November 20, 2004 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S11795 Mrs. BOXER. I do, and I thank my Chairman HOEKSTRA, who has been tion 222, which invades the privacy colleague from California for her work leading the conference committee. rights of taxpayers, I would like to on this issue. What these House Republican con- point out an important lesson in all of Mr. DOMENICI. I likewise share this ferees have done is a slap in the face of this. understanding of how the bill should be the Senate, the bipartisan 9/11 Commis- The lesson is that tax measures implemented. sion, and the 9/11 families who have should be left to the tax writing com- Mr. BINGAMAN. I agree as well. worked so hard to make something mittees. Only the Finance Committee Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I thank my col- positive happen in the wake of a hor- and the Ways and Means Committee leagues. rific national tragedy. have the jurisdiction and the technical New Jersey lost 700 of its citizens on f expertise to write our Nation’s tax 9/11; I have to wonder if these House laws. And tax laws are technical. As GILA RIVER WATER SETTLEMENT Republican conferees would be behav- Section 222 in this bill shows, one had Mr. KYL. Mr. President, with Con- ing differently if they went through better know what they are doing when gress having passed S 437, I make a what we in New Jersey went through. they write a tax provision. They had commitment to the San Carlos Apache I have been in the U.S. Senate for 20 better understand the history of the Tribe to work next year to help attain years now. I have been involved in my measure and all of its ramifications. In and have enacted a fair Gila River share of conference committees. In all the Finance Committee, we use great water settlement for the tribe. those years, I don’t believe I have ever care in drafting our tax provisions, and The Gila River runs through the seen a little cabal of Members act more we do it in an open manner. All mem- tribe’s reservation. San Carlos Res- unreasonably. These House Republican bers can see what we are doing and ervoir is located within their reserva- conferees have killed a bill that 16 of 21 have a chance to understand why we tion. The tribe deserves a fair settle- conferees have voted for. Talk about are doing it, and to comment on it. But obstructionism. ment of its water rights claims to that frequently the Finance Committee has The fact of the matter is that the river and I want my colleagues and to go through a rite of scrubbing appro- conference report we were poised to priations bills to remove poorly con- others to know that I am absolutely adopt today is a far cry from the 9/11 committed to achieving that. ceived and poorly drafted tax provi- Commission recommendations and the sions that try to sneak in at the dark I had hoped to have been able to bill the Senate passed so overwhelm- bring to the Senate legislation that of night. It is not just appropriations ingly. But there is enough in the con- bill where this occurs. It happens on would include a Gila River water set- ference report to merit going forward. tlement for this tribe. Unfortunately, many other bills as well. Often, these It creates a National Director of Intel- provisions have been rejected by the we were unable to do that. The tribe is ligence with real budget authority; it working toward a settlement with a Finance Committees as bad policy, creates a National Counter-Terrorism only to turn up in an unseen attack on number of groups that use the Gila Center; it bolsters border and transpor- our committee’s jurisdiction. As the River. I hope that the tribe, the United tation security. And it has some provi- bill shows tonight, it is not necessarily States, and the local non-Indian water sions to safeguard our civil liberties. Members that do this. It is sometimes users will be able to settle the tribe’s It is time for truth-telling here. staff who add an idea. This allows staff water rights claims in the coming year. House Republicans and the Bush ad- to bypass the scrutiny of the entire Fi- In connection with that effort, I want ministration have been opposed to this nance Committee; 21 senior Members of to send a strong message to the settle- bill from the start. And now they have the Senate are deprived of their right ment negotiators: I expect everyone to gotten their way. to pass judgment on a tax measure. Let negotiate in good-faith toward a fair I think it is incumbent for the Presi- me give some examples of what we dent and for the House Republican con- settlement. have had to fend off lately. Last week, I encourage all parties, including the ferees who have killed this bill to sit down in person with the 9/11 families, we had to defeat an appropriations pro- San Carlos Apaches, to engage ear- posal that would have cut off funding nestly and vigorously to complete a look them in the eye, and tell them that the status quo—that doing noth- for Federal agencies that help the IRS Gila River water settlement as soon as obtain information about Americans possible. I will then work with both the ing—is better than passing a bill so many people worked so long and hard investing in foreign countries. Senators from New Mexico and my That measure would have undercut Senate colleagues to see that such an to get. We are told that we won’t adjourn U.S. tax law enforcement and damaged agreement is ratified through legisla- our initiatives to combat tax shelters. tion next year. sine die today; that we will come back on December 6 to give the conferees It would have damaged our inter- f more time to reach an agreement. national competitiveness and under- INTELLIGENCE REFORM The House Republican conferees are mined our Nation’s efforts to combat money-laundering and terrorist financ- Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, absolutely intransigent. It is hard for me to believe that we will be any more ing. earlier today, we were led to believe I am confident that the proponents of that we had an agreement with House successful in the next few weeks than we have been in the past several weeks. this measure never knew about its conferees to pass a bill that will reform broader ramifications. But that is what our intelligence community and make I hope I am wrong, but given the Presi- dent’s complete lack of leadership on happens when tax proposals evade the America safer from the threat of ter- this matter, it is hard for me to be op- scrutiny of the Finance Committee. rorism. Now we find out that House Re- timistic. Here is another example. Recently, publicans have killed the bill. I have to say I think what has hap- the Armed Services Committee sought This morning, I was one of 11 Senate pened is totally contrary to the prin- to create a charity for assisting serv- conferees—6 Republicans, 5 Demo- ciples of our democracy, as we turn the icemen and their families. On its face, crats—who signed the conference re- power of the people over to a couple of this is certainly a good cause that we port to the Intelligence Reform bill. bullies who refused to accept a vir- can all support.Unfortunately, the Remember: the conference report is tually unanimous vote of the U.S. Sen- statutory language drafted by the to a bill the Senate passed 96–2. The ate, the recommendations of the 9/11 Armed Services Committee had very bill the Senate passed, in turn, was Commission, and the will of the largest serious flaws and was unworkable based on the recommendations of a share of the American people as ex- under the Tax Code. It was only after unanimous 9/11 Commission—5 Repub- pressed by their elected significant time and energy by the Fi- licans, 5 Democrats. representatives. nance Committee, exerted after the Now, we find out that House Repub- f fact, that we fixed something that lican conferees have rejected the con- shouldn’t have been broken in the first ference report. They have snatched de- TAX ISSUES OUTSIDE THE place. If Members will learn to work feat from the jaws of victory. FINANCE COMMITTEE with the Finance Committee, instead From what I gather, the problem is Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, as I of bypassing it, we can usually achieve not with House Intelligence Committee listen to the debate tonight about Sec- the results they seek.

VerDate Aug 04 2004 03:52 Nov 22, 2004 Jkt 039060 PO 00000 Frm 00131 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A20NO6.161 S20PT1 S11796 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE November 20, 2004 Here is an example. The House Ap- rors and omissions of the mainstream people are deciding for themselves propriations Committee tried to ex- press, buying ads to publicize serious what it all means. For this new cov- pand the definition of census areas for errors and buying stock in media com- erage we can thank the Fox News chan- determining eligibility for a certain panies to enable Accuracy in Media nel, and the countless talk show hosts, tax program. This provision was not representatives to attend their annual magazines, Internet sites, and organi- agreed to by the Senate Appropriators. meetings to discuss its complaints with zations. However, I think the most im- The provision was later passed in the the chairman. Irvine was tenacious in portant gift that has been given to our JOBS bill. This highlights that we try his quest for the full truth in media. country is the critical eye of the Amer- in good faith to work with Members Mr. Irvine is survived by his wife of ican public. A voting public that who will work with the committee. So 56 years, Kay Araki Irvine, his son and watches the news with a critical eye is let me send a very clear message. The three grandchildren. Reed Irvine will one that cannot be easily manipulated. controversy around this appropriations be remembered as being at the fore- A college student who asks his pro- bill should serve as a warning to all front of the conservative movement’s fessor tough questions will end up bet- who would bypass the jurisdiction and attack on media bias and has left us ter educated and ready for the world. expertise of the congressional tax writ- four books that study the bias of the For this wonderful gift, we owe a spe- ing committees. We work to defeat media. cial thanks to Reed Irvine.∑ stealth tax measures not just to pro- In 1969, when Reed Irvine began his f tect our committee’s jurisdiction, but crusade, most Americans trusted the TRIBUTE TO DR. SAM BILLISON to protect the American people from mainstream media. Americans received ∑ Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, bad ideas. the biased news coverage and believed today I wish to mark the passing of Dr. In the Senate it is the Finance Com- it. Today, the liberal bias in media, Sam Billison, a recipient of a Congres- mittee, and only the Finance Com- Hollywood, and academia is widely ac- sional Silver Medal, who died earlier mittee, that has the experience, exper- cepted as a fact of life. Some day, I hope that the main- this week. He was a great American. tise, and seasoned resources to process In 2001, the President of the United tax laws for our Nation. stream media will lose its leftwing bias. I hope for the day when academia States awarded Congressional Gold and Members and staff should remember Silver Medals to Sam and his fellow today’s events the next time they are will focus all its attention on scholar- ship and leave the liberal indoctrina- Navajo Code Talkers. Of all the honors approached to insert a ‘‘harmless’’ tax Congress can bestow, these Medals are tion for the pundits. But, I do not ex- measure into an unrelated bill. often considered the most distin- pect those days to come very soon. f guished, expressing the gratitude of the However, thanks in large part to the ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS Congress and the entire nation. life’s work of Reed Irvine and the With this award, the Code Talkers movement he helped launch, Ameri- joined the ranks of an exclusive group cans have now accepted media bias as a REED IRVINE of people—Robert Kennedy, Harry Tru- fact of life. The American Society of ∑ Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I rise man, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Newspapers published a study in 1999 Nelson Mandela, General Colin Powell, to commemorate the life of a noted that showed 78 percent of Americans conservative journalist, media critic, and President Reagan, to name a few. believe there is a bias in the media. As with many other recipients, Sam and a leading authority on media bias, I believe this understanding by the and his fellow WWII Code Talkers were Reed Irvine. Reed Irvine passed on No- American public promotes a more in- recognized for valor, for their contribu- vember 16, 2004, and is known as the formed democracy. People watch the tions to the national good, for their de- man who founded the organization Ac- news with a critical eye. Students fense of freedom and democracy. How- curacy in Media. He leaves a legacy of question their professors. Americans ever, unlike the others, they set sev- fighting a left-leaning media and was a are seeking out talk radio, alternative eral precedents, not the least of which long-time critic of the big three net- media. The Internet is flourishing. that they were the first Native Amer- works at a time when only three net- Thanks to dedicated watchdogs such ican Indians to receive Congressional work nightly news shows dominated as Reed Irvine, the American people Gold Medals. the distribution of information to the now see through the bias in the media. This is especially poignant when one public. Dan Rather’s ludicrous reporting on realizes the cultural context in which Reed Irvine was born in Salt Lake President Bush’s National Guard serv- Sam and his fellow Navajo were raised. City, UT, the son of William J. and ice was debunked in no time on the Subjected to alienation in their own Edna May Irvine. He graduated from Internet and talk radio. A liberal bias homeland, discouraged from speaking the University of Utah at the age of 19 that was once lamented by conserv- their own language, this group of Na- in 1942, having been elected to Phi Beta atives and ignored by the public has tive Americans rose above adversity, Kappa. He enlisted in the Navy and was now become a running joke among con- voluntarily came forward to develop selected to take a crash program in the servatives and an accepted fact in the the most significant and successful Japanese language, emerging as an in- minds of Americans. People, who once military code of the time saving count- terpreter-translator with a commission powerlessly accepted the news however less American lives, and then honored in the U.S. Marine Corps. He partici- they could get it, are now voting with their oath of secrecy by stepping back pated in the campaign of Saipan, their remote controls. into the obscurity from which they Tinian, Okinawa as an intelligence of- When President Bush delivered his came. ficer with the 2nd Marine Division, and acceptance speech at the Republican Many of these marines have finally served in the occupation of Japan from National Convention this year, 7.3 mil- come forward to be appropriately rec- 1945 to 1948. lion people saw it on Fox. Meanwhile, ognized and honored, but many took After the war, Mr. Irvine was an 5.9 million watched on NBC, 5.1 million their secret to the grave. I am happy economist, Fulbright scholar and on ABC, 5 million on CBS, 2.7 million that in the twilight of Sam’s life, he former Federal Reserve official. He on CNN and 1.7 million on MSNBC, ac- was able to see Congress finally mark joined the Federal Reserve Board in cording to Nielsen Media Research. Fox that place in history so long overdue 1951 as an economist in the Far East also beat the broadcast networks the Navajo Code Talkers. Section of the Division of International throughout the rest of the Republican We, as a nation, are but a product of Finance. Mr. Irvine wrote extensively Convention coverage—this, despite the those who have come before us—their about the free market and advocated fact that ABC, CBS, and NBC are avail- accomplishments, their contributions, sound monetary and fiscal policy. able in about 110 million homes, while and their sacrifice in the struggle for He founded Accuracy in Media in 1969 Fox is carried in about 85 million. Reed freedom and democracy. We must and its sister organization, Accuracy in Irvine’s message has been received, and never forget that our society is made Academia, in 1985. Mr. Irvine pioneered the people are fighting back. possible only through the sacrifice and the concept of a citizens’ media watch- News is now reported in countless hard work of thousands of American dog organization that criticized the er- ways, 24 hours a day, and the American men and women.

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