Patty Murray

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that Fay Peng, a detailee with the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and Gary Reese of the Appropriations Committee staff be granted floor privileges during consideration of H.R. 1591, the emergency supplemental appropriations bill.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize a great contributor to the State of Washington and to the national science and education communities. Dr. Len Peters recently stepped down as the Director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA. Fortunately, Dr. Peters has agreed to remain in Richland, working for Battelle Memorial Institute to help promote and build education and community projects. PNNL, a DOE national laboratory, experienced tremendous growth during Dr. Peters' tenure. The lab added 330 new members to its world-class staff, enabling the facility to better serve the Nation in the areas of renewable energy, national security, and environmental research. Dr. Peters led the staff in enhancing relationships with a number of research universities in the region, continuing his commitment to quality public-private relationships in the interest of furthering math and science education. Dr. Peters came to PNNL in 2003, after serving as the vice provost for research at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Prior to guiding Virginia Tech's ambitious research portfolio, he served as acting vice president for research and graduate studies at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Peters spent nearly 20 years in the classroom, educating our next generation of scientists. He is a distinguished scholar and a leader in the field of atmospheric chemistry. In his new role at Battelle, Dr. Peters will continue to serve Washington State through community outreach programs. His work to expand higher education opportunities in the Tri-Cities, as well as his leadership on the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center Board are examples of his strong commitment to building a better community, region and State. I thank Dr. Len Peters for his guidance and commitment to PNNL over the past 3\1/2\ years. For the people of Washington State and the entire Pacific Northwest region, I thank Dr. Peters for his continued service to our community and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Coburn be recognized for up to 1 hour.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now go into morning business, with Senators allowed to speak for 10 minutes on each side.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I will not object if we can add an equal amount of time to the majority side.

Mrs. MURRAY. I yield 3 minutes to the Senator from Illinois.

Mrs. MURRAY. How much time remains on both sides?

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I say to the Senator from Virginia, I would have to object at this time. We are happy to work with the Senator during the vote to deal with the modification.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I yield myself 2\1/2\ minutes. We need to change course in Iraq. That is why I support the supplemental bill now before the Senate and oppose the Cochran amendment that is pending. This underlying bill finally sets a new direction for our mission in Iraq. It begins to redeploy our troops, and it helps us refocus our efforts on fighting and winning the war on terror. Mr. President, our troops have done everything we have asked them to do. Now it is time to start bringing them home. It is time for the Iraqi people and for the Iraqi Government to take responsibility for their own country. We should not be sending more and more Americans into the middle of a civil war. The conflict in Iraq is not going to be solved by military force alone. It is going to require a political solution among Iraqis. So this underlying bill sets benchmarks for the Iraqi Government on the types of progress that we all agree they ought to be making. They should not be stricken from this by the Cochran amendment. The President wants to commit more American servicemembers to an open-ended conflict. This bill recognizes that we need a new strategy. We need to do what the Iraqi Study Group and what many generals and what the American people have called for. We need to redeploy our troops. The bill says a redeployment should begin within 120 days, and it sets the goal of having most U.S. forces out of Iraq by next March. Importantly, this bill helps us take care of those who are injured fighting for our country. It is time we focused our attention on those men and women who have sacrificed so much, who have come home and have endured the hardship we have seen at Walter Reed and other facilities across this country. We need to make sure they get the resources they need, and this bill does that. I am pleased to support the underlying bill. I oppose the Cochran amendment, and I support this bill because it sets a new direction for our policy in Iraq and it provides important new support for our servicemembers and veterans who are here at home. I retain the remainder of our time.

Mrs. MURRAY. How much time remains on both sides?

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I yield the Senator 60 seconds.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I yield 10 minutes to the Senator from Nebraska, Mr. Hagel.

Mrs. MURRAY. I yield 12 minutes to the Senator from West Virginia, Mr. Byrd.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, under the previous consent agreement, for the information of all Senators, we are now going to the debate on the Cochran amendment; is that correct?

Mrs. MURRAY. If the Senator would hold and let us take a quick look at that. Perhaps Senator Graham could go ahead and use his time. We will talk, and then when Senator Graham is done, before we begin the debate on the Cochran amendment, we can work with the Senator on an agreement on those amendments. I object at this time, and I will work with the Senator to work out those amendments.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, under the previous unanimous consent agreement, at 3:45 we will return to the Cochran amendment. I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Virginia, Mr. Webb, proceed for up to 8 minutes and that the time remaining until 3:45 be allocated to the Senator from South Carolina, Mr. Graham.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that following the Senator from Arizona, the Senator from Virginia be recognized for 7 minutes.

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I thank the Senator from Oregon for offering this amendment. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Salazar be allowed to speak for 3 minutes on the pending amendment, and that Senator McCain, who has been waiting, follow Senator Salazar with his comments.

Mrs. MURRAY. Then we would not object. Amendment No. 690

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, if I could just clarify, is it amendment No. 690?

Mrs. MURRAY. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, if I could just clarify for all of us, could you tell us what the current unanimous consent agreement has in it?

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia be authorized to meet on Monday, March 26, 2007, at 2:30 p.m., for a hearing entitled, Understanding the Realities of REAL ID: A Review of Efforts to Secure Drivers' Licenses and Identification Cards.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law be authorized to meet on Monday, March 26, 2007, at 3 p.m., to conduct a hearing on ``Legal Options to Stop Human Trafficking,'' in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Grace Chung Becker, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC; Katherine Kaufka, Supervising Attorney, Counter-Trafficking Services Program, National Immigrant Justice Center, Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights, Chicago, IL; Martina E. Vandenberg, Attorney, Jenner & Block, Washington, DC; and Holly J. Burkhalter, Vice President, International Justice Mission, Washington, DC.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Monday, March 26, 2007, at 2 p.m., to receive a briefing on the reorganization of the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.