SENATE—Monday, May 7, 2007
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May 7, 2007 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 153, Pt. 8 11353 SENATE—Monday, May 7, 2007 The Senate met at 2:15 p.m. and was SCHEDULE gency supplemental funding bill that called to order by the Honorable MARK Mr. REID. Mr. President, today, the will make America more secure, fully L. PRYOR, a Senator from the State of Senate will be in a period of morning fund our troops, and responsibly Arkansas. business until 4 o’clock, with the time change course in Iraq. equally divided and controlled by the Our proposal called for a change in PRAYER respective leaders. the mission and the phased redeploy- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- The Senate will resume consideration ment of U.S. combat troops no later fered the following prayer: of S. 1082, the FDA bill, at 4 p.m. today. than October 1 of this year. Let us pray. Upon resuming the bill, the Senate will A bipartisan majority of the House Eternal Spirit, remind us today of begin several votes: first, the Cochran and Senate made it clear they believe a truths that matter to keep us from de- second-degree amendment to the Dor- timeline for the reduction of combat ceiving ourselves. Help us to remember gan amendment, then the Dorgan operations will compel the Iraqi Gov- that we rarely reap what we haven’t amendment, and then the cloture vote ernment to take responsibility for sown. Remind us that progress is sel- on the substitute amendment. their own country, will reduce the dom made on the wings of inevitability I understand the managers will be specter of occupation, and will allow but requires prayerful plans, powerful here very soon to seek consent to dis- our forces to come home. perseverance, and loving providence. pose of amendments they have already The American people believe this Teach us again that forgiveness still worked out. Also, Members have until 3 overwhelmingly. But now there are heals, truth still liberates, giving still o’clock today to file any first-degree signs the Republican leadership in Con- transforms, and love still conquers. amendments. In addition to filing clo- gress is beginning to think a timeline Give the Members of this body a ture on the committee substitute is necessary as well. According to the meaningful day. Provide them with amendment and the bill, I also filed L.A. Times, House Republican Leader wisdom to discern the excellent and to cloture on the motion to proceed to JOHN BOEHNER said: do what is best. Inspire them to con- H.R. 1495, the Water Resources Devel- Mr. Bush risks defections in the fall if the duct themselves in a way that honors opment Act, which is known as WRDA. war situation hasn’t improved. You. It is a bipartisan piece of legislation, By the time we get to September or Octo- ber, members are going to want to know how And, Lord, please remember the vic- led by Senators BOXER and INHOFE. I well this is working, and if it isn’t, what’s tims of the Kansas tornado. am hopeful it will not be necessary to Plan B. We pray in Your wonderful Name. have that cloture vote and that we will The House Republican leader now Amen. be able to proceed to the bill once ac- seems to be saying that he and his col- f tion is concluded on the FDA bill. Members should be ready for a num- leagues agree there must be a time PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ber of votes starting at around 4 limit on the President’s current course The Honorable MARK L. PRYOR led o’clock today. The first vote will be 15 in Iraq. the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: minutes, and the remaining votes will What is also revealing, and somewhat disturbing, is the Republican leader is I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the be 10-minute votes. Everyone should be United States of America, and to the Repub- alerted to that. willing to allow our troops to stay in lic for which it stands, one nation under God, Another matter which I mentioned Iraq with a failing strategy until he indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. last week is going to conference with and his colleagues decide it is time to f respect to the budget resolution. The part with the President. House was slated to take that up this President Bush—the same President APPOINTMENT OF ACTING who vetoed our plan—said this as a PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE evening. I think now it may be tomor- row when they will take it up, so that candidate about his predecessor, Bill The PRESIDING OFFICER. The message may not get to us until Clinton, and the war in Bosnia, in 1999: clerk will please read a communication Wednesday. I think it’s important for the president to to the Senate from the President pro This is a very busy week, so everyone lay out a timetable as to how long they will tempore (Mr. BYRD). should be aware of the different votes be involved and when they would be with- drawn. The assistant legislative clerk read that may be necessary. We hope we can the following letter: complete work on the FDA bill to- We hope President Bush will keep his U.S. SENATE, night. That is certainly possible; other- own past words in mind as these nego- PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, wise, maybe in the early morning. tiations continue. Washington, DC, May 7, 2007. We are pleased to see the House Re- f To the Senate: publican leader, speaking on behalf of Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, IRAQ his caucus, adopt our view that this of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby commitment in Iraq must not be open- appoint the Honorable MARK L. PRYOR, a Mr. REID. Mr. President, nearly a Senator from the State of Arkansas, to per- week has passed since the President ve- ended, that there must be a timeline. It form the duties of the Chair. toed a bipartisan proposal that fully is surely no coincidence that his views ROBERT C. BYRD, funded our troops and also changed come at a time when conditions in Iraq President pro tempore. course in Iraq so we could responsibly grow worse. Mr. PRYOR thereupon assumed the end the war. I am reminded of the Easter sermon chair as Acting President pro tempore. Although the President’s actions of Pope Benedict, delivered only a month ago. The Pope said: f thwarted the will of the American peo- ple, very clearly, they—the American How many wounds—how much suffering RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY people—deserve to know what their there is in the world. LEADER leaders in Congress are doing. We are He continued: The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- alerting them that we, as congressional Nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn pore. The majority leader is recog- leaders, are doing everything we can to apart by continual slaughter as the civilian nized. work toward an agreement on an emer- population flees. ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate Sep 11 2014 11:13 Jul 03, 2017 Jkt 059102 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\FDSYS\BOUNDRECORD\S07MY7.REC S07MY7 ejoyner on DSK30MW082PROD with BOUND RECORD 11354 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 153, Pt. 8 May 7, 2007 Since those words were spoken, con- MORNING BUSINESS these resistant strains of bacteria by ditions have indeed deteriorated. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- increasing incentives and innovation. In April, our troops suffered the pore. Under the previous order, there Additionally, the language in the deadliest month of the year and one of will now be a period for the transaction amendment requests FDA to work with the deadliest of the entire 51 months of of morning business until 4 p.m., with companies to apply the Orphan Drug the war. the time equally divided between the Act to antibiotics wherever possible. The President’s own Special Inspec- two leaders or their designees, with Hand-in-hand with this, it reauthorizes tor General for Iraq Reconstruction re- Senators permitted to speak for up to the Orphan Drug Act grant and con- leased its quarterly report last week- 10 minutes each. tracts from fiscal years 2008 through end that painted a dispiriting picture Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a 2012. As many of my colleagues know, of waste, ineffectiveness, and failure to quorum. this act has resulted in important achieve even minimally satisfactory The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- medicines for rare diseases. results. pore. The clerk will call the roll. The Hatch amendment also ensures Despite burning through most of the The assistant legislative clerk pro- that currently existing incentives for 20 billion American dollars planned for ceeded to call the roll. new drugs are available for new single reconstruction, many Iraqis are with- Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unan- enantiomers in new therapeutic areas out basic necessities such as electricity imous consent that the order for the such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, and type and clean drinking water. Of course, oil quorum call be rescinded. II diabetes among others. In 1997, FDA production is down. Only a third of The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- issued a Federal Register notice ac- Iraqi children are attending school. pore. Without objection, it is so or- knowledging that the policy needed Seventy percent of the kids are suf- dered. clarification and this amendment fering from symptoms of trauma that Mr.