Trent Lott

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. I thank the Senator. Further reserving the right to object, I know there are strong feelings on the question of the U.S.-Mexican truck crossing at the border, a lot of ramifications, and making sure it is NAFTA compliant, and making sure the trucks come into the country in a safe way after being inspected. I understand all of that. This is an appropriations bill and this language should not even be on this bill. Clearly, though, this can be resolved. While everybody is in a position of wanting to get dug in, let me point out that this issue could go on for days. It is really not necessary. I have never seen an issue that is more clearly in the realm of having an agreement worked out. We ought to do it. I urge both sides to do their very best to accomplish that. I thank Senator Daschle for giving these answers. I withdraw my reservation.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, yesterday, writer Eudora Welty, a native of Mississippi, passed away at the age of 92. Miss Welty was best known for her short stories and the way they captured the life of the American South. Miss Welty had a gift in telling of the traditions and the relationships of her native south, and she received worldwide recognition for her work which helped make Southern writing a focus in 20th century literature. Many people do not know that she was also an accomplished photographer. Miss Welty is considered by many literary authorities to be the greatest American writer of our time. She grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, and attended public schools. She often recalled trips to the Jackson library with her mother that began her love for literature. She attended Mississippi University for Women, where she was first published in the school newspaper, and went on to graduate from the University of Wisconsin. She returned to her native state in 1923 to live and write in the Belhaven neighborhood of Jackson, Mississippi, the remainder of her life. Miss Welty began her career with the publishing of her first short story, ``Death of a Traveling Salesman'', which appeared in 1936. The Optimist's Daughter, published in 1972, earned Miss Welty the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Her 1984 autobiography, One Writer's Beginnings, was a New York Times bestseller. Her stories are primarily set in Mississippi, and she had a special knack for writing about the people and places of home. Mr. President, Miss Welty received numerous literary awards during her lifetime, including four O. Henry Prizes, the National Book Foundation Medal, and the American Academy of Arts' and Letters' William Dean Howells Medal. Her work has been adapted to Broadway stages, television, and movies. She received the Freedom Medal of Honor from Presidents Carter and Reagan, as well as Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Governors Association, and American Association of University Women. Miss Welty's writing had an influence on the lives of Mississippians and Southerners alike. Her gift of capturing the human spirit made her beloved by the nation and the world, as well. She was a great Mississippian who gave back to her community, and she will be missed by the entire literary world.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, on behalf of the Republican Members of the Senate, I submit the following committee assignments for the Republican Party: Special Committee on Aging: Mr. Craig, Mr. Burns, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Santorum, Ms. Collins, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Ensign, and Mr. Hagel.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be dispensed with.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor and celebrate the life of a dear friend, the late, able Senator Paul Coverdell of Georgia. I am pleased to see in the Chamber this morning his successor, an outstanding Senator, Zell Miller. I appreciate the courtesy that he would allow me to speak first this morning as we remember this dear friend. I thank Senator Miller and Senator Reid, Senator Gramm, and Senator DeWine who have been involved in trying to find a fitting tribute to the memory of this outstanding public servant. Just last night legislation was sent to the White House for the President's signature that will name the Peace Corps Headquarters the Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Headquarters. I know this and other efforts are being made both here and in Georgia to appropriately recognize the service that Paul rendered to his State and to our country, and to do it in a way that does not involve a scattergun approach but accomplishes that which would really mean an awful lot to Paul if he were here. The Senate still grieves and mourns the passing of one of its most talented Members. I certainly feel his absence every day. I think about him an awful lot. After decades in Washington, I know how rare it is to find a Senator or Congressman who works equally well with individuals on both sides of the aisle. In fact, in many ways he always reminded me of Senator Reid of Nevada, and they worked together very closely: Somewhat reserved, understated, but tremendously effective--both of them--in the way they dealt with legislation, how hard they worked, and how they dealt with their fellow man and woman and how they dealt with their colleagues in the Senate. Paul had a deep sense of humility, tireless spirit, and ready humor. In fact, whenever I think of him, I always smile, not only in appreciation for what he did but the meetings we had almost always ended with a laugh because I liked to pick at him, actually. As many people recall, I even had a nickname for him because as a Senator and as a member of our leadership--actually after only having been in the Senate for 4 years he was elected to the Republican leadership--we kind of had a rule that if there was a job to be done that no other leader wanted to do, we could always call on Paul. He reminded me of the commercial about the little boy named Mikey. The other kids wouldn't eat the cereal and they would shove it over to Mikey; and say, ``Give it to Mikey, he'll try anything.'' Well, I called him Mikey because I knew he would try anything and he would do it with great spirit and enthusiasm. That is the kind of utility player he was. That is the kind of commitment, that is the kind of willingness to work and do the jobs that other Senators would not do that makes this place really function the way it should. Paul was a Senator and legislator in Georgia, but he was from Missouri where he received a journalism degree. I guess that served him well. He joined the Army and left as a captain in the early 1960s. I never thought of Paul as being an infantryman, but maybe that is really what he was. He was on the line, doing the heavy duty every day. He helped run his family's small business when his father's health failed. He soon turned that small business into a very successful marketing firm, Coverdell & Co. Paul was always compelled to want to serve others, going back to early activity in government and activities in Georgia. He was elected to the Georgia State Senate as a Republican in 1970, at a time when most Georgians had not even seen a live Republican. But there he was, and he was in the legislature in the Senate. And his peers elected him the Senate minority leader, a position he held for the next 15 years. Of course, there were only three Republicans. So there was the leader, the whip, and the whipee, I guess. At least Paul was not the whipee. He got to be the leader. He did a lot to make the Republican Party credible in Georgia. But beyond that--I am sure Senator Miller will remember this--he learned there to work across the aisle. When you are in those small numbers, you have to, to survive. But he became a major player in the legislature even in those limited numbers. In 1989, he entered the national political stage when he became Director of the Peace Corps under President George H.W. Bush, where he worked for 2 years. I remember I used to harass him about that, too. He particularly worked with emerging democracies in Eastern Europe. But he had a vision for the Peace Corps, too. That this small guy from a small town in Missouri, and a Georgian who served in the Army, then wound up with a world vision was quite an achievement. Paul had fundamental beliefs in America, the great Republic. He believed in free trade, free markets, and freedom for all the citizens--not only for the people of his State but people around the world. He worked at making it available and accessible to everybody every day. He spent a lot of time in the Senate working on education. He was innovative from the beginning. He was one of the early ones talking about the need for some flexibility in how funds are used in education. He worked across the aisle to help solve that problem. He was really committed to allowing parents of children in elementary and secondary education to have some way to be able to help their children. That is what I like to call the Coverdell savings accounts. He had a broad base of support for that. He was very aggressive in seeking safe and drug-free havens for learning in our schools. I met him way back in the 1970s when I made trips into Georgia, and I always appreciated his tenacity and the work he did there. But I really will miss him the most in our leadership because I came to rely on him so much. Some people have written about, yes, one of the majority leader's key players and that he misses him. I don't deny it for a minute. In life, you lose friends and you see good men and good women pass on. You mourn. You learn lessons from working with those people, and then you find others who try to fill the void. But in some respects, you never fill the void left by a person such as Paul Coverdell. He was loyal. He was sensitive. He really cared. He made a difference in his State, in our party, in the Senate, and in our country. So I think it is appropriate today that we honor his memory, after having lost him 1 year ago, and to celebrate the things he did to make it a better place for all of us to live and learn. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I may ask the Senator from Georgia and others to allow 1 minute to follow up on what Senator Daschle mentioned, we have an agreement on this initiative. I thank Senator Daschle for his comments and for doing this. This is the kind of thing that brings us together in many possible ways.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1190 introduced earlier today by myself.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I would be honored. I should have suggested that in the first place. That certainly should be done. I support that.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, again I thank Senator Daschle for allowing me to do this. I think this is the thing that would mean the most to Paul--Coverdell Education Savings Accounts. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I thank Senator Daschle for allowing me to comment on these resolutions. I would like to begin by thanking the Democratic caucus for doing this. This is a very magnanimous gesture and I know it is being done because of appreciation for the job that our floor assistants do, but specifically for the job that has been done over many, many years by Elizabeth Letchworth. She protects the institution. She loves the institution. She works not only with Republicans but, as your resolution says, with Democrats too, Senators on both sides of the aisle, collectively and individually. So we in the Republican Conference appreciate the generosity of your resolution and the fact that you did that. We did one also. But I must confess, when I made the announcement that she would be leaving after 25 years, there was a very strong round of boos and objections to the whole idea. I said: My colleagues, this is not in the form of a motion; this is an announcement of a decision that has been made by a friend and loved one--to which they stood and applauded, unanimously thanking her for her dedication and professionalism. I believe later on we will have a resolution on behalf of the entire Senate at a time when we will notify all of our colleagues that it would be appropriate for them to come to the floor and express their appreciation. I know she has a special relationship with Senator Byrd, for instance, because she not only knows his love of the institution but respects his knowledge of the rules and his insistence that we comply with them, sometimes when we are a little bit derelict in doing that. So we will have that opportunity to speak further. At that time, I will go into great detail about her Senate service. We all know she has been part of the institution for 25 years. It is hard to believe, looking at her, that she has been here 25 years. It is obvious, Senator Byrd, that she was very young when she started working for the Senate--and that in fact is true. She came here, I believe, as a page, working for then-Senator Hugh Scott from Pennsylvania. I know she did a great job there. Over the years she has worked in the Cloakroom, worked as a floor assistant, worked for Senator Baker, Senator Dole, and for me when I was majority leader and when I was minority leader. She has served so well as the Secretary for the Majority since 1995 and Secretary for the Minority for the past few weeks. She has just done an outstanding job. I appreciate her knowledge of the rules, but I also appreciate her determination to make sure we conduct ourselves appropriately, knowing what the rules are. We have been through some tough times while she has been here, both in the majority and the minority. We did the historic impeachment trial for only the second time in history, and I think we did it in a way that was appropriate. We complied with our responsibility under the Constitution. We did it in a reasonable period of time, and we tried to make sure we did it in a respectful way and a fair way for all concerned. That took a lot of time, a lot of effort by our floor assistants, by all of our staff members. But beyond her knowledge is just the fact that she is a very fine person. I have grown to appreciate her, love her, admire her--as a member of the family, if you will. I must say she has shown great, great wisdom because in the husband to whom she is married she chose one with a Mississippi background, so she truly became even further a member of the family by making that wise decision. They have plans for the future that include a little more free time, not quite as many nights here in the Senate Chamber, 6 or 7 or 9 or so on a Thursday night, but also, hopefully, some business investments that will be a great success--just, most importantly, some personal time. To Elizabeth Letchworth and to Ron I offer my most sincere appreciation personally and the appreciation of the Senate Republican Conference. Again, my thanks to Senator Daschle and our Democratic colleagues for their gesture in their resolution also. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Madam President, we have seen for the past year a reduction in the growth rate of our economy. The world is experiencing a global economic slowdown. The tax cut signed into law in June contained compromises to make the tax cuts in the lowest bracket retroactive to January 1. We are also going to begin to see the tax reduction checks in the American people's hands by the end of this month. Perhaps there has never been a better-timed tax cut. The dollars we are returning to the taxpayers and the rate cuts that will allow them to keep a little more of their own hard earned salaries will provide some stimulus to keep the economy from falling further behind. I reject the advice of those who say that now is the time for the government to retreat and try and take more money out of the American workers' pay envelopes. Nothing could be worse for a weakening economy. In fact, I believe that now is the time to find more ways to encourage economic growth. The tax cut provides some immediate stimulus and in the long-term some ways to keep the economy growing. But we need to look at ways to kick-start the supply side of the economy. One possibility is to cut the capital gains tax rates. I will be pursuing this effort in the coming weeks and months. Nothing is more important than to get our economy moving again at full speed. My friend Jack Kemp authored a most interesting and compelling article a couple of weeks ago in the Wall Street Journal. Thirty years ago when I came to Congress I first met Jack. He was then and continues to be a person who is not afraid to challenge the common norms of economic thought. In the 70's Jack led the charge for tax rate cuts to get the economy moving. We have too easily forgotten the hopelessness that many Americans felt in the late 1970's facing stagflation with no idea of how to turn the flagging U.S. economy around. Now we face a problem of a global slowdown. Jack suggests an answer. Many will try and dismiss his proposal. This is a debate that needs to continue. We need to get the American economy running at full speed. The tax bill was the first step. Getting the economy back to full growth will be my primary focus. I ask unanimous consent that the article by Mr. Kemp be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I certainly join the distinguished Democratic leader in congratulating Jeri Thomson on her selection and election to be the Secretary of the Senate. I know that Senator Daschle, as majority leader, will have a very effective Secretary of the Senate in this fine person and that she will do her typical nonpartisan, fair and efficient job in this role. We know Jeri. She has been here a long time. She is one of the institutions, if I might say--except for age, of course--of the Senate. She has always been very fair and very reasonable in her dealings with the Republicans in the Senate. We appreciate that. We know that is the way that she will proceed in the future. This is a very important role. If you go back and look at the history of the Senate, Senator Byrd certainly can tell us that this is a position we have had for years. The first Secretary was chosen on April 8, 1789, two days after the Senate achieved its first quorum for business. It is a very important role in the functioning of the Senate--the paperwork, administratively, the computers, the people serving here in the Chamber. There are so many important roles that that position requires careful consideration of, and work and development. I know she will do that. I urge Jeri Thomson to do as I urged her predecessor, Gary Sisco, in that position, to make sure you do such a job that when you leave the position, the office and the position will be even better than it was when you took it over. I know you will do that. We extend to you our best wishes and our cooperation. I yield the floor, Mr. President.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, this is not related to the issue at hand, although I want to speak on that under whatever time I am yielded. This is under leader time on a resolution. I believe Senator Daschle will be joining me momentarily. We want to be sure to do this when we both can be here.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 127, which is at the desk, and ask that the resolution be read in total.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I wanted the entire resolution to be read in the Record because I did want a complete record of the appreciation of the entire Senate for Gary Sisco who has served so capably over the past 5 years as the Secretary of the Senate. I appreciate Senator Daschle joining me for this time because he knows, as I know, that we have some very dedicated officers of the Senate and other employees of our floor staff who put in long hours and do a great job in making this institution function the way it should. We do not say thank you enough to those who serve in the Chamber with us who make it possible for us to do our job, and we do not say thank you enough to the officers of the Senate, people such as the Secretary of the Senate, the Sergeant at Arms, the Chaplain, and others who work every day to help make this place function. I have a very personal warm feeling for Gary Sisco. He is from Tennessee. He was born in Bolivar, TN, a small town. He grew up in strictly a blue-collar family. I believe his father did serve for a period of time as sheriff in that county in Tennessee. I got to know him way back in, I guess, 1962 or 1963 at the University of Mississippi. We became friends. I managed to even talk him into joining the fraternity to which I belonged. We developed a very close friendship. He wound up having a blind date with his now wife, thanks to the arrangement of my wife. Mary Sue Sisco is from Pascagoula, MS. He went on to work with IBM after graduation and was involved in gubernatorial campaigns in Tennessee. He served Gov. Lamar Alexander, and then wound up in Washington and worked for Congressman Robin Beard as his administrative assistant. He worked for Howard Baker reaching the position of executive assistant. He then returned to Tennessee and had a very successful business life. Five years ago, I called on him and said: We need somebody who understands computers, somebody who understands how to manage a pretty good size operation, somebody who knows how to keep the books straight, somebody who has political instinct and knows and loves the Senate. You are the man. He left his business in Nashville, TN, and came to Washington and has been in the position of Secretary of the Senate for 5 years. He has done a wonderful job. The only thing I ever asked of him was: Gary, when we have a few things that need to be changed, need to be approved, let's just make sure when you leave and I leave the position I am in, it is better than it was when we got here. I believe Gary Sisco has achieved that goal. To show you the kind of man he is, Senator Daschle had agreed, frankly, that the officers of the Senate could stay on through this session of Congress, even though the majority might change. So I know he would have kept his word and Gary could have stayed, but he submitted his resignation, and I agreed that I think the majority leader should have officers of the Senate of his selection. It was the right thing to do, but it was his idea; it was not mine. Senator Daschle has been very gracious in the way he has treated the employees in the Office of the Secretary of the Senate. He has selected an outstanding, capable, experienced person and one who also understands the Senate very well, Jeri Thomson. I know she will continue the great legacy Gary Sisco has built. To my colleagues in the Senate, I thank them all for the courtesies and support they have given to Gary Sisco, and I wish my friend the very best in his next career. Some of us, as Senator Daschle and myself, have been in the Congress for many, many years now, in my case 28 years. I have to confess, in a way, I am a little envious of a guy who was in the business sector, in the political arena, in the congressional arena, back in the business world, back in the Senate arena, and is now going out to the next stage of his life. I am sure it will be an outstanding one. I, again, extend my best wishes to Gary Sisco, his wife Mary Sue, and their children. I know they will always have a special feeling in their hearts for the Senate, and I believe the Senate also has that feeling for them. I yield the floor.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, again, I thank Senator Daschle for coming to the Chamber and making that statement, and I look forward to working with him and the new Secretary of the Senate to continue the very efficient and fine way the Senate has been conducted, in the way the Office of the Secretary of the Senate has been run. I know she will do a great job. Mr. President, I do not know who is controlling the time now, but I want to be yielded time to speak against the pending amendment. Several Senators addressed the Chair.

Mr. LOTT. I will be happy to do so.

Mr. LOTT. I yield to Senator Sessions from Alabama.

Mr. LOTT. I believe the time has been off the leader time.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I rise to speak against the pending amendment. My question is, If we are not going to have exploration in the Gulf of Mexico in a limited area for oil and gas, where are we going to do it? Not in the Atlantic along the coast. Not in the Pacific along the coast. Some people say not in Alaska in the area that has been pursued. Then where? I believe we can do it effectively, efficiently, responsibly, and productively in the Gulf of Mexico. For years, exploration in the gulf and, in fact, drilling activity occurred primarily in Texas and Louisiana waters. But in more recent years it has moved over under Mississippi and Alabama. It has been very productive. This is an interesting map to which others have referred. The Florida coastline goes to Pensacola, Alabama with Mobile, Biloxi, and New Orleans. I live right here; that is where my house sits. I can step off my front porch and put a rock in the Gulf of Mexico. I can sit out on my front porch and I can see a natural gas well working right in this area. In the daytime you can see it. It is clear. And at night sometimes they flare it off. It has never been a problem and it is producing natural gas. As a matter of fact, it is closer to my front doorstep, literally, than it is to Panama City, Florida, or Pensacola, or Biloxi or New Orleans. I am perfectly comfortable with this. There is no risk. Those who live in the gulf area know that some of the most effective drilling and exploration drilling anywhere in the world is done in the gulf. It has become more efficient, with greater accuracy. If there has ever been a spill in the gulf, it must have been very minor and certainly never affected my State, I don't believe, since we have had the drilling off the coast of Alabama and Mississippi. I don't believe we have ever had one. It also is a wonderful place to fish around the oil rigs. We take old liberty ships out and sink them in the gulf so they will form fishing mounds. It is very effective. The rig serves the same purpose. But now we have people who say we should not have it in the Gulf of Mexico, or we should delay it even further, even though there has been a compromise. I think this whole area should be opened up for lease. But now it is down to just this green area, a very small area. The Governors of the States that are involved--Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and I believe this compromise provision is supported even by Jeb Bush--all of our leaders and all of the people who live in this area support this. What are we going to do? We are depending on foreign oil for 56 percent of our energy needs, and it is going up. It will be 60 percent. Can we get everything we need just from wind and sun? If we triple what we got from those areas, it wouldn't get us at 6 percent. As I said before, maybe we will have to harness some of the speeches around here to produce more energy needs in this country. But we need exploration for oil and gas. We need to look at greater use of nuclear power. We need to take advantage of clean coal technology. We do need alternative sources of energy--wind, solar, hydro. We need energy efficiency. We need to encourage conservation. But we need a national energy policy-- the whole thing, the whole package--so that we will not be in danger of the threat of OPEC countries saying they will cut us off. By the way, every time we have a decline or some sort of a threat from OPEC countries, we get oil out of the SPR. Where do you think the SPR is, the strategic petroleum? I think most of it is in Texas and Louisiana. Now people are saying, well, in south Florida, let's build a 1.6 billion pipeline from my hometown and from Mobile, AL, across the Gulf of Mexico into Florida and supply their energy needs. We are supposed to take the risk in those areas of the exploration and the drilling for natural gas, and of course, sometimes for oil, and now we are going to build this pipeline and lay it across the Gulf of Mexico to supply the natural gas for people who say they don't want us to explore and produce. This makes no sense. The people have to decide. Are we going to continue to go down this trail of not producing for our energy needs? Are we going to have this national security risk, facing the danger of loss of freedoms in America? Who thinks gasoline prices will not go up again next summer? They are. And so will diesel fuel prices. The families won't be able to afford to drive to their vacation spots. The small business men and women are going to have trouble paying their electricity bills. The farmers will have difficulty paying for the cost of diesel fuel for their tractors. It will ripple through the economy. This is probably the most serious problem this country faces today. Meanwhile, we fiddle in Washington while the country has a heat stroke and is threatened with not having the energy to keep the economy growing. I think the American people realize this is a very serious problem. Some people shy away from calling it a crisis. OK, don't use that word. There is no imminent danger now. But there could be tomorrow, there could be next week. OPEC countries could say: We will cut you off. We could have rolling brownouts in California, blackouts in New York City. They will run short of power in south Florida. This is the least we can do. We should do it now, not later. We have been wrestling around over this for months--in fact, years. This can be done safely, effectively. I understand it is projected this area could produce enough natural gas to provide 1 million families in America with the supply of natural gas they need for 15 years. I don't know whether that is accurate. It has been very productive in this part of the gulf. It is done efficiently and in very targeted ways. They know now where the oil and gas is. They can probably put a pin on it--and from long distances. I urge my colleagues, this may be the only real vote we have on energy production in America this summer. Senator Daschle said we will focus on appropriations bills. He is right for doing that. We should try to help him move the appropriations bills. We will not get to a free-standing energy bill probably until the fall. But we should do it. In the meantime, we should not take this step of prohibiting or delaying exploration and development of the resources that we know are in the Gulf of Mexico. My beach is closer to this area than the beaches in Florida. I say, bring it on. I am worried about the future of my country and my children's economic future. I urge my colleagues, this should be an overwhelming bipartisan defeat on an amendment that really, in view of all that has gone on, should not be passed. I thank my colleague from Louisiana for yielding me this time.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. On behalf of the Republican members of the Senate, I submit the following committee assignments for the Republican party and ask unanimous consent they be printed in the Record.

Mr. LOTT

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the recent meeting of the board of directors of the Corporation for National Service which was hosted by my home State of Mississippi. Mississippians are known for their hospitality and compassion, so playing host to this meeting in Jackson was a natural fit. The board members used this forum to elect Stephen Goldsmith, chairman of the board of directors for the Corporation for National Service. As the former mayor of Indianapolis, Chairman Goldsmith earned a reputation for innovative thinking, reducing spending, and improving infrastructure. I wish him the best of luck in his new role as chairman. I also understand that at this year's meeting of the board, a coalition of religious and community leaders praised President Bush for his faith-based and community initiatives, and announced the creation of the Mississippi Faith-Based Coalition for Community Renewal. My constituents advise me that this coalition will work with the President to implement his faith-based plan and bring hope and opportunity to all Mississippians. Mississippi is truly proud to have been chosen as the host site for the 2001 meeting of the board of directors of the Corporation for National Service. I want to encourage other boards, organizations, corporations, and groups to hold their special events in Mississippi and share in all we have to offer.