John Warner

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I was going to answer the Senator's questions.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I will yield my good friend a minute or two off my time. Several Senators, including myself, are waiting to talk. I yield him 2 minutes.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I was interested in the comments the Senator made. What the Senator has described--tomorrow, I will have a better pie chart for colleagues to look at. The money that comes in through the bill is to be distributed primarily to companies, entities developing new technology as to how to solve the very question the Senator raises; namely, will technology be available for the sequestration? So it is not as if it is going to be distributed similar to leaflets and dropped all over. This money is going for the purpose of trying to improve America's sources of energy.

Mr. WARNER. I say to my good friend, give me until tomorrow. He reads off correctly some of the allocations, but each of them has some benefit to the problem of the CO2 and global climate change; each one is carefully thought through. So tomorrow I will be able to give this to you in greater detail, once we get before us the actual amendment or the bill that we are going to hopefully continue to debate with the amendment process. The second question the Senator asked about was the nuclear program. There is nothing in any of the bills that have been put into the record thus far, but I have the amendment here to initiate a very significant program to address what the distinguished Senator said is the need for nuclear power to begin to expand, using the current base, which, as he well knows, and I know, has been reduced in the last 12 to 14 years to where it is hardly in existence, either manufacturing or educational. But I have that handled. Lastly, I hope the Senator will spend a little time on a provision I have in this bill by which the President of the United States is given authority to at any time correct inequities or problems he thinks are incorrect.

Mr. WARNER. Have I not 17 minutes also?

Mr. WARNER. I can finish my 17 minutes and yield it back for the benefit of other colleagues because I have had my fair share talking about this bill.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, if I may return to my allocation of 17 minutes.

Mr. WARNER. I also say to my friend from New Hampshire, I call to his attention section 434, in which Congress has oversight on the use of these funds. Congress can change them.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I recognize he has a point there. This situation, where I devised a provision to give the President the authority, in my view--in earlier days, I was in aviation. Unfortunately, I never fully succeeded to become an aviator. We used to have a stick in the old days, before all this other stuff, when we had tandem seats--believe it or not, I flew in those old planes--you pull the stick forward, pull it back, roll it. The President has the stick, and he can change this if this bill is wrong. But we have to get this train out of the station and start it rolling down the rails. Fifty States are trying to devise their own framework of laws now. That has to be a nightmare to industry and particularly the power companies that have to serve a multiple of States. We simply have to show the world this country can lead, and no one is a stronger leader than the Senator from New Hampshire in this body. He understands that.

Mr. WARNER. Go ahead.

Mr. WARNER. I say to my good friend, where do we get the money to perfect sequestration? That troubles me the most. I do not think science has proven that we can actually capture the CO2, cost effectively transfer it, and put it safely into some type of repository, an old gas well.

Mr. WARNER. Yes.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I simply say to my good friend, we have a difference of opinion. I will conclude my remarks. I congratulate the managers of this bill, the distinguished Senator from California and the distinguished Senator from Oklahoma. I have been here a few years. I know about managing bills. I have had that privilege many times. But it has been done fairly, equitably, and in a civil way on a highly controversial subject. May it remain for the balance of the time that this institution, I hope, votes for this bill and comes up with some solution to the problem. We simply cannot do nothing. I yield the floor.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I wish to recognize the professional dedication, vision, and military service of GEN B.B. Bell, who is retiring from the U.S. Army after 39 years of dedicated service. It is a privilege for me to recognize the many outstanding achievements General Bell has provided the Army and our great Nation. General Bell was commissioned as a distinguished military graduate and second lieutenant in 1969 upon graduation from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Following commissioning, General Bell specialized in armor and served with distinction as he rose through the ranks. His orders took him to posts throughout the United States, Germany, and the Middle East. General Bell assumed command of the United Nations Command, Republic of Korea/United States Combined Forces command, and United States Forces Korea on February 3, 2006. During his time in command, North Korea made provocative missile launches and numerous demilitarized zone and airspace incursions. Despite these threats, General Bell maintained military readiness even as he reduced the U.S. footprint in Korea by moving soldiers, civilians, and family members south, thus transforming the commands in Korea. In addition, General Bell has been a principal participant in the fast-paced bilateral military and political discussions, where he has earned the reputation as a well-respected ambassador for the United States. He also developed and maintained close ties with the military and civilian leadership of the Republic of Korea in partnership with the U.S. Ambassador to Korea. He has helped fuse a lasting bond between the two countries. General Bell is a soldier's soldier. Throughout his career, he has made the wellbeing of soldiers, families, and civilians a priority. He expects those serving below him to do the same. During service in Desert Shield and Desert Storm as the United States Central Command executive officer, he worked to ensure that each soldier was properly prepared, trained, and equipped for the mission and that every family was cared for by a Family Readiness Group. Throughout his illustrious career in the Army, General Bell has been nothing less than exceptional. He is a great credit to the Army and this country. I wish him and his wife Katie well in their new endeavors.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, could we have the Chair advise the body with regard to the existing time agreement. It would be my hope that I could follow Senator Joseph Lieberman, since the two of us are the principal sponsors of this bill.

Mr. WARNER. I will have to accept that.

Mr. WARNER. I think that is most generous, but you take 15, I will take 5.

Mr. WARNER. I thank my colleague. I will have further words about my colleague. The chairman of our committee, on behalf of the Senate as a whole, has some information which, certainly, I find very heartwarming. So I wish at this time to yield to the chairman on a matter that is unrelated to the pending legislation.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, if the Senator from Oklahoma will yield for a moment, I say to my colleague, we have served together now for 28 years in this body. I wish you well in this latest chapter, but I also commend you for the forthright manner with which you have always come forward in this body at any time. If there is an ounce of reduction in the tremendous energy you apply to your work here in the Senate, you acknowledge it, but always saying you will be back stronger than ever. I wish you well.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished chairman of our committee and our colleague and friend for bringing that to the attention of all Senators. I have been privileged to know Senator Kennedy for many years. His brother and I were in law school together at the University of Virginia in 1949. I recall then meeting the Senator for the first time when he visited the campus on occasion. But he has been a very dear and valued friend, an absolute tower of strength in this body which he loves so much: the U.S. Senate. So I commend my colleague. I also wish to thank my dear friend, Senator Lieberman. We have been together on so many legislative measures through the many years we have been here together, particularly as it relates to national security. He is a pillar of strength in his own right on this bill and in many other ways. I admire the independence of the Senator. I admire his commitment, his fortitude, and the strength which he has been tested on so many times. He is a great credit to this Nation and this institution. Mr. President, I was indeed brought to this moment as a consequence of national security measures as there are implications with regard to global climate changes. I don't use the term ``warming'' because it is, to me, a complexity of different climate variations--not only temperature but weather patterns manifesting in drought, patterns manifesting in floods, patterns manifesting in hurricanes, and all sorts of other things, such as tornadoes. I have had the privilege of living a little bit longer than most in this Chamber. Indeed, in my lifetime, I have never seen such a complexity and changes in weather. Certainly, the evidence seems to be compiling every day that human activity and increasing carbon dioxide emissions are the causes. It is now time to deal with that situation. I belong to the school of thought in this debate that we simply cannot do nothing; we cannot constantly postpone. Senator Lieberman and I, over a period of almost a year now, have put this bill together. It represents what we deem a consensus--I guess you would say a middle-of- the-road position. We could not satisfy all those who want stronger controls put in, more immediate corrections; nor could we satisfy those who sort of say let's wait and see. We felt we should put this together, bringing together the thoughts of so many of our colleagues. I would say that several dozen colleagues contributed to this bill. One is Senator Specter. In our bill, we relied on much of the good work included in Bingaman-Specter Low Carbon Economy Act. Most significantly, our legislation includes provisions from their bill that protect U.S. manufacturers from competition with other countries not curbing emissions. Second, we also ``borrowed'' their idea for providing ``bonus allowances'' to facilities that adopt carbon capture and storage. This incentive is critical. The third point I will highlight is that we tried to provide the price certainty envisioned by their ``safety value'' by including a ``rainy day account'' of extra allowances that would be released to the market if a certain price point is hit. I thank those Senators for their very important contributions in improving this bill. Mr. President, another reason I am drawn to working to address the issue of global climate change is that there is a great feeling all across America by people in small towns, large cities, and in State legislatures that we must move and move now; that we simply must do something. In my view, doing nothing is not an option. We simply must do something. I believe the American people will be the final factor in this bill that is now about to be pending in the Senate, as to whether sufficient votes are garnered to send the bill eventually to the President after we have a conference, hopefully, with the House of Representatives, which I am certain, if this is passed by 60 votes here, the House will quickly put together their own thoughts--they have done a lot of work-- and we will have a bill that will go to the President. That will be largely owing to the public, as they follow this debate and read about it, as they discuss it among themselves. They will send back a message to this institution that doing nothing is not an option. Do the best you can. In crafting this legislation, we have done the best we can. If my fellow Senators have ideas to further improve the legislation, I ask them to bring them forward. I commend the distinguished ranking member. He pointed out that he will support going forward with this bill this afternoon and also that there should be a number of amendments, hopefully, to strengthen it from the perspective of the ranking member and a number of colleagues on this side of the aisle. Let's show the American public that this institution can work and address a complicated subject and try to reach common ground and understanding. To do nothing is not an option. In the substitute amendment, we significantly improved the bill by giving the President of the United States emergency authority to modify any requirement of this bill in the event of a national, economic or energy emergency. In addition, Senator Lieberman, Senator Carper and I will be offering an amendment with respect to nuclear power. I ask unanimous consent that this section of the substitute amendment, and my amendment with Senators Lieberman and Carper be printed in the Record following my remarks.

Mr. WARNER. Again, the first provision I refer to deals with the authority of the President of the United States. The Committee reported bill, I felt, did not give sufficient protections to the Nation for unforeseen things that could occur while this law is being met across the Nation. So we give to the President the authority to change any provision in this bill that he--or possibly she--deems appropriate. And then it is up to the Congress to determine whether they support what the President has done or not. I say that because we have drawn on a procedure that has been time tested by the Senate, and indeed the Congress, to give such power to the President regarding legislation. Supposing that, as a consequence of the legislation, it is shown it is damaging our ability to recover from what appears now to be a weakened economy? Then the President can readjust the timetable or the provision which he deems is contributing to that problem. Now, we ask the power industry--most notably those segments of the industry dependent upon coal--coal is our largest natural resource of energy. This bill does not in any way try to damage coal. It, in fact, is a bill that will help that industry--our power industry--which requires coal as a source of energy for our daily needs. Give us time to explain to the coal industry how this is done. But if technology, in terms of capturing the CO2, conveying, transporting it to a repository for sequestration--if that technology is not in place in a timely way, the President can step in and readjust the timetable. If there are national security implications from this bill that the President deems harmful, he can readjust this bill. So there are more than adequate safety measures in here to protect this Nation, and the President has full authority to implement them. The Warner-Lieberman-Carper amendment relates to nuclear power. We looked at this in the course of the deliberations in the committee, and at that time, it simply was not feasible to include provisions. The distinguished colleague from Oklahoma and others brought forward a number of provisions about nuclear power during the mark up, which we could not accept at that time for reasons I think are apparent to all. But I am happy to bring forth an amendment now, joined by my distinguished colleagues, Senator Lieberman and Carper, to look at the absolute essential requirement that we rely on nuclear power as a growing and a more important daily source of energy for this country. Mr. President, I hope that when this debate has concluded, if it is shown that the proponents of this legislation have not met the majority requirements of this body as to what is to be done legislatively now-- not in the future--to deal with this global climate change, then I hope that another legislative proposal will be brought forward via amendment, or perhaps even by a substitute bill, to replace ours. If it is the will of a majority to take that substitute, so be it. I hope I can support it. But to do nothing is not an option, Mr. President. How much time do I have under the 10 minutes?

Mr. WARNER. I yield that back to my colleague from Connecticut to wrap up for the two of us--in 1 minute, 1 year's work. Exhibit 1 Subtitle B--Presidential Emergency Declarations and Proclamations

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, before the Senator yields the floor, I wonder if I may ask him a question.

Mr. WARNER. Fine. Of course, whatever the case may be. Because our colleagues are listening to these statistics, I think we better with greater specificity explain from where those numbers are coming. The Senator made a comment about the possible increase in the cost of gas. But is that not over the life of the bill, which is 20 years?

Mr. WARNER. It is not tomorrow or the next day.