Ted Kennedy

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be able to proceed for 4 more minutes.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I am sad to inform the Senate of the passing of a true giant in the world of education, Sandy Feldman, who headed the American Federation of Teachers. Sandy was a fighter for schoolchildren every day of her very productive life. She was determined to make a difference, especially to the millions of disadvantaged children in our schools--and she did. She inspired some many young people to become teachers. She helped them understand that teaching was not just a job, but it was a calling. Sandy, you leave a proud and rich legacy. You will be an inspiration to students and teachers for many years to come. We love you, and you will be missed but never, ever forgotten. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it's a privilege to join my colleague Senator Enzi in introducing a bill to bring much needed employment relief to the many working men and women who suddenly lost their livelihood because of Hurricane Katrina. The bill authorizes the Secretary to use National Emergency Grant funds to create short term jobs as the region begins to rebuild. In distributing these funds, the first priority will be the States who have suffered the greatest loss. A group of us visited the Gulf Coast area last Friday and saw firsthand the immensity of the devastation. We know these proud hard-working men and women are anxious to become self-sufficient again as soon as possible. The Nation has opened its heart to the victims of this vast tragedy, and we need to focus now on making sure that their towns, cities and parishes are ready for their return. In order to rebuild, we need to make sure that there are jobs for them and schools for their children. Last week, we took a first step in helping reopen the schools and we also need to take a similar step to see that there are jobs when they return. The most heavily affected States--Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi--are doing all they can to begin rebuilding the local economy, so only Governors and local elected officials will control these employment funds. Our intention is to help rebuild the local economy and give benefits to local workers through local businesses. I commend Chairman Enzi for his leadership on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it's a privilege to join my colleague Senator Enzi in introducing a bill to bring much needed employment relief to the many working men and women who suddenly lost their livelihood because of Hurricane Katrina. The bill authorizes the Secretary to use National Emergency Grant funds to create short term jobs as the region begins to rebuild. In distributing these funds, the first priority will be the States who have suffered the greatest loss. A group of us visited the Gulf Coast area last Friday and saw firsthand the immensity of the devastation. We know these proud hard-working men and women are anxious to become self-sufficient again as soon as possible. The Nation has opened its heart to the victims of this vast tragedy, and we need to focus now on making sure that their towns, cities and parishes are ready for their return. In order to rebuild, we need to make sure that there are jobs for them and schools for their children. Last week, we took a first step in helping reopen the schools and we also need to take a similar step to see that there are jobs when they return. The most heavily affected States--Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi--are doing all they can to begin rebuilding the local economy, so only Governors and local elected officials will control these employment funds. Our intention is to help rebuild the local economy and give benefits to local workers through local businesses. I commend Chairman Enzi for his leadership on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is an honor to join the chairman of the HELP Committee, Senator Enzi, in introducing a bill to bring much needed support and relief to students, educators, and schools affected by Hurricane Katrina. The assistance cannot come too soon. I want to thank the chairman and his staff for all their hard work and for working together with us to deliver this relief as quickly as possible. We are all familiar with the devastation that hurricanes can cause to communities. In the past, some of the most destructive storms temporarily closed schools in those communities. Yet those closures were fairly limited and brief. In the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the Army, Navy, and National Guard joined in helping to repair classrooms and reopen school doors in about 3 weeks. Last year, Florida schools damaged by Hurricane Charley reopened within a month, and students were quickly back on track in their classrooms. But Hurricane Katrina became a different type of devastation, and the magnitude of its damage is vastly more extensive. More than 700 schools and 30 colleges and universities have been damaged and destroyed. Almost all of them have been closed at least temporarily. Many of them will not open until January at the earliest. Some are in danger of not reopening at all. The number of students affected is staggering. The estimated total population of displaced elementary and secondary students is 373,000. Over 100,000 college students have been affected by the disaster, and 18,500 Head Start or Early Head Start children have been affected. These are not just statistics. From this disaster we have been reminded that we are all part of the American family. And we have a responsibility to help members of that family when they are in need. Fortunately, America has begun to respond. School districts across the country have pledged to accommodate displaced students in their schools. Colleges and universities are graciously opening their doors to such students. The Nation is grateful to the school principals and superintendents, and the college presidents and deans who have pledged their help. But they need help as they struggle to accommodate these students. Congress must do our part to respond, to help these devastated communities get back on their feet and enable students to return to school. We need a response that is as caring and as generous as the American spirit. Congress has a responsibility to do all it can to support the needs of students, educators, and schools. We need to direct efforts to all stages of education--from early childhood through college. Let's make sure that these elementary and secondary children don't lose a year of education and that these college students can pursue their postsecondary degrees. We need to act quickly to provide the support needed to cope with and overcome this tragedy and rebuild the future. This bill begins the process by strengthening support for educational institutions affected by Hurricane Katrina. It addresses the needs of early education, elementary and secondary education, higher education, and students with disabilities. Thousands of young children affected by Katrina need temporary space in safe and healthy settings. We must provide them with quality early childhood programs and facilities, until the children and their families can return to their homes and communities. The bill facilitates enrollment in Head Start and Early Head Start by waiving income eligibility and other requirements, so that families affected by Katrina will be able to enroll their children more easily. It authorizes funds for affected Head Start centers--providing additional guidance, technical assistance, and resources. We must do more to provide for elementary and high schools struggling to cope with the harsh reality of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Because of closures and the inability to obtain and maintain records, we need to temporarily postpone reporting requirements at affected schools. We must also provide them with financial support while they are closed to ensure they have the financial stability to reopen. The bill authorizes the Secretary of Education to waive reporting requirements, assessments, and school improvement and corrective action for states, local educational agencies, and schools affected by Hurricane Katrina. It directs schools in the declared disaster area to use child count numbers collected during the 2004-2005 academic year in seeking Federal funds for the 2006-2007 school year. The Secretary is authorized to award special school reopening grants to districts and communities significantly affected by Hurricane Katrina. These grants will aid in the effort to retain highly qualified teachers, recover data, establish temporary facilities, and take other related steps necessary to reopen the schools. It also provides funds for afterschool services and supplemental educational services to states affected by Hurricane Katrina. In addition, we need to acknowledge the efforts of school districts in Texas, Georgia, Florida, and other States that offer schooling to displaced students. School districts in those States deserve funds to help ease the transition of students into new schools, support basic instruction, and purchase books and materials. We need to help these schools temporarily expand their facilities to avoid overcrowding. The bill authorizes the Secretary of Education to make payments to local educational agencies that enroll displaced students. To alleviate the demand for qualified teachers, the Secretary is authorized to encourage States to extend temporary reciprocity for certification of school personnel across State lines. Teachers certified as highly qualified in one State will be recognized as meeting this standard in other States as well. The bill also modifies title II of the Higher Education Act to target teacher recruitment and retention efforts to the changing needs of the area. We must also help college students find temporary relief so they don't lose a semester or a year of college, and give them the financial assistance they need to continue. Students unable to attend a college because of the disaster will be exempted from returning grant aid under title IV of the Higher Education Act. These students will be able to place outstanding loans in deferment for the remainder of the 2005-2006 academic year. Additionally, financial aid administrators will be encouraged to use greater flexibility in professional judgment in evaluating the needs of college students affected by Hurricane Katrina. We must also consider the needs of borrowers. College graduates residing in the declared disaster area who lose their jobs deserve temporary relief on their loan repayments. The bill provides a deferment until June, 2006, during which borrowers will not need to pay down the principal on their student loans. To ease the burdens faced by colleges and universities in the declared disaster area, the Secretary is authorized to waive various Federal reporting requirements for colleges and universities. Schools will have up to 5 years to return unallocated Pell grants and supplemental educational opportunity grants. If needed, the Secretary will be able to work with schools after the deadline to arrange a repayment schedule. The bill offers colleges a flexible timeline for crediting undisbursed student loans. Schools have until the end of the academic year or June 30, 2006, to return such funds. To assist colleges in enrolling displaced students, the Secretary is authorized to make arrangements to transfer Federal work-study funds from affected institutions to receiving institutions. Finally, we must not neglect the needs of children with disabilities, teachers, and schools providing special education. Hurricane Katrina has thrown many children and families into a situation of having lost or having no records to document their child's special education experience. In addition, many children who were previously not students under IDEA may very well become students under IDEA. The bill requires schools to provide early intervening services to all children who need academic or mental health support to benefit from school. This will allow the time for children to sort out an individual needs to be identified. The bill also permits States and local education agencies to use data from either the 2005 or 2004 fiscal years for reporting and funding purposes to accommodate enrollment fluctuations and guarantee funding for teachers and schools to remain stable. States will also be able to guarantee continuing special education services to students who do not relocate to another State. States, under the Development Disabilities Act, will have the flexibility to use funds to replace assistive technology and durable medical equipment for individuals with disabilities, and under the Vocational Rehabilitation Act will have the flexibility to develop apprenticeship programs to educate people with disabilities to be part of reconstruction efforts. In the weeks and months ahead, we must also focus on rebuilding and reconstructing the schools devastated by the tragedy so that, as soon as possible, children can return to schools fully stocked with the resources they need. We must also consider strategies to encourage students and educators to return to their schools. Last week, Senator Enzi and I heard moving testimony in the HELP Committee from Dr. Diane Roussel, superintendent of schools in Jefferson Parish in Louisiana. The parish lies south of New Orleans and was in the direct path of Katrina, and the district's schools, students, and teachers were all severely affected by the disaster. In her closing remarks, Dr. Roussel emphasized the importance, necessity, and urgency of reopening the schools in her district. When schools reopen, she said, people return. When schools reopen, business returns, and life begins to return to normal. In the coming days and weeks, we must work to help life return to normal again for the hundreds of thousands of lives affected by Hurricane Katrina. This education bill is an impressive first step. I urge Congress to continue the work we begin today to meet the needs of the entire Gulf Coast community to reopen its schools.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is an honor to join the chairman of the HELP Committee, Senator Enzi, in introducing a bill to bring much needed support and relief to students, educators, and schools affected by Hurricane Katrina. The assistance cannot come too soon. I want to thank the chairman and his staff for all their hard work and for working together with us to deliver this relief as quickly as possible. We are all familiar with the devastation that hurricanes can cause to communities. In the past, some of the most destructive storms temporarily closed schools in those communities. Yet those closures were fairly limited and brief. In the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the Army, Navy, and National Guard joined in helping to repair classrooms and reopen school doors in about 3 weeks. Last year, Florida schools damaged by Hurricane Charley reopened within a month, and students were quickly back on track in their classrooms. But Hurricane Katrina became a different type of devastation, and the magnitude of its damage is vastly more extensive. More than 700 schools and 30 colleges and universities have been damaged and destroyed. Almost all of them have been closed at least temporarily. Many of them will not open until January at the earliest. Some are in danger of not reopening at all. The number of students affected is staggering. The estimated total population of displaced elementary and secondary students is 373,000. Over 100,000 college students have been affected by the disaster, and 18,500 Head Start or Early Head Start children have been affected. These are not just statistics. From this disaster we have been reminded that we are all part of the American family. And we have a responsibility to help members of that family when they are in need. Fortunately, America has begun to respond. School districts across the country have pledged to accommodate displaced students in their schools. Colleges and universities are graciously opening their doors to such students. The Nation is grateful to the school principals and superintendents, and the college presidents and deans who have pledged their help. But they need help as they struggle to accommodate these students. Congress must do our part to respond, to help these devastated communities get back on their feet and enable students to return to school. We need a response that is as caring and as generous as the American spirit. Congress has a responsibility to do all it can to support the needs of students, educators, and schools. We need to direct efforts to all stages of education--from early childhood through college. Let's make sure that these elementary and secondary children don't lose a year of education and that these college students can pursue their postsecondary degrees. We need to act quickly to provide the support needed to cope with and overcome this tragedy and rebuild the future. This bill begins the process by strengthening support for educational institutions affected by Hurricane Katrina. It addresses the needs of early education, elementary and secondary education, higher education, and students with disabilities. Thousands of young children affected by Katrina need temporary space in safe and healthy settings. We must provide them with quality early childhood programs and facilities, until the children and their families can return to their homes and communities. The bill facilitates enrollment in Head Start and Early Head Start by waiving income eligibility and other requirements, so that families affected by Katrina will be able to enroll their children more easily. It authorizes funds for affected Head Start centers--providing additional guidance, technical assistance, and resources. We must do more to provide for elementary and high schools struggling to cope with the harsh reality of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Because of closures and the inability to obtain and maintain records, we need to temporarily postpone reporting requirements at affected schools. We must also provide them with financial support while they are closed to ensure they have the financial stability to reopen. The bill authorizes the Secretary of Education to waive reporting requirements, assessments, and school improvement and corrective action for states, local educational agencies, and schools affected by Hurricane Katrina. It directs schools in the declared disaster area to use child count numbers collected during the 2004-2005 academic year in seeking Federal funds for the 2006-2007 school year. The Secretary is authorized to award special school reopening grants to districts and communities significantly affected by Hurricane Katrina. These grants will aid in the effort to retain highly qualified teachers, recover data, establish temporary facilities, and take other related steps necessary to reopen the schools. It also provides funds for afterschool services and supplemental educational services to states affected by Hurricane Katrina. In addition, we need to acknowledge the efforts of school districts in Texas, Georgia, Florida, and other States that offer schooling to displaced students. School districts in those States deserve funds to help ease the transition of students into new schools, support basic instruction, and purchase books and materials. We need to help these schools temporarily expand their facilities to avoid overcrowding. The bill authorizes the Secretary of Education to make payments to local educational agencies that enroll displaced students. To alleviate the demand for qualified teachers, the Secretary is authorized to encourage States to extend temporary reciprocity for certification of school personnel across State lines. Teachers certified as highly qualified in one State will be recognized as meeting this standard in other States as well. The bill also modifies title II of the Higher Education Act to target teacher recruitment and retention efforts to the changing needs of the area. We must also help college students find temporary relief so they don't lose a semester or a year of college, and give them the financial assistance they need to continue. Students unable to attend a college because of the disaster will be exempted from returning grant aid under title IV of the Higher Education Act. These students will be able to place outstanding loans in deferment for the remainder of the 2005-2006 academic year. Additionally, financial aid administrators will be encouraged to use greater flexibility in professional judgment in evaluating the needs of college students affected by Hurricane Katrina. We must also consider the needs of borrowers. College graduates residing in the declared disaster area who lose their jobs deserve temporary relief on their loan repayments. The bill provides a deferment until June, 2006, during which borrowers will not need to pay down the principal on their student loans. To ease the burdens faced by colleges and universities in the declared disaster area, the Secretary is authorized to waive various Federal reporting requirements for colleges and universities. Schools will have up to 5 years to return unallocated Pell grants and supplemental educational opportunity grants. If needed, the Secretary will be able to work with schools after the deadline to arrange a repayment schedule. The bill offers colleges a flexible timeline for crediting undisbursed student loans. Schools have until the end of the academic year or June 30, 2006, to return such funds. To assist colleges in enrolling displaced students, the Secretary is authorized to make arrangements to transfer Federal work-study funds from affected institutions to receiving institutions. Finally, we must not neglect the needs of children with disabilities, teachers, and schools providing special education. Hurricane Katrina has thrown many children and families into a situation of having lost or having no records to document their child's special education experience. In addition, many children who were previously not students under IDEA may very well become students under IDEA. The bill requires schools to provide early intervening services to all children who need academic or mental health support to benefit from school. This will allow the time for children to sort out an individual needs to be identified. The bill also permits States and local education agencies to use data from either the 2005 or 2004 fiscal years for reporting and funding purposes to accommodate enrollment fluctuations and guarantee funding for teachers and schools to remain stable. States will also be able to guarantee continuing special education services to students who do not relocate to another State. States, under the Development Disabilities Act, will have the flexibility to use funds to replace assistive technology and durable medical equipment for individuals with disabilities, and under the Vocational Rehabilitation Act will have the flexibility to develop apprenticeship programs to educate people with disabilities to be part of reconstruction efforts. In the weeks and months ahead, we must also focus on rebuilding and reconstructing the schools devastated by the tragedy so that, as soon as possible, children can return to schools fully stocked with the resources they need. We must also consider strategies to encourage students and educators to return to their schools. Last week, Senator Enzi and I heard moving testimony in the HELP Committee from Dr. Diane Roussel, superintendent of schools in Jefferson Parish in Louisiana. The parish lies south of New Orleans and was in the direct path of Katrina, and the district's schools, students, and teachers were all severely affected by the disaster. In her closing remarks, Dr. Roussel emphasized the importance, necessity, and urgency of reopening the schools in her district. When schools reopen, she said, people return. When schools reopen, business returns, and life begins to return to normal. In the coming days and weeks, we must work to help life return to normal again for the hundreds of thousands of lives affected by Hurricane Katrina. This education bill is an impressive first step. I urge Congress to continue the work we begin today to meet the needs of the entire Gulf Coast community to reopen its schools.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, today I pay tribute to the Memorial Foundation for the Blind in Worcester, MA as they celebrate a century of good deeds in the Commonwealth. I would especially like to congratulate the board of directors on this special day, led by President Lawrence M. Raymond and Vice President Janet LaBreck. Without the board's leadership and dedication this day may not have been possible. For most of our Nation's history, blind and visually impaired men and women, like all people with disabilities, were treated like second- class citizens. They had fewer opportunities to succeed in school and work and participate in the life of their communities, and their special needs were too often considered a burden without remedy and not worth addressing. Since those dark days, enormous progress has been made in promoting a life full of possibilities for blind and visually impaired men and women. Leaders like Helen Keller changed hearts and minds by showing us all that what is often seen as a limitation can be a blessing in disguise. But much of the credit also goes to local organizations such as the memorial foundation, that cared about these basic issues and stood up for civil rights. It represents the best in progressive philanthropic organizations that changed communities one at a time, and encouraged the rest of the Nation to follow suit. Their great legacy is a stronger and fairer America. In Worcester County, the foundation operated a special home and provided support services for many years, making sure that a safe and welcoming shelter existed in the community. In 1960 it shifted its focus to providing financial assistance to one and later on to many agencies and organizations in the community that exemplify its giving spirit. They continue to do so today, adapting to new developments, supporting assistive technologies and giving blind and visually impaired men and women unprecedented new independence. This new century holds great promise for further extraordinary progress, especially in the area of employment. I am proud to join the memorial foundation in its ongoing efforts for greater justice and equality. You represent the very best in our Commonwealth and our Nation.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr President, I strongly support S.J. Res. 20, and I commend Senator Leahy for sponsoring the resolution to block the EPA's mercury cap and trade rule. The mercury rule is a rule that only an administration bought and paid for by big energy could love. It's a shameful rollback of the Clean Air Act to allow owners of fossil fuel power plants to avoid the expense of installing new technology to reduce dangerous emissions. Mercury is an extremely dangerous neurotoxin that accumulates in the environment. It is particularly harmful to pregnant women, and puts the fetus at risk of serious developmental disorders. The Centers for Disease Control has reported that 630,000 of the 4 million infants born in the United States each year--16 percent--are at risk for mercury-related brain damage. In the Northeast, this figure translates into over such 84,000 newborns per year. Last week, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine Center for Children's Health and the Environment reported that the cost to the Nation of the impact of mercury on children's brain development is $2 billion a year. These newborns are being poisoned by the mercury which coal-fired power plants spew into the air and eventually pollutes the water, and enters the food chain. Mercury advisories now apply to nearly a third of the area of America's lakes and 22 percent of the length of our rivers. Incredible as it seems, however, EPA--the agency charged with protecting the environment--has issued a rule that would actually lead to more of this toxin in the water we drink and the air we breathe. Obviously, it's important to have adequate power to keep the lights on. But we also need to protect our children's health. We can do both by requiring that power plants use the best technology to control mercury emissions. I urge my colleagues to vote for passage on this needed resolution to restore a sensible anti-mercury policy for the Nation.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I believe under the agreement that I have been allocated 5 minutes; is that correct?

Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the Chair. First, I wish to mention to our Senate colleagues that of the $51 billion we are considering on the supplemental, there is no funding for education. Under the leadership of Senator Enzi, our committee has had 2 days of hearings with leaders from Louisiana and from the gulf area about what is happening in the education system and the important need to give help and assistance to local communities, not only in those areas but also that have taken students across this country. I talked to the Secretary of Education this afternoon, and she indicated that she had submitted to the President a series of recommendations that she hopes we can act on in the next very few days, and I hope that will be the case. Otherwise, I think we are missing an extremely important opportunity to try to provide help and assistance in an area of enormous importance to families. There are--85,000 students in the public schools in New Orleans who have lost their education, 35,000 or 40,000 in private schools, and the list goes on. The second point is I heard that the President had now waived the Davis-Bacon provisions in terms of construction. I am not going to spend a great deal of time on the Davis-Bacon provisions, but I believe it is a great mistake. What we have seen time in and time out when we have debated this issue, this is about quality and the deliverance on time to meet construction requirements. I am deeply disappointed that President Bush has decided to suspend wage protections in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Many people harmed by Hurricane Katrina were already struggling to make ends meet, and the jobs and businesses they relied on have disappeared. Experts have said that as many as 1 million workers may become unemployed as a result of the hurricane, with the unemployment rate reaching 25 percent or higher in the gulf region. Many affected workers will be unemployed for 9 months or longer. One of the major opportunities for work will be in the recovery and rebuilding of the area. We need to be sure that these new jobs pay decent wages. This is all that Davis-Bacon does: it simply ensures that workers on Federal Government projects earn a typical wage. The whole purpose of this law is to ensure that Federal funds do not undermine local labor markets by driving down wages. Workers who take these jobs will already face special hazards. We heard just yesterday that according to this administration, the floodwaters in New Orleans contain e.coli that is ten-times higher than acceptable safety limits. We cannot allow Federal funds to undercut these workers' condition even further by lowering wage rates. But the President apparently believes that workers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama don't even deserve to earn a decent wage for a day's work. Opponents of Davis-Bacon would have you believe that its wages are exorbitant. Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, in areas affected by Katrina, some typical wages include: $9.16 per hour for sheet metal workers in Pearl River County, MS; $10 per hour for laborers in Livingston Parish, LA; $8.54 hour for truckdrivers in Mobile County, AL Haven't these workers and their families suffered enough? We are providing tens of billions of dollars in relief, and we should be sure that it goes toward decent wages for workers as they work to rebuild the vital infrastructure that is so desperately needed. We have had those protections so we have had quality. One of the things the American people are very concerned about is shabby work. That is certainly true about the people whose family houses are going to be rebuilt and buildings going to be restored. They deserve the best. One of the best ways is to make sure we are going to have the skilled personnel to be able to do it. I regret the President's decision. On a final point, we find now that we have appropriated some $10.5 billion previously and now $51.5 billion this evening. Those funds will go through existing institutions, through FEMA, through Homeland Security. It ought to be understood by the American people that those agencies have extremely important functions to provide for our country. Homeland Security has to look after the challenges for all of our Nation. They have to protect from the dangers of terrorism in our ports in Seattle, WA, and Boston, MA, and Los Angeles. They have other challenges across this nation. They cannot spend the time, the effort, the energy, the focus just on rebuilding the gulf area. FEMA has 35 different challenges this year that they are going to have to address. They cannot be expected to devote their time, effort, and energy just on the gulf development. I think the best way to do that is to follow a past tradition, a tradition that goes back to the time of President Coolidge. When we had flooding of the Mississippi in the 1920s, what did he do? He selected Herbert Hoover to coordinate all of the efforts, to be above the discord, so to speak; to coordinate efforts to make sure we were going to have focus and attention and we were going to bring all the parties to the table; to make sure we were going to do this while ensuring the grants, the development, and the investments that were going to be made were going to meet the highest criteria of integrity and would be done in the most comprehensive and complete way. This is not only from a construction point of view, an environmental point of view, but also for the restoration of the lives of the people in those areas and to ensure, as we are going to rebuild those areas, we are going to make this available to the people in that area so they are going to be part of the reconstruction of their lives. This is going to be enormously important. There are going to be training programs available to them, so they will feel part of this whole reconstruction, which is a key thing to the American family. We are one country. We have one destiny. To make sure we are going to have one country and one destiny and one future, we have to make sure we have the opportunity to have a commission of integrity, made up of the very best of our society, one that ensures the integrity of those investments and makes sure those people whose lives are so affected, who are uprooted, are going to get the very best. I hope that would be an area where we could come together, Republican and Democrat alike, and eventually gain support. I know our leader has talked about it, as has Senator Landrieu. I have had the opportunity to talk to other Senators about it. Hopefully, we can develop that opportunity to ensure the kind of reconstruction that all Americans want to see.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we have seen images we thought we would never see in America. We have been reminded that we are all part of the American family. And we have a responsibility to help members of that family when they are in need. We in Congress have a responsibility to do all we can in many ways. Let's make sure children don't lose a year of their lives. Let's help them return to as much of a normal environment as possible. We need to act quickly to provide the help they and their parents need to cope with this strategy, and rebuild their future. We all remember Hurricane Andrew, the category-5 hurricane that left over $40 billion in damage in 1992. It tore through south Florida, and the Army, Navy, and National Guard pitched in to help schools repair classrooms and reopen the school doors in about 2 weeks. Last year, Hurricane Charley tore through central Florida and left $15 billion in damage. Schools closed, but within a month, they returned to normal and students were back on track in their classrooms. But Hurricane Katrina is a different type of storm, and the magnitude of its damage is vastly more extensive. In Mississippi alone, 271 schools have been damaged or destroyed. Schools are closed in the three gulf coast cities in the State hit hardest by Katrina Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula. Those districts enroll 20,000 students. In North Gulfport, the walls of the Harrison Central 9th Grade School collapsed. In Pascagoula, the roof of St. Martin High blew off. The State superintendent has already requested help from Washington to find portable classrooms. Officials are considering converting an abandoned Kmart into a temporary school. Vastly more damage has occurred in Louisiana. At least 135,000 students in public schools have been displaced. 100,000 college students have been displaced for the fall semester at Tulane, the University of New Orleans, Xavier University, and Loyola University. Fortunately, America has begun to respond. The Houston school district has pledged to accommodate 30,000 displaced students in their schools. The Dallas Public Schools has created a hotline to streamline enrollment for displaced students. St. Paul, MN is willing to accept 5,000 in its schools. In Massachusetts, more than 30 colleges and universities have offered to enroll students, and provide housing and tuition assistance. People have opened their homes and communities have opened their schools. We owe a great debt of gratitude to the principals, the superintendents, and the university presidents and deans who have pledged their help. But they need help from Congress as they struggle to accommodate these students. We need a response that is as caring and as generous as the American spirit. We must do all we can to assist schools and colleges as they attempt to meet the incredible challenge of incorporating hundreds or thousands of new students into their systems. We must provide funds to help ease the transition of students into new school districts, support basic instruction, and purchase books and materials. We must help schools temporarily expand facilities and avoid overcrowding. We must help college students find temporary help so they don't lose a semester or a year of college, and give them the financial assistance they need to continue. We must also help former students who are paying off past loans, by offering every affected borrower a 6 month grace period when no further interest will accrue so they can avoid any increased cost or damage to their credit while they get their lives back on track. Thousands of young children affected by Katrina need temporary space in safe and healthy settings. We must provide them with quality early childhood programs and facilities, until the children and their families can return to their homes and communities. And in weeks and months ahead, we must focus on rebuilding and reconstructing the schools devastated by the tragedy so that, as soon as possible, children can return to schools fully stocked with the resources they need. This morning, Senator Enzi and I heard moving testimony in the HELP Committee from Dr. Diane Roussel, Superintendent of Schools in Jefferson Parish in Louisiana. The parish has 85 schools, 51,000 students and 3,600 teachers. It lies just south of New Orleans, and was directly in the path of Katrina. The local tax base provides a third of the district's resources for education to help students who have been displaced. Now, they're left with nothing to re-build their schools. In Dr. Roussel's words: Money isn't always the answer to solving the ills in our public schools, but when we're talking about equipment, supplies, rebuilding, and maintaining our teaching workforce, money is the answer. We're reminded in this disaster that schools are the heart of local communities across America. When schools open, people return. When schools open, business returns, and life begins to return to normal. In the coming days and weeks, we must act expeditiously to provide the help that the entire gulf coast community needs to re-open its schools. If they get what they need, I am confident they will come back, stronger than ever before. Let's get it done.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, Americans continue to be moved by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and its toll on our fellow Americans, from New Orleans and in the Gulf Coast region, particularly in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The human tragedy has brought out the generosity of the American spirit, as people have opened their homes and pocketbooks to families uprooted by the storm. This is a disaster of Biblical proportions. The dimensions of this tragedy almost are beyond human comprehension and the failures by our Government to prepare and to respond run deep and wide. Yesterday the President and the White House spokesman proclaimed that the administration would not play the blame game. This is not a game. This is not some schoolyard spat. It is about life and death and, most important, it is about getting it right the next time. We must be about the work of providing continuing relief to our citizens and rebuilding our communities. But we also cannot delay the important task of determining what went so gravely wrong, and holding accountable those responsible for the tragic failures that Americans have seen so clearly on their televisions and read in their newspapers. The next disaster could be tomorrow. It could be a devastating earthquake. It could be a deadly terrorist attack. It could be another destructive storm. We need an immediate and independent assessment of what went wrong and what we must do to fix it. Any corporation faced with such devastation and incompetence by its leadership would have its board and its shareholders demanding an independent assessment of the failures and demanding accountability from its leadership. It would not be business as usual. The same holds true for the people's Government. The people have a right to candor and honesty about the state of their Government's preparedness to protect them. The new Department of Homeland Security, created by this administration, was supposed to protect us. It was supposed to do a better job of keeping us safe. It failed, and more than a million people have been displaced from their homes, a treasured American city is a wasteland, thousands have lost their lives, an economy has been shattered with ripple effects all over America. Candor, honesty, action--that is what we need. The people have a right to know that they will be better protected the next time. Another lesson of this tragedy is that America can ignore the disparities in our society no longer. The powerful winds of this storm have torn away the mask that has hidden from our debates the many Americans who are left out and left behind. We see now in stark relief that so many Americans live every day on the brink of economic disaster. For them any setback becomes a major obstacle to survival, and a hurricane of this force leaves their lives in the balance. These disparities have emerged not out of malice but out of indifference, but they are real and we can neglect them no longer. In August, the Census Bureau reported that the poverty rate in America is up and has risen for 4 years. It is now 12.7 percent, with 37 million Americans surviving in poverty. A quarter of all African Americans live in poverty; for Latinos it is 22 percent. One-fifth of our children live in poverty, and a tenth of our elderly. Thirty-six million Americans are hungry or malnourished. A third of our children are in families without health insurance. In fact, 45 million Americans have no health insurance at all. And the disparity in incomes has never been greater, with the rich getting richer and the rest of America, the poor and the middle class, falling behind. People in the middle class are having a harder time, too. Already they were struggling to cope with rising gasoline prices, rising college tuition, and rising costs of health care. Now those affected by Katrina have lost everything: Their homes, their cars, their family photos--everything. We cannot be an America of haves and have-nots. We cannot be an America of 50 separate, isolated States. As we rebuild the Gulf Coast, we must also come together to tackle these disparities. We must be a united America, one Nation under God, with liberty and justice for all. And when we say all, we mean all. To address this challenge, our Government must respond in ways that are as good and compassionate as the American people. We cannot just fix the hole in the roof; we need to rebuild the whole foundation. I propose that we create a New Orleans and Gulf Coast Redevelopment Authority, modeled after the Tennessee Valley Authority in its heyday. We should invest at least $150 billion, as our Democratic leader Harry Reid has suggested previously. We should invest it in actions to work with Governors and mayors and citizens and communities to plan, help fund, and coordinate for the reconstruction of that damaged area. It should help hire workers to put people back to work rebuilding their own communities and helping them get back on their feet again. This is a national responsibility. The tragedy affects us all, not only in our hearts, but it affects the national economy and our national security. That is the America we stand for, an America where we treat each other with respect, where we address our mistakes and meet our challenges with honesty and candor and immediate action. America deserves no less. I yield the floor.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, last month, sadly, Mo Mowlam, Great Britain's former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, died after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Mo will long be remembered for her leadership at a critical moment in the history of Northern Ireland. I first met her when she was a member of the Labour Party and her party was in opposition in Parliament. I was delighted when Prime Minister Blair came to power and named her Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. She was a breath of fresh air and quickly won over nearly every Irish American she met. She was exceedingly effective and was the right person for the job at the right time in Northern Ireland. With her remarkable abilities, she created the conditions that led to the historic Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Mo was fair, intelligent, and willing to take risks for peace. On a personal note, my wife, Vicki, and I will always warmly recall our visit with Mo, and her husband, Jon Norton, at Hillsborough in Northern Ireland in January 1998. Irish Senator Martin Mansergh, himself a key player in the Northern Ireland peace process, recently wrote a well-deserved tribute to Mo in the Irish Times, and I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, millions of Americans on the Gulf Coast have endured an almost unspeakable tragedy over the past 10 days. Thousands are likely dead. Hundreds of thousands had their lives upended and wondered so rightly why their Government seemed to have abandoned them. Millions of Americans across the country are asking themselves when the suffering will end. We cannot undo what has happened, but there is one thing we can do to redeem ourselves and to live up to our greatest American ideals. We can commit that we will not stop, that we will not rest, until these communities are back and stronger than before, until families have been reunited, and until the survivors of this catastrophe are restored into the full measure of American life. If 6 months from now we are still referring to American citizens as refugees, if we are content that American families are holed up without jobs, without homes, without security, then we will have failed and failed miserably. Our response to date has not been worthy of our Nation, and we will have to examine why it wasn't until last Friday that our brave and committed National Guard forces were deployed to deliver supplies to the starving, suffering Americans stranded at the New Orleans Convention Center. The time will also come to determine why the mandatory evacuation order wasn't implemented effectively and why the Army Corps of Engineers wasn't given the resources long ago to prevent the collapse of the levees that caused most of the loss of life, especially when FEMA had called such a hurricane one of the ``likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing the country.'' Clearly, mistakes were made that cost lives, displaced thousands, and left one of America's most unique and treasured cities under water and abandoned. There will come a time to hold accountable the responsible officials who allowed this disaster to become even more disastrous. But our first priority now is to do everything we can to meet the needs of our fellow citizens and to provide a helping hand to the countless generous Americans throughout the Nation who have opened their homes, their schools, and their communities to our displaced fellow citizens. Today our job is to meet the great, daunting, and unprecedented challenge of rebuilding the entire region. Our obligation is to guarantee that the Americans thrust into the darkness of despair and homelessness last week emerge with a restored faith in their fellow citizens and a renewed belief that this is a land of opportunity. This is a challenge for all of us--as individuals, as public officials, and as members of religious and charitable organizations. But above all it is the job of our national Government, which alone has the resources, the manpower, and the authority to lead this enormous effort. The eyes of the world are upon us--watching to see how we take care of our own. The $10.5 billion Congress passed last week was an initial gesture, but it's just a small fraction of the amount needed to address the unprecedented challenges this entire region faces. It's only the beginning, and we need to recognize that. We should move quickly, for example, to address the health needs of these citizens. The disaster area is a public health hazard as well. The floodwaters are potentially disease-ridden. Countless people have been injured or taken ill as a result of the disaster. The physical and mental health needs of thousands must be met as they try to cope with the horror that they've endured. We also need to ensure that the elderly and disabled who rely on supplemental assistance to live continue to get it, even though they've been dislocated. We must do all we can to see that school children and college students don't miss a year of their education. There are approximately 70,000 children in the New Orleans school system, some 7,000 to 8,000 schoolteachers. That school system has effectively been completely destroyed--all of the books lost, all of the records completely lost. We don't know where those schoolchildren have moved to, which children have gone where. The payrolls for all of the school administrators have effectively been lost. We know that what I just mentioned for New Orleans has been replicated in school district after school district throughout the whole gulf area. School districts across the country are taking in children from the disaster area. Thirty-five cities as far north as Detroit have come forward to date, we understand, with Houston working to serve 6,000 students, Dallas-Fort Worth making room for 5,000. These school districts are doing our Nation a great service. We need to make sure they have the support they need as they step forward. In my own State of Massachusetts, a number of colleges have offered to take the graduate students that were studying at law schools such as Tulane and other students who were studying at the great universities in Louisiana and along the gulf area. This is something we should follow up on, the challenges, to make sure that the students, whether it is K-12, whether it is in college, or whether it is in graduate schools, we reach out to try to assist students in the educational area. Colleges are volunteering to admit displaced students from the region. We must offer them additional aid for generously admitting these students and must assure that adequate student aid is available to those who temporarily attend a new college. The hundreds of thousands of workers who now have no jobs need an income to help them overcome the delay in finding new employment. We must amend our disaster unemployment assistance laws to enable these men and women to qualify for help. For example, under the emergency unemployment provisions, you to have wait 30 days in order to be eligible to be a recipient. That is obviously a rule that has to be addressed if we are going to use that particular mechanism to get income to these needy families. We need to rebuild the public health infrastructure which is under increasing strain as the number of uninsured continues to climb. Sadly, Hurricane Katrina has only made this crisis worse. These are but a few of the actions we must take--and take now--to deal with the immediate needs of those displaced by Katrina and of the communities that have so generously taken them in. In the longer term, I believe we should establish a New Orleans and Gulf Coast Redevelopment Authority, with cabinet rank, to coordinate planning and funding needed to restore the infrastructure of that battered region--the electricity, water, gas, roads, railroads, and bridges, and, especially, the levees and flood control facilities. These actions are beyond the ability of any single community, city, and State to handle on their own. It is a national responsibility, and we need a capable authority to work with State and local officials and local citizens to rebuild the future. The scope of this national crisis exceeds anything since the Great Depression. It's the first time a major U.S. city has been leveled since the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. It will likely exceed the cost in human lives of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, where more than 8,000 persons are thought to have perished. It's the kind of disaster we no longer thought possible in an age of instantaneous global communications, rapid transportation, highly accurate weather forecasts, and advanced engineering. It was most certainly the kind of suffering that should not be tolerated by a modern society with so many tools at its disposal. In the weeks, months, and even years ahead, the recovery from this disaster--the complete, total, and unambiguous recovery--must become a primary focus of our national government. As elected officials we cannot allow this work to be sidetracked by lesser priorities. If we don't get this right for our fellow Americans, little else can matter. For our political leadership in Washington, in the White House and here on Capitol Hill, this is a test of wills, a test of leadership, a test of vision and compassion. It will require singular focus and an unyielding commitment. The most immediate task is still to save lives. Over 1.5 million have been evacuated from the devastated area, but many still remain, particularly in outlying rural areas cut off the most from the outside world. Local authorities, the National Guard, and the Coast Guard are still trying to reach and rescue men, women, and children from the ravaged areas. It's a race against time before waterborne disease, dehydration, and neglect take their toll. They are working around the clock, and they deserve all the resources they need. For the hundreds of thousands of Americans thrust into homeless shelters as a result of the tragedy, we need to make sure they are getting the care, nutrition, and counseling they so desperately need. But the urgency is not limited to these immediate and enormous humanitarian tasks. It extends to the rebuilding efforts too, because the more rapidly we can revitalize the great city of New Orleans, and so many other communities, the sooner we can help people rebuild their lives. These cities and towns are not just bricks and mortar. They are communities and economies of countless families, neighbors, and business owners, desperate for a return to normalcy. It's said that nearly 80,000 jobs in New Orleans alone are provided by the tourism industry. How many more of those jobs can we save--how many more families can have stability again--if we get the city back on its feet in 6 months as opposed to 1 year? Two years? Three years? How much human misery and suffering can we still prevent? I'm impressed with the way the Army Corps of Engineers is working to rebuild the levees and begin to drain away the water. It's such a critical step in locating the missing and beginning the process of recovery. The Army Corps now estimates that perhaps within 30 days, New Orleans and the surrounding areas will finally be dry. The question for Congress and the administration is will we be ready on Day 31? Will we be ready to start cleaning the streets and homes and removing the ghastly evidence of this most unbearable tragedy. We owe it to the living to be ready. We owe it to the charitable organizations that are filling in the gaps and helping the displaced to get back on their feet. We owe it to the first responders who are giving so much of themselves to ease the suffering. We owe it to the millions of Americans who are opening their hearts and checkbooks to their fellow citizens. History is watching us now, and it will judge our actions. We can't undo the failures in planning over many years or the failures in the immediate response over the past 10 days. But we can resolve to dedicate all of our energies and resources, and our resolve from this point forward to resources to bring about a complete and total recovery for the entire Gulf Coast area, and the men and women and children who've endured more than any of us can possibly imagine in this massive tragedy. To the Gulf Coast region we need to be like Aaron and Hur who held up Moses' tired arms in battle. Today, we need to be just as dedicated to the Gulf Coast region if we are going to lead our fellow Americans out of this time of darkness to a better and stronger future. The Katrina disaster also shines a bright light on another challenge facing our country--the glaring economic disparities facing our citizens. Those with means were able to escape the disaster. Those without could not. Those with means can slowly and painfully rebuild their lives. Those without means have nothing to let them rebuild. As a nation, we must be sensitive to this inequality--sensitive as we respond to Katrina, and sensitive, too, as we select new Justices for the Supreme Court. That's a critical question for Judge Roberts. Can he unite America for the future? I yield the floor.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I rise today to join my chairman, Senator Enzi, in the introduction of a bill that will bring much needed relief to students and families struggling to pay for college. We plan to report out this bill from our Committee later this week. The assistance it contains can not come soon enough. In today's global economy, a college degree is more valuable than ever. Students and workers must have the skills they need to succeed. When I graduated from high school, good jobs were available to high school graduates. Today, that is not the case. More and more jobs-- particularly jobs that can reasonably support a family--require men and women to have a college degree or certificate, and the best jobs require advanced degrees. But today, many families across America are facing a combination of hope and anxiety as their children go back to college--hope that their children will do well and anxiety about rising costs that are swamping family budgets. Public tuition is up 35 percent over the last 4 years. Nationally, last year, almost 200,000 qualified students didn't go to college at all because they couldn't afford the high cost. According to new data from the Congressional Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, the poorest students face an average unmet financial need of nearly $6,000. Many who find a way to go to college are borrowing more heavily than ever. In 1990, only 16 percent of students took out a college loan. Today, it is 52 percent. Thirty years ago, the typical student aid package was 60 percent grants and 40 percent loans. Today, it is the reverse--40 percent grants and 60 percent loans. The average undergraduate now has $17,000 in college debt. Families across the country are dedicating larger and larger portions of their income to send their children to college. In Massachusetts, after taking the average financial aid package into consideration, a family making the average salary must contribute 31 percent of their income to cover the costs of sending one child to college for just one year. In some States, the percentage is even higher. Families are struggling to pay for college and as a result the doors of college are barred for too many students. Congress can do more to ease the squeeze, and this bill is an important step in the right direction. Many of us would like to do more, and we are concerned that $7 billion in this bill will be dedicated to Reconciliation, which will be used to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. Nevertheless, the assistance in this bill for students and for their families is substantial. It provides at least $5.5 billion for additional grant aid to the students who need it the most. It improves the existing student loan programs by making important changes to create real competition between the various programs and keeping the cost of loans affordable. It also strengthens the act's graduate studies program, and expands access to loans and grant aid for these students. The bill also strengthens programs to prepare students to go to college and stay in college, such as GEAR UP and TRIO. We extend and improve programs to support minorities, such as the Hispanic Serving Institution Program, the Tribal College Program and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program. A new program supports institutions serving large numbers of Native American students. We are making small improvements in getting qualified young people to college, but we still have much to do to keep them enrolled and earn a degree. The committee has made an effort to address the retention issue by including programs to help students succeed in college. We also continue our focus on teacher preparation by strengthening partnerships with the K-12 systems who hire the teachers, and giving priority to preparing teachers for shortage subjects such as special education and math and science. As the bill recognizes, to help the Nation compete in today's global economy, we must strengthen the teaching of math and science in schools and colleges. It is shameful that America is now ranked only 29th in the industrial world in math education, and that we have fallen from third in the world to 15th in producing scientists and engineers. The bill provides strong incentives for math and science graduates to teach for at least 5 years in the schools that need them most. We also create a new scholarship program for low income students, pursuing careers in math, science, technology and engineering, and high need foreign languages. From our earliest days as a nation, education has been the engine of the American dream, and we can't let it stall. A larger share of our population needs to participate in postsecondary education. We looked at ways to expand access to working adults through modular and compressed coursework, and to students with disabilities who can benefit from taking courses rather than taking standardized tests. Our goal is to give all students and their parents the support they need to benefit from education and keep our country strong in the years ahead.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I rise today to join my chairman, Senator Enzi, in the introduction of a bill that will bring much needed relief to students and families struggling to pay for college. We plan to report out this bill from our Committee later this week. The assistance it contains can not come soon enough. In today's global economy, a college degree is more valuable than ever. Students and workers must have the skills they need to succeed. When I graduated from high school, good jobs were available to high school graduates. Today, that is not the case. More and more jobs-- particularly jobs that can reasonably support a family--require men and women to have a college degree or certificate, and the best jobs require advanced degrees. But today, many families across America are facing a combination of hope and anxiety as their children go back to college--hope that their children will do well and anxiety about rising costs that are swamping family budgets. Public tuition is up 35 percent over the last 4 years. Nationally, last year, almost 200,000 qualified students didn't go to college at all because they couldn't afford the high cost. According to new data from the Congressional Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, the poorest students face an average unmet financial need of nearly $6,000. Many who find a way to go to college are borrowing more heavily than ever. In 1990, only 16 percent of students took out a college loan. Today, it is 52 percent. Thirty years ago, the typical student aid package was 60 percent grants and 40 percent loans. Today, it is the reverse--40 percent grants and 60 percent loans. The average undergraduate now has $17,000 in college debt. Families across the country are dedicating larger and larger portions of their income to send their children to college. In Massachusetts, after taking the average financial aid package into consideration, a family making the average salary must contribute 31 percent of their income to cover the costs of sending one child to college for just one year. In some States, the percentage is even higher. Families are struggling to pay for college and as a result the doors of college are barred for too many students. Congress can do more to ease the squeeze, and this bill is an important step in the right direction. Many of us would like to do more, and we are concerned that $7 billion in this bill will be dedicated to Reconciliation, which will be used to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. Nevertheless, the assistance in this bill for students and for their families is substantial. It provides at least $5.5 billion for additional grant aid to the students who need it the most. It improves the existing student loan programs by making important changes to create real competition between the various programs and keeping the cost of loans affordable. It also strengthens the act's graduate studies program, and expands access to loans and grant aid for these students. The bill also strengthens programs to prepare students to go to college and stay in college, such as GEAR UP and TRIO. We extend and improve programs to support minorities, such as the Hispanic Serving Institution Program, the Tribal College Program and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program. A new program supports institutions serving large numbers of Native American students. We are making small improvements in getting qualified young people to college, but we still have much to do to keep them enrolled and earn a degree. The committee has made an effort to address the retention issue by including programs to help students succeed in college. We also continue our focus on teacher preparation by strengthening partnerships with the K-12 systems who hire the teachers, and giving priority to preparing teachers for shortage subjects such as special education and math and science. As the bill recognizes, to help the Nation compete in today's global economy, we must strengthen the teaching of math and science in schools and colleges. It is shameful that America is now ranked only 29th in the industrial world in math education, and that we have fallen from third in the world to 15th in producing scientists and engineers. The bill provides strong incentives for math and science graduates to teach for at least 5 years in the schools that need them most. We also create a new scholarship program for low income students, pursuing careers in math, science, technology and engineering, and high need foreign languages. From our earliest days as a nation, education has been the engine of the American dream, and we can't let it stall. A larger share of our population needs to participate in postsecondary education. We looked at ways to expand access to working adults through modular and compressed coursework, and to students with disabilities who can benefit from taking courses rather than taking standardized tests. Our goal is to give all students and their parents the support they need to benefit from education and keep our country strong in the years ahead.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I understand there is a time limitation. We have 20 minutes; is that correct?

Mr. KENNEDY. I ask the Chair to remind me when I have 5 minutes remaining.

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

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I have in my hand the Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide that bans 14 different types of ammunition today. All we are trying to do is add a 15th. What will the 15th do? It will be limited to cop-killer bullets. My friends, the Republican amendment says we should study the problem of cop-killer bullets. Our police officers are the ones that are in the line of fire, and we are going to protect them with a study? If you care about fighting terrorism, you will reject the Republican amendment and vote for my amendment to take real action. If you care about protecting our brave police officers, you will support my amendment. They risk their lives for us every single day. This is not about hunting. We know duck and geese and deer do not wear armor vests; police officers do. This can save their lives. I hope it will be accepted.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I express my strong appreciation to the Senator from Rhode Island, Mr. Reed, for his leadership in opposition to this legislation. It has been enormously impressive. Many of us who share his views are grateful for his steadfastness, his hard work, and his perseverance and commitment. It is preposterous to call this bill the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. If we were honest, we would call it the ``Protection of Unlawful Commerce in Arms Act.'' It is a blatant special interest bill to protect gun manufacturers and sellers, even if they recklessly make guns available to criminals and terrorists. This aids and abets the perpetuation of these crimes. With all the urgent challenges facing our country, it is difficult to believe that the Bush administration and the Republican leadership are willing to spend any time at all on this flagrant anti-victim, anti-law-enforcement legislation, let alone push aside the major Defense authorization bill to make room for this debate. President Bush called for clean passage of the bill without extending the Federal ban on assault weapons, without closing the gun show loophole, and without any other needed reforms in our Nation's laws. Instead of this special interest legislation, Congress should be considering important bills, such as Senator Feinstein's proposal to regulate .50 caliber weapons. These weapons are particularly dangerous because of their appeal to terrorists. These rifles can shoot down airplanes and destroy armored vehicles. These bullets can even penetrate several inches of steel. They have been called the ideal tools for terrorists. Who are we kidding? In 1995, a RAND Corporation report identified these weapons as a serious threat to the security of U.S. Air Force bases. In 2003, a U.S. Army intelligence training handbook called this rifle a weapon ``attractive to terrorists for use in assassinations.'' Snipers love them. A study funded by the Department of Homeland Security identified these rifles as an imminent threat to civilian aviation. The report noted that these weapons have been acquired by al-Qaida and even been used to attack our own troops in Iraq. Barrett Firearms Manufacturing and E.D.M. Arms advertise these assault weapons as capable of destroying multimillion-dollar aircraft with a single hit. Every bullet sold for these weapons puts our troops at risk. But are we working to stop that? No. Instead we are, once again, debating a bill that threatens the safety of the American people in a way that undermines law enforcement and our national security. Instead we are guaranteeing that people who sell these rifles and ammunition will never be held liable for their crimes. With its raw special interest power, the National Rifle Association has demonstrated that this bill is a top priority for Senate action. They could care less that they are interrupting the important business of protecting our men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are willing to let unsavory gun dealers and gun manufacturers put powerful killing machines in the hands of criminals and terrorists without any regulation or liability. It is a national disgrace that America does more to regulate the safety of toy guns than real guns. The Republican leadership and the Bush administration will do whatever it takes to give the industry all it wants. The NRA wants gun dealers and manufacturers to be protected from lawsuits. The NRA expects and demands that the Senate take away the courts as the last resort for victims of gun violence. For years the courts have been the only place where negligent and often conspiring gun dealers and manufacturers can be challenged. The Senate majority leader says this bill is of urgent importance, taking precedence over the Defense bill because the Department of Defense ``faces the real prospect of having to outsource sidearms for our soldiers to foreign manufacturers.'' Guess what. The bulk of contracts to arm our country's military and law enforcement is already held by foreign manufacturers based in Austria, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Jordan, and Belgium. Lawsuits have nothing to do with that. Furthermore, we have not heard one single company filing for bankruptcy in the absence of this legislation. The truth is that gun industry profits are on the rise. The only two publicly held gun companies in this country have filed recent statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission specifically and emphatically contradicting the claim that they are threatened by lawsuits. Smith & Wesson filed a statement with the SEC, June 29, 2005, 1 month ago, stating: We expect net product sales for fiscal 2005 to be approximately $124 million, a 5-percent increase over the $117 million reported for fiscal 2004. Firearms sales for fiscal 2005 are expected to increase by 11 percent over the fiscal 2004 level. In another filing, dated March 10, 2005, Smith & Wesson wrote: In the 9 months ended January 31, 2005, we incurred $4,500 in legal defense costs. Legal defense costs of $4,500 are supposed to be bankrupting the company? Let's get real. At the same time, gun manufacturer Sturm, Rugr told the SEC in a March 1, 2005, filing: It is not probable and it is unlikely that litigation, including punitive damage claims, will have a material adverse effect on the financial position of the company. We have to wonder what the real agenda is here. The level of litigation against gun manufacturers and dealers is miniscule. In a 10- year period, only 57 suits were filed against gun industry defendants out of an estimated 10 million tort suits in America. We are supposed to buy the claim that these lawsuits are unduly burdening the gun industry. No. This legislation is another in a long line of congressional paybacks to the NRA, to the severe detriment of the safety of the American people. The gun lobby has systematically made it more difficult and, in some cases, even impossible for the government to police negligent gun dealers and manufacturers, while making it easier for criminals to buy guns. Under the Brady bill, a licensed seller of firearms must run a background check through the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Instant Criminal Background Check System. But at the NRA's demand, Congress drastically narrowed the definition of gun dealer. Reckless and unlicensed dealers are now selling millions of guns to people, including criminals and terrorists, without background checks. All of that is legal because the U.S. Congress kowtowed to the National Rifle Association. We have a shameless proposal before the Senate today that shields even the most reckless sales in the gun industry. This bill will even protect manufacturers that promote military-style weapons for use in battle in urban scenarios against any foe at any range. It protects manufacturers who brag about their weapons of war and spread them to our streets. Look at this advertisement from Vulcan. ``Vulcan Armament, the weapons of the special forces. From Afghanistan to Iraq, the guns of the special forces are now on sale in America.'' All you need is a credit card. Call that company and you get that weapon. It is being used by special forces in Iraq. Do you think this bill has anything to do with protecting Americans from that? Absolutely not. The gun dealer claims: ``From Afghanistan to Iraq, the guns of the special forces are now on sale . . . '' How outrageous can dealers get? But the NRA demands that these sales continue to be unregulated. Credit card, computer, you get your sniper rifle used by the special forces. And are we doing anything about that? Absolutely not. Congress continues to do their bidding as it has done for years. At the insistence of the NRA, Congress has already tied the hands of law enforcement by cutting Federal funding for the agency that overseas gun dealers and manufacturers. According to the GAO, at the current level of underfunding, the ATF would take 22 years to inspect every gun dealer just once. What kind of enforcement is that? The GAO also tells us that people on the terrorist watch list are routinely buying guns in this country. Under current law, terrorists are not prohibited buyers. At the urging of the NRA, Congress is doing nothing about it. If that weren't enough, under this bill, gun manufacturers and sellers will be exempt from lawsuits even if they sell weapons to terrorists. I have a GAO report that shows that there were 45 instances where the GAO found firearms-related background checks handled by the FBI resulted in valid matches with terrorist watch list records. Of this total, 35 transactions were allowed to proceed. If they get on the list, they are supposed to notify Homeland Security. But in this case, 35 transactions were allowed to proceed because the background checks found no prohibiting information. What does that mean? The prohibiting information are the categories that would deny them the ability to sell these weapons. For example, if you have had a felony conviction, you can't sell them; illegal immigration, you can't sell them; domestic violence, you can't sell them. Member of a terrorist organization? You can sell them. Do you think this bill is doing anything about that? Do you think we are doing anything about that? No. It is disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful. We already know the terrorists are exploiting the weaknesses and loopholes in the Nation's gun laws. In the caves of Afghanistan our troops found an al-Qaida manual that instructed terrorists on how to buy guns legally in the United States without having to undergo a background check. Al-Qaida understands that we have created a mess that allows, even encourages, criminals and terrorists to traffic in guns. Why do we in this body continue to ignore it? We are not talking about some hypothetical situation. In 2000, a member of a terrorist group in the Middle East was convicted in Detroit on weapons charges and conspiracy to ship weapons and ammunition to Lebanon. He had bought many of these weapons at gun shows in Michigan. In 1999, only a lack of cash prevented two persons from purchasing a grenade launcher at a gun show in a plot to blow up two large propane tanks in suburban Sacramento. But instead of addressing these real and serious problems, the Senate is considering this outrageous immunity bill that even gives the gun industry protection from administrative proceedings to revoke licenses of dealers who sell to illegal buyers. This bill will bar State attorneys general from bringing civil actions against gun sellers, even those engaged in so-called straw sales to middlemen who buy guns from prohibited buyers. Why should the industry stop there? At the demand of the NRA, Congress has already exempted the gun industry from Federal consumer safety regulation. But the NRA wants more. It is a disgrace. The NRA has also persuaded our Government to destroy gun purchasing background records within 24 hours. Our Justice Department refused to examine the gun records of any of the 19 hijackers or 1,200 suspected terrorists rounded up after 9/11. We can know everything about law- abiding citizens in this country, but we can't know about the terrorists purchasing these weapons. Within days of 9/11, we knew who the hijackers were, where they sat on the planes. We saw some of their faces on surveillance videos. We knew what they had charged on their credit cards. We knew where they had gone to school. We knew where they lived, where they traveled. We knew they had tried to get pilot's licenses. We knew they had looked for a way to transport hazardous chemicals. But we didn't know whether our terrorist friends had purchased firearms because we were worried about their privacy rights and their right to bear arms. Give me a break. Give me a break. Make no mistake, Mr. President, the National Rifle Association clearly comes first in this Senate Republican agenda. This is not just about the immunity bill on the floor today. If this bill passes, it will open the floodgates for NRA's other priorities. None of these priorities will protect our citizens or make this country safer. Designed by the NRA, it promotes the sale of guns by manufacturers if they are sold to criminals. The NRA is lavishly rewarded for lobbying victories, and so are the Members of Congress who do their bidding. This is an unholy alliance, Mr. President. This bill gives greater protection to the gun industry than Congress has given to any industry, and it is a dangerous precedent. At a minimum, we owe a duty to the police officers who are more in jeopardy because of the increasing number of dangerous weapons and ammunition in the hands of criminals. The Treasury Department already has regulations containing some prohibitions on armor-piercing ammunition. My amendment would expand the ban on that. It can easily be sold over the Internet, no questions asked. That is a disgrace and danger to police officers throughout the Nation. The NRA would have us believe cop-killer bullets are a myth, they don't exist. Try to tell that to some of the sellers on eBay. Here you go, Mr. President. This chart represents what is on eBay. All you need is one click of the computer, and you can buy these bullets on eBay-- armor-piercing bullets. They are $15 on eBay, armor-piercing bullets. Now let's look at what has happened in the last year, in 2004. The number of police officers killed was 54, and 32 of these officers were wearing body armor. The only bullet that can pierce the armor is the cop-killer bullet. That is what this amendment addresses, the cop- killer bullet. It will stop the sale of the cop-killer bullet. These are the types of armor-piercing ammunition. All you have to do is look at these words, ``hardened steel or tungsten carbide.'' Any terrorist knows what that means. Put those words together, and it goes right through a police officer's armored vest. We have had 54 police officers killed in the line of duty; 32 were wearing body armor. This is the FBI report of May 16, 2005. I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record.

Mr. KENNEDY. That is what this amendment does. Nobody can deny that our policemen and policewomen face a greater threat every day from these armor-piercing weapons and bullets that remain in our community. It is outrageous and unconscionable that such ammunition continues to be sold in the United States. Mr. President, victims of gun violence and their families oppose this underlying legislation. I wish to mention the organizations that support my amendment. The International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the National Black Police Association, the Hispanic American Police Command Officers, the National Latino Police Officers, and the Major City Chiefs Association representing the Nation's largest police departments all support this amendment. If you are interested in the security of those who are protecting us on the streets and in our communities and in our homes across this Nation, support my amendment, not a phony amendment that will be put on by the other side. I withhold my time.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I commend our majority leader for bringing the Prescription Electronic Reporting Act to the floor for a vote so quickly, and I commend Senators Enzi, Sessions, Durbin, and Dodd for their contributions to this bill and their efforts to prevent the diversion of prescription drugs. Our goal is to help States establish electronic databases to monitor the use of prescription drugs and deal more effectively with the growing national epidemic of prescription drug abuse. Over 6 million Americans currently use prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes. Thirty-one million people say they have abused such drugs at least once in their lives. The number of people reporting such abuse is higher than the total combined number of people abusing cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants, and heroin. The growing trend of prescription drug abuse is alarming. Since 1992, the total number of people abusing prescription drugs has soared by over 90 percent. The number of young adults who abuse prescription pain relievers and other addictive drugs has more than tripled. Prescription drug abuse among youths 12 to 17 has risen by tenfold. Today, 20 percent of teenagers have abused prescription drugs, and 37 percent have a close friend who does. Better local programs to monitor addictive medications can help curb this abuse. Approximately 20 States have such programs in place, including Massachusetts, but they vary greatly in the collection and storage of data and the methods for using the databases. The information in the databases can be used to identify physicians and patients who encourage the nonmedical use of prescription drugs. It can help people seek treatment early for their addiction. It can also be used to reduce the diversion of prescription drugs for illegal use. Our bill authorizes the Secretary of HHS to make grants to States to establish needed monitoring programs. States with existing programs can use the grants to improve their systems and standardize the data to allow easy sharing of the information with other States. Any such program, however, must include strong safeguards for medical privacy and make certain that the databases cannot be used to put improper pressure on physicians to avoid prescribing essential drugs. The effective treatment of pain is an enormous medical challenge, and good care will be much more difficult if patients fear that their prescription drug records will not be protected, or if physicians begin to look over their shoulder every time they prescribe pain medication. We all share the goal of reaching the right balance between the interests of patients, physicians, and law enforcement, and this legislation does that. It requires the Secretary to develop criteria for ensuring the privacy and security of the database, including penalties for improper use. In their grant applications, States must show that they have enacted legislation with appropriate penalties, and explain how they will meet privacy and security criteria, such as by using encryption technology. They must have plans for purging data, and for certifying that requests for information are legitimate. The bill also requires the Secretary to provide a follow-up analysis of the privacy protections within 3 years after funds are appropriated. The problem of prescription drug abuse is growing exponentially and worsens every year. Today, the group most at risk is our children. Now is the time to act to limit the diversion of prescription drugs and protect our most vulnerable citizens from prescription drug abuse. Physicians want to treat pain without contributing to addiction. Law enforcement officials want to stop the flow of prescription drugs from pharmacies to the streets. A national monitoring program will provide a valuable resource to achieve these goals. I commend Majority Leader Frist, Chairman Enzi, and Senator Sessions for their leadership on this important health issue, and I urge our colleagues to pass this legislation as a significant step toward ending prescription drug abuse.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, the Department of Transportation's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program is vital to ensuring that businesses owned by women and minorities have an equal opportunity to compete for Federal highway construction contracts, and I commend the conferees for supporting this important program in this year's highway bill. Since the program was created in 1982 and expanded to include women in 1987, the construction industry has changed significantly. Although we still have far to go to fully address the effects of discrimination in the industry, the program has opened many doors of opportunity for women and minorities in what was once a virtually all-male, all-white construction industry. The program deserves high marks in combating the effects of discrimination in highway construction. But on the extensive information available to us in considering its reauthorization, it is also clear that the program is still very much needed to achieve a level playing field for all qualified contractors, regardless of race or gender. Since Congress first began examining this problem, it has been clear that the construction industry generally, and highway construction in particular, have been predominantly an insiders' business that often exclude women and minorities for discriminatory reasons. The persistence of this festering problem has denied opportunities for African American-, Asian American-, Latino-, Native American-, and women-owned firms in the industry. Our extensive hearings and other information gathered over the years made clear that women and minorities historically have been excluded from both public and private construction contracting. When Congress last reviewed the program in 1998, there was strong evidence of discriminatory lending practices that deny women and minorities the capital necessary to compete on an equal footing. Much of that information is cited and described in three leading rulings by Federal courts of appeals--the Eighth Circuit's opinion in Sherbrooke Turf. Inc. v. Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Tenth Circuit's opinion in Adarand Constructors v. Pena, and the Ninth Circuit's opinion in Western States Paving Company v. Washington State Department of Transportation, all of which upheld the program as constitutional, and found that it is narrowly tailored to deal with the Government's compelling interest in remedying discrimination. I will not detail all of the information previously considered, but a few examples illustrate the breadth of the problem. A bank denied a minority-owned business a loan to bid on a public contract worth $3 million, but offered a loan for the same purpose to a nonminority-owned firm with an affiliate in bankruptcy. An Asian-lndian American businessman in the San Francisco Bay area testified at a public hearing that he was unable to obtain a line of unsecured credit from mainstream banks until he found a loan officer who shared his heritage. A Filipino owner of a construction firm testified that he had difficulty obtaining bank financing, although white-owned firms with comparable assets could obtain similar loans. Overt discrimination and entrenched patterns of exclusion prevented many female- and minority-owned businesses from obtaining surety bonds. Minorities also have been consistently under-utilized in Government contracting. In 1996, the Urban Institute released a report documenting wide statistical disparities between the share of contract dollars received by minority- and women-owned firms compared to firms owned by white males. Minority firms received only 57 cents in Government contracts for every dollar they should have received based upon their eligibility. For specific racial groups, the disparities were even more severe. African American-owned firms received only 49 cents on the dollar; Latino-owned firms, 44 cent; Asian-American owned firms, 39 cents; Native American-owned firms, 18 cents; women-owned firms, 29 cents. These statistics are particularly troubling, because they exist despite affirmative action programs in many of the jurisdictions. Without such programs, their plight would have been far worse. The Urban Institute report found that the disparities between minority- and women-owned firms and other firms were greatest in areas in which no affirmative action program was in place. When only areas and years in which affirmative action is not in place were considered, the percentage of awards to women fell from 29 percent to 24 percent. For African Americans, the percentage dropped from 49 percent to 22 percent; for Latinos, from 44 percent to 26 percent; for Asians, from 39 percent to 13 percent; and for Native Americans, from 18 percent to 4 percent. These figures show that affirmative action programs are not only effective, but are still urgently needed. We also had extensive evidence of discrimination by prime contractors, unions, and suppliers of goods and materials, who expressly favored white males over minorities and women. In addition, the information we received established that exclusionary practices by State and local governments also contributed to the problem. As a result, female and minority contractors were disadvantaged in their efforts to compete fairly for both public and private construction projects. The history of discrimination in contracting provides important context for the information that has been developed since the program was last reauthorized. We must not and do not assume that because the program was necessary in 1998, it must be reauthorized. Before deciding to continue the program, we have a constitutional duty to determine whether it is still needed today. The information we have seen since then confirms that there is still a need for a national program. New studies completed since 1998 show that minority- and women-owned companies are underutilized in government contracting. The Department of Transportation identified 15 detailed studies of State and local governments showing significant disparities between the availability and utilization of minority- and women-owned firms in government contracting. Studies showed underutilization in Nebraska; in Maryland; in Colorado; in Georgia; in Kentucky; in Ohio; in Wilmington, DE; in Dekalb County, GA; in Broward County, FL; in Dallas, TX; in Cincinnati, OH; in Tallahassee, FL; and in Baltimore, MD. Several other studies have also been completed since 1998. Furthermore, expert evidence presented to the trial courts in Sherbrooke and in Gross Seed v. Nebraska Department of Roads included statistical evidence of underutilization of minority- and women-owned firms in Minnesota and Nebraska. In the past, we have seen a striking reduction in participation in the regions where government programs designed to provide a level playing field in the construction industry are curtailed or eliminated. That pattern has continued in recent years. For example, in the State of Minnesota, during 1999, after a Federal court had enjoined the State department of transportation from implementing a previous program-- participation dropped from over 10 percent to slightly more than 2 percent. In addition, the General Accountability Office, GAO, issued a 2001 study showing that contracting under the Federal program had ``dramatically declined'' when similar local programs were terminated in the jurisdictions it examined. We also have received considerable new anecdotal evidence of discrimination in highway construction contracting: Herta Bouvia, the female co-owner of a company that competes for building contracts and highway construction contracts in Nebraska, testified in Gross Seed v. Nebraska Department of Roads that she faced hostility, slurs, and other forms of harassment on construction jobs because of her gender. Stanford Madlock, an African-American owner of a DBE trucking company in Nebraska, testified in the same case that he had suffered discrimination because of his race, including being denied contracts despite submitting the low bid for the work and being denied access to capital. The Tenth Circuit's 2003 opinion in Concrete Works v. City and County of Denver included extensive anecdotal evidence of discriminatory behavior by lenders, majority-owned firms, and individual employees in the Denver metropolitan area, which the court characterized as ``profoundly disturbing.'' In that case, a senior vice president of a large, white-owned construction firm testified under oath that when he worked in Denver, he received credible complaints from minority- and women-owned construction firms that they were subject to different work rules than majority-owned firms; that he frequently observed graffiti containing racial or gender epithets on job sites in the Denver area; and that, based on his own experience, many white-owned firms refused to hire minority or women-owned subcontractors because of biased views that such firms were not competent. Witnesses from minority- and women-owned firms testified that they were treated differently than their white male competitors in attempting to prequalify for public and private projects or to obtain credit. They also testified that prime contractors rejected the lowest bids on construction projects when those bids had been submitted by a minority or woman, and that female- and minority-owned firms were paid less promptly by prime contractors and were charged more for supplies than white male competitors on both public and private projects. The case also included extensive evidence that Latino, African- American, and female contractors were subjected to verbal and physical abuse because of their race or gender. Even more disturbing was the testimony that minority and female employees working on construction projects were physically assaulted and fondled, spit on with chewing tobacco, and pelted with 2-inch bolts thrown by males from a height of 80 feet. Disparity studies completed since the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program was last reauthorized also contain significant anecdotal evidence: A disparity study by the State of Delaware described the difficulties of African-American firms in obtaining loans, including the experience of an African-American contractor who could obtain credit only after a white friend working at the bank interceded on his behalf. The 2003 Ohio study also included the account of an African-American general contractor in the construction business whose ability to perform the work was questioned by an administrator for a project conducted by the State. The African-American contractor related that he ``had a lot of problems out of that particular agency,'' and was told that Government affirmative action programs are ``a form of n--gger welfare.'' The same contractor found that he was expected only to work on projects that were part of an affirmative action program. The study included anecdotal evidence that female construction contractors were often forced to justify their ability to do the job. One contractor related that she was frequently required to demonstrate her knowledge of the construction business. She said, ``You are challenged, no matter your age, no matter your position, you are challenged quite frequently and asked very simple construction quiz questions just to prove you [know] construction acumen.'' She said that male contractors assume women lack knowledge of the business. One female contractor stated that she was forced to answer basic questions about construction before being permitted to perform work on a job. A 1999 study of contracting in Seattle includes accounts by a female contractor with 14 years' experience in construction. It found that general contractors assume minority-and women-owned firms do substandard work. It also includes information about women contractors subjected to sexually inappropriate or demeaning comments by men in the construction industry. The 1999 Seattle study contained troubling anecdotal evidence of lending discrimination against minorities. A Latino construction contractor had difficulty obtaining credit for his business until his white employee began dealing with the bank and easily obtained the loan from the same loan officer who had previously ignored the Latino contractor's application. The Latino owner also said that he later tried to help six other minority contractors--two African Americans, two Latinos, and two Native Americans--obtain credit after his company expanded, and always had difficulty. He stated that bankers told him, ``Jeez, you know how much these types of firms fail?'' and that the African American and Native American contractors he sought to help were verbally mistreated by bank employees. The same study noted that one Seattle bank placed so many increasing financial requirements on an Asian American construction contractor that the contractor was unable to get credit until he no longer needed it. The study also included anecdotal evidence of bid shopping by prime contractors that disadvantaged minority firms and discriminated against African-American and Latino construction contractors in seeking bonding and insurance. A 1999 study of contracting in Minnesota included the account of an African-American construction contractor, who stated that a white construction worker refused to report to an African-American worker, that there was racial harassment on job sites ``all the time,'' and that African Americans had been called ``monkeys'' on the job and had their work sabotaged. The Minnesota study also included statements by an Asian contractor who endured racial slurs or harassment from others in his business ``at least once a month.'' In light of the extensive evidence of continuing discrimination in construction contracting, the additional information available to Congress since 1998 makes clear that the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program is still needed. Given the importance of this question, I will ask unanimous consent to include further evidence in the Record. In reauthorizing the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, we are well aware that in seeking to expand inclusion in the American dream, we must not unduly burden any other group. The program achieves the proper balance. The Department of Transportation's regulations expressly prohibit the use of rigid quotas, and require States administering the program to use race-conscious measures only as a last resort when race-neutral efforts to combat discrimination have been shown to be insufficient. If a State finds that it can create a level playing field on which all contractors have a fair chance to compete without using race-conscious means, the regulations require it to set the race-conscious portion of its goal of minority participation at zero, so that no race-conscious measures are used at all. We know that the program is also flexible in fact, because some States have set the race-conscious portion of the goal at zero. The process by which firms may be certified for the program does not rigidly classify firms based on race, ethnicity or gender. Instead, the certification process is designed to identify victims of discrimination. Although firms owned by women and minorities are presumed to be eligible to participate in the program, that presumption may be rebutted, and their owners must submit a notarized statement declaring that they are, in fact, socially and economically disadvantaged. Firms owned by white males who can show that they are socially and economically disadvantaged can also qualify to participate in the program. Finally, the program is inherently flexible. It imposes no penalty on States for failing to meet annual goals for participation. It requires only that prime contractors exercise good faith in seeking to meet the DBE participation goals on individual contracts; no penalty is imposed if their good-faith efforts are unsuccessful. Given the magnitude and pervasiveness of the historical exclusion of women and minorities from construction contracting, it is not surprising that this problem has not yet been fully corrected. But the difficulty of the problem does not absolve us of our duty to address the effects of discrimination, and to continue our effort to achieve a level playing field in government contracting. As the Supreme Court stated in Adarand Constructors v. Pena, ``[g]overnment is not disqualified from acting in response to the unhappy persistence of both the practice and the lingering effects of racial discrimination against minority groups in this country.'' Indeed, we have a duty to ensure that federal dollars are not used to subsidize discrimination. As President Kennedy stated in his landmark message to Congress on civil rights in June 19, 1963: Simple justice requires that public funds, to which all taxpayers of all races [and both genders] contribute, not be spent in any fashion which encourages, entrenches, subsidizes, or results in . . . discrimination. The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program enables a diverse group of contractors to contribute to the important projects financed by this major legislation. Everyone benefits when the recipients of Federal opportunities reflect all of America. The program ensures that all Americans have a fair opportunity to participate in the construction projects and other activities authorized in this legislation and that those who benefit from Federal contracting opportunities reflect our Nation's diversity, and I commend my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for including this still urgently needed program in this major legislation. Mr. President, I commend to my colleagues the National Economic Research Associates Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Availability Study prepared for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. I ask unanimous consent that several letters be printed in the Record.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is a privilege to join Senator Akaka and Senator Reid in introducing the Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act. Our goal is to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care, so that all citizens, regardless of income or background, have the best possible health care our Nation can provide. The Institute of Medicine has documented the severity of ethnic and racial disparities in health care. People of color face unequal treatment and unequal outcomes in heart disease, infant mortality, HIV/ AIDS, diabetes, asthma, and other serious illnesses. The health care needs of communities of color are often more severe than those of white Americans. Minorities often face significant obstacles, including poverty and the lack of health insurance. We need to attack disparities in all their forms. A critical first step is to see that health insurance and decent health care are available and affordable for all Americans. This bill strengthens the health care safety net by expanding access to Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, and improving health care for Indian tribes, migrant workers, and farm workers. The bill also contains essential measures for removing cultural and linguistic barriers to good care. The United States is a Nation of immigrants, and all Americans deserve to understand what their doctor is telling them. Interpreter and translator services save money in the long run by avoiding harm when patients do not understand their diagnosis or the health advice they receive. Health care institutions deserve to be reimbursed for providing these critically needed services. Other important initiatives to reduce health disparities include diversifying the health care workforce. Minority providers are more likely to serve low-income communities of color, and this bill addresses the shortage of these providers. Federal agencies can do more in this battle too. The bill requires all Federal health agencies to develop specific plans to eliminate disparities. The bill expands the Office of Civil Rights and the Office of Minority Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, and creates minority health offices within the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In addition, the bill strengthens investments in prevention and behavioral health and improves research and data collection. It strengthens health institutions that serve communities of color, provides grants for community initiatives, and funds programs on chronic disease. In each of these ways, we can reduce the gap in health care between people of color and whites, so that all Americans can benefit from the remarkable advances being made in modern health care. It's time for Congress, the administration, and the Nation to end the shameful inequality in health care that plagues the lives of so many people in our society. This bill contains numerous provisions intended to make that happen, and it can have a major impact on the lives of millions of Americans. I commend Senators Akaka and Reid for their leadership on this important health issue. We intend to do all we can in this Congress to see that effective legislation to combat health disparities is enacted into law and funded adequately to do the job.