Bill Frist

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 364, 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, 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, today the Senate did begin consideration of the House version of the tax relief bill that this body passed last November. We now have 7 hours remaining under the statutory time limit for this piece of legislation. We began with 20 hours and now have 7 hours remaining. Tomorrow, we will continue debate on this important bill. At this point I expect further debate tomorrow morning until all time has expired. As all Senators are aware, once all time expires Senators may offer amendments, and therefore a series of stacked votes over the course of tomorrow afternoon is to be expected. Senators should expect a busy afternoon, and I ask Members to remain close to the Chamber tomorrow while these amendments are considered to this tax reconciliation bill. We don't know exactly how many amendments that will be, but once those amendments start we will go straight through those amendments until completion, whether that be tomorrow night or on Friday. We will finish the bill this week and it is possible we could finish it tomorrow night if we have good cooperation from both sides of the aisle on this legislation. But if not, we will go into Friday to complete the bill. Progress was good today. There was a lot of discussion over the course of the day. We have a lot of people who said they wished to offer amendments and I do hope that they would reconsider and make sure, if the amendment is to be offered, it is a substantive amendment, important to the tax reconciliation bill and, if not, not offer the amendment. Thus we could get through this tomorrow night.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 361, 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, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 360, submitted earlier today.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record, without intervening action or debate.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I now ask that the Senate proceed to the nominations of Ben Bernanke, as under the previous order. For the information of colleagues, we will begin debate on the Bernanke nominations now and will conclude the remaining debate after the policy lunches.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent 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 for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today has been an extraordinarily historic and eventful day, one in which we have paid tribute to, and reflected upon, the great deeds and towering leadership of some of the most consequential individuals of the 20th century. It has also been a fast- paced day of action, of looking to the future, guiding America toward our most cherished goals and most cherished ideals. One person we honor today, who has helped lead that journey, is retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. For over two decades, Justice O'Connor has presided over some of the most complex, difficult, and vexing debates of our times. Justice O'Connor, who turns 76 this year, retires with a sterling reputation as a brilliant legal scholar, a fair and impartial jurist, and an individual of impeccable personal integrity. Born in the humble town of El Paso, TX, to Harry and Ada Mae, the young Sandra Day grew up on her family's cattle ranch in southeastern Arizona. It was not far and wasn't long to Stanford University where she graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in economics. She was accepted into the university's prestigious school of law and earned a coveted position on the law review's board of editors. She completed law school in only 2 years and finished near the top of her class. Among her classmates was a young man who would later sit beside her on the highest Court in the land: the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Despite her extraordinary credentials, the private sector didn't easily welcome a woman into its male-dominated ranks. After a frustrating job search in the private sector, the young lawyer began her career as Deputy County Attorney of San Mateo, CA. A 4-year stint in Europe, where her husband was posted, and 3 sons later, Sandra Day O'Connor became Arizona's Assistant Attorney General in 1965. She served 4 years before being appointed to fill an unexpired seat in the Arizona State Senate. In the State senate she proved herself an adept and popular lawmaker. She rose to its highest office to become the first woman State majority leader ever in the history of the United States. In 1975, Sandra Day O'Connor was elected judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, and 4 years later, in 1979, was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals. There she served until President Ronald Reagan appointed her Associate Justice to the Supreme Court. Twenty-five years ago, on September 21, 1981, the Senate unanimously confirmed her nomination. On that day, Sandra Day O'Connor again made history. She became the first female Justice in the Court's history. When asked for her reaction to her nomination, Sandra Day O'Connor said: I can only say I will approach [my work on the bench] with care and effort and do the best job I possibly can do. So she has. Justice O'Connor has served with distinction and as an example to all Americans that, through persistence and hard work, the highest peaks can be achieved. Despite her early professional obstacles, she never surrendered her determination, her focus, nor did she surrender her Southwestern roots. Fiercely proud of her heritage, Justice O'Connor and her brother H. Alan Day authored a best selling memoir entitled ``Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest.'' Anyone who has entered the inner compounds of Justice O'Connor's Supreme Court office has seen that sign that reads: ``Cowgirl Parking Only: All Others will be Towed.'' About 11 years ago, when Karen and I first came to Washington, DC, we didn't really know anybody here. We were a little bit lost, a physician and his family moving to this city. We early on met John and Justice O'Connor. Since that time, we have had the opportunity to be with them socially. We respect their wonderful and loving relationship, which has been always and continues to be manifested in so many wonderful ways. They welcomed our family to this Washington community and expressed that welcome in warm and heartfelt ways, again and again. To echo the worlds of Ronald Reagan, Sandra Day O'Connor is ``truly a `person for all seasons,' possessing those unique qualities of temperament, fairness, intellectual capacity and devotion to the public good which have characterized the 101 `brethren' who have preceded her.'' Sandra Day O'Connor has served this country for over five decades as an Arizona State Senator and majority leader, State court judge, assistant State attorney general, and in the capacity of which she will long be remembered, as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of America. The ``cowgirl from Arizona'' may never have dreamed of riding to the highest Court in the land but, boy oh boy, is America fortunate that she did. On behalf of my fellow Senators and the American people, I offer my deepest gratitude to Justice O'Connor for her service to this great Nation, and I wish Mrs. O'Connor the best in all of her future endeavors. Mr. President, 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. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morning we will have the final closing remarks with respect to the confirmation of Judge Alito to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. The vote on the confirmation is scheduled for 11 o'clock this morning. I remind all of our colleagues to be seated at their desks in the Senate Chamber for this historic vote. Following the confirmation vote, we will consider the nomination of Ben Bernanke to be a member and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve to succeed Chairman Alan Greenspan. Under the time agreement, we will have 1 hour of debate under the control of Chairman Shelby and the ranking member, Senator Sarbanes. No rollcall vote is necessary on the Bernanke nomination, and we will have a voice vote on the confirmation. Finally, this evening the Senate will gather in the Senate Chamber at 8:30 and proceed as a body to the House Chamber at 8:35 to hear the President's annual State of the Union Address. Members are asked to please plan their schedules accordingly for today's events. I yield the floor.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, at the end of a debate in the Senate there is rarely a question of whether everything has been said--only whether every Senator has said it. After 92 days since this nomination was announced, after 30 hours of Judiciary Committee hearings, after Judge Alito answered more than 650 questions, and after 5 days of debate on the floor of the Senate, there is little left to be said. So I will be brief. To President Bush I say thank you. To President Bush I say thank you for nominating such an exceptionally qualified individual as Sam Alito to serve on the Supreme Court. To my Senate colleagues I say well done to the supermajority of Senators who joined yesterday to elevate principle above partisan politics and defeat an unjustified filibuster of this nomination. And to Judge Alito I say: You deserve the seat on the Supreme Court. Today, you will become the 110th Justice to serve on the Court throughout America's history. It is a seat that is reserved for a few but that impacts millions. May the Constitution and rule of law be the light that illuminates each case that comes before you. So, momentarily, we will vote from our desks, a time-honored tradition that demonstrates, once again, how important and consequential every Member takes his duty under the Constitution to provide advise and consent on a Supreme Court nomination and to give the nominee the fair up-or-down vote he deserves. It is time to call the roll. There is only one thing left to say. I ask for the yeas and nays on the nomination of Samuel Alito to serve as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. FRIST. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today marks the end of one of the most outstanding public service careers in this country's history. Today, Dr. Alan Greenspan steps down as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. These last 18 years many accolades have been showered on Chairman Greenspan's leadership in steering monetary policy--a period that included some very difficult waters. But I think the true strength of his leadership can be measured by the numbers. The Chairman, I understand, devours statistics in helping to make sound decisions. And the measurable results have been impressive. Since being appointed to the chairmanship--first by President Reagan in August 1987, and then, later, by Presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush--U.S. economic growth has averaged 3 percent per year. The annual rate of increase in consumer prices has similarly averaged a low 3 percent annually. If price stability is the key responsibility of our independent Federal Reserve System, one can only conclude that Chairman Greenspan's leadership has been extraordinarily successful. Meanwhile, the number of payroll jobs in America has grown from 102 million when he took on the chairmanship to nearly 135 million today. The unemployment rate has averaged slightly more than a low 5\1/2\ percent. But Chairman Greenspan has been more than an outstanding captain of the economic seas. He has been a shrewd analyst and forecaster, shaping the economic future. One key statistic that the Chairman brought to the public's attention--and particularly to those of us involved in the policy process--is the issue of productivity. He was the first to recognize that the rise of productivity allowed unemployment to fall lower than many economists thought possible without stoking the fires of inflation, therefore, allowing the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low. Over his tenure, productivity growth averaged 2.2 percent per year, nearly double the rate of growth in the seventies and eighties. There were major challenges along the way: Only 2 weeks after taking his position at the Federal Reserve, the stock market dropped nearly 23 percent--marking the worse 1-day decline in the market's history. There was an Asian and Russian financial crisis in 1998. And, of course, the tragedy of September 11 that hit directly at the heart of our financial system. In each instance, quick action by the Chairman to provide liquidity into the market through interest rate decisions allowed for the economy, indeed the global economy, to right itself, stabilize, and continue to grow. One measure of the Chairman's counsel has been his highly anticipated testimonies before the Committees of Congress. Those hearings have always been sold out, headliner events. We have always listened very closely. On a more personal level, it has been my distinct pleasure to have gotten to know Alan Greenspan and discuss informally with him the challenges that confront this country--in particular, our health care system and the increasing costs of health care, pensions and public entitlements. I will miss those discussions with Mr. Greenspan. But I am confident that he will continue to offer his wise counsel to those who request it. For he will always remain, at heart, a public servant seeking to better the lives of citizens throughout this country and the world. A counselor to Presidents and Congresses, a thoughtful thinker, flexible and non doctrinaire, Chairman Greenspan possesses the rare ability to communicate complicated ideas clearly and to make difficult decisions under complex, dynamic and uncertain conditions. For 18 years, he has done so consistently. For 18 years, he has done so masterfully. Alan Greenspan leaves the Federal stage a giant in his field. And if my high praise suggests a dash of ``irrational exuberance,'' so be it. Chairman Greenspan is deserving of our highest regard. On the passing of John Maynard Keynes, the British economist Alfred Marshall wrote that: ``a great economist must possess a rare combination of gifts: mathematician, historian, statesman, philosopher.'' Alan Greenspan possesses each in large measure. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your outstanding service to your country and to your fellow Americans. On behalf of the U.S. Senate, best wishes to you in all of your future endeavors.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 362, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I rise today to mark the passing of a great American. Coretta Scott King, a leader of the civil rights movement, died in her sleep yesterday evening. In 15 years of marriage to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and nearly four decades of tireless advocacy after his assassination, Mrs. King proved herself a strong and tireless voice for the principle of human equality. At her husband's side through good times and bad, she played a major role in speaking out against the injustice and evils of State-mandated discrimination and private bigotry. Her work with her husband played a key role in the passage of our most vital civil rights laws: the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Following her husband's death, she helped found the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change and led the successful campaign to establish her husband's birthday as a national holiday. As a Southerner who hails from a state that once imposed the terrible evils of Jim Crow, I am deeply grateful for the work of the Civil Rights Movement. As majority leader of the Senate, I had the privilege and the pleasure of being with Coretta Scott King on a number of occasions. As I was reflecting back over the course of the day, the one I remember most was now 2 or maybe 3 years ago when I joined her for a church service at Ebenezer Baptist Church Heritage in Atlanta where the family has been historically attending services. Without the achievements of the civil rights movement, Tennessee, and indeed the entire American South, would have remained mired in cultural and political and economic patterns of the distant past. It took leadership. It took boldness. It took vision. As we move forward with our work today and in the whole of this Congress, let us remember that heroic, that bold, yet humble, work of Coretta Scott King. Let us prove ourselves worthy of the legacy of the civil rights movement the King family have bequeathed to our Nation.

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, we have had a very productive day with the Senate confirming the nominations of Samuel Alito as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Senate will recess until 8:35 tonight and, just after that, we will proceed as a body to the House for a joint session of Congress to hear the President's State of the Union Address. Tomorrow the Senate will begin consideration of the tax reconciliation bill. We have already passed this bill once and had hoped that we could expedite the process of sending the bill to conference and resolving our differences with the House. Unfortunately, it appears that this will be a somewhat lengthy process, and it will take several days and multiple votes. We will finish it this week.

Mr. FRIST

Mr. FRIST. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess until 8:35 p.m. tonight, under the previous order.