Rick Santorum

Mr. SANTORUM

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I compliment the Senator from Missouri for his excellent work on the Small Business Committee in a very important area--the dramatic growth in electronic commerce and the ability of small businesses to participate in that. We hear so much about the family farm and the small business community being in jeopardy. As we transition in this economy, to have a chairman of the Small Business Committee who is on top of that and working to integrate the advances in electronic commerce with our small business community, and to make those advances available to them is very important. I congratulate him on that, and Senator Mack and Senator Bennett of the Joint Economic Committee for a series of hearings this week in the area of technology and its impact and continued potential impact on our country and on our economy and the world economy. These are the things, frankly, we do not do enough of around here, looking at the future to see how we can adjust our public policy to alleviate not just what the problems are or what the problems were that have been with us but how, through innovation, we can form the future to alleviate those problems. So I am very pleased we are focusing in on the future as opposed to just dealing with the current important problems; not looking through the rear-view mirror instead of looking in front at the opportunities ahead us.

Mr. SANTORUM

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Antonio J. (Tony) Palumbo, a coal miner from Western Pennsylvania who humbly represents the generous spirit of community. President and owner of the New Shawmut Mining company, Mr. Palumbo was born in Pennsylvania on June 14, 1906 and actively serves as a Trustee for La Roche College, Duquesne University, Carlow College, Gannon College, the Villa Nazareth School in Rome, Italy, and the Mayo Clinic Foundation for Medical Education and Research. He has also developed unique relationships with the Catholic Diocese of Erie, Elk County Christian High School, the Nicaraguan-American Nursing Collaboration, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Holy Family Institute and the Boy Scouts of St. Marys, PA. Throughout his years of involvement at these institutions, Mr. Palumbo has gained the admiration and respect of the many students that he has come in contact with. His influence in their lives will be felt for many years to come. Mr. Palumbo was recently presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Society of Fund Raising Executives. His efforts have helped build educational and health care facilities, endow research, provide scholarships, deliver care to the poor and support community initiatives. As varied as each of these causes are, they all reflect Tony Palumbo's compassion for the needs of others and his commitment to using his time and talents to enrich the lives of those around him. Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join with me in commending Tony Palumbo for the leadership and compassion that he has portrayed, as well as the platform that he has created for motivating the stewardship of others.

Mr. SANTORUM

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Elizabeth Burke, who has been chosen as a 1999 Community Health Leader by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for her efforts to combat domestic violence. As one of 10 outstanding individuals selected each year to receive this distinguished award for finding innovative ways to bring health care to communities whose needs have been ignored and unmet, Ms. Burke's work on behalf of domestic violence victims has become a national model. A former victim of domestic violence, Elizabeth Burke was hired to start up the Domestic Violence Medical Advocacy Project at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh in 1994. The project is a joint effort between Mercy Hospital and the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, and since its start five years ago, the hospital has increased the identification of domestic violence victims by more than 500 percent. Women are offered counseling, education, shelter and employment programs in the 24 hour, 40 bed facility. The Center screens all women who are admitted into the hospital, identifying domestic violence victims at a point when they are most receptive to help. Ms. Burke is responsible for training hundreds of physicians, nurses, social workers as well as others in prevention diagnosis, treatment and advocacy for victims of domestic violence. Since coming to the project she has successfully bridged the gap between the domestic violence and medical fields to create a comprehensive response to victims of domestic violence. From emergency room screenings to follow-up services to an extensive prevention network, she ensures that abused women get help before the violence destroys their lives. Ms. Burke's efforts don't stop there. She also chairs the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence and makes presentations on domestic violence to a broad community. In addition, she serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Missouri and West Virginia University. Mr. President, many victims of domestic violence have been touched by Elizabeth Burke's compassionate spirit. I ask my colleagues to join with me in commending Ms. Burke for her extraordinary contribution to the Pittsburgh community and to all victims of domestic violence.

Mr. SANTORUM

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, that would be fine with me. The two Senators from Missouri, myself, and then I would be happy to----

Mr. SANTORUM. I yield the Senator 2 of my 5 minutes.

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I think the fine representatives from the State of Missouri, Senators Bond and Ashcroft, addressed the issue of the F/A-18E/F adequately on the merits. Frankly, I will not address that because that is not what this amendment does. This amendment has nothing to do with the merits of the F/A-18E/F. This has to do with a cost cap on a fixed price contract. Frankly, I was willing to accept this amendment because a fixed price contract is a fixed price contract. Putting a cost cap on the fixed price times the number doesn't really have any impact. What we are going to pay for this is already in law. What his amendment did, which I objected to, was that it did not allow any increase in money for what is called technology insertion. What does that mean? Well, if we come up with a better radar system in the next few years while we are procuring these F/A-18E/Fs, and if we want to put a new radar system in, which would cost more money, under the Feingold amendment we can't do that. The Senator from Wisconsin talked about how we have an obligation to our naval aviators, to make sure they have the most competent equipment to be out there flying. I agree. That is why I can't support this amendment. If we put this in, we would be denying those very aviators a technology insertion that would be important in improving the survivability of the aircraft, or their ability to locate targets, or whatever the case may be. This is a dangerous amendment. It threatens our naval aviators who are going to be flying these aircraft because we are not going to allow the insertion of technology for an additional cost that may increase the efficacy of that aircraft. One other comment. This was in response to the comment of the Senator from Wisconsin that we should not be approving this multiyear contract, which we do under this bill, without having the operational evaluation of testing go on, which could fail. I say to the Senator from Wisconsin, if it fails, under our bill, there is no multiyear contract. We spell out specifically in this legislation that it has to pass OPEVAL. If it doesn't, there is no multiyear. We have taken care of the Senator from Wisconsin in that if there are problems--and the Senator lists a variety that he believes exist--and if that is what is determined by the Department of Defense and the Bureau of Testing, we will not have a multiyear contract. So the Senator will get his wish. So I think, in the end, the Senator's amendment is superfluous at best--if he would agree to the amendment I suggested--but it is dangerous now because it doesn't allow for technology insertion. So I will move, at the appropriate time, to table the Feingold amendment.

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I move to table the Feingold amendment and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. SANTORUM. I am happy to yield an additional minute.

Mr. SANTORUM. I yield 30 seconds.

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, the F/A-18E/F is a fixed-price contract. It is a fixed-price contract for the extent of the contract. What the Senator from Wisconsin does is put a price cap on a fixed-price contract. Fine. I am willing to accept that. But what he did not include in his amendment was a provision for technology insertion. In other words, if we come up with a new radar system that can improve the quality of the aircraft, under his amendment we could not buy that improvement and put it on the aircraft. I was willing to accept his amendment, if he would allow for that technical improvement insertion provision. But he refused to do so. So, unfortunately, while I think the amendment is somewhat meaningless because it is a fixed price contract, I have to oppose the amendment, and would ask, for the sake of our naval aviators to make sure they have the best equipment to fly, that my colleagues join in supporting the motion to table.

Mr. SANTORUM. Absolutely.

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, on the second Feingold amendment, we are attempting to work some accommodation so we can accept the amendment. I ask unanimous consent that the yeas and nays which were ordered on the second Feingold amendment be vitiated.

Mr. SANTORUM. I yield the Senator from Missouri 2\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I yield myself 3 minutes. In response to the amendment of the Senator from Wisconsin, it is an additional hurdle to begin production of the E and F. This says that we cannot move forward with production, full-scale production, of this aircraft without a successful operational test and evaluation. That will be done by operational test pilots, maintenance people, experts in evaluating aircraft. They do the testing. They will do the report. The commander of operational test forces will issue the report, determine whether there was a successful test, and then that report will be given to the director of operational test and evaluation, who, under normal circumstances, will then make the decision that a successful test has been conducted. So all of that will have to be done. After that, again, according to normal procurement, he would send that recommendation on to the Defense Acquisition Board, which would review all of the tests to determine whether it was successful and make the decision to go ahead and procure the aircraft. Under our bill, we put in an additional step. We say that after the director of operational test and evaluation reviews the report, they have to then get a certification from the Secretary of Defense that this program has successfully completed operational test and evaluation. We have put an additional step in that is outside the course of the normal procurement area before the decision for acquisition is made. So we have already put in one additional step. What the Senator from Wisconsin wants to do is put an additional step in. This is somewhat dangerous in this respect: He includes no time limit. GAO can take 2 years if they want to. They can take whatever amount of time they want, hold up a $2.8 billion contract, hold up what is a needed requirement for the Navy to determine when a bunch of people with ``green eye shades,'' as the Senator from Missouri said--to make the determination as to whether auditors believe that the test pilots and the maintenance people and the Secretary of Defense and the director of operational test and evaluation, the defense acquisition board, they were all wrong--all the experts were wrong, and congressional auditors are really the best determinant as to whether this aircraft meets its requirements, is needed, and should be procured. I don't think we want to do that. I think that sets a very dangerous precedent. Frankly, it raises some constitutional questions as to whether the Congress can, in fact, do that. I can say to the Senator from Wisconsin, the junior Senator from Missouri had me out to St. Louis. I went through and reviewed extensively, spending the better part of a day at the facility in St. Louis. This is a program of which I think everyone will be proud. They are using state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques. They are, as the Senators have said, ahead of schedule, meeting every single benchmark. They have 4,000 hours of flight time, more than any other aircraft that has been tested in history. I think this is an additional hurdle that is unnecessary and potentially dangerous. That is why I will at the appropriate time move to table the amendment of the Senator from Wisconsin.

Mr. SANTORUM

Mr. SANTORUM. I yield back my minute.

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise to support my amendment. The amendment is offered to address a problem in this country which we have talked a lot about here, which is the short amount of time that people serve in prison and, in fact, are sentenced to prison for the most violent of crimes in our society. The chart says the average prison time served for rape in this country is only 5\1/2\ years, and that, by the way, is a slight increase over the past dozen or so years. Average prison time served for child molestation is 4 years; 4 years for child molestation. The average time served for homicide is just 8 years. These statistics are for time served. Time sentenced, in many cases, is just a little bit more than that, but not significantly more than that. It is a very serious problem, particularly in the area of raping and sexually molesting a child, where the recidivism rate is very high, where we are putting back on the street to terrorize our citizenry, people who should be incarcerated for a much longer period of time. A group of Members, Matt Salmon in the House of Representatives, and I in the Senate, have introduced a bill called Aimee's law, named after Aimee Willard, a victim of a horrible rape and murder in the city of Philadelphia by a man, Arthur Bomar, who was released from prison in Nevada--released after murdering someone in Nevada, released after not serving his full sentence. By the way, he was violent in Nevada and had assaulted a woman while in prison, but Nevada let him out early. Unfortunately, Arthur Bomar found Aimee Willard and Aimee was brutally murdered and raped. Aimee's mom, Gail Willard, has put together a group of people who said it is time to get people who are convicted of these horrible crimes to serve out their sentences and to send a message to States-- many States in this country have very light sentences for many of these crimes--to send a message to States that we want tougher sentencing laws on the books for these violent crimes and violent criminals. Matt Salmon introduced in the House, and I introduced an amendment in the Senate, which does something very simple: If someone is released from prison as a result of these kinds of violent acts, they are released from prison and go to another State and they commit one of these crimes, that the State that released that prisoner has to pay the costs of apprehension, prosecution, and incarceration to the State that has to deal with this person that they let out of jail. It takes the Federal funding stream--we have Federal funds that go to all the States--and basically takes some of those Federal funds and shifts them from one State to another. It is a matter of disignating some Federal funds, rather than to Pennsylvania, because Pennsylvania let someone out early and that convicted felon went to Ohio and committed a crime--Pennsylvania would lose Federal funds--to Ohio to pay for the apprehension, prosecution and incarceration of that criminal. This is a bill supported by 39 victims' rights organizations, including: KlaasKids Foundation and Polly Klaas' father, Marc Klaas; Fred Goldman; Gail Willard; the Fraternal Order of Police; Law Enforcement Alliance of America; International Children's Rights Resource Center; Justice for All; National Association of Crime Victims' Rights; the Women's Coalition. The above mentioned people and organizations and a variety of other national organizations consider this one of their highest priority bills, to send a message that if a State has very lenient sentencings and they let someone out, that State will get hit with a bill; that State will lose some of their Federal block grant funds. We want tougher sentences and we want truth in sentences. We have provisions in this amendment that say if you don't live up to truth in sentencing and you are not a truth-in-sentencing State, you can be liable if someone gets out of jail in one of those States and goes to another State and commits a similar crime. You can lose Federal funds. We are trying to send a very clear message that these crimes should be dealt with seriously. A child molester who receives 4 years in prison, when you consider the recidivism rate, is an abomination. We have 134,000 convicted sex offenders right now living in our communities because of these kind of laws and because of the enforcement and prosecution and leniency by our courts or by our parole systems. We have to do something about this to protect our children, to protect our society from the rapists and child molesters and murderers in our society. I reserve the remainder of my time.

Mr. SANTORUM

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the efforts of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Association of Lehigh Valley in fighting Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Through a tireless effort, the CFS Association of Lehigh Valley is committed to finding a cure for CFIDS, increasing public awareness and providing support for victims of this disease. Public education is an integral part of the association's mission, and the Lehigh Valley organization works to raise awareness through the International CFIDS Awareness Day, which is held on May 12 each year. In addition, the Lehigh Valley organization is actively involved in CFS-related research and regularly participates in seminars to train health care professionals. It is also important to note that the CFS Association of Lehigh Valley received the CFIDS Support Network Action Award in 1995 and 1996 for their public advocacy initiatives. Although some progress has been made in the study of CFIDS, this condition is largely still a mystery. With no known cause or cure for the disease, victims experience a variety of symptoms including extreme fatigue, fever, muscle and joint pain, cognitive and neurological problems, tender lymph nodes, nausea and vertigo. The Centers for Disease Control has given CFIDS ``Priority 1'' status in the new infectious disease category which also includes cholera, malaria, hepatitis C and tuberculosis. The Lehigh Valley organization will persistently continue its research and education campaigns until this disease is obliterated. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to join me in commending the Lehigh Valley organization and in supporting the following proclamation: Proclamation Whereas, on May 12, 1999 the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) Association of Lehigh Valley joined the Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) Association of America, the largest organization dedicated to conquering CFIDS, in observing International Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome Awareness Day; and Whereas, CFIDS is a complicated disease which is characterized by neurological, rheumatological and immunological problems, incapacitating fatigue, as well as a number of other symptoms that can persist for months or years and can be severely debilitating; and Whereas, estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands of American adults already have CFIDS; and Whereas, the medical community, as well as the public should receive more information and develop a greater awareness of the effects of CFIDS. While much has been done at the national, state and local level, more must be done to support patients and their families; and Whereas, research has been enhanced by the efforts of the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health and other private institutions, the CFS Association of Lehigh Valley recognizes that there is still much more to be done to encourage further research so that the mission of conquering CFIDS and related disorders can be achieved; Therefore, the United States Senate commends the efforts of the CFS Association of Lehigh Valley, as well as those battling the disease and applauds the designation of May 12, 1999 as CFIDS Awareness Day.

Mr. SANTORUM

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. SANTORUM

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Senate Banking Committee's bill, the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, S. 900. As a new member to Banking Committee, I am pleased to be part of the Committee's effort to bring this bill to the floor. First, let me commend the Chairman for his hard work and heavy-lifting in crafting a bill that will frame the way financial activities are conducted as we move into the next century. The Chairman began this effort during a very busy and trying time for this body at the beginning of the 106th Congress, and I appreciate his leadership in keeping the Committee focused on our priorities and the work at hand. Considering the scope of activities covered by a financial services modernization bill, crafting a piece of legislation to update 60 year old laws while allowing flexibility for forward-thinking products is a Herculean task. At the heart of the bill is the matter of addressing structure and regulation of financial services firms. Even a casual observer has taken notice of the changing face of our domestic financial sector over the past several months. While merger-mania has dominated the news, other forces such as changing regulation, court decisions, and market innovation have outpaced current law. And although S. 900 is a work in progress, with accommodations to be made by all interested parties, I believe the time is ripe to pass legislation that allows for the affiliation among the various sectors of the financial services industry. This legislation provides a constructive framework to tackle the issue of financial services modernization while also including appropriate safeguards. As with most major legislative initiatives, this bill has not been without controversy. Specifically, there has been an ongoing debate about provisions in the bill pertaining to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). As many know, the Community Reinvestment Act was enacted by Congress in 1977 and required federally-insured banks and thrifts to make loans in their service areas, including low- and moderate- income communities, consistent with safe and sound banking practices. Compliance with CRA requirements can encompass loans made for the purposes of mortgage lending; business lending; consumer credit; and community investments. The benefit of capital investment and financing in such communities has strengthened parts of our nation that may not have otherwise known their current prosperity. To date, CRA lending has surpassed the $1 trillion mark for investment in low- and moderate- income communities while private sector lending has increased 45% from 1993 to 1997. As I have heard from many community reinvestment groups located throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, there has been one very positive additional benefit that numbers can't quantify: the relationships formed between members of the banking community and those advocating on behalf of their neighborhoods and communities. These working relationships now aim to meet the mutual goal of jumpstarting the economic viability of urban and rural regions across the United States. For those very reasons, I chose not to support the amendment offered during mark-up of S. 900 that would have exempted small, rural banks with less than $100 million in assets from CRA requirements. I certainly appreciate the very real concern of added regulatory and paperwork burdens that banks assume to comply with this law. In fact, reforms made in 1997 to the CRA recognized this very problem and streamlined the examination process for small banks with less than $250 million in assets. However, I could not support a wholesale exemption from this Act. As the Chairman outlined from the beginning of the process of developing a financial services modernization bill, the role of the CRA will be further examined by the Committee in a separate forum. I suspect that a thorough evaluation of CRA successes and shortcomings will be addressed within the context of oversight hearings, and I look forward to participating in that process. While CRA has made significant contributions to the empowerment of marginalized communities, I believe we still need to find the right balance to ensure prosperity for low- and moderate- income neighborhoods and the flexibility for lenders to meet community needs. Mr. President, while the future of this bill has been linked to the resolution of certain issues, like the CRA, I believe the heart of the debate, financial services modernization, is larger than partisanship. The time has come to make commonsense reform of our nation's financial structure a reality in order to remain the strong competitive force in world markets that our country has so capably demonstrated.

Mr. SANTORUM

Mr. SANTORUM. Thank you, Mr. President. Amendment No. 307 (Purpose: To require the obligations of the Financing Corporation to be paid from certain excess funds of the deposit insurance funds and for other purposes)

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk.

Mr. SANTORUM

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Pennsylvania's top two youth volunteers for the 1999 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, a nationwide program that honors young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Jessica Miley, a junior at McDowell High School in Erie and Dustin Good, a seventh-grade student at Pottstown Intermediate School were named State Honorees, an honor conferred on only one high school student and one middle-level student in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Jessica is being honored for her extraordinary efforts to save the lives of at-risk youth. Certified by the Erie County Department of Health as a Prevention Educator to teach students in local high schools and middle schools about preventing HIV and AIDS, she designs her own programs around topics such as abstinence, sexual risks, peer pressure, self-esteem and the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Jessica spends 12 to 15 hours a week on her efforts during the school year and 40 hours a week during the summer. Dustin is being recognized for his role in ``Project Reach-Out,'' a group comprised of students who want to make a difference in their community. As part of this effort, Dustin spent many hours promoting the group's activities to his student body, recruiting volunteers, attending planning meetings and working on special events. Among these events was a prom for residents of a local nursing home, as well as an ``adoption'' of a needy family in the community. Through fundraising efforts, the group provided the family with food, clothes and toys. It is vital that we, as individual communities, encourage and support the kind of selfless contributions that these young people have demonstrated. People of all ages need to think more about how, as individual citizens, we can work together at the local level to ensure the health and vitality of our towns and neighborhoods. Young volunteers like Jessica and Dustin are inspiring examples to all of us and are among our brightest hopes for a better tomorrow. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program was created in 1995 by The Prudential Insurance Company of America, in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals, to impress upon all youth volunteers that their contributions are critical and to inspire other young people to follow their example. In only four years, the program has become the nation's largest youth recognition effort based solely on community service, with more than 50,000 youth participating. I commend Jessica Miley and Dustin Good for the leadership they have demonstrated in seeking to make their communities better places to live. I would also like to salute the following eight young people in Pennsylvania who were named Distinguished Finalists in the program; Eric Ford, Havertown; Drew Harris, Dresher; Tiffanie Hawkins, Newtown; Anne Heller, New Holland; Kari Knight, Sugarloaf; Tabitha Kulish, Lancaster; Jennifer Michelstein, Kingston; and Lisa Podgurski, Washington. These youth have exhibited a level of commitment and accomplishment that is truly extraordinary, and they deserve our sincere admiration and respect. Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in commending these fine young people who have demonstrated that young Americans can, and do, play important roles in their communities and that America's community spirit continues to hold tremendous promise for the future.