Ted Kennedy

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I will just speak briefly and then yield to the Senator from Kentucky. Just a point I want to underline, and that is the impact of a low minimum wage on children--on children. America's children are more likely to live in poverty than Americans in any other group. Nearly one in five children live in poverty. The poverty rate for children in the United States is substantially higher, often two or three times higher, than that of most of the other major western industrial nations. Sweden's child poverty rate is a fifth of America's. Poland's child poverty rate is half of America's. African-American and Latino children are more likely to live in poverty than White children. One-third of African-American children live below the poverty line, as do nearly one-third of Latino children. We must give these children a boost in life by ensuring that their hard-working parents receive a living wage. Raising the minimum wage will help raise these families out of poverty, making a difference in the lives of their children. Increasing the minimum wage will help nearly 7.5 million children whose parents would receive a raise, and over 3 million kids have parents who would get an immediate raise. Reducing child poverty is one of the best investments that Americans can make in our Nation's future. Fewer children in poverty will mean more children entering school ready to learn, more successful schools and fewer dropouts, better child health, and less strain on hospitals and public health systems, less strain on our juvenile justice system, and less child hunger and malnutrition and other important advances. It is long past time to raise the minimum wage. No child in this country should have to live in poverty.

Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the Senator.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to lay aside the pending amendments.

Mr. KENNEDY. I call up my amendment at the desk.

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

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I thank the leader for his cooperation. As I understand what he is basically saying is that he will work out, I imagine with the Democratic leader, an appropriate time so at least the Senate will have an opportunity, before final passage of this legislation, that we will get a vote on my amendment or action on it related thereto. Am I right?

Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the leader. Earlier in the day, I listened to the concerns of the leader about the appropriateness of my amendment on this legislation. I pointed out earlier, when I addressed the Senate, that I believe that our fighting men and women in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world are fighting for American values, and part of American values is economic fairness and economic justice, and part of economic fairness and economic justice is making sure we are going to treat American workers decently and fairly. So I want to indicate both to the leader and, most particularly, to the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, we will work with him in every possible way to work out the appropriate timing on it so that other serious work of the committee can move ahead in a timely way. I thank both leaders.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, today I take a moment to honor the extraordinary accomplishments of a young citizen from Massachusetts, 10-year-old Johnny Wilson. Last October, Johnny set a world record as the youngest person ever to swim from Alcatraz Island to Aquatic Park in San Francisco, a distance of 1.4 miles. It was an impressive accomplishment in and of itself, but Johnny's swim had far greater meaning and purpose than setting a record. For every quarter mile he swam, Johnny collected pledges for disaster relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and his swim produced over $150,000. Johnny first got the idea from a family friend, Rick Murray, an Iron Man triathlete, who suggested the idea after noticing Johnny's strength as a swimmer and offered to be his coach. Johnny spent over a year in training, swimming 10 miles a week in pools during the school year and in the ocean near Hyannis Port during the summer. In addition, he spent 3 months training in the cold water of the San Francisco Bay to further prepare for the conditions of his swim. Johnny first got the idea to use his swimming ability to raise funds last September, when his school began to emphasize efforts to aid the victims of Katrina. He and seven of his classmates rallied the local community, calling all the families they knew and asking for pledges for every quarter mile of the swim that Johnny would complete. By the day of the swim, these efforts had already yielded over $30,000 in donations. The swim began before sunrise at 6 a.m. last October 10. The large waves, freezing water, and the fact that he was the only child attempting the swim did not deter Johnny from diving in the water that morning. Flanked 10 feet on either side by adult safety swimmers and kayaks in case of an emergency, Johnny swam into Aquatic Park Cove 1 hour 6 minutes later to the cheers of his family, teacher, and classmates. Halfway through the swim, he stopped to warm his numbed limbs, but when asked if wanted to stop swimming, he said no and continued on his way. His commitment to himself and to the Katrina victims he wanted to help enabled him to deal with the long, cold waters to reach his goal. The media attention to Johnny's swim and its admirable purpose increased his fundraising ability. Word of his mission spread in over 600 broadcasts in 20 countries and led to appearances on the ``Today Show'', ``Oprah'' and ``CNN.'' The additional publicity helped raise $20,000 more for Johnny's cause, as people throughout the country and around the world were touched by the strength of his spirit and heart demonstrated by this remarkable young man. In the end, Johnny was able to make an amazing contribution of $51,000 to the Hurricane Katrina victims' fund of the Red Cross. Able and caring young people like Johnny inspire a new sense of hope for the Nation's future. He demonstrated the difference that one committed person can make in bringing people together to touch the lives of others. I commend Johnny Wilson for his impressive achievement, his caring heart, and his wonderful contribution to the lives of those devastated by Hurricane Katrina. He represents the best of our country, and I wish him well in the years ahead.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, the conference report provides needed funds to meet a number of our national security needs. It includes $65.8 billion of funding for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, to give our troops the armored vehicles, ammunition, medical supplies, and other materials essential for their operations. The legislation also provides funds for the Commander's Emergency Response Program, which enables commanders on the ground to pay for urgently needed infrastructure, and also to make condolence payments to Iraqi civilians who are injured or killed. That program is intended to build good will with the Iraqis, and I commend the Appropriations Committee for taking such a strong interest in it. During consideration of the bill, we had a strong debate about whether the nondefense items in the bill were truly emergencies and belonged in this legislation. Most of us believe they do because the budget process does not allow us to respond quickly to urgent needs, and the emergency supplemental process is the only way we can address them. It is clear that border security, hurricane relief, and pandemic flu preparations all affect our national security. The need for these funds cannot easily be assessed in advance and made part of the regular budget. But no one can disagree that each has a profound impact on our Nation and has to be addressed. I commend Senator Harkin for his leadership on the needed funding to prepare for a pandemic flu. Those of us on the authorizing committee look forward to continuing to work with Senator Burr to see that these funds are used effectively to increase the Nation's readiness for this major disease threat. I am disappointed that the conference report rejected our Senate amendment to compensate first responders injured by experimental flu vaccines. If pandemic flu reaches our shores, Americans will have to rely heavily on nurses, paramedics, emergency technicians, and other first responders. The question is whether these first responders will risk taking an experimental vaccine so that they can stay on the job and protect us all. The least these brave first responders deserve is fair compensation if they are harmed by the vaccine. We know from past experience that without such a compensation program, first responders will be reluctant to take experimental vaccines. The Senate did the right thing, to fund a compensation program, but Republican leaders inexplicably allowed the House conferees to reject the funds. The message we are sending to first responders is obvious--``You're on your own'' and a pandemic will be even more disastrous if it hits. I am very pleased, however, that our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee included critical funding to provide relief to elementary and secondary schools in the gulf region and to schools across the country that generously opened their doors to young students whose lives were turned upside down by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This additional funding will help ensure that the schools that educated displaced students are reimbursed for the additional costs incurred during this school year so that they can continue to provide good education for all the children they serve. The schools, colleges, and universities are a cornerstone of the gulf communities, and their recovery is essential to the successful rebuilding of the region. I am disappointed that the conferees rejected a Senate provision that would have leveraged hundreds of millions of dollars of low-cost loans for these colleges and universities. I am pleased, however, that the conferees increased the grant aid in the bill to help these colleges and universities rebuild. These funds are a step in the right direction to enable these institutions to remain a vital part of the gulf coast. On the issue of education, we know that countless families across America are struggling to put their children through college. The last thing they need is an increase in interest rates on student loans. I commend the Appropriations Committee for expanding loan consolidation options and resisting efforts by lenders to increase the burden of college debt. Last February, Congress perpetrated the biggest raid on college aid in the history of the program, cutting $12 billion from student loan programs to help pay for tax giveaways to the wealthy. We need to do more to help struggling families afford college, and the committee's action on this bill is a step in the right direction. This bill includes an important provision to support our objective of promoting democracy in Iraq. It includes $50 million for American nongovernmental organizations helping Iraqis to create the essential building blocks of democracy. The funds will go to seven nongovernmental organizations doing excellent work in Iraq on democracy and reconciliation under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions. We must be clear in our commitment to stand by these organizations that are serving on the front lines in the struggle for democracy in Iraq every day. We need to demonstrate to the Iraqi people that we are committed to Iraq's long-term democratic development. We must have a long-term strategy backed by appropriate resources, and this bill is a start toward achieving our goal. While this bill contains much that is positive, I strongly oppose the decision of our Republican colleagues to include a deeming resolution in this conference report that will impose an unreasonably low limit on discretionary spending for next year. This cap means that critical domestic programs will be cut. It is a sorry substitute for a real budget. The deeming resolution completely ignores the Senate-passed budget. It sets a spending cap $16 billion below the level approved by a bipartisan majority of Senators in the Senate budget resolution. It wipes out an amendment passed by the Senate to add $7 billion for urgent health and education needs. It cuts funding for vital medical research by the National Institutes of Health. It underfunds the No Child Left Behind education initiative by $55.7 billion over the next 5 years. It sets the wrong priorities for America. This deeming resolution indicates a willingness on the part of Republicans in Congress to blindly follow the Bush administration's reckless strategy of cutting essential domestic programs American families depend upon while providing more and more tax breaks for the wealthiest taxpayers in the country. It is outrageous. It is one more failure for a Republican leadership that consistently takes the country in the wrong direction.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I am honored to join my colleague from Arizona and to cosponsor his amendment to name this year's Defense authorization bill after our good friend, Senator John Warner, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. This tribute is eminently well deserved. Senator Warner has had a long and distinguished career of outstanding service to our Nation. He enlisted in the Navy at the end of World War II and served with distinction. He then attended Washington and Lee University on the GI bill. He volunteered for active duty during the Korean war and served as an officer in the Marine Corps, interrupting his studies at the University of Virginia Law School. After graduation, he had an impressive legal career. He clerked for Chief Judge Barrett Prettyman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and became a Federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia before entering private practice. He then returned to Government service as Under Secretary of the Navy in the Nixon administration, and I was honored to support his promotion to be the 61st Secretary of the Navy in 1972. He was elected to the Senate in 1978 and was a natural for the Armed Services Committee. I joined the committee in 1983, and it has been a very great privilege to serve with him and learn from him for the past two decades. No one cares more about our national defense or our men and women in uniform. As chairman of the committee, he has the immense respect of all of us. His leadership ability, eloquence, and dedication have served the Senate, our Armed Forces, and the Nation brilliantly. These annual Defense authorization acts demonstrate our chairman at his best, and naming this bill for him is a fitting tribute to his extraordinary leadership and the enduring respect and affection that all of us have for him.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. I ask the Chair, how much time do we have remaining on our side?

Mr. KENNEDY. Will the Presiding Officer let us know when we have 7 minutes remaining?

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, will the Senator be good enough to yield?

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Washington, who is the ranking member of the subcommittee that has been dealing with this issue, for an excellent statement. I wonder if she agrees with me that we have passed very important mine safety legislation that the President of the United States is going to sign. It has strong bipartisan support. Our committee, which was led by Chairman Enzi, visited the Sago mine. We had extensive hearings on the issue. Does the Senator agree with me that if we are going to have this new beginning in terms of mine safety that we need to have someone who is going to effectively run that program, who is going to be someone who understands both the history of what has been happening in the mines in West Virginia, in Pennsylvania, in Kentucky, and throughout the Midwest, and has demonstrated leadership in terms of protecting miners? Does the Senator agree with me that what we are looking for is strong leadership to implement that legislation?

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, would the Senator agree with me that there are, it seems to me, three major tests. We all know that Mr. Stickler was a miner and comes from a mining family, and we respect that. We have a great deal of respect for that. I am sure he was a great miner, as is his family, I am sure. But what we are looking at now is the record of Mr. Stickler regarding mine safety. Would the Senator agree with me that if you look over the record that he has in terms of mine safety--this chart represents the Stickler- managed mines which racked up thousands of safety citations. This is 1989 all the way through 1996. There were a total of 2,800 citations, 97 closures, and we have here--there is some time overlap between that chart and this one--the Eagle's Nest Mine where the managed mine injury rate is nearly triple the national average. So we have the citations which are an indication in terms of the mine safety, we have a comparison with what has happened in terms of the average, and then when he was running the mine safety program in Pennsylvania, we had inspectors who were threatening to quit because they thought he was failing to protect miners. This chart shows the mine safety inspectors and harmed coal miners, and his policy--that is the policy of Mr. Stickler--is a detriment to safety that would, without a doubt, make the coal industry less safe for two-thirds of its workers. So we have his record in terms of mine safety in the mines. As an administrator, we have inspectors of the mines who are prepared to resign. Then, the third strike, which I think is enormously powerful, is, as the Senator from Washington pointed out, his response to the questions. The Senator remembers, because she commented on this, when he was asked whether there needed to be any changes in the existing law, he said he thought that the existing laws were adequate. This is prior to the time that we passed the new legislation, as I remember.

Mr. KENNEDY. And when he was asked whether he would implement the law requiring a mine rescue team on site at every mine, Mr. Stickler said: No, Senator, I can't commit to that at this time. I will study this. Does the Senator remember that when asked what he would do with information about new mine safety technology, Stickler said: I think that needs to be looked at. When asked whether he would require the use of new technology like tracking devices, Stickler said: I look forward to reviewing the results of the technical evaluation. When asked whether he would enforce the current standard prohibiting the use of belt air if it was shown that the use of belt air caused the Alma mine fire, Stickler said: I would reevaluate the standard. Here are the series of questions, many of them asked by the Senator from Washington and others. Does the Senator not agree with me having read the answers, plus attending the hearing, that one could say that the miners of this country deserve to have someone who is going to be more aggressive in terms of looking at new technology and in looking at additional safety standards, in looking at more effective kinds of enforcement and protecting the lives of the workers?

Mr. KENNEDY. I would ask the Chair to let us know when 2 minutes remain.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, finally, I would like to get the Senator's reaction to these letters that we have gotten from families of those who were lost in the Sago mines and in other mines. I found them enormously powerful. When we visited the Sago mine, we had--I see in the Chair presiding over the Senate a member of our committee and someone who was enormously involved and active in getting this legislation passed, and I pay tribute to Senator Isakson. But in that meeting, I can remember it was the sense of all of the members, Republicans and Democrats, who were so moved by the tremendous tragedy and sadness, particularly when they had the sense of hope at the Sago mines that their loved ones might have been able to survive we made a commitment to them that we were going to do everything possible to make sure that others who go into the mines were going to be protected. We have come back here and passed a good, bipartisan bill, and also in the House of Representatives. There was a real question among many of us here whether we could get a good one that the President would sign, and now the President has announced that he is going to sign it on Thursday. The mines themselves are having record problems. The mines themselves we find out are having record deaths. We passed good legislation and we promised those individuals that we were going to do everything we possibly could to make sure that the tragedies that happened to their loved ones would not happen again. We passed the legislation. Now we have the letters from so many of these families who have read the record of this individual and have pleaded with us--pleaded with us--pleaded with us, that if we honor the memory of those who died in these mines, that we put someone in charge who is going to really implement that legislation and to fight for safety. Is the Senator not moved, as I am, by the letters we received from the miners' families who have been lost, many of whom came to our hearings and who listened to the testimony on this individual? They have studied his record, and now they plead with us--plead with us-- that we get someone else to provide the leadership for implementing the mine safety laws. Is the Senator moved by those letters?

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I thank the Senator. If I could have recognition myself.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator from Washington again. We have worked very closely together. We have worked with the administration. We have worked with our colleagues and friends, Senator Rockefeller and Senator Byrd. We have worked together with Governor Manchin and other Governors. We have worked with the workers, the mine workers, the families. We have worked very closely together. This isn't in any sense a partisan issue. We have come together. There wasn't a dissenting vote here in the U.S. Senate in passing this legislation. There were a few votes in the House that wanted to have even stronger legislation. So we are basically all together and we are asking ourselves, given the fact we are all together and given the fact that we have this extraordinary challenge and problem that is affecting these workers, are they not entitled to someone who is going to be an effective leader in terms of providing safety. I commend the Senator from Washington for making a strong case. We want to try to have a common position with our colleagues and friends within the administration. But this person--if we are going to I think meet our responsibility to those miners, we have to do better. I thank my friend from Washington for her excellent presentation. I thank her for her conclusions. We are facing a major challenge in this Nation about safety in our mines. We have seen the expansion of these mines as our energy situation has become more acute, and now is the time to have real implementation. Now is the time to fulfill our commitment to these families and to these workers. Now is the time to honor the memory of those who have gone into the mines and who have lost their lives. Now is the time to help those whose primary desire is honoring the members of their families by passing an effective bill and have it implemented effectively. Now is the time to do that. If we are going to do that, this is not the individual who is equipped to be able to do it. He is a fine gentleman, and I admire the fact he and his family have been miners. But you have to look at the record: Whether he has been running the mines and overseeing the mines effectively. In testifying, by nature of disposition, he is not the man to implement this, and we should reject his nomination.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Right.

Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the leader. We are going to have a very important Thursday signing of the Mine Safety Act. It is a reflection of the good work of our chairman, Senator Enzi, and many others on our Human Resources Committee. It is very good legislation, passed by the House of Representatives, and to be signed by the President. It is going to be enormously important. We look forward to that and hopefully to its effective enforcement. I thank the leader.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Yes. I think we will be able to work this out. We want to. We have every desire to try to work it out. We would just like some assurances from the leader that our position will----

Mr. KENNEDY. Would the Senator be kind enough to vitiate the consent? I had talked to the leader and the concern--reserving the right to object--was if we vitiated this, the administration would go ahead and have a recess appointment. We understand we have the signing of the Mine Safety Act on Thursday. This was a real coming together, a bipartisan effort. The President is supporting it. It passed overwhelmingly in the House. It is a very important bill and will make a big difference. It has the support of the families. We were at least looking for some opportunity, if it was going to be the position of the administration to go ahead and recess-appoint it-- we wanted at least some assurance that we would have a chance to have the cloture vote prior to the time of the appointment. That is basically what we were looking at. We have no objection to following the leaders, to vitiate this, but there is concern that we have vitiating this particular amendment. We understand even if we do or do not get cloture, the President could still have a recess appointment. But nonetheless, for those who feel very strongly about this nominee, at least at this point we are able to get a vote in one way or the other prior to the time of a recess appointment. It was that particular position that we did not want to give up. Just so the Senator has some understanding about what we are looking for, we want to work with the leadership. As the Senator knows, there is a constitutional issue whether you can appoint during the short recess, which would be the Fourth of July recess. More often than not it is done in the August recess, which is well down the road, and we have the pending business which is of great importance to this. We are glad to work with the leadership. If we could have the assurances from the Senator from Virginia that he understands our position and will make a good-faith effort to at least give us the opportunity--maybe the leadership doesn't want to give us that opportunity. That is what our position is, those who feel strongly about the Stickler nomination.

Mr. KENNEDY. Would the Senator just defer and offer this maybe when we come right back in? Let's just work this out.