Bill Nelson

Mr. NELSON of Florida

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be recognized for 5 minutes. It is my understanding, under a previous order, that the Senator from Illinois has time. If he is not ready, then I ask unanimous consent that I be recognized for 5 minutes prior to him.

Mr. NELSON of Florida

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Madam President, I come to the Chamber with a very heavy heart because of the tragedy so many people have experienced. It has touched all of our lives in one way or another. So, too, I have had a personal experience just in the last few minutes of how the tragedy has touched the life of my wife and me, for one of the passengers on the airliner that crashed into the World Trade Center was a personal friend of our family, Sonia Puopolo of Boston and Miami. I come to the Chamber to share this experience because the grief that so many across this Nation have felt is shared by all of us--of talking to Sonia's husband Dominic and to her daughter Tita, who are so full of life and so upbeat and effervescent, talking to them in this condition where they still have the presence of mind in the midst of their unbelievable grief to be able to remember the good times, and Dominic telling me about the 40-some years he had the privilege of knowing his wife and the 37 years of marriage, where he met her in Puerto Rico and where it was planned he was going to be on the same flight and how she had insisted, no, she was going to Los Angeles so that she could be with their son by herself and enjoy her son since Dominic had already been in Los Angeles with their son. This is the part of tragedy that puts a human face on the tragedy, but for Florida and Floridians it does not end there. A few minutes thereafter, I spoke by telephone with a courageous Fort Myers policeman, Officer Lyles, who has now gathered with his family in another part of Florida because it was his wife, Cee Cee Lyles, on the airliner that crashed in Pennsylvania, which we now know was headed for Washington and another target, perhaps this building; that she was able to get through to her husband by cell phone and he could hear the screams in the background. She told him they had been hijacked, and she told him she loved him and loved their children. This is a part of the grieving process that is necessary for us to all go through, but it is also a poignant story of two lives that are touching the State of Florida that gives us even more resolve of why we are going to find the perpetrators, we are going to hunt them down, and they are going to be brought to justice. I have seen America in this situation--and in my lifetime I have seen it several times--but the one I remember so vividly is the time of national tragedy when the symbol of our technological prowess, the space shuttle Challenger, in January of 1986, exploded in front of our eyes. I recall that event because there was something from the experience of that tragedy for the American people that was instructive to the rest of the world. That is, that Americans overcome. Americans persevere. When we are knocked down, we are not knocked out; we get up and we respond. That has happened over and over in our history. It is part of our character as an American people that we overcome. We saw it in the Revolutionary War. We have seen it in every war since. We saw it in the national tragedy of the Challenger explosion, and we are seeing it again in the national tragedy of this terrorist attack. In the process of overcoming and persevering, we make right that which is wrong. And so, too, the American people are unified in our commitment that we will find the perpetrators and they will be dealt with. This is not a time for revenge. We are a forgiving people. That is part of our nature. That is part of our Scriptural background. But we are also a proud people who will not let the national reputation be sullied; we will protect it. I come to the Senate today out of my personal grief, having just had one telephone conversation with a family who is convulsed in grief, and about to have another telephone conversation with another Florida family who is suffering likewise, to say that I don't understand the plan that good people are taken, but I do understand the ultimate plan that we are a nation blessed by God over and over and that God is protecting us. America will not only survive, America will do as she has so often done: America and Americans will overcome.

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. NELSON of Florida

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, as we wind up this extraordinary day, it has been a day of tremendous emotional swings. Earlier this morning, I came to this floor grief stricken having just talked to a family from Florida who had lost one of their members. Later on in the day, I talked to a police officer, now a widower of the flight attendant on the airliner that crashed in Pennsylvania who called her husband telling him that it had been hijacked and that she wanted to tell him that she loved him and she wanted their boys to know that she loved them. That is the flight that we have heard so many reports was targeted coming into Washington. It had made a 180-degree turn, having left Newark, westbound, and was headed to Washington. In fact, we have heard so many stories of other cellular telephone calls from the airplane that would indicate that the passengers, who were the real heroes, had indicated they knew that the hijackers were intent on harm to the Nation, and they were going to overcome the hijackers. In fact, they did--at their own peril, at their own demise, but being tremendous heroes to this country. So it has been that kind of day. We have gone from the swings of the emotion of the lows, with those kinds of grief-stricken experiences, to the highs of where we have never seen this place so unified. We have never seen both sides of the aisle come together as they have in recent American political history. We have never seen the unity of the legislative branch of Government and the executive branch. So it has been an extraordinary day. It has been an extraordinary 3 days. I am just grateful to be one participant, along with my colleague from Minnesota, who is the Presiding Officer. I will defer to the great leader we have from the State of Nevada, a man who is the glue that pulls us all together, who gives the support that is the right hand to our great majority leader. It is my privilege to relinquish the floor so he might speak.

Mr. NELSON of Florida

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, this has been quite a day for all of us. I have the very sad duty in the State of Florida to call the loved ones of a number of people who were on the respective flights. Indeed, I have the sad duty that I will be calling the widower and the daughter of a mother from Boston, who also lived in Miami, who was on the flight from Boston to Los Angeles. And it just brings all the more home the poignant tragedy for all of us and for this Nation. Mr. President, we need to go get the perpetrators. The resolve of this Nation and of this Congress is clearly there. We need to find these people. We need to hunt them down and we need to let the message go forth that no terrorist act such as this will ever be tolerated in this country again. That goes for the terrorists and that goes for the people who are harboring the terrorists. We have experienced all too personally a new kind of warfare, and in the process of us exacting this justice--I say justice; I did not say revenge--we will protect the constitutional rights of all people; we will respect them. It is important for people in this country to rise above ethnic or religious prejudice because we are a nation of all peoples and all faiths. But we are going to get the perpetrators in the cross hairs of the bull's eye, and we are going after them. I yield the floor.

Mr. NELSON of Florida

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I want to express my support for amendment No. 1538 of Senators Smith and Harkin regarding American POWs held in Japan. I do so with much respect for those who have served and suffered horrible treatment as a result of their service. I was traveling with President Bush in Florida when the vote occurred, but had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' to the motion to table the amendment. We do have an international treaty with Japan to which we are bound. But, this amendment is not about what the Treaty signed 50 years ago does or does not allow. It is about due process to those Americans who suffered a grievous wrong. The point is that these brave Americans be allowed their day in court to have their case heard. Actions by the Departments of Justice and State to block such actions deprive them of fairness and due process. Congress should not be a party to such deprivations. I support the Smith-Harkin amendment and wish to be on record as opposed to the motion to table it.

Mr. NELSON of Florida

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Medicare Beneficiary Information Act. It is vital that Medicare + Choice participants receive plan information in a timely, appropriate manner. Under the Social Security Act, HMOs participating in the Medicare + Choice program are required to submit all of their plan information, including the type, cost and scope of benefits they intend to offer, by July 1st of each year. Upon receiving this information, the Secretary of HHS is required to prepare a booklet that compares the benefits and costs of each plan, and disseminate the information to seniors prior to the open enrollment season. The enrollment season is November 1st through November 30th. The July 1st deadline was imposed so that seniors would have ample opportunity to read the materials and to make an informed decision before selecting a health plan. Last month, at the request of the HMO industry, Secretary Thompson extended the deadline until September 15th. As a result, Medicare beneficiaries will have little time to review the comparative information before the enrollment period. In response to these concerns, the Secretary indicated that the information would be posted on the Internet by October 15th. Senior citizens in many cases do not have access to the Internet. If information is not sent in a timely manner, it will be extremely difficult for seniors, especially low income seniors, to make informed choices about their health plan. As a result, they will have little time to find new health care coverage if their HMO sharply raises premiums and fees, reduces benefits or pulls out of Medicare. Consequently, seniors may be forced to accept whatever changes the HMOs impose or run the risk of having gaps in their coverage should they choose to switch plans. This bill states that, effective 2002, HMO's are required to submit, complete binding information to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. It also requires that the information be sent to beneficiaries at least 45 days before the beginning of the open enrollment period. It further requires all comparative information to be sent in mail, rather than only being posted on the Internet. This will ensure that seniors are receiving the information necessary to make educated informed decisions about their health plan.

Mr. NELSON of Florida

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Medicare Beneficiary Information Act. It is vital that Medicare + Choice participants receive plan information in a timely, appropriate manner. Under the Social Security Act, HMOs participating in the Medicare + Choice program are required to submit all of their plan information, including the type, cost and scope of benefits they intend to offer, by July 1st of each year. Upon receiving this information, the Secretary of HHS is required to prepare a booklet that compares the benefits and costs of each plan, and disseminate the information to seniors prior to the open enrollment season. The enrollment season is November 1st through November 30th. The July 1st deadline was imposed so that seniors would have ample opportunity to read the materials and to make an informed decision before selecting a health plan. Last month, at the request of the HMO industry, Secretary Thompson extended the deadline until September 15th. As a result, Medicare beneficiaries will have little time to review the comparative information before the enrollment period. In response to these concerns, the Secretary indicated that the information would be posted on the Internet by October 15th. Senior citizens in many cases do not have access to the Internet. If information is not sent in a timely manner, it will be extremely difficult for seniors, especially low income seniors, to make informed choices about their health plan. As a result, they will have little time to find new health care coverage if their HMO sharply raises premiums and fees, reduces benefits or pulls out of Medicare. Consequently, seniors may be forced to accept whatever changes the HMOs impose or run the risk of having gaps in their coverage should they choose to switch plans. This bill states that, effective 2002, HMO's are required to submit, complete binding information to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. It also requires that the information be sent to beneficiaries at least 45 days before the beginning of the open enrollment period. It further requires all comparative information to be sent in mail, rather than only being posted on the Internet. This will ensure that seniors are receiving the information necessary to make educated informed decisions about their health plan.

Mr. NELSON of Florida

Mr. NELSON of Florida. I ask unanimous consent that I be granted 3 minutes in order to enter into a colloquy with the distinguished Senator from Maryland.

Mr. NELSON of Florida. I thank the Senator from Arizona for yielding 2 minutes. I agree with him. It is inexcusable that there is the lack of discipline so that the overruns to the tune of $5 billion have occurred on the space station. I agree with Senator McCain on that. The fact is, however, that the space shuttle account has been starved 40 percent less over the last 10 years, and we cannot continue to rob from Peter to pay Paul in other parts of the program without endangering the safety of the program. The Senator and I share the vision of this country. We share the character of the American people, which is, by nature, we are explorers; we are adventurers. We never want to give that up because if we do, we are dead as a country; we are a second-rate country. We want to continue to explore into the unknown, but we have to do that with the utmost of safety. We all suffered through the tragic explosion of the 25th flight of the space shuttle, and from that we learned that we simply have to have the two-way communication and we have to have adequate resources. There is a plan over the next 10 years of upgrading the shuttle so that it provides reliable and safe access to space, and that is what I am advocating.

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, one of the agencies funded in this bill is particularly important to me and to my constituents in Florida: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA supports programs that invest in our Nation's future. At present, NASA's most significant and visible investment is the International Space Station. But, we have a problem on our hands: The Space Station is now expected to cost almost $5 billion dollars more than projected just a few months ago. If we are going to complete this project, we have to find the money somewhere. Does the Senator agree?

Mr. NELSON of Florida. I thank the Senator, and agree with her that recently announced ISS cost increases are disturbing. Funding these cost overruns without adding more money to NASA's budget--as the Bush Administration has proposed--necessitates cutting many of NASA's programs, and possibly endangering the future viability of the station itself. At the same time, there are many other worthwhile projects being conducted at NASA--that have nothing to do with the space station--such as research in extra-galactic astronomy using the Hubble Space Telescope, global climate change research by remotely sensing the Earth, and launch technology development that could decrease the cost of getting to space by a factor of 10 or more. Not to mention the other human space flight programs impacted by station cost overruns. Cuts to the Space Shuttle Program may have catastrophic consequences. We have to continue supporting these and other projects, but where will all the money come from? I recognize that this situation has tied the hands of appropriators in both chambers, and applaud the efforts of Senators Mikulski and Bond, as well as Representatives Walsh and Mollohan in the House, in attempting to solve this problem. While the Chambers are far apart in their approaches, I understand that Senator Mikulski plans to work with conferees to support a combination of the priorities in each bill. Is this correct?

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I am so grateful to the chair and the ranking member for their recognition of the emergency nature of this issue. I am very grateful for their acceptance of the amendment.

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Enactment.

Mr. NELSON of Florida. That is correct.

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I say to the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee, the Senator from Maryland, I thank her and the Senator from Missouri, the ranking member, for giving me the opportunity to offer this amendment having to do with arsenic-treated wood. This problem has manifested itself, particularly in Florida recently, because of arsenic leaching from treated wood on playground equipment and then flowing into the soil. The health departments have analyzed the soil and found the level of arsenic at a level to create concern about the danger to the children. Thus, local governments have been reaching out to the federal government, wondering whether they should close their playgrounds. We have asked EPA, the appropriate federal agency, to conduct the study. They say it is underway. Much to my horror, as my constituency of Florida is rising up in arms, wanting to know is this a danger or not, EPA is on a schedule to do a study not to be completed until 2003. I say to the chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee, this has nothing to do with partisan politics. This has to do with safety standards and EPA doing a study. The question is: When are they going to finish? We urged the EPA to accelerate this study because of the conundrum confronting local government in deciding whether to keep playgrounds closed or whether to close other playgrounds that are now open. They want some direction. We are talking about arsenic. It is a poison. We talked about it last night. We adopted the Boxer-Nelson amendment that will require the EPA to take certain standards into consideration when setting the level of arsenic in our drinking water. What alarms so many of us, and brought about the Boxer-Nelson amendment last night, was that the EPA--which had announced the deadline when they were supposed to come forth imposing this reduced amount of arsenic in drinking water--announced that they were suddenly pushing that off, thus the reason for the amendment having to do with arsenic in drinking water, which passed overwhelmingly last night. Now I bring to the Senate for discussion, and hopefully adoption, an amendment that will require the EPA to accelerate this study. Initially, when we had voiced our concern because of the playground situation in Florida, EPA had said it was going to complete its study by June. Then they delayed, and said it would be sometime in the fall. Mind you, this is after we had pushed them pretty hard, because their study was not going to be completed until 2003. This amendment requires them to complete this study within 30 days of enactment of this bill, so we can give some certainty as to the scientific conclusions. Is the arsenic in the treated lumber leaching into the playground soil? Is this a sufficient hazard that the city governments and the county governments ought to be closing those playgrounds, or is it at such a level that, with a change in this or that--in the construction, in the wood--that we could eliminate this potential hazard to our children? I bring to the Senate today a safety issue. Let me recap. What I am asking our colleagues to do is join me in our quest to determine if arsenic-treated playground wood is hazardous to our children. That treated wood is everywhere. It is in our playground equipment. It is in picnic tables. It is in desks. It is in fences. Mr. President, 98 percent of outdoor wood sold in the United States today is treated with CCA, chromated copper arsenate. CCA is an insecticide that is 22 percent arsenic. As I stated, in our State and in other parts of the country, public playgrounds have been closed or closely examined and are due to be closed because of the potential health hazards that may be posed by high concentrations of arsenic found in the soil in and around the arsenic-treated wood playground equipment. There are communities all across Florida: Gainesville, Tarpon Springs, Tampa, Port Orange, Ormond Beach, Deland, Deltona, Clermont, Miami, whose local governments have shut down their parks and are looking to the federal government, the EPA, for guidance as to whether or not those parks are safe. Some communities, such as the one in Cambridge, MA, have already decided to replace all of their playground and park equipment treated with arsenic because many consumer and health groups have urged the State of Massachusetts to ban arsenic-treated wood. Imagine the horror of a parent whose child played in the soil on a playground with equipment treated with arsenic, and that playground was later closed down or torn down due to the high concentrations of arsenic in the soil of that playground. This amendment is designed to speed the process so the EPA will give us an answer because parents need to know whether their children are playing on or around equipment that poses a health hazard. At the beginning of this year when we first asked the EPA if chromated copper arsenate, CCA--that is arsenic-treated wood--was safe, they said they would know in 2003, when they completed a reregistration of CCA as a pesticide. As I said earlier, we said that was not good enough. So the EPA revised its timetable and said they would complete their reassessment of the arsenic-treated wood by 2002. They said they would tell us if the arsenic-treated wood playground equipment is safe. Then they changed that to by June of 2001. The EPA missed its own June deadline. They now say they will complete a risk assessment regarding children and arsenic-treated wood at the end of this summer--on into the fall. The EPA also plans to assemble a scientific advisory panel in October of 2001 to review the playground data. Meantime the Consumer Product Safety Commission has agreed to conduct a review of the safety of CCA-treated wood for use in playground equipment. As my colleagues know, the Consumer Products Safety Commission has the authority to immediately ban CCA-treated wood for use in children's playground equipment if it finds that CCA-treated wood poses an imminent and immediate risk to children. I am heartened but I am not satisfied with all these announcements because that is all they are: announcements, meaningless declarations, while the American people still do not know if arsenic-treated wood playground equipment is safe. Earlier, I introduced S. 877 that requires the EPA to complete a risk assessment of the hazards to children within a date certain and to require mandatory labels on each piece of arsenic-treated wood. The wood-preserving industry, in conjunction with EPA, recently committed to a voluntary labeling program. I personally think mandatory labeling is necessary to ensure the American people are properly informed. But that fight is for another day. We know arsenic is classified by the EPA and the World Health Organization as a known human carcinogen. In 1999, the National Research Council concluded that there was an indisputable link between arsenic and skin- bladder- and lung cancer. A University of Florida researcher commissioned by the Florida EPA recently declared that simply touching arsenic-treated wood could be a health risk for children. And a research team from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station found that arsenic is readily available on the surface of CCA-treated wood. The Environmental Working Group has concluded from reviewing the Connecticut study and others that significant quantities of arsenic can be dislodged from the surface of CCA-treated wood and that the cancer risk could be as great as 1 in 1,000. Therefore, the Environmental Working Group is seeking a ban of the substance. For all these reasons, we need the Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Product Safety Commission to give the American people the guidance they deserve. This amendment stresses the sense of the Senate that the potential health risk to children playing on and around CCA-treated wood and playground equipment is a matter of great importance. This amendment says the EPA must submit a report to Congress within 30 days of enactment, detailing the most up-to-date understanding of the health and safety risk to children playing on and around CCA-treated wood playground equipment. It seeks the EPA's current recommendations to state and local governments about the continued use of CCA-treated wood playground equipment. It mandates that within 30 days--no more delays. This amendment would require within 30 days of the enactment that the EPA come forth with their recommendations so the people of America will know what to do about their children playing on these playgrounds. Those are my remarks in offering the amendment. Does the chairman of the committee have any particular inquiry she would like to make at this point?

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I send to the desk an amendment.

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I am waiting for the amendment to arrive. I seek counsel of the manager of the bill.

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Madam President, will the Senator yield?

Mr. NELSON of Florida. I thank the Presiding Officer. Madam President, I congratulate the two Senators who have been managing this bill. I thank them for their vision with regard to America's space program, and indeed I have entered into a written colloquy with the Chair of the committee that will be inserted in the Record. I want to take this opportunity to express my concern and share that concern with the Chair and the ranking member of the committee. I have been afraid there may be some attempt, because NASA has had almost $5 billion of overruns in the space station, that there may be some attempt to punish NASA by the administration. I want to express my concern that if we starve NASA of the funds it needs, particularly with regard to the space shuttle upgrades, that could endanger the safety of the space shuttle program. I do not have to even conjecture further for the chairman and the ranking member that should there be another catastrophe in the manned space flight program, that could severely not only cripple but end the manned space flight program. I thank the Chairman and the ranking member for recognizing space shuttle upgrades need to be addressed, not only in the bill but when we go to conference. I want to state clearly and unequivocally we cannot starve this space shuttle upgrade program, because if we do, we are getting to the point of risking the safety of the crews we fly.

Mr. NELSON of Florida

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Madam President, I am proud to introduce the Virginia Key Beach Resource Study Bill. Congresswoman Carrie Meek has introduced the companion to this legislation in the House of Representatives. This bill authorizes the Secretary of Interior to conduct a special resource study of Virginia Key Beach, FL, for inclusion in the National Park System. Based solely on its natural attributes, Virginia Key is worthy of inclusion. Situated just off the mainland of the City of Miami, between Key Biscayne to the south and Fisher Island to the north, Virginia Key is a 1,000-acre barrier island, characterized by a unique and sensitive natural environment. The island is non-residential and includes ponds and waterways, a tropical hardwood hammock and a large wildlife conservation area. Virginia Key Beach deserves national distinction for another reason. Its unique history teaches us about our Nation's progress toward achieving racial justice. For decades in South Florida, beaches were segregated by race. As the only beach in Miami that permitted blacks from the 1940s to the 1960s, Virginia Key was a source of seaside recreation for countless African- American families. Virginia Key also was the site for many baptisms and religious services. Thus, Virginia Key's value to our Nation, and to Florida, should be recognized both for its natural beauty and its role in the Nation's ongoing struggle for equality and social justice.

Mr. NELSON of Florida

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, the report language that accompanies the fiscal year 2002 Transportation Appropriations bill identifies many worthy projects that the committee recommends be funded by the Department of Transportation. I thank the chairwoman for her and the committee's support of projects in Florida that were requested by Senator Graham and myself. However, many other worthwhile projects were not included on this list. It is my understanding that the report language is intended to guide conferees in setting the final spending measure, but does not preclude other projects from also being considered for inclusion. Is this correct?