Tom Harkin

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, following the lead of our distinguished chairman, my colleague from Pennsylvania, we have a number of amendments. Some of them have been cleared on both sides. Amendment No. 1112 (Purpose: To increase funds for education infrastructure)

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. HARKIN. Yes, as modified it was agreed to. That was the modification I sent to the desk.

Mr. HARKIN. Now, Mr. President, I have three amendments on behalf of Mr. Wellstone which I am resubmitting for him.

Mr. HARKIN. The United States has for years been a leader in refugee protection. Since 1975, over 2 million refugees have resettled in the United States. The Refugee Act is the core of U.S. refugee policy. This act sets out the criteria for persons to be designated as refugees. In addition, the Refugee Act allows the Department of Health and Human Services to run several important programs to assist refugees in adjusting to their new life in the United States. These programs include the Refugee Assistance Program, which provides assistance to refugees to help them become self-sufficient in the shortest time possible, social services programs which provide funding to States to support English language classes and employment training for refugees. Refugees receiving cash and medical assistance under this program are required to be enrolled in employment services and accept employment offers. Furthermore, the Refugee Act allows HHS to provide overseas medical screening of refugees before they enter the United States. Also, it provides targeted assistance to States and counties with high refugee populations. For instance, in 1996, Polk County IA received $160,500 in targeted assistance. HHS also provides a matching grant to voluntary agencies which take responsibility for resetting refugees and ensuring they become self-sufficient. In Iowa, the Refugee Act allowed HHS to provide a targeted assistance award of almost $50,000 to the State and Lutheran Social Services for a program which helps former political prisoners achieve economic independence.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I send a modification to the amendment to the desk.

Mr. HARKIN. I yield the floor.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I have an amendment I send to the desk on behalf of Senator Bennett.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I want Senators to know that under the unanimous-consent agreement entered into last week, all amendments to this pending bill, Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill, have to be in by the close of business today, and business is about to be closed. So if Senators have amendments, I suggest they get them in in a hurry or forever be precluded from offering them this year to this bill. Mr. FORD addressed the Chair.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. As I understand it, this election has not been certified. That has been brought out in the debate, and therefore we are still operating under the election of this year. As I understand it further, the Senator can correct me if I am wrong, that this finding of this election overseer now goes to a judge, the judge will make a decision as to whether or not to have a rerun of the election and, further, cannot that judge then decide who should pay for it, also?

Mr. HARKIN. Will the Senator yield for a question not even related to this at all? I would like to know if the Senator has any information or knowledge about how long we are going to be here this evening? I say that as the minority manager of this bill. If we are not going to vote this evening--maybe someone on the other side could tell me. If we are not going to vote this evening, I think we ought to let Senators know so Senators can go home. It is now 8 o'clock at night. We have had a fairly spirited discussion and debate. I don't mean to limit debate or anything, but I think we ought to have some information so that Senators can either stay around for a vote or at least go home to be with their families. Does the Senator know anything about that?

Mr. HARKIN. Will the Senator yield? I have a question whether or not this is premature. Why not wait until the courts take their action and see what has happened before the Senate then operates. Obviously, it will happen in the next few weeks, I assume, and then the Senate can work its will after the judge makes a decision. Would that not be a reasonable course to take?

Mr. HARKIN. I agree.

Mr. HARKIN. I am just thinking about what the procedure is going to be for the rest of the evening. There are only four or five Senators, six, in the Chamber. I hope we would have some information so the Senators could make plans.

Mr. HARKIN. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. HARKIN. I do not have the floor. He has the floor.

Mr. HARKIN. I agree completely with the Senator.

Mr. HARKIN. I agree entirely with the Senator from Maryland.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, the letter points out that we are making progress, that we are discovering new things. Now is not the time to revisit this issue. This issue has been settled and I believe we ought to leave it alone. As we have said, the studies have shown that the safeguards we put in place are working. No violations have been encountered, and I believe the best course of action is to stay the course that we have had since 1993, and, of course, I think at the appropriate time there will be a motion made to table the Coats amendment. And I urge all Senators to support that motion to table and to continue what we have been doing since 1993 in providing for fetal tissue research but with adequate safeguards to ensure that unintended consequences do not happen because of this research. Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I yield myself such time as I may consume on this issue. Mr. President, this amendment is an attempt to revisit an issue that has been settled and should remain settled. It attempts to reverse a decision supported by both pro-choice and pro-life Senators alike. The last time this body voted on this issue, the vote was 93 to 4. The ban on fetal tissue research was lifted 4 years ago. Since that time, the NIH has awarded over $23 million in grants for research involving the study, analysis, and use of fetal tissue. This research holds the potential to provide tremendous advances in the treatment of debilitating conditions such as Parkinson's, diabetes, Alzheimer's, Huntington's, epilepsy, blindness, multiple sclerosis, leukemia, and a host of other illnesses. The issue of fetal tissue research has been debated, as I said, and legislated by the Congress. The Senate voted 93 to 4 that the benefits of this research far outweigh the unsubstantiated fears and concerns that it would lead to increases in abortions. The bill enacted in 1993 established rigorous standards to safeguard against any potential that the needs of researchers would affect individual decisions about abortion. Those safeguards are in place and they are working. In 1997, a GAO study of the safeguards reports that ``the act's documentation requirements were met'' and that there have been no reported violations in the acquisition of human fetal tissue for use in transplantation.'' These safeguards were not written specifically to address research involving Parkinson's disease, but all research using fetal tissue. There is no need to revisit this debate as it relates to research on Parkinson's. The research being conducted today with fetal tissue is also providing new techniques such as specialized cell lines and genetically engineered cells. In fact, the development of these new technologies may well eliminate the need for using fetal tissue for research purposes in the future. Mr. President, yesterday I received a letter from Joan Samuelson, president of the Parkinson's Action Network. It was addressed to Senator Kennedy and others. I would like to read for the Record what she had to say. Her letter starts: For decades, despite the eight-year ban on federal support for the research, significant progress has been made in the therapeutic benefit of cell transplants, including the following: Major progress has been made in confirming the new neural cell transplant process works. In the last two years, post- mortem review of transplanted cells has proven that the transplanted cells can take hold in the host brain and produce dopamine, thereby replacing the dopamine in the body. Major progress has been made in developing an alternative source of tissue for transplantation, so that when a therapy is available to the public, it will not be dependent on elective abortions. Several alternatives are in development, including use of porcine (pig) cells, stem cells and genetically engineered cells. The research is also providing valuable insights into the fundamental issues of Parkinson's cause. For example, the transplanted cells do not appear to be affected by the underlying disease process: While the original cells continue to degenerate, the transplanted ones do not continue to degenerate. This fact is giving essential clues into the nature of the cause and disease process. The transplanted cells are proving more and more effective at treating Parkinson's symptoms. A few transplant patients are now off medication and symptom-free--a dramatic change. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the entire text of the Samuelson letter be printed in the Record.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. I will yield 1 minute 45 seconds to the Senator from Illinois.

Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, Senator Cochran said that only a few States are getting FDA funding right now. That is the point. Six States right now are receiving FDA enforcement money, and only 10 States are expected to receive such money in fiscal 1997, because FDA does not have the money for all States. What this amendment provides is enough money to expand the FDA initiative to all 50 States. I thank my friend from Mississippi for pointing that out. That is the essence of this amendment; to expand to all interested States FDA funding for enforcement of rules providing for ID checks and prohibiting illegal sales to kids who come in to buy cigarettes and tobacco. Madam President, we hear time and time again the tobacco companies saying they want to stop kids from smoking. This amendment does that. Yet has one tobacco company stepped forward to support this amendment? A deafening silence. Not one penny comes out of their pockets under this amendment, and yet not one tobacco company has come forward to say, yes, this amendment by Senators Harkin and Chafee is good because it will keep kids from smoking and buying tobacco. They say they want to help stop kids from smoking. Not one of them has come forward to support this amendment. Shame on them. We debated the previous version of this amendment on July 23, and it was tabled 52 to 48. Since that time another 125,000 young Americans have gotten addicted to smoking, and every day that we delay, thousands more kids like these young women here walk into stores, buy cigarettes and tobacco products, and get hooked. That's why the tobacco companies are not here supporting this amendment.