Ted Kennedy

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, January 11, 2007, at 10 a.m. to hold a hearing on Iraq.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, January 11, 2007, at 2 p.m. to hold a hearing on Iraq.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on January 11, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. to hold an open hearing.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, It's a privilege to join Senator Feinstein and Senator Craig and my other colleagues today as we reintroduce the Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act. I commend them and Representatives Howard Berman and Chris Cannon for their bipartisan leadership and I'm honored to be part of this landmark legislation. The bill reflects a far-reaching and welcome agreement between the United Farm Workers and the agricultural industry on one of the most difficult immigration' challenges we face, and we in Congress should make the most of this unique opportunity for progress. America has a proud tradition as a Nation of immigrants and a Nation of laws. But our current immigration laws fail us on both counts. Much of the Nation's economy today depends on the hard work and the many contributions of immigrants. The agricultural industry would grind to a halt without immigrant farm workers. Yet, the overwhelming majority of these workers lack legal status, and can be easily exploited by unscrupulous employers. The legislation we are introducing, called the ``AgJOBS Act,'' is an opportunity to correct these long-festering problems. It will give farm workers and their families the dignity and justice they deserve, and it will give agricultural employers a legal workforce. It is a realistic compromise that now has broad support in Congress, and from business and labor, civic and faith-based organizations, liberals and conservatives, trade associations and immigrant rights groups. The Act is a needed reform in our immigration law to reflect current economic realities and meet our national security needs more effectively, and do so in a way that respects America's immigrant heritage. It provides a fair and reasonable means for illegal agricultural workers to earn legal status, and it also reforms the current visa program, so that employers unable to obtain American workers can hire needed foreign workers. The AgJOBS Act is good for both labor and business. The Nation can no longer ignore the fact that more than half of our agricultural workers are undocumented. Growers need an immediate, reliable and legal workforce at harvest time. Farm workers need legal statues to improve their wages and working conditions. Everyone suffers when crops rot in the fields because of the lack of an adequate labor force. The AgJOBS Act provides a fair and reasonable process for undocumented agricultural workers to earn legal status. Undocumented farm workers are clearly vulnerable to abuse by unscrupulous labor contractors and growers. Their illegal status deprives them of bargaining power and depresses the wages of all farm workers. Our bill provides fair solutions for undocumented workers who have been toiling in our fields and harvesting our fruits and vegetables. This bill is not an amnesty. To earn the right to remain in this country, workers would not only have to demonstrate past work contributions to the U.S. economy, but also make a substantial future work commitment. These workers will be able to come forward, identify themselves, provide evidence that they have been employed in agriculture and will continue to work hard, and will play by the rules in the future. This legislation will modify the current temporary foreign agricultural worker program, while preserving and enhancing key labor protections. It achieves a fair balance. It streamlines the H-2A visa application process by reducing paperwork for employers and accelerating processing. But individuals participating in the program receive strong labor protections. Our legislation will unify families. When temporary residence is granted a farm worker's spouse and minor children will be able to remain legally in the U.S. but they will not be authorized to work. When the worker becomes a permanent resident, the spouse and minor children will also gain such status. AgJOBS will also enhance national security and reduce illegal immigration. It will reduce the chaotic, illegal, and all-too-deadly flows of immigrants at our borders by providing safe and legal avenues for farm workers and their families. Future temporary workers will be carefully screened to meet security concerns. Enforcement resources will be more effectively focused on the highest risks. By bringing undocumented farm workers out of the shadows and requiring them to pass through security checks, it will enable officials to concentrate more effectively on terrorists and criminals. Last year, Senators came together--Democrats and Republicans--to pass a far-reaching immigration reform bill that included the AgJOBS bill. The American people are calling on us to come together again. They know there is a crisis, and they want action now. President Bush has been a leader on immigration reform, and I'm hopeful that he will renew his efforts with members of his party, so that we can continue action quickly this year on comprehensive reform legislation and end this festering crisis once and for all. The House of Representatives is now ready to be a genuine partner in this effort. By heritage and history, America is a Nation of immigrants. Our legislation proposes necessary changes in the law while preserving this tradition. This bill will ensure that immigrant farm workers can live the American dream and contribute to our prosperity, our security, and our values, and I hope very much that it can be enacted as soon as possible in this new Congress.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, It's a privilege to join Senator Feinstein and Senator Craig and my other colleagues today as we reintroduce the Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act. I commend them and Representatives Howard Berman and Chris Cannon for their bipartisan leadership and I'm honored to be part of this landmark legislation. The bill reflects a far-reaching and welcome agreement between the United Farm Workers and the agricultural industry on one of the most difficult immigration' challenges we face, and we in Congress should make the most of this unique opportunity for progress. America has a proud tradition as a Nation of immigrants and a Nation of laws. But our current immigration laws fail us on both counts. Much of the Nation's economy today depends on the hard work and the many contributions of immigrants. The agricultural industry would grind to a halt without immigrant farm workers. Yet, the overwhelming majority of these workers lack legal status, and can be easily exploited by unscrupulous employers. The legislation we are introducing, called the ``AgJOBS Act,'' is an opportunity to correct these long-festering problems. It will give farm workers and their families the dignity and justice they deserve, and it will give agricultural employers a legal workforce. It is a realistic compromise that now has broad support in Congress, and from business and labor, civic and faith-based organizations, liberals and conservatives, trade associations and immigrant rights groups. The Act is a needed reform in our immigration law to reflect current economic realities and meet our national security needs more effectively, and do so in a way that respects America's immigrant heritage. It provides a fair and reasonable means for illegal agricultural workers to earn legal status, and it also reforms the current visa program, so that employers unable to obtain American workers can hire needed foreign workers. The AgJOBS Act is good for both labor and business. The Nation can no longer ignore the fact that more than half of our agricultural workers are undocumented. Growers need an immediate, reliable and legal workforce at harvest time. Farm workers need legal statues to improve their wages and working conditions. Everyone suffers when crops rot in the fields because of the lack of an adequate labor force. The AgJOBS Act provides a fair and reasonable process for undocumented agricultural workers to earn legal status. Undocumented farm workers are clearly vulnerable to abuse by unscrupulous labor contractors and growers. Their illegal status deprives them of bargaining power and depresses the wages of all farm workers. Our bill provides fair solutions for undocumented workers who have been toiling in our fields and harvesting our fruits and vegetables. This bill is not an amnesty. To earn the right to remain in this country, workers would not only have to demonstrate past work contributions to the U.S. economy, but also make a substantial future work commitment. These workers will be able to come forward, identify themselves, provide evidence that they have been employed in agriculture and will continue to work hard, and will play by the rules in the future. This legislation will modify the current temporary foreign agricultural worker program, while preserving and enhancing key labor protections. It achieves a fair balance. It streamlines the H-2A visa application process by reducing paperwork for employers and accelerating processing. But individuals participating in the program receive strong labor protections. Our legislation will unify families. When temporary residence is granted a farm worker's spouse and minor children will be able to remain legally in the U.S. but they will not be authorized to work. When the worker becomes a permanent resident, the spouse and minor children will also gain such status. AgJOBS will also enhance national security and reduce illegal immigration. It will reduce the chaotic, illegal, and all-too-deadly flows of immigrants at our borders by providing safe and legal avenues for farm workers and their families. Future temporary workers will be carefully screened to meet security concerns. Enforcement resources will be more effectively focused on the highest risks. By bringing undocumented farm workers out of the shadows and requiring them to pass through security checks, it will enable officials to concentrate more effectively on terrorists and criminals. Last year, Senators came together--Democrats and Republicans--to pass a far-reaching immigration reform bill that included the AgJOBS bill. The American people are calling on us to come together again. They know there is a crisis, and they want action now. President Bush has been a leader on immigration reform, and I'm hopeful that he will renew his efforts with members of his party, so that we can continue action quickly this year on comprehensive reform legislation and end this festering crisis once and for all. The House of Representatives is now ready to be a genuine partner in this effort. By heritage and history, America is a Nation of immigrants. Our legislation proposes necessary changes in the law while preserving this tradition. This bill will ensure that immigrant farm workers can live the American dream and contribute to our prosperity, our security, and our values, and I hope very much that it can be enacted as soon as possible in this new Congress.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I would like to recognize a New England journalism legend, Gary LaPierre, who retired on December 29, capping a remarkable career. For many citizens of our region, Gary LaPierre is the voice of New England. He comes from the beautiful small town of Shelburne Falls, MA, where his mother Esther still lives today, and is one of the most dependable, fair, and effective journalists Massachusetts has ever seen. Gary first began covering me in my 1964 Senate reelection campaign, and he has been asking me questions ever since--his interviews with me number in the hundreds. This past election day, November 7, 2006, Gary declared me the winner in my Senate race that evening. Gary has won many awards for his outstanding journalism over the years. His ``LaPierre on the Loose'' segment and his skills in investigative reporting send chills down the spines of anyone out to defy the public interest. Whether it is lighthearted regional stories, investigative analyses, or news of the day, Gary handles them all well, and he brings them to us with his trademark clarity, vision, and integrity. I am not sure what Boston will do in the mornings now that Gary is retiring. I have always liked Gary. He asks the tough questions, and he has been there when history was happening in Boston. He brought national stories to local neighborhood news and covered everything local superbly. Schoolchildren love Gary, too. When we were buried in a snowstorm, he is the dean of school cancellations and can read through the list faster than anyone on the air. He covered the blizzard of 1978 while holed up in his studio for 5 straight days, keeping constant tabs on those stranded on Route 128. For many, Gary was the narrator in what became one of Boston most cherished hometown stories. But Gary's reach has often extended beyond Boston borders. He has traveled with the Beatles, and he met our Iranian hostages in Germany. But he always came home to where his heart is--and we are happy he did. Gary is a fair political reporter as well. He has covered every Democratic Presidential Convention I can recall--and Republican ones, too--and he covered my own campaign in 1980. In fact, no campaign is complete without Gary's analysis, and we have all learned a great deal from him over the years. His reassuring voice guided us through the horrors of September 11, a day that none of us will ever forget. He also brought us the joys of the Red Sox World Series Championship in 2004. Whatever the topic, he had a talent for making his listeners feel they were a part of the event. Gary's compassion, his integrity, and his love for Boston will be missed on the airwaves each morning, but he leaves us with cherished memories, and he helped make WBZ in Boston the world class broadcasting station it is today. Now, as he retires, I join his countless admirers in wishing him a long and happy retirement. He has certainly earned it. We will miss you on WBZ, Gary, but to us, you will always be the voice of Boston.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, few things are more indispensable to the United States than good schools. Today more than ever, a quality education is the gateway to achieving the American dream and the best guarantee of equal opportunity for all our people, good citizenship, and an economy capable of mastering modern global challenges. In 1965, as part of the War on Poverty, President Johnson signed into law the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education to strengthen America by allocating substantial Federal resources to public schools for the first time. In the bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, we reauthorized this landmark legislation, and for the first time made a commitment that every child--black or white, Latino or Asian, native- born or an English language learner, disabled or non-disabled--would be part of an accountability plan that holds schools responsible for the progress of all students. It required every State to implement content and performance standards specifying what children should know and be able to do, and urged States to create high-quality assessments so that students' progress toward meeting those standards could be accurately measured. It expanded support for early reading and literacy skills and offered extra tutoring to students in struggling schools. It sought to improve the quality of instruction by requiring all schools to provide a highly-qualified teacher for every child. We know these reforms can work. But good results are not possible without adequate investments. The No Child Left Behind Act recognized that to move forward with these dramatic changes, schools would need a continued infusion of Federal resources, because the cost was obviously too great for States and local governments to bear alone. Today, because of budget cuts and poor implementation, we still have much to do to ensure that no child is left behind. President Bush has short-changed the promise made in the law by nearly $56 billion, leaving millions of children without the resources needed to reduce class sizes, improve teaching, and set higher standards for our schools. Now, more than ever, it's important to deliver the resources our schools deserve. Thousands of schools are on watchlists in their States and need Federal support and extra assistance to bridge the learning gaps of their students. The No Child Left Behind Act is again scheduled for reauthorization this year, and we must work to ensure that its promise is fulfilled. Aside from additional funding, one of our priorities must be to ensure that the standards and assessments used to measure progress are fair and reliable. Accountability is only as good as the tests to measure progress, and many States use tests that need substantial improvement. Some use exams that are not aligned to the standards that students must meet. Others have manufactured artificially high test score gains by lowering standards and adjusting test scores in order to avoid unfavorable consequences under the law's accountability framework. We need to shift our understanding of the Act away from the idea that it labels and penalizes schools, and toward a more productive framework that helps schools and States reach higher, not lower. We should use the well-regarded National Assessment of Educational Progress the ``Nation's report card'' as a benchmark for the rigor of State exams. States should also align their elementary and secondary school standards with their standards for college entrance and success, creating seamless systems that guide students from the beginning of their education to the achievement of a college degree. The SUCCESS Act I am introducing today would assist States in these efforts. As the name suggests, it would provide Federal support for States Using Collaboration and Cooperation to Enhance Standards for Students. It would help ensure that public schools challenge all students to learn to high standards and provide needed help to schools with the greatest needs. The legislation updates the Nation's report card the National Assessment of Educational Progress to ensure that it sets a national benchmark which is internationally competitive and is aligned with the demands of the 21st century global economy. It expands our ability to monitor science achievement. It requires the NAEP to measure student preparedness to enter college, the 21st century workforce, or the Armed Services. It also requires the Secretary of Education to examine the gaps in student performance on state-level assessments and NAEP assessments, and to assist States that wish to analyze how their standards and assessments compare to the benchmark. The SUCCESS Act provides critical resources to States to create ``P- 16'' Preparedness Councils that will engage members of the early childhood, K-12 and higher education communities, along with the business and military communities, and other stakeholders to align the standards with what is needed for success in college and the workforce. The councils would be charged with ensuring that State standards and assessments meet international benchmarks to improve instruction and student achievement and prepare students to contribute in the global economy. It also provides funds to encourage collaboration among States in raising the bar for student achievement by providing grants to States working together to establish common standards and assessments that are rigorous, internationally competitive, and aligned with postsecondary demands. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this and other important proposals as we move toward the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. In the coming weeks, our Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will hold a series of hearings and roundtable discussions to hear from experts and those dealing with the challenges of the current law on a daily basis. Our goal is to work on a bipartisan basis with all our colleagues in the Senate and in the House and with the Administration to develop a strong bipartisan bill that builds on the positive aspects of the law, addresses the concerns about its implementation, and encourages reforms that we know will work to help students succeed. Teachers deserve the resources they need to help students achieve at higher levels. In many schools, the most valuable resource that teachers require is time. Yet the U.S. ranks 11th among industrialized nations in the number of days children attend school. Innovative approaches are needed to extend the school day and year in high-need schools. We should recruit Americorps volunteers to coordinate academically oriented extended-day programs for students and assist teachers during the school day. We must also ensure that students in high poverty schools have access to good teachers. We should create incentives to attract the best teachers to the neediest schools, including increased salaries for teachers and principals with strong track records of success who work in hard-to-staff schools, and by creating ``career advancement systems'' in which highly effective teachers serve as instructional leaders for new or less successful teachers. To help teachers improve their teaching, we should invest more in training them to use the best data to improve instruction. We should also help parents by replicating Boston's successful initiative to place parent-family outreach coordinators in every high- poverty school, and offer grants to school districts to support community programs that address children's social, emotional and other non-academic needs. We must invest in these and other reforms to give schools the resources they need to close the achievement gap and ensure that all students can stay on track to graduate and succeed. Experience shows that each year yields greater success when policymakers and educators commit in the long term to higher standards, better teacher training, stronger accountability, and extra help for students in need. The initial implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act has been flawed, but we can't abandon its vision of an America in which every child is important and deserves to be educated and enjoy the full benefits of our society. That vision is as enduring as America itself. As John Adams wrote in the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, the education of the people is ``necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberty.'' More than two hundred years later, we need to recapture that spirit, and make ``No Child Left Behind'' a reality, not merely a slogan. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, few things are more indispensable to the United States than good schools. Today more than ever, a quality education is the gateway to achieving the American dream and the best guarantee of equal opportunity for all our people, good citizenship, and an economy capable of mastering modern global challenges. In 1965, as part of the War on Poverty, President Johnson signed into law the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education to strengthen America by allocating substantial Federal resources to public schools for the first time. In the bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, we reauthorized this landmark legislation, and for the first time made a commitment that every child--black or white, Latino or Asian, native- born or an English language learner, disabled or non-disabled--would be part of an accountability plan that holds schools responsible for the progress of all students. It required every State to implement content and performance standards specifying what children should know and be able to do, and urged States to create high-quality assessments so that students' progress toward meeting those standards could be accurately measured. It expanded support for early reading and literacy skills and offered extra tutoring to students in struggling schools. It sought to improve the quality of instruction by requiring all schools to provide a highly-qualified teacher for every child. We know these reforms can work. But good results are not possible without adequate investments. The No Child Left Behind Act recognized that to move forward with these dramatic changes, schools would need a continued infusion of Federal resources, because the cost was obviously too great for States and local governments to bear alone. Today, because of budget cuts and poor implementation, we still have much to do to ensure that no child is left behind. President Bush has short-changed the promise made in the law by nearly $56 billion, leaving millions of children without the resources needed to reduce class sizes, improve teaching, and set higher standards for our schools. Now, more than ever, it's important to deliver the resources our schools deserve. Thousands of schools are on watchlists in their States and need Federal support and extra assistance to bridge the learning gaps of their students. The No Child Left Behind Act is again scheduled for reauthorization this year, and we must work to ensure that its promise is fulfilled. Aside from additional funding, one of our priorities must be to ensure that the standards and assessments used to measure progress are fair and reliable. Accountability is only as good as the tests to measure progress, and many States use tests that need substantial improvement. Some use exams that are not aligned to the standards that students must meet. Others have manufactured artificially high test score gains by lowering standards and adjusting test scores in order to avoid unfavorable consequences under the law's accountability framework. We need to shift our understanding of the Act away from the idea that it labels and penalizes schools, and toward a more productive framework that helps schools and States reach higher, not lower. We should use the well-regarded National Assessment of Educational Progress the ``Nation's report card'' as a benchmark for the rigor of State exams. States should also align their elementary and secondary school standards with their standards for college entrance and success, creating seamless systems that guide students from the beginning of their education to the achievement of a college degree. The SUCCESS Act I am introducing today would assist States in these efforts. As the name suggests, it would provide Federal support for States Using Collaboration and Cooperation to Enhance Standards for Students. It would help ensure that public schools challenge all students to learn to high standards and provide needed help to schools with the greatest needs. The legislation updates the Nation's report card the National Assessment of Educational Progress to ensure that it sets a national benchmark which is internationally competitive and is aligned with the demands of the 21st century global economy. It expands our ability to monitor science achievement. It requires the NAEP to measure student preparedness to enter college, the 21st century workforce, or the Armed Services. It also requires the Secretary of Education to examine the gaps in student performance on state-level assessments and NAEP assessments, and to assist States that wish to analyze how their standards and assessments compare to the benchmark. The SUCCESS Act provides critical resources to States to create ``P- 16'' Preparedness Councils that will engage members of the early childhood, K-12 and higher education communities, along with the business and military communities, and other stakeholders to align the standards with what is needed for success in college and the workforce. The councils would be charged with ensuring that State standards and assessments meet international benchmarks to improve instruction and student achievement and prepare students to contribute in the global economy. It also provides funds to encourage collaboration among States in raising the bar for student achievement by providing grants to States working together to establish common standards and assessments that are rigorous, internationally competitive, and aligned with postsecondary demands. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this and other important proposals as we move toward the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. In the coming weeks, our Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will hold a series of hearings and roundtable discussions to hear from experts and those dealing with the challenges of the current law on a daily basis. Our goal is to work on a bipartisan basis with all our colleagues in the Senate and in the House and with the Administration to develop a strong bipartisan bill that builds on the positive aspects of the law, addresses the concerns about its implementation, and encourages reforms that we know will work to help students succeed. Teachers deserve the resources they need to help students achieve at higher levels. In many schools, the most valuable resource that teachers require is time. Yet the U.S. ranks 11th among industrialized nations in the number of days children attend school. Innovative approaches are needed to extend the school day and year in high-need schools. We should recruit Americorps volunteers to coordinate academically oriented extended-day programs for students and assist teachers during the school day. We must also ensure that students in high poverty schools have access to good teachers. We should create incentives to attract the best teachers to the neediest schools, including increased salaries for teachers and principals with strong track records of success who work in hard-to-staff schools, and by creating ``career advancement systems'' in which highly effective teachers serve as instructional leaders for new or less successful teachers. To help teachers improve their teaching, we should invest more in training them to use the best data to improve instruction. We should also help parents by replicating Boston's successful initiative to place parent-family outreach coordinators in every high- poverty school, and offer grants to school districts to support community programs that address children's social, emotional and other non-academic needs. We must invest in these and other reforms to give schools the resources they need to close the achievement gap and ensure that all students can stay on track to graduate and succeed. Experience shows that each year yields greater success when policymakers and educators commit in the long term to higher standards, better teacher training, stronger accountability, and extra help for students in need. The initial implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act has been flawed, but we can't abandon its vision of an America in which every child is important and deserves to be educated and enjoy the full benefits of our society. That vision is as enduring as America itself. As John Adams wrote in the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, the education of the people is ``necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberty.'' More than two hundred years later, we need to recapture that spirit, and make ``No Child Left Behind'' a reality, not merely a slogan. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, the outrageous manner in which this tax extender bill is being handled proves the Republican leadership did not hear the clear message that the American people sent on November 7. The Republicans are still concocting special interest deals behind closed doors. They are still pursuing their agenda to further enrich the wealthy few while neglecting the needs of working families. And they are still denying members a meaningful opportunity to debate and amend major legislation. For months, the Republicans have been holding the extension of important tax provisions that benefit families and businesses hostage to their special interest agenda. Many of these tax extenders are essential to the continued growth of our economy and the well-being of American families. Unfortunately, most of these tax incentives have already expired. Unless they are reinstated before the end of they year, millions of individuals and businesses will face a substantial tax increase when they pay their 2006 taxes. That would be terribly unfair. What do these tax incentives actually accomplish? The tuition tax credit helps more than 3\1/2\ million families each year afford a college education for their children. The work opportunity and welfare- to-work tax credits encourage businesses to create jobs for economically disadvantaged workers. The research and development tax credit enables businesses to develop innovative new products and stay competitive. The new markets tax credit generates investment in underdeveloped areas across the country. If Congress does not renew these tax incentives now, real people who depend on the opportunities these tax benefits provide and the jobs they create will be hurt. Let me describe the impact some of these tax provisions have had on my own State of Massachusetts. Over 97,000 Massachusetts families have benefited from the tuition tax deduction. For some of these students, this provision makes the difference between being able to afford a higher education and being denied the opportunity to fulfill their potential. For all of them, it provides valuable financial assistance to cope with the rising cost of tuition and other school expenses. According to the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, over 1,100 companies in our State--small and large--rely on the R&D tax credit. It helps provide the financial resources for them to become leaders in innovation, to create well-paying new jobs, and to compete more effectively in global markets. In Massachusetts, investors like Bank of America and Citizens Bank are taking advantage of new markets credits to reinvigorate our communities. The revenue from these tax credits are used to turn vacant buildings into thriving retail developments and even to rehabilitate endangered historic buildings. The Massachusetts Housing Investment corporation has used its tax credits to finance the renovation of the historic Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield that will become a new performing arts center. And in downtown Holyoke, the corporation invested almost $19 million in the conversion of three historic buildings into a new community health center providing primary care services to the uninsured. These tax credits translate into real physical improvements in our communities and improve the lives of our citizens. For nearly a year the Republican leadership has been holding the extension of these tax provisions hostage to their special interest agenda. First, the tax extenders were removed from budget reconciliation legislation to make room for capital gains and dividend tax breaks. Next, the extenders were tied to the virtual elimination of the inheritance tax on multimillionaires' estates. Republican leaders vowed that the tax extenders would never pass unless the Senate acquiesced in their irresponsible estate tax scheme. Fortunately, that did not work. Even now, after a decisive repudiation of their agenda by the voters in last month's election, the Republicans are still insisting on attaching special interest tax breaks to this ``must pass legislation.'' They are now demanding an expansion of tax subsidies for health savings accounts that only the wealthy can afford to use. These accounts do nothing to help struggling families that cannot afford health insurance. Instead, HSAs are just one more tax avoidance scheme for the wealthy created by this Republican Congress. Had the leadership allowed a straightforward extension of these tax provisions for working families and businesses to come to the Senate floor, it would have passed with near unanimity months ago. But they would not. Health savings accounts already have the most preferential treatment in the tax code today. Unlike most other types of accounts, contributions are not taxed, savings grow tax-free, and withdrawals are tax-free if they are used for health costs. Health savings accounts largely benefit the healthy and wealthy. According to the Government Accountability Office, those using health savings accounts disproportionately have high incomes. The average income of those with HSAs was $133,000, almost three times the income of the average tax filer. GAO also found that those with higher incomes made larger contributions to their accounts. The majority of those with HSAs did not withdraw any funds from them and many opened the accounts because they were a good way to shelter money from taxes. But apparently the current HSA tax break was not a big enough tax loophole. The Republicans want to let the wealthy shelter even more money under the guise of health savings accounts. The new provisions demonstrate that the real purpose of these accounts is to give the wealthy yet another vehicle to avoid paying taxes. They allow people to ``overfund'' their accounts--to deduct more from their taxes than they actually pay in medical expenses. It takes away the provision under current law that limits HSA contributions to the annual amount of medical expenses the insured must pay before his health insurance coverage kicks in. It would actually encourage account holders to shelter more money than they expect to spend on medical expenses. Deductibles for family health coverage that can be used in conjunction with an HSA today range from $2,100 to $10,500. A family can put funds up to the threshold of their insurance coverage or $5,450, whichever is lower, into their account on a tax-free basis. This bill delinks account funding from the amount of the health insurance deductible, making it easier for wealthy persons to shelter funds beyond what they need for health care. Under the new HSA language inserted in this bill, someone with a $2,100 deductible health plan will be able to put $5,450 in their account and let it grow on a tax- free basis. The bill also will allow the one-time transfer of some funds from individual retirement accounts into a health savings account without any taxes or penalty owed. This will allow wealthy individuals to shift funds from retirement accounts whose distributions are treated as ordinary income and subject to taxes into a health savings account whose distributions are not taxed. This will offer another new tax break to the wealthy. Health savings accounts may work well as tax shelters for the wealthy--and they will work even better with these new provisions--but they do not work for low- and moderate-income families. While these families may have a high-deductible health plan because it is all their employer offers or because it is all they can afford, they rarely have the means to fund a health savings account up to even the current limit. Make no mistake about it, the HSA provisions are meant to help wealthy individuals and the banks and investment vehicles that make money off their accounts. These are the people who will gain from the expansions of HSAs, not the uninsured. I also want to express some concerns I have about the trade provisions that are included in this package. While trade brings enormous benefits to our economy, we need to ensure that free trade is fair trade. A provision in this bill regarding the Andean countries severely limits the process for the free-trade agreements currently being negotiated and creates pressure to accept the inadequate agreements negotiated by the Bush administration. Time and again this administration only requires countries to enforce their own labor laws and not live up to international standards. This is a serious problem where laws are weak. Peru has consistently denied workers the right to form unions and to enforce their rights. In Columbia, labor advocates are blacklisted and even murdered for trying to exercise their democratic rights. Ensuring that all countries meet basic labor standards benefits our economy and American working families--it also strengthens the economies in developing nations. U.S. workers should not be undermined by unfair competition with countries that do not honor worker rights. And the working people of Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador deserve to have an agreement that is thoughtful and gives serious consideration to the significant issues of labor and human rights. This is no way to conduct a trade policy. The United States can and must do better. I am also concerned that this bill will expand the District of Columbia voucher program, which is a program that diverts resources for public schools and lacks accountability for student performance. Unlike public schools, which are subject to the No Child Left Behind Act's demanding accountability system, this program has little accountability for improving student performance. It was authorized under very specific guidelines designed to create a 5-year demonstration program for low-income students. A provision expanding eligibility for the program was inserted in this bill by the House at the last minute. This provision detracts from the program's focus on low-income families and should be rejected. At a minimum, it should be proposed in a context open to debate on its merits. Because of the urgency of extending the important family and business tax benefits I discussed earlier, we must approve this legislation, despite the special interest provisions that the Republican leadership has attached to it. However, there will be a new Democratic Congress taking office next month, and the outrageous provisions added by the Republicans in the dark of night can be repealed in the light of day.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, at the end of the year, a longtime public servant who is a former congressional staff member will retire after 40 years of distinguished Government service to the Nation. Since 1990, Anthony J. Zagami has been general counsel of the Government Printing Office, the longest serving general counsel in the agency's history, and I welcome this opportunity to commend him for his long and outstanding career. Tony has been general counsel at GPO for the past 16 years. Before that, he had worked ably with us in a variety of positions in the Senate. I first met him in the 1970s, when he was an impressive young aide in our Senate Democratic cloakroom. At the time, Tony was also earning his law degree from George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, and his strong commitment to public service impressed us all. He later became general counsel of the Congressional Joint Committee on Printing, our oversight committee for GPO, and he served there for 9 years. When he moved to GPO in 1990, Tony became an essential part of the ongoing effort to guide the agency in the digital age. I have enjoyed working with Tony very much over the years, and I have always had great respect for his ability and dedication. On the occasion of his retirement, I thank Tony for all he has done so well, and I extend my best wishes to him and to his family for the years ahead.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I join my friends and colleagues in paying tribute to a friend and a distinguished colleague. When Bill Frist arrived here, there were at least some of us with some qualms on this side of the aisle because he ran successfully against one of our dear friends, Jim Sasser. So, initially, there was a natural reluctance among some of us about this doctor who had defeated a great friend and a great Senator. But early on, it was clear that Bill was special. As someone who had been trained in the medicine, in my own State of Massachusetts no less, he brought a new and fresh perspective to our national debates. He was obviously a person of impressive skill, and it is no surprise that he rose so quickly to become majority leader. The roles of Senators and physicians are profoundly different in many ways, but at their core their missions are identical to help others to the maximum extent of our ability. And that is what Bill Frist has done from the day he set foot in this chamber. He was one of the first to understand the very real threat of bioterrorism to our Nation, and that was well before 9/11 or the anthrax attacks. Senator Frist knew first-hand that our public health infrastructure was incapable of meeting the threat of a massive natural epidemic, let alone a deliberate biological attack. It was a privilege to work with him on the first bio-terrorism legislation, which because of his leadership we were able to pass before 9/11. He has also been a pioneer in the effort to bring modern information technology into all aspects of health care, and to end the enormous human and financial costs caused by medical errors and by the needless administration of health care with outdated paper records. He has also helped shine a bright line on the serious problem of health disparities in our country. He has inspired each of us with his commitment to addressing the horrific tragedy still unfolding in the world, especially in Africa, because of AIDS. He has dedicated himself to this issue for years, giving of himself personally, and urging Congress to act more expeditiously. He made time to continue this missions of mercy, even after he became majority leader, and I was deeply touched by it every time. I have had the good opportunity to meet his family, and I know, as others have said, where his values come from and how committed he is to them. I hope he'll be able to enjoy more time with them now without the burden of running the Senate. We wish Bill Frist the best as he prepares to leave the Senate. We know he will have great success, and we thank him for his service to our country. We will miss the majority leader, but we know he will continue to use his immense talent to make a very real difference for all humanity in the years ahead, and continue to make us proud to call him our friend.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, at 5:45, in just 15 minutes, we will have an opportunity to vote on the nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration. I want to first of all commend my friend, the chairman of our human resource committee, Senator Enzi, for his leadership over this period of time in giving the assurance to the agency, and much more importantly to the American people, that we are going to have someone in charge of this agency able to exercise executive decisions, to make sure the agency itself is going to fulfill its role in protecting the health of the American people. So first of all, I thank my colleague and friend, Senator Enzi, for making sure we are going to get an opportunity to vote. I thank the majority leader, Senator Frist, for making sure that we were not going to leave this session without having a final vote on the nominee. In the last 5 years, only in one of those years did we have a head of the FDA. The rest of the time, they were ``acting.'' A good deal of the time, there was virtually no presence. This is the most important health agency that guides and guards American's health, the health of our children, the health of the elderly, and the health of families in our Nation. So this is a very important point, and I welcome the opportunity to urge the Senate to approve Andrew von Eschenbach for this position. As I mentioned, the Food and Drug Administration oversees the products that account for fully a quarter of the entire U.S. economy. Every day, the agency makes decisions that mean the difference between life and death for countless patients. Millions of Americans rely on drugs the FDA approves to protect them from sickness, and every family in America counts on the FDA to see that the food they eat is free from contamination. Now we are in the life science century, and the opportunities for breakthroughs with new drugs is unlimited. With the progress we have made in the Human Genome Project and the sequencing of the genes, the research that is being done across this Nation, the possibilities are virtually unlimited. But it is all new science. We have to make sure that this agency which is going to make the judgments and decisions about approval or disapproval is going to have the best in terms of scientists, the best in terms of leadership. That is at issue here if we do not have someone who is going to be the head of the FDA to make sure the agency that has responsibility for the safety of prescription drugs is going to work in ways to protect the American consumer; that the agency that is in charge of the food safety in this country is going to work to ensure that it is going to be effective for the American people. Now the agency itself, the FDA, urgently needs treatment. For too long, it has been without a confirmed leader. It has become a ship without a captain, lacking the initiative and confidence that only a confirmed commissioner can bring. Year after year, under this administration, the FDA has been allowed to drift, and year after year the challenges that face the agency have grown. Think of the controversies--about antidepressants, about the withdrawal of Vioxx, about the sale of Plan B over the counter, about adequate review of drugs on the market. The agency has had to struggle unfairly with difficult scientific questions, inadequate resources and authority, and political pressures to ignore the science that must be-- good science has to be at the heart of its mission. Finally, the day is here when the Senate can act to confirm a commissioner whose job No. 1 will be to restore the leadership to this essential agency and begin the process of addressing the many major concerns that have gone unmet for so long. Dr. von Eschenbach is a good choice to lead the FDA. At the National Cancer Institute, he led bold initiatives on the human genome and nanotechnology. As a physician for patients with cancer and a survivor of cancer himself, he brought an indispensable patient-centered perspective to the Cancer Institute, and he will bring that to the Food and Drug Administration as well. Dr. von Eschenbach was able to find a solution to the controversy about allowing the over-the-counter sales of Plan B. We may never know the battles he had to fight and win to achieve that solution, but his integrity and tenacity in achieving a solution speak volumes for his character and his commitment to public health. FDA has long been regarded as the gold standard in regulatory work. That will continue to be true only if it makes independent, science- based decisions, in both fact and appearance, and under Dr. von Eschenbach's leadership, we expect FDA to make those discussions solely on the basis of science and in the best interests of public health. To do the job we expect----

Mr. KENNEDY. I ask, if there is no objection, that I be able to proceed for another 4 minutes?

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, we have to make sure the agency itself is going to have the adequate resources that are going to be necessary to protect the public interest. What we are talking about here is making sure they have the best, in terms of science--in terms of prescription drugs and the new breakthroughs. We have the whole range of new medical devices which are out there. The United States is leading the way. We want to make sure they are safe and effective. The agency has important responsibilities in terms of the safety of our food supply. We have given it additional kinds of responsibilities to deal with the challenges of the war on terror. This agency has enormous responsibilities in terms of the consumers and the families of this Nation. It needs the strong leadership which I think the nominee can bring, and it needs the kind of support from the Congress that will permit it to be the true gold standard for safety and for improving the health of the American people. As other agencies are set up around the world--in Western Europe and now even in Asia--the place they look is at the FDA, and for very good reason. We want this agency to be the best. It can be the best. With a new leader and hopefully with the new Congress giving the agency the kind of support it should have, we can make sure the health of the American people in these important areas is going to be secure for the future. Again, I thank my friend and colleague from Wyoming for his persistence and tenacity in making sure where we are this evening. We would not be here if it had not been for his good work on this issue, as in so many others. I thank him, and the American people ought to know that this is an enormously important vote to protect their interests. I hope this nominee is approved overwhelmingly.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I welcome this opportunity to commend our colleague Mark Dayton, the Senator from Minnesota, for his distinguished service in the Senate and for his commitment to helping our country live up to its highest ideals at home and abroad. Mark's life has been about service to others. Whether as a teacher in the bowery of New York, a counselor to troubled teens in Boston, an aide to our beloved Fritz Mondale, or State economic development leader working to bring quality jobs to his constituents, or a Senator, Mark Dayton has consistently answered the call of public service throughout his long and outstanding career. He has been a champion of the right to quality and affordable health care for all Americans, and I know how frustrated he has often been by our inability to make greater progress on this critical domestic issue. Sadly, it will be harder to get there without him, but I am optimistic that we will still be able to accomplish it, and I have no doubt that Mark will continue with his commitment and compassion to help lead the charge from outside the Senate. As a Senator, he had an indispensable role in our effort to expand the availability of prescription drugs. His heart went out to the senior citizens in Minnesota whose only hope to afford the drugs they desperately needed was to cross the border into Canada. Fortunately, in its effort to build a legal fence to keep them out, the drug industry more than met its match in Senator Mark Dayton. Even my constituents in Massachusetts loved Mark, as they boarded buses from Boston to Minnesota to catch the lifesaving bus to Canada and get their medicine. Mark also has had the courage to stand against the administration when it launched the tragic and misguided war in Iraq. He never wavered in the Senate from what he believed was right, and we will all miss the skill and eloquence, the decency, honor, and generosity he brought to our Senate debates. We regret very much that he won't be here with us in the debates ahead, and we wish him well. Perhaps he will be able to make that Arctic trek to the North Pole that he had to put on hold when he came to the Senate 6 years ago. But I know that whatever new course he chooses, he will continue to be a strong and vital voice in improving the lives of others. As Robert Kennedy said, ``Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.'' Throughout his brilliant career, Mark Dayton has sent forth many ripples of hope, and I'm certain he'll send forth many more in the years ahead. We'll miss you, Mark. Senator Dayton

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to one of our Nation's preeminent photographers, Monte Zucker. Mr. Zucker has been a creative force in his field for over 50 years. Through his brilliant eye and focused lens, he has earned a place in the annals of photographic masters. Monte Zucker created contemporary standards for lighting and composition in photographic portraiture. His work is beloved by his clients who cherished the memories so beautifully captured on film. His work is also admired by his peers, who recognize the unique signature and integrity in his work. Mr. Zucker has been mentor to the next generation of photographers. He has taken a leadership role in training emerging artists who, like him, aspire to capture special moments and create memories for families to treasure for years to come. He is an impressive artist and a caring and compassionate member of his community. In 2002, the UN named him Portrait Photographer of the Year. He has made an incredible difference in the world of photography, and it is a pleasure to bring his extraordinary work to the attention of my colleagues.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, today, we pay special tribute to a giant of sports in Massachusetts we are proud to call our own. I was honored to speak at his memorial service in Boston, and I am honored today to offer this resolution on the one and only Arnold ``Red'' Auerbach, who died in October at the age of 89. Red was a pioneer in sports and in civil rights as well. He has been widely praised as one of the architects of the new Boston. He will never be forgotten--and there will never be another like him. Basketball was his sport, and the Celtics he led with the legendary Bob Cousy and incomparable Bill Russell set the gold standard for the NBA for many years and transformed his city as well as his sport. The stories of his competitive drive have become legendary. Red had a deep and abiding passion for life and for living each day as if it was a gift from above. Whenever you were in his presence, you could sense the powerful joy that comes to the rare few like Red Auerbach, who know they have done everything possible in every way on every day to achieve their dream. Red Auerbach was a great coach and also a great man. He believed in winning, but he also believed that every individual should have the chance to be a winner. In the 1950s, before every Celtics game Red would invite a few children to play a brief game of basketball, complete with uniforms, official referees, and all the rest on the famous Boston Garden parquet floor. One player would be from the CYO, one from Chinatown, one from Roxbury, and one from the Young Men's Hebrew Association. Long before anyone ever dreamed of it, Red had created his own ``Rainbow Coalition,'' and he continued to champion civil rights all his life. He was the first to go overseas with American players to teach basketball to children in Europe and Asia, and he deserves immense credit for making it the international game it is today. But his heart was in Boston, where he single-handedly put basketball on the map. He created the famous Celtic ``magic & mystique,'' and renewed it year after year with exciting basketball. In the end, he led the Celtics to 9 world championships as coach--8 in a row and 16 world championships altogether. He was voted greatest coach of all time by the Professional Basketball Writers of America. Few giants in the world are known by one name--Cher, Madonna, Elvis, Bono, and our very own ``Red.'' He will be greatly missed and never forgotten, and his record of success will probably never be matched anywhere. It is an honor to urge my colleagues in the Senate to support this resolution. Even if you rooted against the Celtics, Red Auerbach made your home team great, too.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, today marks an important milestone in our ongoing national struggle with HIV and AIDS. Twenty-five years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its first warning about the disease we now know as AIDS. Today, we approve the third extension of the Ryan White CARE Act, the comprehensive legislation first enacted in 1990, for the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS. In those early days, the Nation failed on all levels to recognize the danger posed by this disease. Its victims suffered in silence and stigma. Shamefully, those who had the power to help did nothing. Then, mid-eighties, a young boy's courage awakened the Nation to the very real tragedy of AIDS. A disease that had seemed distant was suddenly threatening us all, and we could no longer claim that it was someone else's problem. We realized it was a virus that knows no color, religion, political affiliation, or income status. And I think Ryan White would be proud of the effort we are putting forth today with this compromise we have worked hard on for the last few months. In 1987, Senator Hatch and I introduced bipartisan legislation calling for a comprehensive national strategy of education, prevention, and research to halt the spread of AIDS. We called on government, the public health community, and the media to all do their part in order to prevent the AIDS epidemic from continuing its rampage across America. We were optimistic that we were poised to handle this challenge more effectively than at any previous point in our history. We would not lose the battle, unless we failed to wage it with wisdom, reason, dignity, and common sense. Yet the battle continues. We mourn the 500,000 Americans we have lost to the AIDS virus. Each victim is a human tragedy--so much potential lost before its time. But we take heart in the fact that AIDS is no longer a death sentence. Through testing and treatment, people are living long and full lives with HIV. We are identifying victims earlier in the progression of the disease and keeping them healthier longer. But we still have a long way to go. Many who live with HIV and AIDS do not have insurance to pay for costly treatments. As a result, heavy demands are placed on community-based organizations and State and local governments. For these citizens, the Ryan White CARE Act continues to provide the only means to obtain the care and treatment they need. It doesn't matter where they live. Americans agree. Seventeen percent of our people name HIV as the most urgent health problem facing the country, just behind cancer and heart disease. Sixty-three percent say the Government is spending too little at home to fight HIV and AIDS. Six in ten believe more spending on prevention and testing will help slow the spread of this disease. Four in ten say they know someone with HIV. Eighty-one percent say discrimination against people living with HIV or AIDS is a fact of life in America today. We have far to go in educating people about the disease. Thirty-seven percent of Americans fear the spread of HIV through kissing, twenty-two percent by sharing a drinking glass, and sixteen percent by touching a toilet seat, none of which are true. We have not finished the job we started 25 years ago. The Ryan White Care Act began as an emergency response to the crisis in urban areas, but today it represents a national plan to provide care and support for persons living with HIV and AIDS anywhere in America-- urban or rural, coastal or inland. This bill represents a working agreement among States, cities, community-based organizations, hospitals and health providers, and persons living with HIV and AIDS their families and advocates. It responds to an evolving epidemic that continues to grow in the very cities and States that have long borne the greatest burden of disease. It is expanding into regions of the country that have been historically less affected. With this bill, we take a major step toward a more effective response. It preserves access to life-saving medications, quality health care, and support services for persons living with HIV and AIDS who have come to depend on publicly-funded systems. It extends this system of quality care to persons with HIV and AIDS who have faced long waiting lists for medications and severe limits on their access to specialty health care. It protects governmental and community-based institutions charged with providing this care, all of whom face growing case loads and the greater challenges of an evolving population of persons with HIV/AIDS. It balances the needs of high-prevalence cities and States with those facing rapidly growing epidemics. It ensures those who have been relying on their local system of care that it will continue to be there for them. It reassures persons seeking tests for HIV that comprehensive care and support will also be ready to serve them. And it authorizes the expenditure of $7 billion over the next 3 years to carry out this mission. This legislation is good for Massachusetts. This bill recognizes the added burden facing States like Massachusetts that have increasing numbers of people with HIV and AIDS living in cities like Boston. It ensures sufficient resources to maintain a HIV/AIDS service system strained by a rising case load. It stabilizes funding to the State and stabilizes funding to the city of Boston because a larger portion of their award will be based on a predictable formula. The bill continues to provide significant Federal support for the State medication assistance program, lessening the possibility of having to create cruel waiting lists for life-saving medications. It eliminates the uncertainty of an untried severity of need index. Both Massachusetts and Boston benefit from having the State's HIV cases counted for the first time, for next 3 to 4 years. This will allow my State of Massachusetts to continue to focus on providing quality care and support services to people living with HIV and AIDS. At its best, America has the finest HIV/AIDS care system--one we as a Nation should be proud to hold up as the gold standard of care throughout the world. Our goal in this legislation is to make it also the fairest system of care--with equal access for all, high standards for quality, and guaranteed continuity of care. At last, access to all the benefits of medical science will no longer be the result of geography. This bill is a product of effective advocacy, creative thinking, a sense of shared responsibility, and a common commitment to getting it done. The Nation is fulfilling the promise of the original Care Act, first created in an era of limited treatment options and uncertain prognosis, to bring hope to persons living with the infection that they may live healthy and productive lives. It is also complex legislation, and all our committee staff, both Democrat and Republican, deserve great credit for working long nights and weekends over the past several months. In particular, I thank Keysha Brooks-Coley, Lauren Brumsted, Ann Gavaghan, Lisa German, Ann Grady, Elizabeth Hoffman, Bruce Lesley, Tamar Magarik, and Michael Woody. And I give special thanks to Shana Christrup of Senator Enzi's staff for her diligence and desire to make the world a better place for people living with HIV and AIDS. This was a clear bipartisan effort, by the House and Senate, and I am grateful as well to staff from the House of Representatives, including Melissa Bartlett of Congressman Barton's staff and John Ford and William Garner of Congressman Dingell's staff. On my own staff, I especially commend several who worked so long and hard and well on this legislation--Alice Lam, Megan Gerson, Caya Lewis, Cody Keenan, Ches Garrison, Daniel Dawes and Michael Myers, and above all to Connie Garner, whose passion, counsel, and commitment I value so highly on this and many other issues. She never once let us forget what this debate is truly about. My hope is that as we continue to improve the Ryan White CARE Act to meet the needs of this disease, the remedies we adopt will continue to come from the bright lights of science, not the dark fears of bigotry. This is an important day for people living with HIV and AIDS and for all Americans. We must do more to provide care and support for those caught in the epidemic. This legislation will give us the time and support we need to accomplish that goal.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, for many of us on this side of the aisle, there is a feeling of excitement and possibility for the next Congress. But sadly, that Congress will no longer have the wise counsel, extraordinary talent, and perceptive insights of our friend and colleague of many years, the outstanding senior Senator from Maryland, Paul Sarbanes. Over the course of his 30 years in the Senate, Paul has been a consistently eloquent voice of reason, compassion, and great intellectual depth. He has brought nothing but dignity to this historic Chamber, and he eminently deserves his place of honor as the longest- serving Senator in the history of the State of Maryland. As a member of the Banking Committee, he has been a respected leader in expanding and enhancing the economic vitality of America, especially urban America, through his strong support for housing, transportation, and financial policies that make sense for the Nation and its people. In recent years, he guided into law one of the most significant reforms of corporate governance in more than half a century. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he has been a highly respected voice on many of the most serious challenges we face on foreign policy. He was an opponent of the war in Iraq from the beginning, and he was a leader in the Iran-contra investigation in the 1980s. He believes deeply in the importance of public service. Drawing on his wide learning, he often speaks about the great importance that the ancient Greeks placed on public service. I understand he tells young students that in ancient Athens, people who involved themselves only in private life were called ``idiotes,'' which is the original source of the word ``idiot'' in English. Paul has always been a strong defender of the highest ideals of the United States at home and for a peaceful world that respects human rights. Because of his leadership and the policies he has long championed, America's cities are reclaiming their historical role as the heart of American commerce and culture, and today's shareholders have new confidence in the integrity of the stocks and bonds they invest in and depend so heavily on. It is a record of accomplishment that has improved the lives of millions of our people and has helped to restore faith in American business, at a time when public confidence in corporate America was badly shaken and storm clouds were gathering over the American economy. It is also the record of a patient, deliberative, and active Senate workhorse, who has dedicated his career to the mastery of complicated, nuanced, and often seemingly insoluble problems at home and in the wider world. It's the record as well of a public servant who responded to the Nation's call to deal with some of the most difficult challenges of corruption and incompetence in our lifetime. From the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon, to the Iran-contra investigation and the Whitewater hearings, to the way he shone a bright light on the outrageous and predatory lending practices that exploit lower-income Americans and keep so many hard-working citizens mired in poverty, Paul Sarbanes was a Senator who could always be relied on to take the assignment seriously, prepare brilliantly, and make decisions on the facts, on the rule of law, and his firm belief in the need for justice and fairness in public life. Needless to say, he was a match for even the best of witnesses. I doubt that any other Senator could go head-to-head with a witness in a hearing as skillfully as Paul Sarbanes could do with Alan Greenspan. Paul has also been a profile in courage. He voted for what he thought was right, without regard to the political consequences. And as his long and strong support by the people of Maryland made clear, they respected him all the more because of it. Few Senators we have been blessed to serve with can match Paul Sarbanes when it comes to decency, intelligence, or mastery of policy. It is a privilege to listen to him and learn from him in Senate debate. He can champion a proposal he favors with great skill and eloquence, and he can also utterly dissect a flawed proposal point by point. It can be a very distressing experience to oppose him on an issue and have him do the same thing to your side of the argument. I am fortunate to have supported Paul many more times than I opposed him. But regardless of which side you were on, his motivation in debate was always clear--to achieve the best outcome for the public good, and to do so by opening his opponents' eyes and minds, not by harshly attacking their positions. Author Elizabeth Drew well captured this quality of Paul in her assessment of life in Washington during Watergate. She wrote of the young Baltimore Congressman who, with just 3 years in Congress, found himself in the thick of the House impeachment proceedings against President Nixon. He won the attention and respect of the Nation when his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee chose him to be the manager of the first article of impeachment, for obstruction of justice. As Liz Drew wrote: History and process lift people, and they have lifted this group--and given the public a chance to see it. Paul Sarbanes would not have looked at all bad at the Constitutional Convention; he might have been one of the great ones. I certainly agree. As we say farewell to this outstanding Senator of our time, we will forever be grateful to this Greek immigrant son of Maryland for all he has done to make our country and our world a better place, and for consistently elevating the quality of life in the Senate we all love so deeply. Fifty years ago, Paul was a young student at Oxford University in England on a Rhodes Scholarship, founded over a century ago by the wealthy British statesman whose goal was to encourage students in the English-speaking world and other countries to be involved in public service and ``join the world's fight.'' Paul Sarbanes has helped to lead that fight for half a century, and I am sure that Cecil Rhodes would be very proud of him. We will miss you, Paul. We wish you and Christine great happiness in the years to come. You are irreplaceable, but we take some comfort in the knowledge that a new young Sarbanes, blessed with the same intellect and commitment to public service, will be joining us in January as a Member of the House of Representatives. Paul Sarbanes

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Probably 6, 7 minutes.

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, before making these comments on the Baker-Hamilton report and on the nominee for Secretary of Defense, I join with my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee in paying tribute to an extraordinary friend and incredible Senator and a magnificent leader, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. I think all of us who have been on that committee know of its importance in terms of its responsibilities for the security of our country. It has been a place of extraordinary leadership historically for this Nation at very challenging times. Having had the greatest public honor of representing the people of Massachusetts and being on that committee now for some 25 years, I join my friends in the unanimous acclamation to a very extraordinary individual, our chairman, John Warner. I thank him so much for his service to our country over a long and very distinguished career. I grew up in a family that believed that individuals can make a difference, and John Warner has made an extraordinary difference to this Committee, to the Senate, and to the country. I consider myself fortunate to have served on the committee and to call him my friend.

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, this morning the Iraq Study Group issued a stunning indictment of the administration's policy toward Iraq. The study group has concluded that the ``situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating'' and that ``sectarian conflict is the principal challenge to stability.'' The group's report explicitly rejects the strategy of staying the course. As it states, ``Current U.S. policy is not working, as the level of violence in Iraq is rising and the government is not advancing national reconciliation. Making no changes in policy would simply delay the day of reckoning at a high cost. Nearly 100 Americans are dying every month.'' Truer words were never spoken. The study group calls for ``new and enhanced diplomatic and political efforts in Iraq and the region, and a change in the primary mission of U.S. forces in Iraq that will enable the United States to begin to move its combat forces out of Iraq responsibly.'' Significantly, this group of distinguished leaders has called unanimously for change in our military mission of engaging in combat directly to a new mission of supporting the Iraqi army and beginning to withdraw our combat troops. The report sets a clear goal for achieving this shift in mission and beginning the redeployment of our forces by the first quarter of 2008. The report states clearly that ``the United States must not make an open-ended commitment to keep large numbers of American troops deployed in Iraq.'' Instead, the report calls for clear commitments from the Iraqi government on reconciliation, along with clear consequences for our military, political, and economic assistance if the commitments are not met. The report also calls for talks that include all of Iraq's neighbors in the region, especially Iran and Syria, and for a new diplomatic initiative to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The American people are demanding change in Iraq, Robert Gates, the nominee for Secretary of Defense, has agreed we need change, and now the bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended a clear change in the way forward in Iraq. The verdict is in. There can no longer be any doubt that the violence and chaos in Iraq are getting worse, that our current strategy is failing, and that we need to work together on a new strategy that will make it possible for us to bring our troops home. The only question is whether the White House will heed this clarion call and agree to change the perilous course we have been on in Iraq since Saddam Hussein fell and the chaos began. More of the same failed policy that depends on an open-ended commitment of our military will not bring America closer to success. It will not stop the violence. It will only continue to undermine our own national security interests. Iraq is the defining issue of our time, and the person who will have a major voice in meeting the enormous responsibility of recommending the new course will be the new leader we are confirming today as the Secretary of Defense. The American people are demanding far more than a change of faces at the Pentagon. They are demanding--and they deserve--a comprehensive change in our policy so that we finally have a policy on Iraq that is worthy of the enormous sacrifice, commitment, and valor of our men and women in uniform. Although I voted against the nomination of Robert Gates to head the CIA in 1991, I support his nomination to be Secretary of Defense, because he assured the committee that he would be an independent thinker and give candid and frank advice to the President about a way forward in Iraq. During the confirmation hearing yesterday, Dr. Gates spoke with candor--a candor that has been sorely missing from the Department of Defense under this administration. He recognized the high price that our troops are paying for the current policy. He clearly stated that we are not winning in Iraq and that all options for a way forward are on the table. He assured me personally that he would speak candidly, frankly, and boldly to people at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue about what he believes and what he thinks needs to be done. He told me that he is not coming ``back to Washington to be a bump on a log.'' He assured me that he will be ``independent'' and that he ``will consider all of the options.'' He said that he is open to dialogue with Iran and Syria. We all hope the administration will quickly set a new course that will enable our troops to begin to come home. We need more than a new face--we need a new policy. Our men and women in uniform who are making the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq deserve no less, and I look forward to working with Dr. Gates on these important issues in the months and years ahead as he assumes the responsibility of Secretary of Defense. I yield the floor.

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, I know we have the call for party luncheons. I have some comments which are heartfelt about a colleague of ours, Paul Sarbanes, and I wonder if the Chair would indulge us for a few minutes to be able to make these comments now. We are debating the Secretary of Defense, but we have set that aside until after the conferences of our parties. Would it be permissible with the Chair if I made some brief comments?

Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the Chair for her courteousness and understanding. (The remarks of Mr. Kennedy are printed in today's Record under ``Morning Business.'')