Ken Salazar

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. I do propose that as a unanimous consent agreement.

Mr. SALAZAR. I thank the Chair, and I thank my colleague from Oregon. I would like to ask a question of my friend from Oregon and a question of the Senator from Mississippi, Mr. Cochran. If we can find an agreement that will allow three amendments from the Democratic side and three amendments from the Republican side, and then at the end of those six amendments being sent to the desk, returning back to your amendment as the pending business of the Senate, is that something that the chairman of the committee would object to? If we were to offer a unanimous consent agreement with respect to those six amendments and we would agree to what those six amendments would be, would then the chairman of the committee object to us moving forward with that kind of a unanimous consent agreement, understanding that we would be returning to the amendment of the Senator from Oregon at the end of that?

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I thank my friend from Oregon. I ask him the question as to whether a short period of discussion, perhaps between the Senator from Oregon and the distinguished chairman from Mississippi and the distinguished Senator from Washington may allow us to work out some kind of procedural framework where not only the amendment that I am proposing to offer is able to be offered, but in addition to that, Senator Menendez, who has been here waiting several hours to offer an amendment, might offer his amendment, as well as several of my colleagues who are here, including Senator Conrad and earlier Senator Byrd. The suggestion I am making to my friend from Oregon is if we take a breath, we might be able to get perhaps three or four amendments offered on the Democratic side and three or four amendments offered on the Republican side, allowing the Senator from Oregon to return back to his amendment as the pending business of the Senate.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to commend the millions of young people across the United States--and in other countries--who will participate in National Youth Service Day on April 21, 2006. There is no doubt that communities will continue to be positively impacted by the dedication and kindness of children that participate in this annual celebration. Earlier this week, the Senate enacted S. Res. 422, which designated April 21, 2006, National and Global Youth Service Day. I was proud to be a cosponsor of this resolution, which we unanimously passed. However, I am even more proud of the thousands of youth in my native Colorado who will participate in National Youth Service Day. In Timnath, second graders at Timnath Elementary School are holding a schoolwide donation drive. During this drive, they will be collecting shampoo, soap, toothpaste, and toothbrushes to be donated to the local food bank to give to individuals in need. In Thornton, volunteer youth are organizing an afternoon of service for frail, disabled, and chronically ill seniors throughout Adams County by helping them with the maintenance of their homes and gardens. They will clean up yards, garages, and homes, and work to beautify their community. This valuable service will be performed in conjunction with the local Big Brother/Big Sister program. In Aurora, the Mile High Youth Corps will help the Denver Urban Gardens fix up their farm. The Denver Urban Gardens is one of the only organic farms in the Denver Metro area which offers unique educational opportunities and low-cost organic food to people of all economic levels. Youth volunteers will seed, weed, till, paint, plant, fix, mend, build, and any other valuable and needed volunteer activities to keep the farm in shape. These are just a few examples of the incredible volunteer efforts that are occurring throughout Colorado. I thank the volunteers, and all of the staff and organizers of National Youth Service Day. Speaking directly to the youth participating in National Youth Service Day, in Colorado and around the world, I commend your service and thank you for the positive difference you will make not only in the lives of the people you help directly, but for all the people within your neighborhoods and communities. I would also like to remind you that your service and commitment is needed not just for just a few days but year round. I encourage you to carry forth your excitement, energy and goodwill into the future. I urge you to turn your sense of civic responsibility into a habit that will last for a lifetime. The youth participating in National Youth Service Day today are our future doctors, lawyers, police officers, senators, parents, and community leaders of tomorrow. Instilling an early sense of service, involvement and dedication toward the betterment of their neighbors and communities is essential to continuing the caring and compassionate tradition embraced in America.

Mr. SALAZAR

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

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to invoke cloture on the Specter substitute amendment. I do so because of several key reasons. First, the legislation that came out of the Judiciary Committee had broad bipartisan support. I think when you have that kind of bipartisan support, it speaks to what we can do as a Senate when we reach across the aisle to try to find common ground. I think the Judiciary Committee found that common ground. Second, the bill addresses the key issues we should be addressing in the Senate today. It addresses border security, which is critically important to us, that we deal with trying to strengthen our homeland defenses and our national security. It addresses the issue of enforcement of immigration laws in our country. It also addresses the economic and human realities of undocumented workers that we have in America today. It is a good bill from that perspective. It is a law and order bill. For those on the other side who say this is amnesty, I reject that labeling. It has penalties and registration that go along with the requirement for those people who are undocumented and working in the United States. Finally, no matter how this cloture vote goes--and I intend to vote for cloture because it is a good bill, and I urge my colleagues to vote for cloture--we need to continue to work on this issue because it is so important to the future of America. We have a reality in our country today; where we have broken borders and lawlessness, we need to restore some order and regularity to our immigration system. This issue is too important for us to simply walk away. I hope we will continue to work through this issue and come up with the kind of wisdom that Solomon would bring to a very important national issue, so we can get some kind of resolution that addresses the concerns of all of those who are so affected by our immigration laws. I yield the floor.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about S. 2584, ``The Rocky Mountain Forest Insects Response Enhancement and Support Act,'' or ``Rocky Mountain FIRES Act,'' which I introduced earlier today. I am introducing this bill because we are facing an extremely dangerous wildfire situation in the West, including my home State of Colorado, maybe worse than we have ever faced. Below-average snowfalls, protracted drought, and a massive bark beetle infestation have created fuel loads that threaten forest health, property, and human life. I fear that we are facing a perfect storm of conditions for devastating fires this summer in Colorado. The southern half of Colorado, and much of the Southwest, has been hit by yet another year of below-average precipitation. With the exception of a few areas in Colorado's northern mountains, precipitation levels this winter were 25-50 percent of average. Colorado is now in its 7th consecutive year of drought. This drought has been so severe and so long that even the healthiest trees have become fuel for disease, fire, and insect infestations. Mr. President, the bark beetle, a pest that normally kills only a few weak trees in a stand, has fed off entire forests of drought-weakened trees. It is a plague that is sweeping through the Rockies. The bark beetle problem in Colorado is of unprecedented magnitude. The infestation is killing trees over hundreds of thousands of acres, leaving huge, dry fuel loads in its wake. Across the State, but particularly in the Arapaho National Forest in northern Colorado, bark beetles are turning entire forests into brown, dead stands. In 2004, bark beetles killed an estimated 7 million trees over 1.5 million acres in Colorado. When you see pictures that show the stands that have been hit by the bark beetle, you can see why people who live nearby are so concerned. You can imagine what a fire would look like if it got into a stand of beetle-infested timber--it would jump from crown to crown, racing up ridges and through the forest faster than we could respond. Beetle-kill stands are everywhere in Grand County and Larimer County, Summit and Eagle, Saguache and San Miguel. They are increasingly visible in pockets along the Front Range, among houses and communities in the wildland-urban interface. The areas with smaller outbreaks, like those in the Pike National Forest and the Gunnison National Forest, are just as worrisome as the massive outbreaks in northern Colorado. When we see even a handful of beetle-kill trees, it usually means that the insects are already attacking the surrounding trees. Private land owners and local governments are doing all they can to combat this problem--they are using their chainsaws to protect their homes, they are spraying trees, and they are devising protection plans. They wonder, though, if they aren't alone in this fight. They wonder if the Federal Government is asleep at the wheel in the face of potential disaster. The people who see the browned-out, dead forests from their kitchen windows wonder why Washington isn't moving faster to curb this onslaught on our public lands--why is the government not clearing out the dead trees, creating buffers to prevent the beetle from spreading, or providing more resources and expertise to help local communities protect themselves? I have pressed Secretary Johanns to find funds to deal with this emergency in Colorado and across the West. At the current budget levels, we are simply not able to curb the bark beetle problem and prepare for the upcoming fire season. We could be treating 2 or 3 times as many acres this year if we only had adequate funds. We must also give local communities and land managers the tools they need to combat the bark beetle infestation. That is what S2584, the ``Rocky Mountain Fires Act,'' will do. My bill will facilitate a swifter response by the Forest Service and BLM to widespread insect infestations in our forests; provide additional money to communities that are preparing or revising their wildfire protection plans; make grant funding available for enterprises that use woody biomass for energy production and other commercial purposes, so that we can put beetle-kill trees and wood from hazard fuels-reduction projects to good use; and allow the Forest Service and the BLM to award stewardship contracts to nearby landowners, so that residents can do hazard fuels reduction on federal lands to protect their homes. Coloradans are anxious for Congress to take action on the bark beetle issue because they know the dangers they face. They remember the fire storms of 2002, when the Hayman Fire burned 138,000 acres on the Front Range, the Missonary Ridge Fire burned 70,000 acres near Durango, and scores of other fires across the State chewed up resources and claimed property and lives. This year could be as bad, or worse, if we don't take action right now. We must find funds or provide emergency funding so that we can gear up for the fire season. We must also pass bark beetle legislation that gives communities and land managers the tools they need to protect property and lives. We must take action right now. As I am reminded by the reports of fires in Colorado just this past week: this summer's fire season is already upon us.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about S. 2584, ``The Rocky Mountain Forest Insects Response Enhancement and Support Act,'' or ``Rocky Mountain FIRES Act,'' which I introduced earlier today. I am introducing this bill because we are facing an extremely dangerous wildfire situation in the West, including my home State of Colorado, maybe worse than we have ever faced. Below-average snowfalls, protracted drought, and a massive bark beetle infestation have created fuel loads that threaten forest health, property, and human life. I fear that we are facing a perfect storm of conditions for devastating fires this summer in Colorado. The southern half of Colorado, and much of the Southwest, has been hit by yet another year of below-average precipitation. With the exception of a few areas in Colorado's northern mountains, precipitation levels this winter were 25-50 percent of average. Colorado is now in its 7th consecutive year of drought. This drought has been so severe and so long that even the healthiest trees have become fuel for disease, fire, and insect infestations. Mr. President, the bark beetle, a pest that normally kills only a few weak trees in a stand, has fed off entire forests of drought-weakened trees. It is a plague that is sweeping through the Rockies. The bark beetle problem in Colorado is of unprecedented magnitude. The infestation is killing trees over hundreds of thousands of acres, leaving huge, dry fuel loads in its wake. Across the State, but particularly in the Arapaho National Forest in northern Colorado, bark beetles are turning entire forests into brown, dead stands. In 2004, bark beetles killed an estimated 7 million trees over 1.5 million acres in Colorado. When you see pictures that show the stands that have been hit by the bark beetle, you can see why people who live nearby are so concerned. You can imagine what a fire would look like if it got into a stand of beetle-infested timber--it would jump from crown to crown, racing up ridges and through the forest faster than we could respond. Beetle-kill stands are everywhere in Grand County and Larimer County, Summit and Eagle, Saguache and San Miguel. They are increasingly visible in pockets along the Front Range, among houses and communities in the wildland-urban interface. The areas with smaller outbreaks, like those in the Pike National Forest and the Gunnison National Forest, are just as worrisome as the massive outbreaks in northern Colorado. When we see even a handful of beetle-kill trees, it usually means that the insects are already attacking the surrounding trees. Private land owners and local governments are doing all they can to combat this problem--they are using their chainsaws to protect their homes, they are spraying trees, and they are devising protection plans. They wonder, though, if they aren't alone in this fight. They wonder if the Federal Government is asleep at the wheel in the face of potential disaster. The people who see the browned-out, dead forests from their kitchen windows wonder why Washington isn't moving faster to curb this onslaught on our public lands--why is the government not clearing out the dead trees, creating buffers to prevent the beetle from spreading, or providing more resources and expertise to help local communities protect themselves? I have pressed Secretary Johanns to find funds to deal with this emergency in Colorado and across the West. At the current budget levels, we are simply not able to curb the bark beetle problem and prepare for the upcoming fire season. We could be treating 2 or 3 times as many acres this year if we only had adequate funds. We must also give local communities and land managers the tools they need to combat the bark beetle infestation. That is what S2584, the ``Rocky Mountain Fires Act,'' will do. My bill will facilitate a swifter response by the Forest Service and BLM to widespread insect infestations in our forests; provide additional money to communities that are preparing or revising their wildfire protection plans; make grant funding available for enterprises that use woody biomass for energy production and other commercial purposes, so that we can put beetle-kill trees and wood from hazard fuels-reduction projects to good use; and allow the Forest Service and the BLM to award stewardship contracts to nearby landowners, so that residents can do hazard fuels reduction on federal lands to protect their homes. Coloradans are anxious for Congress to take action on the bark beetle issue because they know the dangers they face. They remember the fire storms of 2002, when the Hayman Fire burned 138,000 acres on the Front Range, the Missonary Ridge Fire burned 70,000 acres near Durango, and scores of other fires across the State chewed up resources and claimed property and lives. This year could be as bad, or worse, if we don't take action right now. We must find funds or provide emergency funding so that we can gear up for the fire season. We must also pass bark beetle legislation that gives communities and land managers the tools they need to protect property and lives. We must take action right now. As I am reminded by the reports of fires in Colorado just this past week: this summer's fire season is already upon us.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Madam President, I thank my colleague from Missouri as well for his great words on behalf of the contribution to baseball that has been made by some of our country's finest sportsmen. I thank my colleague from Alabama, Senator Sessions, for his good work in this Chamber. I also note he and I were participants in a codel that just went into Iraq and Afghanistan. The issues we face around the world on national security are so important that it is going to require a coming together of our country to make sure we are working toward the creation of a better, safer, and more secure world. I want to speak briefly to the bill that is currently before this Chamber, and that is the immigration reform bill in its comprehensive form that came out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. I believe from a national security and homeland security perspective this Chamber is working on one of the most very important issues facing our Nation today, and that is the issue of making sure we take our broken borders and the lawlessness coming across the borders and create a system that is comprehensive in nature to address that lawlessness. I believe the legislation which came out of the Judiciary Committee does that, and it does so by making sure, first and foremost, that we are strengthening our borders, and secondly, making sure that within the interior, we are creating the kind of immigration law enforcement program that is going to be effective; that looking at the immigration laws and simply ignoring them is a chapter which will go away if we are able to get our hands around passage of this bill. And finally, dealing with the reality of the 11 million workers in America--those workers who toil in our fields, those workers who work in our restaurants, those workers who work in our factories, and all of those who make the kind of lifestyle we have in America possible--we need to address those issues with respect to what some have said is the big elephant in that room, and we need to do it in a thoughtful and humane manner that upholds the rule of law of our Nation. I want to speak briefly about the importance of border security and what this legislation does. In the days after 9/11, when we have hundreds of thousands of people coming into this country, without any sense of where they are coming from, whether they come here to seek a good job and to be a part of the American dream, or whether they come as terrorists across the border, it makes the statement that we need to make sure we are doing everything within our power to strengthen those borders. This legislation out of the Judiciary Committee does exactly that. It does so by adding 12,000 new officers to make sure our borders are being patrolled. We go from a staff level of about 12,000 Border Patrol officers up to an additional 12,000 and that will get us to almost 25,000 people who will be deployed along our borders to make sure we can enforce the law. It creates additional border fences in those places where we know now there are significant streams of illegal and undocumented workers coming back and forth across the borders. So it creates those additional fences. It creates virtual fences by deploying the kind of technology that allows us to detect movement across our border. It also makes sure we create the avenues for checkpoints and ports of entry so we don't have the massive backup on the borders on either side. I believe the border security aspects of this legislation are where Republicans and Democrats should come together in the name of national and homeland security, and we should be supportive of this legislation for that very purpose. Second, this legislation is also about enforcing our laws. It is about making sure we have an immigration system where everyone in our country is standing up for enforcing the rule of law. We will do that by providing an additional 5,000 new investigators to make sure those laws are being enforced. Today there are many violations of our immigration laws that are taking place across every one of our States in America, and yet our immigration laws simply are on the books. They are not being enforced. A law on the books that is not being enforced is almost like not having a law at all. So what we will do is hire 5,000 additional investigators and create the law enforcement capacity to make sure those laws are being enforced in the interior. In addition, when apprehension occurs of someone who is here illegally, it is difficult to find a place to house these individuals until they are deported. This legislation calls for an additional 20 detention facilities. Those 20 detention facilities will give us the capacity to process those who are breaking the laws of immigration. The legislation also addresses a very important issue that is critical to State and local governments. State and local governments have been dealing with the influx of undocumented workers and illegal aliens in our country for a very long time. Yet there has been no system providing them compensation for what they are doing to try to enforce the laws at the State and local level, essentially on behalf of the Federal Government because this is a Federal issue, after all. What this legislation will do is provide reimbursement for the States for the detention and imprisonment of criminal aliens. The legislation also requires a faster deportation process. I go back to the old adage of justice delayed is sometimes justice denied. We have people who are sometimes waiting in the system for months and months and years and years without coming to any kind of resolution. This legislation will require a faster deportation process. There are significant provisions in this legislation that will make additional criminal activity for gang members, money laundering, and for human traffickers. We know human trafficking across the borders creates tremendous hardship on people. It also demeans people and results in the deaths of many people. We know there is gang activity along the border that deals with drug trafficking and a whole host of illegal activity. We need to make sure those involved in that kind of criminal activity are brought to justice. Finally, in terms of enforcing our immigration laws, it is important we address what has become an industry in this country in terms of production of fraudulent documents and identification cards used in this country. President Bush's wish to create a tamperproof card that will go along with this guest worker program is a step in the right direction because it will get us to the point where we will have a tamperproof card and we can avoid the identity theft and identity fraud we see going on in this arena. Finally, I want to address a third point in what I consider to be this law and order bill, and that is our penalties that come along with this legislation for the 11 million undocumented workers who are in this country. There is a monetary penalty that is applied. In addition, unlike all Americans, there is a requirement that those who are here and undocumented have to register, and they must register on an annual basis. For all of us who are Americans, there is no requirement of registration. If we don't want to have a Social Security card or if we don't want to have a license or if we don't want to be a part of the Government, our right as an American citizen is not to register. For this group of people, we are going to require them to register with the U.S. Government. There is a whole host of other things that is required of these 11 million people, including the requirement that they learn English, including the requirement that they pass a criminal background check and that they pass a medical exam, and the list of requirements goes on and on and on. I believe the legislation that was produced by the Judiciary Committee is, in fact, a law and order bill. It addresses a very fundamental issue that is of paramount importance to all of us in this Nation and that is the security of our Nation and the security of our homeland. Finally, I conclude by making a statement about the humanitarian issues that ought to concern all of us with respect to our broken borders. I heard my good friend Senator John McCain at the outset of the consideration of this legislation by the Senate a few days ago, talking about what he had seen in Arizona and how the Arizona Republic had reported that, I believe it was in 2004, 300 people had been found in the desert. Later he discussed how in the following year there were some 406 or 407 people who had been found dead in the desert, people who had died of thirst and hunger, rape and pillage and murder, out in the desert. Perhaps it is only in America when we see those kinds of conditions that we as an American society say, That ought to be unacceptable to us as a country. How can we have 300, 400, 500 people a year die in the deserts of Arizona? That is the kind of inhumanity that ought to cause all of us as leaders in our country and all of us in our society to say, We must do something about this. I was moved by Senator McCain's description of some of the people who were dying in the desert, including the story of the 2-year-old girl who had died in the desert and the 13 year old who had died clutching her rosary in that desert in Arizona. I believe America can, in fact, come to grips with this problem. I believe we have an opportunity here in the Senate to deal with this issue. I am very hopeful my colleagues, both my Democratic colleagues and Republican colleagues, who are working on this issue will not let this historic opportunity we have pass us by. It is this time, it is this day, it is this week where I believe we as a nation can come together and develop comprehensive immigration reform that is long term and that will be long lasting. Madam President, I yield the floor.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, at the outset, I recognize my friend from Connecticut and agree with his comments and applaud his voice of moderation and centrist views. Those are the kinds of views that are bringing together the coalition that ultimately will allow us to succeed in passing comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate. I want to speak about two issues today. One is about the law and order aspects of this bill, and the second is to refer to the nature of this debate we are seeing around the country on immigration. The first point I want to make is that the Judiciary Committee bill which was produced with great work on the part of both Democrats and Republicans is, in fact, a law and order bill. For those people who have said it is not, they are wrong. This is a law and order bill because what it does is it takes the immigration issues we are facing in this country and addresses the strengthening of our borders. It also addresses the enforcement of our immigration laws within the interior of the United States. And finally, it applies penalties and registration to those who are here illegally in our country. So I believe the appropriate characterization we should be giving this legislation is that it is a law and order bill. I want to review some of the aspects of border security which are very important. All of us know that today we are involved in this debate because we have broken borders, both to the South and to the North. It is not just the border between the United States and Mexico we are addressing today, but it also is the border with Canada. It is a system of broken borders we have in this country today. What this legislation does is toughen border security in ways we have not done for the last 20 years. In this post- 9/11 world, it seems to me there can be no higher imperative for our Nation's calling than to make sure we are doing everything we can to protect the Nation and protect our homeland. How can we do that if we have porous borders? That is what this legislation, the Judiciary Committee bill, before the Senate does. It addresses that issue of border security. It adds 12,000 new Border Patrol agents. These officers will help double the number of law enforcement officials we have working on the borders to make sure we have secure borders. It creates additional border fences in places that are vulnerable, where we see significant crossings in some of the major cities between the North and the South, but we know with these additional fences in vulnerable areas that we can increase border security. It provides new criminal penalties for a whole range of activities, including the construction of tunnels which have been found in California and other places so that those who are involved in the construction of the tunnels will be subject to some very heavy criminal penalties. It adds new checkpoints and points of entry so we can make sure the flow of people from one country to another is, in fact, being checked and that we can, in fact, make sure they are legal entrants into our country. It expands the security system at all land borders as well as our airports. One of the law and order legs of this stool is the fact that we will have much more strengthened border security if we are able to get this immigration reform package through the Senate. The second aspect of this legislation, which I think stands tall for law and order, is the enforcement of our immigration laws. For far too long we have turned and looked the other way when our immigration laws have been broken. This immigration bill produced by the Judiciary Committee will have us look in the right direction. It will have us stand tall and say: We are going to enforce our immigration laws. It adds 5,000 new investigators within the interior of this country to make sure we are enforcing those immigration laws. That more than doubles the capacity of our interior enforcement with respect to immigration. It establishes 20 new detention facilities so we can process those who are caught here illegally for violation of our immigration laws. It reimburses the States that now have the responsibility, in many cases, of apprehending and detaining aliens. This legislation will provide assistance to the States for that detention. It requires a faster deportation process so that once there is someone who is caught illegally, they are subject to deportation in a prompt process. It creates additional criminal penalties for gang members, for money laundering, and for those who are involved in human trafficking. We go after that lawlessness which has been created by the broken borders we have today. It increases document fraud detention and, as the President said, for people who are here under the guest worker program, they will have a tamperproof card so we can make sure the fraudulent business that has been created is something we stop. It expands authority to remove suspected terrorists from the United States. And it is strong in pushing for the employer sanctions which are now part of the law and adds some additional employer sanctions. It is a tough immigration law enforcement bill that addresses the issues within our interior. The third point I want to make with respect to this bill, which is a law and order bill, has to do with the fact that we penalize those who have broken the law. Some people have decided they want to call this legislation amnesty legislation. There is nothing that could be further from the truth. It is a falsehood to say this legislation provides amnesty. For those who have broken the law, we require them to pay a penalty. It is a substantial monetary fine. We in America who have worked in law enforcement know that many Americans, when they break the law, have to pay some kind of civil penalty. Here the penalty that is proposed for those illegally here today is $1,000. In addition to paying the penalty, we require these people to register with the Government. As American citizens, none of us are required to register with the Government. We, in this bill, however, require the undocumented people who are in this country to register with the U.S. Government. So we have penalties and we have registration. There is a whole host of other items included in this part of the legislation that address the 11 million undocumented workers in this country, including the requirement that they obtain a temporary work visa, that they provide an additional $1,000 penalty, that they pass a background check and remain crime free while in the United States, that they pay all back taxes, that they learn English, that they learn American history and Government, that they pass a medical exam, and that they prove they are continuously employed with a temporary guest visa. When we look at all these requirements, what we are doing is creating a system where for an 11-year-period these people are going to be punished and they are going to go through what I call a purgatory of time. It is an 11-year waiting period before they are eligible to obtain citizenship. So this legislation ought to be correctly characterized as legislation that stands up for law and order, that addresses our broken borders and the lawlessness that comes from those broken borders. I wish to briefly also address the tenor of the debate in the United States of America with respect to this issue of immigration reform, which we are debating in Washington, DC, and across our great Nation. I think President Bush had it right when he talked about this issue a few days ago. He said: When we conduct this debate, it must be done in a civil way. It must be done in a way that brings dignity to the process. It must be done in a way that doesn't pit one group of people against another. It must be done in a way that recognizes our history. That is what President Bush said about the kind of debate we ought to be having in America today on immigration. Yet the reality is that the kind of debate that is going on in some places in America is a debate that is very vitriolic and is very poisonous. It serves to divide our country as opposed to uniting our country. I myself have been the subject of many of these attacks by telephone and e-mails as well, I am sure, as many of my colleagues who are working in the Senate today. Some of those attacks that have been launched against me have said I should simply go back to Mexico because I am a ``spic.'' I resent that because my family founded a great part of this country, including the city of Santa Fe, NM, some 400 years ago. My family has supported this country through war and depression and a whole host of different ways. Like all Americans, I believe we are equal and that we should be celebrating the diversity that makes us a strong country. So the kind of comments and the kind of poison that sometimes comes from these comments we are getting from around the country, including my own State of Colorado, is not helpful for us as we move forward to create comprehensive immigration reform. I have received other kinds of comments such as from someone calling from my State: I am not a racist against Mexicans. I want all minorities kicked out. Another one: Put all the illegal aliens on trains and deport them out of the country. They come in vans. Railcars would be a step up. Those are just a few samples of the thousands of negative messages I have received in my office as we have engaged in this debate. I go back to the President's statement that as we move forward in this debate on this Senate floor and in this country, we should appeal to the better angels of people to ensure we can have a civil debate about a very important issue, that goes to the heart of America's national security, that addresses the economic realities that are addressed in the package that came out of the Judiciary Committee, and that also addresses the humanity involved in the immigration chaos in which we find ourselves. Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise this morning to speak in support of the immigration reform bill which has been produced out of our Judiciary Committee. I wish to first congratulate Senator Specter and Senator Leahy for their leadership in that effort in the Judiciary Committee. I also wish to congratulate all of my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, who have come together in support of this historic measure that is now before the Senate. I believe this measure truly represents the kind of bipartisan spirit that leads to the best policy creation for our country. I am also proud of the eight sponsors of the McCain-Kennedy bill, including Senator McCain and Senator Graham, Senator Brownback, Senator Martinez, Senator Kennedy, Senator Lieberman, and Senator Obama, who came together and have led part of the effort to make sure we address comprehensive immigration reform this year. I believe these bipartisan success stories establish the kind of civility we need to have in the Senate to be able to address the major issues that affect our country. In reality, what the Judiciary Committee proposal does is it addresses the real problem we currently are facing in our country. We are facing a reality of broken borders and lawlessness at our borders as well as the interior with regard to immigration issues. What the Judiciary Committee bill does is it takes that reality of broken borders and lawlessness and creates a system that addresses our national security by strengthening our borders. It also takes that system and reality of broken borders and lawlessness and says we can do a better job in securing our interior by enforcing our immigration laws. It also takes that system of broken borders and lawlessness and it creates a workable system of immigration that addresses both the economic and human realities of immigration in our Nation. Finally, it takes that system of broken borders and lawlessness and tackles head on the horrible injustice that occurs with human trafficking that we see in our immigration problems of today. As the Senate works to perfect and strengthen this legislation, it is my hope we will build upon the committee's work. I believe if we continue in a bipartisan manner, our final work product will be a comprehensive immigration reform law that protects our borders and addresses the human and economic realities within our homeland. I believe comprehensive immigration reform legislation must be tough, must be fair, and must be practical. It must be tough, and it must be fair, and it must be practical. I believe the Judiciary Committee proposal is, in fact, tough, fair, and practical. I know I am not alone in supporting this type of approach. Just last week, President Bush met with Americans from the business, faith, agriculture, and civil rights communities across our country. In the group in that meeting there were two people from Colorado who attended: Cindy Clark from The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs and Archbishop Charles Chaput, the archbishop of Denver. I commend both Ms. Clark and the archbishop for voicing the concerns of Coloradans with the President that we need to have a comprehensive immigration reform package. I have also spoken with President Bush and members of his Cabinet on a number of different occasions in the last year about the need for comprehensive immigration reform. I share President Bush's belief, as he says--and I quote-- Ours is a nation of law and ours is a nation of immigrants, we believe that we can have rational, important immigration policy that's based upon law and reflects our deep desire to be a compassionate and decent nation. Immigration is, indeed, a vital component of our Nation's history. Our country has always been seen as a land of opportunity for immigrants who are willing to work hard for a chance at achieving the American dream for themselves and for their families. Without the important contributions immigrants have made to our country, the United States would not exist as we know it today. In my home State of Colorado, the first nonnatives to explore our lands were the Spanish. They arrived nearly 500 years ago and left their mark on the American Southwest and Colorado. Their presence is reflected today in the names of my State and its cities, its rivers, its mountains, and even in the food we eat. More recently, immigrants came to Colorado to farm and ranch, to mine our State's abundant natural resources, to build the railroads and forge steel. They came, and continue to come, out of desperation, and also out of hope--the hope of America. In a recent newspaper column, a former councilman, Bill Burnett, of the little Colorado town of Minturn--an old mining town--summed up the sentiments of many people in my State. He said: Without immigrants, we never would've built this place. The sentiment is echoed by many across this great country of ours. It can also be heard through the words of the great poem ``The Mew Colossus,'' inscribed at the foot of the Statue of Liberty. That poem says: Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! Our country has always been a beacon of hope. My own family migrated to Colorado in the 1850s, almost 20 years before Colorado became a State. We came from northern New Mexico, from a city named Santa Fe, which we had helped found over 250 years earlier. That was before Plymouth Rock and James Town. We pioneered the settlement of Colorado's San Luis Valley, where we have farmed the same land for almost 150 years. In truth, every one of us in Congress and, indeed, virtually every person in America has a story to tell of their immigrant roots. That is because we are a nation of immigrants, a historical fact that has made us the wonder, the hope, and the envy of the world for centuries. But there is no question today that our immigration laws are not working. We have broken borders in America today, and we must fix the problem for the sake of the national security of America. The level of illegal immigration on our borders is unacceptable and has to change. Our borders are undermanned and overwhelmed. We must do far better in getting control of our borders. In the past decade alone, we have seen the number of undocumented immigrants in our country rise from 4 million to some 12 million in 2006. Enforcement of our immigration laws has certainly not kept pace with the flow of both legal and illegal immigration, and the laws that deal with those who cross the border are enforced only rarely so that in reality many believe enforcement of the laws simply does not exist. In this post 9/11 era, it is critical we get control of our borders-- both the northern border with Canada as well as the southern border with Mexico--so we can protect our country from outside threats that would do harm to Americans and punish those who exploit the hopes of foreign workers who come here through human trafficking. We must solve our Nation's illegal immigration problems as a matter of national security. To that end, the first priority of immigration reform must be to provide for adequate and sensible border security and a renewed Federal commitment to enforcing our Nation's immigration laws. The Judiciary Committee bill contains many provisions that will strengthen enforcement both at the border and within our country. It contains more than 30 provisions that will ensure the security of our borders. Among the numerous provisions it includes, it doubles the number of Border Patrol agents. It adds 12,000 new agents over the next 5 years. It doubles interior enforcement. It does so by adding 1,000 investigators per year over the next 5 years. It provides additional border fences at specific vulnerable sections across the border. It increases resources to expand the ability of Federal agents to retrieve aliens detained by local police. And there are numerous other enforcement provisions contained within the bill. Some in our country would have preferred that we wall off our country along our southern border. To the proponents of building that wall, I ask them: What would Ronald Reagan have said about that wall? We should not repeat the example of the Berlin Wall, one of the most shameful symbols of antifreedom and oppression ever designed by man, designed solely to keep people from hope and opportunity and freedom. It was President Reagan who told the Soviet leader: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. We must not build those walls around our country. Some also want to make criminals out of local parish priests who counsel their immigrant parishioners and soup-kitchen workers who provide a warm meal to the hungry. That, too, is wrong, to criminalize these people who take on humanitarian endeavors. I am pleased that the Judiciary Committee bill does not call for the construction of a massive wall along the border and does not criminalize the millions of Americans who come into contact with undocumented workers. These security and enforcement efforts alone cannot be our sole means to confront this challenge. In the past, Congress has focused almost exclusively on only this component of border security. We have tripled the number of Border Patrol agents who sometimes spend eight times as many hours patrolling the border. Yet during the same time, our borders have continued to be out of control. The reality is, regardless of how much money we dedicate to border and interior enforcement, there are economic forces that spur immigration. Our country's current workforce is continuing to age, and our newer workers have become more educated and less interested in taking the important jobs our economy keeps creating. The Judiciary Committee bill addresses this issue.

Mr. SALAZAR. I agree with my colleague from Massachusetts. Amnesty is simply a red herring from those who don't want to get real immigration reform. When you talk about somebody having to wait in line for 11 years, having to go to the back of the line, having to remain crime free for 11 years, having to have a job in America, having to have an absolutely clean record, and then, at the end of the day, having to pay a substantial monetary fine, that is not amnesty. We will be on this bill for a number of days. I expect to be speaking again about the importance of immigration reform as part of our national security. I wanted today, in this period of morning business and as we enter into the debate, to read from one of my favorite prayers from a person who understood the importance of immigration, especially in the context of agriculture. That is Cesar Chavez. He wrote this prayer, and it is something I think all of us in the Chamber should keep in mind as we move forward in the debate: Show me the suffering of the most miserable so that I will know my people's plight. Free me to pray for others, for you are present in every person. Help me take responsibility for my own life so that I can be free at last. Grant me courage to serve others, for in service there is true life. Give me honesty and patience so that I can work with other workers. Bring forth song and celebration so that the spirit will be alive among us. Let the disparate flourish and grow so that we will never tire of the struggle. Let us remember those who have died for justice, for they have given us life. Help us love even those who hate us so that we can change the world. As we engage in this very important debate on comprehensive immigration reform, I ask my colleagues to keep in mind that this is one of the most important issues we confront together as a group of Americans in the 109th Congress. I yield the floor.

Mr. SALAZAR. I agree with my colleague and friend from Massachusetts. As a person who has worked with law enforcement for a good part of my life as attorney general of my State, I know what amnesty is. I believe those who characterize this bill as amnesty are absolutely wrong. In the proposal of the Judiciary Committee, we have said that you go to the back of the line. What we have said is that you pay a very substantial fine. That, in my view, with the other provisions in the bill, takes it completely out of the context of any kind of amnesty program we have ever seen. I agree with my colleague from Massachusetts that at the end of the day, what we are dealing with is the reality of creating a stronger border but then addressing the reality within our Nation in a way that is workable. For those who would simply want to ignore the reality of the 11 to 12 million undocumented workers who are in the shadows of America today, we are simply not going to create a workable system of immigration reform in our country. That is why I join my colleague from Massachusetts in pushing as hard as I can to get the Judiciary bill passed.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise to call attention to one of the world's most recognized jazz vocalists who also happens to call Denver home--Dianne Reeves. Earlier this year, Dianne won a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album, this time for her work on the soundtrack of the Best Picture-nominee, ``Good Night, and Good Luck.'' The album is filled with standards like ``Straighten Up and Fly Right,'' and ``Too Close for Comfort.'' Dianne grew up in Denver where she was raised by her grandmother, taking piano lessons before discovering her love of singing. She got her start in the jazz band at Denver's George Washington High School when she was discovered by trumpeter Clark Terry while performing with the band at the National Association of Jazz Educators Conference in Chicago. She went on to tour with Harry Belafonte while still in her twenties before being signed to the legendary Blue Note record label in 1987. Just 4 years ago, the world enjoyed her performance at the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT, that critics called ``spellbinding.'' This Grammy award was not Dianne's first. Rather, it was her fourth in six nominations. Previously, she won the Best Jazz Vocal award 3 years in a row, an unprecedented feat for an artist in any vocal category. She has joined with fellow jazz giants like Wynton Marsalis, recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, and was the first vocalist to perform at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Dianne has been recognized around the world for her outstanding artistic accomplishments and contributions, and we in Colorado are proud that she still calls our State ``home.''

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise to speak about legislation I am introducing today which I believe will enhance the experience of the millions of visitors who visit our Nation's Capital every year, and will contribute to the ongoing, deeply rewarding, and profoundly important process of national self-discovery. As we learn more about who we are as Americans, we gain strength from our history and enrich our vision for the future. In that spirit, together with Senators Martinez, Hatch, Bingaman, Hutchison, and Menendez, I have introduced the National Museum of the American Latino Community Commission Act. The bill will establish a Commission to study the potential creation of a National Museum of the American Latino Community. The Commission members, selected by the President and Members of Congress, will be tasked with studying the impact of such a Museum, developing a plan of action and a fundraising plan, and proposing recommendations to make the Museum a reality. I am pleased to be building on the work of several members of Congress during the 108th Congress, most notably Senator Hatch and Congressman Xavier Becerra. On May 10, 2005, Congressman Xavier Becerra re-introduced the Commission bill in the House of Representatives with Congresswoman Illeana Ros-Lehtinen. Since then, 107 Representatives have lent their support to H.R. 2134, and tomorrow, the Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands in the House Resources Committee will meet to examine the proposal. Washington, DC is more than the seat of our government; it is the symbolic heart of our country. When American travel to their Capital, they expect the museums, monuments, and national parks they visit to reflect the complete American experience. I celebrate the recent opening of the National Museum of the American Indian and the announcement of the location of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture. I believe we must celebrate the diversity of our Nation and her rich national heritage. Many assume that Hispanics have just arrived on our country's shores. But these newly arrived Hispanics are only a small segment of a much larger community that has been an integral part of American history since before our country was founded. Hispanics soldiers fought in the American Revolution alongside General George Washington, our first Commander-in-Chief, and have served in every subsequent military conflict in which the U.S. has fought. During the war that led to our Nation's birth, General Washington's army was successful at Yorktown in part because of support from a diverse army led by Bernardo de Galvez on a southern front against the British, driving them out of the Gulf of Mexico, fighting them on the Mississippi and in Florida. In the Korean War, 140,000 Hispanic soldiers served. During the Vietnam War, more than 80,000 Hispanics served. While Hispanics comprised only 4.5 percent of the U.S. population at the time, they represented 5.5 percent of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. More recently, 20,000 Hispanics took part in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. And today, more than 10 percent of the United States Armed Forces are Hispanics. In sum, we will honor the more than 1.1 million Hispanic veterans living in America today, by sharing this long history with all who come to our Nation's Capital. My own family's story speaks to this truth. Over 400 years ago, in 1598, my family helped found the oldest city in what is now these United States. They named the city Santa Fe--the City of Holy Faith--because they knew the hand of God would guide them through the struggles of survival in the ages ahead. For the next four centuries, that faith in their future guided them to overcome extremely painful and challenging times. As humble and poor farmers, the circumstances of their lives forged the priceless and timeless values my father Henry and mother Emma instilled in their eight children. They were indeed a part of our country's greatest generation. My mother traveled across the country to work in the Pentagon's War Department, and my father was a proud veteran of World War II. In fact, one of his last requests was to be buried in his uniform. Although neither had a college degree, they taught us about the values and promise of America. All eight of their children became first generation college graduates, inspired by their dedication to God, family, community and country. As the National Capital Planning Commission states: ``the memorials and museums that define Washington's Monumental Core express America's connections to its past and its direction for the future. They help us understand what it means to be an American.'' As a proud American, I want to ensure that every individual who visits Washington has a chance to learn the full history of who we are and who we are becoming as Americans. It is my hope that the Senate can work to pass this important bill that will record and preserve our shard American history. In the coming months, I will work with the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee to advance the Commission bill. I look forward to speaking with my Senate colleagues about the Commission bill, and hope we can take the important step of establishing the Commission.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise to speak about legislation I am introducing today which I believe will enhance the experience of the millions of visitors who visit our Nation's Capital every year, and will contribute to the ongoing, deeply rewarding, and profoundly important process of national self-discovery. As we learn more about who we are as Americans, we gain strength from our history and enrich our vision for the future. In that spirit, together with Senators Martinez, Hatch, Bingaman, Hutchison, and Menendez, I have introduced the National Museum of the American Latino Community Commission Act. The bill will establish a Commission to study the potential creation of a National Museum of the American Latino Community. The Commission members, selected by the President and Members of Congress, will be tasked with studying the impact of such a Museum, developing a plan of action and a fundraising plan, and proposing recommendations to make the Museum a reality. I am pleased to be building on the work of several members of Congress during the 108th Congress, most notably Senator Hatch and Congressman Xavier Becerra. On May 10, 2005, Congressman Xavier Becerra re-introduced the Commission bill in the House of Representatives with Congresswoman Illeana Ros-Lehtinen. Since then, 107 Representatives have lent their support to H.R. 2134, and tomorrow, the Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands in the House Resources Committee will meet to examine the proposal. Washington, DC is more than the seat of our government; it is the symbolic heart of our country. When American travel to their Capital, they expect the museums, monuments, and national parks they visit to reflect the complete American experience. I celebrate the recent opening of the National Museum of the American Indian and the announcement of the location of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture. I believe we must celebrate the diversity of our Nation and her rich national heritage. Many assume that Hispanics have just arrived on our country's shores. But these newly arrived Hispanics are only a small segment of a much larger community that has been an integral part of American history since before our country was founded. Hispanics soldiers fought in the American Revolution alongside General George Washington, our first Commander-in-Chief, and have served in every subsequent military conflict in which the U.S. has fought. During the war that led to our Nation's birth, General Washington's army was successful at Yorktown in part because of support from a diverse army led by Bernardo de Galvez on a southern front against the British, driving them out of the Gulf of Mexico, fighting them on the Mississippi and in Florida. In the Korean War, 140,000 Hispanic soldiers served. During the Vietnam War, more than 80,000 Hispanics served. While Hispanics comprised only 4.5 percent of the U.S. population at the time, they represented 5.5 percent of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. More recently, 20,000 Hispanics took part in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. And today, more than 10 percent of the United States Armed Forces are Hispanics. In sum, we will honor the more than 1.1 million Hispanic veterans living in America today, by sharing this long history with all who come to our Nation's Capital. My own family's story speaks to this truth. Over 400 years ago, in 1598, my family helped found the oldest city in what is now these United States. They named the city Santa Fe--the City of Holy Faith--because they knew the hand of God would guide them through the struggles of survival in the ages ahead. For the next four centuries, that faith in their future guided them to overcome extremely painful and challenging times. As humble and poor farmers, the circumstances of their lives forged the priceless and timeless values my father Henry and mother Emma instilled in their eight children. They were indeed a part of our country's greatest generation. My mother traveled across the country to work in the Pentagon's War Department, and my father was a proud veteran of World War II. In fact, one of his last requests was to be buried in his uniform. Although neither had a college degree, they taught us about the values and promise of America. All eight of their children became first generation college graduates, inspired by their dedication to God, family, community and country. As the National Capital Planning Commission states: ``the memorials and museums that define Washington's Monumental Core express America's connections to its past and its direction for the future. They help us understand what it means to be an American.'' As a proud American, I want to ensure that every individual who visits Washington has a chance to learn the full history of who we are and who we are becoming as Americans. It is my hope that the Senate can work to pass this important bill that will record and preserve our shard American history. In the coming months, I will work with the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee to advance the Commission bill. I look forward to speaking with my Senate colleagues about the Commission bill, and hope we can take the important step of establishing the Commission.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a good and decent man, who left an indelible mark on Colorado, but who sadly left us suddenly and too soon. Monte Pascoe of Denver died unexpectedly on March 2, at age 71, leaving behind his wonderful wife Pat, children Sarah, Ted and Will, a brother Patrick, and a legacy as a ``servant leader,'' a model we would all do well to follow. Monte was a friend and mentor to me. He was a lawyer who worked on water and natural resource issues, helping protect the natural heritage of our great State of Colorado. He served as the executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, a post I held in later years. He was a longtime member of the Denver Board of Water Commissioners; member of the Colorado School of Mines board; president of the Iliff School of Theology; and chairman of the Colorado Water Quality Commission. Monte led the Colorado Democratic Party as its chairman during the early and mid 1970s, when Colorado elected such illustrious public servants as Gary Hart, Pat Schroeder and Tim Wirth to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives; Dick Lamm to the Governor's mansion; and my good friend Ruben Valdez as the first Hispanic Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives. In 1969, Monte ran for the Denver Board of Education, losing in a campaign defined by the issue of the segregation of public schools. Monte fought the good fight, standing firm for equality in access to public schools. Even though he lost that election, he helped organize the legal effort which eventually led to the desegregation of Denver schools. In 1983, Monte ran for mayor of Denver among a crowded field that included the eventual winner, former U.S. Secretary of Energy and Transportation, Federico Pena. Monte stood beside his wife Pat during her own distinguished career in the Colorado State Senate. Monte was a community leader in the best sense of the word, active in his church, Montview Presbyterian Church, and numerous nonprofit and community organizations. Up until his death, Monte, along with his friend of over 30 years, Ed Benton, walked from his home to his law firm, Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, where he had worked since 1960. Monte was born Jan. 4, 1935, in Ames, IA. His family moved to Denver when he was a young boy, settling in the Park Hill neighborhood. He graduated from East High School and went to Dartmouth College, where he met Pat, and earned his law degree from Stanford University. We in Denver and Colorado counted on Monte and turned to him when a task needed to be done, or a problem solved, or a perspective gained. He carried out his role as a ``servant leader'' with humor, grace, selflessness and humility. Our community will miss him tremendously, and our thoughts and prayers are with his wonderful family.

Mr. SALAZAR

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

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from North Dakota. I call up amendment No. 3081 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, this amendment aims to fully fund the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program for our country. It is an issue of vital importance to rural America. I am pleased to be joined in this effort today by Senator Bingaman and Senator Leahy who are cosponsors of this amendment. As I have said often on this floor before, rural America continues to wither on the vine. I will continue to come to this floor and sound the alarm of the plight of rural America because I am absolutely certain it doesn't have to be this way. The heartland of this country is a vast reservoir of American potential and strength, and the values, common sense, perseverance, and work ethic embodied in the 50 million people who live in rural America are national treasures in and of themselves. These people are also the stewards of our many public lands, and they deserve support in that effort. That is where PILT comes in. Created in 1976, PILT compensates local government for the presence of nontaxable Federal lands within their boundaries, as well as the associated costs of providing work, such as road work and law enforcement, to visitors on those lands. Over the years, inflation has taken its toll. Repeatedly underfunding the PILT Program has also sent precisely the wrong message to rural America. Full PILT funding for fiscal year 2007 will likely be close to $350 million, but the President's budget for PILT was reduced by $38 million, or 16 percent, from where it was last year. This is not just about my State of Colorado where some counties are owned by the Federal Government to the extent of 95 percent; it is about governments in at least 49 of our States where there are significant public land holdings within those States. This amendment is fully offset by tax loophole closures. Some colleagues have approached me about alternatives, and I will work with them to explore other ideas in terms of funding alternatives. I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this modest, commonsense amendment. When I travel through the rural counties of Colorado, I hear the voices of proud, hard-working rural Americans who feel neglected by Washington. Let's take an opportunity in a very small way in this budget resolution to send a different signal that we in Washington care about rural America. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, as we debate the Senate budget resolution for fiscal year 2007 and the bill before us now to raise the debt ceiling, I want to talk for a moment about the broader issue of fiscal responsibility and honesty. We are about to significantly raise the limit on our national debt for the fourth time in the past 5 years, this time to nearly $9 trillion. With deficits as far as the eye can see, we are on an unsustainable budgetary path that threatens not only to severely restrict our Government's ability to provide critical services but to cause irreparable damage both to our economy and our influence in the world community. Alan Greenspan articulated our situation clearly in his last months as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Mr. Greenspan said, ``our budget position will substantially worsen in the coming years unless major deficit-reducing actions are taken . . . crafting a budget strategy that meets the nation's longer-run needs will become more difficult the more we delay.'' Even more troubling, our deficits are worse than they seem. While the Congressional Budget Office has estimated the size of this year's deficit at $371 billion, that figure does not account for the tens of billions of dollars of emergency supplemental spending that we can all anticipate to address needs in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also does not include the $180 billion we are raiding from the Social Security trust fund, nor does it take into account the interest we will need to pay on the additional debt. As Senator Conrad has pointed out, we anticipate the national debt will increase by $654 billion this year. Six years ago, we were running a budget surplus. While the national debt was $5 trillion, for the first time in almost 20 years, we found ourselves in a position where we could start to pay off some of that debt. We knew we would soon face the demographic pressures associated with the retirement of the baby boom generation, but we had the resources at our disposal to begin preparing for those pressures. Now, just 6 years later, the circumstances that gave us a reason to be optimistic have all but dissolved in a sea of irresponsible fiscal policies, dishonest accounting, and partisan opportunism. To be sure, not everything that brought us to this point was within our control. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, shook our economy, gave rise to new and unexpected costs, and rightly caused us to shift our national focus to the threat of international terrorism-- sometimes, unavoidably, to the detriment of our ability to sufficiently focus on our looming fiscal challenges. Having said that, much of what led to our current crisis was within our control. The fairness of the multiple tax cuts that Congress passed in the last 5 years was certainly within our control. Whether or not those tax cuts were paid for was certainly within our control. And whether or not we are honest about including the costs of the ongoing military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the need to provide continuing relief for middle-class families from the alternative minimum tax, and the inevitable costs associated with any proposal to address the problems faced by our entitlement programs is certainly within our control. We must be more responsible and more realistic. First, we must begin working today to prepare for the retirement of the baby boomers. While the situation is not as dire as some would have us believe, the Social Security system cannot support itself in its current form forever. We need to make tough decisions in order to restore that program to a path of solvency. In addition, with health care costs skyrocketing, we need to take a hard look at Medicare and Medicaid in order to ensure they can continue to provide high-quality care for the elderly and the poor. Again, the problems associated with these programs will only grow with the retirement of the baby boom generation, and we need to act now to avert a full-fledged fiscal disaster. Second, we must be more realistic about aligning our tax policies with our spending policies. American families understand the simple fact that you cannot spend more than you take in. Yet this fact seems to escape this administration and the current congressional leadership. Year after year, we see massive spending reductions in vital programs followed up by even bigger tax cuts. Contrary to what some seem to believe, the tax cuts of the past 5 years are not going to pay for themselves. While I support many of those tax cuts-- particularly those that benefit middle-class families--it is undeniable that they have resulted in lower revenue for the Federal Government and will continue to do so in the long run. This is especially in light of the fact that they were not paid for and will therefore add to the national debt and increase the associated interest costs. Third, we cannot afford to be dishonest about costs we know we will face. The President's budget contained no funding for the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan beyond next year. Yet the Congressional Budget Office has said we should expect to pay $312 billion in war-related costs for the period between 2007 and 2016. Furthermore, we know we will need to provide relief from the alternative minimum tax for middle-class families. The Senate recently passed legislation that would contain a 1-year fix of the AMT at the price tag of $30 billion. The cost of providing AMT relief for the next decade is estimated at $1 trillion. Yet neither the President's budget request nor the proposal before the Senate includes the cost of providing any AMT relief beyond this year. And this is to say nothing of how costly it would be to make permanent the President's 2001 tax cuts, which is something we all know he will try to do. A recent estimate by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities indicated that the cost of extending the President's tax cuts through 2016 would be nearly $2 trillion. This debate is as much about honesty as it is about crunching numbers. How can we expect to be adequately prepared for the looming influx of Americans into the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs if we are not honest about costs we know we will have to deal with--and not just over the long term but this year? Yet another troubling symptom of our current misguided policies is the growing percentage of our debt that is being purchased by foreign investors. As Senator Conrad has repeatedly pointed out in recent weeks, the level of debt purchased by foreign investors under President Bush is more than twice the amount purchased by foreign investors under the previous 42 Presidents combined. Foreign investors--whether it be the central banks of foreign countries or private investors--now own nearly half of all publicly issued U.S. debt. I was astounded by the following statistics. According to the Economic Policy Institute, if foreign lenders keep buying U.S. debt at their current rate, the Federal Government will owe $3.8 trillion to foreign lenders by 2011, an amount equivalent to 23 percent of expected gross domestic product for that year. We will owe those lenders $181 billion in interest alone. To provide some context, that amount is 2\1/2\ times the size of the entire fiscal year 2007 budget for the Department of Veterans' Affairs. I realize that we cannot fix all of these problems this week, or even this year. But we can start to bring some sense to our Nation's fiscal priorities by going on record in support of our most critical programs and by embracing fiscal responsibility. It is why I have consistently cosponsored classic pay-go proposals, which aim to ensure that both spending increases and tax cuts are fully paid for. There is much more that is wrong with the Government's fiscal practices and priorities than what I have discussed today. Among other things, I do not believe that our budget goes far enough in supporting rural America; I do not believe it does enough to provide resources to State and local law enforcement; and I do not believe it does enough to promote community development. More than anything, however, the debate on the Senate floor this week is about our broader priorities as a nation. It is about whether we value candor and responsibility over partisan opportunism. If we do not act soon to reverse our direction, we will have made our decision, and it will have been the wrong one.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SALAZAR

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, the investments we make as a nation in wind energy, solar power, and cellulosic ethanol are important for the energy independence of America. As I have often said, the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Energy Committee can get us to energy independence if we make sure that what we do is take care of the cornerstones of energy independence, which include renewable energy, conservation, new technologies, and balanced development of our natural resources. I yield the floor and thank Senator Conrad.