E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 108 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 149 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2003 No. 153 Senate The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was Cabinet will receive an up-or-down under time agreements and in a timely called to order by the President pro vote and anticipate his confirmation fashion. tempore [Mr. STEVENS]. by an overwhelming majority this Everybody is aware of the scheduling morning. challenges we have during this time of PRAYER Following the disposition of the year. But with the cooperation of all The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- Leavitt nomination, the Senate will re- Members, we will be able to finish our fered the following prayer: sume debate on the foreign operations work and adjourn at the earliest pos- Let us pray. appropriations bill. There are several sible time. As always, I thank our col- O God, who is our refuge and amendments pending to the bill. We leagues and Senators for their coopera- strength, our shelter in the time of hope to begin scheduling votes on those tion and energy and patience to accom- storms, we begin this day by looking to amendments. Senator MCCONNELL will plish this as we go forward. You for guidance and discernment. be here following the nomination vote. f Thank You for daily victories over our We anticipate completing action on the bill during today’s session. Therefore, RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING worst selves and for fellowship with MINORITY LEADER You. Senators should expect rollcall votes Bless our Senators. Give them throughout the day and possibly votes The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The strength for their difficult tasks, vic- into the evening, if necessary. assistant Democratic leader. tory over temptation, and fulfillment Each day I come to the floor I men- Mr. REID. Mr. President, while the in their work. tion the schedule and the remaining distinguished majority leader is in the Help each of us to stand guard business before the Senate. Again, I Chamber, the Senator from Kentucky against those thoughts and passions would like to reiterate that the days of and I had a conversation on the floor that lead us from You. May our con- this session are waning, but we have a here last night—it was public in na- sciousness of Your presence become full legislative agenda and executive ture—indicating that it was the major- more real with each hour of every day. matters to finish. We have the appro- ity leader’s intention for us to work on We pray this in Your strong name. priations bills and the conference re- November 10 and 11 that is, Monday Amen. ports, Healthy Forests—and the tragic and Tuesday of the week after next. events in California underscore the I totally support that. If we are going f need for this crucial legislation. Re- to get out of here, we have to work PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE garding the Fair Credit Reporting Act, that week. The leader set November 7 The PRESIDENT pro tempore led the we are in discussions, and I hope an as a time when we should get out. I Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: agreement can be reached on its con- think that will be nearly impossible. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the sideration. If not, it will be necessary We may. I hope, if we are going to try United States of America, and to the Repub- to take the procedural steps to ensure to adjourn on November 14, that Mem- lic for which it stands, one nation under God, that the Senate does act on this very bers will understand we are going to indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. important piece of bipartisan legisla- have to do more that Monday and f tion. Tuesday than have votes on judges. We We have the Internet tax morato- are going to have to go into sub- RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY rium. Discussions are underway on an stantive matters and all during Mon- LEADER agreement to allow us to act before the day have votes. If we are going to come The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The expiration of the existing law. at 5 o’clock and have a relatively un- majority leader is recognized. On the climate change legislation, we important vote, then I don’t think we f have a 6-hour agreement. I hope we can will accomplish much. possibly use less time than those 6 If we have, I repeat, any intention, SCHEDULE hours. We are looking for an available any hope of getting out of here on No- Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morn- time to consider it this week. vember 14—which I hope we could do— ing the Senate will resume consider- We have the judicial nominations as we are going to have to work Monday ation of the nomination of Michael well. and Tuesday. I fully support the major- Leavitt to be Administrator of the En- Again, I hope to make efficient use of ity leader. vironmental Protection Agency. There the Senate’s time over the coming As I said last night on the floor, the will be 1 hour of debate prior to the days, and I hope and look forward to veterans of the State of Nevada would nomination. I am pleased this distin- working with the Democratic leader- also understand why, on an important guished nominee for the President’s ship so we can consider these bills holiday, Veterans Day, we would be ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S13325 . VerDate jul 14 2003 23:50 Oct 28, 2003 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A28OC6.000 S28PT1 S13326 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE October 28, 2003 here doing the people’s business. A lot Virtually every region of the country leader and the minority leader for ac- of the business we are doing relates di- is benefiting from the recovery, as are commodating my desire to speak on rectly to the veterans. a host of industries. You read it daily. the nomination of Utah Gov. Michael So I hope, if we are going to work Sara Lee saw its earnings rise 25 per- Leavitt to be Administrator of the En- those 2 days, they are meaningful, hard cent. Black and Decker’s earnings are vironmental Protection Agency prior days. up 36 percent. Xerox profits climbed by to the vote to confirm him. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The 18 percent. Also revealing are ‘‘first I was, unfortunately, not able to be majority leader. timer’’ corporate profits. For example, here last night. So I appreciate that I Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, through Amazon.com reported a profit for the have a chance to make some remarks the Chair in response, it is our objec- first time in a nonholiday period. this morning. tive to adjourn as soon as we possibly Lucent Technologies is posting profits A few weeks ago, I placed a ‘‘hold’’ on can, completing the business before us. for the first time in 3 years. Corning Governor Leavitt’s nomination because Thus, there is a very good possibility and AMR, the parent company of of serious concerns many of his con- we will be able to finish our work that American Airlines, both broke a string stituents have raised about his record week. of 10 quarter losses. of enforcing our national environ- A lot of people do want to be back at All of this activity is helping to bol- mental laws. home, and rightfully so, for Veterans ster the job market. The President has the right to nomi- Day itself. That Monday before Vet- The labor market added 57,000 new nate people of his choosing to serve in erans Day we will have to have a pro- jobs last month after seven straight his Cabinet. That, however, does not ductive day here if our goal is to finish obligate anyone to vote for each and months of job cuts. that week. every one of them. Wages have gone up, on average, at I do want to keep flexible. Right now, I want to make it perfectly clear that I ask the understanding of my col- nearly all income levels. Higher wages I am not impugning Governor Leavitt’s leagues because it very much depends combined with lower debt payments character. He has been a public servant on what happens over the next several and mortgage refinancing options are for many years and has been credited days on the floor of the Senate. That is adding much needed juice to the eco- with many significant accomplish- why we have to keep moving ahead nomic engine. ments. with appropriations and see what hap- So I am optimistic about the direc- I will vote against confirming Gov- pens with the supplemental in con- tion of the economy as it continues on ernor Leavitt because I have not had ference today, see the progress with this road to recovery. Even the New sufficient time to investigate the seri- the energy and medicare conferences. York Times credits the Bush tax cut ous allegations that have been brought For right now, we need flexibility, but with higher consumer spending. to my attention. I think based on the comments the In the Senate, we will continue to In fairness to Governor Leavitt, I Democratic whip just made, as well as champion policies that work—policies asked the Congressional Research mine, if we have a chance of finishing that return tax dollars to the taxpayer Service (CRS) to review and assess the that week, we can make that a very yet encourage entrepreneurship and in- allegations.