SENATE—Tuesday, February 15, 2005
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2236 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE February 15, 2005 SENATE—Tuesday, February 15, 2005 The Senate met at 9:45 a.m. and was Mr. VITTER thereupon assumed the American people a significant victory called to order by the Hon. DAVID VIT- Chair as Acting President pro tempore. in the battle for fairness in the courts. TER, a Senator from the State of Lou- f The class action bill does protect isiana. plaintiffs’ rights while reining in the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Today’s RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY rampant abuse within the system prayer will be offered by our guest LEADER itself. The consumer bill of rights pro- Chaplain, Pastor Aubry L. Wallace. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- tects plaintiffs from predatory lawyers Chaplain Wallace is from the Sheriffs’s pore. The majority leader is recog- and guarantees that they receive just Department of Chilton County, AL. nized. compensation. The legislation restores f justice to our court system by ending PRAYER that practice of forum shopping, where The guest Chaplain offered the fol- SCHEDULE we had nationwide cases that genu- lowing prayer: Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the Sen- inely impact interstate commerce Let us pray: That Almighty God will ate will begin today with a period of being moved to the Federal courts grant to this body His concurring aid morning business until 12:30. At 12:30 where they belong. in the governing process of these the Senate will recess until 2:15 for the It took a while to have this success United States. weekly party luncheons. Following the last week. Senator GRASSLEY, who was Our Eternal Father, He who watches luncheons, we will resume debate in ex- the lead sponsor on the bill, has been over the affairs of mankind, I humbly ecutive session on the nomination of working on this for over a decade, and pray that Your protection and guid- Michael Chertoff to be Secretary of versions of this bill passed through the ance be with these Senators here as- Homeland Security. Debate is equally Judiciary Committee in each of the sembled as they deliberate. Bless these divided until 4 this afternoon, with the last two Congresses. In 2003, it came in whose hands You have allowed the vote occurring on the confirmation of within one vote of passage. Finally, be- future of our beloved Nation to rest. Mr. Chertoff at 4 p.m. That vote will be cause of the continuing work of both Guide them by Your Holy Spirit. May the first vote of the day. sides of the aisle, people came together every decision be right and in accord- Yesterday I mentioned a number of to recognize the intent was right, the ance with Your divine wisdom and will. items that are possible over the course legislation at different points could be Keep them safe from any who would of this week. Today we will continue to improved, it was improved, and then do them harm. Let no evil spirit affect try to clear those bills for floor action. we had relatively quick passage of it. their will to do justly, to love mercy, They include the genetic non- The House will be addressing the bill and to walk humbly with their God. discrimination bill, the high-risk pool shortly. Then hopefully we can have a Heavenly Father, make them aware legislation, a Nazi war crimes bill, the bill to the President of the United of Your presence as they participate in committee funding resolution, and any States to be signed into law for the benefit of the American people. this grand experiment we call human additional nominations that may be re- Also, at the beginning of last week, government. And at the close of this ported by the respective committees. session may they hear from You these on Monday, we passed a resolution We will, over the course of the day, commending the Iraqi people on their words: Well done, good and faithful keep all Members notified of the sched- servant. January 30 elections. As we saw over ule as we bring these matters forward the weekend, those elections were fi- In the Name of His Son Jesus I pray. for floor consideration. Amen. nalized and, in terms of the final re- f ports, again, it is a great victory for f LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS freedom and liberty throughout the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND A LOOK AHEAD world. It was an extraordinary event, The Honorable DAVID VITTER led the and it was fitting that we came to- Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will take gether on this floor to celebrate and Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: just a few moments at the beginning of I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the commend the process and the results in today to comment on last week and a those elections. United States of America, and to the Repub- brief look ahead. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, It was in the midst of terrorist blasts indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Last Thursday, the Senate achieved and terrorist threats that 8 million its first legislative victory, a bipar- f Iraqi voters streamed to over 5,000 poll- tisan victory of the 109th session. By a ing stations to express that influence, APPOINTMENT OF ACTING vote of 72 to 26, the Senate passed the that power and dignity that comes PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE Class Action Fairness Act. The process with voting. The various pictures that The PRESIDING OFFICER. The was that we worked together across we all saw of families bringing their clerk will please read a communication the aisle from beginning to end. The sons and daughters so that they could to the Senate from the President pro bill was introduced with 32 cosponsors, witness this moment in history is tempore (Mr. STEVENS). 24 Republicans and 8 Democrats. It something that captures us all. The bill clerk read the following let- came out of the Judiciary Committee As I mentioned, over the weekend the ter: on a strong bipartisan vote. Every vote votes were tallied of the 8.5 million U.S. SENATE, on every amendment was bipartisan, people voting. For the first time in dec- PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, and the vote on final passage was ades the Iraqi people have been able to Washington, DC, February 15, 2005. strongly bipartisan as well. speak and to speak freely—and they To the Senate: I stress the bipartisanship because in were heard, as we saw with the out- Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, the 109th Congress we have a lot to do, come. It is a transformation that is of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby and it is going to demand that we con- fundamental. It is a fundamental appoint the Honorable DAVID VITTER, a Sen- ator from the State of Louisiana, to perform tinue to work together in that same transformation of power from the peo- the duties of the Chair. spirit. I thank my colleagues on both ple, instead of over the people. This has TED STEVENS, sides of the aisle for their fairness and renewed a sense of momentum and op- President pro tempore. cooperation. We have delivered to the timism and hope. ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate Sep 11 2014 11:01 Jan 13, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\FDSYS\2005BOUNDRECORD\BOOK2\NO_SSN\BR15FE05.DAT BR15FE05 ejoyner on DSK30MW082PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE February 15, 2005 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE 2237 The process, as we see, continues to security. It is a bill that many of us on MORNING BUSINESS unfold with negotiations going on as to the floor have been working on aggres- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- who will be part of the Presidential sively over the last 7, 8 years. The bill, pore. Under the previous order, there Council. Again, looking from afar, the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act, is will now be a period for the transaction from where we sit it is very encour- just that. The bill is designed to pro- of morning business until the hour of aging to see the various coalitions tect Americans from having valuable 12:30 p.m. with the first 30 minutes working with each other, Shiites work- genetic health information abused or under the control of the Democratic ing with the Sunnis and working with misused by others—for example, being leader or his designee and the next 30 other minority parties, all working to- used against them to get health insur- minutes under the control of the ma- gether to fashion this government. It is ance coverage or being used in some jority leader or his designee and the re- an exciting time for the Iraqi people way to discriminate against them for a mainder of the time equally divided be- and all who watch. future job. This whole field of genetic tween the two leaders or their des- Jumping ahead, today we will, as I testing and genetic information has ignee. mentioned in my opening statement, blossomed, in part because of a wonder- f vote on the nomination of Judge Mi- ful public-private project that was over chael Chertoff to lead the Department about a 10-year period called the RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING of Homeland Security. We have heard Human Genome Project. This explosion MINORITY LEADER much about the judge, both in com- of information has introduced these ge- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- mittee and then on the floor yesterday, netic tests that can have—and it is pore.