Barbara Mikulski

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, this amendment is cleared on both sides of the aisle and I urge its immediate adoption.

Ms. MIKULSKI. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3268

Ms. MIKULSKI. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that all first-degree amendments to H.R. 3093 must be filed at the desk by 2:30 p.m. Monday, October 15.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I would say to the Senator from Rhode Island that it is my intention to do just that. I agree that a joint report between the DEA and CMS will help us move forward in this crucial area of health information technology and bring down a serious barrier to improved patient care.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I would be happy to.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, that is my expectation. I appreciate your long standing support of plant genomics and will work to see that these important programs continue to receive support as they have in the past. Electronic Prescribing

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I know the Senator from Ohio has been waiting. He has been very cooperative and patient, and I appreciate it. I know he wants to speak on an important issue that has been on his mind and should be on the Senate floor as it relates to trade.

Ms. MIKULSKI. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, this amendment provides funds for science, engineering, technology, and mathematics-related activities at NASA. It has been cleared on both sides and I urge its immediate adoption.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I now call up amendment No. 3225 by Senator Reid of Nevada and ask for its immediate consideration.

Ms. MIKULSKI. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 3225

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, this amendment, as modified, has been cleared on both sides of the aisle and I urge its immediate adoption.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I send a modification to the desk.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 3218 by Senator Murray and ask for its immediate consideration.

Ms. MIKULSKI. I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the adoption of amendment No. 3233, it be modified with changes at the desk.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I salute the Senator from North Dakota. I have found his comments about those women being raped to be devastating, and I know we are going to continue to work with him. Amendment No. 3250 I now ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 3250 be agreed to.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I say to my colleague from Oklahoma, I admire his tenacity and consistency in being a steward of the taxpayers' purse, as well as being concerned about future generations. Also, he has often raised issues from which I have benefited. I assure him that both my colleague from Alabama and I have stood squarely on the side of reform as well. When we did our opening statements today, we said that we were for security, which is helping our law enforcement, innovation, and competitiveness, as well as accountability. We had two reform amendments--one on the NOAA satellite programs that are already running $4 billion in overruns--that is ``B'' as in Barb, not ``M'' as in Mikulski. So we are instituting reforms and actually bringing to the civilian side a Nunn-McCurdy framework for early warnings. So that was one. The other, as the junior Senator from Oklahoma is aware, the IG at the Department of Justice said we have had some conferences, what we call the ``lavish conference situation.'' One conference had meatballs at $4 a meatball, lobster rolls, limousines. That is not about the kind of training that is supposed to go on at law enforcement conferences. We have had two of those amendments. Then when we come to Congress--so we have come up with some reforms, and there are others in the bill, but those are two big ones. There are others in the bill related to congressionally designated projects. I say to my colleague also that we, meaning Senator Shelby and myself, said that any congressionally designated project must meet criteria to even be considered. We were not going to have a bridge to nowhere. We were going to, if you will, have bridges to somewhere. They had to be not only for the political benefit, but they had to be tied to mission. They had to have mission and merit and matching funds, the M&Ms: mission, merit, and matching funds. Let's take the Department of Justice. We would not even think about a congressionally designated project unless it was for prevention, law enforcement or prosecution. There had to be local funds or nonprofits and no construction money. In the area of Commerce, we said it had to be related to coastal and marine resources. It had to foster understanding of the Earth's environment. It had to create jobs or keep jobs in America. Or it had to enhance the America COMPETES Act, which means science, technology or education. I could also go through the NASA criteria which, again, was science and research, education to promote the engagement of science and engineering, as well as aeronautics research, and, again, no private facility construction. I will not go through justification of each and every one of those projects. I know the Senator from Connecticut will speak to his. I will speak to mine in a moment. We have buoys--not like boys and girls, but buoys, such as b-u-o-y-s, buoys on the Chesapeake Bay. They are NOAA buoys. We have to have them anyway, and they give important navigation information, as well as readings on temperature, tides, and so on, that is so important to keep our commercial shipping lanes open and are great aids to the commercial and sports fishing industry. We had the commemoration of Jamestown, and in the commemoration of Jamestown, they celebrated CAPT John Smith's voyage on the Chesapeake Bay by mapping it. What we did, working with the National Geographic Society that actually raised the money for this project, was add items to these buoys that would also tell the history, when you got up close to it, of what occurred in that geographic area. These buoys provide important navigation, and now they add value to history. Why is that important? It is important, first of all, for navigation reasons. It is important to also help us for weather reasons because if we know our tides and temperatures, it will help. I will tell my colleagues what gets people interested in science and engineering in my State. It is kids working hands on in science, not reading books about science but hands on, doing the science. That is why they love to come to our aquarium or to our Maryland Science Center. Teachers all over the Delmarva, including the great State of John Warner, whom we salute today and wish him well, they get into science, and that is what promotes their interest in wanting to be scientists and engineers. If they don't want to be scientists or engineers, maybe they want to be doctors, nurses or lab techs. There are so many ways people now come into science in addition to engineering and Ph.D.s, and we need them. Many of these projects that are listed here--and we know we will hear about planetariums, we will hear about the grand and spectacular work of Dr. Ballard that is exciting so many people, and we salute him because Captain Ballard found the Titanic. We have to make sure science and education is not a sinking ship hit by the iceberg of chilling cuts in our programs. I know my metaphors are going too far, but what I want my colleagues to know that we were not cavalier and said: Just give us any request and we will fund it. We screened them. We scrutinized them. They had to be mission and merit and have matching funds. We believe we have met this criteria. That is on the earmark reform. On the issue of civil rights, I salute, again, our colleague from Oklahoma on the issue of wanting to investigate these cold cases but assure him that throughout our bill, we have a vigorous civil rights enforcement. I thank my colleague from Alabama for being such a stalwart ally on this issue. First of all, we actually have money in the bill, close to $378 million for the EEOC. While we are not only looking at cold cases, we are looking at hot cases right here and now and dealing with a terrible backlog. We also funded $9 million for the Commission on Civil Rights. But along with that, $116 million went to the Civil Rights Division at Justice to pay for 760 attorneys and support staff. Also, money went to the U.S. attorney to investigate crimes, including hate crimes and civil rights violations. We also put in $370 million for the FBI for over 270 agents to investigate civil rights violations, those that have occurred now and also those very sad cold cases. So $370 million, $116 million, and it goes on and on. The totals, actually when we count what we fund for U.S. attorneys, my staff tells me it is $3 billion. Those U.S. attorneys do other things as well. We think we did a good job dealing with the backlog at EEOC, reforming them, getting them refocused, funding the FBI, funding the Civil Rights Division, funding the Commission on Civil Rights, funding the Legal Aid Corporation, and so on. We funded those enforcement and prosecution issues related to cold cases but also current cases where we want to see justice done. I oppose the amendment of the Senator from Oklahoma.

Ms. MIKULSKI. If the Senator will withhold, I am still reserving the right to object while I get clarification. Rather than doing it this way and knowing we are in alignment, can we have a quorum call?

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, as I said to the Senator, the Senator has every right to bring that amendment up. We are looking at it and trying to come up with a UC. Maybe we can get to your two amendments and we can vote back to back.

Ms. MIKULSKI. There is no objection to the Senator's amendment on either side of the aisle.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, there is no objection to this amendment. Amendment No. 3223

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I send a modification of the amendment to the desk.