Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, for the information of Members, we will have opening statements, and then we will have an amendment offered by the Senator from Iowa, Mr. Grassley. On behalf of the leader, I make this statement. We are now on the DOD appropriations bill. After our opening statements, Senator Grassley is prepared to talk about his accounting amendment. We expect to have a vote at 9:30 on that amendment tomorrow morning. There will no more votes for the remainder of the day. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my great friend, Senator Inouye, in presenting the Defense appropriations bill to the Senate. This bill is for the fiscal year 2001. It represents the twelfth bill we have jointly brought before the Senate: Six were presented by my friend from Hawaii during the period of time when he was the chairman of the subcommittee, and now this is the sixth bill presented by me during the second opportunity I have had to chair this subcommittee. First and foremost, the bill reported by our committee, in our opinion, meets all personnel, readiness, training, and quality-of-life priorities for the armed services. We have fully funded the pay raise and new authorized recruiting and retention benefits. All estimated costs of contingency operations for 2001 in Kosovo, Bosnia, and southwest Asia are included in our recommendation. There should not be an emergency supplemental for known contingency operations in the year 2001 for the Department of Defense. The bill before the Senate sustains and augments the efforts to accelerate modernization of our Armed Forces. Significantly, the recommendation provides an additional $250 million for the Army's transformation initiative. I join my friend from Hawaii in commending General Shinseki for his foresight and leadership in moving the Army forward into a more deployable global force. These funds should accelerate the fielding of the initial transformation brigades in 2001. Our committee, consistent with the Defense authorization bill as presented to the Senate, adds funds for several missile defense programs. Mr. President, $139 million is added for the national missile defense research and development, $92.4 million for the airborne laser, and $60 million for the Navy theaterwide missile defense efforts. This is the crossroads year for missile defense. These funds are consistent with the recommendations and priorities of General Kadish, who manages this program, for the fiscal year 2001. A new initiative recommended in this bill is to transfer funding for the C-17 program to a new national defense airlift fund. Several years ago, funding for sealift acquisition was transferred to a central account. Airlift is a key strategic capability. The need for that is shared by all military services. Funding for airlift should not be borne solely by the Air Force, just as funding for sealift is not now borne by the Navy. Full funding is provided in this new account for 12 C-17 aircraft requested for 2001, and the advance procurement and interim contract logistics support submitted in the budget. The bill presented by the subcommittee includes report language that directs the Department to proceed with the current acquisition strategy to select a single design based upon the flight test program. The Joint Strike Fighter might be the single most important defense program this committee will consider in the next 10 years. We must get this one right. Industrial base concerns should only be addressed after we are sure we have selected the best aircraft at the best cost for the mission and not before we even select the winner of the competition. When the committee met to report the bill, several Members raised with me the subcommittee's recommendation to defer full funding on the two LPD-17 class vessels requested in the budget. The bill before us includes $200 million in advance appropriations for the two ships originally planned for fiscal year 2001. Also, it includes $285 million to pay for cost overruns incurred on the first four ships. I want to restate, as I have in both Maine and Louisiana in the past week, my personal commitment to the LPD-17 program. The focus of the adjustment we recommend is to get the program back on track with a stable design and address prior year problems. The funds provided are intended to assure that there will be no interruption in the work at the two shipyards and no additional delay in construction or delivery of the ships. At the markup, language was added by Senator Cochran and Senator Snowe to permit the Navy to sign contracts for both ships using the funds appropriated by this bill. We have approved that recommendation. So there is no reason to say this bill in any way slows up the process of procuring these new ships. Finally, the recommendation provides $137 million for the new medical benefits included in the Senate-reported defense authorization bill. These efforts provide a new pharmacy benefit for military retirees. They are fully consistent with the objectives outlined by General Shelton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, in his testimony before our committee. The new medical benefit package adopted during consideration of the defense bill does not require additional discretionary appropriations for the fiscal year 2001. It is our intention to work closely with the authorizing committees and with the Department of Defense to ensure that any new benefits are fully funded in the years to come. If a commitment is made under our watch, it is going to be kept. These improvements will come at considerable cost and will be an important element of future defense budget planning. This is really what the Senator from Nebraska was talking about, the oncoming important costs we must face. The definition of those costs is the problem so far. I urge all of our colleagues to look at this bill as a whole. It is packaged together. It really is a bill we have worked on. I do commend our staffs, our joint staffs, under Steve Cortese, who is with me, and Charlie Houy is with Senator Inouye. This bill once again is a bill that I think, as I said in the beginning, will meet our needs with the funds that are available this year. The allocation for defense is roughly $1 billion less than the amount made available by the Senate version of the defense authorization bill. It is about $1 billion below the allocation for the House-passed bill now before the Senate. Some of these issues have to be sorted out in conference with the House. I ask the patience of the Senate as we work to get the best possible package to the conference. I call the attention of the Senate to the fact that we have several issues in the bill that are also pending before the conference on the military construction bill because of the supplemental that was already passed by the House. The committee has closely followed the Senate's actions on the defense authorization bill so far this week. We intend to offer a managers' package of conforming amendments during consideration of this bill to accommodate the Senate's action on the bill. To that concern, I ask all Members of the Senate, if you have amendments to offer, please notify Senator Inouye or me as soon as possible. We can probably work out most of them. We hope we will be able to do so because our bill closely tracks the defense authorization bill. It tracks the priorities outlined by the military chiefs in their testimony before the committee, and it certainly tracks fully our understanding of the House version that was passed by the other body just recently. Mr. President, I now recognize our distinguished ranking member, the Senator from Hawaii, and once again call to the attention of the Senate the great honor that will come to him in just a few days; that is, the honor of receiving his Medal of Honor which he should have received a long time ago. It is a privilege to serve with my friend from Hawaii. I yield the floor.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, if the Senator will yield, that is our intent. I want to take this time to congratulate the Senator from Iowa for once again raising the issue of proper accounting procedures for the Department of Defense. As we have in the past, I suggest it is a matter for the Senate to express their opinion about and support the endeavors of the Senator from Iowa. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, for the leader, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators being permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed the consideration of H.R. 3639, which is at the desk.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read for a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I would like to carry out an obligation I made on Memorial Day at the Arlington National Cemetery services. This statement was presented at the Arlington National Cemetery memorial service by the Flying Tigers of the 14th Air Force Association. It was in the form of a prayer that was entitled, ``Empty Cockpit; To our Departed Comrade.'' His is a place no one can take, The void he leaves cannot be filled, For the mark he made, stays, fresh on us, Although his heart has stilled. Though the years pursue their relentless course, And images are replaced, And memories grow dim and fade, And time obscures that familiar face, And even a name be forgot, And the things he said, and did, And lives more noble may come and go, But what he was cannot be hid. The lessons he unknowingly taught, By being what he was, Have certainly changed the lives he met, As his life touched ours. So that the course which they now take, Points somehow higher than before, A true and gently comrade, Has opened an unknown door. So although his life on Earth is done, His heritage will not rust, For parts of him, that was, remain, And live on as part of us. I thank the Chair. I made a commitment to repeat that here on the floor of the Senate. I appreciate the time.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, there are three votes in succession?

Mr. STEVENS. Two votes. Very well. Does Senator Feinstein wish any more time? Senator Mikulski?

Mr. STEVENS. I thank the Senator. If it is in order, I yield back the remainder of the time and ask for the vote.

Mr. STEVENS. I yield a portion of my time to Senator Feinstein. I do wish a couple minutes before we come to the vote.

Mr. STEVENS. Have the yeas and nays been ordered?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I thank Senator Feinstein. I commend Senators Bennett and Feinstein for managing this bill. It is a significant bill. With regard to the police, this bill increases support for our Capitol Police by 26 percent. In fact, in addition to that, we have in the Agriculture bill, awaiting Senate action, $2.3 million in overtime costs to implement the two-men-per-door policy and $10 million to provide additional facilities to support police functions. The 2001 appropriations bill provides $5.2 million in overtime to continue the two-men-at-each-door policy. I commend Senator Mikulski for her amendment. I deem it as a remembrance sense of the Senate, and we should remember these men who lost their lives in guarding this building and the functions of the Congress. I hope we will have the support of all Members for the basic bill. We support Senator Mikulski's amendment, as a sense-of-the-Senate amendment, that recognizes what is in the bill, that is, increasing support for the security functions for the Capitol and those who work in it. Mr. President, I believe we have scheduled the time to commence the vote.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, today my friend the senior Senator from Hawaii, Senator Inouye, and I are introducing the Stop TB Now Act. This bill would amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize one hundred million dollars in each of fiscal years 2001 and 2002 to fight tuberculosis. Each year, eight million people develop active tuberculosis. One and one-half million of those that develop active tuberculosis will die from that disease alone. One person can infect 10 to 15 people in a year. The global economy and its mobile work force makes the world a smaller place. No country is immune from the reach of this highly contagious disease. In 1999, the United States had almost 18,000 active TB cases. That comes to 6.4 per 100,000 people. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Alaska was ranked fourth in per capita cases of active tuberculosis in 1999. Hawaii has been number one since at least 1997. This bill has two components. A treatment strategy and the goal of arresting the rise of more dangerous strains of tuberculosis. The World Health Organization has developed directly observed treatment, short- course, referred to by its acronym DOTS. DOTS is a community-based treatment strategy. It uses standardized short course chemotherapy for 6 to 8 months, with direct observation of TB patients. Strict adherence to a drug regime is really the only way to successfully treat TB. Participation at the local level can perpetuate a culture of vigilance against this and other public health threats. Ineffective treatment strategies in the past have led to the emergency of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, known as MDR-TB. MDR-TB are strains that are resistant to one or both of the two most effective existing TB drugs. Drugs to treat MDR-TB are at least 100 times more expensive than traditional TB drugs. This is a staggering cost. Even in our country where the medical community can readily identify and treat MDR-TB, half the patients still die. These are patients using MDR-TB drugs. According to the World Health Organization, in another 3 to 5 years, without a comprehensive prevention and treatment strategy, drug resistant strains of TB will be the dominant form of the disease. Time is of the essence. In my own State of Alaska, we are concerned about the dramatic increase in MDR-TB in the Russian Far East. That region has enormous trade potential for the State. Our native peoples also travel there on cultural exchanges. Tuberculosis has been called the poor man's disease. Perhaps from our perspective it was once considered a poor country's disease. This is not the case and we cannot ignore the global reach of this disease and its new variants. I know many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are concerned about tuberculosis, as well as its association with the AIDS epidemic. I urge my colleagues to join Senator Inouye and myself in sponsoring this legislation. It is my hope Congress will act to address this threat this year.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. STEVENS

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

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, Mitch Rose, my chief of staff, who before that was my press secretary, will leave the Senate within the next few days. Mitch has been a great member of our staff, with his understanding of the nuances of legislation, his ability to articulate concerns, and his courage to challenge debate when he believes strongly in an issue. His talents with words, written and spoken, are really legendary. But no matter how tough the argument, or how serious the discussion, Mitch's sense of humor always helps to keep things in perspective. It's safe to say that he's not only famous for that sense of humor, but at times, he's infamous. Born in Alaska, a product of a great family and of Alaska's public schools, Mitch came to Capitol Hill after graduation from the University of Washington, almost 15 years ago. He first went to work for our friend and former colleague Bob Dole, and later toiled for the other members of our Alaska delegation, Don Young in the House and Frank Murkowski here in the Senate. When Mitch joined our staff, he took on the added responsibility of attending law school at night. His wife, Dale Cabaniss, attended a different law school in the evenings, while she worked for Senator Murkowski. Mitch's work on aviation and telecommunications issues has been particularly important. As chief of staff, he has kept ahead of the curve on all of our concerns, providing insight and guidance to my staff and me. The Alaska Humanities Forum has created a program named after Mitch, based on his experience as a youngster, when his parents made sure he knew how life in a rural Alaska village contrasts with life in urban Alaska. The Rose Urban-Rural Alaska Partnership Program will take urban youth to rural villages to promote better understanding of the very different ways of life in our small communities. It will provide the same type of opportunity his parents, Dave and Fran Rose, provided for Mitch when he was a young Anchorage school boy. Mitch is an example, Mr. President, of the best of his generation. He's worked hard, taken on heavy responsibilities at work and at home, maintained close and good relationships with Alaska and Alaskans, and with those with whom he works. He and Dale, who is now a Commissioner of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, are the parents of Ben 5, and twins Haley and Shelby, eight months. There is no question that we will miss Mitch. But there's also no question that he will be a valuable member of the private sector. My thanks to him for the work he's done, the loyalty he's shown and the friendship he's shared. With so many others who have known him over the years, I wish him well.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, as a product of the World War II years, I rushed through my undergraduate education after that war. In the process, my education was of the Yogi Berra variety: If I came to a fork in the road, I took it. Now, having acquired seniority here, I have privileges I never dreamed would be part of my life, and am more and more aware of what I missed by not spending more time in basic educational endeavors. For instance, because of my service on the Senate Rules Committee, it is my honor to be chairman of the Joint committee of the Library. This position opened my eyes and ears and filled my mind with joys totally unexpected. For instance, my increasing visits with Dr. Jim Billington, Librarian of the Library of Congress, a national treasure and our preeminent Russian scholar, have led to meeting more and more of the distinguished academics of our time. One of these persons is Jaroslav Pelikan, Sterling Professor Emeritus at Yale university and Immediate Past President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Sadly, because of business here in the Senate, I missed Dr. Pelikan's brilliant luncheon address to the Bicentennial of the Library of Congress on April 24 of this year. Arriving late, I was overwhelmed by the comments about his speech to the ``Library Legends Luncheon'' and requested a copy of it. The title of this address was: ``Hospital for the Soul.'' Now, I realize why we address those who have received Phd's as ``Doctor''. On behalf of all who have continued to support our Library of Congress, I thank Jaroslav Pelikan for all he has done to earn his ``Living Legend'' Award. Because of this address, I shall never again think of libraries as simply depositories for books. Our great Library of Congress is now the ``World's Hospital for the Soul.'' I ask unanimous consent that Dr. Pelikan's address be printed in the Record.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I do not want this issue to come up tomorrow at the markup on the defense bill, so I am doing this tonight so there is no misunderstanding. Not long after visiting Joint Interagency Task Force East an learning of the lack of readiness in the maritime patrol aircraft fleet, I made a second trip to Joint Interagency Task Force West and Coast Guard Pacific Area to determine whether this was a nationwide problem, or simply a problem of resource allocation. Unfortunately, what I learned is that the Coast Guard is in dire need of additional maritime patrol aircraft to backfill, supplement, and expand the Coast Guard capability to meet the many defense-related, drug interdiction, maritime enforcement and protection, and other aviation related missions. This amendment, which has been cleared on both sides of the aisle, is a first step toward addressing this glaring deficiency in our operational readiness in Coast Guard maritime patrolling capability. This amendment provides for the acquisition of six C-130J aircraft which will provide a unit size capability and allow the better allocation of all Coast Guard maritime patrol aircraft resources nationwide. I send the amendment to the desk and ask that it be considered as part of the managers' package when it is presented.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I offer an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. My amendment would provide a demonstration program for incentive grants for local school districts to develop minimum weekly requirements for physical education. More than a third of young people aged 12-21 years do not regularly engaged in vigorous physical activity, and the percentage of overweight young Americans has more than doubled in the past 30 years. More and more Americans are obese--more than 30 pounds overweight. In 1991, only four states had populations more than 15 percent of which were overweight. In 1998, the number of states with more than 15 percent overweight residents rose to 43. Lack of exercise is a matter of death. Poor diet and exercise are the second leading cause of death in the United States. Only tobacco causes more deaths. Lack of exercise contributes to 300,000 deaths in a year in the U.S.--more than alcohol, infectious agents, or guns. The immediate and long-term impact of our poor health habits is staggering, costing the nation more than $100 billion per year. If our young people continue to be inactive, the cost to the nation down the road will be astronomical. That long-term cost can be prevented, or at least greatly diminished, through regular physical activity and good nutrition. Lifelong health-related habits, including physical activity and eating patterns, are normally established in childhood. Habits are hard to change as people grow older. We need to convince young people early, before health-damaging behaviors are adopted, to pursue a disciplined life with regular exercise. My amendment--the PEP bill--will provide our schools an ideal opportunity to make an enormous, positive impact on the health of our nation. Every student in our nation's schools should have an opportunity to participate in quality physical education. Children need to know that physical activity will help them feel good, be successful in school and work, and stay healthy. Education in sports activities provides important lifelong lessons about teamwork and dealing with defeat. The lessons of sports may help resolve some of the problems that lead to violence in schools. The trends for physical education have not been good. Daily participation in Phys Ed dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to 27 percent in 1997. Budgets for physical education are cut first. Only one state in the U.S. currently requires physical education. Sports and healthy body help produce a healthy mind. 47 percent of Fortune 500 executives were in the National Honor Society--95 percent participated in school athletics. Healthy, active kids grow into healthy, active leaders. There is a great support for the PEP Act. Many of my colleagues have been contacted by constituents expressing their support for the return of physical education to schools. This is not a new program--physical education was a regular part of school for decades. 72 percent of Americans surveyed would support legislation for physical education. This amendment creates a 5-year demonstration project to provide an opportunity to prove the impact of physical activity in schools on our young people.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, today I join Senators Bond, Kerry, Campbell, Murkowski, Daschle, and Baucus, in introducing this bill. I want to focus on a few specific portions of this bill that would be beneficial to Alaska. this bill contains a provision to create a pilot program for small businesses in qualified areas of Alaska. The pilot program contained in this bill would alter the requirements for Alaska small Businesses to quality as HUBZone participants. The current HUBZone Program, as designed by the chairman of the Small Business Committee, Senator Bond, is a good tool for getting contracting dollars into distressed geographic areas and neighborhoods. A HUBZone is an area that is (1) located in a qualified census tract, (2) a qualified ``non-metropolitan county'' that is not located in a metropolitan statistical area, and in which the median household income is less than 80 percent of the non-metropolitan state median household income, or an area that has an unemployment rate that is not less than 140 percent of the statewide average unemployment rate for the state in which the county is located, or (3) lands within the external boundaries of an Indian reservation. The current HUBZone program requires a small business to be located in one of these designated areas while also requiring at least 35 percent of the business' employees to live in a HUBZone. This helps get dollars circulating into areas of the community that have not enjoyed the economic growth of the last 10 years. The Alaska Pilot Program contained in this bill will modify the requirements to allow a small business to qualify as a HUBZone participant if they meet only one of the following conditions: Either (1) they have their principle place of business in a HUBZone, or (2) at least 35 percent of their employees live in a HUBZone, or (3) at least 35 percent of the employees working on a qualified contract perform the work in a HUBZone. Rather than requiring a small business to meet all of the requirements for HUBZone contracts, this Alaska Pilot Program will allow small businesses in Alaska to compete for HUBZone contracts by fulfilling only one of the requirements. This should be beneficial for the communities and neighborhoods who have missed out on growth of the 1990's. In addition, it could mean more jobs for Alaskans and more money circulating into the Alaskan economy. The bill also fixes technical problems that kept Alaska native-owned firms from being able to participate in the HUBZone program. This will allow Alaska native-owned small businesses an opportunity to broaden their business activities in the state while also contributing economically to their local communities and shareholders. I would like to note that in providing benefits to native communities, this bill would not change Indian law, nor the State of Alaska's exclusive jurisdiction over lands in Alaska. I thank the members of the Small Business and Indian Affairs Committees who worked on this issue and for their willingness to take into account the unique circumstances in Alaska. I believe this program will help Alaska's economy to move forwarded and will afford hard working small business owners in Alaska new opportunities.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, this is an amendment that I have introduced with 27 cosponsors, and we invite other Members to join us. It is an amendment to deal with early learning opportunities of our children. Research shows that children's brains are wired--literally wired-- between the ages of birth and 6 years of age. The number of synopses that the brain forms, that is, the connections in the brain, depends upon the level of brain stimulation. The capacity to learn and interact successfully in society is determined even before children begin school. Long-term studies looking at data over 30 years show that children who participate in early learning programs are less likely to require special education, less likely to suffer from mental illness and behavior disorders, less likely to become pregnant before they are married, more likely to graduate from high school and college, less likely to be arrested and incarcerated, have lower recidivism rates if they are incarcerated, less likely to be violent and engaged in child or spousal abuse, and they earn higher salaries when they become adults. Both the General Accounting Office and the Rand Corporation made studies which showed that for each dollar invested in early learning programs, taxpayers saved between $4 and $7 in later years. This amendment provides for block grants to States. States will work with local governments, nonprofit corporations, and even faith-based institutions to determine what is needed most at their own local level. Local entities can use the funds to expand Even Start, the program for children from birth to 3 years of age; expand Head Start to more children, expand it to full day or year-round coverage; offer nursery and preschool programs; train parents and child care professionals in child development, and provide parent training and support programs for stay-at-home moms and dads. The amendment provides set-asides for Indian tribes and Native groups and provides for a small State minimum of 0.4 percent. This amendment has been endorsed now by the Christian Schools International, by Parents United, United Way, some 1,400 local organizations, Fight Crime-Invest In Kids, 700 police chiefs, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Children's Defense Fund, Child Care Resource Center, National Black Child Development Institute, and the National Education Association. As a father of six children, I come to this amendment late in my life. I only wish I had had the opportunity to have had this type of information available to me and my wife when we, as a very young, newly married couple, decided to have our family very quickly. We had five children in less than 5 years, and there is a lot we had to learn along the way. This is a bill to try to make America think about what we want to be. We have invested heavily in science, and through the decade of the brain that was stimulated by our late departed friend, David Mahoney, and the group of scientists he put together with Dr. Jim Watson, who worked with him, we now know a lot more about the brain than we did a decade ago. Basically, we learned of the fantastic capability of young people to absorb knowledge and to be stimulated to develop the abilities to absorb even more knowledge as they grow older. I think this is one of the most important things I have been involved in during my life. I believe it is a time for change, a time for us to recognize that young children--little babies--can be stimulated in a way that will assure their capability will be improved to learn and to be good citizens and, in particular, to be able to lead the kind of lives their parents dreamed they would lead. I thank every Member who has cosponsored this amendment, and I hope for its early adoption. I yield the floor.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, if the Senator will yield, the lady who is responsible for the cooperation is sitting to my right, our deputy chief of staff. She started on the mommy track about a year ago and taught me all I know. So thank you very much.