Mary Landrieu

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Up to 10 minutes.

Ms. LANDRIEU. The Senators have done such a good job managing this bill. I appreciate the opportunity to offer this amendment and to be paired with this important amendment that the Senators from Kentucky and Oregon have offered. I will explain it briefly because a longer explanation would not be necessary. This body is very familiar with the reauthorization of the SBIR Program. The reason I believe the chairman and ranking member allowed me to offer this amendment with Senator Snowe is twofold. One, it has a bearing on the Department of Defense in that the Department of Defense is the largest contributor to the SBIR and STTR programs, the two most important research and development programs for small business that the Federal Government runs and operates. The Senators know full well the importance for the Department of Defense and therefore extrapolate correctly the importance of this program for all of our agencies. We take a small portion of the research and development dollars for all Federal agencies and basically direct it to small business. There are some good reasons for that, which I will put in the Record. As written by one of the advocates supporting the program--and I will put this into the Record--she writes: The SBIR/STTR funding award process spawns competition among high-tech businesses. Scientists and engineers propose their best technological concepts to solve a problem of national interest. The best of the best of these technical concepts are selected for funding. Thus, this funding mechanism assures that the thinking minds continuously work on producing the most practical solutions to engineering problems. Whether it is our soldiers in the field or our scientists at NASA or whether it is our scientists and engineers struggling to understand the oceans or better communication technology, they go to the SBIR and STTR programs and look for some of the cutting edge ideas. We invest in them, and many of those ideas go commercial for the benefit of everyone, taxpayers included. She goes on to write: Small businesses develop niche products that are not mass produced overseas. Thus, it helps our employment situation [right here at home]. The employees of a high-tech company are highly educated professionals belonging to a high income group who contribute substantially to the tax pool and the economy. Finally, she says: Small businesses are job creators. We hear that large companies are sitting on trillions of dollars in cash, yet not investing in job creation. Small businesses often operate on a very thin to no profit margin and hire staff on borrowed money. . . . This is because growth is the mantra for small businesses for survival. If they don't grow, they don't survive. This small business research program is so important. The reason I am here tonight asking my colleagues to vote on this amendment on the Defense bill is that it is relevant. It is also important. We are 5 years late. This program should have been authorized 5 years ago. I inherited this situation when I became chairman of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. As you know, I have worked diligently with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move this debate forward and to advance the ball. That is what we are going to do tonight. We are, hopefully, going to pass this with more than the 60 votes necessary. This bill came out of the Small Business Committee on a vote of 17 to 1. It was just broadly bipartisan in its appeal. It is sponsored by my ranking member, Senator Snowe, who has been one of the strongest advocates for small business in the Senate--not just for this year but for many years. She sponsored this bill along with Senators Shaheen, Brown, and Kerry. With Senator McCain and Senator Levin's help, along with the cosponsors of this amendment, I ask my colleagues to vote favorably for it tonight. Again, we are 5 years overdue. It is an important program to get authorized so that the folks operating our programs at all of the departments can have some confidence that the program is going to go on, that they can even do a better job than they have been doing, and we can get these investments out to small businesses that are game changers in America, creating new technology and, most importantly, creating the jobs that America needs right here at home. I don't see anyone else to speak on the amendment. I think that would probably be all the time that we need. I hope that is a signal that there is no opposition to the amendment. Perhaps we can do a voice vote or have a very strong vote for reauthorizing the small business research program. Again, that is so meritorious and so necessary for the investment of small business in America today. I yield the floor and yield back the remainder of my time.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, under the previous order, I think we were going to debate both amendments and vote in a few moments. That is what I understood.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, thank you very much. We will only take a minute. I would like to yield the majority of my time to the ranking member who has worked so hard on this bill. I would like to thank the cosponsors and thank all of my colleagues for supporting a very balanced extension of the SBIR Program. This is 5 years overdue, and I yield the remainder of my time to the ranking member from the State of Maine.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and to call up amendment No. 1115, and I ask to make it pending on behalf of myself, Senator Snowe, and I appreciate the cosponsorship of Senators Shaheen, Brown of Ohio, and Kerry.

Ms. LANDRIEU. I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Ms. LANDRIEU. This is an amendment which would reauthorize two of the most important research programs for small businesses of this country.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the HELP Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 302 and that the Senate proceed to its consideration.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and that any related statements be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, the resolution just approved by unanimous consent is a very important resolution that Senator Grassley and I are proud to support, along with Senator Inhofe and others. It is a resolution recognizing that this Saturday is National Adoption Day. I am happy to report that on this Saturday, there will be over 3,500 children who will be adopted into permanent families. This day was started about 10 years ago by some very enterprising organizations, and the Senate and the House of Representatives have been helping to promote the concept of National Adoption Day for many years now, maybe as many as 10. We sure have been working to help highlight this special day. It was started by nonprofit organizations to highlight the fact that we have orphans in the United States. People don't believe this, but there are over 100,000 children in our foster care system between the ages of 0 and 21, who are in our foster care system, whose parents' rights have been terminated for good reason--maybe terrible or gross abuse or neglect. Those parents are unable or unwilling to raise their biological children. These children need a forever family, a relative to step up, a cousin or an aunt or a grandmother to step up, or they need someone in the community to step up and say: You can be a part of our family. People don't stop needing families when they are 21 years old. They age out of the foster care system, unfortunately, at 21 despite the good work we have done here to extend that time from 18 to 21. Unfortunately, every year 25,000 children age out of our foster care system, as the Senator from Iowa knows--he has been a phenomenal leader on foster care reform--without ever having been adopted. When you are 25 or 24 or 23 and you are trying to apply for your first job, it would be nice to have a mother, father, grandmother, or a grandfather to call and ask: How do I dress? What should I say? Does my resume look OK? These children don't have that. When you are engaged, it would be nice to be able to call a parent and say: Can you help with the expense of the wedding or can you be there for me? These children don't have that. That is what National Adoption Day is about, highlighting the fact that there are children in our foster care system--beautiful, strong, intelligent children who need a forever family. We are doing our best to promote adoption for them. Not only in our system in the United States, but sadly there are around 163 million children around the world living outside of family care. We think that number is conservative because we have reason to believe that even those who do a lot of counting are not really counting all the children in orphanages. The number is probably larger than that. It sounds overwhelming--and it can be at times--to think about our goal to try to find a home for every one of these children. But just to put in perspective the U.S. numbers, it is 107,000 children. But the good news is that we have 300,000 churches in America alone--not counting synagogues or mosques. Mr. President, you can easily do that math. If just one family out of every three churches adopted one of these children in foster care, we would not have any more orphans in America. That is why we are promoting this today and this week, National Adoption Month and National Adoption Day. You don't have to be perfect or wealthy; you just have to have a big heart and step up and be willing to add this blessing to your family. So many families have been blessed by adoption. As many people know, our family has been blessed by adoption. This day is to commemorate National Adoption Day. In fact, I said 3,500, but it is 4,500 children who will be adopted on this day, and 5 will be adopted in New Orleans, LA. I thank Judge Ernestine Grey and all of the judges for their good work to make that possible. We want to finalize these adoptions in all 50 States. Saturday, we will celebrate families who adopt and encourage others to adopt children from foster care, build stronger collaborations among local adoption agencies, and, again, raise awareness about the 107,000 children who are waiting. Many of these children, despite our laws that mandate an 18-month wait period, maximum, sometimes wait more than 3 years. In conclusion, let me just say we need to do more. We can do more. I wish to highlight for the record two wonderful organizations that, in my mind, have been going above and beyond the call of duty. One is the Dave Thomas Foundation Wendy's Wonderful Kids Program. They are a great example of just one organization that is doing great work to find homes for children who are considered ``unadoptable'' or ``hard-to-place'' simply because they are 7 or 8 or 10 or 12 and not 1 or 2. They are ``too old'' to be adopted. I never thought I would hear the words ``too old'' when referring to a child who is 7, 8, 10, or 12, but that is what people think. They have worked hard--Wendy's Wonderful Kids--and have come up with a new approach, a better approach. They have had extraordinary success in piloting a new child focus recruitment plan and finding 2,500 children permanent homes since 2004. Rita Soronen, executive director of Dave Thomas Foundation, is a leader, and Wendy's Wonderful Kids is a great example. Let me just put into the Record another organization that has a gallery right here, the National Heart Gallery, which has an exhibit here at the Capitol in the Russell Senate Rotunda. The National Heart Gallery is another very organic, nonprofit, community-based movement. They took beautiful portraits of these children to show their personalities and life. When people are looking at their portraits, they could be pulled in by the beauty and true reflection of the child's personality. So the National Heart Gallery is another wonderful organization, and I want to recognize those two. There are many others. In conclusion, I thank the Senator from Iowa. He and I chair the foster care caucus together. It has been a pleasure working with him. We look forward to another great year ahead. We have had some success-- actually, a great deal of success--in promoting adoption out of foster care and reforming the foster care system. It is a pleasure to work with Senator Grassley. I yield the floor to my colleague.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I am so happy to join my colleagues who have done a beautiful job this morning expressing the importance of Pell grants to not only the individuals and their families but to the economic vitality of our Nation. I thank Senator Whitehouse, who has taken up this as a cause. We need a champion for Pell grants. I am here to help him and to help Senator Tester, who stepped forward to be a leader as well, to say to them that when I go back to my State and check--the Senator from Connecticut knows this--when I go back to my State, what I hear is: Senator, without Pell grants, I could not make this happen. Senator, without Pell grants, my parents could not afford it. It is not the whole part of tuition, but I think, as Senator Whitehouse has said, it is the keystone, it is the cornerstone, it is the centerpiece, it is the foundation of what our students--and some of our students who are parents who are raising two and three children, holding down one or two jobs--we cannot pull that out from underneath them, I say to the Senator. We just cannot do it. Secondly, I would say I know we have to find a way to balance our budget. I just left the Go Big Conference. I am one of the ones who is standing in the middle, hoping we can come up with not a $1.2 trillion solution but a $4 trillion solution. This is tough. This is hard. But one of the things that should not be on the chopping block is Pell grants, not because it is a government program--we have to cut back government programs--this is the seed corn. This is the seed corn, I say to the Senator, for our future vitality as a nation. We need to be sending more kids to college, not less. We need to be producing more engineers, not less; more mathematicians. This is our basic grant program. So I just wanted to come to the floor and join you all. I say to the Senator, I want to personally give you letters from people--children and adults--from my State. I have a letter from a student from Tulane University, a letter from a freshman named Araisa at Loyola University, and a letter from a young man named David, who attends Louisiana Tech University. These letters speak for themselves. I will put them in the Record, but, I say to the Senator, I wish to also actually give them to you because I want you to be able to hear from students from Louisiana as well as Rhode Island, and I tell the Senator that I want to join the Senator in this movement to not throw out the seed corn while we are trimming the hedges. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the letters I referred to be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU. I would say this program is one of the most effective antiwelfare programs in the country that we fund in Washington. A student from Xavier University wrote in. This student is a first-year student majoring in biology, in premed. This is an African-American Catholic University--the only one in the country and it produces more premed students and more doctors than almost the largest. Madam President, I know we have just 1 minute. I ask unanimous consent for 1 more minute.

Ms. LANDRIEU. I hope people understand there are differences in some government programs. This is a partnership between the Federal Government and our own individual citizens, a partnership with them and a partnership with the universities, saying: We believe in you. We believe in the future of our country and this is our investment and it should not be cut. I am sure the Senator from Connecticut hears this in Connecticut.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Yes.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President is the product of a single-family home and was the only individual employed in her household. So as she is going to school, she is also employed, supporting the whole household, basically keeping them off other government programs that might not be as effective. The Senator's, leadership is to be commended. I thank him for it. I am going to submit more of these specific stories from specific students and families for the Record so people understand this is not politics. This is just trying to do what is smart for our country and to do what is right for these young people who are trying so hard. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that this material be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU. I thank the Senator.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 324, submitted earlier today.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related thereto be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Miles Chiotti, an intern from Senator Grassley's office, have floor privileges for the remainder of the day.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I rise to speak for just a few moments on a very special anniversary that we are celebrating, not just here in Washington but around the country; that is, the 40th anniversary of the Close Up Foundation, familiar to us all. It is a foundation that was started in 1971. Close Up has worked for four decades to promote responsible and informed participation in the democratic process through Washington-based civic education programs and classroom publications. I had the pleasure myself of participating in one of the first ever Close Up programs back in 1972. So I participated in the second year when the program was in its fledgling stage. Little did I believe then or know then that I would be a Member of the Senate. But I can remember the tremendous impact that program had on me at that age. It was the first time I had ever visited Washington, DC. I can tell you without the Close Up program, I probably would not have made that trip until many years later. But it made a lasting impression on me and I believe gave me some idea back then of a potential career in public service. I am very proud to be an alum of this important program, and I am delighted to help celebrate that later tonight at a reception for the 40th anniversary, which is today. Close Up's mission is to inform, educate, and inspire young people to be active citizens in our democracy. Close Up seeks to create a generation of Americans that exercise their rights and accept the responsibilities of citizenship. Each year, Close Up serves thousands of high school and middle school students and their teachers on Washington-based government and citizenship education programs. These programs demonstrate that an active citizenry is necessary for the perpetuation of our democracy, and they provide students with the knowledge and skills to participate firsthand--hands on, seeing is believing, being here in Washington, seeing the buildings, experiencing firsthand the ways of the Senate and the House operating, seeing the Supreme Court in action leaves a lasting impression, believe me, on these students--since the 1970s. I know my colleagues will join me in the pride that 750,000 students and teachers from across the country have participated in Close Up programs. Participating students return to their schools and share with their classrooms, with their student bodies, what they learned and experienced. So while we have had 750,000 students participate, we have directly touched millions of students and teachers and family members, as these students go back and relay very fine experiences. Students who participate in Close Up Washington travel to our Nation's Capital, usually for about 1 week, joining with their peers from all over the United States, to live and learn together during an intensive, inspiring, and skill-building program. The program is designed to enrich students' knowledge of the basic concepts and institutions of the Federal Government, an important part of our democracy, and to develop a practical understanding of the process of the democratic political system and the role of citizens in this system, which is central, as the Chair knows. To engage students, expert institutional staff use best practices and methodologies, including role modeling, small group discussions, simulations, and student-driven interaction with key policy experts. In other words, this is not just a tour of Washington, it is not just a tour of the building, it is an interactive, hands-on experience for young middle school and high school students to have a better understanding of how their government operates. If we think about it, we know they understand by maybe reading the paper and talking to friends how their local government operates. They get a sense of how their State governments operate. Without a real opportunity to visit the Nation's Capital, which many of these students might not have, how will they get a feel for what goes on here, which is very important. Each year the Close Up Washington program participants engage in 1,000 meetings with Members of Congress and their staffs on Capitol Hill. Our Capital's institutions and historic sites are used as classrooms to help students explore the link between history and contemporary political issues. It brings it alive to them. It makes it real for them. That is why it is so important for us to continue this program. Students also learn and practice the habits of active, effective citizenship with an intense emphasis on civil discourse. One of the most important and commendable aspects of the Close Up program is its accessibility to economically disadvantaged students. I wish to take a minute to stress this. There are many programs that are sponsored directly or indirectly by the Federal Government that allow students to come to Washington. Then, of course, there are many privately funded activities. But this is the only Federal program that I know of that reaches out in a special way to students that would be unable to come under any other circumstances, they just could not afford it. Their families cannot afford it, and so it would be out of reach for many of them. That is what is so important about Close Up. The other important aspect, it is not just for the kids in the class who are 4.0 students. Many students come on academic scholarships or they are chosen because of their academic prowess. This is for the average kid, as well as those who are achieving academically. But it is for the average kid, the kid whom we depend on to be our citizen for the future. So because of that, it is especially important for us to continue this opportunity. Close Up provides a diverse program experience for its participants and has provided over $100 million in fellowship assistance to students and teachers from underserved communities through public funding and a committed network of corporate and philanthropic donors. So to the Federal money that serves as its base, we get additional support from individuals and from foundations to leverage that resource, to provide an opportunity for kids who would never be able to see with their own eyes the Capitol or the White House, would never be able to walk into the Supreme Court, to actually see it and touch it and to experience it. If it sparks an interest in one-fourth of the children who come, that would be great. But I think it sparks an interest in almost 100 percent of them in some way. When they leave, they are forever changed in a positive way and can become active participants in this democracy. So at a time when students throughout the United States show an alarming lack of proficiency in civics, as demonstrated by the recent results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress testing of 4th, 8th, and 12th graders, Close Up continues to work to engage young people so they understand the political process, find their own voice, and they embrace the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, which is indeed a gift, and they learn to appreciate that gift and to participate more fully in this democracy. I commend and congratulate Close Up for 40 years of excellent service. I hope it will continue for another 40 years. I am proud to be a strong supporter of the Close Up program. I urge my colleagues, as we have an opportunity, to support the funding for this program, even in these tough budgetary times. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I begin by thanking my two colleagues from Alabama for being such great sports. I never thought they would actually wear purple and gold on the Senate floor, but I am proud of them for living up to their end of the bet, for showing up appropriately dressed this afternoon. I thank my colleague Senator Vitter for initiating this terrific bet. I am looking forward to some great gulf coast Alabama seafood. As the Senator from Louisiana said--and Senator Sessions alluded to--the seafood is not only plentiful, abundant, and affordable, it is also very safe. We are proud to represent the gulf coast and proud of these two extraordinary universities. As a graduate of LSU, I am particularly proud. But our universities-- both the University of Alabama and the University of Louisiana, LSU-- are tremendous universities that have an extraordinary reach across all disciplines, and their football teams showed that great spirit on the field. I want to remind my colleagues that if LSU is victorious this weekend against western Kentucky, the Tigers will advance to 10 and 0. This would be the first time they had done that since their national championship in 1958. So you know how excited our whole State is. I also want to say the great news from this weekend is, whatever recession there was in Alabama, I think it is over because of the stimulus brought to their State by our crazy LSU fans who started to arrive on Wednesday, I understand. No one can tailgate like we can tailgate. So I think if they check their economic indicators this Monday afternoon, they all will be straight up from the good money and good fun that was had in Alabama. But, seriously, just in conclusion, Les Miles and our team are just unbelievable, and our LSU team is just terrific. But both teams played their hearts out, and I congratulate the men on the field that night. It was an exciting game to watch, and according to the ratings the LSU- Alabama game drew the second highest rating of any CBS regular season college football broadcast since the network began its tracking. So, again, I thank my colleagues for being good sports, and we are on the road to the national championship. We may see them again. I yield the floor.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I rise today to speak about the significance of the month of November, which just began. About 10 years ago, Members of Congress decided to designate November as ``National Adoption Month.'' I think it was probably because November is sort of the beginning of the holiday season, with Thanksgiving and then Christmas to follow in December. So it is a time when Americans from all parts of our country take stock, slow down, and think about how important family is. We saw that a little bit last night with Halloween and all the children and their parents trick-or-treating throughout our Nation. Then, as Thanksgiving approaches, it becomes even more significant as families from all different walks of life gather around tables. Some tables are very plentiful and others are rather sparse based on the economic strength of the family. Nonetheless, many families gather for these holidays. It reminds us that there are over 500,000 children in our country today who are without family. They have been separated from their families, sometimes for good cause, but it is all tragic. Children have to be separated from families that abuse or grossly neglect them, and they have to be placed temporarily until we, as government officials and nonprofit organizations, can do a better job of either strengthening and reuniting those children with their families and trying to heal the families or trying to promote another family for that child or that sibling group. We do much in Congress both collectively as well as individually in our own way to try to bring attention to the fact that there are orphans in America. Of the 500,000 children in foster care, about 100,000 have had parental rights terminated because the State has decided that reunification is not possible because children would be harmed irreparably by going back to that family. So we work to try to find another family, a better family to raise children. Governments do a lot of things well, but one that governments don't do well is raise children. Moms and dads and parents and families and responsible adults do that, not government. So these children, then, are in the temporary care of the government, but it is our hope they can be placed as soon as possible into the loving arms of families. I have met hundreds of families who have adopted, including my own. It is a blessing to my husband and to me. I have just recently met a family from Minnesota. The parents already have several biological children. When they found out about the death of a woman and her husband in the Philippines that resulted in nine children of that family being orphaned, they stepped up and adopted all nine of those children from the Philippines. Because of the good work of Senator Klobuchar and others, they were able to bring that whole sibling group to the United States. I could go on and on and tell my colleagues the most remarkable stories. As Members travel around the Capitol complex this month, they will be very happy to see, in the Rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building, a very special exhibit. It is the National Heart Gallery Exhibit. About some 10 years ago, or maybe even less, some great nonprofits got together and said: What can we do to help show Americans that these are beautiful children with lots of potential just waiting for a chance for a family to call their own? As a result, photographers donated their time to take beautiful portraits of these children so they don't look like just mug shots but beautiful portraits of these children, and some of them are going to be on display. This is an opportunity for us to become more familiar with how many different kinds of children are available for adoption. I say that as sensitively as I can. These are children who are waiting for a family. They would love to be adopted. They want to have a family forever. A person doesn't just need a family until they are 18; a person needs a family forever. A young lady would like a father to walk her down the aisle when she is married or she would like her mother to show up at the baptism of her child. A person would like a place to go home to even in their forties and fifties for Thanksgiving. So we don't think anyone is too old to be adopted, and everyone needs a family. So we will see pictures of these children. Let me make a couple of other points about this national exhibit. It has traveled around to many cities. Perhaps it has been to the Presiding Officer's State of New Hampshire, I don't know. We would be happy to have it in Louisiana. But it is in the Nation's Capital for this 10th anniversary. These numbers do sound staggering: 500,000 in foster care and 100,000 waiting to be adopted. Let me put it in this perspective. There are over 100 million children in the United States--one-third of our population--between the ages of roughly zero and 13. So 100,000 is a relatively small number. There are roughly 300,000 churches in America. So if just one family within three churches--just one family among three churches--decided to step up and say they will take a child into their home, we would have no more orphans in the United States, which is our goal. Our goal is for every child in the United States and in the world, if they are separated from their birth family, to find within a short period of time a home to call their own, preferably with a relative in kinship care but, if not, somewhere in the community. I don't think this is a difficult or an impossible task. It seems overwhelming, but when we think of the assets of the world and we juxtapose the assets and strengths of the world against this particular problem, it is most certainly doable. If we can go to the Moon, if we can explore science and space, we most certainly can put our good minds and senses together to figure out a way that governments can work better with nonprofits to make this happen. I wish to conclude by recognizing what I believe is one of the extraordinary organizations in the world doing this work, and that is the Dave Thomas Foundation. Many people may remember Dave Thomas as the founder of Wendy's, but I remember Dave Thomas as a child who came out of the foster care system--or a man who came out of the foster care system; I did not know him as a child. But I can remember him--he has passed, of course--coming to Congress advocating on behalf of foster care children, of which he was one. Now, he beat the odds. Not only did he go on to be successful and go on to create one of the most successful businesses in America today and perhaps even in the world, but as he has passed, his foundation carries on that work. They have just released a wonderful report which will come more into focus in the coming weeks. The bottom line is that through the work of this foundation, they have come up with new strategies--not complicated, quite simple, child- focused, recruitment strategies that each and every one of our States can employ or deploy and use without a lot more expense to see significant increases in the number of older children--particularly children with mental challenges and emotional challenges--adopted. In fact, they have increased, according to the study. Research shows that children in foster care served by Wendy's Wonderful Kids are 1.7 times more likely and children with mental disorders are 3 times more likely to be adopted using these different strategies. So, in conclusion, this is National Adoption Month. We have the Heart Gallery in the Capitol and in Washington with pictures of some of the most extraordinary children. Their families may be broken, their families may be dysfunctional, but it doesn't mean they are. It means they are full of potential, ready for a family to call them their own, and to step up and to live up to their potential. There are many organizations, from this nonprofit to Wendy's Wonderful Kids, the Dave Thomas Foundation, and hundreds of others working to solve this problem. So I thank my colleagues. Many have been very active this last year in this regard. I wanted to honor the Heart Gallery and the great work of the organizations that have put that together. It has made a meaningful difference, making these children, through these beautiful photographs, very real to all of us so we know they are not just statistics but they are children with heartbeats and dreams and hopes and aspirations, and they would make wonderful additions to many of our families. Thank you, Madam President. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I will do my best to start the pace around here. I am going to ask for a voice vote, and I would hope people would give a shout out for a ``yea'' vote for a narrow exception to a wetlands project for nonprofits with a permit to build. That is what this amendment does. There is no opposition. I ask for the yeas and nays.