E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 110 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 153 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, JULY 10, 2007 No. 109 Senate The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was appoint the Honorable JON TESTER, a Sen- Alaska—is the most mountainous called to order by the Honorable JON ator from the State of Montana, to perform State in the Union. It has 314 separate TESTER, a Senator from the State of the duties of the Chair. mountain ranges. We have 32 moun- Montana. ROBERT C. BYRD, tains over 11,000 feet high. Some of this President pro tempore. terrain, where these fires are burning, PRAYER Mr. TESTER thereupon assumed the is very difficult. The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- chair as Acting President pro tempore. We share Lake Tahoe with Cali- fered the following prayer: f fornia. There was a raging fire there Let us pray. that lasted 2 weeks. It has now been RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY Our Father God, use our lawmakers put out. But they think that at least LEADER today as Your instruments. Give them 400 structures have burned, with 275 or Your wisdom so that they can find so- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- 300 homes burned to the ground. lutions to the complex problems that pore. The majority leader is recog- On a lot of the land in Nevada not beset our Nation. Strengthen them to nized. many people live there. In spite of serve and honor You by helping the op- f that, people do live there. It is rural, pressed. Keep them from fear and frus- and fires have been raging. What has tration as You equip and empower SCHEDULE happened with the fires that have them to accomplish Your will on Mr. REID. Mr. President, we are taken place in the past, we have these Earth. going to be in a period of morning busi- species that are foreign to the high May they find Your guidance ness for an hour. The majority will deserts of Nevada. They start burning, throughout this day by seeking You in control the second half of morning they get into the low mountains, they personal prayer. When they call, an- business, the Republicans will control get into the cedars and the pines and swer their petitions with Your mighty the first half of morning business. We then start burning in the forests. That power and guard those who put their had a conversation last night, the dis- is what has happened in Nevada. trust in You. Replenish their resources tinguished Republican leader and I, and In one fire we have had three lives with Your peace that passes under- the decision was made at that time lost. This fire burned so quickly that standing. that we are going to do our very best three grown men could not escape the We pray in Your righteous Name. on the Webb amendment to come up fire. They were doing work on their Amen. with a side by side so we can have, farm. There was an 11-year-old boy. f sometime today, votes on those two They saw the fire coming. They said, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE amendments. Following that, there ‘‘Run for your life,’’ literally, and the 11-year-old boy ran and did survive. His The Honorable JON TESTER led the will be another amendment offered, Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: and we will move along on this most family did not. They all died—three of I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the important piece of legislation. them. I say this because we have shut down United States of America, and to the Repub- f lic for which it stands, one nation under God, roads. In one part of Utah, 100 miles of indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. WESTERN WILDFIRES interstate were closed because of fires. f Mr. REID. Mr. President, I will be Think about that: 100 miles of inter- very brief. I know we have so many im- state closed. People could not go. One APPOINTMENT OF ACTING reason was the smoke was so thick— PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE portant things to do dealing with this legislation, but I do wish to say some- not the fire, the smoke. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The thing about what is going on in Ne- There has been remarkable heroism, clerk will please read a communication vada. We have a serious problem in Ne- as there always is with these men and to the Senate from the President pro vada, and it is fires. This is about the women who fight these raging fires. I quoted, a couple weeks ago, Edward tempore (Mr. BYRD). fourth year we have had these raging The assistant legislative clerk read Croker, a long past fire chief in the wildfires. the following letter: State of New York, who said: It is so difficult. The smoke is so U.S. SENATE, thick, helicopters cannot fly. Fire- I have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a fireman. Our proudest mo- PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, fighters have been lost not knowing Washington, DC, July 10, 2007. ment is to save lives. Under the impulse of To the Senate: where they are fighting these fires. It such thoughts, the nobility of the occupation Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, is rough terrain. What people do not thrills us and stimulates us to deeds of dar- of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby understand is, Nevada—other than ing, even of supreme sacrifice. ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S8883 . VerDate Aug 31 2005 04:29 Jul 29, 2007 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 J:\CRONLINE\2007BA~3\2007NE~2\S10JY7.REC S10JY7 rfrederick on PROD1PC69 with CONG-REC-ONLINE S8884 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 10, 2007 The way fires are fought 100 years ness before the Senate, which is the tration had followed a strategy in Iraq after this man said this is different Department of Defense authorization that simply was not working. It was a than the way they used to be fought, bill for fiscal year 2008. strategy focused on keeping the U.S. but it still takes a great deal of cour- This is a bill the Senate Armed Serv- force presence as small as possible, re- age and many times heroism to go for- ices Committee has worked long and gardless of conditions on the ground, ward in these areas where burning is hard on over a period of several and of pushing Iraqi forces into the taking place. months. I am privileged to be a mem- lead as quickly as possible, regardless So far, 245 square miles in northern ber of the committee and now doubly of their capabilities to do so. Nevada have burned. That is a lot of privileged to be chair of the Airland General Petraeus oversaw—let me ground: 245 square miles. Some of the Subcommittee. I am proud of the work step back. General Petraeus was part fires are not under control yet. So I of the committee. of a process, along with others, that want the RECORD to reflect we have This is a bill that does the best we presented a dramatically different problems in the West. Some say it is possibly can to support and expand our strategy to the President of the United because of global warming. Whatever forces during a time of war. Unfortu- States, the Commander in Chief. He ac- the reason, we have never had fires nately, most of the time that will be cepted that dramatically different such as we have had in the last 4 years spent by this Chamber on this bill will strategy, which was to apply classic in Nevada and I think in the West, gen- not be about the solid substance of the principles of counterinsurgency that have been successful elsewhere, so that erally. Department of Defense authorization instead of our main goal being to get So I would finally say, long after the bill but will be on a series of amend- out of Iraq, our main goal became to smoke has cleared, the accounts of ments that will be offered to alter our protect the civilian population that the bravery will still be told in Nevada. course or force our withdrawal from terrorists were persistently attacking, f Iraq. In my considered opinion, respect- bringing chaos throughout the coun- RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY fully, this is a mistake. These amend- try, including particularly in the cap- LEADER ments regarding Iraq, I believe, are un- ital city of Baghdad, and making it im- possible for a new Iraqi Government to The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- timely, they are unwise, and they are take shape. pore. The Republican leader is recog- unfair. They are untimely in the sense that As a result, over the past 5 months, nized. many problems, many crises, many f they are premature and should await September, when, as ordained by this challenges in Iraq that had long been described as hopelessly beyond solution DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION Congress itself in the supplemental ap- have begun to improve. In Baghdad, AMENDMENTS propriations bill, General Petraeus and the sectarian violence that had para- Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, let Ambassador Crocker will come back to lyzed the city for more than a year me say briefly, the majority leader has report to us fully.