Ken Salazar

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a Dodd- Shelby amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Fountain Creek Feasibility Study Act of 2007. This bill is an important piece of a larger vision to transform and restore the Fountain Creek watershed, which lies in the Arkansas River Valley between the cities of Pueblo and Colorado Springs in my State of Colorado. The Fountain Creek watershed is a major tributary to the Arkansas River and is home to a wide variety of plants and wildlife. Anyone who has traveled the 1-25 corridor between Colorado Springs and Pueblo can attest to the natural beauty of this region. The watershed itself comprises 927 square miles, but the impact of its waterflow extends far beyond its strict boundaries. According to the 2000 census, more than 500,000 people live in the watershed's boundaries. Water from the watershed serves municipal, industrial and agricultural uses. Creeks within the watershed contribute about 15 percent of the drinking water for Colorado Springs and are a source of irrigation for over 100 farms and ranches. The fertile farmland there produces wheat, com, hay, oats, and vegetable crops; there are also many working livestock ranches along Fountain Creek. Today there are major problems with Fountain Creek. In recent years, instead of serving as an important link for commerce and recreation, the Fountain has divided the area. Decades of neglect, increased waterflows in the Fountain as a result of major urban development in the north half of the watershed, increased stormwater discharges, and sewage spills have all harmed the region. The watershed is subject to frequent flood damage, erosion, and sedimentation. In 1999 a major flood caused millions of dollars of damage to public and private property, and destroyed the foundations of numerous homes and roads. Indeed, just this spring there was minor flooding from the Fountain in the Pueblo area. Farmers and ranchers near the downstream end of the watershed in particular have suffered substantial losses of productive farmland. Degradation of the water quality and thus aquatic and wetland habitats is accelerating due to wastewater spills, loss of natural vegetation, and high water volume. Simply put, Fountain Creek watershed's ecological conditions are unstable and under constant threat. This bill is a foundation stone for the idea of restoring Fountain Creek and turning the corridor between Colorado Springs and Pueblo into an environmental, agricultural, and recreational ``crown jewel'' for my State. This bill would task the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a study of the feasibility of constructing one or more dams and reservoirs to provide more reliable flood and sediment control, to conserve fish and wildlife and preserve their ecosystem, and to improve the water quality throughout the watershed. The Corps' expertise and experience will be critical to determining the options for restoring the health and stability of the Fountain Creek watershed. The idea of such a multipurpose project on the Fountain is not new. It was first proposed in 1970 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after the 1965 flood that inundated communities along the Fountain Creek, including particularly the city of Pueblo. The proposal was supported by the States of Colorado and Kansas and local officials, and was even the preferred option of the Army Corps for addressing flooding in the Fountain. I believe a similar proposal should be evaluated again, in light of changed conditions and increased flows in Fountain Creek resulting from urban development in the Colorado Springs metro area. Because the Fountain contributes a significant amount of water to the Arkansas River Valley below the confluence of the Fountain Creek and Arkansas River in Pueblo, this project may very well help address the various concerns of residents and communities of the Arkansas River Valley from Pueblo to the Kansas State line. Last year I laid out a vision to revitalize Fountain Creek and connect the communities along its bank in a regional project. My plan involves the cleanup and revitalization of Fountain Creek; creating a linear state park along the river corridor with camping facilities, hundreds of miles of new trails, restored wildlife and natural habitat and new flat water recreation opportunities; protecting farms and ranches along the creek and in the lower Arkansas Valley; and ensuring a greenbelt separator between the communities of Colorado Springs and Pueblo. My vision is to restore and transform this vital watershed. I hope that all levels of Government can work together to bring unmatched recreational opportunities, create an environment for plants and wildlife to flourish, ensure that agricultural lands remain productive, and address the flood control and water quality issues on Fountain Creek. This bill is an essential step towards achieving this goal.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I come here at 7:30 p.m. eastern time one more time to implore my colleagues, when we get to the cloture motion tomorrow on the 2007 farm bill, that we vote yes on that cloture motion. I fear if we do not move forward with that cloture motion on the farm bill tomorrow, there is a great possibility that the farm bill is, in fact, dead. So many people have worked on this farm bill for such a long time-- Senator Harkin, who has led the effort as chairman of the committee; Senator Chambliss, who has worked on this now for 3 years; Senator Baucus, who led the efforts in the Finance Committee with Senator Grassley to provide a very robust package that is very important for the future of America. It is important that we move forward and we bring this matter to a close. The only way we are going to do that is if we get cloture tomorrow where people voted yes. When we do that, what that will then set up is a postcloture timeframe where germane amendments can then be considered to the farm bill, and we can move forward through an orderly process to bring the farm bill to a just conclusion. For me, what is at stake, when I think about the farmers and ranchers in the San Luis Valley, across the eastern plains of Colorado and Weld County and Adams County and across the western slope, is the future of family farmers and family ranchers, many of whom work much harder than anybody in Washington, DC, or in America; for those farmers and ranchers know the day does not end at 5 or 6 o'clock in the evening. For most farmers and ranchers, their day ends at 10, 11, 12 o'clock at night. Their day begins long before people go to work here in Washington, DC. Their day begins at 4 and 5 in the morning when they get up to tend to the cows or when they get up to make sure they are baling their alfalfa, with dew still on the leaves of their alfalfa so that they have a quality product at the end of the day. Those are the men and women who really are the salt of the earth of America. Those are the men and women, when you shake their hands, you know they are the hands of working men and women because you feel the calluses and the cuts. These are the men and women who, after they have worked for an entire year, wonder whether they are going to have enough money to pay off their operating line at the bank. These are the men and women who know the weather better than anybody here in Washington, DC, will ever know the weather and will be able to understand the seasons and the days better than most people who stand here on this floor and debate about the issues of the farm policy because these are the men and women who know, when they see a cloud of a certain color coming in their direction, that there is a hailstorm on the way, and they wonder whether or not that hailstorm is going to hit their field or their neighbor's field. They wonder whether they are going to be able to have enough at the end of the day to pay their operating expenses or their mortgage at the bank. So it is the farmers and ranchers of rural America in all our States, Democratic States and Republican States--South Dakota, the State of my good friend who served with us on the Agriculture Committee and has contributed mightily to the content of this bill. It is all of those men and women in farm country whom we owe this to, to move forward with a process that brings about a conclusion to this farm bill, that sets an orderly process for us to consider amendments, both Republican and Democratic amendments, so that we can bring this legislation to a close. For me, it is personal because I know many of these people. Many of these people are my family. I spent a lot of my own time as an irrigator on a farm, on a Heston windrower, on John Deere tractors and John Deere balers. I spent a lot of time on a horse. So I know what the life of a farmer and a rancher is all about. But this legislation on the farm bill, Mr. President, is much more to America than just about these farmers and ranchers. Yes, it is important to stand up for them and for them to have champions here on the floor of the Senate, both on the Democratic side as well as on the Republican side. That is why it should not be even close as an issue in terms of us getting to a 60-vote margin tomorrow. It ought to be done easily because we ought to be champions for these people. But it is more than about the farmers and ranchers in America. It is about a lot of other things. It is about making sure we embrace the clean energy economy of the 21st century. Nowhere in America is there more excitement and enthusiasm than there is in rural America today about how rural America will help us pioneer our way to energy independence the same as with Brazil, a Third World country, through a 20-year dedication to the cause of energy independence, to become energy independent. There is no reason why we in America cannot do the same thing if we put our minds to it and we have the courage to put the right policies in place. And rural America will play a very significant role in creating that energy independence. This legislation we have brought to the floor of the Senate from both committees, the Finance Committee as well as from the Agriculture Committee, makes a very significant step in the right direction of getting us off the addiction of foreign oil and opening a new opportunity for energy security for America. When I look at the issue of energy, yes, we will be debating and be having votes on the issue of Iraq tomorrow, but part of why we are involved in these issues in the Middle East is because of the fact that oil has been a driver in our foreign policy. We ought not to let that ever happen again in America. We ought not to let oil be a driver in our foreign policy. So as we embrace this ethic of a clean energy economy for the 21st century, that is part of what is at the heart of the farm bill in title IX. As we look at dealing with the environmental security of our globe, of this planet, that also is at the heart of this legislation. When we look at creating a new economic opportunity, a new tomorrow for rural America, that is also in this legislation. But it goes beyond energy. It also deals with nutrition. We need to keep reminding the people who are critical of this farm bill that they are wrong because they are aiming at the wrong parts. They aim at the 14 percent of the bill that creates the support, the safety net for farmers and ranchers who are out there in the fields, but we have to recognize that it is almost 67 percent of the money that is set forth in this bill that goes into all the nutrition programs. Those nutrition programs help our children make sure they have the food in their stomachs to be able to learn while they are in school. Those nutrition programs are the ones that help the most vulnerable here in America. It goes beyond nutrition. It also deals with the issue of conservation and how we take care of our land and water. This bill is a very important step and makes a very important statement in making sure we help take care of the crown jewels of America with the best stewards of our land and water. So if you are a champion of the farmers and ranchers of this country, you are going to vote yes on cloture on this bill tomorrow. If you are a champion for the new clean energy economy, you are going to vote yes on this cloture motion tomorrow. If you are a champion of taking care of those who are most in need, the most vulnerable in America in our nutrition programs, you are going to vote yes on this cloture motion tomorrow. If you are a champion and a fighter in protecting our land and water, then you will vote yes on this cloture motion tomorrow. Because it is only by getting to yes on this cloture motion tomorrow, with 60 votes, that we can then create the orderly process that can have us consider amendments that will improve this farm bill and get it across the finish line and then moving forward with the rest of the process to get it to the President's desk for signature. Mr. President, tonight, I urge my colleagues to think about their vote tomorrow, and I ask them to vote yes on this very important motion that will come before us.

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

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee amendments be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 459, S. 2168.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 384, submitted earlier today.

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, and that any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I come here again, some 10 days after we brought the farm bill here to the floor, and I want to say first of all to my good friend from Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Tom Harkin, that there are few people who really understand the importance of rural America and agriculture in the way Tom Harkin does. There are very few people on the floor of the Senate today who can claim they still live in the same house in which they were born. Few people here can say they know the pain and suffering and the challenges, the hopes, and the optimism of rural America in the way Tom Harkin does. The best of what we have here in the Senate today we see in someone like Tom Harkin, who is here for the right reasons--standing up as a champion for agriculture, for rural America, and for America in general because he understands what is at stake. He understands that the food security of the Nation is at stake. Senator Harkin understands what is going on with respect to the oil addiction of America and foreign oil and the importance of American farmers and ranchers helping us to grow our way to energy independence. Senator Harkin understands how important it is to be a champion of the most vulnerable in our society by having the kind of nutrition programs that will put fruits and vegetables and other kinds of healthy foods in the stomachs of our children as they are trying to learn. Senator Harkin understands the importance of standing up and fighting for our land and for our water and making sure farmers and ranchers across America, who are some of the best stewards of our lands and water, have the right tools so that we have a conservation ethic that is appropriate at the dawn of this 21st century. So I say this to my friend from Iowa: I applaud his efforts in bringing us to this point. This has been an effort which is not one we dreamt up overnight to bring to the floor of the Senate just 10 days ago; it is an effort that has consumed thousands upon thousands of hours, with hearings all over the country. And it was not only Senator Harkin and his leadership, but it was also Senator Chambliss, working as the ranking member alongside Senator Harkin, trying to get us to a point where we had a farm bill we could bring to the floor of the Senate. At the end of the day, there are not many votes on major bills that come out of committee on a voice vote. We had Democrats and Republicans saying this is a good farm bill. This is the way for the future. So I am very hopeful that tomorrow morning at 9, 9:30, 10 o'clock, when we come to the floor, we take the lead of Senator Harkin and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans, and vote yes on the cloture motion before us. It is important that we move forward in that direction. I will remind my colleagues--as Senator Harkin already has reminded our colleagues--that even though we get to cloture tomorrow morning, we will still have an opportunity to go through a number of amendments. We have another 30 hours of debate and multiple amendments that can be considered and many votes that can be had as we move forward to try to improve upon the product of the Agriculture Committee. But if we don't get cloture tomorrow, we are, in fact, endangering the prospect of even getting to the farm bill. Now, we have some people who may say that what is happening here in the Senate is that there is a stall underway, a stall to keep us from getting to action on a very important piece of legislation for America. That may very well be true. But if those who are trying to stall this important measure have their way, then those voices that need champions, those voices in rural America, those farmers and ranchers, those who care about food security, they will be the ultimate losers in this debate. I don't think today in my State of Colorado, on the eastern plains or the San Luis Valley or the Western Slope or in Weld County, CO, the farmers and ranchers or those rural communities really understand what is going on here, but what they should understand is we will have an opportunity in the vote we will have here tomorrow morning to make a determination as to whether the farm bill moves forward. So for those who vote yes, they are saying they feel we do need a farm bill for America. For those who say no, whatever their motivation might be, they are saying we should not and that we should allow this very important issue to take a secondary seat. So I ask for those voices that care so much about what we have done in this farm bill to rise and make sure Members of this Chamber know of the importance of getting cloture tomorrow morning so that we can move forward on the farm bill. Over the last several weeks, I have spoken often here on the floor regarding the farm bill, and I have spoken about the importance of this farm bill with respect to its imperative direction in producing healthy and safe foods here in America. It is a vital piece of legislation that will provide us with clean, renewable energy and be a keystone in a clean energy economy of the 21st century. It is vital to fighting the hunger we see among our school children and hunger that still affects millions of Americans. It is vital to our rural communities, in making sure we give them an opportunity to stand on their feet again. It is vital to our farmers and to our ranchers and to their very livelihood. This morning I want to speak to a part of the farm bill which is important, and that is conservation, the part of the farm bill that deals with fighting for and protecting our land and our water. Senator Harkin and others have been champions of this aspect of the farm bill, and I applaud them for their efforts. The bill we have brought to the floor does more for conservation than any farm bill in the entire history of the United States. It does more for conservation than any bill in the entire history of the United States. So for all of those Americans who care about how we take care of our land and water, it is important that they have their voices heard on getting this farm bill moving forward. The farm bill has an enormous impact on this Nation's land and water. Non-Federal agricultural and forest lands occupy 1.4 billion--that is billion, not million, 1.4 billion--acres or nearly 70 percent of the lands of the 48 contiguous States. Mr. President, 7 out of 10 acres in the United States of America, in the 48 contiguous States, are affected by this farm bill. These lands provide the habitat and corridors of support for healthy wildlife populations, they filter our groundwater supplies, they regulate surface water flows, sequester carbon, and provide the open space and vistas that make America a place we all love. As I learned from working for a long part of my life on a ranch and farm in southern Colorado, farmers and ranchers are some of the best stewards of these resources. Farmers and ranchers want to take care of their land, and they want to do what is right for the protection of our environment. The conservation programs that are in this farm bill reauthorize what are already some programs that are making a major contribution to the land stewardship challenges of the last half century. In 1982, not so long ago, widespread soil erosion was degrading water quality in rivers and streams and putting dust in the air at dangerously high levels. But since 1982, with the Conservation Reserve Program, the EQIP program, and their predecessor programs, total erosion on U.S. cropland has fallen by more than 43 percent. Since 1992, total erosion on U.S. cropland has fallen by more than 43 percent. We are succeeding, and we can make more progress. The investments we make in the Conservation Reserve Program, which puts environmentally sensitive croplands into conservation uses, results in the following: First, $266 million annually in environmental benefits from reduced sediment loads in streams and rivers, $51 million annually from reduced dust and wind, and $161 million annually from increased soil productivity. Here is a picture that the Natural Resources Conservation Service sent to me a few days ago from Colorado. This shows how some of our conservation dollars are spent. I wish to thank Allan Green, our State conservationist, and Tim Carney, our assistant State conservationist, for helping us with this effort on conservation. And I thank all the staff, all the dedicated staff of NRCS, who dedicate their hearts and souls to making sure America's farmers and ranchers are doing the best they can on conservation. This is a picture of some of my friends and colleagues in the Saint Vrain and Boulder Creek watersheds. What these farmers and ranchers are learning here behind the tractor, working with NRCS, is how to work on watersheds with some of the new practices that have come into play in farming and ranching over the last several decades which will allow them to reduce their tillage, to reduce their consumption of energy as they are tilling those lands, and at the same time to increase the yields in their fields. The field day, which is depicted here in this program, was part of a 3-year EQIP conservation innovation grant that was done in partnership with the local conservation district, local farmers, seed companies, and farm equipment dealers. At the end of the day, these farmers went home with new ways to reduce erosion and to boost their bottom line. The conservation program we are authorizing in the farm bill today also helps us protect the very wetlands of America that are so valuable to hunters and to anglers, to wildlife watchers, and to those of us who care so much about the beauty of this place. Indeed, for those of us who come from a natural resources background, we know that more than half of all of the species of wildlife essentially reside around these wetlands and river corridors of our Nation. So what we do with this farm bill in terms of the protection of wetlands and continuing the Wetlands Reserve Program is very important to all those who care about hunting, who are the anglers of our Nation, and who care about making sure we are protecting our wildlife. Starting in the mid-1950s, we were losing over half a million acres of wetlands every year--half a million acres of wetlands. To put it into perspective so that people will understand, it is like losing the same amount of acreage that makes up all of the District of Columbia every year. Thanks in large part to the Wetlands Reserve Program and CRP, we have achieved the goal of having no net loss--no net loss--from agriculture. In fact, from 1997 to 2003 in that 6-year period, we had a net gain of 260,000 acres of wetlands here in America. This is a picture of the Wetlands Reserve Program project near Berthoud, along the Front Range, north of Denver. WRP funded 70 percent of the $12,000--70 percent of the $12,000--it took to restore this wetland. You can see what great waterfowl habitat and nesting areas it created along the shoreline. When you look at this beautiful picture-- and, yes, I happen to live in the State which is the crown jewel of the Nation in terms of its beauty--you see the mountains, the snow-capped Rockies in the background, but you also see part of what makes Colorado such a wonderful place; that is, the agriculture that feeds into this wetland and a wetland that has now been restored to provide the valuable wildlife and water quality values I addressed a few minutes ago. This farm bill and the Wetlands Reserve Program is part of what is at stake on this vote that we take tomorrow morning, on whether we move forward with the farm bill. At the end of 2005, nationwide we had 1.8 million acres enrolled in the WRP. We had 2 million acres of wetlands and buffer zones in the area that were enrolled in CRP. This is great for the bird watchers, for the anglers, for the hunters. CRP alone yields about $737 million a year in wildlife-related benefits. The conservation program in the farm bill also helps ensure that we have healthy ranges and that animal waste does not harm water quality. Here is an example of EQIP, along Pawnee Creek near the Colorado- Wyoming border. EQIP provided about $3,000--around 50 percent of the project cost--to install this water tank for livestock. This tank is part of a grazing system with a stock well, a pipeline system, and cross fencing that facilitates rotational grazing. For those of us who come from the West, we understand the importance of water. I often say, for us in the West, we all recognize that water is the lifeblood of our community. Without the waters of the streams and rivers and aquifers in my great State, we would continue still to be the great American desert. It is important we take care of our water in the right way. We know that, it is part of our heritage in the State of Colorado. EQIP is representing these ranchers, making sure we are taking care of a very precious resource. As this picture shows, a small investment from EQIP results in more balanced grazing, less erosion, improved water quality, and improved wildlife habitats. I see my friend from New York is here. I have probably 4 or 5 more minutes to go. Through the Chair, I say I will continue to speak but to let him know I have probably another 5 or 10 minutes on the farm bill, and I will yield the floor to my friend from New York. This is a picture of an irrigation ditch. Through the improvements made on the irrigation ditch, it will make sure there is less water loss along this ditch so water can be more efficiently and more effectively applied on the soil that will be irrigated from this ditch. I could speak for a long time about the benefits of the Conservation Reserve Program, the Wetlands Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program, the Grassland Reserve Program, and many other programs we are reauthorizing in the farm bill. You see the benefits of the farm bill and the programs in this legislation throughout my State of Colorado. From my native San Luis Valley in the south to the Yampa River Valley in the north, they have made an immeasurable difference over the last two decades. I am proud this farm bill reauthorizes these programs and invests $4.4 billion in conservation, a record amount in conservation. The growing pressures on agricultural lands make it all the more important that we pass a farm bill with a strong conservation title. I wish to again applaud Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Chambliss, and Senator Baucus, the chairman of the Finance Committee, as well as Chairman Grassley, for their contribution--the members of both committees who have brought a great farm bill to the floor of the Senate. I hope we can get beyond the roadblocks that some Members have placed before this legislation. We need to pass this bill for the good of America. Finally, again, I think we need more people in the Senate who understand the importance of this farm bill. We need more people who understand the food security of our Nation should not be imperiled. That sign on my desk that says ``no farms, no food,'' is something we ought to be hitting everybody over the head with every day, as we deal with this very important part of our legislative responsibilities, to make sure we have the food security we so need in this country. We also need to make sure, on this floor, there are people who have a strong voice for those farmers and ranchers who work very hard every day, in a way that you only know when you have worked on a farm or a ranch, to make sure we have that food security for America. For most people in America, when you are out there at work and it is 5 or 6 o'clock, you look at your clock and it is time to go home. If you are a farmer or rancher and you look at your watch and it is 5 or 6 o'clock, more than likely you have another 4 or 5 hours to go. Then, when you get home, you know you have probably 5 or 6 hours' sleep before you have to get up and make sure you are milking the cows, if you are a dairy farmer, or make sure you are out checking the calves that are being born on the spring days or that the water is being changed at the right time so you are not wasting water, at 2 or 3 or 4 in the morning. It is a hard life out there on the farm. It is a hard life out in rural America. It is important this Senate stand up strong and say yes to rural America, yes to rural communities that want to rebuild themselves, yes to the future of our energy security as we grow our way to energy independence, yes to the future of our nutritional programs for America, yes to the future of those who want to protect the land and water of America. This is the right bill. It is important for people to come to the floor of this Chamber tomorrow morning and to cast their vote ``yes'' on the cloture motion before us. I yield the floor.

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

Mr. SALAZAR. Madam President, I come back to the floor this afternoon at 1:35 p.m. eastern time just to remind my colleagues about the importance of the issue we are working on. This farm bill, which is the Farm, Fuel, Security Act, is something that is very important to the future of America. We are knocking on the door of Thanksgiving for all Americans, where we will all be giving thanks for the bounty we produce in this country for our families and for the lives we live in this wonderful and free America. But without the hard work of farmers and ranchers throughout this country, that very food supply which will give us that great joy during this holiday would not be there. This is one time every 5 years--one time every 5 years--where the Members of the Senate get to stand up and take stock of the importance of our farmers and ranchers and rural America and the importance of nutrition for our young people in our schools and those who are the most vulnerable, those on food stamps, and the importance of dealing with protecting our land and water and dealing with the future energy supply needs of America. So as we approach this Thanksgiving celebration, it is important for all of us to think back, to reflect upon what is happening in the Senate today. Some 10 days after we started this farm bill, and after 3 years of hard labor with both Democrats and Republicans to get us to this farm bill, we are now stuck in this procedural impasse we find ourselves in. I think it is a shame that we are where we are. I think it is a shame that we are not able to move forward. Last night I heard the majority leader, Senator Reid, come to the floor and say: This farm bill is important. Senator Reid said: I want to get a farm bill. He said: We will offer, on the Democratic side, to limit the number of amendments to five. With some almost 300 amendments filed on this bill, Senator Reid said: We will limit the number of Democratic amendments to five, and we will give you, if you want twice as many amendments, we will give you twice as many amendments. Yet no deal. Why no deal? Why no deal? Why can't we even agree on a subset of amendments we can debate on the floor and then vote on them and move forward on this farm bill? Is it that there is a slow walk, a stall underway because some Members in this Chamber don't want a farm bill? Are there some Members in this Chamber who do not want a farm bill? There is a reality, and the reality is that it is possible for us to still get a farm bill. It is still possible for us to get a farm bill. We can move together tomorrow and get 60 votes on the cloture vote. We can have Republicans joining Democrats to get those 60 votes, and then we will move forward with a procedure under the postcloture rules of the Senate to address a series of germane amendments that will improve the bill. So we could still get a farm bill. The question is, Do the members of the minority in the Senate today want to get a farm bill or do they not? Are the politics being pushed going to triumph over public purpose, which we have tried to address in this farm bill? Are they going to allow politics to triumph over that public purpose? I would hope not. And I would hope when we come together in the Senate to vote on the cloture motion tomorrow, that there is a resounding yes that we are going to move forward and complete this farm bill; that we are going to enter into the postcloture period where we will address the germane amendments to this legislation, and at the end of the day we will have a farm bill that can be passed and then sent to the President for his signature. Madam President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration nominations on the Secretary's desk; that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be laid on the table; that the Homeland Security Committee be discharged from further consideration of the nomination of Todd Zinser to be inspector general of the Department of Commerce and that he be placed on the calendar; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 8:30 a.m., Friday, November 16; that on Friday, following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders reserved for their use later in the day; that there then be a period of debate of 1 hour prior to the first cloture vote to be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees and as previously ordered; provided that Senator Harkin be recognized for up to 10 minutes of the majority's time; that Members have until 9 a.m. to file any germane second-degree amendments.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, if there is no further business today, I now ask that the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of the Senator from South Dakota, Mr. Thune.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time, passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record, without intervening action or debate.

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Rules Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 1679 and that the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I came here this morning, now afternoon, to talk about the importance of this farm bill and for us to get off the dime and get us moving forward on the farm bill. I am going to make a statement on that in a few minutes. My friend from Utah has asked if he can go ahead of me to speak on another subject for about 10 minutes. I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Utah be recognized for 10 minutes to speak on a subject that he will address; then, following the Senator from Utah, that I be recognized for up to 20 minutes; following my statement that Senator Durbin be recognized for up to 15 minutes.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, on November 5, almost 10 days ago, I came to the floor to say there it was a proud day in my time as a Senator because we were moving forward with consideration of the 2007 farm bill. Almost 10 days have passed and we are stuck. In being stuck, we are doing a disservice to the people of America, to the people of rural America. It behooves us to move forward with the kind of process that put together the 2002 farm bill and farm bills before that, where there was a procedure set out that there was an agreed-upon set of relevant amendments that were discussed and debated on the farm bill and then a farm bill was passed. To do otherwise is, frankly, letting down the farmers and ranchers. From my point of view, that is something which we ought not to do. It is something we have a moral obligation to avoid and where both Republicans and Democrats coming together can figure out a way forward to make sure we are addressing the realities and challenges of rural America, the realities and challenges of our farmers and ranchers, and the issues related to nutrition and all of the rest of the components of this very good farm bill which has been written by the Agriculture Committee, a committee which is composed of Republicans and Democrats, of which the Presiding Officer played a significant role in putting this farm bill together. It is important we move forward. Let me talk about why I believe it is important to move forward. I decided to run for this position in the Senate several years ago in large part because there aren't enough people in Washington and on the floor of the Senate who cared much about what happens to rural America. There are very few people here, frankly, who have lived through the hard times and celebrated the joys of being a farmer or a rancher. It is important the voices of farmers and ranchers, who have dirt under their fingernails, whose hands are unmistakably calloused by the hard work they do, be heard in this Chamber. We do a tremendous dishonor to those hard-working Americans when there are the procedural and political games that are being played here today. The majority leader came forward and said what we ought to do is go to the farm bill. It is a good farm bill. We ought to decide that there is maybe a subset of amendments, 10, 15, 20, whatever it is, and get on with the farm bill. Yet 10 days later, we are not making very much progress. Why aren't we making progress? Is it possible that some people on the other side simply do not want a farm bill, that they would rather see this work, which has been a labor for several years by many people, be killed? Is that their agenda, to kill the farm bill? To all the farmers and ranchers who are listening across America today, to all those organizations which have been a part of this effort over the last several years, to all those people who care about nutrition in schools, to all those who care about making sure the hungriest are being fed, the faith community and others, I ask them to make their voices heard in Washington today so we are able to move forward to get a farm bill done and to get it done before we go back for Thanksgiving. I believe if those voices are heard here, that in fact will happen. For me, much of my life has been spent on a farm and on a ranch. I know what the joys of farming and ranching are. I know what the joy is after you have prepared a field and you go out to the field after you have applied the fertilizer and you have watered the soil and you start seeing the shoots of wheat or barley or the young plants of alfalfa spring up like magic from the soil. I know the joy of what it is like to go out in the middle of the night and to watch a baby calf being born and then, within 4 or 5 hours, to watch the baby calf begin to stand on its legs, suck on the milk, and then be out prancing around within 12 hours. It is almost a spiritual experience when you think about the beauty of nature that you get to experience firsthand as a rancher and as a farmer. I know the joys of being there for harvest time. I know the joy of being on a combine and watching the golden color of the grain collected in the combine and dumping it out through the chutes into the trucks that take it into the bins for storage. I know the joy of putting up stacks of hay, 20,000 bales of the greenest hay that is possible. It makes you proud when your haystack is finally completed. I know all the joys that come with farming from what you get to see on the land itself. I also know the joy that comes from the effort where a family works together, where you have, in many cases around America, family farmers and ranchers who have been on the same land for generations, as is the case with my family, where they have been on the same farm for five generations. I know the joy and special meaning of those lands, where you know the reality of every fencepost because it was my great- grandfather who put that fencepost up. I know where the ditches were built in our case on our ranch on May 15 of 1857, when they were finally adjudicated and given a water right for that ditch. We know the reality of our land and our water. There needs to be voices in the Senate, Democrats, such as the Presiding Officer from Pennsylvania, and Republicans as well who come up and say: We are not going to let rural America down. We are not going to let this farm bill die. We are not going to let those who have some political agenda kill this farm bill, to turn their back on rural America and do what they are trying to do. It is unconscionable that they would be engaging on that agenda. Like I know the joys of farming, I also know the hardships that come as a rancher and a farmer. I know the concerns you can have when you have cut a crop of hay and you see the clouds coming up at 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning, knowing that maybe before you get to a point where you are going to bale the hay, you are going to have a crop that will be ruined. I also know the fear of watching those clouds rise over the horizon, when you can know from the color of the cloud itself that a hailstorm is on the way and you wonder whether that storm is going to hit your crop or it is going to hit a neighbor's crop, whether devastation is going to be caused by that storm. I also know the pain of being in a position where ranchers, farmers go to the bank and they say to the banker: I need some assistance because I can't afford to pay back my operating line because either the prices are too low this year or because we have had some kind of disaster that has affected our ability to pay you back. I know farmers and ranchers personally who have lost their farms, who have lost their ranches, and there is nothing that is anymore painful than going to those auctions and watching those farmers and ranchers who have built their life and their entire dream around their farm or their ranch and the equipment they have and being there in a position where they are having to sell what, essentially, is the soul of their life, their farm or their ranch. So what we do here today--what we are doing here on this farm bill-- in incredibly important for rural America. It is incredibly important for farmers and ranchers. It is incredibly important for those of us who want to feed this Nation. Yet, somehow, as I see the debate taking place here, at last count there were some 255 amendments to this farm bill. Well, why are there 255 amendments to this farm bill, when we have been working on this legislation for a number of different years? The distinguished ranking member of the committee, Senator Chambliss, started to hold hearings on the farm bill several years ago. He held them all over the country--from Iowa to Georgia to other places. Then Senator Harkin, the chairman of the committee, held hearings in my State of Colorado on the farm bill, held hearings all over the country--each of us working to produce the very best farm bill we possibly could. In my own State of Colorado, I worked with the great agricultural organizations--from the Colorado Cattlemen's Association to the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union to a whole host of others--to make sure we were putting together the very best farm bill for America. It is a farm bill that, in my view, is one which would give us a great opportunity to revitalize rural America, to make sure that when we look back at the dawn of this century we did not allow rural America to be sunsetted but that instead we reinvigorated rural America in a way that has not ever happened before. We have some great opportunities to do that because this farm bill is not just about farms; it is about fuel, it is about our energy security, it is about the future of our country in so many different ways. Yet we are being stalled here. We are not being allowed to move forward to consider this legislation and the substance of this legislation. Let me say from my point of view, when I look at the future of agriculture, the future of ranching, and the future of rural America, what I see. First, I see great promise, and then I see great hope. I see great promise and great hope if we can do for rural development that which needs to be done. We know today that per capita income in rural America is a lot less than it is in urban America. We know today that the infrastructure issues that are faced in the small towns of rural America exceed the capacity of those communities to be able to deal with those infrastructure needs by multiple times. We know that in many towns in every one of the 50 States, and represented here, you can go through those towns and you can see what has happened as rural America has been more and more forgotten year after year. As to the town of Antonito, located within 5 miles of part of our ranch, you can drive in that town today and can see the devastation of a great part of rural America. At one point in time there were four or five gas stations in the town of Antonito. Today, there is one gas station. At one point in time in this town of Antonito, which has a population of less than 1,000, there used be a number of different grocery stores to go and buy your food. I remember ShopRite because that is where I used to go and buy lunch sometimes when I was working out on the farm. ShopRite has closed. So have other stores. There is only one small store that survives today. You see the boarded-up streets of that town where probably 50 percent of all of the buildings today are vacant. You see a whole host of other problems in rural America. What we have tried to do with this farm bill is to address those issues. If we are successful--as we should be--if we are successful--as we must be, as we are required to do if we are going to do our job--then we are going to open a new chapter of opportunity for America and for rural America. That chapter of opportunity has several very important features to it. First, it will make sure we have food security for the United States of America. We do not want to become dependent on foreign sources for our food in the same say we have for oil. For me, for the time I have been in public service--and before--I have had a sign on my desk that says: ``No farms, no food.'' So no matter where you are, the 300 million people of America every day should remind themselves of that reality: ``No farms, no food.'' This is about the food security of our Nation. Secondly, the vision that we have with this farm bill we have worked on so hard for so many years is that we will contribute significantly to making sure we get rid of our addiction to foreign oil and that we grow our way to energy independence. The energy aspects of title IX of this farm bill are the most robust in the history of the United States of America. What you will see with this legislation, as it is implemented, is a rural America helping us grow our way to energy independence. Senator Grassley and I cosponsored legislation, a resolution which passed both this body as well as the House of Representatives, that says we can grow 25 percent of our energy from renewable energy resources. That is the ambitious vision that is included in this legislation. The energy components of the farm bill are incredibly important to the national security of the United States, to the environmental security of our world, as well as to the economic opportunities for America. So I am hopeful we will open this chapter of energy opportunity with the passage of this farm bill, and that we will get it done as soon as possible. Finally, when we think about the great conservationists of our country, there are no better people to take care of their land and their water than those who depend on it for a living. If you are a farmer or you are a rancher, you know you have to take care of your land and your water because that is your way of life. If something happens to your land and to your water, your way of life is taken away from you. So the conservation programs which are such a major part of this legislation are a keystone to the future of how we take care of our planet. This legislation, under the leadership of Senator Harkin, is the best legislation that has ever come forward on a farm bill with respect to the many conservation programs that include the Wetlands Reserve Program, the Conservation Reserve Program, and a whole host of other programs that are going to be important to make sure we have the best conservation agenda possible for our Nation. In conclusion, I would make a plea to my colleagues, and that is that we work together to narrow down the number of amendments that need to be considered, and that we set about a process that will bring about a conclusion to this farm bill, so that then we can go to conference and we can get a farm bill that is a good farm bill for America, delivered to the President. I also say to my colleagues--and there are some--who want this bill killed, don't do it. Don't kill this bill. It is too important for this country. Across America, people ought to be beating the drums in every State, in every county, in every village, on every farm and every ranch. They ought to be beating the drums and using their telephones calling the Members of this Senate, telling us we ought not to leave here until the job is done. And the job will be done when we get this farm bill adopted by this Senate, which I predict if this bill, in its current fashion, were to be brought to a vote today, it would pass with about 70 to 75 votes. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. SALAZAR

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

Mr. SALAZAR. Madam President, Congress has passed 23 other ad hoc disaster assistance bills since 1988. Since 1988, 23 ad hoc disaster assistance measures have been passed by the Congress. Now, if this is not an indicator of the need for the creation of a permanent mechanism to deal with these disasters in farm country, I do not know what better indicator we need. Twenty-three emergency disaster pieces of legislation have passed this Congress since 1988. I am supportive of that assistance, but we need to deal with this problem in an effective way and on a long-term basis. That is what we have done in the legislation. The members of the Agriculture Committee--and the Presiding Officer, as a member of that committee, has done a tremendous job in her freshman year as a Senator, contributing in a huge way to many of the titles we have included in the farm bill, including helping write significant portions of title IX, the energy part of the farm bill. I am very proud of her contribution. But what we have done in this bill with respect to permanent disaster assistance is to work with Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus and members of the Finance Committee, in a proactive way, to create a permanent trust fund for disaster assistance. The disaster trust fund will dedicate over $5 billion during the next 5 years to disaster relief. This will allow us to maintain discipline and high standards for determining when to pay out disaster funds, and it will allow producers to get help more quickly. The trust fund also brings disaster relief back onto the books so it is part of the budget of the national Government. This is a smart and fiscally responsible move. I have spent a lot of time in my life in rural communities--living there, making a living there for part of my life--and as a Senator and as attorney general for my State, I have been in all 64 counties in my State many times over the last decade. Now, I do not buy the argument that all is well in farm country. I believe we have huge problems in farm country. During the 1990s, in my State of Colorado, many of the counties in my State were deemed to be some of the fastest growing, more robust economic counties in terms of growth in the United States of America. The State of Colorado was seen as one of the fastest growing States in the entire Nation, and everybody was singing hallelujah to the kind of economic blessings that were being showered upon my State of Colorado. But if you traveled through 44 of the 64 counties in my State, you would have to say those counties were, in fact, doing as badly as they were in the 1970s and the 1980s and the 1990s. Indeed, not much has changed. In fact, the economic decline, including population decline, in those counties continues to be a reality and a way of life. In many of those communities where there used to be three grocery stores, now they were down to zero, and in many of them perhaps one. In many of those places where there used to be three filling stations, they were down to zero filling stations and perhaps only one. In fact, in the town closest to our ranch, the town of Manasa, CO-- this is a story of what has happened there. When I was growing up there and going to school at Manasa Elementary, I remember the three stores on Main Street. I remember the gas stations on Main Street. Well, today we are down to one gas station, and we are down to one small grocery store in the town of Manasa. So not all is well in farm country. So today and this week and next week as we work on this farm bill, it is our effort to try to make sure rural America is revitalized. So this is an opportunity for us to make sure we reinvigorate and revitalize rural America and create a whole new chapter of opportunity. This disaster trust fund which we are creating will help us deal with disasters. The other parts of the farm bill will also create huge opportunities for rural America. I will conclude by saying this--because there will be other times when we will come to talk about other parts of this farm bill. For me, one of the most exciting chapters of this farm bill for 2007 is, we are creating the opportunity for rural America, for farmers and ranchers to help grow our way to energy independence. This is not a Democratic or a Republican issue; it is not a progressive or a conservative issue. This is an issue of national security for the United States of America. That is why so many people have come together to celebrate this agenda that we are embracing on a clean energy future for America. That clean energy future for the 21st century for America, in my mind, is based on the inescapable drivers which we see here today. First, it is about national security because as so many people have said, our addiction to foreign oil must come to an end because it is jeopardizing the national security of the United States of America. Secondly, the environmental security of our country requires us to stop ignoring the problem of global warming, and what we do with energy is inextricably mixed in with how we confront the issue of global warming. Finally, the economic opportunity that comes along with embracing a clean energy future for America is an incredible opportunity for all of the United States of America, but it presents a particularly positive opportunity for rural America. That is why there are many Members of this Chamber who have come together and supported the passage of a resolution which was crafted by Senator Grassley and myself, which is called the ``25 by 25'' resolution, which sets forth a vision of a country where we will see our country produce 25 percent of all of our energy needs from renewable energy resources. So at the end of the day, the passage of this farm bill is important for a lot of reasons. It is important for our food security, our national security, our environmental security, our economic security. So we do not have an option on this bill. We cannot not pass this bill. This bill must pass this Chamber with a significant bipartisan vote, as I am sure that it will, and at the end of the day, it is my hope President Bush, as President of the United States, will stand up also for rural America and say he is going to sign this bill because it is so necessary for the future of America and for the future of rural America. Madam President, I yield the floor.

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon to talk about one of the most important bills that will come before the 110th Congress and that we will be considering for this country at the beginning of this century, and that is the farm bill. I wish to specifically address both the disaster fund, which has been created under the great leadership of our committee chairs and committee membership, as well as later on address the issue of energy and the importance of the energy provisions in this bill. At the outset, I, again, thank both Senator Harkin and Senator Chambliss for their leadership in producing a farm bill that has had tremendous bipartisan support coming out of that committee. I also wish to thank all members of that committee who worked so hard over the last 2 years to deliver a product we can all be truly proud of as members of that committee. But it is not just the Senators who have the privilege of serving on that committee and coming and speaking on the floor; it is also the staffs of each of the Senators--on my staff, Brendan McGuire and Grant Leslie, and others who have worked so hard on this issue, but also people such as Mark Halverson, who have devoted their lives entirely to this legislation for the last couple years, along with Martha Scott Poindexter in Senator Chambliss's office. To them I say thank you. I thank Senator Conrad for his great work and understanding of the budget and trying to pull together what truly is a fiscally responsible product for energy legislation, as we move it forward. I thank Senator Grassley and Senator Chambliss for their leadership in helping us pull all the pieces of this together. Today I rise to speak briefly about the disaster trust fund which we have created in the farm bill and to voice my continued support for this aspect of the farm bill, with the hope that we are able to get this aspect of the legislation across the finish line, together with the rest of this farm bill, because it is so important to farm country. It is no secret the commodity prices in the business section sometimes are not good indicators of how individual farmers and ranchers are doing. For example, if corn prices are up--as they have been during the last year--that does not necessarily mean farmers and ranchers in counties such as those in the Presiding Officer's State of Nebraska or those in Baca County or Yuma County in Colorado are doing well. That is because sometimes some of our cattle producers in those circumstances are not having an easy time. I can tell you that when we look at $3-a-gallon gasoline and $3-plus, $3.10-a-gallon diesel, it creates a hardship on the farmer. But, more importantly, what happens on an annual basis is we have to face the weather. Perhaps more than any weather vane, and those from the city who end up watching the weather on the 10 o'clock news, a farmer is more attune to what is happening in the seasons simply because they know the weather essentially is controlling their destiny. They know when the frosts come in the fall. They also know when the last of those frosts leaves, so they can then make sure, as their plants start sprouting from the ground, they have the possibility of growing a crop. They also know, as they watch the clouds that come over the horizon, that when those clouds have a certain look of white on them, there is a possibility there is a hailstorm on the way, and that crop they have worked on--for which they have plowed the ground and planted the seeds and put in the fertilizer and done the irrigation and have nurtured--all of a sudden, in the course of a few minutes, could all be gone because a hailstorm wipes out the entire field. That certainly has happened to my family. It has happened to me, and it has happened to those of us in this Chamber who have been involved in agriculture in our past. From one second to the next, what seems to be a promising and hopeful year--where you can be optimistic about the future and be in a position where you can make ends meet--can turn into a situation where all of a sudden you have to wonder whether you are going to be able to survive into the next year because you do not have the dollars to be able to pay off your operating line at the local bank. That happens time and time again across rural America. For example, when you look at the issue of drought, in my State of Colorado, as is the case in many parts of eastern Kansas and some parts of the Presiding Officer's State of Nebraska, we know what drought has done to our communities. We know what drought has done in places such as the home State of the Senator from South Dakota over the last several years. That is why in this body we have come together--the Presiding Officer, Senator Thune from South Dakota, Senator Conrad, Senator Dorgan--a whole host of us, to try to deal with the reality of disaster emergencies that affect rural communities in agriculture. This picture I have in the Chamber has to do with the story of a farmer in my State who, through no fault of his own, has had to weather now the 6 years of drought that has affected my State that has put many farmers in a position where they either have lost their farms or have gotten to the brink of losing their farms. But it is not just the droughts. For sure, we have had those droughts. For sure, in my State, I guess 6 years ago now, in 2001, we had the most horrific drought in the history of our State for an over 500-year period of time. It was the driest year on record for 500 years. The consequence of that was our farmers and our ranchers in rural Colorado suffered a great deal. But it is not just the drought. It also comes with other weather- related events, such as a blizzard. I show you a picture of the blizzard that hit the southeastern part of my State, where thousands upon thousands upon thousands of cattle were killed because of this unexpected blizzard that piled up drifts that were as high as the telephone and utility posts we see in this picture. You could drive across the southeastern part of Colorado and see carcass after carcass of cattle--dead cattle--on the highways and throughout the fields because of this devastating storm that had knocked out the future of so many ranchers in my State. So it is important we move forward in the proactive manner in which this legislation has moved forward to create a disaster emergency fund. Typically, in Washington, when we see these kinds of disasters, what happens? How do we respond to the farmers and ranchers who provide the food security for our Nation? We move forward and say we must provide disaster emergency assistance. The process, in its typical fashion, follows this order: First, the Governor gets concerned, and then the U.S. Department of Agriculture declares a disaster. Following that, Congress authorizes emergency spending. The bill sometimes gets stalled, and then farmers and ranchers have to wait not weeks, sometimes months, and, in fact, sometimes 2, 3 years before there is any help on the way. That kind of wait, in many cases, is no help at all. So we must do things differently. We must do things differently because, first of all, we are not delivering disaster assistance efficiently and effectively. Second, we should not be relying on emergency spending to provide disaster assistance. We need to put these expenditures back on the books. (Ms. KLOBUCHAR assumed the Chair.)

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey to be the next U.S. Attorney General. I come to the floor tonight with a heavy heart because I had hoped I would have been able to come to the floor and make a statement in support of Judge Mukasey. I reviewed the answers he gave to the Judiciary Committee and the written responses he gave to important questions, including the question of torture. After reviewing that information, I also met with Judge Mukasey in my office in the Senate office buildings. He was very generous with his time, and I very much appreciate the time he gave me to review some of the fundamental questions. There is no doubt that Judge Mukasey is a brilliant man, a talented and successful judge who has given a great deal to this country. So it is with a heavy heart that I have reached the conclusion that I cannot and will not support his nomination. I will not support his nomination because there is no room for equivocation on the American position on the fundamental issue of torture. There is no room for equivocation on that issue. Before coming to the Senate, I had the great privilege of serving as the attorney general of the State of Colorado. For me, it was an enormous responsibility and one which carried many duties. There were duties of making sure that over 10,000 people were put into prison, some of them serving a lifetime in prison. It was an enormous duty in terms of rendering tens of thousands of legal opinions to a vast State agency, and I understood the responsibilities of being an attorney general. Those responsibilities, first and foremost, were to make sure I was upholding the oath of office I had taken to the Constitution of the State of Colorado, to uphold the constitutional laws in my State, and to enforce those laws and to make sure no one was above the law. I also served as legal counsel to the Governor and to the head of State agencies, where I provided them legal counsel that a lawyer would provide to their client. As attorney general, it was not often that my oath to enforce Colorado's constitutional laws came into conflict with my responsibilities to advise and to serve the Governor. But when it did, it was my duty--it was my solemn duty--to defend the rule of law, not the Governor or the executive agency or the agency heads. On some occasions, driven by that solemn duty to enforce that law, I had to take my own clients to court to enforce the rule of law, and I did that. The Attorney General of the United States must likewise enforce our laws because very simply we are a nation of laws, and that is what makes us a special place on this globe. This role today is more important than at any other time in the history of the Justice Department. Trust in the Department is at an alltime low given the high-profile memos that now have become public which enabled torture to occur by the agents of the United States, which allowed for the firing of nine U.S. attorneys and other reports of politicization within the Department of Justice, which should never be politicized because it enforces our laws. Therefore, the next U.S. Attorney General must restore the confidence of the American people that the Justice Department will enforce the law regardless of the Attorney General's personal beliefs or who happens to sit in the Oval Office as President of these United States. I am troubled that Judge Mukasey is unwilling to clearly and unambiguously state that he will uphold U.S. law barring the use of waterboarding. I explicitly asked Judge Mukasey in my office what he would do as Attorney General if he were asked whether an agent of the United States could use waterboarding in interrogation settings. Judge Mukasey's response to me was disappointing. He said he did not know because it depended on whether there was intent to cause pain. That answer, in my view, is simply unacceptable given the legal history of this issue in this country. Under Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the following acts are prohibited at any time and at any place: First, ``violence to life and person, in particular . . . cruel treatment and torture, and, two, outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment.'' The War Crimes Act, as amended by the Military Commissions Act in 2006 by this Congress, prohibits breaches of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions which is defined in that legislation to include ``torture and cruel and inhumane treatment.'' Torture is further defined as: The act of a person who commits, or conspires or attempts to commit an act specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon another person. On October 5, 2005, we in this Chamber passed, by a vote of 90 to 9-- only nine Senators in this Chamber voting against the legislation--the Detainee Treatment Act, otherwise known by many of us as the McCain amendment. The amendment states: No individual in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment. By our most basic human sensibilities, waterboarding, whereby water is forced into the nose, mouth, or lungs of a person to create the sensation that they are drowning and dying, is torture, and it is illegal. The feeling--from those who have spoken about this at length-- is one that causes struggle, panic, ingestion of water, vomiting, and psychological trauma. This truth, Mr. President, that this is torture, has been affirmed by the top lawyers in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and Marines, both current and retired. It has been affirmed by my colleagues, by some of my most respected colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle, for whom I have tremendous respect. Through our history, we have prosecuted those who have used the technique against our own people as criminals of war. When Japanese soldiers waterboarded American prisoners of war in World War II, we convicted them for their crimes. We convicted them for their crimes. When our own soldiers, over 100 years ago, used waterboarding in the 1898 Spanish-American War in the interrogation of Filipino insurgents, they were court-martialed. In Vietnam, U.S. generals declared waterboarding to be illegal and strictly enforced the ban on its use. Mr. President, I very much recognize the importance of the advice and consent clause of our Constitution, in our working with the President in the consent function that we play with respect to his Cabinet appointments. I have worked very hard for 3 years on many of those confirmations in an effort to develop the kind of cooperation and collaboration that is required. However, Mr. President, there are some fundamental core principles for which we must stand. These principles are tested, no doubt, in the face of violence and war, but it is in these moments when these principles are all the more important. The fact that we do not torture, the fact that we in this Nation do not torture is fundamental to who we are as a people, whether it is in conflict, such as the conflict we are in today, or conflicts that have happened in the past in this Nation. For me, Mr. President, this is not a complex issue. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 1 more minute.