meaningful solutions; otherwise, we are going to be here all year doing nothing. Again, the Democratic leader and I don't just talk on the floor, and we need to keep our conversations going, as we do our best to govern with meaningful solutions to the problems we face today.

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

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I come to the floor to speak to my colleagues about an issue that not a lot of people in this body think about every day--a very large policy issue we talked about over the course of the morning--an issue that shocks me personally but is shocking America, and it is the topic of child sexual predators. Sometime during the late hours of February 23, 2005, Jessica Marie Lunsford disappeared from her grandparents' Citrus County, FL, home. She was found dead 3 weeks later in a shallow, 4-foot-deep grave under the back porch of John Couey's mobile home--just where he told authorities she would be. The little girl's body was sitting upright, her wrists bound with stereo wire, and plastic garbage bags wrapped her tiny, 9-year-old frame. In her arms was the stuffed purple dolphin that had gone missing with her during the night. Authorities believe after kidnapping and sexually assaulting little Jessica, John Couey, a known sex offender, buried her alive. This case--the Jessica Lunsford case--riveted and shocked the Nation. How could someone perpetuate such horrors and against an innocent child? How could the system have allowed a convicted sex offender to move freely and unmonitored, with no warning to the neighbors of the monster in their midst? Every year, nearly 798,000 children are reported missing--over 58,000 of them are the victims of nonfamily abductions. One in five girls and one in ten boys are sexually exploited before they reach adulthood. Less than 35 percent of those childhood sexual assaults are reported to authorities. To make matters worse, the Internet is pushing the boundaries of sexual exploitation, providing child predators with a new, anonymous hunting ground. The Department of Justice reports that one in five children as young as 10 years old receives solicitations online. For parents and for communities, it is time for all of us to wake up. A recent Dateline NBC series called ``To Catch A Predator,'' vividly demonstrated that many of these cyberstalkers are more eager to trap their young online victims into a real-world nightmare than at any time in the past. Over the course of a 3-day sting operation in Riverside, CA, Dateline was able to nab 50 Internet child sex predators. The men were caught on hidden camera arriving at a home where they believed a young teen, aged 12 or 13, was waiting to meet them. The police were on hand to apprehend the would-be molesters. There is no stereotyped child predator. The men came from all walks of life, including a high school teacher, a rabbi, and a law enforcement official. Some had long criminal records that involved previous sexual assault convictions. The results were shocking, even to the experienced Dateline producers. Just like the Lunsford case, the audacity of these men should be a wake-up call to all of us that we must do more to protect our children from child sexual predators. How many times have they gotten away with it in the past? How many more are out there cruising cyberspace as I speak right now? How can we protect children from falling into their clutches? There are ways, and this body, the Senate, will address those ways. On Wednesday, I discussed these questions with John Walsh of FOX's ``America's Most Wanted,'' now a nationally renowned child advocate. It was after the tragic kidnapping of his 6-year-old son Adam in 1981 that Mr. Walsh devoted his life to protecting America's children. His organization--the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children--single-handedly raised the issue of child abduction to national prominence. And for that he should be congratulated. It has led to the recovery of countless children and defended the safety and well-being of countless families across America. In that meeting on Wednesday, he told me in his 24 years of advocacy, he has not seen an issue more important and more pressing than creating a national sex offenders registry. He pointed out that when a neighbor down the street has a mean dog, parents know and they warn their children to stay away--to stay away from that yard, to stay away from that house. So, too, parents should have the right to know that the neighbor down the street has a history of sexual violence so they can protect their children from harm. Here in the Senate, we will act to fight child predators. I am committed to passing child predator legislation this year as part of a broader crime-fighting package. I look forward to working with Chairman Specter and the Judiciary Committee to develop this package and accomplish this goal. We should consider provisions from the Children's Safety Act that I cosponsored with Senator Hatch and which Chairman Specter helped report out of the Judiciary Committee last year. A number of ideas were included: Creating a national sex offenders database searchable by zip code; requiring States to notify one another of the whereabouts of registered offenders; developing a stricter tracking system to monitor repeat violent offenders; requiring DNA fingerprinting of child sexual predators and developing a DNA database to help solve these crimes; imposing enhanced criminal penalties for violent crimes against children under 12; and provisions that can reduce gang violence, strengthen court security, and prevent child pornography. We should consider the ideas under development by the distinguished Judiciary Committee chairman in the House, Chairman Sensenbrenner. When serial rapist Joseph Duncan was caught at a Denny's last summer in Coeur d'Alene with one of his child victims, the only words he uttered to police were, ``I had fun. Get me a lawyer.'' His sick and twisted sense of ``fun'' was allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting Shasta Groene, age 8, and her brother Dylan, age 9, eventually murdering the little boy but not before tying up and beating to death their older brother, their mother, and their mother's boyfriend. Joseph Duncan was a repeat offender with a 30-year history of sexual assault. He committed his first crime at age 12, preying on a 5-year- old boy. By the time he was 16, Duncan estimates that he had raped 13 young boys, 6 of whom he tied up, others he raped at gunpoint. By 17, medical authorities deemed him a sexual psychopath. After raping and torturing a 14-year-old boy, Duncan was sent to prison where he served 14 years before being released--only to attack more innocent child victims. Shasta and Dylan's father said: There's been so many times I've seen the news announce sex offenders being released into the community. People need to contact their Congressmen, their Senators, and even the President. There's a lot more that can be done. I would like to tell Mr. Groene that we are listening. We hear your plea and the pleas of so many other Americans who want to see these monsters dealt with. We are going to act. We will act. We must protect America's children, families, and neighborhoods from these sick predators. Our children are depending on us to keep them safe from the evils that lurk in the shadows. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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 the Senate immediately proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on today's Executive Calendar: Calendar Nos. 511 through 516. 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. President, I want to say a quick word about these nominees. What we just approved were six nominations to the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors. Nine years ago, I started working on legislation to modernize and expand TVA's board of directors to bring it more in line with other corporations of similar size and scope and responsibility. Just over a year ago, Congress passed my bill and this group of nominees is the first to the newly reformed TVA board. They are an outstanding group. All have substantial business and management experience. All are leaders in their respective communities--just the kind of qualifications that we were looking for when we initially drafted our reform modernization legislation. I commend the President for nominating such a highly qualified group, and I look forward to working with them on the many challenges facing TVA in the 21st century. I thank my colleagues from both sides of the aisle for both furthering this legislation along and passing it and going through the nomination process in a very respectable way. These nominees--Dennis Bottorff, Robert Duncan, William Sansom, Susan Richardson Williams, Donald DePriest, and Howard Thrailkill--join two existing current board members, Bill Baxter and Skila Harris. I guess they are no longer nominees; they are on the TVA board. I thank the Democratic leader and others for making this possible to do today. The nominations considered and confirmed en bloc are as follows:

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, pursuant to the rules of the Senate, I hereby give notice that next week, I intend to move to proceed to a measure that amends the Senate rules. Mr. President, pursuant to the rules of the Senate, I hereby give notice that next week, I intend to move to proceed to S. 2349 that amends the Senate rules. Mr. President, pursuant to the rules of the Senate, I hereby give notice that next week, I intend to move to proceed to S. 2128 that amends the Senate rules.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar Nos. 330 through 332, Calendar Nos. 334 through 350, Calendar No. 362, H.R. 4515, and H.R. 1287, all postal-naming bills, en bloc.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bills be read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 357, H.R. 2830.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this also is a major step forward, as colleagues have been participating and watching the debate over the course of the day, to bring to conclusion another issue that has been pending. But the fact we have been able to reach this resolution today advances a very important issue--one that is time sensitive. We had originally requested 7 to 5. As my colleagues know, the Democratic leader insisted on an 8-to-6 ratio. The 9-to-7 ratio we agreed to does allow us to have equal representation from the Finance and HELP Committees. As I repeatedly insisted, it is important we not stack the deck in favor or against either committee. Through mutual agreement, we have reached that objective. I do have to add, it is unfortunate it took so long and we had to have so much discussion to get to conference on an issue so important to the 44 million Americans out there who right now are working in an uncertain environment as we address this defined benefits pension system. Now is the time for our conferees to get to work, and I am confident they will be able to produce a conference report that is satisfactory to both sides of the aisle.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be added as a cosponsor of that last resolution, if I had not been previously so included.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 1 p.m. on Monday, March 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 then proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each; providing further that first-degree amendments in relation to the filed cloture motion be filed at the desk no later than 2 p.m.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on Monday the Senate will begin the day with a period of morning business. Additionally, we wish to begin debate on the lobbying reform package on Monday afternoon. At 5:30 the Senate will proceed to vote on the confirmation of several district court judges. Senators should expect two or three back-to-back votes at 5:30 on these judicial nominations. As a further reminder, cloture was filed on the LIHEAP bill this morning, and that cloture vote will occur on Tuesday morning, sometime before the weekly party luncheons. Senators are reminded that under the order entered, germane first-degree amendments must be filed at the desk by 2 p.m. to be in order postcloture. Again, we expect a very full week. We have judges to vote on; we have the LIHEAP bill; we have the lobbying reform measure. I suggest Members be prepared for late nights next week as we try to complete these items before the close of business this coming week.

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. Mr. President, this morning the minority leader came to the floor to once again call into question our good faith efforts on the pensions bill. He now claims our longstanding offer of a 7-5 ratio on the conference committee ``looks suspicious.'' I can't help but feel that what is beginning to look suspicious is this continuing pattern of obstruction on ground that seems to be ever shifting. We originally considered proposing a 5-3 ratio but, to accommodate his caucus, we ultimately offered a 7-5 ratio. After a 2-month delay, this was rejected. The Democratic leader was unable to make a decision among members of his caucus. I understand those challenges, but that is what leadership is all about. Now he wishes to further delay with an arbitrary dispute over the ratio of conferees and this new, equally disingenuous charge of ``fixing the jury,'' which is absurd. As the minority leader well knows, I have been working for years to fix the pensions problem. The American people deserve it. People don't understand why these games are being played. The clock is ticking. People's lives are at stake. The first quarter of the physical year ends on March 31, 31 days from now. Within 2 weeks of that happening, companies have to make contributions to their pension plans. The pensions of millions of hard-working Americans are at stake. That is why these games don't make sense. We have two committees with an equal stake in this bill. They should have an equal number of conferees on the committee. The conference committee should fairly represent the two committees of jurisdiction. The minority leader knows his proposals won't allow for that. I am for a fair conference but, equally importantly, I am for getting to conference so that we can address these challenges. The American people are waiting. I know the Democratic leader says he wants to move forward as well. But remember, we passed this bill in November of last year, and we are still trying to do something very simple; that is, to get to conference so that we can pass the legislation. I am baffled by the minority leader's inability to decide which five Senators from his caucus could join with our seven Senators so that we can appoint a conference and do the Nation's business. I am equally confused about why, in refusing to make that decision, he instead feels that he should decide on his own, unilaterally, the ratio of conferees with no regard for treating the two committees of jurisdiction fairly. If anyone is trying to fix the jury, it appears to be the minority leader by having one committee with more representatives than the other. We go back and forth every day, and that clock is ticking. The airline provisions of the bill are necessary to keep additional pension obligations from being terminated and left at the doorstep of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. As Chairman Grassley has suggested, in remarks that I will include in the Record, if we cannot make some progress shortly, we may need to look at pulling these provisions out and moving them on some other vehicle. That should not be necessary, but continued obstruction would leave us with no other choice. We are simply running out of time. I plead with the Democratic leader to put forth his five. We have been ready for the last 2 months to put forth our 7 so we can get to conference and provide answers and a resolution to what millions of Americans are waiting for. I ask unanimous consent to print in the Record the above-referenced document.

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

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to consideration of S. Res. 388, submitted earlier today.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I applaud my Senate colleagues for supporting this resolution urging all parties in Sudan to implement fully the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended Sudan's decades-long civil war. For more than 50 years, Sudan has been plagued by war and violence. In fact, since gaining independence in 1956, the people of Sudan have known only 10 years of peace. But, last January, following painstaking negotiations and numerous unsuccessful attempts at peace, the Government of Sudan in the north and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the south signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, bringing an end to Sudan's second civil war that lasted more than 20 years. This second civil war led to the deaths of more than 2 million people, and an additional 4 million were internally displaced or became refugees. I have visited Sudan on a number of occasions, and I have met with the victims and survivors of this tragedy. The CPA offers the Sudanese people a chance at a peaceful and secure life. It is time for the agreement to be fully implemented. In the past year, the government of Sudan and the SPLM have taken concrete steps to implement certain parts of the CPA. For example, the two sides have ratified a new national constitution and have formed a government of National Unity in Khartoum and a Government of Southern Sudan based in Juba in the south. However, the overall pace of implementation has been slow and insufficient, and both parties have failed to meet certain benchmarks or adopt the recommendations of the commissions established to monitor the CPA's implementation. These include the formation of Joint Integrated Units, which aim to integrate forces from both the north and the south, a more equitable distribution of resources between the north and the south, and a full and transparent accounting of Sudan's oil revenues. The implementation of the CPA is particularly urgent for the people of Southern Sudan. In this region alone, the World Food Program estimates that more than 2.9 million people were severely and adversely affected by the civil war. Last month, I met with Mrs. Rebecca Garang. She currently serves as the Minister for Roads and Transport for the Government of Southern Sudan. She is also the wife of the late John Garang, the long-time leader of the SPLM who successfully negotiated the CPA but died tragically in a helicopter crash last summer. During our talks, Mrs. Garang stressed the humanitarian and reconstruction needs of the Southern Sudanese people. They are in desperate need of assistance to build and improve vital infrastructure components such as an education system, a health care system, and a transportation system that are virtually non-existent in Southern Sudan. At the end of the current six-year interim period, the CPA provides for the people of Southern Sudan to decide their own political future in a referendum. But in order to achieve John Garang's vision of a new, united Sudan, the people of Southern Sudan must see the tangible benefits of peace. Implementing the CPA can also have a positive impact on ending the genocide in Sudan's western region of Darfur. Unfortunately, since the signing of the agreement, little progress has been made in ending this genocide. Hundreds of thousands have already died as a result of violence, disease, and malnutrition. And, millions more have been internally displaced or continue to languish in refugee camps in neighboring Chad. However, the CPA can serve as a basis for a peacefully negotiated end to the genocide in Darfur. For this reason, it is even more vital for the full and complete implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Until that time, the United States should continue to apply pressure on the Government of National Unity in Khartoum to fully implement the CPA. This includes maintaining the sanctions that are currently in place. In addition, we need to continue to expand our humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to the people of Southern Sudan. Delivering to them the real benefits of peace will strengthen their support of the CPA and for a united Sudan. During my travels to Sudan, I have heard first-hand accounts of the violence, suffering, and insecurity endured by so many in Sudan. Much of the Sudanese population has never known or experienced any sustained period of peace, stability, or security. This needs to change. Those in leadership in Sudan need to proceed with full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. And, I urge the United States and the international community to take concrete, assertive steps to demonstrate their continued solidarity with the Sudanese people to help them achieve their goal of a peaceful and stable Sudan. I ask unanimous consent 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 the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 383.

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 we have 30 minutes set aside for a period of morning business. Following that 30 minutes, we will resume postcloture debate on the PATRIOT Act conference report. We had five procedural votes on or in relation to the PATRIOT Act yesterday, concluding with an 84-to-15 vote. Given that overwhelming vote, it is now time for the Senate to take a final vote on this conference report. That vote is scheduled for 3 p.m. today. We will divide the time equally until that time. After the vote on the adoption of the PATRIOT Act, we will proceed to a cloture vote on the issue of LIHEAP. I hope we can proceed to the LIHEAP bill and come to a resolution on that measure before the close of the week. In any event, I am confident we will proceed to that measure and work toward a vote on the LIHEAP issue. We will update Senators this afternoon after the two votes later today.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I wish to make a brief comment on an important provision on methamphetamine that is in the PATRIOT Act but not a lot of attention has been focused on it over the last several days, a very important provision. At 3 o'clock today the Senate will vote on passage of the PATRIOT Act conference report, and after a lot of months of debate we will finally deliver a PATRIOT Act that is stronger and tougher and more effective against terrorists on American soil, while at the same time protecting our civil liberties. It has not been easy. It has taken a long time. But now we are on the verge of a tremendous success with the passage of a very important bill that will benefit the American people. The Combat Meth Act is legislation Senator Talent introduced last year, and I and many of our colleagues are a cosponsor of that legislation. Senator Talent's leadership has been instrumental in pushing this bill forward, and it is something of which we can all be very proud. I have worked with the House leadership to encourage Members to get this done because meth is a crisis that has been building in all of our States. It is highly addictive, cheap, and easily available. In the last 10 years meth has become America's worst drug problem. I say that, even putting it before marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, in that the use of it has increased so significantly and it is so terribly addictive. Last year Tennessee ranked No. 2, tied with Iowa and just behind Missouri, in the number of meth lab seizures. Through tougher laws and tougher enforcement over the last year and a half Tennessee is starting to see a turnaround, and that is one of the reasons I am so convinced this legislation will have a dramatic impact in a short period of time. It was in March of last year that Tennessee signed its Meth Free Tennessee Act, a much needed law that required retailers to take cold medicines and sinus medicines containing pseudoephedrine off the shelves and put them behind the counter where they can be closely monitored. As a result of this powerful new approach, lab seizures have declined dramatically, down 40 percent in May and another 60 percent in June. In addition, district attorneys across the State have told me of the tremendous impact it has made and they joined Governor Bresden in launching the Meth Destroys campaign. Through videos and brochures and bulletin boards and other means of public relations, the Meth Destroys campaign is reaching out to schools, to church groups, to parents, to civic organizations, to educate the public on the grave dangers of this highly addictive drug, methamphetamine. Now with the imminent passage of the Combat Meth Act here in the Senate today at 3 o'clock, everyone's job is going to get a whole lot easier. We learned that when one State restricted access to the precursors, meth cooks simply crossed over to the adjoining State, bought their ingredients and brought them back. Law enforcement told us again and again that they needed uniform law to be able to cut off this access to and purchase of these ingredients. Senator Talent and Senator Feinstein introduced the Combat Meth Act to restrict access to cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine across all 50 States. Under the Combat Meth Act, meth users will no longer be able to jump from State to State, cruise from State to State in order to buy these ingredients. Once again I thank Senator Talent and Senator Feinstein for pushing hard to get this done. It will have a direct impact in a short period of time. Lives will be saved, communities will be better protected because of their commitment. I urge all of our colleagues to vote for the PATRIOT Act, which includes the Combat Meth Act, this afternoon. It applies directly to the well-being and safety of our neighbors and fellow citizens.