Fritz Hollings

Mr. HOLLINGS

Mr. HOLLINGS. I urge the adoption of the amendment.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Madam President, I thank the distinguished Senator. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HOLLINGS. I thank the Senator very much.

Mr. HOLLINGS. I am awaiting the attendance of the Senator from New Hampshire who is in an important conference at the moment. Let me bring my colleagues up to speed. We have tried our best, working out certain amendments all yesterday and earlier this morning--those that would be accepted, those that would be included in the managers' amendment, and those that would still be pending. On both sides we are trying to assemble the determinant list of pending amendments. When we do, we will ask unanimous consent and see if we can facilitate the disposition of this bill today, and no later than tomorrow. We will see what best can be done. Pending that, let me say a word about the efforts of your subcommittee of Commerce, Justice, State in the field of counterterrorism. For example, in early May, your subcommittee, under the leadership of Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, chairman at that time, held 3 days of comprehensive hearings of which I now hold a transcript. On May 8, we had a hearing with Department of the Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill; Department of Defense Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz; Secretary of State Colin Powell; and Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta. That afternoon, we had a hearing with FEMA Director Joseph Allbaugh; National Security Administrator John A. Gordon; and Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Richard A. Meserve. On May 9, at that hearing, we had Attorney General John Ashcroft; Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson; Commerce Secretary, Don Evans; and in the afternoon, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Anthony Principi; Secretary of Agriculture, Ann Veneman; and Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton. On May 10, we had the joint task force civil support commander, Gen. Bruce Lawlor; the American Red Cross president and chief executive officer, Dr. Bernadine Healy; a panel of State and local representatives from fire, police, public health, and emergency management. And then in the afternoon, we closed the session with the Director of the CIA, George Tenet; the FBI Director, Judge Louis Freeh, and VADM Thomas Wilson. We were trying our best to lay the groundwork for better coordination of our effort on counterterrorism. I ask unanimous consent to have the statement by President Bush, dated May 8, printed in the Record.

Mr. HOLLINGS. We noted in this statement that the President appointed Vice President Cheney to conduct hearings, devise a comprehensive study, and develop a position with respect to coordination, and he designated in the same instrument Joseph Allbaugh, the Director of FEMA, to create an Office of National Preparedness responsible for the implementation of the results. He asked that FEMA's Director coordinate all Federal programs dealing with weapons of mass destruction and consequence management within the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Justice, the EPA, and the other Federal agencies. It was our considered judgment that FEMA was not going to be the appropriate office to handle, certainly, the prevention of any kind of terrorism. Since terrorism is now not only admitted to be a crime, but more than that, an act of war--which this particular Senator believes it to be--you have to go with the Department of Justice. The President, of course, at a time of war, is really the director. But for the peacetime coordination--let's call it that--the subcommittee thought it best not to be implemented by a counterterrorism, or terrorism, czar--we know what drug czars have done; very little, in all candor. On the contrary, the subcommittee unanimously passed out within the Committee of Appropriations itself--and I read on page 10: The United States is in the beginning stages of developing an organizational structure for leadership in the area of terrorism preparedness. A National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counterterrorism was established 4 years ago within the National Security Council. Under Presidential Decision Directive 62, the National Coordinator was tasked with coordinating interagency terrorism policy issues and reviewing ongoing terrorism- related activities. While the designation of a National Coordinator signaled the previous Administration's recognition of the weight of the problem, it was not a permanent solution. Responsibility for developing national security policy belongs to the President. However, it is the responsibility of the Congress to provide the means to implement a systematic and synchronized policy that will achieve sustainable Federal, State, and local cooperation on domestic terrorism issues. Whomever is responsible for managing this Nation's activities to combat terrorism must be accountable to the American people. Despite increased attention to this problem over the last 5 years, there remains considerable confusion over jurisdiction at all levels of government. In order to improve coordination and centralize the policy-making structure for domestic terrorism within the Department of Justice, the Committee recommends the creation of a Deputy Attorney General for Combating Domestic Terrorism (DAG-CT). The Committee recommends $23,000,000 for this purpose. The DAG-CT shall have as its principal duty the overall coordination and implementation of policy aimed at preventing, preparing for, and responding to terrorist attacks within the United States. This person will be directly responsible to the Attorney General. This office will be responsible for domestic terrorism policy development and coordination and will speak for the Department on and coordinate with all of the appropriate agencies for terrorism-related matters. The subcommittee also committed, of course, at the full committee, the authorization for that Deputy Attorney General, section 604. I read: (b) Section 504 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after ``General'' the following, ``and a Deputy Attorney General for Combating Domestic Terrorism''. (c) There is established within the Department of Justice the position of Deputy Attorney General for Combating Domestic Terrorism, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. (d) Subject to the authority of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General for Combating Domestic Terrorism shall serve as the principal advisor to the Attorney General on, and, with the Deputy Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, serve as one of two key government officials responsible for domestic counterterrorism and antiterrorism policy. We tried, providing this, to put it in step with the President's directive. Now, with the terrible events of the past two days, the White House, along with the leadership, has agreed on a $20 billion package relative to counterterrorism and any activity the administration deems necessary as a result of that terrorism. Of course, the subcommittee would be willing to conform now or in conference with what the President and the leadership desire. But there must be coordination and there must be a fixed responsibility if we are really going to handle this particular problem. I am confident the American people would agree with us that we have to have better coordination from the very get-go; namely, with respect to intelligence. I got into that intelligence game almost 50 years ago, in 1954 as a member of the Hoover Commission investigating intelligence activities. At that particular time we had good covert activity, fine agents buried within the Soviet Union and other places. There is not any question, if we can get into the Soviet Union, we can get into Osama bin Laden and Hamas, and Hezbollah, and any other of these terrorist groups. We used to read all these articles about how difficult intelligence work was. It is not an easy thing, where you just call to find something out. On the contrary, you work at it. Our friend Tom Clancy just momentarily said, of the 20,000 employees out there at the CIA, we only have about 800 in covert operations. And to quote General Schwarzkopf after Desert Storm--I will never forget a briefing we had at the Appropriations Committee Defense Subcommittee-- he said he could not depend on intelligence from the CIA, that it was mush. The reason he called it mush was he said it was so overanalyzed, the corners were cut, the edges were rounded, and everything else of that kind. I found out at that time they had 864 intelligence analyzers at the CIA. Cold, hard facts are analyzed, analyzed, and analyzed, and everyone wants to protect their backsides, so in analyzing, you are giving yourself a grade, you are not giving the cold, hard, intelligence fact. That is what General Schwarzkopf called it--mush. He said he had to depend on his pilots in Desert Storm. Obviously, the problem persists with a massive attack upon the United States in such a coordinated and deliberate fashion, and we have not an inkling. We know about Mogadishu; we know about the barracks in Saudi Arabia; we know about the Embassy in Kenya; we know about the Embassy in Tanzania; we know about the U.S.S. Cole, we know about the prior attack on the World Trade towers. The leader of all that continues to say he is really going to pull off an attack on the United States of America. And when it occurs, we say we wonder who did it. We are hard learners. We have to get going and get serious about this war we are in. In that light, I want to make sure counterterrorism is coordinated and we do everything possible to secure ourselves domestically. With respect to that, on Thursday morning at 9:30 we will have a meeting and a hearing before the Commerce, Science, and Transportation full Committee whereby we will hear from notably, I take it, the Secretary of Transportation, and Jane Garvey, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration. Also, perhaps we will hear from the FBI in a closed hearing ahead of time so that we will know exactly what is needed and what the threat is. Eliminating the curbside check-in option as part of new federal security standards announced yesterday doesn't fully address our security problems. After all, luggage checked curbside or at the desk both have to go through some type of scanner. Unless and until we federalize the security screeners and the scanners that you find at airports, unless we federalize like the European Governments, we are not going to get a better result than the present one. And that is folks who are privately hired by the airlines working for minimum wage, staying for an average of three months or so. My wife had two knee replacements. She has titanium knees. We know the metal detector is going to sound. I am trying to explain to the employees there and they do not understand. We need trained professionals working in airport security. Heightened security measures on airplanes are also needed. The airplane cabins need to be secure, so no one can get to the pilots. The door has to be made more stable and solid. There is no reason to open the door. Tell pilots to bring a box lunch. They can communicate, if there is an emergency, and if they identify it as an emergency. But if a terrorist starts taking over the crew, they can hear it. They have communications. They can land the plane and save, hopefully, some of the individuals. But terrorists ought to know up front that they are not going to turn a domestic flight into a weapon of mass destruction and just run it into a building. That has to stop immediately. I would like to be able to talk at length about what needs to be done. But that is enough. I think perhaps the last talk should be about better orchestration, coordination, and action quietly. That is really what is needed at this particular time. I ask colleagues if they have an amendment to please come to the floor immediately. Let's present it, debate it, and have a vote on it. Otherwise, we will make up that list of amendments. I will soon be joined by the Senator from New Hampshire. Credit should go to the Senator from New Hampshire who set up these hearings. In May, he had everyone in the administration come, as you can tell from this hearing record. It is the most comprehensive look- see the Government has had with respect to terrorism this year. We think we have to fix some responsibility, and we have to appropriate for it. There is some $364 million for the various offices that you might see on page 48 of the Committee report where you have the total activities to combat terrorism: Management and Administration, $8 million; Center for Domestic Preparedness, Fort McClelland, AL, $30 million; for consortium members, $58 million; National Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center in New Mexico, $7 million; National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center at Texas A&M, $7 million; National Center for Bio-Med Research and Training, Louisiana State University, $7 million; National Exercise, Test and Training Center at Nevada Test Site, another $7 million; Domestic Preparedness Equipment Grants, $175 million; Dartmouth Institute for Security and Technology Studies, $18 million; Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, $18 million; Virtual Medical Campus, $2 million; Domestic Preparedness Exercise Grants and Exercise Support Funds, $20 million; TOPFF II, $4 million; Annual Exercise Program, $5 million; Improved Response Program, $3 million; other training, $35 million; technical assistance, $8 million; prepositioned equipment, $8 million; and Web Site Pilot, $2 million. It adds up to around $364 million. That really was a result of the Oklahoma bombing. We went in every direction possible. But that is our problem. We are still going in every direction. We are not coordinating. The responsibility is not fixed. Someone ought to be at that Cabinet table--the Attorney General with his assistants talking with the President, who, of course, has the prime responsibility. Let me say, so far so good. The country has responded admirably. I think our Government is up and well and doing good. There is a wonderful element of bipartisanship. During the August break, I was on a trip in Australia, and up around Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China in the Pacific area. Everywhere I went, the Ambassador would get into the budget, and I would tell them how we were running a heck of a deficit. I told them there wasn't any surplus. Now everybody will admit to it. The law in Section 201 of the Social Security Act of 1935 says that if there's a surplus in the Social Security trust fund, then we must invest that in government notes. We take the money, but we don't give it to Social Security. Under Section 13-301 of the Budget Act, it says thou shall not use that money. Follow section 21 of the Greenspan report of 1983, which concurs. It says thou shall not use this money against the deficit, or in the general revenues to account for lowering the deficit. But we do. We have done it since President Johnson's time. Up to President Johnson's time, we never did. But President Johnson didn't do it. He had a surplus in 1968-1969 without the use of Social Security funds. In any event, I said to each one of these Ambassadors that our problem back in the States is that we need some national purpose. We are just running around with courthouse politics. It is a shameful thing. We can't do anything but argue about who is responsible for the deficit, or who is going to invade the trust fund, or stem cell research. The country is really asleep. The leadership is in all directions. What we really need is a national purpose. I think at least in the last 48 hours we now have a national purpose. We know who the enemy is. Let's characterize it: People who give up their life for a cause, we will call them the enemy. But they call them heroes. Let's depict this properly. It is the leadership. And I commend the President for saying we are not only going to hold those responsible, but the countries that harbor them. I think he is right on target. But that is the whole idea now. We are in this war together. We are working together. I think that has helped this particular bill along. We are going to try to get a finite list of amendments. Now, with my ranking member here, I yield to Senator Gregg.

Mr. HOLLINGS. I thank the distinguished leader. I immediately give credit to the ranking member, the Senator from New Hampshire, who as chairman had the vision that it was necessary we have some coordination and a full comprehensive review of the problem of terrorism and how to respond to it. It was under his leadership that we have these sections in the bill. Now we are ready to move. We are ready to go to third reading, and we are ready to pass it. The two leaders are here. I again suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HOLLINGS. I thank the distinguished Senator from North Dakota very much.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. HOLLINGS

Mr. HOLLINGS. I understand that Missouri is waging quite a battle against Methamphetamines.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Right.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Right.

Mr. HOLLINGS. The Committee has long recognized the problems associated with the use and production of Methamphetamines, and we have provided real money to help local communities and law enforcement deal with this problem. It is the intent of this Committee that the money made available for the Washington State Methamphetamine Program be spread among the counties that you have mentioned. I do look forward to continuing to working with the Senators from Washington on this issue in the future. pacific coastal salmon recovery fund

Mr. HOLLINGS. I thank the Senator from North Carolina for his remarks. He is correct about the high rate of recidivism among sexual offenders. We were delighted to be able to accommodate the request of the Senators from North Carolina.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Let me also thank our distinguished leader, Senator Reid. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following list I send to the desk be the only first-degree amendments in order to H.R. 2500; that they be subject to relevant second-degree amendments; that upon disposition of all amendments, the bill be read a third time and the Senate vote on passage of the bill; that upon passage of the bill, the Senate insist on its amendments, request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and that the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I appreciate the cooperation and leadership of Senator Gregg and the leadership on both sides of the aisle in helping us with this finite list. They said not to send up the matter of the conferees at this particular time, but that is the same list. The list, Mr. President, is agreed to on both sides and the Chair has already ruled. I only ask that some of these Senators come forward so we can debate and vote. I want to confer with my ranking member to see what we can have brought up and what we can eliminate and bring this to a conclusive list because this one is pretty long. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HOLLINGS. The Senator from Washington State is correct.

Mr. HOLLINGS

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, September 13, 2001, at 2:30 p.m., in open session to consider the nomination of General Richard B. Myers, USAF, for reappointment in the grade of general and for appointment as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a nominations hearing on Thursday, September 13, 2001, at 2:00 p.m. in Dirksen 226. Panel I: Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS); Senator Christopher Dodd (D- CT); Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT); Senator Trent Lott (R-MS); Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA); Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE); Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY); Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE). Panel II: Barrington D. Parker, Jr., to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit. Panel III: Laurie Smith Camp, to be United States District Judge for the District of Nebraska; Michael P. Mills, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Mississippi. Panel IV: John W. Gillis, to be Director of the Office of Victims of Crime.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous Consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works, Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water be authorized to meet on Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 10:00 a.m. to conduct a hearing on improving the utilization of available water and wastewater infrastructure funding. The hearing will be held in the Rm. SD-406.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Subcommittee on Public Health, be authorized to meet for a hearing on Revitalizing Protections for Humans Subjects in Research during the session of the Senate on Thursday, September 13, 2001, at 2:00 p.m.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Technology and Space of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Thursday, September 13, 2001, at 2:00 p.m. on Digital Divide.

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a markup on Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 10:30 a.m., in SD226. I. Unfinished business: S. 754, the Drug Competition Act of 2001 [Leahy/Kohl/Schumer/Durbin/ Feingold/Cantwell/Grassley]. S. 1319/H.R. 2215, The Department of Justice FY2002 Authorization Bill [Leahy/Hatch]. S. 1140, the Motor Vehicle Franchise Contract Arbitration Fairness Act of 2001 [Hatch/Feingold/Grassley/Leahy]. II. Nominations: To Be United States Attorney: Michael G. Heavican--District of Nebraska; Paul J. McNulty--Eastern District of Virginia; Colm F. Connolly--District of Delaware; Roscoe C. Howard, Jr.--District of the District of Columbia; Michael J. Sullivan--District of Massachusetts; Joseph S. Van Bokkelen--Northern District of Indiana; Stephen B. Pence--Western District of Kentucky; Gregory F. Van Tatenhove--Eastern District of Kentucky; Thomas B. Heffelfinger--District of Minnesota; Patrick L. Meehan--Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Mary Beth Buchanan--Western District of Pennsylvania; Peter W. Hall--District of Vermont. III. Bills: S. 1315, The Judicial Improvement and Integrity Act of 2001 [Leahy/ Hatch]. S. Res. 159, Designating the Week Beginning September 16, 2001 as ``National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week.'' [Thurmond].

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Thursday, September 13, 2001, at 9:00 am on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE).

Mr. HOLLINGS

Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, let me thank the distinguished Senator from New Hampshire. We could not have passed this bill without his leadership and without his cooperation, and particularly without his vision with respect to terrorism. The Senator from New Hampshire was our chairman back in May. He held 3 days of hearings that got this comprehensive provision in the particular State-Justice-Commerce appropriations measure. Let me also thank his staff: Jim Morhard, Kevin Linskey, Katherine Hennessey, and Nancy Perkins; and, of course, my own staff: Lila Helms, Jill Shapiro Long, Dereck Orr, and Luke Nachbar. I thank particularly the staff that really gets it done: Lula Davis, Marty Paione, Peter Arapis, Gary Myrick, and Tim Mitchell; the distinguished majority leader; and, most of all, the distinguished assistant majority leader who has been working around the clock. He is still working. I want him to hear my words of praise because Harry Reid of Nevada really got us moving and got these things accomplished. I couldn't feel more personally indebted to him for his leadership. I yield the floor.