Barbara Mikulski

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I know we are debating here the nature of the questions that should be asked on the census. Our colleague, Senator Carper of Delaware, in a matter of minutes is holding a hearing on the census. At that hearing, he is going to seek some clarification on this and report back to us. As we continue the debate on that amendment, I also want to bring to the attention of the Senate some of the very important things that are in this bill. We want to move this bill forward. I want to move this bill forward. We will dispose of, in an orderly, civil, rational way, the pending amendment of Senators Vitter and Bennett on the census. But we also want to move this bill forward. We want to do everything we can so that this bill passes by the end of this week so we can go to conference and be ready to move very important funding forward, particularly in the area of law enforcement. This is absolutely a very compelling need. When we think about law enforcement, yes, we can think about law enforcement with illegal aliens. Yes, we can also think about law enforcement with violent criminals. We do deal with that in our bill. But we are also very much focused on white-collar crime. One of the areas on which we have worked on a bipartisan basis on this bill is the issue of mortgage and financial fraud. So, as we are debating amendments that are controversial, I want the people of America to know we are on their side and we can do it on a bipartisan basis. One of the great pleasures of being on the committee is my ranking member--or the vice chairman, some people might call him--Senator Shelby is the ranking member on the Banking Committee. We put our heads together on how we can fight mortgage and financial fraud. He brought great expertise from his work on the Banking Committee. We now are looking at what we can do, by putting the money in the Federal checkbook, to go after those engaged in predatory practices, deceptive marketing and lending schemes. Mr. President, you know from your background as a legislator and community leader that where there is need, there is often greed and often scams and scum doing it. We see it in the mortgage business. There are so many unsuspecting people who want just a piece of the American dream who were lured into some of the most deceptive practices that we have not seen in our country for several decades. They do have names. They are antiseptic names, but they mean a lot: predatory practices, deceptive marketing, lending schemes, flipping. The consequences have been enormous. During the past year, financial institutions have written off $500 billion in losses because of fraud in the subprime mortgage industry--$500 billion in losses. That is a lot when you think about what we have had to do to try to stabilize housing, to try to stabilize our mortgage industry. Numerous publicly traded financial institutions have declared bankruptcy or have been taken over by the Federal Government. I don't mean to imply that being taken over by the Feds was all due to the fact that they had been involved in fraudulent schemes, but it is time to say: No more. What we want to be able to do is to go after the scammers who caused Americans to lose their homes, their life savings, and their dignity. Yes, I worry about the financial institutions, but I worry about people who put their money in the bank or took these loans that caused them, through balloon payments, excessive interest rates, two, three, four, five mortgages, all of which were unable to be sustained, to lose their homes. We on this committee say and we want our Senate colleagues to say: No more scamming and scheming. No more preying on hard-working American families. What did the Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee do? Senator Mikulski, you don't have to use a lot of rhetoric, but will it take a lot of money? We are going to do it. We are going to put $437 million in the Justice Department to combat financial fraud and be able to do what we need to do. This is a $63 million increase over fiscal year 2009. We are going to hire new agents, new attorneys, and new special support staff--people who will be skilled in an exciting new field called forensic accounting. Our FBI is going to play a major role in this. I talked personally with Director Miller about it, as has Senator Shelby. We have gotten the FBI's commitment to really beef this up. In our own hometown of Baltimore, the U.S. attorney has put together a special task force to be able to deal with this. What does it mean? First of all, in the Federal checkbook, we put in $75 million. This is going to increase the number of these mortgage fraud task forces around the country. We have a very excellent one under Rod Rosenstein, working in Baltimore, in our State, right this minute. But we also wanted to be able to go into States with large rural populations and others that right now do not have them. Specifically, the funding will be used for the FBI to hire, as I said, new agents and forensic accountants. This is highly specialized, but there are people with backgrounds in accounting with special training in forensics. It is like the CSI not only says ``hi'' to a test tube but says ``hi'' to the kind of accounting that will go after these crooks. It is amazing how they can look at the books and know how people have been cheating. We want the agents to be able to detect and investigate and capture these white-collar criminals, but we also want our U.S. attorneys to prosecute complex financial fraud. We want to be able to increase prosecutions by adding U.S. attorneys. We are adding several U.S. attorneys and support staff around the country to be able to establish the task force and work in the task force. We are very proud of our U.S. attorneys, and I believe our Attorney General, Eric Holder, is helping to restore the integrity of our U.S. attorneys around the country. We believe in Maryland we have a very high-value functioning U.S. Attorney's Office, but they are swamped. They are going after everything from drug dealers to other violent criminals, and we also want them to have the resources to go after the white-collar crime. This is a crime. It is not as if just because it is white collar we often don't equate it as a crime, but for the Criminal Division at Justice, we are also encouraging them to step up their activity. Again, we are adding attorneys and support staff and putting the money behind it to be able to do it. We are also doing increased work in the Civil Division to fund initiatives and to also litigate these cases and make sure we not only detect them, we not only prosecute them, but we have the lawyers and the support staff to do it. Support staff are paralegals, clerical people. But again, it is a unique kind of crime. You have to come with multiple skills. You have to come being a great lawyer or a great person who is part of the legal team. You have to have strong litigating skills, but you also have to be well versed in financial services and accounting practices. So we want to be able to bring them on and be able to keep them as we go through many of these other cases. These are the kinds of skills we need to not only go after white- collar crime but also violent crime. Remember, we got Al Capone, not in the act of robbing a bank but cheating on his taxes. It was that brilliant FBI generation where you had to be either a lawyer or accountant to work for the FBI. Now, again, lawyers and accountants are welcome at the FBI. But they caught Al Capone cheating on his income tax. It was one of the ways we could nail him. I am not saying we are going to be nailing people for cheating on their income tax, but we are going to nail people who cheated and schemed and gouged against innocent people who wanted to buy a home-- through acting like loan sharks, having phony ads, having fine print so that you bought a home in the large print and you lost it in the fine print. We want to make sure those people know how to read the fine print and know what it means. While we are debating this bill and we are looking at those things that are going to focus on topics outside the scope of this bill, we want people to know we are on their side. For everybody who is stretched very thin financially, trying to keep their head above water, and trying to buy their home, we want them, at least when they go to get a loan or to refinance it, to be dealing with honest, reputable dealers. Let's foreclose on the bad guys and stop the foreclosure on homes. I yield the floor.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Sorry I cannot stand. As the Senator from Ohio knows, of course, from the chair I am sitting in I have become an expert on health care from the wheelchair up. I broke my ankle coming out of church a couple weeks ago. But I would like to ask the Senator from Ohio to yield for a few questions. I was taken by the three vignettes he just told. They are fairly representative of what I get from Maryland. I would like to talk about the young girl who had graduated and was deluged now with the debt of medical bills and the public option. Is the Senator familiar with the fact that there are 47 million uninsured in our country? Does the Senator from Ohio know how many of those are between the ages of 18 and 30?

Ms. MIKULSKI. Well, again, for background in continuing the discussion. That is 35 percent of the uninsured. So is the Senator aware that if we followed through with the HELP Committee bill and the public option and also private sector competing with the public option offer, a reasonably no frills, reasonable cost health insurance bill for young people, especially young people's benefit, that we would cover 35 percent of the uninsured?

Ms. MIKULSKI. Can I go to the man who sands floors for a living, the small businessperson whom we worry about who is a self-employed person. Under the Senator's concept of a public option, is it true then that whether it is he or a florist, maybe a real estate agent, that one of the reasons they could afford it is they could go into the health exchange or the public option--would the public option not only offer insurance but offer bargaining power for better prices on insurance? They could bargain for better prices from hospitals, doctors, and pharmaceuticals?

Ms. MIKULSKI. In other words, why would a little guy or gal not only want to be able to buy in, not only would the price be exorbitant, or is it that it would be an Uncle Sam's club that is buying things at bulk rate that enables them to afford the services?

Ms. MIKULSKI. I thank the Senator.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I wish to thank the Senator from Utah for his remarks. We have essentially three space Senators on the floor--the distinguished Senator from Florida, our Presiding Officer, who has actually been an astronaut, and you can ask him if he wants to go into space with the lowest bidder. I think there are certain things that one can't pick who the lowest bidder will be. I think there is much to be debated. We have the Augustine report, on which there has been a hearing, and our bill, the CJS bill, we fully fund the reliable transportation system that would be developed by our government. If the President were to change that, that would be a new direction and a new appropriation on which there would be tremendous debate and discussion. So I wish to assure the Senator from Utah and the Presiding Officer, who often speaks for the brave men and women who go into space, that what the CJS bill does is fully fund, No. 1, what we need now to make sure our space shuttle is safe and fit for duty as it comes to the end in this decade of its usable service. Our No. 1 priority will always be the safety of the astronauts, not the bottom line. The second thing is that in our appropriations we disagreed with the House. We actually put money in the Federal checkbook to develop the new programs, the new technologies for the next generation of reliable space transportation vehicles, and it follows very much the framework that the Senator from Utah has outlined. So we look forward, once again, to working on our space program in a bipartisan way. One of the joys of chairing this committee is that when it comes to our National Space and Aeronautics Agency, we work on a bipartisan basis. The Senator from Utah might be interested to know, when I first came to the Senate and went on the then VA-HUD Committee that funded NASA, the ranking member was Jake Garn, your colleague. As we all recall with fondness, Senator Garn was himself also a Senator astronaut. I must say it was Senator Garn who--I was a Goddard gal; Goddard is in Maryland. But space is about space, not about an individual State. Through his excellent workmanship, his patience, his guidance, I came to know the space program. Within 2 years, I happened to, with the retirement of Senator Proxmire, take over the committee. I could not have been an effective Senator had it not been for the wise guidance I received from Jake Garn. We did it because we worked together. So this Senator has a real fondness for the Senator from Utah speaking about the space program. But I only want to reiterate how, when we work together, it is bipartisan, it is in the interests of our country, it is about the stars and the galaxies and the planets, but it is also about developing that new technology that creates the new jobs. I am here sitting in a wheelchair wearing a space boot. I look like I am Sally Ride's advance woman. But it is a special device. Many materials were developed through our space program. It is an innovative technology, where you go beyond the outdated casts that neither expanded nor contracted during the day that this one can do. So this technology externally protects me from, quite frankly, anybody treading on me, if you can believe it, but it protects me. Internally, it has the genius devices that can deal with either the contraction or the expansion of your leg in the course of a day. All of that came out of our space program. So it is not only about Senator Barbara Mikulski and her space boot but all over we have been able to develop new medical devices because of our space program: digital mammography, saving the lives of women; a space boot that makes sure that after you have had the services of a talented and gifted surgeon, your leg is also protected. So you better believe I am going to protect the space program as much as the space program helped protect my leg today. So I wanted to let the Senator know that. We are going to be voting in about 5 minutes on a Vitter amendment. I know there is another one that the Senator from Utah has cosponsored, which is going to be tomorrow. Right now, we are going to vote in a few minutes on sanctuary cities. I am going to yield the floor to the Senator from New Jersey, who is very knowledgeable on this topic. I yield to Senator Menendez.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I am so proud the Senate will confirm Maryland's own Thomas Perez to be Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. I commend the Senate for its action. The Civil Rights Division has gone far too long without leadership that achieves its goals. Secretary Perez is well suited for this crucial position. As Maryland's secretary of labor, Mr. Perez inherited a department that had been neglected and minimized. He quickly took control by reenergizing and reinvigorating the Department and I have no doubt that he will do the same for the Civil Rights Division. The Civil Rights Division was created in 1957 and was a key force in desegregation. The division was charged with protecting minority rights including the right to vote. However, a division that was once a source of pride at the Department of Justice was decimated and caught up in political hiring under the previous administration. Civil rights enforcement was put on the back bench and productivity plummeted. Now more than ever the Department of Justice needs someone to restore morale to hardworking career employees and public confidence in Department. Thomas Perez is the right man for the job. Thomas Perez meets my criteria for nominees: competence, commitment to the mission of the agency, and integrity. His competence to serve in this position is unquestionable. Mr. Perez graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, and has amassed extensive experience in civil rights laws as a chief of the Civil Rights Division and Director of Civil Rights Office for Health and Human Services. His commitment to the agency was demonstrated by his work as a civil rights attorney at the Department, where he secured convictions in a high profile race- motivated hate crime in Lubbock, TX, involving defendants who went on a killing spree directed at African Americans. Lastly, his integrity stems from his upbringing in a hard-working immigrant family. It was demonstrated as he prosecuted public officials for corruption and violators of our Nation's laws. I am confident that Mr. Perez will get the Civil Rights Division back on track with enforcing this country's civil rights laws. I have no doubt that he will combat discrimination, protect minorities, and hold violators accountable. Today we restored our reputation of embodying this country's values of tolerance and equal rights and protection for all. I thank my colleagues for their strong support of his confirmation.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today I honor a group of women who have made a lasting contribution to American history. They are the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. Who are the WASP? They were the first women trained in American military aircraft. They were trailblazers and true patriots. They are women like Elaine Harmon, from Baltimore. They came from all walks of life. They were students, secretaries, nurses, daughters, wives. One was a nun. They shared the same goal: to contribute to the American war effort. Between 1942 and 1944, the 1,102 WASP trained in Texas, then went on to fly noncombat military missions so that all their male counterparts could be deployed to combat. These women piloted every kind of military aircraft, and logged 60 million miles flying missions across the United States. Thirty-eight of them died in the line of duty. These intrepid women served their country with courage and valor. But for too long, their country did not serve them. They were never awarded full military status and were ineligible for officer status. They faced strong cultural and gender bias and received unequal pay. Following the war, they were told to pay their own way home. It was not until 1977-- more than 30 years later--that the WASP were granted veterans' status. Thirteen of these brave women hail from Maryland. Four are still alive today: Elaine Harmon, Nancy Magruder, Florence Marston, and V. Scotty Gough. I am proud to honor them today. Born in Baltimore, Elaine Harmon began flying at College Park Airport while attending University of Maryland. An ad in the local college newspaper for the Civilian Pilot Training Program piqued her interest. The program required a parent's consent. Knowing her mother would never agree to it, she sent the form to her father instead. He signed it and mailed it back to her with the $40 tuition fee. The family never spoke of it again. After Pearl Harbor, Elaine and her husband supported the war efforts in ways they could. Her husband desperately wanted to join the Army Air Force, but wasn't able to due to a constriction in his aorta. He learned to repair aircraft instruments and moved to Biak Island, West Papua, to locally repair the instruments, thus saving several weeks in repair for transit. Nearly 5 years after learning to fly, Elaine's husband suggested she join the WASP. She earned her wings as a WASP in the class of 44-9. After completing her WASP training, Elaine was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, near Las Vegas, NV. There she flew BT-13s and B-17s. BT-13s were used to allow pilots to practice instrument flying. Elaine would pilot the aircraft, freeing her male counterparts to practice their instrument flying. It was a daunting task. The technology was different then. The men had to sit in the backseat, under a dark hood which obscured their view of everything but the instruments in front of them. They could only do it because they had a great pilot in the front ensuring their safety. After the WASP were disbanded in December 1944, Elaine made her way back to Baltimore. She didn't stay long. Her mother was embarrassed, ashamed that Elaine would participate in what was seen at the time as an unlady-like endeavor. So Elaine scraped together what skimpy savings she had and bought a one-way ticket to California. With her husband still overseas and with less than $30 in her pocket, she eventually found a job as an air traffic controller in Oakland. Thirty years passed before Elaine Harmon was offered veterans' status. Thirty years before her service to the nation was recognized. But like the other WASP, Elaine Harmon believed in the cause she served. She knew the obstacles, but chose her own way. In the end, she paved the way for the armed services to lift the ban on women attending military flight training in the 1970s, and eventually led to women being fully integrated as pilots in the U.S. military. Today women can fly every type of aircraft and mission, from fighter jets in combat to the shuttle in space flight. Women like Elaine Harmon made this possible. The WASP were trailblazers and true patriots. We owe them our ``thank you''--not in words, but in deeds. For their courage, service and dedication to our nation, the WASP have earned the most distinguished honor Congress can give: the Congressional Gold Medal. Now the bill to give WASP Congress' top award has been passed and signed into law. The process of designing, casting, and presenting these medals had begun. I look forward to the day, very soon, when I can present Elaine Harmon and all the other WASP this medal they have earned and so long deserved.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today I honor a group of women who have made a lasting contribution to American history. They are the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. Who are the WASP? They were the first women trained in American military aircraft. They were trailblazers and true patriots. They are women like Virginia Scotty Gough. They came from all walks of life. They were students, secretaries, nurses, daughters, wives. One was a nun. They shared the same goal: to contribute to the American war effort. Between 1942 and 1944, the 1,102 WASP trained in Texas, then went on to fly noncombat military missions so that all their male counterparts could be deployed to combat. These women piloted every kind of military aircraft, and logged 60 million miles flying missions across the United States. Thirty-eight of them died in the line of duty. These intrepid women served their country with courage and valor. But for too long, their country did not serve them. They were never awarded full military status and were ineligible for officer status. They faced strong cultural and gender bias and received unequal pay. Following the war, they were told to pay their own way home. It was not until 1977-- more than 30 years later--that the WASP were granted veterans' status. Thirteen of these brave women hail from Maryland. Four are still alive today: Virginia Scotty Gough, Florence Marston, Elaine Harmon, and Nancy Magruder. I am proud to honor them today. Virginia Bradley Gough, known as Scotty, grew up in California. She learned to fly at age 16 and has avidly pursed that dream for many years. In 1943, when she learned about the WASP program, she was eager to join. But her young age prevented her from immediately enrolling in the training. As is so indicative of the WASP, she didn't waste the year. Instead, she earned money to continue flying by making parachute jumps to attract people to the airport. After completing her WASP training as part of the class of 44-7, Scotty was stationed in the engineering department at Williams Army Air Base in Chandler, AZ. There she served as an engineering test pilot, testing aircraft after major engine overhauls and other major repairs. She served as a check pilot to the aircraft, ensuring repairs and fixes were safe before an aircraft was released to combat. It was dangerous work, requiring a devoted and precise pilot. After the WASP were unceremoniously disbanded in December 1944, Scotty Gough returned to Los Angeles and flew Luscombe aircraft from the factory to west coast distributors, making the most of her well- honed piloting skills. Many years later, Scotty Gough and another WASP established the WASP exhibit at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. I am proud that Virginia ``Scotty'' Gough now calls Maryland home. Like the other WASP, Scotty Gough was a trailblazer and true patriot. She paved the way for the armed services to lift the ban on women attending military flight training in the 1970s, and eventually led to women being fully integrated as pilots in the U.S. military. We owe her our ``thank you''--not in words, but in deeds. Her story should have never been a forgotten chapter in American history. It will no longer be. I was proud to fight for legislation to award the WASP the most distinguished honor Congress can give: the Congressional Gold Medal. I am proud the bill passed quickly and has now been signed into law. The process of designing, casting, and presenting these medals has begun. I look forward to the day, very soon, when I can present Scotty Gough and all the other WASP this medal they have earned and so long deserved.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today I honor a group of women who have made a lasting contribution to American history. They are the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. Who are the WASP? They were the first women trained in American military aircraft. They were trailblazers and true patriots. They are women like Florence Marston. They came from all walks of life. They were students, secretaries, nurses, daughters, wives. One was a nun. They shared the same goal: to contribute to the American war effort. Between 1942 and 1944, the 1,102 WASP trained in Texas, then went on to fly noncombat military missions so that all their male counterparts could be deployed to combat. These women piloted every kind of military aircraft, and logged 60 million miles flying missions across the United States. Thirty-eight of them died in the line of duty. These intrepid women served their county with courage and valor. But for too long, their country did not serve them. They were never awarded full military status and were ineligible for officer status. They faced strong cultural and gender bias and received unequal pay. Following the war, they were told to pay their own way home. It was not until 1977-- more than 30 years later--that the WASP were granted veterans' status. Thirteen of these brave women hail from Maryland. Four are still alive today: Florence Marston, Elaine Harmon, Nancy Magruder, and V. Scotty Gough. I am proud to honor them today. Florence Niemiec Marston, born in Buffalo, NY, volunteered to enter WASP training at an early age. She paid her own way to get to the training site in Texas, and earned her wings as part of the class of 43-6. After graduation, her talents and bravery were needed in several duty locations: South Plains Army Air Base, Dodge City Army Air Base, and Pueblo Army Air Base. At South Plains, Florence flew B-25s and C-60s, and trained to tow CG-4 gliders mostly at low altitude and at night. It was a risky and arduous mission. Later, Florence was selected to transfer to Dodge City Army Air Base and fly the B-26. The B-26 was a difficult aircraft to fly. It was called the ``widowmaker,'' for it was notorious for its number of early accidents. Only about 100 WASP would learn to fly this aircraft. Florence Marston was one of them. While stationed at Dodge City, Florence Marston flew B-26s on tow- target missions. This intense mission meant towing a target behind the aircraft, a target that training aerial gunners would practice shooting using live ammunition. It was one of the most dangerous missions the WASP would be asked to perform. Florence mastered it with courage, skill and dedication. Later, after being transferred to Pueblo Army Air Base, Florence would pilot B-24s, B-25s, UC-78s, and L-5s, primarily in administrative piloting duties. In all, Florence Marston piloted ten different aircraft types as a WASP. Like the other WASP, Florence Marston was a trailblazer and true patriot. She paved the way for the armed services to lift the ban on women attending military flight training in the 1970s, and eventually led to women being fully integrated as pilots in the U.S. military. We owe her our ``thank you''--not in words, but in deeds. Her story should have never been a forgotten chapter in American history. It will no longer be. I was proud to fight for legislation to award the WASP the most distinguished honor Congress can give: the Congressional Gold Medal. Now the bill has been passed and signed into law. The process of designing, casting, and presenting these medals has begun. And I look forward to the day, very soon, when I can present Florence Marston and all the other WASP this medal they have earned and so long deserved.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today I honor a group of women who have made a lasting contribution to American history. They are the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. Who are the WASP? They were the first women trained in American military aircraft. They were trailblazers and true patriots. They are women like Nancy Magruder. They came from all walks of life. They were students, secretaries, nurses, daughters, wives. One was a nun. They shared the same goal: to contribute to the American war effort. Between 1942 and 1944, the 1,102 WASP trained in Texas, then went on to fly noncombat military missions so that all their male counterparts could be deployed to combat. These women piloted every kind of military aircraft, and logged 60 million miles flying missions across the United States. Thirty-eight of them died in the line of duty. These intrepid women served their county with courage and valor. But for too long, their country did not serve them. They were never awarded full military status and were ineligible for officer status. They faced strong cultural and gender bias and received unequal pay. Following the war, they were told to pay their own way home. It was not until 1977-- more than 30 years later--that the WASP were granted veterans' status. Thirteen of these brave women hail from Maryland. Four are still alive today: Nancy Magruder, Florence Marston, Elaine Harmon, and V. Scotty Gough. I am proud to honor them today. Iola ``Nancy'' Clay Magruder earned her wings as part of class 44-7. After graduation, she was stationed at Enid Army Air Base in Oklahoma. Her mission was to train aviation cadets to become pilots and commissioned officers, an honor that would not be extended to the WASP during WWII. While at Enid Army Air Base, Nancy flew utility missions, or testing missions, to ensure the aircraft were safe for the cadets. She also flew ferrying missions of the BT-13s and BT-15s. In all, Nancy would fly five different aircraft variants: the BT-13; BT-15; PT-17; and the B-18 ``Bolo,'' the most numerous long range bomber of WWII. Like the other WASP, Nancy was unceremoniously disbanded in December 1944. The promise that she would be militarized and become part of the Army was not kept. Still, Nancy wanted to serve. She would join the U.S. Air Force Reserve and earned the rank of second lieutenant. Nancy's story is a story of dedication to this county. She risked her life in service to our nation so that the rest of us may live in freedom. She did so without the promise of recognition or pay. And she paved the way for the armed services to lift the ban on women attending military flight training in the 1970s, and eventually led to women being fully integrated as pilots in the U.S. military. We owe her our ``thank you''--not in words, but in deeds. For too long, the WASP story of service and sacrifice has been left untold. I'm proud to have fought to right this wrong by sponsoring legislation to award Nancy Magruder and her fellow WASP the most distinguished honor Congress can give: the Congressional Gold Medal. Now the bill has been passed and signed into law. The process of designing, casting, and presenting these medals has begun. And I look forward to the day, very soon, when I can present Nancy Magruder and all the other WASP this medal they have earned and so long deserved.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today I honor and congratulate three outstanding Federal employees from Maryland--Thomas Alexander Waldmann, Patricia Guerry and Deborah Jin--who have recently been awarded Service to America medals in recognition for their great work. Our Federal employees are on the front lines every day, working hard for America. Their commitment to public service makes life better for us all. I am proud to honor these three terrific Federal employees from Maryland today. For the past five decades, Dr. Thomas Alexander Waldmann has devoted himself to performing cutting-edge science at the National Institutes of Health. His work has resulted in great advances in treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis, various types of cancer and AIDS. Dr. Waldmann's commitment to transforming scientific research to save and improve lives has earned him the nickname ``renaissance scientist'' by his peers. His seminal research extends from the study of the immune system to clinical trials of immunotherapeutic agents, which help your immune system perform better. His innovative use of clinical trials has helped transform the way trials are used to treat patients, and has led to the development of treatments for fatal forms of leukemia and lymphoma and for multiple sclerosis. Dr. Patricia Guerry of the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center is an innovator in combating food-borne illnesses throughout the world. After the discovery of the most common cause of food-borne illnesses, the Campylobacter microbe, in the late 1970s, researchers struggled to understand it and develop vaccines to combat it. But Dr. Guerry was unwavering in her quest to study the Campylobacter microbe, overcoming many barriers and working with limited resources to develop a promising new vaccine that may be only a couple years away from human trials. Over the past 3 years, Dr. Guerry and her group have had impressive success in advancing a vaccine, working at a breakneck pace. Dr. Guerry's success is especially promising for American troops abroad, who are particularly vulnerable to food poisoning. Dr. Deborah Jin is another pioneering researcher. A research team leader at the JILA-National Institute of Standards and Technology joint institute in Boulder, CO, Deborah and her team have made great advances in the field of physics, including the creation of a new form of matter, a major discovery in the race toward superconductivity. Superconductivity--using extremely low temperatures to move electrons through a magnetic field--can potentially lead to breakthroughs in energy efficiency and computing. Deborah's team raced against six other teams worldwide to be the first to make this discovery. These three Marylanders exemplify the very best that our Federal employees have to offer. But don't think that there aren't thousands of stories like this across the country, from Atlanta to Silver Spring. They work hard so that the American people have a government they can count on. I will continue to stand sentry so that Federal employees get the pay and benefits they have earned and the job security they deserve.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, had I been present, I would have voted in favor of amendment No. 2355 offered by Senator Johanns.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I wish to speak about Senator Ted Kennedy. Clearly, I would have been proud to be on my feet to give such a testimonial, but as many of my colleagues know, I had a fall a few weeks ago coming out of church. I am ready to be at my duty station, but I can't quite stand to be 4 foot 11 and give these remarks. I do wish to speak and speak from my heart, speak from my memory, and speak with my affection. I have known Ted Kennedy a very long time. He has been my friend, my pal, my comrade in arms. I have enjoyed everything from working with him on big policy issues to sailing off the coast of Hyannis. I have been with him in his hideaway while we strategized on how to move an agenda of empowerment, and I have danced at his famous birthday parties. We have had a good time together. I remember one of the first parties was the theme from the 1960s, and I came with a big wig, hoping I would look like Jackie Kennedy. Ted was a chunky Rhett Butler because Vicki and he were coming as Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara. As we jitterbugged, I said: Do you think I look like Jackie? He said: Well, nice try. The last party we went to was a movie theme, and I came with one of those big bouffants. It was to be a movie theme, as I say, and I looked like something out of ``Hair Spray.'' I will not tell you his comments, but, again, he said: Your hair gets bigger with every one. I can't wait until my 80th. Well, unfortunately, there will not be an 80th birthday party, but we will always carry with us the joy of friendship with Ted Kennedy. It is with a heavy heart that I give this salute to him. I first met him as a young social worker. I testified before his committee. As a young social worker, I was there to talk about a brandnew program called Medicare, about what was working, what were the lessons learned--once again from being on the ground; what was happening in the streets and neighborhoods--and how to help people get the medical and social services they needed. He listened, he was intent, and he asked many questions. Little did I know I would join him in the Senate to fight for Medicare, to fight for health care, and to fight for those senior citizens. Similar to so many others of my generation, I was inspired by the Kennedys to pursue a life in public service. I chose the field of social work and then went into politics because I saw politics as social work with power. As a Congresswoman, I was on the Energy and Commerce Committee. That was a counterpart to what Ted was doing in the Senate. We got to know each other at conferences working together. Those were the great days of bipartisanship. As we would come in from the Energy and Commerce Committee, there would be Ted Kennedy and Jacob Javits working to make sure we could pass good legislation. I saw there that good legislation came from good ideas that could be pursued with good humor in an atmosphere of civility. As we got to know each other, I admired his verve, his tenacity, and he admired me because I could dish it out with the best of them as well. When he ran for President in 1980, he asked me to nominate him at the Democratic Convention. I was thrilled and honored to do so. Remember the drama of that. Jimmy Carter was an incumbent President. Ted Kennedy was an upstart. I backed Kennedy. Well, it didn't work out and Ted called me and said: I am withdrawing from the race. We are going to support President Carter 100 percent. But though you are not going to nominate me for President, I hope you will still introduce me at the convention. I said: Absolutely. But one day I hope to be able to nominate you. That night, as I took the podium, it was the famous speech that everyone remembers Ted Kennedy giving about the work going on, the cause enduring, the hope still living, and the dream never dying. What was amazing about that speech was the way Ted Kennedy used a moment in his life--which some viewed as a defeat--as a time to redefine himself in public service and to claim the mantle of being one of the best Senators America has ever seen. He used that speech not as a retreat but as a reaffirmation and a recommitment of what he would do. That night I did introduce him. While all my colleagues were in Boston, and I watched the funeral from my rehabilitation room, mourning his death and feeling sad that I could not join with my colleagues there, I had that speech and I read it then and, as I looked at it, I realized I could give it again and again. Because when I took the floor of the 1980 convention, I first said: I am not here for Barb Mikulski. And I am here today for all those people who would like to say what they knew about Teddy Kennedy, and I am going to say some of those words I said then that would be appropriate for now. I said: I am here on behalf of a lot of people who want to be here but can't: Old women desperately trying to use their Social Security checks to pay for food and medicine and yet frightened about their energy bills. Students whose tuition has gone up so much they are going to have to work two jobs just to stay in school. I spoke of small businesspeople trying to just keep their doors open and the returning war vet who is unemployed, and that while his brother has signed up for a tour of duty, he is standing in the unemployment line. I said during that speech that, day after day, Edward Kennedy has spoken out for those people; that he has been there talking about the economy, energy policy, and jobs, long before many others. I talked about how Edward Kennedy said that when Black freedom riders were being attacked and beaten, he was the one who fought for racial justice and helped to get the Voting Rights Act through. I said that as a young social worker, working in the neighborhoods during the dark Nixon years, and wondering how old people were going to get the services they needed, Ted Kennedy introduced the first nutrition program for the elderly--a program that guaranteed senior citizens at least one hot meal a day. It was Ted Kennedy, I said, who won the passage of programs such as neighborhood health centers, who fought the war on cancer, who led the fight to save nurses' scholarships and save them he did. In his fight for legislation, he was always there. In my fight to help battered women, Senator Kennedy was one of the first to be a strong and active ally. He said he knew very early on that all American women work but that too many women work for too little or are paid unequal pay for their work. I said then, and I say again, Ted Kennedy wanted to change Social Security to make it fairer for women and to extend the Equal Rights Amendment so we would be included in the Constitution. It was amazing the issues he fought for then and that he continued to fight for all his life. In the time I knew him, I knew him not just as a news clip, but I found him to be truly gallant in public and in private--caring about others and modest about himself, always about grace, courage, and valor. When I came to the Senate, I was the only Democratic woman, and he was there for me, but I saw how he was there for so many other people. In 2004, when we were in Boston, Ted Kennedy and I had lunch in the North End. It was one of our favorite things, to get together for a meal and for conversation. What I realized then--as we enjoyed ourselves with big plates of antipasto; always vowing that we would eat more of the salad and less of the pasta--as we got up and left and walked around the North End, is that his best ideas came from the people. It was his passion for people. I knew he represented those brainy people in Cambridge who went to Harvard and who often came up through the Kennedy School with those great ideas. But as I walked around the neighborhoods with him, I saw he actually listened to people, trailed by a staff person who was actually taking notes. As we walked down the street, there was the man who came up and who talked about his mother's problem with Social Security. Take it down, he said. Let's see what we can do. We walked down a few feet more. Oh, my grandson wants to go to West Point; how does he apply? He said: He is going to love it and he is going to love my process. Let's see how we can do that. A few feet on down, the small business guy said: Keep on fighting, Ted. You know I can't buy this health insurance. Can I call you? Always call me, he said. And by the way, don't forget to call Barbara--the legendary Barbara Souliotis. And all of us know Ted Kennedy had an outstanding staff, whether it was the staff in Massachusetts, who took care of casework and projects and day-to-day needs, or the staff in Washington who helped Ted Kennedy take the ideas that came from the people, their day-to-day struggles, and converted them into national policy. That is what it was--people, people, people. When I came to the Senate, it was only Nancy Kassebaum and I. We were the only two women. He was a great friend, along with Senator Sarbanes. They were people I called my Galahads--people who helped me get on the right committees, show me the inner workings of the Senate. Ted was determined I would be on his Committee on Health and Education to get the ideas passed, but he also was determined I would get on the Appropriations Committee to make sure we put those ideas into the Federal checkbook. He was my advocate. One of the things that was clear is, he was the champion for women. He was a champion for this woman in helping me get on those committees. And during those sometimes rough days getting started, he would take me to La Colline with Senator Dodd, and while he drank orange juice with a little vodka--so no one would know he had a little vodka--he was giving me shooters of Chardonnay to boost my spirits. He and Chris would give me a pep talk, and I felt like I was Rocky. They would say: Get out there, fight; don't let it get you down. Pick yourself up. I felt like I was going to spit in the bucket and get back on the floor. He lifted my spirits, just like he lifted the spirits of so many. The story I wish to conclude with--because there are so many issues we worked on together--is when I went to him and said: Ted, did you know that women are not included in the protocols at NIH? He said: What do you mean? I said: In all the research we do, women are not included in the protocols. They just finished a famous study which said to take an aspirin a day, keep a heart attack away. It included 10,000 male medical students and not one woman. I said: I want to change that. Teaming up with Nancy and Pat Schroeder and Olympia Snowe and Connie Morella, who were in the House, he helped me create the Office of Women's Health at NIH so women would always be included in those protocols. Then we spoke out and said: Ted, the health care research for breast cancer is low. That is why they are racing for the cure. He helped us, working with Tom Harkin, to boost the money for research and to also get mammogram quality standards through so that when a woman would get her mammogram, it would be safe. But here is one of the most profound things we did, again working on a bipartisan basis. Dr. Bernadine Healy, who was the head of NIH, wanted to do a study on the consequences of hormone therapy. Ted and I and Tom did not believe we should earmark NIH--and I believe that today--but we made sure we put money and a legislative framework in place so Dr. Healy could institute the famous hormone therapy study. Well, let me tell you the consequences of that. That study has changed medical practice. That study has resulted in breast cancer rates going down 15 percent. So when someone says: What did Ted Kennedy do to help women? What did Teddy Kennedy do to work with Barbara Mikulski? Tell them we worked together and we worked to save the lives of women, one million at a time. This is my final salute to Senator Kennedy on the floor, but I will always salute him every day in the Senate to make sure we continue what he said about how the dream will continue on. I ended my speech at the Democratic Convention in 1980 when I said this--and I end my remarks today by saying this: Edward Kennedy has kept his faith with the American people. He hasn't waited for a crisis to emerge or a constituency to develop. He always led, he always acted, he always inspires. God bless you, Ted. And God bless the United States of America.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today I rise to address one of the most significant and far reaching decisions a Senator makes: The vote on a confirmation of a Supreme Court Justice. This vote will have an immense impact on future generations. A Senator is called upon to make two decisions that are irrevocable; one is the decision to go to war and the other is the confirmation of the members of the Supreme Court. The people of Maryland have entrusted in me the right make this decision and I take this responsibility very seriously. When I decide how I will vote on any nominee for the Federal bench, I have three criteria. First, the nominee must possess the highest personal and professional integrity. Second, the nominee has to have the competence and temperament to serve as a judge. Finally, the nominee must demonstrate a clear commitment to core constitutional principles. Judge Sonia Sotomayor passes all those tests with flying colors. If confirmed, Sonia Sotomayor would be the third woman to serve on the Supreme Court and the first Hipanic on the Supreme Court. She has a compelling personal story, as well as a distinguished judicial record. Her father was a tool-and-die worker with third grade education who spoke no English and died when Judge Sotomayor was only nine years old. She was raised by her mother, a nurse in a public housing project in the Bronx, New York. After her father's death, she turned to reading Nancy Drew mystery novels, which inspired her love of reading and learning that put her on a path that ultimately led her to the law. Sotomayor excelled in school, graduated top of her class at Blessed Sacrament and Cardinal Spellman High School. She won a scholarship to Princeton University where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She then attended Yale Law School and served as an editor for the Yale Law Journal. Sonia Sotomayor's competence cannot be questioned. She is a champion of the law with a distinguished legal career spanning three decades. She has served at almost every level of the judicial system and she is the first Supreme Court nominee in 50 years to have served as a trial judge. She began her legal career as a fearless and effective prosecutor, working in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for 5 years where she tried dozens of criminal cases from street crimes, to child abuse, police misconduct and homicides. She then became a corporate litigator for over 8 years in private practice. She made partner at the law firm where she tried complex corporate cases, including intellectual property, trademark and copyright infringement, real estate and banking. For nearly two decades, Sonia Sotomayor has been a sharp and fearless trial judge. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush nominated Sotomayor to serve as a Federal district judge and she was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. As a Federal district court judge, she heard over 450 cases during 6 years as trial judge and ruled against Major League Baseball owners to end the baseball strike. She was then nominated by President Clinton to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and confirmed by the Senate on a vote of 69-29. She has been a tough, fair and thoughtful appellate judge who has written over 400 opinions, of which the Supreme Court reviewed only five cases and reversed only three of those opinions. Sonia Sotomayor understands upholding the law means the consistent, fair and common sense application of the law. She has an understanding of real world consequences of decisions and recognizes that her job as a judge is to interpret the laws passed by Congress and not making laws from the bench. Under her tenure as a judge, she has demonstrated a level head, the ability to handle difficult situations with a calm and thoughtful temperament, and is well respected among her colleagues. Judge Sotomayor's integrity is unquestioned. Throughout her career she has worked to make sure that the courthouse doors are open to all. She was raised by hardworking parents who instilled strong work ethic. Throughout her life she has been active in her community and serves as a role model. She mentors kids from troubled neighborhood, teaches at- risk high school students job and life skills, and helps find summer jobs for these students. In addition, Sonia Sotomayor holds uncompromising views on judicial independence and has demonstrated she is an independent thinker dedicated to the rule of law. Sotomayor has stated that the Constitution should not be bent under any circumstance and from the bench she has shown she is a moderate judge who respects judicial precedent. In fact, 95 percent of her decisions have been favored by Republican appointees on the Second Circuit and she is well known for her judicial restraint. In sum, Sonia Sotomayor is an outstanding nominee to the highest court in the United States and an inspiration to all Americans. She is living proof that the American dream can be achieved. She is the daughter of hardworking immigrants, who overcame obstacles, went to Ivy League schools on scholarship, and has served for over 17 years as a Federal judge. Today I am proud to say when my name is called, I will vote aye.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, our military is under an unprecedented stress. Over 140,000 American servicemembers are deployed fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many have made multiple deployments. Their families are also fighting on the home front to live normal lives despite repeated absences of a spouse or parent. Our nation owes our servicemembers and their families an enormous debt of gratitude. Congress has a sacred trust to provide for their needs. The fiscal year 2010 Defense authorization bill passed by the Senate ensures that our servicemembers on the battlefield have what they need to complete their missions come home safely to their families and communities. It provides for advanced armored vehicles to keep them safe from roadside IEDS. It also authorizes an increase of 30,000 additional soldiers for the Army to help reduce the strain of repeated Iraq and Afghanistan deployments. I commend Chairman Levin and Ranking Member McCain for their leadership in crafting this bill. They have carefully balanced many competing priorities. They recommended a bill that looks out for the needs of our men and women while also looking out for their families. They have made hard choices to cut programs that are not working or are no longer needed. This is not an easy task. We should all be grateful for their dedication to our military and to our Nation's security. This bill really looks out for our military personnel and their families. It includes a 3.4-across-the-board pay raise, half a percentage point more than requested. It increases the supplemental subsistence allowance from $500 to $1100 per month to ensure that servicemembers and their families do not have to rely on food stamps. It also authorizes $30 million in IMPACT aid to help communities educate military kids, including $10 million for communities hard hit by BRAC, and $5 million to help educate military kids with severe disabilities. It has been said time and again, that while we recruit the soldier into the military, we must retain the family. This is especially true in this time of great stress on our military. This bill recognizes and responds to this reality. I am also very glad that once again, the Senate is passing a DOD authorization that looks out for wounded warriors. This bill requires that DOD increase the number of behavioral health specialists to ensure the military has enough doctors trained to identify and prevent suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder. It also directs DOD to devise strategies for electronic medical record exchanges between the military medical and Veterans Administration systems. This is critical to ensuring a smooth transition of care from one medical system to the other, and a timely processing of disability and benefits claims. When a soldier is injured, we incur a 50 year commitment for their care. I am glad that this bill helps ensure that those promises made will be promises kept. The Senate considered many amendments during our two weeks of debate on this important bill. There are two that I want to discuss in particular. I am pleased that the Senate supported President Obama, Secretary of Defense Gates, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff ADM Mike Mullen and Air Force leaders in their decision to end the F-22 program. The F-22 will ensure the U.S. Air Force is dominant in future air-to-air conflicts. It is a credit to engineers and technicians who designed and built this great plane. Everyone involved in this program should be proud. However, I agree with the President that the time has come to bring F-22 production to an end so we can channel limited dollars to fielding the Joint Strike Fighter as soon as possible. I support ending the F-22 at 187 planes, and would have voted in support of the McCain- Levin amendment on the Senate floor to accomplish this. I am also pleased that the Senate voted to reject the amendment proposed by Senator Thune to allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons across State lines without first getting a permit to do so from the State they are entering. The second amendment guarantees Americans the right to bear arms. However, each state must be able to make reasonable rules to protect residents and public safety officers, and this amendment would have made that impossible. It also would have undermined Congress's long-standing respect for State's rights to enact and enforce their own gun laws. It is no surprise that large city mayors and police chiefs all over the country opposed this amendment. I would have opposed it also, and I believe the Senate did the right thing in defeating the Thune amendment. In closing, I reiterate my strong support for this bill. It puts our servicemembers and their families first, provides our troops with what they need to accomplish their missions, and it makes wise investments in our Nation's security.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today I introduce common sense legislation requiring the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation to implement and enforce national safety standards for metro systems. Commuter rail systems like Maryland's MARC and the Virginia Railroad Express have Federal safety standards. Our metro systems must have them too. It is time for Congress to give the U.S. Department of Transportation this authority to keep commuters and train operators safe. Last month the nation's hearts and prayers went out to the families of the nine passengers killed including one Marylander and 52 injured in the tragic crash involving two Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, WMATA, Metrorail trains. Shortly after this horrible accident, the Members of the Maryland and Virginia Congressional delegations and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton met with the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, to be briefed on their ongoing investigation into this crash. This is when I learned the NTSB had recommended that the Federal Transit Administration, FTA, establish Federal standards for metro systems but the FTA had not taken action. Apparently, the FTA doesn't think it has this authority. Well, my bill fixes that. It gives the FTA the green light to move forward with Federal safety standards. My bill directs the Secretary of Transportation to work with the NTSB to establish these new Federal standards. The bill also requires the Secretary to implement the NTSB's prior recommendations. These include safety standards relating to crashworthiness, emergency evacuation and event recorders of rail transit cars and hours of service for transit operators. The NTSB is still investigating the cause of last month's crash here in our nation's capital. It will take about one year to complete. Existing evidence points to malfunctions with WMATA's train control system. Federal safety standards may not have prevented these malfunctions, but they may have been able to save lives had FTA implemented and enforced crashworthiness and emergency evacuation standards for transit rail cars. We also would know a lot more about the cause of the crash had FTA required event recorders on transit rail cars, as required on airplanes. These are all recommendations the NTSB has made that have not been addressed by the FTA. More than 7 million people board rail transit cars every weekday in the U.S. Our metro systems must be safe. It is a no brainer that Congress provide the U.S. Department of Transportation with this authority. I am pleased to introduce this bill with Senators Cardin and Murray. I hope we can address this important safety issue quickly. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today I introduce common sense legislation requiring the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation to implement and enforce national safety standards for metro systems. Commuter rail systems like Maryland's MARC and the Virginia Railroad Express have Federal safety standards. Our metro systems must have them too. It is time for Congress to give the U.S. Department of Transportation this authority to keep commuters and train operators safe. Last month the nation's hearts and prayers went out to the families of the nine passengers killed including one Marylander and 52 injured in the tragic crash involving two Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, WMATA, Metrorail trains. Shortly after this horrible accident, the Members of the Maryland and Virginia Congressional delegations and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton met with the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, to be briefed on their ongoing investigation into this crash. This is when I learned the NTSB had recommended that the Federal Transit Administration, FTA, establish Federal standards for metro systems but the FTA had not taken action. Apparently, the FTA doesn't think it has this authority. Well, my bill fixes that. It gives the FTA the green light to move forward with Federal safety standards. My bill directs the Secretary of Transportation to work with the NTSB to establish these new Federal standards. The bill also requires the Secretary to implement the NTSB's prior recommendations. These include safety standards relating to crashworthiness, emergency evacuation and event recorders of rail transit cars and hours of service for transit operators. The NTSB is still investigating the cause of last month's crash here in our nation's capital. It will take about one year to complete. Existing evidence points to malfunctions with WMATA's train control system. Federal safety standards may not have prevented these malfunctions, but they may have been able to save lives had FTA implemented and enforced crashworthiness and emergency evacuation standards for transit rail cars. We also would know a lot more about the cause of the crash had FTA required event recorders on transit rail cars, as required on airplanes. These are all recommendations the NTSB has made that have not been addressed by the FTA. More than 7 million people board rail transit cars every weekday in the U.S. Our metro systems must be safe. It is a no brainer that Congress provide the U.S. Department of Transportation with this authority. I am pleased to introduce this bill with Senators Cardin and Murray. I hope we can address this important safety issue quickly. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today, I rise to introduce the Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act of 2009. This critical bipartisan legislation passed the HELP Committee in 2007, but it has yet to pass the Senate. My hope is that we can finish the job this year and finally get this legislation signed into law. Alzheimer's' disease is an alarming and mounting crisis that we must address. Today there are over five million Americans living with Alzheimer's disease. That number is expected to triple by 2050 in a nation where ten million Americans care for a sick family member. We know a lot about Alzheimer's disease but it's been 100 years since it was first diagnosed, and we still have no cure or proven ways to prevent the disease. Urgency is needed in developing better treatments and better assistance for families impacted by the disease as the baby boom generation ages. If nothing is done, Alzheimer's will cost Medicare and Medicaid $19.89 trillion between 2010 and 2050. The Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act of 2009 responds to this crisis in four ways. First, it doubles funding for Alzheimer's research at NIH to $2 billion for fiscal year 2010, making Alzheimer's research a priority. Through this commitment, the bill gives researchers adequate resources to make breakthroughs in diagnosis, prevention and intervention, bringing us closer to a cure. Second, the bill creates the National Summit on Alzheimer's. This Summit will bring together the Nation's best researchers, policymakers and public health professionals to discuss the most promising breakthroughs for saving lives and livelihood, and to generate priorities in moving forward in the fight against Alzheimer's. Third, the act enhances public health activities related to Alzheimer's through the CDC's ``Roadmap to Maintaining Cognitive Health.'' Finally, the Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act provides family and caregiver support by expanding the Alzheimer's 24/7 call center, which provides crisis assistance and referrals to local community programs. The bill also expands the multilingual capacity of the call center. America needs this legislation. Alzheimer's takes a toll on many victims. The disease is awful for the person living with it, emotionally and financially draining for caregivers and it is now costing the nation $175 billion annually, a number that could rise to $1 trillion annually by 2050. We know the family of an Alzheimer's patient suffers gravely. The out-of-pocket cost of caring for an aging parent or spouse averages about $5,500 a year for necessities like groceries, household goods and drugs and medical copayments. If the care is long-distance, the cost could be up to $8,700 a year. Caregivers spend ten percent of their household income caring for a sick loved one who is suffering from this terrible disease. Experts have told us ``we will lose opportunities if we don't move quickly'' and that ``we are at a crucial point where NIH funding can make a difference.'' We know about the long goodbye. Alzheimer's is a disease that affects millions of Americans including our All-American President Ronald Reagan and his beloved caregiver, First Lady Nancy Reagan. Now we need a response supported by millions that will lead to breakthroughs and ensure we are assisting patients and their families dealing with this disease on a daily basis. Passage of the Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act of 2009 will help us advance the study and treatment of Alzheimer's to make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans and to equip caregivers with the resources and support services they need to care for their loved ones. This legislation is critical to the American public and America's future. We must act now. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today, I rise to introduce the Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act of 2009. This critical bipartisan legislation passed the HELP Committee in 2007, but it has yet to pass the Senate. My hope is that we can finish the job this year and finally get this legislation signed into law. Alzheimer's' disease is an alarming and mounting crisis that we must address. Today there are over five million Americans living with Alzheimer's disease. That number is expected to triple by 2050 in a nation where ten million Americans care for a sick family member. We know a lot about Alzheimer's disease but it's been 100 years since it was first diagnosed, and we still have no cure or proven ways to prevent the disease. Urgency is needed in developing better treatments and better assistance for families impacted by the disease as the baby boom generation ages. If nothing is done, Alzheimer's will cost Medicare and Medicaid $19.89 trillion between 2010 and 2050. The Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act of 2009 responds to this crisis in four ways. First, it doubles funding for Alzheimer's research at NIH to $2 billion for fiscal year 2010, making Alzheimer's research a priority. Through this commitment, the bill gives researchers adequate resources to make breakthroughs in diagnosis, prevention and intervention, bringing us closer to a cure. Second, the bill creates the National Summit on Alzheimer's. This Summit will bring together the Nation's best researchers, policymakers and public health professionals to discuss the most promising breakthroughs for saving lives and livelihood, and to generate priorities in moving forward in the fight against Alzheimer's. Third, the act enhances public health activities related to Alzheimer's through the CDC's ``Roadmap to Maintaining Cognitive Health.'' Finally, the Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act provides family and caregiver support by expanding the Alzheimer's 24/7 call center, which provides crisis assistance and referrals to local community programs. The bill also expands the multilingual capacity of the call center. America needs this legislation. Alzheimer's takes a toll on many victims. The disease is awful for the person living with it, emotionally and financially draining for caregivers and it is now costing the nation $175 billion annually, a number that could rise to $1 trillion annually by 2050. We know the family of an Alzheimer's patient suffers gravely. The out-of-pocket cost of caring for an aging parent or spouse averages about $5,500 a year for necessities like groceries, household goods and drugs and medical copayments. If the care is long-distance, the cost could be up to $8,700 a year. Caregivers spend ten percent of their household income caring for a sick loved one who is suffering from this terrible disease. Experts have told us ``we will lose opportunities if we don't move quickly'' and that ``we are at a crucial point where NIH funding can make a difference.'' We know about the long goodbye. Alzheimer's is a disease that affects millions of Americans including our All-American President Ronald Reagan and his beloved caregiver, First Lady Nancy Reagan. Now we need a response supported by millions that will lead to breakthroughs and ensure we are assisting patients and their families dealing with this disease on a daily basis. Passage of the Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act of 2009 will help us advance the study and treatment of Alzheimer's to make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans and to equip caregivers with the resources and support services they need to care for their loved ones. This legislation is critical to the American public and America's future. We must act now. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I rise in strong support of the Smith amendment on hate crimes. This amendment mirrors the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, which I have been proud to cosponsor. This amendment puts America's values of equality and freedom into action. Hate crimes are one of the most shocking types of violence against individuals. They are motivated by hatred and bigotry. But hate crimes target more than just one person--they are crimes against a community because of who they are--because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or disability. We are a nation that cherishes our freedom. All Americans must be free to go to church, walk through their communities, attend school without the fear that they will be the target of hate violence. We are nation that is built on a foundation of tolerance and equality. Yet no American can be free from discrimination and have true equality unless they are free from hate crimes. That is why hate crimes are so destructive. They tear at our Nation's greatest strength--our diversity. This amendment does two things--it helps communities fight these crimes and it makes sure that those who are most often the target of hate motivated violence have the full protection of our Federal laws. The amendment strengthens current law to help local law enforcement investigate and prosecute hate crimes. It does this by closing a loophole that prevented the Federal Government from assisting local and State police at any stage of the investigative process. Simply put-- this bill authorizes Federal law enforcement officers to get involved if State or local governments want their help. That means local communities, which often have very limited resources for pursuing these types of crimes, will have the resources of the FBI and other Federal law enforcement agencies at their disposal to help them more effectively prosecution incidents of hate violence. This amendment also improves current law so it protects more Americans. It broadens the definition of hate crimes to include gender, sexual orientation and disability. Today, gay and lesbian Americans, women and those with disabilities are often targets of hate motivated violence, but existing Federal laws offer these communities no safeguards. That is the weakness in our current law. And that is what this legislation will fix. By passing this legislation today, the Senate says to all Americans that you deserve the full protection of the law and you deserve to be free from hate violence. Hate crimes are crimes against more than one person--these crimes affect whole communities and create fear and terror in these communities and among all Americans. We need look no further than the horrific killings of James Byrd and Matthew Shepard to know the anger and grief that families and communities experience because of hatred and bigotry. Hate crimes attack the fundamental values of our Nation-- freedom and equality. This bill is another step in the fight to make sure that in a nation that treasures these values these crimes do not occur. So today I rise to support and urge my colleagues to pass this much needed and timely legislation. It is time that we put these American values into action and pass this hate crimes bill. The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act says that all Americans are valued and protected--regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I am in support of President Obama's nomination of Charles Bolden as the next Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, and Lori Garver as the Deputy Administrator of NASA. We are at a critical point in NASA's history, and our space agency needs a leadership team devoted to the core mission of the agency. Mr. Bolden has a compelling story. He transcended barriers and established himself at the forefront of our Nation's scientific policy. A career marine and true leader, Mr. Bolden is deeply committed to fostering a balanced space program focused on safe, reliable human space exploration, and robust scientific research and innovation. A seasoned astronaut, Mr. Bolden has experienced first hand the significance of space exploration, traveling into orbit four times between 1986 and 1994, including a mission to deploy the Hubble space telescope. From commanding missions in space to serving our Nation in the U.S. Marine Corps, Mr. Bolden has displayed the experience, leadership skills, and know-how to successfully guide NASA into the future. In addition, Lori Garver is a leader in the aerospace industry and has displayed tremendous management ability and intellect. Her knowledge of our space program will be key to NASA's leadership team. Again, I fully support the nomination of Charles Bolden and Lori Garver as the next Administrator and Deputy Administrator of NASA.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, on behalf of the people of Maryland, and breast cancer fighters worldwide, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Ms. Carolina Hinestrosa, who passed away last week after battling soft tissue sarcoma, a side effect of past breast cancer treatment. Ms. Hinestrosa served for 5 years as the executive vice president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, in which capacity she fought passionately for the coalition's work to eradicate breast cancer. My thoughts and prayers are with Ms. Hinestrosa's family and friends during this difficult time. After a 1994 breast cancer diagnosis, Ms. Hinestrosa turned her suffering into an opportunity when she joined with a group of survivors and health care professionals to form Nueva Vida, the only comprehensive support network for Latinas with breast and cervical cancer in the Washington metropolitan area. As executive director of Nueva Vida, Ms. Hinestrosa gave voice to the struggles of Latinas with breast cancer, representing them on the board of directors of the National Breast Cancer Coalition and the National Cancer Institute's Central Institutional Review Board. She also played a leading role in the development of the International Latina Breast Cancer Advocacy Network. While serving as executive vice president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, Ms. Hinestrosa was a member of many national panels including the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program and numerous committees for the Institute of Medicine. Most recently she was an appointee to the IOM Committee on Comparative Effective Research. Ms. Hinestrosa is remembered by those who knew her as an extraordinary woman who contributed so much to women's health, breast cancer, and minority rights. An outpouring of admiration has come from the many people she touched. Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, said Ms. Hinestrosa ``was incredibly brilliant, analytical and at the same time warm and compassionate. Nothing intimidated Carolina because of her determination to change the system.'' Director of the National Cancer Institute John Niederhuber wrote ``she was a remarkable woman. She was the type of person who you never forgot encountering. She was smart and passionate; committed and accomplished. The cancer community has lost an important voice.'' The director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Carolyn Clancy, worked frequently with Carolina and wrote that ``her legacy is that patients and consumers are recognized voices in efforts to improve health care quality. Her contribution has inspired physicians, scientists, employers to focus on patients needs.'' Ms. Hinestrosa was born in Bogota, Columbia, and came to the United States in 1985 on a Fulbright scholarship to pursue a master's in economics. Carolina impacted countless people in her work both here in Washington, DC, and elsewhere. She was just 50 years old at the time of her passing and leaves behind a husband and daughter. We must carry on Ms. Hinestrosa's work in eradicating breast cancer from our midst. Until then, we must continue to support one another and honor the legacy of passion and commitment that Carolina left behind.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, as Chairwoman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, science, and Related Agencies, I rise today to clarify for the record the sponsorship of a congressionally-designated project included in the explanatory statement accompanying H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009, Public Law 111-8. Specifically: Senator Feinstein should not be listed as a cosponsor of the San Francisco district attorney ``Back on Track'' Byrne discretionary grant through the Department of Justice, since she did not request this funding. Senator Feinstein's name was added as a cosponsor of this project through a clerical error.