Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. 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. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I understand why the Senator from Idaho said that, but I would encourage the Senator to read a little book called ``Coming into the Country'' by McPhee. That is a book about a place in Alaska where people live who the British leader says he thinks he wants to talk to--in the wilds of Alaska, in the great frontier of America. The British leader thought he was going to the wilderness when he talked about Idaho. If he wants to see the wilderness in this country, he has to go to Alaska today. That is where 77 percent of the federally declared wilderness exists. Mr. President, I yield to the Senator from Connecticut.

Mr. STEVENS. Parliamentary inquiry: Has the time expired?

Mr. STEVENS. Does the Senator seek to speak in morning business?

Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Tennessee may speak for 1 minute.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, AIDS has been a matter of attention by our subcommittee since 1982. It was our subcommittee that initiated the first AIDS research with public funds that I know of in the world. That research is still going on by the Department of Defense. We were looking for some way to prevent the transmission of AIDS. I am sad to say we have not been successful. In the period just prior to our bill in the eighties, I had listened to a lecture at the Cosmos Club where the lecturer had predicted we would witness AIDS becoming a plague--more than an epidemic; it actually would become a plague. That prediction has become too true, and the President has committed $15 billion over a period of 3 years for our contributions to the AIDS program. We have in our budget so far total spending of $2.4 billion that is directed to global AIDS spending. I am trying to get the total figures. I think we have over another $2 billion in our total budget directed toward AIDS spending. It is true that money is going to agencies other than USAID, but in foreign operations, there is $1.5 billion, and Labor, Health and Human Services has $683 million. My point is, we have an enormous amount of money in the bill before us already for AIDS spending. I am compelled to oppose the Senator's amendment because it transfers from defense procurement and research and development programs to another bill, the Health and Human Services bill and the Agency for International Development, which is in a third bill, the State-Justice-Commerce bill, portions of money allocated by our committee to those two other subcommittees. In effect, Senator Byrd's amendment would transfer from the Defense Department to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of State $1.1 billion. I have to oppose this amendment in the first place because I believe we have already met the commitment of the President. There is no reason I know of to accelerate that and provide more than the $3 billion. We have already committed to--as a matter of fact, because of the request initially, I believe we have in excess of $4 billion in this budget available to us for AIDS already. The fund the Senator from West Virginia would take the money from is for the modernization of our aircraft. We are trying to modernize this force. We need to replace aging C-130s and the aging C-46 helicopters. We have an enormous number of vehicles and aircraft that have to be replaced because of the damage they have suffered from activities in Afghanistan and Iraq. The modernization funding in this account is also for the National Guard and Reserve. We all have some real concern over the amount of money that is already available for those activities. Bluntly, I do not think we can afford to take $1.1 billion out of defense and put it into the Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services, or Education--wherever it goes--at this time. We are going to lose a sizable number of the weapons systems we would otherwise modernize or replace with this $1 billion. I call attention particularly to the fact that despite the authorization and request of the President, we were unable to fund the F-18 fighter the administration seeks to procure. We are unable to fund the total amount of F-22s. We have reduced the number of ships in the Virginia class from seven to five. I am already mentally confused over why we have to be so constricted, but that was the problem in the overall budget. We already have taken $3.1 billion out of the Defense budget and spread it through the nondefense budgets in order to meet the objections that were raised by so many Senators to the allocations we initially intended to make without that $3.1 billion. This would make it $4.2 billion out of Defense. I say to my friend from West Virginia, we just cannot do that. There is no way we can take any more money out of the funds we have set aside to replace the aging fighters, helicopters, and the equipment that was damaged or destroyed in Iraq and Afghanistan. We do have a letter from Dr. O'Neill, the Director of Office of National AIDS Policy. He says this: By careful design, the President's 2004 budget request is for $2 billion-- On this set-aside fund. As I said, our accounting is that set-aside fund for global activities is $2.241 billion. In any event, to continue Mr. O'Neill's letter, he said: This request was based on the sound judgment that funds in excess of this amount could not be spent effectively in this first year. These funds will be spent in a focused manner, increasing each year, to efficiently and effectively create the necessary training, technology, and infrastructure base needed to ensure delivery of appropriate medical treatment protocols and the long-term success of this initiative. He stated in another paragraph, and I am pulling sentences out of this letter: For the reasons stated above, the administration strongly opposes any efforts to increase funding beyond the $2 billion requested in the President's FY 2004 budget. I ask unanimous consent that the letter be printed in the Record in full after my statement.

Mr. STEVENS. Prior to the President's initiative, the total for AIDS was $1.2 billion. It is my judgment, because of the amount of money we are spending in all the other agencies to increase our knowledge and ability to deal with AIDS, that this is a proper amount of money. We have the commitment that this money will increase as we get more and more people trained. We listened to the Secretary of State the other morning tell us about the problem we have in finding people to train and help with the medical problems of the people we are dealing with in terms of AIDS throughout Africa in particular. I thought it was a very moving response he gave to the questions about AIDS. Very clearly, right now there are two issues in the amendment of the Senator. First, I believe we have met the initial year's objective for the President's global initiative on AIDS. I believe we have an overwhelming amount of money in the total bills before the Congress this year, all 13 appropriations bills, on AIDS. Further, the way the Senator from West Virginia wants to offset this amount, in my judgment, will bring great harm to the area of modernization of our aging equipment and the replacement of the equipment that has been damaged and destroyed by war. So I am forced to say to the Senator from West Virginia that I am compelled to make a motion to table his amendment at an appropriate time. I certainly do not want to do that before my friend has had a chance to make any comments he wants to make about my comments. I ask unanimous consent that the schedule of the projection of spending for global AIDS be printed in the Record.

Mr. STEVENS. Does the Senator from West Virginia wish to make an additional statement before I make a motion to table?

Mr. STEVENS. It shows in 2004, $2.040 billion; in 2005, there is $2.540 billion; in 2006, there is $3.090 billion; in 2007, $3.690 billion; in 2008, $3.890 billion. In all, the total is $15.250 billion over the 5-year period. This is a commitment that we will keep. I think it is wise to start this program on a sound basis. This summary I have had prepared shows all treatment of AIDS and all of our programs other than defense. The last chart I want to put in the Record shows zero for defense, as far as AIDS is concerned. In the lump sum we have for medical research, I know there is a sum of money that continues to be spent in pursuing the research base for a way to prevent transmission of AIDS, to develop a vaccine for AIDS. That is not disclosed on this, so there is actually more than this in the total amount for the bill. I ask unanimous consent that this chart be printed in the Record.

Mr. STEVENS. Yes, I have. Exhibit 1 The White House, Washington, July 17, 2003. Hon. Bill Frist, Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. Dear Leader Frist: It is my understanding that an amendment regarding funding for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria may be offered today to the Department of Defense FY2004 appropriations bill currently under consideration on the Senate floor. I want to reiterate the Administration's strong support for the FY2004 budget request of $2 billion for all international HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria activities, including $200 million for the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria. This request is a solid first step in fulfilling the President's commitment of providing $15 billion over the next five years to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, the Caribbean and around the world. I recently finished traveling to Africa with the President where he saw first-hand the positive impact that current U.S. funding is having in caring for the sick, providing treatment for individuals living with HIV/AIDS and extending lives. He also witnessed the vast infrastructure and capacity challenges that need to be addressed in order to scale-up many of these efforts. It is by careful design that the President's FY2004 budget request is for $2 billion. This request was based on the sound judgment that funds in excess of this amount could not be spend effectively in this first year. These funds will be spent in a focused manner, increasing each year, to efficiently and effectively create the necessary training, technology, and infrastructure based needed to ensure delivery of appropriate medical treatment protocols and the long term success of this initiative. These funds are vital to our efforts to combat HIV/AIDS abroad, but must be spent in the right way, at the right time. Similarly, efforts to increase funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria are not appropriate at this time. Currently, the United States is responsible for over 40% of all contributions made to the Global Fund. We have reached a critical time in the Global Fund's development, and other nations must join the U.S. in supporting the work of the Global Fund. For the reasons stated above, the Administration strongly opposes any efforts to increase funding beyond the $2 billion requested in the President's FY2004 budget. I appreciate your unwavering leadership on this issue and look forward to the continued strong bipartisan support of the Senate in ensuring the success of this lifesaving initiative. Sincerely, Dr. Joseph F. O'Neill, Director, Office of National AIDS Policy.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the subject of how much money it takes to comply with the authorization and requests on AIDS is not a matter for the Defense bill. This is an attempt to take defense money and shift it over to the Health and Human Services bill and the State bill in anticipation that those bills will not meet the satisfaction of those who want to see this money put out on $3 billion a year rather than $15 billion over 5 years. I understand the motivation for that: to put up more money. But that money is divided between the Labor, Health and Human Services subcommittee on the one hand and the State-Justice-Commerce bill on the other hand. Or perhaps some of it might go into the foreign operations bills. I don't know. But it is not defense. What this is doing is suggesting we take defense money that is needed to replace the helicopters we have lost, to repair damage to the equipment we have had damaged in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it also goes to eliminate other items that are needed in terms of modernization. I oppose this amendment for that reason alone right now. I am not prepared to get into the argument about the total amount we have for AIDS, in terms of whether or not there is a commitment for $3 billion a year or $15 billion over 5 years. The point is, as the manager of this bill, my task is to assure we get the money we need for defense. It is an enormous amount, I say to those who say it is $1 billion, that is true--$1 billion a day. We are spending approximately $1 billion a day for defense globally and that is a whale of a lot of money. I am often reminded of Senator Dirksen saying a billion here and a billion there and it becomes real money. There is no question about it, this is real money. But this is not the bill on which money is allocated for AIDS under global AIDS. On that basis alone I ask the Senate to support my motion to table the amendment of the Senator. Does the Senator from Nevada wish to speak before I make that motion?

Mr. STEVENS. Yes.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I had a conversation with the Senator from Iowa concerning the President's statement. I am informed by a call we made to the President's Director of AIDS Policy that in a background briefing with the press it was plainly spelled out that the President's request for 2004 was $2 billion but that there was an absolute commitment for $15 billion over 5 years. I will say this. There is no question that the amount of money in this account is higher. This is one of the things I have been trying to say all day, that in this bill are substantial amounts of money that relate to Iraq. That increase is for the procurement of aircraft, ammunition, and specialized equipment that was destroyed in Iraq. It is not being spent in Iraq, but it is being spent to replenish particularly the special operations command, special operations forces. They consumed a considerable amount of their equipment and supplies. That extra money will be in this account. It will be reduced $1.1 billion if this amendment is agreed to. It would be my hope Senators would look at this as an amendment to take money from the Defense bill to meet the AIDS obligation. We will be back on this AIDS obligation next week, hopefully, when we get to the Health and Human Services bill. We had authorized $370 billion in the Defense authorization bill. We have found here $3.69 billion, despite the fact we already took out of this account $3.1 billion and allocated it to nondefense accounts. I do believe we have performed literally miracles--well, my squadron's motto in World War II was, ``We do the impossible immediately. Miracles take slightly longer.'' So I cannot say this was a miracle, but it sure was doing the impossible to try to find the money to try to meet the objectives of the Defense authorization bill, notwithstanding the fact that we have taken $3.1 billion out of it. Mr. President, there is no question that there is no one on the floor of this Senate who is more committed to the war on AIDS than this Senator. I do not know how many people understand it. I believe I do understand it in the way that it replicates cells, destroys cells. It really is a total global plague now. I am proud our President has made this commitment of $15 billion. Instead of standing here and challenging the commitment on the basis we have not provided $3 billion in the first year, we should applaud the President for making the commitment for $15 billion. I applaud him again today for that. I also hope the Senate will understand we have reviewed every request for equipment that has been made in addition to those items that were authorized. We have allocated the money as best we can. The Senator from Hawaii and I have had no disagreements at all on that. I, once again, am very proud of the support of my friend. And I do make a motion to table the amendment of the Senator from West Virginia, and I ask unanimous consent that vote on that motion take place at a time to be determined by the majority leader after consultation with the minority leader.

Mr. STEVENS. I understand that. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I asked for and have obtained a copy of the transcript that was made at the background briefing provided for the President's speech in Africa. This was made by Dr. Joseph O'Neill, the President's director for AIDS policy. He was asked this question by the press: Can you clarify something about the money issue? You've talked about full funding, but no one has yet defined what full funding is. Is it the $2 billion that the President originally requested for next year? Or is it the $3 billion that was in the authorization bill? Or is it something else? Dr. O'Neill answered: Full funding and what we are going after is $15 billion over five years. Our request for this year, 2004, as you know, is $1.9 billion if you exclude the tuberculosis and malaria money. And I want to make a very clear point on this, because it's something where there has been continuing confusion. We have requested and will request $15 billion over five years. Now, in order to be effective with those dollars, we would be foolish to think we would spend the same amount every year. In order to do--particularly to do the treatment that is the cornerstone of this initiative--and I can say this because I'm a practicing physician myself, I still [see] HIV/AIDS patients, this is a very tough thing to do--in order to do that, we need to build a lot of infrastructure, we need to do a lot of training, particularly of health care workers. So for the first year, it's going to take less money to get the job done than it will in the outyears. So we've always been clear [on that], we've always tried to be clear that we've always intended to ramp up these dollars over five years for a total of $15 billion over five [years]. That is the statement on which we relied. Again, I come back to the fact that we are talking, in this instance, about the problem of the other bills that do handle HIV/AIDS and not this bill. I understand the Senator from West Virginia would like to make a statement. I ask unanimous consent that he be permitted to make the statement before I renew the motion to table his amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I renew my motion to table the Senator's amendment and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that immediately at the conclusion of the next vote, the Senate proceed to executive session for consideration of Calendar No. 291, Allyson Duncan, to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit; provided that there then be 10 minutes for debate equally divided between Senators Dole and Edwards and, at the conclusion of that time, the Senate proceed to a vote on the confirmation of the nomination without further intervening action or debate; provided, further, that immediately following that vote, the Senate proceed to a vote on the confirmation of Calendar No. 294, Louise Flanagan, to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina; provided that following those votes, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate resume legislative session; provided, further, that the time for voting on each of the confirmations of these judges be limited to 10 minutes.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent that the scheduled rollcall vote previously ordered on the confirmation of Calendar No. 294 be vitiated and we now have a vote on the confirmation of the other nomination.

Mr. STEVENS. The district court judge, yes. There will be a vote scheduled on the confirmation of the circuit court judge, Allyson Duncan. I ask that we vitiate the rollcall on the district judge and have a rollcall vote on the circuit judge. There will be 10 minutes equally divided on the circuit judge.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the votes and to lay those motions on the table. The motions to lay on the table were agreed to.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I send to the desk a series of amendments. The first is an amendment in the amount of $2 million from available funds for the Software Engineering Institute. The second is $10 million from O&M funds for civil-military programs and the innovative readiness training program. The third is $10 million for the missile procurement program set-aside for assured access to space. The next one is an amendment regarding a study of the mail delivery in the Middle East. The next amendment is to conform the appropriation provision relating to the use of RDT&E funds Defense-wide. The next amendment is to make available from amounts available for research, development, test, and evaluation $4 million for the Center for Adaptive Optics. The next is to make available $1 million from amounts available for RDT&E for completion of the Rhode Island Disaster Initiative. The next is setting aside $8 million from amounts available for the death gratuity payments for the fiscal year 2004 on behalf of Senator Warner. The next is to make available from amounts available for shipbuilding and conversion $20 million for the DDG-51 modernization planning program. The next is to provide for appropriations for the Army Museum of the Southwest. The next is to provide for the use of funds for privatization or transfer to another Federal agency of the prison guard functions for Fort Leavenworth, KS. The next provides for the purchase of Humvee tires. The next is to make available from amounts available $2.5 million for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration Activities. The next is to prohibit the use of funds to decommission a Naval or Marine Corps Reserve aviation squadron pending a Comptroller General report. All of these amendments have been cleared on both sides and have been referred to my good friend from Arizona for his review. I send them to the desk and ask unanimous consent that they be presented en bloc so they might be considered en bloc.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, while the clerk is examining those, I have a new partnership in the Senate. My good friend from Nevada has joined the club of the admirers of the Incredible Hulk.

Mr. STEVENS. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. muscular dystrophy research/muscle research consortium

Mr. STEVENS. The Senator is correct. The committee has noted its support of the program, and I assure my friend from Minnesota that the committee will give its full consideration to this program while conferencing with the House.

Mr. STEVENS. I would.