E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 109 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 152 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2006 No. 134 Senate The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was Eternal Lord God, our stronghold in Thank You for their investment in called to order by the President pro times of trouble, bless today our Sen- freedom and their sacrifices for our lib- tempore (Mr. STEVENS). ators. Lord, 65 years ago, America ex- erties. Comfort those who mourn and PRAYER perienced a day of infamy. As we re- those who bear the scars of battle. Be a member Pearl Harbor, our hearts turn companion to those who must stare at The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- fered the following prayer: toward the men and women of our an empty chair during this holiday sea- Let us pray. Armed Forces and their families. son. Defend those in harm’s way with N O T I C E The Government Printing Office will publish corrections to the Congressional Record as a pilot program that has been authorized by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Corrections to the online Congressional Record will appear on the page on which the error occurred. The corrections will also be printed after the History of Bills and Resolutions sec- tion of the Congressional Record Index for print-only viewers of the Congressional Record. By order of the Joint Committee on Printing. TRENT LOTT, Chairman. N O T I C E If the 109th Congress, 2d Session, adjourns sine die on or before December 15, 2006, a final issue of the Congres- sional Record for the 109th Congress, 2d Session, will be published on Wednesday, December 27, 2006, in order to permit Members to revise and extend their remarks. All material for insertion must be signed by the Member and delivered to the respective offices of the Official Reporters of Debates (Room HT–60 or S–123 of the Capitol), Monday through Friday, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. through Wednesday, December 27. The final issue will be dated Wednesday, December 27, 2006, and will be delivered on Thursday, December 28, 2006. None of the material printed in the final issue of the Congressional Record may contain subject matter, or relate to any event that occurred after the sine die date. Senators’ statements should also be submitted electronically, either on a disk to accompany the signed statement, or by e-mail to the Official Reporters of Debates at ‘‘[email protected]’’. Members of the House of Representatives’ statements may also be submitted electronically by e-mail, to accompany the signed statement, and formatted according to the instructions for the Extensions of Remarks template at http:// clerk.house.gov/forms. The Official Reporters will transmit to GPO the template formatted electronic file only after receipt of, and authentication with, the hard copy, and signed manuscript. Deliver statements to the Official Reporters in Room HT–60. Members of Congress desiring to purchase reprints of material submitted for inclusion in the Congressional Record may do so by contacting the Office of Congressional Publishing Services, at the Government Printing Office, on 512–0224, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily. By order of the Joint Committee on Printing. TRENT LOTT, Chairman. ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S11403 . VerDate Aug 31 2005 06:19 Dec 08, 2006 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 8633 E:\CR\FM\A07DE6.000 S07DEPT1 hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMSENATE S11404 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2006 Your heavenly grace, and give them as far as we are concerned there is no creates a national sex offender reg- courage to face perils with trust in need for a cloture vote. We look for- istry, strengthens measures to prevent You. Give them a sense of Your abiding ward to working with the distinguished child pornography, and reinforces laws presence, wherever they may be. majority leader today, maybe tomor- against child porn. We pray in Your sovereign Name. row, maybe Saturday, to try to get as We passed the Trafficking Victims Amen. much cooperation out of Senators as Protection Reauthorization Act, which f possible. I know the finance folks have renewed the first federal law to worked long and hard to try to come strengthen prosecution efforts against PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE up with something that is very impor- human traffickers. The PRESIDENT pro tempore led the tant for the country. We will continue We passed legislation securing the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: to monitor that and do everything we right to prayer in U.S. military acad- I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the can as we try to move this legislative emies. United States of America, and to the Repub- agenda forward. We passed legislation protecting the lic for which it stands, one nation under God, PROTECTING AMERICAN VALUES Mount Soledad Memorial Cross. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will be We passed the Broadcast Decency En- f very brief. I want to speak on another forcement Act, which allows for the 10- fold increase of FCC fines for indecency RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME matter. I know we want to get to the hour of pre-vote time here shortly. violations. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under Hopefully, tomorrow will officially We passed Cord blood legislation that the previous order, the leadership time end the 109th Congress. At the end of harnesses the power of stem cells in is reserved. the day tomorrow, if we do our work cord blood to develop new cures for f today successfully, and tonight, the life-threatening diseases. We passed the Fetus Farming Prohi- EXECUTIVE SESSION Senate will be able to adjourn. That will also mark, once we adjourn, this bition Act, which prohibits the gesta- official change in leadership and tion of fetal tissue in order to use it for NOMINATION OF ANDREW VON change in the Senate agenda. I know research. ESCHENBACH TO BE COMMIS- many of my colleagues and many of my We passed the Stem Cell Research Al- SIONER OF FOOD AND DRUGS, conservative allies view this change ternatives bill, which provides federal DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND with a bit of trepidation, but change is funding for a variety of stem cell re- HUMAN SERVICES good, change is constructive. It can be search that do not involve destroying human embryos. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under difficult, it can be painful, and it can be messy, but change forces us all to And perhaps most notably . we the previous order, the Senate will pro- confirmed John Roberts Chief Justice ceed to executive session to consider reexamine who we are, where we are, and where we want to go; what we of the Supreme Court . and Samuel the nomination of Andrew von Alito as an associate Justice of the Su- Eschenbach, of Texas, which the clerk know, what we believe. I believe it is our responsibility to preme Court. will report. We confirmed 18 Circuit court nomi- The legislative clerk read the nomi- protect traditional, commonsense American values. I believe when we nees and 87 District court judges, in- nation of Andrew von Eschenbach to be cluding six previously obstructed nomi- Commissioner of Food and Drugs, De- give the American people the freedom to invest their money as they choose, nees. America needs judges who are partment of Health and Human Serv- the economy is going to flourish. It is fair, independent, unbiased, and com- ices. going to have more freedom to grow. mitted to equal justice under the law RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY LEADER At the end of the day, I believe good . and we made sure that’s what The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The leaders don’t talk about principles— America got. majority leader is recognized. don’t talk about them—but good lead- Over the past 12 years, what Repub- SCHEDULE ers lead on principle. They act, and licans have done has changed our econ- Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morn- they act with solutions, even if they omy, our country, and our way of life ing the Senate will vote on the motion don’t know that the outcome is going for the better. to invoke cloture on the nomination of to be 100-percent successful every time Our record of success, combined with the FDA Commissioner, Andrew von a bill is taken to the floor. the lessons of November’s election, en- Eschenbach. Senators can expect to I think that is one of the things that sures that our party will rededicate have this vote around 10:30 to 10:45 this at least I tried to do, is not say let’s itself to serving the interests of Amer- morning, following the 1 hour for de- only take to the floor what will nec- ica, both here at home and around the bate. As I mentioned yesterday morn- essarily pass but what is the right world. ing, this is a very important position, thing to do, on principle; what is the That vision—optimistic, forward- and to have this confirmation finally right thing for us to be considering. looking, hopeful—will be grounded in being accomplished will be a great During my tenure in public office, it the fundamentals of commonsense con- achievement for this Congress. is what I tried to do, to lead on prin- servative values best found on Main Once cloture has been invoked, we ciple and act with solutions.