Kay Hutchison

Mrs. HUTCHISON

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I urge its adoption.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Feinstein and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I ask unanimous consent that the reading be dispensed with.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I urge its adoption.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Feingold and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Jeffords and ask for its consideration.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Salazar and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I move to reconsider the vote and to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, it is my pleasure today to bring the fiscal year 2006 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and related agencies bill to the Senate for consideration. First, I would like to say that as a result of Chairman Cochran and Senator Byrd's leadership, we received an increase in our allocation from the very beginning of this process of over $1.2 billion above the President's request to assist the Department of Veterans Affairs. It was only through this increase that Senator Feinstein and I were able to take care of our Nation's veterans. This bill stays within our 302(b) allocation. It provides $12,116,611,000 for military construction and $70,710,881,000 for the Department of Veterans Affairs and $157,126,000 for related agencies. This bill bridges two significant funding gaps in fiscal year 2006 for the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is a total of $3.2 billion. First, the President's budget request included two legislative proposals for the VA's health system that would have increased the copayments for prescription drugs and instituted new enrollment fees, both of which were to be paid for by veterans. Revenue estimates for these proposals were approximately $1.2 billion. The administration reduced the VA's budget request by this amount. This bill does not include either of those two legislative proposals, and instead the subcommittee used all of its increased allocation to cover the $1.2 billion difference for VA health care. The second gap in the VA's 2006 budget was a shortfall in VA's health care budget identified by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs this summer. The bill contains $1.977 billion requested by the administration in a budget amendment. While Senator Feinstein and I have included the full amount requested, the bill designates this funding as an emergency appropriation. I would like to especially thank the subcommittee's ranking member, Senator Feinstein, for her efforts and cooperation over the summer regarding that particular critical issue. In addition, I thank Senator Larry Craig, and Senator Patty Murray, as well as Senator Akaka for their help in solving that problem that was looming as an emergency. And we all came to an agreement on a bipartisan basis that is certainly worthy of our colleagues' support. We had part of it as an emergency, and we will finish what we need in the 2006 budget. The bill recommends $23.3 billion for the VA's medical services account. This funding level is $1.3 billion above the President's request. Again, this was only possible with the extra allocation provided by the full committee chairman and ranking member. This bill recommends $412 million for medical and prosthetic research. The budget request for this account was $9 million below the fiscal year 2005 level. The funding level in the bill increases this account above the fiscal year 2005 level by $19 million. We have specifically included funds directed solely to research for gulf war illness syndrome. This is an area that I feel very strongly committed to because so many of our veterans came back from the first gulf war--one in seven veterans who returned from that war--with symptoms they had not ever had in their lives. I believe we were slow to recognize that, but we are now putting greater emphasis on that--not only to treat those veterans but also to see what the cause is and prevent future members of our armed services from being susceptible to that kind of chemical warfare. This bill provides full funding as requested for the VA's medical facilities account at $3.3 billion, as well as new construction and renovation of existing facilities at $607 million and $209 million, respectively. The bill creates an account for the VA information technology. This is a very important effort that will help achieve efficiencies in delivering care to our veterans. We do not have the technology we need in our veterans system to do what needs to be done on an efficient basis. This will reorganize the entire technology portfolio and give Congress more oversight, as well. For our Nation's veterans compensation, pensions, and other benefit programs, we fully funded the administration's request of $36.8 billion. The bill also provides sorely needed funds for military construction with the impending return of troops. As a result of the current overseas rebasing effort, BRAC, Army modularity, and the global war on terror, our service men and women are in a time of great transformation. It is important they have facilities in place to enable the transformation. The bill, including the first phase of funding for the BRAC 2005 round, should it be approved by Congress, adds $1.5 billion. We have also included a provision that facilitates congressional oversight by requiring the Secretary of Defense to provide a spending plan before obligating any funds from this account. The bill also continues funding for many important quality-of-life initiatives, including 11 family housing privatization projects, and it increases Guard and Reserve funding more than $295 million over the President's request. For the related agencies under our jurisdiction, we include $51.5 million for the American Battle Monument Commission, which is $1 million above its request, and $28.5 million for Arlington National Cemetery, which is $500,000 above their request. Our subcommittee has worked hard to bring a fair and balanced bill. It warrants the support of our colleagues. We could not have done this without the total cooperation of Senator Feinstein and her staff. We have always worked together on a bipartisan basis. We always will on this subcommittee. I yield the floor to my ranking member, Senator Feinstein.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, let me say thank you for those kind words. I appreciate them. I know the Senator from California has lived through some very tough earthquakes. We appreciate the response Congress is giving to the many needs of the victims of Hurricane Katrina and possibly those who will be in a similar situation from Rita. Thank you very much.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I thank Senator Feinstein. It is clear we worked very well to address the needs of veterans in our country and the military construction needs of all the services in our country. I, too, thank her staff and my staff, Tammy Cameron, Dennis Balkam, and Sean Knowles, for working together to make sure we do the very best job possible and that we work together. I also add that I appreciate what Senator Feinstein said about amendments to the bill. We are going to shortly propose a unanimous consent that gives a deadline for Members who may want to do an amendment, but I hope no one will try for amendments related to Katrina or Rita because we will have another supplemental for those purposes and we would like to keep this bill in our 302(b) allocation. Speaking of Katrina and Rita, I commend the Department, especially, for the way they have handled the emergencies that have faced them. When Katrina was threatening the New Orleans and Mississippi areas, they moved the patients out of harm's way before they were threatened. Before anyone said they had to, they were calling the families of patients, explaining the options and telling the families where the patients were being moved. Records were moved to safe locations. Emergency stockpiles of prescription drugs were routed to the areas where the patients were going. It was truly a phenomenal success. Not one veteran who was in the care of the Veterans' Administration was in any way harmed because of this evacuation and this service. Every single veteran had medication dispensed on time. Special arrangements were made to deliver benefit payments to those who did not have an address or a bank where they were. Victims who were not veterans were also helped. No one was denied medical treatment. VA doctors were there to help everyone, and they did. This is due to the professionalism of the Department and the detailed prior planning. I can tell you the Department of Veterans Affairs is now doing the exact same thing in the areas that are thought to be in the path of Hurricane Rita. They are beginning to evacuate the veterans who might be in harm's way. They will continue to be ready to assure that all of our veterans on medications will have those medications. I commend Secretary Nicholson and all of the professionals at the Department of Veterans Affairs for stepping up to the plate and taking care of our veterans who are in these emergency situations on the gulf coast today. There is no question that all of us--I happen to have been born in Galveston. I have lived through hurricanes, and I know how devastating it can be to an area to be struck by a hurricane. I was going to college when Hurricane Carla struck, which was the largest hurricane we had ever had since the 1900 storms in Galveston. It was a level 4. Now we are looking at possibly a level 5. So I have a lot of friends and family who are in the area who are just waiting to see what is going to happen. And it takes something out of you, there is no question. But our veterans are going to be taken care of. The people of America who are in trouble are going to be taken care of by our Federal, State, and local communities that are all working together to make sure that when Americans are in need, Americans will be there to do our part to ease this pain. So thank you, Mr. President. I thank my distinguished ranking member, Senator Feinstein, for her concern. I commend our Secretary of Veterans Affairs for working with us through many of the travails we have had to assure that our veterans get the care they need and that our Active- Duty military also have the military construction for their quality of life.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I thank Senator Feinstein for bringing that up because there are so many stories. I talked to the FEMA Director yesterday, and he has already gone to the Department of Defense to get a mobile hospital pre-positioned in the area where Rita might come so we would have a MASH unit ready to help people who might be injured. He has asked for helicopters, which he is going to get, for evacuation and rescue missions. I do think the military has really stepped up to the plate in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. They are ready to go and will be going to help the people of Texas where we think the brunt of this storm will hit. The other unsung heroes and heroines of this plight are the men and women of the Coast Guard. The person in charge from the Federal Government for the effort in Texas is going to be the admiral from the Coast Guard because they have done an incredible job. Admiral Allen over in Louisiana is doing a wonderful job. And now we will have other Coast Guard personnel helping with the operation in Texas. So I have been working in the last 24 hours with our State and local officials and our Federal officials to assure that the resources are there. I am convinced everything that can be done is being done and that if you can be prepared, we are prepared. But we all know hurricanes are unpredictable in many ways, and we are in for probably a tough time. We are up to it. We will make sure whatever can be done to ease the pain of people who are in harm's way will be done. I thank the Senator so much for her statement and the concern of all of my colleagues. Just as we have stated our concern to our colleagues from Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama, people now realize we have another State to add to the emergency needs of our country. I have no doubt everyone will be there doing everything possible for my constituents in Texas. Mr. President, we are going to shortly propose a unanimous consent request. I ask any of my colleagues who might have amendments to get down to the floor immediately because we know of no amendments other than a couple we have in the mix. Senator Coburn has one, and we have one from Senator Feinstein for Senator Carper and Senator Biden. Those are the only ones we have been informed would be here, and we are going to dispatch those. So I will ask for a quorum call so we can come back shortly for a unanimous consent request. But if anyone is thinking of an amendment, I would ask my colleagues to address it immediately. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. I urge its adoption.

Mrs. HUTCHISON

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. 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.

Mrs. HUTCHISON

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Education and Early Childhood Development, be authorized to hold a hearing during the session of the Senate on Thursday, September 22 at 3 p.m. in SD-430.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Vetearns' Affairs be authorized to meeting during the session of the Senate on Thursday, September 22, 2005, for a committee hearing titled ``Preserving Sacred Ground; Should Capital Offenders be Buried in America's National Cemeteries?'' The hearing will take place in Room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building at 10 a.m.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 22, 2005 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a closed markup on the fiscal year 2006 Intelligence Authorization.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security be authorized to meet on Thursday, September 22, 2005, at 2:30 p.m. for a hearing regarding ``Cost and Payment Plans of Medicare Part D.''