Carl Levin

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Feinstein, I offer an amendment which would authorize the Air Force to convey a parcel of property at March Air Force Base to the local redevelopment authority at fair market value.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3243

Mr. LEVIN. I thank my friend. The amendment has been cleared on this side.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Landrieu, I offer an amendment that would authorize the veterans service organizations to participate in preseparation counseling provided to service members and to brief members of Reserve units after release from active service regarding VA benefits.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3171

Mr. LEVIN. The amendment has been cleared on this side, Mr. President.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3227

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. LEVIN. The amendment has been cleared on this side, Mr. President.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, I offer an amendment which would increase funding for neurotoxin research.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3241

Mr. LEVIN. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I wonder if the Senator from--the committee chairman would yield for one minute. I was kind of surprised when I walked in a few minutes late on the floor to hear we are going off this bill. I don't quite understand the logic. I missed the majority leader's statement and I apologize for that. But we have to pick up this bill at some point. I don't know why it is assumed we are going to have any more or less trouble when we get back on this bill than we do right now continuing this bill. We are going to have to resolve the Graham issue and we will. It can be done in a few hours. To just set this bill aside, I am not sure I understand what the reasoning is. It is unusual in the middle of the Defense bill to set it aside for some other less important bill. I missed the explanation of the majority leader. I am surprised. We have troops in the field. There are many important issues. The chairman knows better than any Member in the Senate. He is the chairman, an incredibly effective chairman of this committee, and he knows what the provisions of this bill are. They include provisions not just on all of the quality of life issues, pay issues, and family issues, but they also include a very important issue on troop strength and the signal we send on that matter. At this moment it seems to me it is one of the most important issues to resolve. We are going to resolve that issue. We will figure out a way to resolve it. The chairman is fully on board with the direction in which this Congress is going. He is certainly aware and understands the importance of dealing with this. I am really surprised. I will express that surprise. This means we are derailed for at least a week. I cannot imagine the urgency of the bill on class action suits. I will ask our deputy minority leader as to what the estimate is for that bill. It will take, I assume, the whole week, will it not?

Mr. LEVIN. I would be happy to do that, of course.

Mr. LEVIN. The amendment has been cleared on this side.

Mr. LEVIN. I wonder if the Senator from Hawaii wishes to speak this morning and whether it would be all right if we sequenced Senator Akaka immediately after Senator Allard, and we will put that in the Record. I suggest we make that a unanimous consent.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, earlier this month, the Nation marked National Suicide Prevention Week. Suicide takes the lives of more than 30,000 Americans each year and is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States. According to a 2001 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, suicide is the fourth-leading cause of death among children aged 7 to 17. Between 1981 and 1998, the period of the study, 20,775 people in that age group committed suicide, compared with 24,000 in that age group who died of cancer. Suicide has long been considered an individual mental health issue, but experts are starting to view suicide as a broad public health issue. In 2001, the U.S. Surgeon General released a report citing suicide as a ``national public health problem,'' and announced a national strategy for suicide prevention. Central to that strategy is promoting awareness that suicide is, indeed, preventable. The same CDC study also highlighted the role of guns in both youth suicide and homicides. During the study period, youth suicides increased by 44 percent, with gun-related suicides making up 80 percent of that increase. At the same time, the number of youths who committed murder with a firearm tripled, even as the total number of murders remained constant. This shows, according to the CDC, that suicide is linked to other social ills, like gun violence. One of the Surgeon General's recommendations for preventing suicide is to reduce access to guns or other lethal means of suicide. His national suicide prevention strategy recommends not only a public campaign to reduce gun accessibility, but also urges the gun industry to improve firearm safety design. Suicide is a national problem that demands our attention. Congress should do its part to help prevent suicide by encouraging the manufacture of safer handguns and by closing the loopholes that allow young people easy access to handguns.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. I say to my good friend from Virginia, he is absolutely not only correct but I would join his plea to our colleagues that we make good use of time tomorrow. If Senators are not here, their staff can deliver amendments so at least we can begin to consider them. We can make good use of tomorrow so when we come back we will have to use up less of the Senate's time. So I join the chairman's plea that Members on both sides of the aisle, who have not filed amendments or given our staffs amendments, do that tomorrow. Let us try to work through some of them. We could clear them tomorrow and, even if we do not have contested amendments tomorrow, we could make some progress on this bill.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3210

Mr. LEVIN. It has been cleared on this side.

Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3207

Mr. LEVIN. The amendment has been cleared on this side.